According to His Royal Highness’s screening requirements, the children were allowed to embark on the ships first, followed by the children’s families, and finally, the other adults. As for elderly citizens… Theo discovered that there were almost no people with gray hair in the crowd. Perhaps they didn’t want to risk going to a remote and unknown place, or they might have been unable to escape from the Eastern Region to King’s City since the beginning.
After the first fleet of ten single-mast ships left the pier with 500 people on board, the rest of the waiting refugees were driven back to the camp, but they all took the news with them that “the fleet will return”.
Thinking that he could easily succeed in completing the first of His Highness’ tasks, he did not expect that he would encounter a severe problem soon after the merchant fleet brought away the second batch of people.
A strange illness had suddenly broken out in King’s City.
The first deceased to be discovered had laid at the roadside, his body covered with many black spots, and his teeth fallen off. His skin had also broken open in many places, and the blood flowing out of those places had changed color — turning black like the blood of witches who were devoured by the terror of the demonic bite. But this time, the deceased was not a woman, but rather a male resident of the Northern District.
Not long after, several corpses with the same symptoms were discovered one after another. Furthermore, some of the people who came into contact with the corpses also began to grow dark spots. Whether it was herbal treatment or cold compresses, nothing was able to subdue the illness. Even when using bloodletting treatment, their blood which was usually red had now turned black, as if having been mixed with a large amount of ink.
Soon, fear spread through the masses, which steadily increased the amount of people who went to the Church to pray, but everything was useless. Every day, more and more people showing those black spots would appear, and even people with the same symptoms were discovered in the fugitives outside of the city.
Finally, the High Priest of the Church appeared in front of the praying masses and declared that all this was a plot by the witches to spread the Devil’s power, infecting other innocent people this way. Furthermore, the priest said that at present, any treatment was unable to resist the power of the Devil, and the people who fall to the corrosion will die under extreme pain. However, the Church would never idly sit by; they had already developed the Holy Elixir, which was powerful enough to drive the Devil back to Hell.
This statement let the infected people once more see a glimmer of hope. Every day, they would sit in front of the church’s door, waiting for the release of the Holy Elixir.
Although Theo had strong doubts regarding the Church’s claims, he temporarily stopped the shipping off of the refugees to provide for every contingency.
“Why do you want to stop?” Black Hammer asked, extremely puzzled, “Why aren’t we rushing to send those people away before they become eroded by the Devil’s spirit? Do you want them to stay in the city to become seeds for the witches?”
“This is the wish of the people above,” Theo answered impatiently. “They are just ordinary fugitives. If the West is also infected by this evil force, how will the kingdom then look like?”
“Uh — ” Black Hammer slightly stannered, “But what happens to the Western Region doesn’t matter to us at all. Sir Theo, how about this? We just don’t hear the opinion of the people above and simply drag them away. Think about it, this is such a demonic illness— one touch and you will are infected. I simply can’t stay here and wait for the devil to come, even if a wall is separating them from us.”
“As if we haven’t heard them?” Theo asked coldly. “Just like me, you also only have one head!”
After he left the pub, he went to the next shop marked with Margaret’s Caravan emblem, and revealed his token.
“I must see your boss. The sooner, the better.”
It didn’t take long until he could meet with the female merchant in a secret room of the shop.
“The disease definitely has nothing to do with the witches,” Margaret began, “If they could release such a demonic power, the God’s Stone of Retaliation would be powerless, and they would have already turned Hermes into a deadzone.
“I also think the same, but this is still a pressing matter that has to be reported to His Royal Highness. Although there have been no symptoms of black spots on the two groups of people who embarked to Border Town, it seems that this disease does not manifest itself on the spot. In case some people on the ships were infected by this evil force, Border Town must prepare for it immediately.” Theo pulled a folded letter out of a pocket, “I need your help to send the message back to His Highness as quickly as possible.”
“Naturally,” she nodded. “Information transmission between merchants has always been the fastest.”
…
