Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 174: Plague
“Creak… creak, creak…”
The lords felt their scalps tingle as they watched the strange mage gnawing on his own fingers.
They had heard that mages specializing in necromancy generally had peculiar personalities, but hearing about it was one thing, and seeing it firsthand was quite another.
Karallant, however, didn’t seem to mind. He had seen even stranger behavior from Bobosa, so gnawing on a finger was nothing.
More than that, he felt a deep reverence for the mysterious First Prince in his heart.
After all, if such a peculiar Source Mage could be made to serve him, one could only imagine the terrifying power behind the First Prince.
“Dragonflame City’s moat is fed by streams that converge from the snowmelt of the Phileon Mountains. We only need to spread the plague upstream in the streams. Do any of you have any further questions?”
Karallant tapped his sword hilt, bringing the straying lords back to the original issue.
While the lords were eager to see the antidote Bobosa mentioned, since Karallant had spoken and the First Prince had their backs, they ultimately said nothing more.
“I have no questions.”
“Since Lord Bobosa has an antidote, I have no problems either.”
“Me too.”
…
The lords nodded in agreement. Even those who were still hesitant had to follow the crowd.
Xi Wei also did not voice any opinions, tacitly agreeing. However, he knew that most of what Bobosa said was likely nonsense. Would a mage who studied necromancy bother researching alchemy to create an antidote?
Still, he remembered that Loli seemed to have the ability to dispel plagues and planned to ask her after Karallant removed the soundproofing barrier.
Seeing that no one had any objections, Karallant raised his hand and gestured downwards. Once the lords gradually quieted down, he continued,
“Lord Bobosa’s plague will take effect within three days, so we will attack the city on the third day. We cannot give the Pope time to react.”
“Of course, this attack is mainly for harassment, to make the Pope unsure of our true intentions and believe that we have the capital to attack. Only then will he continue to lie low in Dragonflame City.”
“The longer we drag this out, the more severe the plague will become. By the time the Pope reacts and comes out to fight us, the combat power of his forces will have been greatly diminished.”
“And that is what we want.”
…
A moment later, the duration of the soundproofing barrier ended, and this pre-war discussion meeting also concluded.
Each lord was deeply impressed by Karallant’s ruthlessness.
He was a ruthless individual who would resort to any means to achieve victory.
Xi Wei did not join the other lords in their cheerful chatter.
He returned to his own military formation alone, looked around, and saw that none of the other lords were paying attention to him.
Coupled with the fact that the Eagle Territory’s army was camped further back, he went to Loli’s side, bent down, and whispered in her ear,
“Loli, I remember your ability can solve all plagues, right?”
Seeing Xi Wei’s serious demeanor, Loli knew he didn’t want their conversation overheard.
So, she also became serious, leaned close to Xi Wei’s ear, covered her mouth with one small hand, and replied in a low voice,
“Yes~ Any plague can be dispelled with ‘Withered Tree Blooming Spring’, and Loli can also infuse the healing energy of ‘Withered Tree Blooming Spring’ into water. Although the effect will be somewhat weakened, it’s no problem for early-stage infections.”
Xi Wei looked at Loli with surprise and joy. Under her “Aren’t you going to praise me?” expression, he gently stroked her head.
Now, no matter what schemes the First Prince had, he had a general plan to deal with them.
…
Three days later, in the prosperous Dragonflame City.
Crusader camp.
Andrew was bustling through the camp, carrying a pot of boiling water and a basket of herbs.
He was an ordinary soldier belonging to the Royal Crusaders of the Kolon Empire. He had served in the legion for over ten years and could be considered a veteran of many battles.
Because he had lived long enough, he gradually rose to the position of captain, leading eight young new recruits.
As a mere soldier, he only had the right to know what was happening above but not the power to change it.
It didn’t matter to him who he served under. In such times, merely surviving was a luxury, and on the battlefield, he was only slightly better off than an ordinary soldier.
He was a bit of larger cannon fodder, so to speak.
Andrew had a good relationship with the group of young men under him.
These young recruits liked to call him ‘Old Man Andrew’ because of his meticulous care and his willingness to impart battlefield knowledge.
He was over fifty years old, with no wife or children.
So, he could only place the parental affection he had always yearned for onto these brash young men in their early twenties.
However, in the last two or three days, several of his ‘rotten kids’ had successively fallen ill with the same sickness.
Or rather, people throughout the entire camp were starting to get sick one after another.
This worried Andrew greatly.
This morning, he could no longer wait and went to a nearby mountain, using his experience to find some herbs.
These were herbs he had tested himself when he was sick and found them to be potentially helpful in treatment, hoping they would also work for his rotten kids.
The illness seemed to be a common cough, causing the patient to feel weak and feverish, accompanied by nausea, headache, a dry throat, and intermittent coughing.
This type of illness usually occurred during the transition from spring to winter or during periods of extreme heat.
But now it was autumn, with clear skies and crisp air. Furthermore, soldiers generally had strong physiques. Andrew couldn’t understand the reason for their illness.
Fortunately, a cough wasn’t a serious illness. Even without medicine, it would usually heal on its own in four or five days. But with war potentially breaking out at any moment, Andrew couldn’t wait.
He shook his head, dispelling his cluttered thoughts, and lifted the tent flap to enter his own tent.
Through the hazy morning sunlight outside the tent, one could vaguely see eight young soldiers, clad in armor, sitting listlessly on the ground.
Simple food was scattered before them, but they had barely touched it, clearly having lost their appetites due to illness.
Their faces were flushed, their eyes unfocused, and they looked drowsy. Even when they saw Andrew enter, they could only weakly lift their heads and force a smile to greet him.
“An… Old Man Andrew…”
“Don’t trouble yourself, we’re fine, we’ll be better in a couple of days.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, we’re very strong.”
As he spoke, one soldier struggled to stand up to demonstrate for Andrew, but Andrew pushed him back down.
“Even when you’re sick, you can’t behave yourselves, you little monkeys.”
Andrew chided them irritably, then lifted the curtain of the tent, letting sunlight in and dispelling the sweat odor from the soldiers.
He then deftly took the bowls of the eight soldiers, crushed the herbs he had found, divided them equally into eight portions, and added some boiled water to each bowl.
The herbal juice dissolved in the hot water, emitting a faint fragrance.
He fanned the bowls with his large, fan-like hands to reduce the temperature of the medicinal liquid as much as possible. Then, he steadily placed the bowls before the soldiers, his calloused hands not spilling a drop of the medicine.
“Here, drink this. You might get better after drinking it.”
The soldiers looked at Andrew gratefully and picked up their bowls to drink, only to find them hot to the touch.
One soldier blew on his bowl, took a small sip, and winced from the heat, complaining to Andrew.
“Old Man Andrew, you know we never drink hot boiled water. It’s not even winter yet, why drink something so hot?”
Andrew glared at the soldier and reprimanded him in a gruff voice,
“What do you know? The medicine tastes better hot to be effective. I suspect drinking raw water is what made you sick. No more drinking raw water from now on!”
The soldier wasn’t afraid of Andrew and maintained his jovial demeanor. Suddenly, he felt an itch on his body and lightly scratched his back, but he was too weak to reach it.
“Old Man Andrew, help me scratch it!” the soldier pleaded with Andrew, putting on a fawning expression.
“Are you getting too big for your boots? I’m like a father and mother to you, and you want me to scratch your back? Ask them to scratch it for you!”
“They don’t have any strength, scratching it would be like not scratching it at all.”
“…”
Although helpless, Andrew still walked up to the soldier.
“Turn around, you brat!”
He slapped the soldier’s backside, and the latter sheepishly turned his back to him.
“Where does it itch? Here?”
“Yes… Old Man Andrew, put some more force into it! Or just lift my shirt and scratch it. I think I was bitten by fleas. These damned little things are so annoying!”
“You little rascal…”
Andrew mumbled discontentedly, a leaf smoke dangling from his lips. His facial muscles twitched as he lifted the soldier’s shirt from his back.
What he saw next was a nauseating sight.
On the soldier’s tanned skin, dense red sores had erupted. As if from intense itching, the soldier had scratched himself everywhere, and many areas had broken open, emitting a foul odor…
Andrew’s eyes widened. He then lifted the clothes from the backs of the other soldiers and found that every one of them had the same condition.
This was definitely not a common cough.
Moreover, these pustules had only appeared today. Last night, when the soldiers slept shirtless, they were not there.
In just one morning, they had become so severe.
Andrew’s lips trembled. Based on his limited knowledge and experience, any person who developed such pustules on their body was generally suffering from a very serious infectious disease.
He no longer cared about giving the soldiers medicine. He scrambled out of the tent, intending to report this news to the commander of the Crusader legion.
The other Crusaders did not have as attentive elders like him to care for them. Therefore, these adults would certainly not know about the pustules developing on their bodies after infection.
This was a terrifying plague. If it was not controlled, the entire Dragonflame City would be doomed.
