Chapter 216 (1/2)

Chapter 216 Demonic Plague

During the following two days, Theo moved non-stop between Margaret’s Chamber of Commerce and King’s City’s suburbs.

Margaret would provide the fleet for the transportation of the refugees while the First Army, who would be disguised as mercenaries, would arrive at the canal’s pier at the appointed time to arrange the screening and embarking.

As for the dissemination of information, Theo wasn’t worried that Black Hammer would handle such a task relaxedly after swallowing such attractive bait. Letting street rats do such work was much more convenient than giving it to outsiders. Although their range of activity was limited to the Northern District, the refugees would certainly spread the news amongst themselves. Furthermore, he couldn’t handle them all at once anyway. Prior to this, His Royal Highness had explicitly explained to him that this was a task which could be done over time by sending one ship after another.

On the day of the fleet’s arrival, nearly one thousand destitute and homeless people had come to the pier, much more than Theo had expected. If he had relied on the First Army to promote the journey, Theo believed that if 100 people had come, it would already have been considered a good result.

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.”