Chapter 249
“Calm down and explain it slowly. What are you saying? What kind of data?”
Huff. Huff.
Gilbert, who had rushed in so desperately that his face was flushed, caught his breath and then began explaining, showing the docunts he had brought.
“It’s similar to the plague that broke out 70 years ago, the Restaboom. There was a domain in the east that was completely untouched!”
“What?”
“While 15 domains in the east were completely devastated, not a single death occurred in Baron Grant’s domain at the far eastern end.”
Gilbert’s eyes sparkled as he pushed forward the data, but Logan’s brows furrowed upon reading it.
“……Could it just be that the plague ended before it reached that far?”
It was one thing if it were at the epicenter of the plague’s origin.
It seed lacking to call a domain victorious over the plague just because it was at the very edge and remained unhard.
However…
“This data only records the situation in the kingdom of Macline, but if we combine it with the old data we’ve collected from the guild, it becos significant.”
“Significant?”
“At the ti, five western domains of the small kingdom union beyond Grant’s domain were also devastated by the Restaboom. Here, it’s this way. If you look at it like this…”
Following the circle Gilbert drew, it beca clear.
“Huh?!”
“In the entire area affected by the plague, only Grant’s domain had no casualties.”
It was data that could be significant, even groundbreaking.
“If we can investigate what prevented the plague in that domain, perhaps we can definitively block this one as well.”
“……I’ll order an investigation of Grant’s domain imdiately.”
“I will go in person!”
“You personally?”
“Grant’s domain is about two days north from here. I can make it there and back.”
Seeing Gilbert’s confident expression, Logan internally debated.
Frankly, the least necessary people in Laptan domain’s fight against the plague were himself and the knights.
It would make more sense for him to lead the investigation than Gilbert, a healer, but recalling his conversation with Bishop Ilya the day before, it didn’t seem like such a good idea.
– Is there nothing I can do myself? I am a formidable figure after all.
– ……Your Highness, rely your presence here is already a help.
– What does that an? I don’t need empty flattery……
– It’s not flattery. Your staying here gives strength to the people. It ans the kingdom hasn’t abandoned them. However, the opposite is also true—if you leave before the plague is quelled…
‘I’ll look as if I’ve abandoned them to the plague. She does have a point.’
The position of a king was inconvenient at tis like this.
“……Alright. Go. But leave the other healers here. So are already showing symptoms.”
“Ah… yes, that’s right. Oh dear…”
While Gilbert replied, he couldn’t hide his embarrassnt.
“In their stead, take the knights with you, as Force users of interdiate level and above have never contracted the plague…”
“Your Majesty. While knights would be useful, it would be better to have people with knowledge of dicine or herbalism. Or soone whose expertise is investigation… I’ll request to the guild in the capital…”
“If it’s that kind of personnel you need, we have the right people. Don’t worry and head straight to Grant.”
Logan dismissed Gilbert’s concerns with continued speech.
“I’ll assign you specialized personnel in addition to knights. They will find Grant domain on their own, so find out as soon as possible why it remained safe.”
Though a bit doubtful, how could one reject a royal command?
“……Yes, Your Majesty!”
As a 4th-circle mage and a doctor, Gilbert set out north from Laptan domain with five interdiate knights imdiately.
* * *
“Halt!”
“Whoa, whoa!”
Heeiiing!
“Who are you?”
The soldiers guarding the gate of Grant’s domain halted the galloping group of horsen.
Their composed deanor was uncharacteristic of a rural domain’s soldiers, but they had no choice but to rush into the castle at the knight’s proclamation.
“By order of His Majesty the King! Baron Larry Grant, adhere to His Majesty’s decree!”
Nonetheless, it wasn’t long before Gilbert and the knights t the lord of the domain.
“Ha-ha, it looks like you’ve had quite a journey. So you’re from Laptan…”
A middle-aged man with an angular face and a sturdy build awkwardly smiled at Gilbert.
A royal ssenger from a plague-stricken domain.
It surely wasn’t easy to welco such a visitor.
‘Maybe they’ll ask for support…’
But Gilbert, with little peace of mind, couldn’t afford to soothe the baron’s concerns.
“Baron, let ask you outright. I know you were undamaged here while there was a plague outbreak nearby 70 years ago. We’ve co here to find out why.”
“Hm?”
At that, Larry Grant’s expression turned perplexed.
“Was sothing like that…?”
A sigh-inducing scenario.
The twitch in Gilbert’s stiff brow betrayed his tension.
The only saving grace soon appeared, soone who could actually assist them.
“My na is Damian. I’ve co from the royal investigative team. My subordinates and I will assist Sir Gilbert in his mission.”
“……Pleased to et you.”
Although initially suspicious, Gilbert beheld the man with brown hair and blue eyes who was undoubtedly adept at gathering intelligence.
Considering he gathered information about the domain within half a day that even Baron Larry Grant did not know.
The only problem was that even with Damian’s findings, no significant peculiarities had erged.
“Local products… Apples, mostly. But those can be found in Laptan, too.”
“Anything else?”
“Not really, from what you had us investigate—the residents’ diets, how they live, the material of their clothes—nothing stood out as particularly unusual. You could say most of it is at the kingdom’s average level.”
At Damian’s words, Gilbert couldn’t help but sigh.
‘There has to be sothing special, sothing must!’
According to what he, no, the guild had researched, regions with a high resistance to specific diseases usually had distinctive characteristics in their diet, dwellings, and lifestyles.
‘The guild’s data can’t be wrong…’,
He clutched his lips, determined not to consider the possibility that their research was flawed.
Rather, if there was nothing special about the current domain, then the solution might have been lost over the 70 years.
The correct move was to find those overlooked directions.
So,
“Mr. Damian. I’d like to talk to the oldest people in the domain.”
“The elderly?”
“Yes, I must find what was not recorded over the 70 years.”
“I understand. We’ll request the baron’s cooperation.”
The next day after arriving in Grant’s domain, with the cooperation of Baron Larry Grant, they were able to et with the oldest inhabitants.
However, this endeavor was not without its difficulties.
Firstly, people who were alive 70 years ago were scarce, numbering less than ten across the domain. Furthermore, these elders were scattered across various villages.
And sotis…
“70 years ago? Ah, how could I rember that far back.”
A blunt denial from the start.
“It’s all the sa. What can change in such a rural area?”
Most were equally unhelpful, despite understanding the question.
Occasionally,
“I’m old; mory’s foggy. Who are you again? Ah, 70 years ago? I’m old; mory’s foggy. Who are you again?”
The frustrating response of one elderly man, though pitiful, continued.
But after much iteration, they did find so positive accounts.
Still,
“When I was young, hunting was all the rage.”
“Hunting?”
“Yep. Especially since there were many deer in this area, ruining our fields and eating the crops. So, co the season, people banded together for deer hunts.”
“Deer?”
“And now?”
“After decades, the animals must have dwindled because they’re not seen as often. So we don’t do it anymore.”
The accounts from a diminutive nonagenarian seed almost the sole sensible response obtained.
For all intents and purposes, they appeared irrelevant.
“……What does deer hunting have to do with the plague?”
Damian’s logical observation held true.
Does killing deer cure the plague?
Or does the presence of deer prevent a plague’s spread?
Without delving into deep theory or combing through data, it simply sounded absurd.
Gilbert’s complexion steadily darkened until the last elder they t brought up an intriguing point.
“It’s not that the deer disappeared because of reduced deer hunting.”
“Sorry?”
“The custom here was quite… peculiar, so the temple gave a warning. That’s why it stopped. But there are still plenty of deer around.”
An elder in his eighties, still robust, confidently addressed Gilbert’s question.
“A peculiar custom?”
“Well… it’s a little hard to say. The priests got rather furious, calling it a blasphemy and such…”
The man looked hesitant.
‘This is it!’
Realizing a vital clue, both the weary Damian and Gilbert’s expressions brightened.
“Please tell us, sir. We don’t have ties to the temple. We’re not here to bla.”
“……You may speak freely. I only did it once when I was young. But since priests said not even to ntion it lest it bring misfortune…”
“Evil must be repelled by the pure. Here, I’ll give you this amulet. Please, tell us.”
Gilbert’s anxious hand extended a glimring charm.
A 5 gold piece dissipated the elder’s ill aura.
“Cough cough. Back then, deer hunting involved drinking their blood. It was a tradition everyone in the domain tried at least once. It was ant to avert evil and wish for longevity, but after the priests claid that was more impure, the practice vanished…”
Deer blood.
At that mont, realization dawned on Gilbert and Damian.
* * *
“Deer blood?”
[Yes. It’s worth investigating.]
“Hmm… It does have a ring of truth, but aren’t deer rare around here?”
[Here in Grant’s domain, there’s an abundance of deer. As long as the efficacy is proven, we can catch them in large numbers and bring them over.]
“……Alright. It’s a nothing-to-lose situation anyway.”
Following Gilbert’s report, Logan nodded in agreent. Imdiately thereafter, Laptan’s knights combed the domain woods for deer.
“Suddenly after deer?”
“Don’t know. Guess the nobles got bored.”
“It must be because of the king…”
The rumors were negatively received by the already troubled commoners.
But three days later…
With careful precision, Logan slit the collapsing deer’s throat and collected the dripping blood.
“Now. Have a drink.”
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
A man with an ashen face, kneeling and looking up at Logan.
His entire face was brightly flushed, and pus was flowing down his face—a critical condition.
In Laptan domain, patients beyond the reach of the priests were increasing rapidly.
If deer blood proved ineffective, in just a few days, mass casualties were certain.
‘It must not happen.’
Logan’s fervent wish weighed heavily upon the man.
With a grimace of disgust, the man lifted the bowl full of deer blood and began to gulp it down.
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