Chapter 245: Arrival at Raftan

It was only four days after leaving the capital that the group Logan had temporarily named the ‘Plague Relief Brigade’ arrived in Raftan.

Generally, the larger the caravan, the slower its pace. Yet this group of around a thousand people, by the measure of an ordinary person’s speed, should have taken a week to traverse the distance they did in just four days, indicating how hurriedly they must have travelled.

But the first sight that greeted the breathlessly rushing group upon reaching Raftan was beyond anyone’s imagination.

“Mother…”

“Don’t sleep, son. Understand? Just hold on a little longer.”

“Just a moment, a moment more…”

Faces showing unmistakable signs of exhaustion and fatigue.

Villagers, appearing to be families, all with pale expressions were moving towards a brook, hefting bundles of belongings.

However, what awaited them at the border of Raftan, by the side of the long stream, was not freedom, but the hand of Death itself.

“Commander! They’re coming again!”

“Damn it, why do these fools keep… Don’t look at me! Fire! Kill them!”

Soldiers stretched out along the brook, bows at the ready, were aiming at the people approaching from a distance.

Upon the so-called commander’s order, the soldiers, though biting their lips, drew their bows, and lying ahead where they aimed, there were already about a dozen bodies, apparently felled by arrows.

“Fire!”

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

Arrows flew out at the commander’s command.

“Argh!”

“My love!!”

A man fell, and a woman carrying a child screamed as she collapsed.

“Wait! Just a moment! Here, here…”

Trembling hands.

Even while wounded by an arrow in the thigh, the man drew something from his clothes.

A merchant’s identification badge.

They didn’t look like a group of merchants at all, but the badge seemed elaborate enough.

“Damn it, you’re all too soft-hearted… Can’t you aim properly? Damn!”

The commander grumbled at his men with a glare, sighing before shouting at the man.

“What are you trying to pull with that fake pass? Don’t come any closer! Get back! People of Raftan can’t leave for anywhere!”

At the commander’s roar, the expression on the wounded man’s face turned deathly pale.

Overwhelmed by despair that not even his all-in investment in the merchant’s identification worked.

‘I have nowhere to return to…’

If he were to go back, he would be considered an escapee and punished.

Moreover, what scared him more than any punishment was…

No, I mustn’t turn back.

If I do, death will be the same.

Then…

“Please help us, kind sir! If we return, we die!”

As if wringing out his last strength, his cry carried a raw desperation.

However…

“Damn. How has it come to this calamity?”

The commander didn’t want to be doing this.

But the order from above was strict and made a certain sense.

After all, he too was the head of a family.

He didn’t even want to imagine the plague reaching his own home.

“Father, please just let my son leave. The child is still healthy! Our village hasn’t even seen the cursed disease, and I’ve heard children don’t catch it!”

In ignorance of his own situation, the man blurted out baseless words.

“Stop joking! I warn you again. If you don’t turn back, you die. This is the final warning!”

With that ferocious warning, the man seemed to make a stern decision.

“Then kill us! Let’s see how well you live after killing innocents!”

Who wants to do this?!

Can’t you see all the lifeless bodies lying right before your eyes?

Within the commander’s clenching teeth came an order.

“What are you waiting for! Fire! Grant their wish!”

The soldiers, yet again with gritted teeth, took aim with their bows.

Another command descended.

“Fire!”

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

“My love!”

Black arrows rained down upon the unmoving man, his wife, and the child who appeared unconscious.

Just before the gruesome scene could unfold any further…

Flash.

Together with a sudden burst of golden light, the onslaught of arrows abruptly ceased.

Amidst the puzzled villagers and the soldiers, another voice rang out.

“What seems to be the situation here? Explain.”

Before them stood a knight with red eyes, exuding a dangerous aura.

* * *

“There are no issues. The entire family is unaffected.”

Hearing the priest’s report on treating the family, Logan glared at the soldier commander.

“You were told to seal off the area, and you shoot the villagers to death instead? These madmen…!”

Listening to the downcast commander kneeling before him, Logan’s eyes burned with fury.

“We only shot at the deserters. We usually gave warnings first and…”

“Silence! I saw clearly from the beginning you aimed to kill, and now you dare lie?”

“Your… Your lordship ordered us! We only missed on purpose as a warning…”

“That’s enough. Where are you from? Which lord’s soldier are you? We will hold your lord accountable.”

“Ke, Kelromon. We are under His Majesty’s command.”

“Kelromon?”

“This place is Kelromon’s estate, Your Majesty. It sits to the west of Raftan.”

Nodding at the explanation of the approaching knight, Logan said,

“My party and I are heading to Raftan to put an end to this plague. Tell the Kelromon knight to come to my location and provide support. If he fails to comply…”

Crack.

Beneath Logan’s perched position, the ground split as if quaked.

Boom.

“Waaah!”

The entirely intact tree burst apart, making the soldiers gasp and cower in fear.

Even though it might’ve been excessive for someone with royal authority, Logan wanted to send a more direct warning.

“The entire Kelromon family will be shattered.”

“Yes? Yes! Understood, Your Majesty!”

His heart not quite feeling right about the situation, but unable to completely turn it upside down, Logan thought,

‘There’s an order to how things are done.’

If the resources he brought were insufficient, they might require support from nearby nobles before the second wave of supplies arrived. Now that he personally witnessed it, there would be no excuses for them not to comply.

However…

“It’s not just us…”

Behind Logan, a faint voice hoped not to be overheard, provoking an even more dangerous smile upon his face.

“The Kelromon estate, the Genchis barony, the Perona barony; all three are adopting the same practices.”

While the group halted momentarily, the knights who spread out brought back the information swiftly.

Thanks to this, Logan could assess the thoughts of the three land holdings adjacent to Raftan on this matter.

“Sealing off the boundaries, shooting any villagers who try to cross?”

“Yes.”

“Why is it not enough to simply drive them out?”

“It appears there is fear among the soldiers that any contact could transmit the disease.”

Heaving a sigh,

‘I can understand that, but…’

Suddenly, Logan remembered Bishop Illia’s words.

– There’s one commonality. Severe hunger and poor hygiene.

With that in mind…

“Food…”

“Yes?”

“Relay this to all three holdings. They are to support Raftan with as much food as possible. If their contribution is not satisfactory, I will hold them accountable for killing my subjects without permission.”

“A messenger will be dispatched.”

Victor bowed, and at that moment, three knights dispersed in different directions, while the party entered Raftan with heavy hearts.

* * *

“Thank you sincerely for coming to us directly, Your Majesty.”

Baron Eric Raftan was waiting outside the outer castle walls and sprinted over as soon as he saw Logan’s flag, prostrating himself.

His plump cheeks contrasted with sunken eyes and dark shadows underneath, displaying the stress he had been under. However…

“That’s the man who, after the recent tax measure, raised the rate within his domain to 80%.”

The whispered information received just before arrival, didn’t elicit much sympathy from Logan.

‘Putting the blame on those simply executing orders seems rather self-serving.’

Was it too selfish to want them to take some responsibility?

Logan scoffed at his own thought and asked straight to the point.

“What’s the current situation?”

The answer was nearly a desperate plea in response to his calm query.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“We have infections in twelve villages! Despite isolating those with symptoms from the outset, it keeps spreading. Just yesterday morning, even my own manservant showed symptoms…!”

The baron shouted, sobbing.

The pig wailing didn’t look pleasant, so Logan cut him off.

“What actions have been taken?”

“Six villages have been wiped out, and we dispatched soldiers to quarantine the remaining and restrict any from leaving. Since yesterday, I haven’t even entered the inner fortress.”

With Baron’s words, Logan looked up toward the castle.

A castle slightly larger than the fallen Maclaine Castle.

Considering the inner fortress, it couldn’t be that vast.

“Since I’m here, I better see that manservant first.”

While Bishop Illia looked towards the inner fortress after Logan’s words.

“Bishop. Before you heal with your holy power, might I meet this manservant first?”

Gilbert, the representative of the Chisa Guild, interjected.

Before being a healer, he was also a 4th-circle magician, and thus boldly proposed to be the first to meet the infected.

In fact, there was no record of mana or force users above a certain power level dying from the plague. Gilbert’s confidence had its basis.

Logan nodded lightly and turned away.

“Did you hear that? Baron, where are they?”

“That, that’s…”

Eric Raftan’s evasive gaze gave off a bad feeling when a shout erupted from behind the baron’s soldiers.

“The baron killed all the manservants in the inner fortress! My sister too…!”

A terribly strained voice.

Amid that poignant cry, Logan’s expression twisted bitterly.

* * *

“Is this man mad? To kill everyone who’s been with him for many years, just based on suspicion of infection?”

Back within the inner fortress.

Dragging the unwilling baron inside the hall still stank of blood, for he hadn’t bothered to move the bodies of the servants he had feared might be contagious.

The expressions of all those present were filled with disdain upon seeing the forced-to-kneel baron.

“I just wanted to live…”

The baron writhed like a pig caught in a trap.

A pig stricken with a vile disease.

“Ha. Can’t just kill him for this either…”

As Logan sighed, Eric Raftan’s color drained.

“Please save me. I only wanted to prevent the spread of the plague!”

Baron Eric Raftan, viewed solely by these actions, clearly lacked the qualifications of nobility.

However, the backlash from executing a noble for killing his servants would be fierce.

Moreover, Logan had come to save Raftan at the head of an abundant resource convoy.

To kill their lord now?

Such an act would only incite open resistance from neighboring lords instead of support.

“Imprison the lord. Dealing with the current crisis comes first.”

The more pressing matter was to handle what needed to be done.

Baron Eric Raftan, realizing he had escaped death for the moment, didn’t resist the knight dragging him away.

Dealing with him could wait until after the plague was resolved.

“You there, knight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Lead us to the nearest village where there are sick. To a village with the ill.”

“But, that’s…”

The hesitation in the knight’s behavior spread unease.

“Don’t tell me…?!”

“The lord ordered the slaughter of all villagers from the infected villages this morning.”

Bishop Illia’s apprehensive shout was met with the knight’s low voice and the hall was submerged in a cold silence.