Chapter 45: It’s Not Just the Plague

Once she heard Claire was going to go to Niya City, Lashia also wanted to ask for a break from school and go with her. But Claire and Duke Gordan stopped her because the plague was truly too dangerous; they didn’t want Lashia to also be in danger at all. Of course Cliff and Jean would go.

That night, the person sent by the Temple of Light arrived on schedule to the Hill castle and went with Claire to Niya City. Duke Gordan specially prepared a cozy and spacious carriage that could carry up to six people. With soft cushions, the carriage also had thick carpets and everything needed was available because this time, the people who accompanied and left with Claire were all unordinary people; the Temple of Light’s Divine Prince and Cliff, the wizard sage.

After the four got in the carriage, Cliff leaned on the side of the back and started to nap. Jean also sat at the back, silent.

“Many thanks for Divine Prince’s assistance this time.” Claire elegantly and politely thanked. She had experienced Lingyun Leng’s healing magic, but the plague didn’t seem to be able to be healed? This time, the problem seemed pretty annoying.

“It is what our Temple should do.” Lingyun lightly smiled and replied.

Next, it was silent.

The mood in the carriage became more and more sombre.

“Chirp chirp~~” White Emperor dug out of Claire’s embrace, swaying as he crawled up Claire’s shoulder, then onto her head. After that, he started to tug on her hair unyieldingly.

Claire stayed silent and didn’t make a move. Lingyun Leng was a bit shocked looking at the furry meatball on Claire’s head. What was it? Claire’s pet? No matter how he looked at it, Claire didn’t seem to be a person who would raise this kind of adorable pet.

“Chirp Chip!!!” White Emperor seemed a bit angry Claire ignored him. His two paws grabbed Claire’s hair and gave a fierce tug.

“Alright, alright. You can eat this.” Claire begrudgingly got out a basket of food from the backseat, then a silver plate and a piece of roasted meat. She put the cold roasted meat in the silver platter and chanted a spell, creating a little fireball to heat up the roasted meat. White Emperor happily chirped. With a tumble, he flipped into the plate and his two claws hugged the roasted meat and he started nibbling it.

“What kind of magic beast is this?” Lingyun Leng asked, a bit curious.

“Don’t know.” Claire shrugged, answering honestly as she watched White Emperor, who was currently crouched in the plate, eating with relish. White Emperor wasn’t a carnivore or vegetarian, but an omnivore. As long as it tasted good, he liked it, no matter if it was meat, vegetables, or fruit. It was just that he liked roasted meat out of all meat, that was all.

Then it was silent again.

It was silent the whole journey. Claire didn’t really want any relation with the Temple of Light, only because to Claire, the Temple of Light was a group of charlatans.

“Claire, this guy is so pretentious. It really makes people annoyed and want to rip off his face and look at what’s beneath that mask.” Walter made a racket in Claire’s mind.

“Quieter, I want to rest. We also need to hurry to reach Niya City early in the morning tomorrow. There should be many things that need to be dealt with.” Claire closed her eyes and leaned against the side of the back of the carriage.

“Humph, humph.” Walter snorted resentfully. Divine Prince, humph, he’s just that bitchy Light goddess’s hunting dog. Just wait, there will be a day when he will take revenge!

Niya City was already completely blocked off. Once Claire arrived before Niya City, she saw the city gates tightly closed and many simple tents set up outside the city gates. These were people who wanted to enter, but were banned. They all had family or friends inside the city and wished that they could go in very much, but the epidemic had already spread. Naturally, in order to prevent more infections, they had forbidden people to enter or leave.

Once they knew that the person inside the carriage was the Niya City’s Castellan, a large disturbance arose.

“Castellan, please let us go in. My wife and children are inside, I want to know how they are right now.”

“Castellan, my father is still inside. Please let us go in.”

“Castellan…”

Pleading voices arose in succession as people gradually started surrounding the carriage, making it unable to go forward.

It was at this time that the city gates opened. A troop of soldiers in a single file line ran out and started drive away the commoners, letting out a path to let the carriage enter the city. Next, they started driving away commoners who wanted to take this opportunity to enter the city. Although it was a bit cruel, they all still acted very appropriately and didn’t wound anyone. They were able to adopt these measures in a serious situation like this. Evidently, the people Duke Gordan had sent to help Claire deal with Niya City were not to be trifled with.

Immediately a voice sounded from over the city gates. “Everybody, please don’t be impatient, the Castellan has already come personally, this matter will be resolved very quickly. Please wait for good news, everybody. Forbidding everyone from being able to enter or leave is also for your safety. Also, the Temple of Light’s Divine Prince has also arrived, everybody, please be at ease. Good news will arrive very quickly.”

Once again, the city gates closed. The people were nervous, but not panicky.

A strange smell pervaded the air in Niya City. The rotting smell was mixed with the smell of incense. Claire lifted the curtains to see the situation outside. There was nobody in the streets and all the doors had been tightly shut. The strange odor was probably caused by burned incense in order to hide the rotting stink of corpses.

That being said, the corpses of people who had died from the plague weren’t cremated?

The epidemic would only spread more this way!

The carriage entered the castle. As Claire waited for people to come off the carriage, someone was there to welcome them.

“Miss Claire, your subordinate has been looking forward to meet for a long time.” A refined young man approached and respectfully bowed. “Your subordinate is the one Duke Gordan sent to assist you deal with this situation, Heath.”

“Thank you for your hard work.” Claire’s expression was solemn. She didn’t enter the room and issued a stream of orders immediately instead. “People who have died from the plague, immediately cremate them. Every door needs to be opened to ventilate in order to get rid of the plague. When the soldiers are carrying out these orders, they must wear masks. Bring me to see the people who have been infected by the plague, I want to see their symptoms.” Claire had seen very clearly that the soldiers who had previously  welcomed her into the city gates hadn’t taken any preventative measures. That was very dangerous.

“Castellan?” Now Heath had changed his address. A bit surprised, he asked, “You want to go see right now?”

Exceptionally serious, Claire ordered, “Carry out my orders immediately. Cremate those corpses right now. Incense can only mask the odor, nothing else. Bring me right now to see the people who have been infected by the plague. Right now! Do you understand what right now means?”

Heath was scared into shock, then came back to his senses and turned to give out orders.

Soon, a couple of soldiers jogged with masks on, as they scattered to all directions from the center of the city.

As Lingyun Leng watched Claire’s exceptionally serious expression and heard the orders Claire ordered, a light flashed from the depths of his eyes, then disappeared in a wink.

Once Claire saw the situation of the people who had been infected by the plague, doubt surfaced in her heart. This plague wasn’t the small pox or the bubonic plague of medieval times. The symptom of the people who had been infected by the plague was that their skin would darken and then darker and darker, until they rotted! The disease spread through human saliva and blood.

A cold light flashed through Lingyun Leng’s eyes. He had already made a decision.

This wasn’t a plague!

“Claire, this isn’t the plague. This is poison from the dark element. Even though it’s very, very little, it is actually emitting a dark aura. There’s a dark magician messing around in this city! And their level is not low, otherwise there’s no way magicians from the entire Niya City didn’t discover it.” Walter’s voice sounded in Claire’s mind, certain.