Chapter 27 - The Plague Begins to Unravel
Except for so regions in the east.
During the ti when most of them welcod the warm spring season.
The Plague Demon, as it did every year, did not miss this spring either, feasting voraciously on germs and negative energy.
The ghouls, which had beco the living, willful embodint of disease itself, drifted with the wind and clung to living creatures.
It did not distinguish between livestock like pigs or cows, but it was particularly virulent to humans.
Clinging tightly under the na of an epidemic, it was prone to not letting go and spreading to others.
While this itself was familiar to the people of the east, the death it spread was sothing they could never get used to.
Co spring, the sounds of wailing from the house next door and the one across the street never ceased, and sorrow did not stop.
Especially if a child was born in the spring, parents reached a point of near resignation.
“…ryl. Stop crying now. You know this child might not make it through the spring.”
“Still… Still, you never know. Who knows if the hand of disease will spare this child.”
“The plague doctors, should we call them now?”
“They are charlatans. I can’t entrust my child to the hands of a charlatan.”
“But you never know. Not all of them are charlatans.”
Those who studied herbs and poison herbs and combined them to make potions.
Those who traveled around the east selling these potions.
In a word, they were dicine peddlers.
“The plague doctor who ca to the village recently. Have you forgotten that the village chief's son fell ill after taking his dicine?”
“That… is certainly true.”
“Those incompetents have probably killed as many people as the Plague Demons.”
“Even if you say that, the plague doctors will soon be sniffing around the village. Then so people will buy the dicine, so let's see how they react.”
“…Alright.”
Unable to refuse that much, ryl reluctantly nodded and held the child warmly in her arms.
Her child, who couldn't even walk yet, was as warm as the straw in a chicken coop.
How long could this warmth last?
“…But, why is it so noisy outside?”
Eron stuck his head out the window at the sound of the clamoring people.
Had the plague doctors arrived?
But it wasn't strange for plague doctors to visit the village in the spring.
“What, what is that.”
Eron’s eyes beca no different from the others.
Three large carriages began to enter the village.
A certain mark was stamped on those cargo carriages, and there was no one in the east who didn't know it.
“The Maxman rchant Troupe…? Why have they co to a remote village like this.”
It didn't seem likely that a great rchant like Maxman would have business here.
The only things to be found here were plague doctors and the soon-to-arrive Plague Demons.
People milled around the carriages, murmuring among themselves.
“What’s going on outside?”
“Carriages from the Maxman rchant Troupe have arrived. And they're starting to unload their cargo…?”
“What do you think they’re here to sell?”
“That's what I'm wondering. But I don't know if there will be anyone to buy. Everyone must be saving their money to buy potions from the plague doctors.”
Potions were not cheap.
One might ask why sothing made by street-side sorcerers with their own knowledge and street smarts would be expensive.
But to the sick and their families, a potion was a miracle drug that might save them.
The price was whatever the plague doctors nad, and the common people had to buy the potions, crying as they swallowed the bitter pill.
Even if it might just be stream water with a bit of coloring.
So even though they wouldn't easily part with the spare money they had saved, the rchant troupe began to unpack their goods.
“Huh. They’re even setting up a temporary shop.”
Perhaps they had already spoken with the village chief.
The chief, who had to save his son even for a small amount of money, would have readily accepted.
The horses were unhitched from the carriages, and the tarps stacked on top were unfurled and stretched taut.
It seed they would soon beco a roof and the carriages would beco display stands, but.
“…What is it?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I thought they were setting up a shop, but they’re pitching a large tent in the village square.”
“What are they trying to do? The Plague Demon will pass through the village soon.”
“Did the Maxman rchant Troupe start a potion business? I’d rather they did. At least there wouldn't be any swindlers.”
The credit of the Maxman rchant Troupe was well-spread throughout the east.
He was a man who sold his soul for money, but he didn't sell the souls of others.
At least, that was the public perception.
“But the plague doctors’ potions are goods from the ‘Physicians' Council’. If another rchant troupe ddles, will they just stand by?”
“Haa… Those irresponsible fools. Charlatans are walking around openly wearing their masks, yet they don’t have the slightest thought of cracking down on them.”
While ryl and Eron worried about the future to co.
The Maxman rchant Troupe finished setting up the mobile giant tent.
For its ti in the village, its na was the ‘Temporary Clinic’.
The rchant who had driven the carriage cleared his throat.
Clap clap─!
He clapped his hands to draw the attention of the gathered people and shouted in a loud voice.
“Everyone, listen up! We are rchants dispatched from the Maxman rchant Troupe, and this is!”
He took out a fist-sized bottle from a box he had placed beside him.
A square glass bottle with a sloshing purple liquid.
“A miracle cure of the age that makes the Plague Demon avoid you the mont you drink it! This is the Vaccine!”
Another dicine peddler had arrived.
***
Marvin continued his report before his superior, Jubel, and his superior's business partner, the Youngest Son.
“From the bustling streets of the east to the remote villages. We have finished setting up clinics in all the locations marked on the map.”
“How is the custor response?”
“About that…”
The answer ca from the Youngest Son’s mouth instead.
“It won’t be good.”
Marvin silently nodded in affirmation.
“Although we are pushing forward with our credibility, the plague doctors and the Physicians' Council have driven the perception of plague cures to rock bottom.”
A couple of copper coins rolled in Jubel’s hand.
Marvin continued.
“It’s not as good as we thought. Profits are being generated in the remote areas, but we lack the strength in the cities and well-known villages that should be our main focus.”
“Isn’t that what we already expected? If we succeed in just one of the big villages, people's reactions will change significantly, won't they?”
“The problem is that those big villages aren't even giving our clinics a second glance.”
“The reason?”
“According to what our staff in each village have found out, it seems the Physicians' Council has already made the first move in the big villages.”
“…Those bastards?”
“That's right. For so reason, it's not just any plague doctors, but people sent directly from the Physicians' Council who have set up shop.”
It wasn’t just that they had set up shop.
“They used the managers of the territories to spread malicious rumors about our Vaccine, and it has spread to the level of grotesque tales.”
Things like if you drink it, you’ll lose one of your facial features.
Or that all the volunteers from the Dusk Citadel who drank it are now buried in the cetery.
Even ridiculous stories about turning into a donkey the mont you drink it.
“With the Plague Demon right at their doorstep, the faint-hearted residents lost interest in the Vaccine, especially after the Physicians' Council even lowered the price of their potions.”
The Youngest Son’s tightly shut mouth opened.
“The commotion that occurred while suppressing the Balum family. And the council mbers, whose mouths beca loose because they weren’t paid off, spread information about the factory.”
“Are you saying that the Physicians' Council figured out our plan after hearing about the herbs and poison herbs?”
To Marvin’s question, he added.
“They probably didn't figure it out completely. If they were that creative, would they have clung to a single potion for two hundred years?”
“Then you an they heard the information and got a sense that we were planning to launch a business related to the Plague Demon.”
“The image of the Maxman rchant Troupe, which doesn't shy away from any profitable business, also played a part.”
“Hahaha. I'm embarrassed.”
Did he think it was a complint, or was he genuinely embarrassed?
In any case.
“Even if the Physicians' Council launches a sar campaign against the Vaccine first, there’s no need for us to get into a mud fight with them.”
“In that case…?”
Marvin and Jubel silently closed their mouths and listened to his opinion.
The expectations from the seasoned rchants were burdenso, but this was enough to et those expectations.
“Promotion that surpasses even sabotage. And continuous advertising will solve the problem.”
The copper coin that had been rolling in Jubel’s hand stopped.
Once again, he had caught up with his vision.
He imdiately ordered the necessary things from Marvin.
“Marvin. Hire as many minstrels, street-performing clowns, circus troupes, and theater troupes as you can.”
“Why are you suddenly looking for them?”
“Questions later. Even as we speak, there will be villages touched by the Plague Demon. We just need to set the the for them.”
Only then did Marvin slap his knee.
“I’ll get on it right away!”
He scurried away.
Following that, the Youngest Son also rose from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to think of a way to keep the Physicians' Council in check.”
“Thank you for just the thought. Then I'll see you again later.”
The airship Mariella.
The Youngest Son fell from its deck.
By now, the sky was as familiar as the ground.
The wind brushing past my dark purple hair.
It was fierce enough to bring tears to my eyes, but there was no feeling as liberating.
The body, frolicking freely with the sky as its stage, soon rode the Griffin to its destination.
***
The office of the D-District Stationmaster.
The Stationmaster turned deathly pale the mont he saw the face of soone who had entered his room.
A complexion as if he had encountered a ghost.
The Youngest Son smiled gently from under his sunglasses.
“Edwin Hacid, Stationmaster of D-District. How is your first day of promotion?”
The Youngest Son asked nonchalantly.
It was a story that was hard to believe even as I heard it, but it was true.
Edwin Hacid. Just yesterday, he was a Branch Manager; today, he beca the Stationmaster.
He had pushed aside the superior he hated to see and placed the colleagues he had been busy fighting for position under his feet.
The Youngest Son, who had promised sothing difficult to even dream of, had really made the promise co true.
As it was an unprecedentedly rapid promotion, every day felt like walking on a single-log bridge.
“Not good. I feel like an assassination request against will co in as early as tomorrow.”
Since this place was the Dusk Citadel, it was likely not re exaggeration.
Of course, it was soone else’s problem.
“That too is the weight of the crown. A man of your caliber should be able to bear it.”
“Haa…. What brings you all the way here?”
“It's nothing special.”
There was a matter that could only be handled quickly by soone of a Stationmaster’s rank.
Although he had obtained the Stationmaster position thanks to Jubel’s influence established in the Citadel, there were things only an insider could do.
“As far as I know, there’s a council mber who has deep ties with the Physicians' Council.”
At this point, Edwin couldn't help but be suspicious.
“Do you have an information guild operating in the Citadel or sothing?”
“Of course not. I'm the Fifth Son.”
It didn't feel like the right way to use that phrase, but it was explanation enough.
“I’m just doing all sorts of things to earn so money. Just like ordinary people.”
“…Ordinary people look for a job, they don’t go around digging into the backgrounds of council mbers.”
“I said ‘like’ ordinary people, not that I am ordinary. So, is it true?”
“There’s nothing more cautious than telling you that a rumor floating around in a pub is true.”
It wasn’t like I asked to confirm it anyway.
Because this information was true.
In the remote areas where the hands of the Physicians' Council couldn't reach, the great rchant was selling the Vaccine well.
At first, the slight illness it caused raised a lot of suspicion, but there were no cases of those villages being invaded by the Plague Demon.
From then on, the Vaccine sold like hotcakes, but the amount wasn't satisfactory.
Even if its popularity was high, it was ultimately because there were few people.
Being a remote area, it was also difficult for rumors to spread to the city.
Therefore, I decided to maximize the promotional effect, but a direct solution was also necessary.
As I stared at Edwin, his mouth, overco with anxiety, opened first.
“…Why are you looking at like that?”
“I know that when a new Stationmaster is appointed, the council mbers gather to award a new badge. And I also know that celebration is coming up soon.”
“Don’t tell …”
Don't-tell- succeeded in getting soone in trouble this ti too.
“I’ll have to accompany you to that event.”
That place where all sorts of politicians with devil's tongues engage in trickery.
It was just perfect.
Because trickery and scheming were my main specialty.
It was the Youngest Son’s (unofficial) debut into high society.
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