Mission: 053 Plague Bringer

Mission:05-3 Plague Bringer

A short while later, the two sides officially met in the ravaged forest.

"Looks like I guessed right."

The Heroic Spirit who came before Ritsuka wore a pitch-black, high-collared military dress uniform and a feathered soft cap. Her long purple hair was simply tied into a side ponytail, and a monocle rested over her left eye.

She removed her hat and saluted, the serpentine Golden Ring on her right index finger glittering. Then she continued, "First meeting, Master from Chaldea. I am the Archer-class Heroic Spirit, true name Hernán Cortés. I offer you my greetings."

Just as the information Mash had found indicated, this captain capable of spreading plague was none other than the "conqueror of the Aztec Empire." After the captain introduced herself, Mash's projection appeared beside Ritsuka and added, "According to the records, this captain once landed in Mexico with a small force of six hundred people, and quickly took control of several Indian Tribes along the coast.

"Then, with the help of those tribes, Cortés once forced Montezuma, ruler of the Aztecs, to attempt to treat her courteously and negotiate peace. But..."

The captain sighed and helplessly interrupted Mash. "In front of others, let's not talk about such inglorious history."

"Ah, sorry..." Mash adorably covered her own mouth.

However, that introduction just now was already enough to pique Ritsuka's interest. If she had not been in such a hurry to return to Rattvench Town, she would definitely have asked plenty of questions here.

It was worth mentioning that everyone present tacitly refrained from questioning the fact that this conqueror was Female... It seemed they had long since gotten used to this sort of thing.

"The situation is urgent right now, so I'll skip the small talk." Ritsuka was very direct. "Miss Hernán, you can control plague, right?"

Hernán frowned slightly and answered cautiously, "That is one of my Noble Phantasm's abilities. Why do you ask?"

"A plague is about to break out in a town not far from here. If possible, could I trouble you to try controlling it with your Noble Phantasm?"

Faced with Ritsuka's request, Hernán froze. After a brief instant, she nodded heavily. "I can."

"Then let's hurry. Demon Darling, lead the way. Doctor Giorgios—"

Ritsuka looked toward the Living Saint at her side and said, "It wasn't easy for us to get here. It'd be too much of a waste to just go straight back. Could I trouble you to investigate that cave over there? Don't go too deep. Just scout it out a little."

"Understood."

Doctor Giorgios turned with sword in hand, and after a few blinks, vanished near the cave. Ritsuka, meanwhile, set out on the road back together with Hernán, following Mephisto.

At the same time, this also meant that Ritsuka could finally relax a little and start chatting about gossip.

"Miss Conqueror, is it all right if I call you that?"

Hernán shook her head and said, "You should just call me Hernán. Conqueror and such... honestly, it's not a very honorable title."

Now this was an odd one. It was the first time Ritsuka had seen someone who felt their illustrious military achievements were something shameful.

"All right, Miss Hernán."

Ritsuka obligingly changed how she addressed her. At that moment, Mephisto, walking ahead of them, turned around, clasped both hands behind its head, and smiled while walking backward. "Oh? Do you not think those were years adorned with gold and glory?"

Its smile looked especially irritating.

"Of course I like gold, but compared to friendship and ideals, it's worthless."

Hearing Hernán's firm reply, the smile at the corner of Mephisto's mouth grew even more unrestrained. "Friendship and ideals... Would those Natives killed by the Smallpox you spread think the same?"

In that instant, the expression on Hernán's face gave an incredibly vivid interpretation of what it meant to have one's defenses broken. She gently bit her lip, her emerald eyes lowering, her brows trembling constantly, without saying a word.

Only a moment later did she let out a heavy sigh and say softly, "I very much want to tell you it was something I had no choice but to do, that it was my revenge for Montezuma. But... you're right."

Hernán laughed self-deprecatingly. "I never even managed to become friends with Montezuma. What right do I have to speak of avenging her?

"But one thing is true. The one who spread Smallpox was a god of the Aztecs. The god those Aztecs believed in brought down the plague... through my hands."

"Quetzalcoatl?"

Ritsuka thought of a certain deity she had once met in Ancient Babylon, and her gaze immediately fell on Hernán's finger. There was a golden ring there, shaped like a snake. A snake covered in feathers.

"You noticed."

Hernán did not hide it either. She openly raised her hand and displayed the ring. "This is the Golden Ring I obtained when I was young... when I first heard the legend of the Land of Gold, 'Eldorado.' As you can see, it represents the feathered serpent god worshiped by the Aztecs. It is my Noble Phantasm, and the epitome of my life."

In other words, the reason Hernán had gone to the American continent, the reason she could make the local Natives submit, and the reason Montezuma had treated her with courtesy... was all because of this ring?

Ritsuka's gaze left Hernán's hand and turned to her eyes. "Is its power only to control plague?"

"More than that. It can also control the weather in a small area, like the sea breeze I summoned earlier."

Quetzalcoatl, one of the deities worshiped by the Aztecs. In different legends, He bore various duties, such as God of Goodness, God of the Morning Star, Sun God, Rain God, God of Harvest, and God of Life and Death. And the ring in Hernán's hand possessed powers close to those domains.

Legend had it that this god of goodness was quite averse to human sacrifice. Because of that, the Aztecs believed the plague brought by Hernán, who had ordered them to stop human sacrifices, was Divine Punishment.

Since the power she used to spread plague came from this ring, from Quetzalcoatl's divinity as God of Life and Death, then with life and death as one, it should also be able to suppress plague and heal the sick, right?

It truly was aid in the nick of time.

"Then I'll leave the plague in town to you shortly."

"Since I've agreed, I will naturally do everything I can."

"But..." Ritsuka suddenly remembered something. "Is it all right that you left your ship on the shore? It's also your Noble Phantasm, right?"

"Perhaps it counts as one." Hernán smiled faintly and said, "But there's no helping leaving it there. It is an existence summoned into this Singularity together with me. After I came ashore, it could no longer continue sailing."

Mash's voice sounded at just the right time. "According to legend, after Captain Hernán led her force in landing in Mexico, in order to prevent the members under her command from developing thoughts of retreat, she immediately ordered the ships to be smashed and sunk."