While the many officials of Blackwater City were making all kinds of guesses, Richard was busily traveling across Shalin.
It was no small undertaking.
Shalin covered a fairly large area. It lay at the northernmost edge of the former Xika Kingdom, bordering the barren Northern Wastes, and was a relatively long, narrow region.
The reason this place was called Shalin was connected to a small kingdom that had perished.
Richard had heard Sherlock tell the story of that small kingdom while he was on the East Coast. Recently, he had learned more details:
The small kingdom was called Shalin. Located in the gap between Xika and the Northern Wastes, its land was barren, rainfall scarce, and local products few. It was therefore extremely poor, with a total population of only a little over a hundred thousand.
Its King might have been called the ruler of a nation, but he actually governed fewer people than the City Lord of a medium-sized city in either the Soma Alliance or the Xika Kingdom.
For that reason, the Xika Kingdom had little interest in annexing it, allowing the small kingdom of Shalin to survive for many years.
Unfortunately, while the Xika Kingdom had no intention of annexing it, Shalin was struck by a natural disaster of its own. Several years ago, an epidemic inexplicably broke out.
The epidemic spread incredibly fast. Within only a few days, more than ten thousand people had been infected. Blisters broke out all over the infected people's bodies, causing unbearable itching. They could not help scratching until the blisters burst and oozed disgusting pus. It was not fatal, but the suffering was unbearable.
Moreover, the Shalin King's favorite daughter—the Shalin princess—had also contracted the epidemic.
The King could ignore the suffering of commoners, but not his own daughter. To