"Marino, don't be afraid! The Lord shelters us!"
The mountain wind blew past. The old knight Lorenzo's expression was solemn, his beard and hair bristling. He reached out and gripped his squire Marino's hand hard, lending him courage as he asked in a deep voice.
"Tell me, what exactly are the symptoms of that plague?!"
"Ah! It's demonic possession!!"
Marino finally mustered his courage and cried out in terror. Only after a long while did he manage to calm himself a little, then describe it carefully, still somewhat afraid.
"I heard some people say that, at the start, the symptoms of this plague are fever all over the body, with masses of red spots growing on the arms, back, and chest. But after one or two days of illness, the people who catch it become like they're possessed by demons. They scream and shout wildly, scratching all over their bodies! In the end, their whole bodies turn gangrenous, their muscles rot, and they die..."
"Yes! Yes! At night, I once went near the sealed-off camp, and I heard all kinds of terrifying screams, just like demons!"
Hearing this, another squire, Marco, could not help speaking as well, his voice even trembling a little.
"Lord above! Those pained and mad voices were simply like something rising out of hell!"
"Yes, yes! As the Lord is my witness, after that night, they started burning people the next day! They burned so many. The smoke was so thick!"
"This is a demon's curse, a new Black Death!"
Panicked, jumbled echoes came from the mouths of the other squires, draping this unknown plague in yet another layer of mysterious terror. These squires present were all veterans of a hundred battles. Even when facing several times their number of infidels, even when facing the bombardment