Chapter 122
After receiving a letter from the second prince Nitaya, Cyrus was glad she had the foresight to create a booklet that was ostensibly an instruction manual for the medicine, but was actually about taking precautions to prevent the illness, and then presented it to the envoy from the Yami Kingdom.
He hoped that the second prince of the Yami Kingdom would pay close attention and take the booklet seriously.
Even if he's overthinking it, there won't be an epidemic in the Yami Kingdom.
However, having this booklet can also help them learn about the latest drug usage methods, etc.
But as it turned out, Cyrus were not unnecessary—an epidemic had indeed broken out in the Yami Kingdom.
According to the description given in the letter by Prince Nitaya of the Yami Kingdom, many people experienced symptoms such as fever, chest pain, swelling from below the ears to the side of the neck, subcutaneous congestion, and sometimes severe coughing and difficulty breathing...
Nitaya wrote down in detail the symptoms experienced by almost everyone in the letter, and also described their condition after taking the medication in the preceding period...
Cyrus was able to confirm that the symptoms of this widespread infection were indicative of an epidemic.
Based on the description in the letter, he further speculated that the epidemic in the Yami Kingdom was very likely the Black Death.
Cyrus began replying to the letter the moment she received it, without wasting a single second.
In his letter, he explained the possibility of this being an infectious disease and stressed the need to be vigilant in isolating patients, providing timely treatment, and following the protective measures outlined in the booklet.
If needed, the Desinia Territory can provide them with herbal medicines...
After the letter was written, it was immediately delivered to the Yami Kingdom by Qing Tuan. The days passed from night to day and then to evening.
Finally, after Qing Tuan flew back, Cyrus opened the letter to read it—the epidemic in the Yami Kingdom had already broken out.
However, they happened almost simultaneously.
"Chirp."
Qing Tuan tilted its head, its bluish-gold eyes reflecting Cyrus's worried and concerned expression.
It lowered its head and nuzzled against her, the soft feathers brushing against Cyrus's hair, successfully bringing her back to her senses. She read the letter twice more to confirm its contents.
Cyrus sighed softly, stroking the Qing Tuan standing on the wooden bird stand as she pondered.
In his letter, the second prince Nitaya, wrote about his helplessness.
The king was only concerned with his own pleasure and did not value this matter.
The eldest prince, however, was completely indifferent to the disease outbreak in the capital and scoffed at his suggestions, further stripping him of his power...
There's not much Nitaya can do; for now, all she can do is keep her own people in check...
After receiving Cyrus's reply, he sent his servant, dressed in full protective gear, to conduct a thorough and comprehensive inspection of the city.
The servant's return report was filled with fear and dread.
The anxiety and unease of the second prince Nitaya, seemed to emanate from through the thin paper, making one feel it deeply.
In his letter, he wrote that almost overnight, the city of the Yami Kingdom was as if shrouded by a giant, dark hand of the devil, with homeless beggars dying one after another.
Their bodies were scattered everywhere on the streets; emaciated, with festering skin and blackish-purple spots, their deaths were gruesome...
The knights patrolling the city didn't want to touch them, so they organized some idle thugs to drag the stinking corpses outside the city and dump them there...
at the same time.
Three more members of the royal family who had previously fallen ill have died.
The servants, attendants, and doctors who cared for them also began to experience the same symptoms of vomiting and weakness.
[Honestly, I've been using this app to follow my favorite books lately. It has multiple reading sources, various voice options, and works on both Android Apple.]
Nitaya's investigative methods were limited.
But the fact that nearly half of the people in front of him were sick made him absolutely certain that what Cyrus had written in the letter might be an "infectious disease".
All he could do was burn the bodies and isolate the patients as much as possible...
The Yami Kingdom.
After Nitaya sent her servant to inspect the situation in the city, she immediately wrote a letter. Then the majestic and beautiful snow-white bird flew away and quickly disappeared from the horizon.
Yotun anxiously brought over a bowl of freshly brewed medicine and placed it on the table. The steam was still rising, and the room was instantly filled with a bitter smell.
Nitaya turned away, coughed a few times, and told Yotun to leave.
He said, "That servant who scouted the city earlier... cough cough, you, Yotun, you ordered him to wash his hands and body, and even the clothes he had worn..."
Nitaya gave the instructions one by one, according to what was written in the booklet.
Yotun nodded, and after going outside, he found the servant and gave him some instructions.
The servant outwardly responded to each of their questions.
However, after Yotun left, he secretly wondered if the second prince was so ill that he had lost his mind. It was just a short trip; was it really necessary to clean everything so thoroughly?!
The servant didn't take it seriously, and naturally didn't do as instructed in secret; he simply washed his hands.
He then went on to tell others about the astonishing sight of the dead bodies he had seen in the city that day—after winter, many more poor people in the city had died.
He clearly thought these people wouldn't survive the cold weather.
Nitaya locked herself in her room and avoided contact with others.
That evening, Light Green returned, bringing with him some bad news.
He stood outside the door and said, "The patrolling knights of the royal city are preventing us from burning corpses outside the city walls, and they won't allow our men to enter the church..."
"Furthermore, your application to the King for street cleaning was intercepted by the Crown Prince's men, who also forbade us from entering the palace..."
Light couldn't help but feel conflicted.
The second prince, Nitaya, was decisive enough that upon receiving the letter again, he asked him to cremate the body of the man who had died from illness.
The corpses were clearly dead; they had all been dragged outside the city and piled up together, requiring only a fire to extinguish them.
He then went into the church and informed the pastor and others about the matter.
Nitaya hopes this matter will draw the attention of the Holy See.
It would be best to use the words of bishops or priests to admonish the common people and slaves, and even the nobles and royalty.
Finally, Nitaya sent someone to deliver the documents to the royal palace.
He hoped the king would send knights to clean the streets and kill the rats and burn them along with the garbage—a suggestion that the Lord of Desinia emphasized in his reply.
Although Nitaya was puzzled, her intuition told her that doing so was the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, he failed to accomplish any of the three things he wanted to do.
Nitaya, who was staring blankly at the open booklet on the table, clenched her fists upon hearing this and said in a hoarse voice, "Why...?"
He actually understood why, but wanted to hear Light say it himself.
Light: "The Crown Prince has sent people to keep a close eye on us. He won't allow you to interfere in any affairs of the capital, not even the smallest things..."
Nitaya's voice came through broken, labored coughs. "Cough cough... Even if, even if all I wanted to do was burn the corpses outside the city."
"This won't work either?!"
Light sighed, "He'll think you have ulterior motives for doing this... The eldest prince is too narrow-minded."
"Furthermore, the church has always supported the next king and will crown him..."
"Now that the old king is old, your choice to contact the church at this time will only make the eldest prince more wary."
The door was half open, and Nitaya wouldn't let him in, so Light could only stand in the doorway and talk.
He noticed Nitaya's flushed, sickly face, now revealing an overwhelming weariness, and a sense of despondency and dazedness that came with having no other recourse.
Nitaya even muttered to herself, "Light, do you think it's because I'm sick that I'm overthinking things, and that I actually believe the illness is very serious..."
It's so serious that many people will die... no, many people have already died.
But will even more people really die?!
What will the Yami Kingdom become as a result?!
Nitaya suddenly felt a fear emanating from within, causing him to tremble uncontrollably, his vision to blur, and a dull pain to grip his chest.
"Nitaya!"
Light's eyes narrowed, and he rushed into the room to catch the person who was about to fall off the chair...
Prince Nitaya collapsed and remained unconscious for three whole days.
Over the next three days, people began to die one after another in the capital city of the Yami Kingdom palace.
With the king falling ill and the eldest prince Kuntat taking over the administration, he took advantage of Nitaya's illness to intensify his suppression, prohibiting Light, Yotun, and other members of the second prince's household from entering the city...
Because the eldest prince Kuntat believed that the source of the disease in the Yami Kingdom was Nitaya —he was the first to fall ill, which led to the spread of the disease.
People were dying every day, and even the eldest prince was afraid. Finally, thick smoke rose from the place outside the city where the corpses were piled up.
But that's all.
The pamphlet written by Cyrus is in Nitaya's possession, while Nitaya remains unconscious.
His residence was then sealed off by the eldest prince's men, preventing any communication from getting through, which exacerbated the situation, leaving Light and the others helpless.
Crown Prince Kuntat devised another plan.
He ordered the knights to kill those in the city who had contracted the disease, ostensibly to relieve their suffering, but in reality to cut off the transmission route of the disease.
--This order received the approval of the royal family, and the nobles had no objections.
Thus began a massacre of civilians and slaves.
Some people don't want to die, so of course they'll try to escape.
The news reached the second prince's residence.
Looking at the unconscious Nitaya, Light said to Yotun, "We must get the second prince out of here."
This "fire" will likely soon reach Nitaya. As someone who also suffers from the disease, Nitaya's situation is even more dangerous, especially since her current residence is no longer safe.
--Light had just killed a servant who was infected with a disease and tried to steal the medicine.
Yotun, completely wrapped up with half his face covered, asked in a muffled voice, "Which way do we go?"
Light pondered.
That night, a fire broke out at the second prince's residence. Taking advantage of the chaos, the two princes, along with several loyal knights, carried Nitaya, who was fully wrapped up, and fled the capital of the Yami Kingdom.
At this moment, Cyrus was instructing the Thorn Merchant Guild to print a batch of pamphlets containing the latest drug usage instructions (note the precautions against disease).
Orville, Archibald, and King Gena Kozmo of the Bovell Kingdom Cyrus, who had set off after Cyrus left the Vodka Saint Airo Empire, finally arrived in the Desinia Territory.