By the time Ivan reached the contaminated border towns, their gates had already been sealed from within.
The main road leading into town had been divided into two sections.
At the outermost perimeter stood Caltrops and wooden barriers hastily erected by the Kingdom garrison. Several merchant wagons stood on either side of the road, their drivers and escorts driven onto an open patch of ground far from the town gates.
Local Holy Temple Clerics and knights guarded the area, while anyone who had entered the town was held in several temporary tents nearby.
As soon as the Daming Lake Mobile Regiment appeared at the end of the road, the garrison sent men to meet them.
But the first to reach them was an old man in a Bishop's robes.
He was Bishop Rosal, an elderly Cleric who had served in this region for more than twenty years.
Bishop Rosal did not even give Ivan time to dismount. He approached his horse and immediately began, "My lord, the plague has spread. Eleven people died last night, and another seven died before dawn today.
"The earliest corpses have begun twitching. Their reactions grow stronger when the sacred flame comes near."
Mud stained the hem of his white sacred robes, and dark red marks still lingered on his cuffs. Together with the exhaustion on his face, they made it clear he had gone several days without rest.
Ivan asked, "Where are the bodies?"
"In the outermost isolation storehouse. Following the regulations previously sent by the Governor's Mansion, we haven't brought them into the Main Holy Temple.
"We've also separated suspected cases from confirmed patients. Anyone who came into contact with them is being kept in the observation area."
Ivan nodded. "Take me there first."
Only then did the local officers following Rosal step