Episode 244 – I will go to Raftan myself.
Logan’s remarks had a huge impact.
At the temple, a meeting of bishops was immediately convened and it was decided to dispatch 120 priests, including the existing 18 priests.
Among them were 20 high-ranking priests and even Ilia, bishop of Amunda, the god of the sea and change.
The reaction was completely different from before Logan visited.
Of course, the value of the promised donation of 10 million gold would have played a significant role in the process.
However, the public thought that the king’s statement that he would personally go to the territory where the plague occurred played the biggest role.
Even the royal family was in an uproar.
“Your Majesty! What do you mean? You are going to a territory where there is a plague!”
Dwayne’s eyes rolled back.
Logan, who had expected him to bring up the topic of donations first, smiled and patted his shoulder, grateful for his concern.
“Are you worried about me, a superhuman? It’s a useless worry, Dwayne.”
“What kind of disease do superhumans avoid!? Nothing has been properly revealed about the plague!”
“No superhuman has died from the plague.”
“So you want to be the first!”
“If I go in person, both the nobles and the temple will have no choice but to show at least a minimum of sincerity. And the work will definitely be processed faster. This is the best for early suppression of the plague.”
Although he said it out of anger to put pressure on Shinjeon, Logan knew right after he said it that it was for the best.
Of course, the thoughts of those around me were different.
“Your Majesty. Is it really necessary for you to go in person? I would rather go instead of you. Then, the effect you thought would be similar…”
The teacher also got a blood clot in his neck for the first time in a long time.
[We will gather the resources of McLane Territory to provide support. Is there any need for the king to go in person?]
Far away, the father of the McLane estate also anxiously asked about my well-being.
“Why do you have to… If that’s the case, I’ll go with you.”
Eilen, who said she would go with him, was barely able to get away in the name of training for the royal army.
While Logan was comforting his associates.
Preparations for the plague relief team to depart from the capital were completed in an instant, and its scale was much larger than expected.
“Is it really His Majesty himself…?”
“Look, it’s real.”
“How could such a precious person be in such a dangerous place…”
Buzz.
Residents of the capital, who heard rumors that the king was personally visiting the territory where the plague had spread, gathered to watch the king’s procession.
The residents who had gathered at first thinking ‘Oh no way’ soon watched the procession with bated breath as the king wearing a crown and knights holding high flaming banners appeared.
Logan, who looked behind the parade while receiving the attention of the residents, bit his lip as he saw the size of the long-awaited relief team.
‘This is enough.’
120 priests, 300 healers, 200 knights, and over 1,000 soldiers.
The training of the royal guard had not yet been properly completed, and the elites of McLane and Esperanza, who had been dispatched to the capital, came together to protect the king.
And as the wagons of enormous amounts of food, daily necessities, and medicinal herbs that they brought with them lined up, it became a large-scale procession that continued endlessly from inside the inner city to the outer city gate.
Logan was assessing the quantity and making up his mind, but as if he suddenly remembered something, he asked Dwayne who came out to meet him.
“Did we have the capacity to cut out this much food in the current situation?”
“I took it out of the prepared rations. But don’t worry. It will be replaced soon. I instructed Philip to buy food with ‘that’ that I had some spare.”
Looking at the shadows under Dwayne’s eyes that had become darker over the past few days, Logan couldn’t help but pat him on the shoulder with a sad smile.
and.
“Go!”
The relief team, which was larger than expected, departed for the Raftan territory in the southeast with a tight schedule.
* * * A field under a night sky without much starlight, perhaps because it was an unusually cloudy day.
Grumbling.
Bonfires began to burn here and there in the long line of people.
At the center of the procession, Logan approached an elegant blue carriage decorated with waves.
“Your Majesty?”
“Is there Bishop Ilya?”
“Goodbye!”
A soldier belonging to the temple rushed over, and not long after, a silver-haired woman wearing a blue robe opened the carriage door and came out.
A face whose age is difficult to guess. Although he looked like a young man at first glance, he was wearing a magistrate’s crown symbolizing the head of a local parish.
“Did you find it, Your Majesty?”
“Nice to meet you, Bishop Ilia. I was busy during the day, so I couldn’t even say hello properly.”
“I know that Hansi is in an urgent situation, so how can I discuss nonsense? Thank you for coming to greet me like this. But I don’t think you came to say that.”
“Actually, I came because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Your Majesty has come to visit you in person, so how could you refuse? Please feel free to tell me. I will answer anything I know.”
Logan’s eyes filled with anticipation as he looked at Bishop Ilya, who bowed his head in a polite manner.
‘If this person…’
She was famous for becoming the youngest bishop in the Diocese of Grandia, or now McLane.
The bishop is known to be knowledgeable about the doctrine of the temple, strong in divine power, and even wise.
and.
‘The only bishop who sometimes does volunteer work in the slums.’
Of the nine bishops currently in McLane, the only one whose name the people of the slums knew was Ilia, who was also called a saint by them.
If she were like that, wouldn’t she be able to relieve some of her frustration right now?
Logan nodded with such anticipation.
“If not you, I don’t think there’s anyone who can answer my questions right now.”
At Logan’s assertion, Ilya nodded with her blue eyes shining.
“I would be honored if I could be of help to you, Your Majesty. What are you curious about?”
“I want to ask about the cause of this plague, or rather this plague.”
Something that never happened in my previous life.
But it happened at this moment.
More than anything, Logan was curious about the reason.
I came here because I wanted to know the cause of a temple that cures all diseases, especially if you are a bishop.
However, the bishop’s reaction was a little strange.
“Ah…”
“Is this a difficult question?”
“No, your Majesty.”
Contrary to what he said, Ilya looked a bit perplexed and immediately winked at the knights standing behind him.
Temple knights who rarely appear outside the temple during normal times.
The temple’s elite, who had followed along to assist the bishop’s journey, obediently disappeared beyond the carriage with a glance from her.
“Why are the knights…?”
“It could be a sensitive topic, so I reduced my listening ears. If His Majesty is uncomfortable…”
“Oh, no, just say it.”
Even priests who serve the same god may have different interpretations of doctrine, so it is a measure to avoid touching sensitive areas. Logan nodded obediently to Illya’s explanation.
but.
“The prevailing opinion in the temple is that it is a trial given by the gods, Your Majesty.”
The answer after that was quite unpleasant.
“…test?”
“Yes. As you know, all diseases can be cured by divine power. So, it means that it is for unbelievers to undergo trials, receive healing through divine miracles, and strengthen their faith.”
“But most of those infected with the plague are believers of the Nine Great Gods, right?”
“The temple’s official position is that such people lack faith.”
This is a story that Logan has heard at least once.
But since it wasn’t an understandable sound, I couldn’t help but have a distorted expression.
“…That’s nonsense.”
“Yes that’s right.”
hmm?
The person in question who gave me an answer that seemed like nonsense and did not like it nodded calmly.
“Are you saying your thoughts are different?”
“…Before I tell you what I think, let me first tell you that this is entirely my personal opinion. And if word spreads that these words came out of my mouth, I will deny that I ever did that. Is that okay, Your Majesty?”
It was a sound that made me even more curious as to what he was trying to say by opening up such a premise.
“…Of course.”
In response, Ilya took a deep breath and opened her mouth with a bitter expression.
“It is my opinion that there cannot and should not be a trial of God killing his subjects.”
The moment she said those words, Ilia’s expression was stern, and only then did Logan understand why she had bitten the temple knights.
“Then what do you think is the reason for the outbreak?”
“Each one is different. Not all plagues are the same. However, after researching data from past temples, it seems that they have some things in common.”
“What do you have in common?”
“Other bishops in the temple might scoff, but if we were to analyze it solely based on the data, it is almost consistent with the opinions of the healer guild members over there.”
Where Ilya’s eyes were directed.
There, therapists were gathered in groups of twos and threes exchanging opinions.
‘It’s definitely surprising.’
Logan had also heard of the mainstream logic of the temple that Illya had mentioned.
– All diseases can be overcome with divine power, and diseases are an ordeal for non-believers.
Most people consider these words to be nonsense from well-connected priests.
Those therapists were the ones who directly contradicted the priests’ words by representing those feelings.
– Every disease has a cause and can be treated if the cause is known. Disease is not a trial given by God, but is just a part of nature.
As a result, the temple no longer officially recognized the Healer’s Guild.
Those who use folk remedies whose healing speed is much slower than divine power and whose limitations have no clear basis.
That was the temple’s official position on the Healer’s Guild.
Therefore, what struck me as even more unusual was Ilya in front of me.
“Does someone as big as a bishop recognize the healer’s guild?”
“…When the priests are lounging in the temple, they are the ones who heal the people with a small amount of money. If they are children of the right god, they have no choice but to admit it. As your Majesty knows, they are the ones who are more helpful to the people than the temple.”
These are truly unconventional words to say that they came from the mouth of a bishop.
“I understand that this is different from the temple’s official position.”
“That’s why I’m only telling you, Your Majesty.”
The sight of Ilya smiling bitterly was quite unexpected.
‘How did a priest like this rise to the position of bishop? ‘Is there a greater ability than rumored?’
However, Logan was more curious about the real cause of the plague than about the history of a bishop with unusual ideas.
“Then what do you and the healers think is the cause of the plague?”
“…There were many diseases that caused great harm to mankind, enough to be called plagues. However, most of the plagues had some things in common when they occurred.”
Ilya cut off the conversation with a small sigh, as if saying something contrary to the temple’s interpretation was a burden, and Logan quietly waited for her answer.
“The truth is that almost all epidemics started in remote mountain villages or slums in big cities, places where it was difficult to make a living.”
“What do you mean?”
“The two major outbreak locations have one thing in common. It means that hunger is rampant and hygiene is poor.”
“….”
“The established theory is that the plague called Festian, which once killed countless people in the western part of the continent, started when starving people caught and ate rats. Most epidemics begin with the poor who have been pushed to such extremes.”
Those words left a heavy burden on Logan’s mind.
Especially the word hunger.
“…They said this illness is similar to the plague of the past called Restavum. . Is there a certain treatment method?”
“There is no disease that has not been cured with divine power. Even if it is not cured for weak divine power, stronger divine power is sufficient. Therefore, diseases are not studied separately in the temple.”
“Then the healer’s guild…”
“If it was treated with a method other than divine power, it wouldn’t be called a plague.”
In the end, it means that there is no definite way to deal with it.
“Reflecting the question . I’m sorry for not being able to solve it for you, Your Majesty.”
Illya’s bitter expression quickly spread to Logan’s face.
‘Hunger… A plague caused by eating rats due to hunger.’
Although it is a little different from the current situation in the kingdom, Illya’s explanation dug deeper and deeper into Logan’s heart.
He collected excessive taxes to strengthen national defense.
As a result, the people of the territory starved.
This was the cause of the outbreak of a plague that had never existed before. I wonder.
Once the doubts arose in Logan’s head, they pierced his heart more and more painfully.
