episode_0100

Because the princess chose to join us rather than leave first, permission was granted quickly.

Messengers went back and forth quickly and a response was received within a day. The next morning, the village administrator came to me and said:

“The Baron says it’s okay to come in. However, he urged us to pay special attention to pestilence.”

“I will be careful.”

“There is one more thing that the Baron said exclusively to you.”

And a privilege was granted to me by the Baron.

This was permission for me to wear a sword and wear armor even though I was not a guard or one of his private soldiers.

It would be a disaster if something happened to the princess in her city, so it meant entrusting some of her protection to me.

During times of chaos, public order tends to deteriorate.

Whether it’s a challenge to authority or something else, there may be at least one person who goes crazy and takes sudden action without thinking about what happens next.

However, when humans have problems like this, there is a special medicine.

It’s my favorite sword, F-Five.

As for the name lightsaber mk.2, Licia honestly said that it was a bit old-fashioned, so unfortunately we decided to scrap it.

The reason for this naming has its own meaning. This is because this humility injector makes it possible to cure arrogant people with iron.

Anyway, once the Baron gave his consent, the party immediately finished preparing for departure.

But before that.

“Isn’t there something the bishop has to go and prepare first?”

“Yes. I am sorry for not being able to be with you until the end.”

“No. Thank you for your hard work, Bishop.”

“I pray that Your Majesty can be a ray of comfort to the poor people of this land. If you do, I will go first.”

The group split into two. One was the group with the princess, and the other was the group with Bishop Guiberto.

Although many of the attendants remained with the princess, some of the priests decided to return first with Guiberto.

We couldn’t expect good healing magic from them anyway, and Guiberto, who had the greatest magical achievements, also specialized in relics, so it wasn’t a big blow.

It could be seen as a relief to both Lisia and me since we were relieved of the worry of having our magic discovered.

Nevertheless, because she was curious, Lisia, who was easier to talk to than me, asked the princess.

“Your Majesty, may I know why the Bishop is leaving first?”

“There is a separate ceremony in the empire that needs to be prepared. It’s an event for my father’s victory, and we’ll attend later when we have time. It will definitely be a good spectacle.”

“Ah, I see what you mean.”

It was not difficult to find events where high-ranking priests gave blessings and prayed for victory to boost morale.

Bishop Guiberto was probably off for an event of that nature.

After answering, Heine turned to me and said.

“Then shall we leave too, sir?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

With those words, the group moved toward the city in the north.

*****

Quinine, a city we left in the morning and arrived a little after lunch.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the city was that it seemed to have a gloomy feel, like a black and white movie.

At the church where we went first, several people were already busy.

And, guided by a woman who noticed our approach, we were able to meet the priests who were concentrating on healing activities inside.

“I heard that you know the treatment method. Is that true?”

“Like all diseases, I cannot be sure, but I believe that God will help me and I will get better.”

“Compared to the overall result, it is not a great achievement, but fortunately, some things are better. Would you like to take a look?”

As I nodded, three people in old clothes walked out of the room on the other side.

All of them had puffy eyelids and were slightly skinny, but they did not cough.

“Are these patients in remission?”

“Yes. My condition has clearly improved. What should I do?”

“Before that, the first thing to find out is what medicine did you take to overcome your illness? Of course I heard it, but I wanted to make sure.”

“Last week, I wrapped the lead in willow bark and ate it.”

“I mixed mercury with ground herbs to make a pill.”

Hehe, monster.

Get out of our room.

“Let’s collect these separately just in case. Isn’t this something that could happen again later?”

“Of course, if we want to completely overcome the plague, we need to do it thoroughly. I understand.”

With a gesture from the priest, potential patients trudged back to their quarantine homes.

At first glance, he seemed to be in a down mood, but I guess that was due to the fear that he might have to draw blood again.

The next place I went to was the dispensary.

In fact, since this church did not specialize in healing, there was no place that could be called a dispensary, so it was a room created by completely destroying Deacon Amon’s home.

And I witnessed something scary in this dispensary.

Those are the people who swallowed so much heavy metal that it soldered their stomachs and then got up as if nothing had happened… This is true, but there was one more scary fact.

The fact is that all of these actions originated from pure good intentions.

“Can you tell me what efforts you have made so far?”

“Medicines were given generously. If not now, when would you use it? The more you save, the more you become greedy, so our church mobilized all its capabilities and did what it could.”

Couldn’t you have been a little greedier?

I struggled to swallow the words that automatically rose up in my throat.

Although it is a church that also functions as a hospital, it is difficult to cast proper healing magic unless it is a trauma.

Therefore, the next best solution that has emerged is to prescribe medication. It would have been better if the medicine was the right one.

Although herbs can be grown, heavy metals cannot be grown in the garden in front of the house. Naturally, the burden that had to be borne was high.

Although the amount of heavy metals needed to be distributed to everyone was not the size of a fingernail, the fact that it is being distributed anyway shows the will to solve the problem.

It is not uncommon for churches and cities to take a direct stance like this, although it is not uncommon for the event to end with a prayer to repel God’s wrath.

I do not want to disparage this effort, which had good intentions. So I didn’t have to say anything harsh to the young priest in front of me.

“I heard that there is not much improvement. Is that still true?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well, now is the time to try a new method.”

We must be wary of falling into the arrogant pride that we are better than our opponents.

In my experience, it was rare for someone with such arrogant thoughts to actually be knowledgeable.

The reason why I have not gone around claiming that I will bring the light of modern times to the foolish and conceited medieval people is simple.

Because modern people are not much better than other people of this era, and I know that myself.

The first battlefield I entered, the first wound I received, and the first day I spent alone in the forest left me with these unforgettable lessons that I still remember to this day.

It is a valuable experience that has helped me survive until now.

Even if they do not have modern cutting-edge measuring instruments, the people of this medieval fantasy world also have knowledge learned through their struggle for survival.

There is absolutely no advantage as a modern person when it comes to how to spend a day in the forest, the laws and regulations that vary from city to city, and the common sense that is widely spread among the people.

Even how to fight as a knight, which allows me to earn a living now, is knowledge I did not have in my previous life.

The fact that I was an electric engineer officially ordained by the Human Resources Development Service in my previous life does not help me at all in wielding a sword.

“Do you not add arsenic?”

“Why?”

“That’s right, isn’t it to remove body fluids from patients?”

“Usually it would be like that. However, this treatment method is a little different in nature, so let’s use herbs.”

“You mean herbs?”

However, I decided that there was no problem with showing off a bit in front of heavy metal.

If we don’t do something about this, which is a corpse except for romance, it would be just neglect.

The engine of the consciousness of the chosen people, thought to have died a long time ago, finally began to beat.

And the cries of this old machine came straight out of my mouth.

“Ah, you don’t know. This is called ‘alchemy’.”

“I know alchemy, but this is my first time seeing a recipe like this. It seems like they do it in the south of Alpine! Thanks to you, I gained new knowledge.”

Of course, I don’t know what the appropriate medicine is or even what the name of the disease is.

Maybe it would be impossible to make it with the technology that still exists in the world.

However, an irrational being free from all these restrictions was with me.

Therefore, what I had to do was to apply the common sense of modern people for the first time in a long time.

Because it was far from my major, I do not have a deep understanding of modern medicine.

However, based on common sense, we know that it is good to eat well and receive sufficient nutrients.

“Isn’t it just a stew? It smelled delicious just a moment ago.”

“It is definitely a medicinal material. It is true that I mixed vegetables and breadcrumbs in water and boiled them, but then added herbs, including sage and petoni.”

The stew is Bole’s special dish that I learned from Priest Pippin.

To be exact, it was something that was a stew. The thin porridge overflowing in the pot had the sweet scent of herbs, like most remedies of this era.

But really, a classic stew made with meat and sliced vegetables wouldn’t have been more than a hearty meal.

Although it may seem like an insult to cooking, it still had to be treated with herbs, no matter how tasty it was, to be treated as a cure.

The scent was subtle and not that delicious, but since I started by ignoring the taste, it was rich in nutrition.

Everyone thought that this was given as medicine, but it was given to encourage people to eat well and recover.

The real thing was next.

“Isn’t it because of our sins that this ordeal came upon us? We need to pray and ask for forgiveness, so please gather everyone.”