As soon as Ghislain finished speaking, two men fell to the ground, crying out.
"W-we are innocent! We objected to all of this!"
"It was all the lord's orders!"
Unfortunately, Count Grafton was not the kind of man to earn loyalty. The head butler and the treasurer were ready to confess before they were even interrogated.
As Ghislain approached, the two men shouted again while still groveling.
"We know where it is!"
"It's not far from here!"
Hearing this, Count Grafton's face turned deathly pale, and he began to scream.
"You fools! Shut up! Keep your mouths shut!"
But it was already too late. The two men revealed everything they knew to Ghislain.
Count Grafton had secretly built an underground warehouse in a nearby village, where medicinal ingredients were stored. They had even set up production facilities to manufacture the medicine.
After hearing everything, Ghislain nodded.
"Gillian, take the troops and verify this place immediately. Use these two as guides."
"Understood."
Gillian moved out with the head butler and the treasurer. Even then, Count Grafton didn't stop struggling.
"Arrgh! What are you all doing! Attack them! The Northern Army is all outside the outer walls! Attack them now and prepare for war!"
At this point, he had nothing to lose. If he was going to lose everything anyway, there was no reason not to fight.
The knights and soldiers were supposed to follow Count Grafton's orders, but none dared to act. Even though more and more soldiers were gathering, they couldn't bring themselves to attack Ghislain.
'Fight Count Fenris, who's reached the level of a Master?'
'Isn't he one of the kingdom's strongest warriors?'
'Do you think we can win, even if we all charge at him?'
Sure, a Master was still human, so maybe overwhelming numbers could win. But who would be the first to charge? Whoever went first would undoubtedly lose their head.
Besides, the Northern Army's reputation had grown enormously from fighting the rifts. Fenris's forces were renowned as elite troops.
Even though only a few were here, there were still 80,000 Northern soldiers waiting outside. If they attacked, everyone in this place would be crushed in an instant.
Count Grafton was not a man who inspired loyalty. At best, the Knight Commander hesitated for a moment before stammering,
"W-we are simply upholding the kingdom's law, so perhaps we should wait for the results—"
"You fool! You call yourself my knight and dare say that? What results are you waiting for!"
The ridiculous situation made Ghislain chuckle before he sat back down.
Crossing his arms and closing his eyes, he muttered, "I really don't like doing things by force."
People didn't believe him, but as a former mercenary, Ghislain truly loved freedom.
It was just that the world, the era, and the circumstances kept pushing him into such situations. Truly, it wasn't his fault.
As Ghislain waited for Gillian, Count Grafton continued to scream.
"Kill him! Kill that bastard now! We should never have let them into the castle! If you provoke me, the other lords will stop you! Are you planning to go to war with all the kingdom's lords?"
He shouted all kinds of things, but no one listened, not even his own men.
If they had fought Ghislain from the start, they might have ridden the momentum into battle. But the atmosphere was already beyond repair. Now, no one could move.
After some time, Gillian returned to report.
"We've found it."
"How much is there?"
"We'll need to confirm the exact quantity, but at a glance, there are tens of thousands of bottles of medicine already produced, along with a considerable amount of medicinal ingredients."
"They've been hoarding a lot, haven't they?"
Ghislain smiled coldly as he stood up, turning his sharp gaze on Count Grafton.
"I hereby strip you of your title. Imprison him. The royal family will confiscate this territory, and it will later be granted to someone who earns merit."
Count Grafton's face turned ghostly pale. Where in the world was this kind of law?
This couldn't be happening. Without a single battle, he was losing his land.
The Northern Army soldiers bound him and forced him to his feet. Even then, Count Grafton kept screaming.
"Attack them now! What are you all doing! I said attack! This is absurd! I am the lord here! Not even the king can do this to me!"
The vassals and knights could only stand there, silent and hesitant.
Ghislain's actions might have been harsh, but the first to break the law was their lord.
After all, a lord's authority came with duties to the royal family and the people. It was Count Grafton who had failed in that duty first.
'Our lord really went too far, considering the chaos.'
'People are dying from the plague. Everyone's struggling just to hold back the rifts.'
'And wasn't it the Northern Army that has been handling the rifts? We're just lucky we avoided them.'
They rationalized the situation with such thoughts, unwilling to die for Count Grafton.
Instead, they worried about being dragged into this mess themselves.
Ghislain pointed to several of Count Grafton's knights and said,
"Go to the surrounding territories immediately and relay this news. Tell them to prepare while we distribute the medicine. Understand?"
"Understood!"
The places Ghislain mentioned were territories that had escaped the effects of the rift but were hoarding medicinal ingredients or refusing to cooperate.
Once they heard about this, they would likely cooperate willingly. The information had already been gathered, so playing dumb would be pointless.
If they resisted further, Ghislain would have no choice but to use force again. Right now, there is no time to be lenient.
Turning to Count Grafton's vassals, Ghislain spoke again.
"I will only hold the lord accountable for this crime. If I take you all as well, the territory will face further problems. Fenris administrators will oversee this place until a new lord is appointed. Cooperate fully."
"Understood."
What choice did they have? Count Grafton's vassals all bowed their heads.
As Ghislain turned, he spoke to Gillian.
"Once we've gathered the medicine, we need to find a fast way to distribute it. Start identifying the areas most affected by the plague."
He had set an example, and now it was time to act again.
***
The plague was spreading incredibly fast.
Many people had come into contact with soldiers who had fought the rifts. An even bigger issue was that some of those people kept moving around—merchants, messengers, adventurers, and mercenaries.
The plague spread much faster than the medicine could be distributed.
Even though Ghislain had prepared production facilities in advance, it hadn't been enough. The lords hadn't believed his warnings and were reluctant to take losses.
When the plague began spreading, they had started producing medicine, but cities were being abandoned one after another.
In those forsaken cities, people cried out in despair.
"Ugh… What is our lord even doing…"
"I heard there's medicine… Why won't they give it to us…"
"We've been abandoned… We've truly been abandoned…"
People who had been healthy collapsed under high fevers. Others avoided them, but the latent plague soon manifested in everyone.
The nobles and administrators had long since fled, spreading the disease to other territories.
Those cities were left to die.
Production ceased. Merchants stopped coming. The economy collapsed, and people starved.
Bodies began piling up in homes and streets.
Those who were still able wrapped their faces with cloth and tried to clear the bodies, but they too fell eventually.
Death shrouded the entire city.
Even despair required strength. These people didn't even have the energy to despair.
All they could do was die slowly.
"Mom…"
A girl placed her finger under her mother's nose as she lay in bed.
She was still alive. Her body was covered in red spots, and she was burning with fever, but faint breaths could still be felt.
'There's no food…'
The food had run out long ago. At this rate, starvation would claim them before the plague did.
The girl staggered to her feet.
'I have to find something to eat…'
In the city abandoned by the merchants and its lord, there was no food to be found.
So the girl ventured outside.
Her body was covered with red spots, and she had a fever, but she could still move.
'It's so cold…'
Even though the weather wasn't cold, she shivered uncontrollably. Her fever burned her body, yet the chills made it unbearable.
Still, the girl pressed on.
'Please, someone…'
She wished someone would help her, but everyone else could barely take care of themselves.
The fruit vendor who had always shouted cheerfully, the older girl at the general store who always greeted her with a smile, even the thugs who sometimes caused trouble on the streets—none of them were there.
They had all fallen ill.
The streets were silent. Garbage piled up, flies buzzed around, and in one corner, a decaying corpse lay.
'I have to get out of the city…'
Inside the city, there was nothing left to find. Everyone had collapsed, and everything was rotting.
She needed to go outside the city to hunt a small animal, if possible. It wasn't something she could normally do, but she had to try.
With hollow eyes, the girl focused only on that thought as she moved.
Leaving the city wasn't difficult. Even the soldiers had collapsed, and no one was guarding the gates.
'It's so cold…'
The girl wrapped her arms around herself, but the cold wouldn't go away.
Her head grew dizzy, and the world began to spin around her.
Thud.
The girl collapsed just outside the city gates, unable to walk far.
'Mom…'
She had heard that the lord and the nobles had medicine. Rumors said they would bring medicine and food soon if she just waited.
But no one came. No matter how long they waited, no one came to save them.
They had been abandoned.
"Ugh…"
The girl struggled to get up, but her body wouldn't obey.
She hadn't eaten for days, and the sickness made her body ache and her head spin.
'I have to get up…'
She was the only one who could save her mother. The girl tried with all her might, but she couldn't stand. Keeping her eyes open was all she could manage.
"Please…"
All she could do was pray to the gods in her despair.
'Please, someone…'
The girl screamed silently in her heart again and again until she finally closed her eyes.
Flutter.
At that moment, something warm wrapped around her body.
At the same time, something cool entered her mouth. It spread through her body in an instant, restoring her strength.
"Ah…"
The girl opened her eyes with great effort. She was wrapped in an expensive cloak and held in someone's arms.
"Wh-who…"
The girl's question was met with a calm response from the man.
"Ghislain Perdium, Lord of Fenris County and Commander of the Northern Army."
The girl didn't fully understand what he said. But the man holding her was different from the people in the city. His hair was smooth, his skin was clean, and his clothes were elegant.
And with so many titles after his name, he must have been a very important noble.
So the girl begged, "Please help… me…"
The man said nothing.
The girl pleaded again, her voice desperate.
"Please, help us… My mom… the people… they're dying…"
The man nodded and spoke softly.
"Don't worry."
His voice carried a confidence that he could solve any problem, no matter how difficult. There was even a hint of arrogance, as if nothing could trouble him.
But the girl couldn't shake her doubt completely.
Everyone was dying. Could this noble really save them all by himself?
Biting her lip, she clung tightly to the man's arm and begged,
"We've… been abandoned. No one came to save us. Please… send word… bring medicine and food…"
The man shook his head.
"No. You have not been abandoned. Look behind me."
The girl, her breath trembling, turned her head as she lay in his arms.
And the scene unfolding behind the man made her eyes widen in shock.
The horizon was filled with countless soldiers marching forward, flags fluttering in the wind as they approached.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
On either side of the man, endless wagons loaded with food and medicine rolled by.
Seeing this, tears unknowingly fell from the girl's eyes.
"Ah…"
They hadn't been abandoned.
Someone had come to save them.
The girl turned her head again to look at the man.
Through her tear-blurred vision, she couldn't see his face clearly, but his voice rang out distinctly.
"I will save you."
[T/L: Please support me and read 385 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]