For the next two days, Thassa kept going back and forth between the Margery Chamber of Commerce and the outskirts of the capital.
The boats to pick up the escapees were provided by Margery, and the First Army would disguise as mercenaries to the canal pier at the agreed time and arrange for the escapees to board the boat.
As for spreading news and enticing the bait, the Black Hammers are already familiar with them, and Thassa is not worried about this. It is much more convenient for mice to do this kind of thing than outsiders. Although the scope is only in the Beicheng District, the escapees will definitely spread to each other. Moreover, it is impossible for him to take everyone away at once. His Highness has explained that this matter can be done slowly, and sending away one boat is another boat.
On the day when the fleet arrived, nearly 1,000 displaced refugees arrived at the dock, which was beyond Thassa's expectations. If the 1st Army alone propaganda, there are hundreds of people who believe it is not bad.
According to the screening requirements of His Royal Highness, he put children on the boat first, followed by families with children, and finally adults. As for the old people... He found that there were almost no gray-haired old people in the crowd. Perhaps they were unwilling to venture to a remote place, or they simply could not escape from the eastern border to the capital.
The first fleet of ten sloops set off after carrying more than 500 people, and the rest were driven back to the camp, but they also brought back the news that "the fleet will come again".
I originally thought that the first task assigned by His Highness could be successfully completed, but I did not expect that Tassa encountered a difficult problem shortly after the merchant fleet transported the second group of people.
A strange disease suddenly appeared in the royal city.
The deceased was initially found lying on the side of the road, with patches of black spots on his body, his teeth falling out, his skin cracking open, and the blood flowing out of color—just as terrifying as when a witch was devoured by demonic power. But the deceased was not a woman, but a male civilian living in the Beicheng District.
After that, several corpses with the same symptoms were found one after another, and some people who had been in contact with corpses began to grow black spots, which could not be subsided by herbal medicine or ice compresses, and even during bloodletting treatment, the blood was red. It was black, as if a lot of ink had been mixed in.
Fear soon spread among the crowd, and more and more people went to the church to pray, but all was useless, more and more black spots appeared on their bodies, and even the refugees outside the city showed the same symptoms.
The high priest of the church came forward, claiming that it was a conspiracy of witches who unleashed the power of the devil to infect other innocents. None of the current treatments can ward off the power of the demons, and those who are corroded die in excruciating pain. But the church will never sit idly by, they have developed the Holy Spirit medicine, which is enough to curb the evil power of this hellish devil.
This preaching gave the infected people a chance to live. They sat around the door of the church every day, waiting for the distribution of the holy medicine.
Although Thassa was deeply skeptical of the church's statement, he temporarily suspended the transport of fugitives just in case.
"Why stop?" Black Hammer expressed his great puzzlement, "Now that those guys are also eroded by the power of demons, don't hurry up and send them away, do you want them to stay outside the city to make seeds for witches?"
"This is the meaning of the above," he said impatiently, "it's just that ordinary fugitives are fine. If the Western Region is also infected by this evil power, what will the kingdom look like?"
"Uh—" Black Hammer suffocated slightly, "but it's none of our business what the Western Territory turns into, Lord Thassa, if you don't hear what's said above, just drag them all away. Think about it. I want to see that this kind of ghost thing may be corroded as long as it is touched, and I don't want to stay with a lot of hell devils, even if they are separated by a wall."
"As if you didn't hear it? I only have one head," Thassa said coldly. "You only have one. Do as I say!"
After he left the tavern, he found a shop marked with the emblem of the Margaery caravan, and showed the token.
"I want to see your boss, the sooner the better."
It didn't take long for him to see the businesswoman again in the back room of the shop.
"This disease must have nothing to do with witches," Margery said. "If the power of the demons released could not be resisted by the God's Stone of Retaliation, they would have turned Hermes into a dead place long ago."
"I think so too, but the top priority is to report this matter to His Royal Highness Roland. Although the two groups of people on board did not see symptoms of black spots, it seems that this disease did not occur on the spot. If someone on board is infected with the power of the demon, Border Town must respond immediately." Thassa took out a folded letter from his arms, "I need your help to send the letter back to His Highness as soon as possible."
"Of course," she nodded, "messages between businessmen are always the fastest."
…
The sailing for several days made Lucia feel nauseous.
For the past month, she seems to have been running away, fleeing from the east to the capital, and then from the capital to the west. But the former was driven out of her home, while the latter was her last hope.
"Sister... water, I'm thirsty..."
Bell let out a pained sound and reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Okay, I'll go get you some water."
Lucia grabbed the cloth bag at hand and staggered out of the cabin, lying on the lowest part of the ship's side, reaching out and immersing the bag in the river. The acid in her stomach surged up again, she couldn't hold it back, and finally vomited out. The few wheat porridge in his stomach was spit out, and sour water flowed from his nostrils. She resisted the urge to cry loudly, gritted her teeth, wiped her face with the back of her hand, and continued soaking the cloth bag. It wasn't until the bag was full of water that she held it in her arms and ran quickly back to the cabin.
"The water is coming, open your mouth."
But Ling's complexion was worse than before, an abnormal flush appeared on her cheeks, and her forehead was terribly hot. She pursed her lips and made a broken sound.
Lucia had to forcibly open her mouth, twist the cloth bag tightly, and let the water drop into her sister's mouth.
"Don't get too close to her, the black spot has spread to her neck, and she can't hold it for long." A middle-aged man with a weak breath in the cabin said, "We will all die here, you better take care of yourself."
Not long after leaving the capital, someone on the ship contracted a terrifying disease. First, the body became hot, and then black spots appeared on the skin. After three or four days, the symptoms would deteriorate rapidly, not only falling into a coma, but also infecting contacts with the same disease. Therefore, on the fifth day, the fleet specially cleared a sailboat to carry the sick. Lucia guessed that the reason why the other party did not throw all the sick escapees into the river was that there were infected people among their own.
After the dark spots appeared on Ling's body, she refused to listen to others' dissuasion, and resolutely followed her sister to the ship full of patients.
In order to take care of the young Ling, she has not slept for almost two days.
Lucia still hasn't given up, she believes that as long as she arrives in the west, everything will be better.
If the rumors are correct... the mutual aid society is her last hope.