Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Actors on a Comedy Stage
Guided by the knight who had followed her, Vinea arrived at the village chief’s house.
As she opened the door and entered, she saw a large man intently studying papers with people’s names and numbers written on them. Behind him, the room was filled with villagers who had not yet fallen ill. It seemed they had designated the chief’s house as a temporary shelter.
“Commander!”
“Holten? What brings you here…”
The large man lifted his head. His scarred skin, combined with his bulky frame, gave off a fierce impression.
In the next moment, this man who looked capable of taking down a bear with his bare hands, jumped up with a startled face and saluted respectfully.
“It’s an honor to meet the glory of Tessibania. I am Berdo Makkan, leader of the Dawn Knight Order.”
“Ah yes, I remember seeing you at the wedding.”
“Indeed. I accompanied the commander of the Dawn Knight Order to meet you.”
“That’s enough for pleasantries. I’d like to hear the details of the situation. Is there an epidemic spreading?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please, this way.”
He guided her to the table. The numerous documents piled on top revealed how much he had been racking his brain to solve this problem in such a short time.
Contrary to what she had heard, it seemed casualties were already occurring in the village. They had hurriedly isolated the patients, but the contagion was too strong for proper treatment to be effective.
“Is there a resident doctor in the village?”
“No. We’ve sent someone to the nearest village with a doctor, but it’s a full day’s journey without rest. The critically ill patients are our immediate concern.”
Vinea tapped the papers with her fingertips.
Now, what to do? She had assessed the situation, and it was indeed not much different from previous regressions. At this rate, within a week, half of Haksya and the neighboring Orkan village would be infected and die from the epidemic.
She weighed the options: dramatically solving the problem after a certain number of deaths, or intervening from the start. She balanced hundreds of lives on the scales, shifting the weight back and forth.
Then, considering how much patience remained in Tessibania to endure Tetar’s “unnecessary swordplay,” she finally reached a conclusion.
‘I need to resolve this quickly.’
Since it wouldn’t make sense for a queen who suddenly arrived to immediately propose a solution, what she needed most now was a situation where it wouldn’t be awkward to discover a solution.
‘However… it seems things have gone awry from the start.’
Due to her conversation with Knight Commander Berdo, the villagers’ gazes turned uncomfortable as they realized she was the queen.
They had said the village was divided in half because of the war.
Even if they had reduced the village’s size to minimize the number of people drafted for war, someone still had to participate, and not all of them were lucky enough to survive. It wasn’t unreasonable for the villagers, who had to lose their loved ones, to feel uneasy about the queen from Veshnu.
Despite those uncomfortable stares, Vinea paid no attention and continued reading through the documents Berdo had organized.
Berdo tactfully ushered the villagers upstairs and bowed his head.
“I apologize if you were uncomfortable, Your Majesty. This village was heavily affected by the war, so they harbor great resentment towards Veshnu.”
“It’s fine. More importantly, if you’re uncomfortable, you should move to another spot.”
“I’m not sure what you mean…”
Vinea put down the documents and looked up at him.
There wasn’t a single unblemished spot on his exposed hands, neck, or face. Particularly, the long scar across the middle of his neck suggested that his life had once been in danger.
“The border was one of the fiercest battlegrounds. I know that Tessibania suffered severe damage, just as Veshnu did. Countless knights must have died. Especially the Dawn Knight Order.”
“…”
Berdo remained silent, but his silence was as good as confirmation.
Even now, in his quarters, nameplates of Dawn Knight Order members who lost their lives in the war hung on one side. Many knights were still suffering from aftereffects of the war, and the Dawn Knight Order, which had defended the border, was particularly affected.
“I won’t deny it. However, Your Majesty, you also symbolize the true end of that terrible war. Between continuing the war for revenge and accepting the armistice while burying the deaths of our loved ones, anyone would choose the latter.”
Well, that’s not always the case.
Whether war broke out again or not, there were always those who attempted assassinations for revenge in every regression. Even the imperial knight commander Berdo standing before her sometimes lent his strength to the rebels.
“Right now, I serve as a knight commander of the empire, attending to Your Majesty, who leads Tessibania. Please do not doubt my loyalty.”
Vinea nodded slightly. That was the best answer she could show to someone who hadn’t experienced regression.
“According to the report, transmission occurs through contact, but the probability is about half. Are there any suspected sources of infection?”
“We’re exploring all possibilities, but we haven’t pinpointed a definite cause yet.”
“Hmm.”
While she already knew the cause and solution thanks to repeated regressions, she wondered how Eurene had managed to discover the source of infection and resolve it.
She suspected someone must have helped her, but there was no way to know for sure without going back to a past regression.
“I’d like to take a look around the village.”
“Please reconsider, Your Majesty. It’s too dangerous for you to walk around personally.”
Without saying another word, Vinea took out a handkerchief from her bosom, covered her face with it, and opened the door to step outside. Berdo hurriedly followed behind her.
“We’ll just take a brief look at the exterior. Please refrain from any contact… Your Majesty!”
Berdo exclaimed in shock as Vinea touched the outer wall of a house with her gloved hand.
Without any reaction, Vinea brushed off the dirt on her glove and immediately moved to another nearby house, rubbing its wall in the same manner. Similarly, damp soil stuck to the tip of her glove.
“I’ll instruct the mages to set up a magic circle for immediate return to the palace.”
“Don’t make things complicated, Sir. They’ve already expended a lot of energy due to the large number of people. They’ll need at least half a day’s rest before we can return.”
Vinea pointed at several houses.
“That house, that one, and this one. Do you know who lives in these?”
“Yes. They are currently quarantined with other patients in a converted village warehouse.”
“Although symptoms appeared simultaneously, there must have been those who were infected earlier. They would all be the residents of the houses I pointed out.”
“How did Your Majesty know that…”
“Where is the quarantine location?”
“It’s over there. But it would be better if you didn’t go near—”
Completely ignoring Berdo’s words, Vinea walked towards the wooden warehouse. Just as her hand was about to touch the door handle, someone flung the door open and jumped into Vinea’s arms.
“—Ack!”
Berdo hurriedly pulled the child who had leaped into Vinea’s arms away. The child fell on their bottom and rolled on the ground.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
It was a boy who looked about seven years old.
Despite coming out of the house where the sick were quarantined, the child’s face showed no signs of illness. As he slightly raised his head, other children were standing with surprised faces. Similarly, they looked a bit thin but didn’t have the appearance of sick people.
Judging by their terrified faces and the way they were watching Berdo’s reaction, it seemed they had been caught sneaking out.
“These are children whose entire families have fallen ill. They don’t show symptoms, but given the situation, it’s only a matter of time, so they were quarantined with their families.”
“We’re, we’re sorry, Commander…”
As Berdo’s intimidating gaze fell upon them, the children shrunk back. But they weren’t the only ones frightened.
At the sudden commotion, several villagers lying on beds inside raised their ailing bodies. They looked like they wanted to come and get the children right away, but being ill, they could only stamp their feet anxiously.
Berdo stood in front with a stern face, blocking the way.
“Close the door and go back inside. Hurry! Your Majesty, we must leave immediately. I’ll first arrange for a change of clothes for you.”
“That won’t be necessary. If anything, this has saved us some trouble.”
Vinea gestured for Berdo to step aside, then knelt in front of the fallen child to meet his eyes. The adults who seemed to be the child’s parents shouted with surprised faces from inside the building.
“Rondo! Come here right now! Quickly!”
Startled by the intensity from both Berdo and his parents, the child, unable to decide what to do, had tears welling up in his eyes.
“Huu…”
“Ro-Rondo, big brother…”
As the other children started to sniffle, all the villagers who could move got up from their beds and anxiously watched the scene.
Vinea, paying no attention to this, held the fallen child’s body and helped him up.
“Your Majesty!”
“Be quiet, Sir. Your subordinate and you are both excessively uptight.”
Clicking her tongue lightly, Vinea’s eyes softened as she looked at the child.
“So, Rondo. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Um, no…”
“That’s good. Where were you and your friends trying to go? It’s okay, you can tell me. I can protect you from the scary commander behind me.”
“We, we were going to get medicine…”
“Medicine to cure the epidemic, you mean?”
“Yes. We didn’t get sick because we ate it. It’s true, please believe us!”
Seizing the moment, the children behind rushed forward and surrounded Rondo.
“It’s true! There is medicine!”
“Please don’t scold Rondo!”
Berdo, unable to decide what to do, fumbled with a troubled expression. Although there had been no cases of infection after contact with asymptomatic children, this was the queen.
Normally, these children wouldn’t even dare to face someone of such high status. If they were to transmit the disease, the entire village, including the children, might face severe punishment. No, the village itself might disappear from the map.
As he stood there with a perplexed look, not knowing what to do, Vinea pointedly brushed off the dirt on Rondo’s clothes.
“Well then, let’s go see. Where is this medicine?”
“Your Majesty, the medicine the children speak of is merely a weed. We’ve even tried feeding it to our knights just in case, but it showed no effect.”
“I might discover something that you couldn’t. Rondo, will you guide me to where you were going?”
“Uh, y-yes!”
Vinea extended her hand to the nodding child. As the boy hesitated, looking down at his grimy hands, Vinea grasped the child’s hand with her gloved one, showing she didn’t mind.
Having made up his mind, the child finally led Vinea.
“It’s not far! It’s on the hill behind the village!”
Vinea smiled slightly as she looked at her hand holding the excited child’s. It was a smile crafted for all the villagers to see.
At last, the curtain of the comedy had risen. It was time to play the role of the ‘Blessed Lily’.
