Chapter : 44

There was nothing I could do since it had already come to this. I called the soldiers into the village and hurriedly proceeded with the work.

I divided the people into severe and mild cases according to their condition and had them quarantined separately in the village monastery.

And together with the soldiers, I went around the village, trying to grasp the situation that people were calling a curse.

"Hmm, is this the only water source?"

I asked the dwarf administrator, looking at the well in the center of the village.

The dwarf administrator, sweating profusely, nodded his head.

"Yes, that's right, Your Excellency. This well is the pride of our village. It's an underground stream that comes from a very deep place, and its temperature is as cold and clean as ice. Hehe."

"Oh, so everyone drew water from here for their daily lives?"

"Yes, there's also a laundry place right next to it, so people do their laundry around here too. Ah…. Of course, we don't dump sewage or wastewater here. We dump it waaaay over there, in the river. Ahem."

The dwarf administrator said, as if making an excuse, perhaps having seen my serious expression. I paid him no mind and slowly scanned the area around the well.

'They said it was kept clean, but as expected….'

To think the laundry place was right next to the well. I don't know who first came up with the idea of doing laundry at the water source used for drinking, but it was truly amazing.

'This is probably the cause, right?'

I wasn't a doctor in my past life, so there was no way I had professional knowledge. But at least I knew the basic common sense.

That waterborne infectious diseases are easily transmitted through contaminated water.

For any normal adult male who had served in the military, this was basic common sense.

Don't dump contaminated materials in the water source, boil water before drinking no matter how clean it looks, and dispose of anything stained with bodily fluids separately if an epidemic breaks out.

But this was the world of [Pangea Universalise]. With medieval-level hygiene concepts, there was no way these things would be observed.

'It seems someone who caught cholera in the canton came here….'

And it was clear that the well had been contaminated when they washed clothes stained with excrement near it.

Having organized my thoughts, I gave an order to the dwarf administrator.

"Close the well."

"What? This well has been very well-maintained, Your Excellency the Margrave. It's not contaminated."

"Hmm…."

I silently watched the dwarf administrator, who was sweating profusely.

I didn't mean to pressure him.

It was just a matter of how to explain this to clear up the misunderstanding and make him understand.

Of course, the dwarf administrator didn't seem to think so.

In the end, I was too lazy to explain everything, so I just made up a rough excuse.

"This well has been cursed. Think about it. Everyone lives separately, but if the poor and the rich are suffering equally, there's only one thing, isn't there? Everyone uses this well for drinking."

'Will this work?'

If he protested again, I was just going to push it through with my authority.

A noble, and a high-ranking one at that, a Margrave, if I gave an order, he wouldn't dare refuse.

But contrary to my thoughts….

"Oh!"

The dwarf administrator suddenly made the sign of the cross with a reverent expression.

"Indeed! Your Excellency's words seem to be right. Ahh-!"

He said tearfully, with an emotional expression. It might seem absurd, but the dwarf administrator accepted my ridiculous words too easily.

The religious halo attached to me was that powerful.

So much so that he would unhesitatingly close the well, one of the main assets of the village.

'Tsk….'

It was a somewhat awkward situation, but what could I do? This was the world of [Pangea Universalise].

I licked my lips and assigned some soldiers to the dwarf administrator to help him find a new water source.

I hoped that this much would resolve any small complaints that might arise.

"From now on, only drink boiled water. No, for the time being, only use boiled water for everything. Especially, be sure to mix salt in it before use."

"Oh-! So it is salt! To purify the wicked things?"

"Uh, um. Yes. That's right."

"As expected of Your Excellency. Salt is the key to purifying a curse."

For some reason, the act of treatment and prevention seemed to be taking on a superstitious feel, but this was probably just my imagination, right?

"Contaminated cloth, especially cloth contaminated with excrement, don't even think about recycling it, just burn it to get rid of it. And if you touch such things, be sure to wash your hands with lye water."

"Mmm, mmm."

As if every word of mine was the gospel, the dwarf administrator nodded his head and wrote it down on a piece of parchment.

The sight was absurd, but I tried to sigh and turned away again.

Now that I had dealt with the contaminated water source that was spreading the infection, it was time to take care of the patients.

* * *

“Mehehe? My lord, mer~. What if the curse is contagious? Meeeh!”

“……”

This…. goat beastman?

You were the one crying out that I was a performer of miracles, one blessed by God, and now you’re trying to run away when I ask you to come with me?

Not a chance. I’m dragging you with me to the end.

I grabbed the wailing Bishop Marco and dragged him to the isolation room set up in the monastery.

“Oh, noble Your Excellency the Margrave.”

“Why have you come to such a place? A precious person in a humble place….”

“I am afraid the curse might be contagious.”

As soon as I arrived, the priests of the monastery came out and bowed their heads to me. All of them with worried concerns.

At that, the wailing goat beastman, as if nothing had happened, stood up straight and bellowed with a solemn voice.

“Meeeh! Our lord does not care about such things. Since he is loved by God, the wicked curse dares not touch him, mer! I, Bishop Marco, notarize this, meeh~!”

“Ooh, indeed!”

“That seems right.”

“So praise him, meeh!!”

This goat bastard…. Look at that change of attitude?

That flashy tongue of his. I wonder how many believers and people have been deceived by that goat beastman's smooth tongue….

He was the epitome of an opportunist, Bishop Marco.

He probably would have made a lot of money if he had been born in the modern era.

‘Well, he has his uses, I suppose.’

In fact, there were no people as stiff as monks.

Think about it. In the prime of their lives, living a communal life in a remote place to understand the word of God.

The life of a monastic order was something you couldn't volunteer for without great faith.

In such a situation, who would obey if an outside noble came and ordered them around?

Since Bishop Marco was playing his tongue so flamboyantly, these stiff monks were completely captivated by my words.

“Have you finished classifying the patients?”

“Yes, as Your Excellency instructed, we have separated the mild and severe patients and isolated them.”

“Good. For the mild patients, just keep giving them plenty of water. For the severe patients….”

The characteristic of waterborne infectious diseases like cholera was endless diarrhea and vomiting.

If it had been dysentery, it would have been accompanied by high fever, so antibiotics or other treatments would have been necessary, but fortunately, it was not cholera.

As long as one's stamina held up, most could overcome the disease by continuously consuming fluids.

'Hmm…. Still, severe patients need something like an oral rehydration solution….'

I called the soldiers and had them build a large kiln near the monastery. And there, I boiled water and began preparing for the treatment in earnest.

I boiled a large amount of water, dissolved a generous amount of rock salt in it, and also sent a person to the domain in a hurry to get the sugar that had been consecrated to the diocese.

The amount of sugar I brought was a bit insufficient, but after raiding the honey from the monastery's apiary, I managed to make a decent oral rehydration solution.

Honey, sugar, and salt. It was truly an expensive treatment.

“Keep an eye on the condition of the severe patients and have them drink this water continuously. Do not let them eat anything else. Even if they eat, they will just throw it all up, which will only worsen their condition.”

“What? This?”

“Yes, just drinking this will make them get up on their own naturally. Why? Do you have any doubts, monk?”

“Ah, no. I will do so immediately, Your Excellency.”

To tell them to drink that water instead of eating. And a luxurious and expensive drink at that. It felt somewhat heretical, but the monks readily followed my command.

And fortunately, as expected, the epidemic began to subside quickly.

The curse (?) no longer spread, and the people who had been on the verge of death today or tomorrow were getting up on their own, and the monks were astonished in no time.

“Meeeeh! Behold! This is the holy water made from the gift of God consecrated to the diocese, merrrr! Praise the performer of miracles, mer-!”

As expected, the Margrave is the real deal!

It was a day where I unintentionally stacked up another miracle.

Damn it.

* * *

-Tiriring!

[You have vanquished the shadow of the curse that had fallen upon the village. Although it was an epidemic, if people believed it to be a curse, then it would be so. You will be widely known as the performer of miracles who purified the curse.]

[Notification: Reputation increases.]

[Notification: This event will spread far and wide. The favorability of the ascetic faction priests of the Holy See will soar. Holy See Ascetic Faction Favorability Neutral - Favorable]

[Notification: The favorability of the Holy Empire Emperor decreases. Favorability Neutral - Bad]

[Notification: The King of the Elang Kingdom and the Duke of the Duchy of Bourgogne will be wary of you. They will perceive you as a standard-bearer of the Holy See. Be careful.]

A brilliant system notification window popped up. It was so much that it was hard to read it all.

'Damn it.'

It would be nice if only good things happened, but why do these things always seem to have a bigger negative impact?

'And why did the Holy Empire Emperor's favorability drop?'

Even if there was a conflict between the Holy Empire Emperor and the Holy See, what did that have to do with me! It was so unfair.

'At least it's a relief that he's a nominal emperor like the Holy Roman Emperor of the Middle Ages.'

He was just one of many equally powerful high nobles, so it was a real relief. If not, it would have been a huge headache in many ways.

In any case, putting aside these minor (?) worries, I was faced with another problem.

Treating the epidemic in the village seemed to have been a very good thing to do….

“Your Excellency! Your Excellency the Margrave! Please save us!”

Having heard the rumors, the human merchant guild operating in the canton city had sent a person.

They presented a letter filled with various flowery phrases and a huge amount of wealth, requesting my entry into the canton city.

The city council had lost control due to the curse, so they were asking me to break the curse and heal them.

At a glance, it might seem like a trivial request that could be easily granted, but.

'The problem is that I am the lord of another country.'

And a Margrave with enormous authority in a region at that. For such a great lord to go and operate in a free city with autonomy was the same as infringing on their right to rule.

It would have been different if I were a wandering knight or a common monk.

“This…. hmm. What should I do? Captain Konrad?”

“Ahem. This is a bit troublesome, human lord. Even if we help, it will be a problem later on.”

Ever since the Canton Confederacy had won its independence from the Holy Empire Emperor through war, autonomy was an absolutely non-negotiable matter.

It was not for nothing that they said the dwarves' desire for freedom was tougher than an ox's sinew.

Captain Konrad, being a dwarf, knew this well and was pointing out the future problems.

It was a matter that could cause an uproar in other cities of the canton and even lead to war.

In this era, honor and justification were sometimes more important than practical gain.

“Meeeh~ My lord. The sincerity (?) of those people is commendable, but what can't be done can't be done, mer~.”

Bishop Marco, who had somehow acquired a purse from the merchant guild, said, wiping his mouth clean.

As expected of a greedy person!

But my thoughts were no different from theirs. I was grateful for the money, but what can't be done can't be done, right?

I was disappointed, but I was about to call the envoy to refuse.

However.

“M-my lord!”

An unexpected visitor arrived.

“The Great Sage of the Forest has come.”

“Meeeeeh?”

“Hmph?”

“???????”