The Refugee Village
The food Lucia prepared was surprisingly delicious.
It was a stew made with a decent mix of vegetables and meat. I didn't know how she did it, but she even knew a trick to make stale, rock-hard bread soft and moist again. For a meal eaten on the road, it was quite a feast.
Even Irene, who had been picking at her food at first, seemed to find it to her liking. Before I knew it, she had set down her empty bowl and was helping Lucia.
How long had I dreamed of a party life like this...?
In the past, I had so much work to do that I dreaded camping out. I couldn't even tell if I was the Hero or a mere pack mule.
"I'll do the dishes," Irene offered.
"Oh, no, Lady Irene! I'll take care of this!" Lucia replied quickly.
"It's fine. I haven't done anything to help..."
"No, really, it's fine. It's actually easier and faster if I do it."
Stopping Irene from helping, Lucia focused mana into her hands to summon something.
Undine, taking the form of a young girl, appeared and hovered around Lucia, playing pranks as usual.
Lucia whispered something into Undine's ear.
In an instant, the spirit transformed into a magical dishwasher and began doing the dishes in her stead.
If a human child had been doing that, it would have looked suspiciously like child labor.
Soon, the sun dipped below the horizon, and a dark night settled over us.
If I had to pick the hardest part of camping out, it was definitely keeping watch.
No matter how exceptional my abilities and senses were compared to others, an exhausting day would inevitably send me into a deep sleep.
If an enemy approached during those vulnerable hours, I might not notice. That was why someone always had to stand guard when we camped.
But in the former Hero's party, whenever I brought up keeping watch...
The Saintess bitch would claim she needed sleep for her dawn prayers.
The mage princess bitch would complain that her mana wouldn't recover without enough sleep.
The elf bitch would whine that she was too weak to stay awake because she was far from the World Tree.
They all made up various excuses to avoid guard duty. Consequently, my only memories of camping were of me dozing off alone in front of the campfire, struggling to stay awake.
But now...
"I will stand watch tonight," Irene said.
"There's no need for that, Irene. We can take turns," I replied.
"No, it is fine. I slept plenty in the carriage earlier, so I will take the watch. You and Lady Lucia should get some rest."
A party member who willingly volunteered for guard duty...
"Leave the watch to me," Lucia chimed in.
"...?"
"We can just leave the watch to Sylph and sleep."
With a clever half-elf in the party, it looked like I would finally get a good night's sleep.
The next day...
Thanks to the Sylph Lucia had summoned and the barrier Irene had set up just in case, I woke up after a deep, restful sleep. I immediately looked around to see if anything had happened overnight.
It was a peaceful morning, save for a passing bird that had apparently met a tragic end when it tried to land. It lay frozen to death in front of our campfire, a victim of Irene's barrier. Other than that, everything was quiet.
Rather than going through the trouble of preparing breakfast, we made do with a simple cup of tea before setting off toward the next town.
"Lady Irene, do you know what kind of tree that is?" Lucia asked.
"Which one?"
"The one up on the hill over there."
"I'm not sure..."
They had started exchanging a few words while preparing dinner yesterday, and I had heard them chatting inside the carriage throughout the night.
Perhaps they had grown much closer, as Irene was noticeably more talkative today than she had been yesterday.
"Whoa, whoa."
As I listened to Lucia's ceaseless chatter, Roman suddenly called out to slow the horses, and the carriage began to lose speed.
"Roman, what is it?" I asked.
"Hero, I think you should come out and take a look at this."
At Roman's words, I stepped out of the carriage. Looking ahead, the forest we had been traveling through was gone, replaced by a sprawling shantytown.
Not a single proper house was in sight. Instead, the landscape was littered with tents made of tattered cloth and makeshift shacks thrown together with wooden planks.
"Roman, where are we?"
"I... I'm not sure. I passed through this road just a month ago, and there was no such village here."
A village built in a mere month...
Before long, people who noticed the unfamiliar carriage entering the village began to gather one by one.
Judging by their appearance, they looked less like villagers and more like beggars.
Their condition was severe; their cheekbones protruded sharply, suggesting they hadn't eaten in days.
"What brings you to this place?"
I was scanning the faces of the crowd surrounding our carriage when an elderly man, who appeared to be the oldest among them, approached.
The surrounding crowd parted to let the old man through.
"This gentleman here is the Hero, and those behind him are the Hero's party," Roman introduced us.
"What?!"
Not only the old man in front of us, but everyone within earshot gasped in shock. Some even began to wipe tears from their eyes.
"Heavens! To think we would finally meet the Hero like this!"
Starting with the old man, the villagers threw themselves onto the ground and began to wail.
"Please, stand up. Why are you doing this all of a sudden...?"
Feeling uncomfortable, I tried to get them to stand, but none of them showed any intention of rising.
"Hero, most of the people gathered here are from the western part of the continent," the old man explained.
"Which means..."
"Yes. We are refugees who fled here to escape the Demon King's army. We lost our homeland, our homes, and even what little wealth we had left was stolen by bandits nearby... We were simply waiting for the day we would die."
"..."
"But it seems the gods have not abandoned us yet. For the Hero himself to come find us like this..."
I hadn't exactly come looking for this place, but I chose to keep that to myself.
The western continent was where the Eryther Empire and its neighboring kingdoms were located.
From what I had heard, most of those kingdoms, with the exception of the Eryther Empire, had recently fallen to the Demon King's army.
Personally, I hadn't cared to pay attention because I had no desire to help Lydia, who had become the queen of the Jeremiah Kingdom, or Emilia, who had become the crown princess of the Eryther Empire.
But it seemed the innocent commoners were the ones bearing the brunt of the suffering.
"Are the people here all of the villagers?" I asked.
"No. Those of us out here are the relatively healthy ones. Most of those inside the shelters are sick."
"Sick?"
Looking at the countless tents and shacks stretching out before us, the realization that they were filled with sick people sent a chill down my spine.
"Yes. We were originally heading toward the Fiore Empire, but as soon as we entered the north, people started collapsing one by one... Now, there are too many sick to move, so we've ended up settling here like this."
Hearing the old man's words, I instinctively looked back, wondering if there was any way to resolve this.
Similar situations had occurred in the past, and back then, it had always been the Saintess Emilia's job to handle it.
Although our primary goal was to defeat the Demon King's army and slay the Demon King, we used to help people in need as a form of public service whenever we encountered them.
But without a Saintess or a priest, there was no way to help the sick huddled inside those shacks.
"It's an endemic disease."
"Huh?"
Just as I was about to give up, Lucia's voice sounded from behind me. She stepped past me, approaching the old man to ask for more details.
"Did it start with a high fever for most of them?" she asked.
"Yes! That's right!"
"And some might also experience rashes or chills?"
"Yes! My grandson has those exact symptoms right now!"
Lucia stroked her chin, lost in thought. It seemed as though she already knew what was afflicting the sick.
"Lucia, do you know what this illness is?" I asked.
"It's just my guess... but I think it's an endemic disease."
"An endemic disease?"
"Yes. It happens when people from the western continent travel to the north, and their bodies fail to adapt to the change in climate, soil, and water."
Having never heard of such a disease, I simply stared at Lucia, waiting for her to explain further.
"Hero, do you remember what you told me when you first went to the Fiore Empire?"
"What did I tell you?"
"You said you suffered terribly from the local water when you first arrived."
"Ah, right. I did."
"That is also a type of endemic reaction. However, in this case, it seems to have escalated into a more severe illness, or at worst, combined with an infectious disease."
"I see..."
Lucia explained it in simple terms for my benefit. The refugees listening nearby looked up at her with eyes full of hope.
"A-Are you... perhaps a Saintess?" the old man stammered.
"Oh, no! I'm not!" Lucia waved her hands frantically.
Believing she was a Saintess, the old man looked ready to bow down to her again, but Lucia made it absolutely clear that she was no such thing.
"It doesn't matter if you aren't! Please, save the people here! Save my grandson, too!"
"And my mother!"
"Please save my daughter!"
Beginning with the old man, a crowd gathered around her, begging her to save their families. Lucia looked at me with a troubled expression, silently pleading for help.
"Lucia, is it possible for you to treat them?" I asked.
"I can, but..."
I knew why Lucia was hesitating to make a decision.
According to the laws decreed by the Great Temple, only priests were permitted to heal people or register as healers with the Adventurers' Guild. Practicing medicine without priestly authority could be prosecuted as sacrilege.
"Don't worry. I'll take full responsibility," I said, stepping closer to pat her shoulder reassuringly. "Go ahead and treat them."
"Yes..." she whispered.