Chapter 247
Chapter 247
"You fucking lunatic!!"
Logan's thunderous roar shattered the brief silence.
Most of the party, rendered speechless, stared at him blankly.
"If we act now, it might not be too late. Knight! Send messengers to stop the massacre!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Change all previous orders to the soldiers. Seal off the infected villages completely. Gather all the patients in one place!"
"Yes! Understood!"
The decision from Raphtan's inner city was swift, and the party moved quickly as well.
But when Logan and his group arrived at the village where the patients had been gathered, they were met with rows of dozens of corpses.
"Damn you bastards!"
"You'll pay for this!"
The villagers wailed in grief and fury.
"Kill me too, you monsters! Aigoo...!"
An old woman clutching the corpse of her child, his face flushed crimson, was the first sight that burned into Logan's vision.
The soldiers who had formed a grim barricade hastily stepped aside as Logan's party approached.
"Sir Hamel. What about the people behind—?"
"Y-you! Didn't I tell you to stop?!"
"We halted the attack as soon as the order came."
A senior soldier, his face pale, reported to the knight of Raphtan Territory.
But with the King watching—
Knight Hamel drew his sword with a terrifying expression.
Swoosh.
"Disobeying orders is a grave crime, Gerick."
"S-Sir Hamel!"
"Enough!!"
Unable to stomach the absurdity unfolding amidst such tragedy, Logan bellowed.
The knights and soldiers froze.
Haa.
As Logan exhaled sharply, Knight Hamel hastily prostrated himself.
"F-Forgive me, Your Majesty!"
"Your... Majesty?"
"All of you, kneel! His Majesty the King is present!"
With that single shout, the atmosphere in the village twisted once more.
"Attention!"
"L-loyalty!"
"Loyalty!"
The knights and soldiers scrambled to stand and salute, however clumsily.
Beyond them—
"...The King?"
"Why is the King here...?"
"Punish those rotten bastards...!"
"J-just bow down, you fool!"
Even in their grief and rage, the villagers hastily prostrated themselves in confusion.
The knight's shout had turned an already horrific scene into utter chaos.
'Is it the plague? Or are they all out of their minds?'
Too exhausted to vent his anger further, Logan silently walked past the soldiers. Beyond them, past the piled corpses, the sight that greeted him was even more revolting.
Those with only their faces flushed red were the lucky ones.
Some had rashes bursting through their scarlet skin. A coughing patient scratched at their inflamed flesh, and blood seeped from the cracked skin.
"H-hot... itchy..."
The bigger problem was that the afflicted seemed unaware, murmuring deliriously as they clawed at their wounds.
Nearby, some were in even worse shape—unconscious, foam and blood trickling from their eyes and ears.
Yellow pus oozed from inflamed scratches, their bodies so ravaged that death seemed imminent. The village was littered with such wretched figures.
"P-please, save my mom! Save her!"
Perhaps sensing something, a child with scarlet-red skin rushed toward Logan.
"Kid, stop!"
"P-please, sir! Please!"
Even as a knight restrained him, the child kept screaming. Behind him, a woman who must have been his mother weakly reached out.
She seemed too weak to speak, her skin split and oozing blood and pus—her condition clearly dire.
"Bishop Illya. Take it from here."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At Logan's command, the priests stepped forward.
"We are from the temple. Those with symptoms, please step forward one by one."
The dazed villagers stared at Illya in his pristine white vestments.
Most of them shared the same thought:
'What the hell...?'
A village drowning in corpses.
First the plague, then a massacre.
And now, priests—people they'd never seen in these rural parts—appearing right after such shocking events? To the villagers, it was an incomprehensible chain of madness.
Reading their expressions, Illya spoke again in a gentle voice.
"The soldiers won't attack anymore, so don't worry. We've come to heal the plague. Those with symptoms, please step forward!"
His earnest tone slowly stirred the traumatized villagers into motion.
And among them—
"We'll help too!"
"Ah, no, Master Gilbert. Shouldn't the priests treat them first...?"
"W-we're not mages like Master Gilbert!"
"Tch. Have you forgotten His Majesty's orders? If we show symptoms, the priests will heal us first. So trust them! Our task is the most important."
"Ugh..."
Half-reluctant, the healers hesitantly entered the village.
They meticulously recorded every known symptom while the priests began treatment. Based on those records, the healers would find a cure—whether through herbs or other means.
This had been the relief plan discussed before arriving in Raphtan.
- Holy Power can heal anything, but a priest's reserves are limited.
Even in ancient times, when temples wielded incomparable influence, plagues still ravaged the land.
Thus, Gilbert argued that while the priests assisted, they had to develop a cure within Raphtan Territory.
Logan had agreed—if successful, they could truly halt this disaster.
"From today, ban travel between villages. Seal off the entire territory by village and wait for relief teams. Food and necessities will be provided."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Having issued his orders, Logan stepped to the frontlines of the relief effort.
Or tried to.
"Your Majesty, surely you needn't—"
"We'll handle it."
"Please, step back. Someone of your stature shouldn't—"
Even if the surrounding people hadn't all waved him off in protest.
"Your Majesty. We understand your noble intentions, but personally tending to the sick would only discomfort everyone. Your mere presence here is already a great strength."
Gilbert's words weren't wrong, even to Logan.
Reluctantly, he abandoned his proactive stance and settled for overseeing supplies and coordinating the healers and priests from a distance.
But that made the ugly truths all the more visible.
"Why are we wasting time on these commoners...?"
"Lost the damn lottery, that's why."
"Half-ass it. Just pretend. No need to waste Holy Power on these nobodies—they're not knights or nobles."
Even non-priests muttered things that cast doubt on their humanity.
A golden light flickered in Logan's crimson eyes.
'Ha. These bastards...?!'
They likely thought their whispers were unheard—but unfortunately, Logan's senses enveloped the entire village.
Thud. Thud.
"You priests. What did you just say?"
Logan's finger pointed unerringly at the group exchanging malicious whispers.
The priests flinched in unison.
"W-we were discussing how best to treat the villagers, Your Majesty."
"Y-yes, Your Majesty."
Their excuses were flimsy.
"Then you should work harder, shouldn't you?"
"Y-yes, of course!"
"Leave it to us!"
Their attitudes shifted instantly, their movements suddenly brisk.
But—
That enthusiasm lasted only a moment. And they weren't the only ones.
"Sigh. Next."
A priest named Tail stretched his hand toward a villager, closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, then wiped his brow and gestured for the next patient.
But the villager—a woman with a fever-flushed face—hesitantly spoke up.
"P-priest... I don't feel any better..."
"Shut up! What do you lowly creatures know? Next!"
Unless it was a high-tier Sacred Art, Holy Power was invisible to ordinary eyes.
Tail was exploiting that fact to slack off.
'Why waste precious Holy Power on these peasants? It takes three days of fasting and prayer to recover.'
He'd only been dragged here because of bad luck in the lottery.
Some of his colleagues had already exhausted their Holy Power and begun fasting. But Tail wasn't just heartless—he had a practical reason.
'Some priests died after running out of Holy Power and catching the plague. I read the records—am I insane enough to heal these wretches? I want to live too.'
He was certain his colleagues would've done the same.
Unfortunately for him, someone here could see Holy Power—and that someone was the King.
"What the hell are you doing?"
A voice laced with killing intent hissed beside him.
Tail turned, horrified, to see Logan's hardened expression.
"Y-Your Majesty! I-I was healing the people!"
"Healing? From where I stand, you were just waving your hands and pretending."
"H-Holy Power is invisible to—"
"Too bad. I can see it."
"...Eh? Th-that's..."
"Heal that villager again. If you fake it, I'll cut off that useless arm of yours."
The aura-user's murderous tone drained the color from Tail's face.
"Y-yes! Of course!"
What else could he do?
Tail immediately focused and cast Sacred Art on the woman.
Hummm.
Unlike before, sweat poured down his face—but the woman's expression visibly eased.
The moment she felt relief, she scrambled up and bowed.
"Th-thank you, Your Majesty."
"N-next patient."
As the trembling villager approached, Logan tapped Tail's shoulder.
"I'm watching."
The priest could only nod, his face ashen.
That threat was just the beginning.
Logan patrolled the treatment site, catching and reprimanding slacking priests until they had no choice but to believe he could see Holy Power.
Naturally, the priests' attitudes shifted.
Even temple priests were still citizens of this kingdom—none wanted to earn their King's ire.
But not all complied.
"I'm doing my best, Your Majesty. Persecuting me like this is unjust."
Fabian, a senior priest of Aion, the God of Water and Agriculture.
The plump priest bowed before Logan with an aggrieved expression.
"No matter Your Majesty's status, you cannot unreasonably coerce the temple's priests!"
Though his tone was polite, his hidden defiance was palpable.
Logan's lips curled into a cold smile.