Chapter 171: Plague (2)
The White Gentleman hesitated for a moment before asking, "Sir, do you need me to handle the trouble with the count for you?"
"The count? Trouble?" Lynn turned his head and looked at the White Gentleman in confusion. "Couldn't I just crush the count to death?"
The expression on the White Gentleman's face froze.
He hadn't expected the person standing before him to be such a lunatic. "But... but the count was enfeoffed by the Kingdom Royal House, and the annual taxes paid by Bangor Port are extremely high. If the count dies, the royal family will definitely investigate."
"No, the Erdolu Kingdom's royal family should pray this matter has nothing to do with them," Lynn said sternly. "They had better pray it truly has nothing to do with them!"
The White Gentleman was stunned. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
He looked at Lynn with awe.
In his eyes, Lynn had transformed into an entity that absolutely could not be offended.
"It shouldn't have anything to do with the royal family. After all, those who died were their own subjects. There is no reason for the royal family to release a plague within their own kingdom's borders," the White Gentleman said.
"Hmm... take me to the count's estate. By the way, wasn't the port governed by Viscount Bolent? When did it become a count?" Lynn asked suddenly.
"It's Count Ford, newly enfeoffed by the kingdom. The Bolunt Family's territory was relocated somewhere inland," the White Gentleman explained.
"Oh... so they've been replaced," Lynn nodded.
However, it didn't seem particularly strange.
The original Bolunt Family had lost the protection of the Sea God. Add in the fact that none of their successive members had managed to become a wizard—leaving them with no backing from above—and their family's steady decline, it wasn't too surprising that they were ousted as Bangor Port grew increasingly prosperous.
"Then take me to the Ford Family."
Lynn said calmly.
The White Gentleman led the way.
The two soon arrived at the Ford Family's estate.
It was indeed the former garden of the Bolunt Family, though it had now doubled in size. A count's family manor was naturally far more magnificent than a viscount's.
Taking in the sight, Lynn felt nothing in particular.
Pondering it, he simply found it a bit peculiar.
Suddenly, something seemed to come to mind.
He looked down at the territory below.
His eyes flickered slightly. The next moment, Lynn materialized inside one of the Ford Family's detached villas.
"Who is it?! " A red-haired man meditating on the second floor snapped his eyes open, staring warily downstairs.
An instant later, a terrifying surge of mental energy enveloped him. Feeling this god-like mental energy, the red-haired man's face instantly went pale.
"Whoa, I surrender, I surrender! Don't kill me." The red-haired man decisively threw his hands up and dropped straight to his knees.
"Are you a member of the Ford Family?" Lynn asked.
"Yes, I belong to the Ford Family. We even have an elder who became an official wizard on the Wizard Continent," the red-haired man said.
Lynn appeared before him. Watching Lynn hover in midair, the red-haired man grew even paler. When he noticed the wizard robe Lynn wore, and linked it to the utterly horrifying mental energy from a moment ago, his mind went completely blank. This was actually a wizard!
With such overwhelming mental energy, could he be an official wizard?!
Having seen his face, would he be silenced?
"I heard your people were investigating me. There's no need for all that trouble; I came here myself." Lynn sat down in the room's only chair.
Hearing Lynn's words, the red-haired man was dumbfounded. His family was investigating this person?
He hadn't heard of anyone worth investigating recently. Had his subordinates acted on their own?
"I will deal with it immediately." The red-haired man was smart. Having sensed Lynn's terrifying mental energy, he knew the other party could kill him without ever needing to show his face.
Since he hadn't been killed outright, it meant he was still useful.
Thus, the red-haired man obediently took the initiative to speak.
Rather than waiting for the other party to ask, it was better to be proactive and leave a good impression.
"Good. I don't want anything like this happening again. Next time, I won't be this lenient." Saying that, Lynn tossed out a vial of potion. "Drink it."
Staring at the bubbling green liquid sloshing inside the vial, the red-haired man turned ashen.
"I... I'll drink it," he declared firmly.
He unscrewed the cap and caught a whiff of the pungent odor.
He couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut.
He cursed inwardly, wondering what the hell this was.
It smelled awful...
A thought crossed his mind. He kept his eyes shut and downed it all in one gulp.
Afterward, a refreshing sensation washed over his mind, as though something cool had settled inside.
His mental energy seemed to stir to life as well...
The red-haired man opened his eyes, a trace of confusion in his gaze.
Huh, what is this?
Stealing a glance at Lynn, he heard the wizard say calmly, "Go ahead and absorb it."
The red-haired man hurriedly began to meditate.
As he meditated, the mental energy in his mind continuously expanded.
In a short while, his mental energy began to swell.
The next moment, a sharp pain shot through his head, as if something were trying to bore its way out.
With a muffled groan, the red-haired man was horrified to discover scales sprouting along his arm.
"What is this?!"
"A Bloodline Potion. It's a good item you normally wouldn't have access to; it will let you live at least another two hundred years," Lynn said calmly.
The red-haired man's eyes lit up.
"Don't blindly investigate things you shouldn't," Lynn gave him a sidelong glance.
The red-haired man hurriedly lowered his head.
"Understood!" He knew exactly what this mysterious entity meant.
"Stop crying!" a burly man fiercely scolded the two toddlers in the room.
The man wore thick clothing. His body was covered in blisters, and the festering, regrowing wounds on his face had crusted into thick layers of scarring.
Behind him, the two toddlers, who were similarly covered in blisters, looked at him pitifully.
"Damn burdens," the man cursed.
Still cursing, he tossed the two rabbits from his sack onto the floor.
"Go skin them for me."
The two children, who had just been sitting on the bed, quickly scrambled down and scurried over to the rabbits. Judging by their movements, they were quite practiced at processing the carcasses.
"A plague broke out here once?" a cold, clear voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"Who's there?!" The man snapped his head around. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he raised his long pitchfork and lunged at Lynn.
Lynn frowned, and the man was horrified to find he couldn't push the pitchfork forward. Suspended in midair, the weapon seemed caught in an invisible giant hand, completely immobilized.
"I don't want to ask a second time. If you try to lie to me, I'll just pick one of these two kids and slaughter them," Lynn said indifferently.
The man threw his head back and laughed. "I can't wait for them to die! Why would I protect them? If you kill them, I'd be overjoyed."
"Oh? Then why bring rabbits to feed them? You could have had your fill alone. Why drag along two burdens when eating by yourself would leave you much fuller?" Lynn asked calmly.
The man's face stiffened.
"I just didn't want them starving to death in my house. It's bad luck." His voice severely lacked confidence as he said this.
"A plague broke out here?" Lynn asked.
"Yes, a plague broke out here." The man glanced up at Lynn.
"What about the rest of the village?" When Lynn arrived, he had noticed that besides this family, not a single other soul was present.
It was rather strange.
"They're all dead." A hint of sorrow flickered in his eyes when he mentioned the other villagers.
"It's all because of the parents of these two burdens! They insisted on going up the mountain to act as assistants for those wizards, and they came back infected with the plague!" the man cursed, pointing at the children.
Wizards... plague...
It seemed the plague here truly was man-made.
"Do you know where those wizards are?"
"I don't know." The man paused. "But I'd advise against eating the animals around the village. This plague doesn't just affect people—it spreads to animals, too. If you eat an infected animal, you'll catch the plague yourself."
"You'd better leave soon. Stay here too long, and you might get infected, too."
"Oh, you're actually warning me."
"Hmph. I just don't want you catching it and running off to infect more people."
The man scoffed.
"It's strange, though. This place is supposed to be locked down. How did you get in?" the man asked.
Ever since the plague broke out, this village and several neighboring ones had been quarantined, with no one allowed to leave.
He'd heard that anyone who tried to sneak out had been killed.
Outsiders didn't come in, either. It was an attempt to trap the plague here—or perhaps to just let them all die from the infection.
A bitter smile touched the man's lips at the thought.
He didn't know how much longer he had to live.
He could already feel his body failing him, growing weaker by the day...
Perhaps in a month or two, he would die.
And then there were these two little ones.
The man looked back at the toddlers.
If they died before him, he could still dig a grave and bury them.
But if he died first, there would be no one left to dig a grave for them.
Thinking of this, a self-deprecating smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"What is your relationship with those wizards on the mountain who engineered this plague?" The man suddenly tightened his grip on the pitchfork.
"No relationship at all," Lynn said plainly. "I'll be borrowing a little of your blood."
Lynn took out a syringe. It appeared in his hand like a magic trick, and he began drawing blood from the man's wrist. As the blood was continuously siphoned, the man's face turned somewhat pale.
Then, Lynn left the room.
Before leaving, he tossed a bag of cakes onto the floor.
"Uncle, what's this?" one of the children asked curiously.
"Cakes," the man replied, his tone complicated. He hadn't even seen how the other man had pulled them out.
They clearly looked suspicious.
Moreover, these cakes...
"Yay! It's cake! I heard there was a cake shop in town with lots of delicious cakes, but they were too expensive. Grandpa never bought me any."
One of the children cheered happily.
"Hey, you brat, aren't you afraid they're poisoned?"
"I'm already infected with the plague anyway! Why should I be afraid of poison? Even if they're poisoned, I'm eating them!" The child stubbornly tilted his head up and declared with pride.