"What do you make of this..'Healer' person?" Raymond asked his fellow cardinals.
Once again for the second time this month, a meeting was being held. First it was that Demon Attack, now this.
Usually the Council would be held every month to check on progress and planning but this month seems to be a record.
"We can't let him do as he please!" Dominic slammed his fist on the table, his face twisted with anger.
"I agree, he has been acquiring quite a following. This won't bode well for us." Maximillian spoke, as he looked at Raymond.
"Yes, but you all should have already heard of the news. He seems to have the ability to give Illness to others." Raymond sighed.
"He is not a Saint, he is a Demon in disguise." Berenice added sternly.
"Yes. Only a Demon would be capable of inflicting illness and pain." Ginedine nodded.
"But it is true that he cured the son, as well as the news of him curing the disabled, injured and people suffering from various ailments that even I with my six tier Greater Heal will find troublesome." Ivon spoke, his tone that of appreciation and interest.
Someone who could cast more powerful healing spells than him, the Cardinal of Light made him curious of who this Healer was.
"So someone on the league of the God Kins?"
This single statement was in the mind of everyone. There was no other explanation for a person as strong as the Healer.
"He also is capable of defeating Mithril Ranked Hunters, so he should be able to cast atleast 6 tier Spells." Raymond spoke.
"I'd say higher. " Maximillian commented, exhaling a breathe of exhaustion.
"Perhaps...should we send the Black Scripture?" Berenice asked.
"And make Zesshi interested in him? I say we wait a while." Maximillian spoke, a frown on his face.
He knew well enough how obsessed that half elf was with Procreating with someone stronger than her, if this Healer happened to be that person than He knew she wouldn't even think twice before betraying them.
"But he is gaining a cult like following, in the nation know for religion of the Six, we can't let this happen!" Dominic added, his face showing his worry.
"But what can we do? He has shown to be ellusive and also powerful. We have no way of contacting him." Zinedine asked, his eyebrows raised.
" If only that cursed noble didn't leave a bad impression, we might have." Dominic's face twisted further as he grew angry the more he thought about it.
Had that noble informed them when the Healer came to his city, they might have had the opportunity to meet the healer, but the noble decided to shut down any news going out, using his situation as an advantage.
No-one gave any interest to his actions, a poor and lowly noble, but all were too focused on the actions of the Healer.
This left them in the dark and they only came to know of this whole incident after it already occurred.
"*Sigh* we can do nothing about it now. I will lift the pause on the bounty, and make an addition to inform us of his whereabouts, and not to engage in any fights." Raymond spoke.
Everyone nodded to his decision.
"Also, what about this 'Lesser Plague'?" Maximillian asked.
"I will look into it." Ivon proposed.
"Very well, this ends the meeting." Raymond spoke as he alongwith his fellow Cardinals stood up.
Leaving to do their respective work, the cardinals couldn't help but sense a faint intuition that a storm was brewing. Something that they prayed to the Six to overcome.
----------
A month had passed from the day Jircniv visited the Tomb.
The year's Harvest Season was soon to end and the seasonal war between Re-estize and Baharuth were set to begin soon.
While the venue for this war, Katze Plains, remained the same, this year, a certain third party was participating in the war, on the side of the Empire.
The Kingdom also planned to dispense more troops this year to secure a decisive victory so that they can focus more on their infrastructure which was recently rattled by the Demon Attack by Jaldabaoth and Orovas.
Meanwhile the storm brewing above the Slane Theocracy intensified. A week after the Virus was identified as a weak seasonal disease, the first death occurred.
In one of the earliest village infected by the Virus, an elderly couple died to it. Their bodies a blend of Puss, rashes, and loose skin threatening to come off with the lightest touch along with the ominous purple veins visible in their bodies terrified the neighbours who came to inspect their absence.
The news soon spread of this peculiar death, as priests were called from nearby churches to look into this.
However the priests declared it to be a demon's work and charged a hefty price simply to arrive in the village.
After this incident, similar news came from surrounding villages as more and more cases surfaced. This quickly reached the capital as the Cardinals sent one of the High priests to look into it, while also simultaneously contacting Ivon, who after the previous meeting went on a quest to find any traces of The Healer.
He first began from the very first village the Healer was said to be sighted. There he found that the village seemed to be filled with a vibrant energy he didn't see anywhere, from children to old, all seemed like they had a vitality he couldn't quite put a finger on.
After this observation of the village for some days, he journeyed to other villages and also the City of that noble.
Everything was the same, the same vitality, energy and enthusiasm. He even confirmed that the Noble's family who was cursed with The Devil's Wrath was really suffering from it.
When the noble pleaded to cure them, his only answer was a disdainful look. Had this noble chosen to simpy inform them, things would have been completely different.
It was here that he received news of the Deaths this Lesser Plague caused.
He rushed to the Village nearest to him where the death was reported. Reaching the village he saw that out of a hundred occupants 30 had already died. The rest seemed to be suffering from varying symptoms.
He collected the symptoms showed by the deceased and compiled it together in a report. This report scared him, it showed that what had been dismissed as a Seasonal Disease turns out to be a Dangerous Plague.
From Fever to Nausea, to Puss, Rashes, Bloody Diarrhoea and Purple Veins.
All these symptoms together was a great recipe for disaster. Coupled with the fact that this seemed to spread quickly made it worse.
He soon called the other cardinals, to immediately issue a complete lock down, to stop any travelling inside or outside any city, settlement or out of the nation. He pressed upon the fact that no matter what, no-one, irrespective of who it was should come in contact with anyone with even the mildest of illness.
This urgent message confused the Cardinals but trusting Ivon's words, they immediately carried it out. This caused speculations and disagreements to arise among the people especially traveling merchants and adventurers who were forced to stay where they were.
But the news of the disease causing widespread deaths, and it's potential contagious tendency quickly calmed them down.
Ivon soon arrived in the Capital as another meeting was being held. This time a more pressing issue was at hand. Before, the situations being discussed could be said to be mild. With the Demon Attack being outside of their nation and even the Healer's actions only benifited the Theocracy in some way.
This issue in particular was a threat that if they didn't find a solution quickly could destroy the nation.
"How many deaths has been recorded?" Ivon asked Raymond.
"Eight thousand Five hundred and three." Raymond answered, his words heavy.
"In such short time?" Berenice asked, shocked at how much death has occurred in just two days.
"This deaths seems to be happening in cities or villages near the rivers. I have already dispatched troops to contain the people inside, but this will soon cause discord." Raymond continued, his tone growing more heavy the more he talked.
Silence spread in the council room, the implications were clear.
If this infection, disease or whatever it was was spreading through the water, then the nation was doomed. This disease is something completely new to them. They had initially sent High Priests to cure the infected but it only seemed to heal any visible injury like Rashes.
But this was temporary, it seemed to re-emerge after a period. What didn't add up was the purple veins that showed up upon death, all other symptoms were known to them, this one in particular was something they didn't know.
"What about the Healer?" Maximillian asked.
Strangely enough he felt a faint intuition that the healer might be able to solve this issue.
"We don't know, he has been absent from our surveillance for the past week, maybe he left or perhaps he is hiding." Raymond spoke.
"Is he.... connected.." Ivon asked, unsure of his own words.
"...." No one answered his question, all of them had the same thought but was unsure if this was true or not.
After a brief silence, Raymond continued.
"Let's first try to contain this disease, call the High Priests and Mages. Tell them to summon as many angels as they can to assist in gathering the Corpses in one spot, we don't know if the carcass is also contagious." Raymond issued a command.
"Yes."
"Also, Ivon, please look what you can do with the Disease. Dominic, see if you can find any reference in the Great Library."
Raymond then said, his eyes looking at the two Cardinals.
"Very well." Ivon agreed.
"I shall look into it." Dominic too agreed.
While the Cardinals tried to deal with this mysterious Disease, what was The Healer Doing?
★★★★★★★