Chapter 09
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— [ WALTZ OF CROWNS ] —

-『CHAPTER 09』-

« Captain of the 3rd Northern Fleet »
Guillian Lé Froy

"Ohho, an attendant is it?" This brusque Elven guard smiled wickedly at me before he skipped a step closer and suddenly elbowed my sides. He then partly covered his mouth in a perverse manner as he inched closer his mouth onto my left ear before whispering something which made all the follicles within my body stood to no end.

"Psst hey, have you finally saved enough money to hire yourself a bed warmer?" The bastard whispered in a tone full of perverse curiosity.

Oh Goddess, I hope Lady Novaldein didn't hear any of this!

I don't have a death wish, you know?

I sneakily glanced at my 'attendant' and to my relief, she seemed to have haven't heard any of it or perhaps she's just merely ignoring the idiosyncrasies of this immoral Darkelven guard. 

Lord Novaldein strongly dotes upon this granddaughter of his so it would practically be a career-ending disaster if this lady somehow later on gripes to the Admiral that I let someone talk perversely about her. I've seen this lass act so petty in the past so I wouldn't disregard the possibility that she might actually tattle onto his grandfather about what this Elf had said. 

Plus who would want such a frightening woman to be their bedwarmer anyways?

Sure her looks are downright impeccable but alas, she's still ten years younger than me and sharing the bed with this female walking disaster felt like sleeping with a dragon.

You never knew when she would just spew fire and ate you alive.

I quickly wanted to end this dangerous topic so badly thus I desperately looked around the vicinity for any interesting conversation topics and whilst I was doing so, my nose then picked up this rather foul smelling odour that seemed to had came off from that pile of sacks that's haphazardly stacked on top of one another with at least hundreds of flies buzzing around it on a mad frenzy.

I involuntarily grimaced and the skin on my face creased as it morphed into this look of pure disgust.

"What's up with those sacks full of corpses? Did you guys had another skirmish with any of the hostile clans that keeps targeting the settlements?" I inquired whilst blocking my nose and mouth.

The Elven Chief showed a conflicted look before he followed my sight towards the piled up stacks of bagged corpses. "These bodies didn't died in battle...instead, they suffered from a strange kind of skin disease."

Hearing the word 'skin disease' gave me a foreboding feeling. 

I tried making a quick estimate of their numbers and the sacks here should at the very least reach around two dozens or so.

Inadvertently, a frown marred my face. 

"...All of them died from the same skin disease?"

The Elven Guard remained still for a moment and folded his arms together before he exuded a long stringent breath.

"Yes...all of them."

Silence.

Oi Oi, S-Seriously?

Then wouldn't this disease be considered—

I felt as if a lump got stuck upon my throat but I still powered on to utter that one single dreaded word that struck fear and terror to the hearts of any Aethian.

"—A plague." I finally stated as if the very word is deeply cursed.

The weather is downright scorching but it felt as if winter have suddenly descended. The mood around us plummeted so fast that I could almost even taste the frigid tension seeping through the air.

Its only been a decade after we managed to completely stop the spread of that dreadful 'Black Death' that have been spreading all across Aethos for nearly four hundred years, killing almost half of the entire continent's population so the abject terror from that time can still be vividly remembered by any Aethian that have managed to survived in those apocalyptic era.

I was still a child back at that time wherein the spread of the Black Death all across Arklaund were at its peak and the insanity of that particular period of time can still be remembered in every inches of my mind with such clarity. 

Death was practically everywhere.

I could still recall the madness and hysteria as I roam around the streets of the Capitol littered with dead bodies on every corner as I desperately search around for a cure to my plague stricken parents but alas, they too have eventually succumbed to the call of the reaper just like most victims of such disease.

Old, young, rich and poor, no one were spared from its horrors so to hear the word 'Plague' once again in the mouth of these Elf made all the skin follicles within my body stood to no end.

"Don't tell me its the Black Death!?" I practically hissed as I instinctually stood right in front of Milady to shield her away from being close to these corpses.

This is bad.

Really really bad, for we have not brought along with us the tonic to cure such disease but then I guess Sir Augustine could try concocting one. 

Oh Merciful Goddess, haven't these Elves been debriefed as to the right protocol when it comes to preventing the spread of a plague!? What are they doing merely putting the corpses in a sack on an open area!? 

"You guys should've incinerated these dead bodies as soon as possible!!"

What a bunch of—

"—Hey man, chill and calm the fuck down, this ain't the plague you Gáishins kept calling the 'Black Death' and our healers can attest to that, okay?" Aranis interjected and I finally regained a semblance of my rationality once the fact that its not the Black Death finally sank into my mind.

"S-So it isn't? Whew thank thee goddess..." I gestured a circular motion then a downward stroke onto my forehead as its my religion's sacred sign before adding,  "How certain are you that these plague isn't the Black Death and is something else instead?"

To my surprise, the one who had responded wasn't Aranis but the bespectacled Elven ice queen, Lorah.

"For one, the symptoms are entirely different," She intoned with a cool voice whilst fixing up her glasses. "Unlike the Black Death, the victims doesn't acquire any large pus-filled swellings but small blisters instead. These blisters spread all across the body at least by the hundreds and there's a dimple right at the center of these bumps making it look as if its an 'eye' hence we named it as « Hundred Eyes » Plague."

Silence. 

Hundred Eyes? 

What an ominous term.

I imagined my body suddenly sprouting lots of eyeballs with each blinking then looking around and colors instantly drained from my face.

"Also the duration before the victim's death if left untreated is far longer which are around four weeks more or less unlike the Black Death wherin the victim dies quickly at the sixth to eight days after the symptoms arise."

I nodded as relief washed all over me. 

"How far did this 'Hundred Eyes' spread around if I may ask?" I said whilst mentally thinking of more crucial questions that needs to be known. We are going to stay here in the New World for an indefinite amount of time so being a Captain that's accountable for the lives of my fellow soldiers, I should at the very least, know about these serious matters for the survival of my crew are at stake here.

Lorah slightly tilted her head. "Your Country have a grand total of six colonies here in Midras and based from the reports I've seen from the Margrave's office, it seems Hundred Eyes have already spread to four of these settlements and a few victims even started appearing at the Cabecera."

Well damn, four out of six? 

Why wasn't this known back at the mainland? Is the Narfá intentionally hiding these matters so that the Kaiser wouldn't become aware of it? I haven't heard of this plague when I came here last year so the spread of these Hundred Eyes must've been pretty recent only.

I have so much more questions I desperately wanted to ask but a commotion right at the output's entrance have caught all our attention. 

Dozens upon dozens of armed soldiers flooded the area so quickly that several blades were already aimed at our faces way before I could even discerned what the hell's happening. Several fast acting ships have also started appearing one after another to encircle our naval flotilla from the distance.

It was a total catastrophe.

"Halt! Stand your ground! W-What's the meaning of this!?" Shouted by Aranis in an agitated tone. "I'm the Vice Chief of the guards but how come I haven't heard that there will be an operation like these? Hey, bring me your commanding officer and tell him to explain to me what the fuck's going on!"

Tensions quickly spiked all over the outpost and it only took less than a minute before a grizzly robust man drew close to us and he gave a long hard glare to our group especially at us two, the newcomers.

"I'm the acting commander of this special forces and we are the Margrave's private army." The bear-like soldier stated in a gruff manner before proceeding forward, "We were tasked by our Lord to apprehend a very important person that we expect to arrive in these coming days. We didn't tell any of you for fear that our operation might be leaked to the spies that they may have planted in our lands beforehand."

I silently watched Aranis made a conflicted face as he lamely uttered, "Okay fine! J-Just as long that it's actually ordered by the Governor then I guess I can't really gripe much about it but who the hell is this very important person that you buncha fricks are looking for?"

The commanding officer didn't instantly responded but instead looked particularly at me. 

"Velestina Novaldein."

Silence.

I desperately tried the best I could to hide the quiver that I felt after hearing the name that this bearish guy just uttered.

"You just came from Arklaund right? Surely you must've heard about her, that Mad Heiress from that fence-sitter Sovereign House of Novaldein." The probing gaze of the commander finally leave me but my inner agitation grew ten times worse for the guy then shifted his glare at my supposed 'attendant' standing behind me.

Its only the start of our stay here in the New World yet our situation have already devolved into this whole mess and I have this notion that things will get even worse and worst as time moves on as if were out of the frying pan then straight into the blazing fire.

I mentally sighed as I remembered that bizarre briefing we had with the Heiress and her odd orders before we departed the ships. I tried looking at her from the corner of my eye but then I just as quickly returned it at the front in fear that I might blow up her cover.

I then looked at the Narfá soldier's surrounding us and felt my heart stricken with worry and apprehension.

Milady, I really hope that you know what your doing.

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