The Plague Village, Luxen (1)
How long had we been riding?
In the far distance, towering stone walls came into view.
The massive barrier that separated the village from the outside world was the defining symbol of Luxen.
Two small figures stood before the entrance gate.
They appeared to be the gatekeepers guarding the village entrance.
I urgently brought the carriage to a halt.
“Ugh, we’re already here?”
Edwin climbed down from the carriage, frowning deeply.
“What? We still have a long way to go.”
I paid no attention to his complaint and began pulling down the pile of luggage from the carriage roof.
“Your Highness, please sit over here.”
“What are you doing?”
“We’re going to disguise ourselves.”
“Disguise? Why?”
When I pulled several small medicine bottles from the bundle, Edwin’s face twisted in displeasure.
“Children who haven’t contracted the disease are not permitted to enter the plague village. At the same time, I cannot leave Your Highness alone outside. So this is unavoidable.”
“But still…”
“Besides, Your Highness stands out in many ways. We must slip in secretly. Now, please lower your head.”
He reluctantly bowed his head, looking miserable.
“Pfft—! What is this?!”
“It’s black hair powder. It will temporarily change your hair color.”
“Black hair powder? Why are you spraying that on my head?!”
What a fussy child.
He should be grateful it wasn’t actual charcoal dust.
I diligently sprinkled the powder over his fine golden hair.
“Wait, my eyes sting!”
“Perfect. Reddened eyes will make you look more sickly. And for your arms, we’ll apply this.”
“What is that now?”
“Mix plaster with water and apply it together with pine resin.”
Once the disguise was complete, Edwin hung his head in utter despair.
“Do we really have to go this far?”
“The more thorough we are, the lower the chance of getting caught. Also, don’t forget to behave exactly as I instructed you earlier.”
“No, this just feels wrong.”
I shoved the grumbling boy back into the carriage. By then, quite a bit of time had passed.
I need to hurry.
I picked up the bundle of clothing that had been inside the bag.
It was a set of worn priest robes I had obtained by asking Catherine for a favor.
“Huuuaaaahm~”
Peterson, one of the gatekeepers of Luxen Village, yawned so widely his mouth nearly split.
His helmet tilted sideways from the motion.
What was the point of worrying about appearance when no one ever visited this village?
He yawned once more, then called out to his colleague standing beside him.
“Hey, any groups scheduled to arrive today?”
“Hmm, not that I know of. There wasn’t anyone the day before yesterday or yesterday, so probably not today either?”
“Really? Then what’s that carriage coming this way?”
“Huh?”
His colleague furrowed his brow at Peterson’s words.
“Where could it be from?”
The carriage approached at a moderate pace—neither too fast nor too slow—and came to a stop right in front of the gate.
Peterson walked toward the driver’s seat with cautious steps.
“Halt! Identify yourselves!”
“May the blessings of God be with you.”
The person seated in the driver’s seat and offering the greeting wore tattered priestly robes.
“I am Priest Benedict.”
His voice was hoarse and raspy, as if he were suffering from a cold.
Because he had pulled his hood deep over his face, not even a glimpse of his features was visible.
Yet judging solely by his voice, he sounded unmistakably like an old man.
At the mention of a priest, the gatekeepers’ attitudes immediately grew more cautious.
“Um, excuse me, Father, but could you please remove your hood for a moment? It is customary for us to verify the identity of everyone who enters.”
“I’m sorry, but I’d rather not show my face to anyone. I once suffered from Scale Disease, you see.”
Scale Disease.
At those three simple words, both gatekeepers recoiled a step, faces pale with shock.
The priest let out a self-mocking chuckle at their reaction.
“Heh heh, of course, by God’s grace I have since overcome it. But as you both know, the scars left by Scale Disease cannot be erased even by divine power.”
“Ah, yes. Of course we know. You must have suffered greatly.”
Peterson waved his hands, expressing his understanding.
“Then may we confirm the identity of the person riding in the carriage?”
“Certainly. But be careful. The child is a Scale Disease patient.”
“Ah—!”
Peterson and his partner froze as they were about to open the carriage door. Through the window, they caught sight of the boy and let out a collective gasp.
The black-haired boy wore a gloomy expression.
The skin visible above his collar was already blackened and rotting, oozing with pus.
“This is my disciple, Johannes. He caught the disease while assisting me.”
“Oh dear… heavens above.”
The gatekeepers covered their mouths, genuinely horrified.
“Right now, all the priests capable of using divine power at the imperial palace have left on a pilgrimage to the Holy Kingdom.”
“Ah, so that’s why he couldn’t receive treatment.”
“Indeed. As you know, Scale Disease patients cannot stay in the imperial palace. It seems we’ll have to leave the boy here until the priests return.”
“There is a priest’s quarters inside the village. The young priest may stay there. No other priests are present at the moment.”
“Thank you. May God’s blessings be upon you both.”
“And upon you as well.”
The gatekeepers hurriedly opened the gates.
Thanks to that, the carriage entered the village without any further interference.
“Such a shame. The young priest looked so very young.”
“Sigh, indeed. Why do only those who do good end up like this?”
The gatekeepers watched the carriage disappear through the gates with pitying eyes.
Completely unaware of the old priest’s sneer hidden beneath his deeply pulled hood.
“Good heavens.”
Edwin muttered through the small window facing the driver’s seat.
“How did you change your voice like that?”
“It’s one of the old tricks I learned long ago.”
“Can I learn to change my voice too if I study it?”
“It will take time, but with effort, it should be possible.”
“Then teach me later!”
It seemed he found the old man’s voice I had produced while passing through the gates utterly fascinating.
I ignored Edwin, who kept pestering me to teach him the voice-altering technique, and instead scanned our surroundings.
It hasn’t changed at all.
Entering the village dressed as a priest, I was greeted by hostile glares and a nauseating stench.
Including the time I lived in this body, it’s been roughly four years since I last came here.
I slowly looked around.
Crude stone houses haphazardly lining the alleys.
Villagers wandering between them, their bodies rotting away.
I hope that old man hasn’t died in the meantime.
That would be truly troublesome.
The temple the gatekeeper had mentioned was located not far from the entrance.
I parked the carriage in the stable beside the temple and opened the door.
“Your Highness, from here on we must walk. The paths are too narrow for the carriage to pass.”
“Um… Rachel, do I really have to go?”
Edwin’s voice was trembling faintly.
Only then did I notice the terror on his face.
Well, of course he saw everything through the window.
Although he had grown up neglected, he had only ever lived within the imperial palace. This sight was far beyond what he could handle.
“If you’re scared, Your Highness, would you prefer to wait here? I can go alone.”
“What? Where are you going?”
“The person I’m looking for lives at the very deepest part of the village.”
“Can’t we take the carriage? There’s no need to walk, is there?”
“The paths become too narrow from here. The carriage cannot enter. We have to walk.”
“But what if we catch the disease?”
His eyes looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
“Your Highness, Scale Disease is not as easily contracted as you think. If it were, how could priests and physicians come here to offer their services?”
“The priests are fine! They can protect themselves with divine power! But we can’t!”
Despite my persuasion, Edwin shook his head in fear.
“Then stay right here and don’t move. I’ll be back soon.”
Deciding it would be better to find the man as quickly as possible, I turned to leave.
At that exact moment, Edwin grabbed the edge of my hood.
“N-no! I’ll go with you!”
He clutched my hood tightly and stuck close behind me like a burr.
“We’ll have to go quite deep into the village. Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“Being alone is worse! I’m coming with you!”
I let out a sigh at the stubbornly insistent Edwin.
“Then stay right behind me. The paths are complicated.”
The deeper parts of the village were surprisingly well-organized, but the stench grew even worse.
Many people were in such horrific condition that it was difficult to look at them directly.
“Hey, why don’t those people have arms and legs? Does Scale Disease make your limbs fall off?”
Edwin stared in horror at a villager who had lost his right leg.
“In severe cases, yes. At first the rotting flesh hardens like stone, and then even the slightest impact can cause it to shatter into pieces.”
That was why Scale Disease was also called Weathering Disease.
By the time the entire body had rotted away, it would eventually crumble into dust and disappear from the world on the wind.
“That’s why there are no graves in this village. There are no bodies left to bury.”
This symptom was also part of the reason Scale Disease was known as the Devil’s Curse.
In the Ventrum Empire, where funerals were considered sacred, the inability to even leave behind a corpse meant one could never find eternal rest.
“What? If there are no graves, how do their families visit them?”
“The people here have already been abandoned by their families. Even if there were graves, no one would come.”
“…Then where do the people who disappear like that go?”
“Well, they turn to dust and scatter. So they’ve either been blown away somewhere or washed away by the rain.”
At my answer, Edwin walked in silence for a long time, lost in thought.
His silence continued until we reached the end of the alley.
“Your Highness, this is the place.”
“……”
“Your Highness? Prince Edwin!”
“H-huh? What?”
Edwin, who had been standing there blankly no matter how many times I called him, finally snapped out of it when I raised my voice.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Oh… uh, yeah?”
He seemed puzzled that the house before us looked no different from any of the others.
“Um, so… this is the house where my master lives?”