My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 94

§ 94. Doubt (2)

Aria approached the plague patients lying on stretchers.

They were still young and vulnerable.

Boys and girls who looked to be around Ira’s age were lying together.

Aria examined the children’s conditions.

Well, honestly, there wasn’t much to examine.

It looked serious at a glance.

The children’s faces were covered with eczema-like rashes.

Pus was leaking from places where the rashes had burst.

Patches of skin had turned black from necrosis [tissue death due to lack of blood supply].

Perhaps unable to bear the pain,

the ailing children all seemed to have lost consciousness.

“Hahhuk…!”

“Ugh…!”

Yet, groans of pain still escaped them.

They must be feeling pain even in their unconscious state.

“How could this…”

How virulent this plague was.

Aria could tell at once.

“No matter what we do, their condition doesn’t improve. They’ve been suffering like this for weeks…”

No matter how severe a plague is,

it doesn’t easily end the life of its host.

If it easily ended the life of its host, the plague that parasitized within would also end.

So, it prolongs their lives as much as possible to create opportunities for the plague to move to new hosts.

In the process, people’s suffering only increases.

That was why the plague was truly terrifying.

So, there were only two ways to subdue the plague.

The first was to treat the plague patients.

“These children will be burned tomorrow…”

The second was to purify the plague patients by burning them alive.

To prevent the plague inside them from spreading to others.

“Ah, you’re saying they burn the children alive?”

Aria exclaimed in surprise.

Even if they were infected with the plague, burning people alive…

She couldn’t accept it.

The Saintess’s innate nature was like this.

Even though she was naturally a tomboy,

she valued life and had compassion for people.

If there was a rod to judge good and evil,

wouldn’t the Saintess be someone infinitely close to good?

But reality was harsh.

The lives of these children, which were not easily extinguished, spread the plague while they were still alive.

Thus, it inflicted the same pain on others.

There may be no inherent value in individual human lives, but

one person’s life versus tens of thousands of lives…

If these two had to be weighed, it would surely lean towards tens of thousands.

Besides, there was no proper treatment, so they were just suffering like this.

In fact, burning them would be giving these children rest.

“I can never do that.”

But not for Aria.

Aria slowly reached out her hand.

She caressed the face of a child distorted with pain.

Pus leaked out from between the grotesque deformities and bloated skin caused by the eczema.

“Saintess!”

“Wha, what are you doing…!”

Laura and the priest were startled by Aria’s sudden action.

But Aria was relentless.

Sticky pus smeared onto Aria’s fair hand.

And she felt an unclean energy.

Along with it, an unknown energy flowed into Aria’s body through her fingertips.

It was the seed of the plague.

Aria calmly closed her eyes.

The seed of the plague awakened as if excited in the body of a new host.

The seed of the plague, which had seeped into the skin, quickly contaminated the blood and spread throughout the body.

It was truly an enormous rate of infection.

But who was Aria?

The mighty Saintess, who seemed to have been made of divine power.

The seed of the plague was swallowed up by the divine power that filled Aria’s body.

And soon, unable to exert its power, it was purified and disappeared.

Aria slowly opened her closed eyes.

She didn’t know what kind of plague it was.

But she could confirm that it was a plague that divine power could affect.

Aria reached out her hand to the child again.

And she drew upon the divine power she had.

Whuaaaaaaah-!

Divine power poured out from Aria’s fingertips, enveloping the child.

How much time had passed?

The light gradually faded.

“Ooooooh…!!”

Suddenly, the priest burst into exclamation.

These were the children who hadn’t improved even after the priests had been clinging to them for days.

But look now.

The expression on the child’s face, which had been distorted with pain, was now peaceful.

Even the face, which had been grotesquely deformed by eczema, was gradually calming down.

This was clearly an improvement in their condition.

Indeed, the one with the most powerful divine power in the history of the Holy Empire.

She was truly no different from the reincarnation of Muriel [a legendary figure or deity known for healing and divine power].

Whuaaaaaaah-!

Aria continued to unleash divine power.

Like that, one, two, three.

And the moment she was about to approach the fourth child.

“Haeuk…”

Aria staggered for a moment.

That was because the plague was more virulent than she had thought.

And because of that, she had excessively emitted the divine power she had.

“I’ll help you too.”

Laura, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward.

“No, Laura.”

But Aria stopped Laura.

This was a plague that Laura couldn’t handle.

She was fulfilling her role as Aria’s bodyguard, but she was only outstanding among ordinary priests.

It was a plague that even Aria, the Saintess, had a hard time enduring.

Laura could be in danger.

It wasn’t called an unprecedented plague for no reason.

To eliminate this plague, she needed a higher level of divine power than she had thought.

There was a reason why the priests’ momentum hadn’t subsided even though they had been投入 [invested/dedicated].

If it was Archbishop Lahire, it would be possible.

But that damn old man was just watching from afar.

Aria gritted her teeth and continued to heal.

After healing all the children,

Aria asked the priest who was watching.

“Are there more patients in the village?”

“Yes, these children were the most serious, but…”

“Can you bring them all here? I think it would be better to treat them all together at once…”

“Ah, I understand.”

With those words, the priest entered Juren Village.

And not long after, he reappeared with countless lines of people.

Just by looking at it, there were hundreds.

There seemed to be at least thousands coming in droves.

It was as if everyone in Juren Village had been infected with the plague.

Aria’s lips trembled.

But Aria bit her trembling lips.

With those who were suffering right in front of her,

how could this hardship be a big deal?

“Lay those with severe conditions here in order.”

Aria drew upon her divine power again.

How much time had passed?

How many more patients had she treated?

She couldn’t count after she exceeded 100.

“Saintess…”

Even Laura’s worried words sounded faint.

Even maintaining her sanity was reaching its limit.

Her fair hand trembled.

No, not just her hand, her whole body was trembling.

“Haeueuk…!”

“Saintess, this patient has been…”

“Here… lay them here…”

Aria said weakly.

Just as she was about to draw upon her divine power again,

she staggered.

A severe dizziness struck, and Aria’s body tilted to the side.

It was such a sudden event that there was no time to react.

Just as Aria’s body was about to fall to the ground,

tak.

In an instant, Aria felt a hand grabbing her shoulder.

A rough, clumsy, yet firm hand.

But a hand that felt strangely warm.

It was a hand that even made her feel a cozy feeling that made her want to lean on it and fall asleep.

Aria’s gaze slowly turned to the side.

And she could see a large beak facing Aria.

Someone wearing a crow-shaped mask.

And a blonde man reflected inside.

“Are you okay?”

A familiar voice.

It was none other than Cian.

#

Aria’s face was visible right in front of him.

Magi rampaged for a moment, but this was bearable.

As long as she didn’t directly emit divine power.

Cian straightened Aria, who was staggering.

Aria’s body, felt through his fingertips, was extremely slender.

She was the most powerful Saintess in history.

The reincarnation of Muriel and so on.

In the end, she was just a human being.

A fragile and delicate woman.

Cian took Aria’s hand and led her.

Aria flinched, but Cian was relentless.

And he sat her down in a suitable place away from the patients.

“Rest here for a while.”

“But…”

But Aria tried to get up again.

It seemed like she couldn’t take her eyes off the suffering patients.

“Rest.”

Cian forcibly sat Aria down.

Divine power was truly an amazing power.

Torn wounds healed in an instant.

Fractured bones were immediately attached.

A being with powerful divine power like Aria immediately raised a dying patient on the spot.

Anyone could call it a miracle of God.

But divine power also had clear limitations.

The biggest limitation was that it was not an infinite power.

Of course, God’s power was infinite.

But the one who used that power was human.

There was a limit to physical strength in using that sacred power.

And if you emptied what you had,

there was also a time to refill it.

“What are you going to do with all these people if you collapse? Don’t be stubborn and rest.”

“Yes, Saintess. You almost had a big accident just now.”

Laura chimed in at Cian’s words.

There was persuasion from both of them.

And Cian’s words were not wrong.

If she collapsed here, there would be no more difficult situation than that.

“… Okay.”

Aria finally nodded.

Only then could Cian turn his head away from Aria.

Cian slowly turned his back.

Then Aria asked.

“Where are you going?”

“I have something to check.”

Cian answered appropriately and slowly moved his steps.

Aria just tilted her head and didn’t ask any further.

Cian headed to where the plague patients were.

The endless line of patients.

Even the Saintess who would treat them had collapsed.

The line was not decreasing and was only continuing to increase.

Cian looked around, glancing around.

And a place where people’s attention was not focused much.

He slowly approached the plague patient lying there.

A grotesque form as if mold had bloomed on his face.

A groan of ‘Keueuk…!’ leaked out from between his crushed lips.

He couldn’t even guess what kind of pain the patient was receiving.

“Hmm…”

Cian was lost in thought for a moment.

Just now, when Aria was treating the plague with divine power,

Cian was able to recognize the seed of the plague that was not able to withstand the divine power.

And it was clearly not purification but annihilation.

It was not purifying something unclean.

It was annihilating something evil.

In a word, the cause of the plague was not something called a disease.

And the patient in front of him now,

somehow, the energy he felt was quite familiar.

So, he knew it was something based on magic.

Well, the plague was a disease rooted in negativity and contamination.

Negativity was also based on magic, so it could be.

But only based on magic.

This was also clearly a life activity.

Nevertheless, he could clearly feel the energy of evil.

‘Hmm…’

Cian pondered and pondered.

He kept questioning whether this action he was about to take was right.

‘Hey, Aria will take care of it somehow.’

But in the end, he was able to make a decision.

Even if he got the plague, Aria was there, so he wouldn’t die.

His mind would be cut off and he would have seizures.

But he wouldn’t die, so his actions became bold.

Cian gently took off his protective gloves.

And he lightly placed his finger on the pus flowing down the patient’s face.

Sticky pus smeared on his finger.

The seed of the plague was clearly felt between them.

The seed of the plague rampaged in the new host.

The unclean power that had seeped into his fingertip spread in an instant.

The contaminated blood spread throughout his body.

There was no place in his body that did not succumb to the plague.

It was an enormous rate of infection.

It could be said to be a virulent plague.

Right then.

Twitch.

The magic inherent in Cian’s body reacted to the dormant plague.

And that reaction was ‘dare’.

To put it more explicitly, it could be said, ‘How dare a mere plague be so rude!’

Of course, what had infiltrated Cian’s body was not the plague.

It looked like a plague, but it wasn’t a plague.

Something of unknown origin based on magic.

And the magic that Cian wielded was the magic of the origin.

The magic that the strongest Arnaise Kyle wielded.

An area that even the Archmage Elodie could not dare to do anything about.

The blooming magic filled Cian’s entire body.

Thus, it forced the seed of the plague to obey.

The seed of the plague could not withstand it and succumbed to Cian’s magic.

As the seed of the plague was submerged in the origin,

it was only being reduced to its essence.

And at that very moment,

Ting!

[Magic Soul Control Method Progress Rate 14.003% (+0.003%)]

Along with the cheerful notification sound of the smartphone, a notification window popped up saying that the progress rate of the Magic Soul Control Method had increased.

A dazed mind.

“… What is it?”

Cian really wondered what it was.

#

Aria let out a long sigh.

A feeling of weakness that dominated her entire body.

She couldn’t put strength into her body because she had used excessive divine power.

If Cian hadn’t caught her, she would have collapsed and lost consciousness.

Aria unknowingly stroked her left shoulder.

It was none other than the shoulder that Cian had grabbed just now.

He always asked for money and said she was disgusting.

It was Cian who only bickered.

For some reason, Aria felt strange.

And maybe it was just her imagination,

but for some reason, it seemed like there was some warmth left.

“If it wasn’t for Young Master Cian, we would have been in big trouble.”

Suddenly, Laura approached Aria and said.

Aria was startled for no reason and shook her body greatly.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Ah, no, just…”

Aria just stroked her shoulder for no reason.

Laura sat next to Aria and said.

“More than that, Young Master Cian doesn’t even have divine power… He readily said he would come to the South, and just now too. He seems more like a clergyman than Archbishop Lahire, who is standing there blankly.”

At Laura’s words, Aria nodded as if she fully agreed.

Of course, Cian had a different purpose for coming to the South.

But still, it was to help Aria.

And just coming to an area where the plague was rampant was a difficult task in itself.

On the other hand, look at Archbishop Lahire and the Twilight Priests over there.

They said they would follow to support the South,

but far from supporting, they have been standing far away since earlier.

They were even using divine power on each other in case they got the plague.

She wanted to go and fight them, but

she didn’t have the energy right now, so she just suppressed it inside.

She really didn’t understand why they followed if they were going to do that…

“On the other hand, Young Master Cian was not hesitant.”

As if noticing Aria’s thoughts, Laura continued to speak.

It was none other than Cian who caught Aria when she was collapsing.

At the time, Aria was almost surrounded by plague patients.

That meant that he had dug into the plague patients to grab Aria.

Besides, Aria’s fainting was sudden.

Even Laura couldn’t figure it out.

But Cian grabbed Aria as if he knew it.

That meant he hadn’t taken his eyes off Aria.

Whether it was worry or interest…

“Young Master Cian is surprisingly romantic?”

It was definitely an exciting thing.

“Besides, when I see you two talking, he accepts all of the Saintess’s terrible personality…”

“What did you say?”

When Aria glared at her, Laura trembled.

But that was only for a moment.

Soon, Laura was wearing a sly smile.

Aria shook her head.

Honestly… she thought it wasn’t wrong.

Aria was a tomboy by nature.

But she had to pretend to be a Saintess.

That piled up and became anger.

And that piled up and became resentment.

It was fortunate that she had Laura.

If she didn’t have Laura, Aria might have gone crazy from frustration.

But it wasn’t like that in front of Cian.

She didn’t even have to pretend, and she didn’t hesitate to reveal her true colors.

Rather, he scratched her nerves while 받아치며 [countering/bantering].

To be honest…

Aria was comfortable with Cian.

For some reason, she could be a human being named Aria, not a Saintess, in front of Cian.

‘What am I thinking.’

Aria shook off the surging thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, where did he go?’

Aria looked around to find Cian.

But the world was full of crow masks.

She couldn’t tell who was who in a place where only big beaks were visible.

Nevertheless, Aria kept looking around to find Cian.

And right then,

“Wha, wha, what is this…!!!!!!!!!”

Suddenly, a shocking cry erupted from one side.

She wondered what it was and looked there.

That was where the plague patients were gathered.

And the one who let out the shocking sound was none other than a priest with a large beak.

She couldn’t see his face because it was covered, but

she knew he was a priest because he was wearing a priest’s robe.

And the place where the priest’s beak was pointing.

There was someone wearing the same crow mask.

However, there was a plague patient lying where his beak was pointing.

And for some reason, the patient’s face was peaceful.

And really, what was going on.

“Oh, this is great.”

A familiar voice was heard from inside the big beak.