Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 248

“Ah, yes! I remember hearing about this. A sickness… in the west of the Empire…”

I remember stories of this sickness being stopped quickly. They burned the dead bodies. And they did something else too.

This happened before. In my past life, I know it did.

“Damn! If only I had paid more attention! I should remember more ways to stop it.”

But I can’t remember everything. I didn’t think it was important before. It seemed like a story from far away, not something that would happen here in Grandia.

“Still, I’m lucky I remember even this much.”

So, I know what we have to do.

“That’s right then. Good. We must burn all the bodies of those who died from this sickness.”

In many places, people burn bodies when someone dies. But here, in our kingdom, we usually bury people. Burning is only for very bad criminals. So, people think burning bodies is disrespectful to the dead.

“People might not like this.”

“We have to do it anyway. It’s to stop the sickness.”

“…Yes.”

“And when you burn the bodies, burn their favorite things with them too. Tell people we are doing this to remember them, not to be mean. This will make people less angry.”

Gilbert’s eyes opened wide when he heard this.

Later, the meeting in the barracks ended. The helpers went back to their jobs. Gilbert asked Logan carefully,

“Have you heard someone say something like this before?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Well, I was going to say we should burn the things that belonged to the dead people too. But you said it first.”

“…Is that because of those tiny germs?”

“Yes. Those germs you can’t see…”

“Okay, okay, stop explaining. Are you saying what I told you to do will help stop the sickness?”

“Yes.”

“Good enough then. Wait… is there anything else we can do besides burning bodies? If the priests get too tired, people will still die.”

“I will make a medicine that works, I promise. Please believe me.”

“Yes, yes. Please try hard. If you need anything, just ask. I will help you.”

“Ah… Thank you…”

Gilbert jumped a little, even before he finished saying thank you.

“…Do you need anything *right now*? Tell me. I will do anything to stop this sickness quickly. If it helps, I will praise you a lot.”

“…Then, could I maybe look at the old books in the temple?” (Adding “old books” gives a better idea of “records” for some readers.)

“What?”

“I want to find information about the sickness in Restaboom, from 70 years ago. If we look at that old information and compare it to what we know now, we can make a cure much faster.”

Gilbert spoke very carefully. Maybe he was worried because he saw how Logan felt about the priests.

Logan was quiet for a moment. Then he said,

“…I will ask Bishop Ilia.”

“Thank you!”

‘I just argued with the priests.’

I felt a little ashamed, but I still went to see the bishop to ask for help.

But then…

“If it’s about sickness information, we have lots of it. Our books have very detailed records.”

Bishop Ilia was much more helpful than I thought she would be.

“…Thank you. Do you need anything else?”

“I was going to ask the temple for more help anyway. I’m just asking for the books at the same time.”

“Even if you ask for help, will they give it? The temple might think they have already given too much.”

*Investment.* (Thinking about the word “investment”.)

Ilia smiled sadly. She didn’t like that word. “But this is an emergency. We have to do it. Using the temple’s money to stop the sickness quickly is how we help people.”

Logan felt like he was seeing a new side of the bishop. He wanted to trust this kind and helpful bishop more.

‘But I don’t think they will send more help.’

Logan still didn’t believe it would happen.

People didn’t fight back as much as we thought when we told them to burn the dead bodies, even the ones already buried. The people in this area were too tired to argue with the priests and the king. They had already been through so many bad things.

And also, the bishop helped.

“…So, is that person left alone by God?” (Woman asking about the dead person)

“No, never. They become spirits to protect their families. They will save all of you.” (Bishop’s answer)

The bishop was the most respected person helping us. He hugged a crying woman who was burning her dead husband’s body. She even had the sickness herself. After that, no one argued anymore. Everyone agreed to burn the bodies.

“Such a kind person… for people like us, who are not important…” (Woman speaking)

“…Let’s all be strong.” (Bishop)

This helped the other priests too. They were already helping the sick, some because they wanted to, some because they had to. Now, people started to trust them more.

There was also good news!

“The Latte herb works, Gilbert!”

“That’s wonderful! That’s wonderful!”

The healers had been working very hard, looking at sick people and collecting herbs all day and night. They had found something that worked!

“Does it lower fever?”

“Yes. It only makes the sickness a little bit better, but it does help.”

“Good. Keep working hard.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Burning the dead bodies and their things stopped the germs from spreading, like the healers said. And the fever medicine helped a little, even for very sick people. The helpers’ work started to make a difference.

Fewer people were dying, and slowly, more people were getting better. Logan was starting to feel a little relieved.

Then Ilia spoke, her voice serious.

“This sickness is much worse than I first thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“The priests’ healing is working slower than any sickness we have written about in the temple books. And someone I thought I had healed completely yesterday is sick again today.”

Logan’s face became serious when he heard Ilia’s words. She already looked pale and tired.

“I will ask the temple for more help again. This is already very hard.”

Bishop Ilia bit her lip and said this. But like Logan thought, three days later, the temple only sent the old information about Restaboom.

“We are too busy helping in other places to send you more help.”

The priest who brought the information said this. It was just an excuse. No one believed him.

“Hey! This is the worst place! What other help are you talking about?!”

Fabian yelled. His face was thin and tired.

He had been healing people and praying without food for a week. He used to be a fat priest, but now he looked almost normal.

“Send help now!”

He seemed like he was losing his mind. He got angry at a priest who was just delivering a message.

“The sickness is spreading! What are the leaders doing?!”

If you just listened to him now, you would think he was a good priest who really cared about people.

But even if he shouted, he didn’t get the help he wanted.

“W-well, no one is dying anymore, so maybe it’s getting better…”

“That’s not true! If this keeps going, I will die instead of the sick people! Tell them to send more help now!”

While Fabian was yelling at the poor priest who brought the message, Gilbert quickly grabbed the temple information and ran to his healer friends. Bishop Ilia looked pale and sad. She saw the priests acting badly, but she pretended not to notice.

Even though no one was dying, things were still very hard for the priests.

This difficult situation changed ten days later, when the helpers arrived in Raftan.

In a way no one expected.

“Y-your Majesty. Epidemic patients have been found in other villages in Raftan. Six villages near the sealed village!”

“What?! Didn’t you seal it off properly?!”

“W-well. It seems that there were people who visited the village where it broke out before we arrived. And most of them didn’t report it even after the symptoms appeared…….”

“Damn it!”

Ten days after the helpers arrived.

People started dying from the sickness again. And the number of sick people in one place grew very, very fast.

Luckily, when Logan arrived in Raftan, he had warned the nobles nearby. This worked.

*Grrr.* (Sound of armor)

*Hee hee hee.* (Sound of horses)

A knight in his forties felt everyone looking at him, surprised. He walked forward and knelt down politely.

“I am from the Kelloman area, Your Majesty. I will give you food and soldiers, like you asked.”

“…You came just in time.”

The Kelloman area, which had argued with Logan the most before, gave a lot of help.

“From the Genzis area…”

“The Perona area will be here soon!”

Soon, the other two areas also sent help. Not as much as Kelloman, but still a lot.

Just the help from these three families meant that the people in the 18 villages and the helpers would have enough food for at least three months.

‘They had so much extra stuff and they were just going to let people die.’

Logan felt even angrier. He trusted the nobles even less now. But he knew he shouldn’t show it.

The sickness was now in 18 villages, not just 12. Raftan and the helpers were having a hard time even keeping people from moving around. The help from the three noble families was like rain after a long dry time. It gave the helpers a chance to rest and think.

But then…

Three days after things started to look a little better, something happened that made everyone lose hope.

“S-some of the healers are getting sick! They have the sickness!”

Even the helpers who were trying to stop the sickness were now getting sick themselves.

“Some of the soldiers guarding the villages have fallen down! They have the same sickness!”

Soldiers who were stopping people from going in and out of the villages were now getting sick too.

“It’s all finished.”

“How could this happen…”

“What is the temple even doing?”

Even the temple knights and priests who were helping were now complaining.

Logan listened to the report, his face hard and serious.

“How many people are completely better now?”

“Not counting the ones who got sick again, about 120 people.”

“How many people have gotten the sickness?”

“…It’s getting worse. At first, we said 321. Now it’s over 600.”

Logan sighed when he heard this bad news. He put his hands on his head.

‘I have to do something.’

It looked like he had to use even more of his little money and ask the temple for help again. Maybe twice as much help as before…

‘…Can we even do it?’

The kingdom’s money, the army…

He felt very sad and sighed. But he had to do something. If they just let the sickness go on, it could cause very bad problems before the war with the Empire.

Why is everything so wrong?

Logan sighed and walked to the device to talk to people far away.

But then!

“Y-your Majesty! I found something amazing!”

Gilbert yelled like he was screaming and ran to Logan.