"Towae, we have guests. Can you make more food for dinner?" Ferris asked.
The wife turned around and looked at the newcomers. She broke into a smile. "Hello, Dagobert and Hildru! And who is this young priest?" Towae asked respectfully.
"I'm Luka, a visiting healer. Sorry to interrupt your work, but your husband said you are having pain in your hip? May I assume it's the right side giving you trouble?"
"Yes! How did you know?" she asked.
"You were favoring your left leg while standing at the counter," Luka pointed out. He stretched out his hands. "Please hold my hands and try to stand on your right leg."
The woman was reluctant to do so. But Towae saw Luka's encouragement with his eyes and decided to obey. She gingerly lifted her left leg as her body weight shifted. The patient grimaced when she felt a sharp sting emanating from her right hip.
"Okay, you can drop your leg now," Luka said immediately. He cast a Light Cure spell on the injury.
Towae felt the difference. She hopped several times on her right leg without experiencing any pain or stiffness! "Oh, this feels great!" she remarked excitedly. "Thank you for treating me." The woman bowed from her waist.
"Thank you for treating my wife," Ferris said and also lowered his head. "Why don't you stay for the night?" he offered.
"Yes, please stay here and enjoy a big supper!" she promised. The cook took out some dried meat and tossed it into the pot.
"Thank you for having us," Luka replied politely.
Towae tossed them out of the kitchen and returned to her cooking.
Dagobert notified the templars of their plan to stay at this plantation for the evening.
The four men drew lots to determine which three stayed out to watch the horses and carriage while the last escort stuck with Luka inside the house. Yve pulled the long stick and happily entered the residence. The other men started making a small fire and unrolled their sleeping beds to spend the night outdoors.
Towae made a vegetable stew with cured ham for dinner and served a hard roll on the side. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to bake fresh bread and felt embarrassed about it. To make amends, the cook distributed half the ham to her healer.
Luka was surprised to find so much meat inside his bowl. He quickly understood why Towae skewed the portion towards him. The guest accepted her implicit payment gladly because the ham was better than he expected.
In his previous life, Michael Bauer cooked his family's meals. Thus, Luka realized the secret ingredient to making the meal taste great -- salt! The guest understood how expensive this condiment costs on the open market, and he appreciated Towae's willingness to use it to improve the food's taste for his benefit.
The other men at the table, Dagobert and Ferris, glanced at Luka with envy because their bowls had very little meat inside. However, neither dared to complain about her bias toward the church official. Otherwise, Towae would throw them out of the house for the evening. And tonight will be cold!
The woman had a short temper and wouldn't take kindly to being embarrassed in front of Luka. Thus, Dagobert and Ferris lowered their heads and focused on devouring their meals to avoid looking at Luka's bowl.
After dinner, Hildru assisted Towae to clean the dishes while Ferris took out extra blankets for the guests to sleep in the living room. The host had offered the single bed in the house to Luka, who promptly declined.
"I don't mind sleeping in the living room with my guides and guard," Luka replied.
"Yeah, we brought enough bedrolls for everyone on the trip. Don't worry about it," Dagobert quickly agreed. The guide and Yve exited the house to retrieve them, leaving Luka alone with Ferris.
Luka allowed his pets out of dimensional storage and fed them cured meat and dried rations.
Bel and Gripper ate their food while eyeing the new environment.
Ferris watched in surprise because he didn't expect Luka to bring animals into the house via magic. He worried about his wife's reaction to their presence. When the man extended a hand to pet the rabbit's head, Bel forcefully smacked it aside.
The rabbit glared with its red, beady eyes.
"Bel hates being disturbed while eating," Luka explained with an apologetic look.
"The fault is mine," the host replied sheepishly. The homeowner helped clear space in the living room for the guests to place their sleeping bags. Ferris felt embarrassed that he couldn't offer them better accommodations for the night, but the visitors didn't seem to mind at all.
Luka slept near the left wall, snuggled between his pets while the young couple took the opposite end. The guard leaned behind the door; he would know if an intruder entered the house in the middle of the night.
When Towae came out of the kitchen, she was unhappy to see Luka sleeping on the hard floor. But then she noticed the rabbit and gorilla leaning against him and felt relieved because Towae was allergic to animal fur. If the hostess offered her bed to the trio, then she would have a devil of a time cleaning it afterward. Thank Altima for her small favor!
Luka had a restful sleep and felt energetic the next day. Towae prepared a simple breakfast of oatmeal. With her husband, the couple watched Luka's carriage depart.
While riding the vehicle, the church official spent his time practicing magic. Luka jabbed his finger with a knife to make it bleed, and then he cast Advance Cure to heal his small injury. Luka had a hunch that he must reach level 10 proficiency ASAP during this trip. Therefore, the passenger devoted all his spare time training inside the cabin.
Bel and Gripper watched for a while before they became bored and looked out the window instead.
The journey continued with brief stops at the various villages and settlements within the Izan province. Some areas experienced great success in reclaiming the ruined land, while others had trouble doing so. After treating all the patients, the healer insisted on spending some time looking at the fields with unhealthy-looking crops.
The escorts didn't care because they were only responsible for Luka's safety. If the VIP wished to extend his journey by a day or two, that was Luka's decision to make.
The two guides, however, were unhappy with this delay for several reasons. Their employer, Duchess Silverblade, had struck a deal with Pope Demetrius on the travel itinerary. If Dagobert and Hildru failed to follow it, the duchess might punish them with imprisonment.
Second, Luka was a high-ranked aristocrat. How much knowledge did he possess on farming techniques? Thus, the Izan natives were skeptical about Luka's desire to check the soil and dirty his church uniform in the process.
Luka saw their discomfort but ignored them. Although he was visiting the area as a healer from the church, Luka couldn't overlook his background as the dukedom's heir. If he encountered a problem within his domain, the aristocrat had a duty to investigate further, even if this resulted in blowing up the travel plans.
The traveler activated his Spatial Sense and determined that his caravan had gone in a northerly direction from the Izan main church. The horse-drawn carriage traveled at roughly four miles per hour; it spent an average of ten hours on the road per day. So over the past four days, his group traveled about a hundred sixty miles.
When the wind blew across his skin, Luka felt a sudden chill. Without a word to his escorts, the mage used Void Step to climb into the air. The investigator turned his body toward the left and saw a big forest looming in the distance. Luka returned to the ground and pointed in that direction. "We must head that way," he declared.
"Why?" Dagobert questioned with a frown.
Hildru saw that her husband was about to lose his temper and pulled him back. The woman stood in front of Luka. "Your Grace, your mother settled on a carefully-calibrated travel plan with the pope for this voyage. They will punish us if we carelessly deviate from the itinerary."
Luka shook his head. "I will inform my mother that I insisted on departing from her plans for an important reason." He took out the stone necklace.
The couple felt miasma atta
cking their bodies and shivered in fright.
Luka returned the item to his magic storage. "When the wind blew, I had the same reaction. There seems to be miasma within the forest, and our top priority is to investigate it," he revealed.
Dagobert and Hildru were alarmed by his words. If a portal forms inside the forest, it would endanger the entire Izan province! Even worse, the church leaders may send Lumina to destroy their land to get rid of the gate. Thus, the couple assented to Luka's change of plans.
Serle overheard the conversation and passed along Luka's concerns to his comrades. The templar furtively wrote a message on magic paper that allowed the recipient to see the text simultaneously no matter the writer's distance. Serle prayed to Altima that Pope Demetrius would see his urgent message shortly.
Chapter 96
Contagion
To the coachman's surprise, Luka climbed out of his cabin and sat next to the driver. The mage acted like a bloodhound and followed the aura of the miasma. Luka pointed the direction for the driver to follow.
After almost an entire day of traveling, the carriage approached a village on the forest's outskirts. At first glance, the place looked prosperous because many crops grew in the outlying fields. However, they were overripe, and nobody was around to harvest the crops.
Moreover, the huts showed no sign of anyone living inside; nobody was cooking even though now was suppertime. The horses were spooked and refused to approach; the animals stayed at least one hundred feet away from the houses.
The last rays of sun finally dissipated, and nightfall arrived. The templars drew their weapons and climbed down from their steeds.
Luka created several Light Balls over the horses to calm their nerves. Then he opened the door to let his pets out.
Bel and Gripper became alarmed when they sensed the thick pungent of death inside the huts. [Be careful!] The familiar warned.
Luka nodded. Since the sun had already set, the amount of light essence within his environment reduced dramatically. His light spells would take longer to cast and weren't as effective. Frankly, Luka would be fighting with a disadvantage if he relied solely on light magic.
Conversely, the mage felt tempted to use his dark magic. However, Luka discarded this notion because he didn't wish to reveal this secret to the templars, who would report back to the pope. Thus, the mage settled on spatial magic as his primary mode of attack.
Schreek-schreek!
The visitors heard the scratching sounds coming from the huts.
The four templars glanced at each other and nodded. Fulke quietly approached the nearest house while the other knights followed a few steps behind. The brave man slowly opened the door, and a desiccated figure jumped out to attack!
Swish! Fulke swung his sword and decapacitated his attacker!
However, the enemy blindly groped for the templar with his clawlike, black hands.
The defender executed a shield bash to slam his opponent against the door, which broke along its hinges. Crash! Fulke quickly chopped off the limbs to neutralize this threat.
Serle stabbed the head, which had rolled on the ground and hit his foot, with a sword. The templar used Appraisal to examine it. "It's an undead zombie!" he hissed in horror!
The remaining two templars poured holy water all over the torso. The warriors watched with great satisfaction as the zombie melted into a yucky black goo. The two men entered the hut to check for more zombies lurking inside. They found none and came out.
"Empty!" Yve reported to Serle.
"Check all the huts!" the captain ordered.
When Luka tried to enter another house, Dagobert pulled him back.
"Your Grace, this work belongs to the templars. Their armor has a magic enchantment that resists the undead and their contagion. If you enter without sufficient protection, you could be infected and turn into a zombie," the guide warned.
"That's right!" Hildru nodded. "We made a promise to your mother to keep you safe. Please cooperate with us," she pleaded.
Luka sighed deeply. Although this was the first time he encountered an undead zombie, Luka understood the fear of a contagion breaking loose. Since Luka lacked the correct equipment to handle it, the church apprentice reluctantly stayed away from the houses. Instead, he watched as the templars ruthlessly searched the properties and found more zombies within them.
The escorts eliminated each one by pouring holy water on the zombie. The warriors never touched it with their bare skin and relied on their swords to hold the undead body in place. When the templars finished clearing out the huts, they torched the buildings.
Luka watched the bonfires with a heavy heart.
"More settlements are surrounding the forest, and we must check each one for a zombie infestation," Dagobert said quietly. "But I don't think we can enter the forest if that is the presumed source of the miasma."
[The miasma is much thicker inside the woods.] Bel observed.
Hoot! Gripper agreed.
[Luka, the undead disease is highly contagious and spreads by physical conduct. Unlike the templars, you don't wear gloves. You have to let them do the grunt work while you serve as their supervisor.] Bel advised him. [Also, since your proficiency reached level 9, you can use Holy Fire to cleanse the undead.]
Luka closed his eyes and searched through the spells index granted by Alectos; the mage quickly found Holy Fire and observed its effect inside his mind.
Luka soon learned that the magic was harmless towards humans and other living beings but especially effective against the undead. Since Luka hadn't encountered zombies before, he didn't realize that the zombies required special magic to defeat.
Once the templars finished torching the settlement, they returned to the carriage.
"Your Grace, we rooted out all the zombies within the village," Serle reported and saluted.
"Good job," Luka replied with a nod. "How are your supplies of holy water? Do you have enough?" he inquired.
The captain grimaced at this question. "We used up a third of our inventory," the knight admitted with a frown. "We didn't expect to encounter a village full of zombies. If the nearby settlements overran with them, then we'll be forced to turn back when we run out of holy water," Serle noted with worry.
"That won't be a problem because I can create more holy water for you. But I need your men to hand me the empty vials," Luka replied.
"I will collect them for you at once, Your Grace!" The templar saluted and began to ask his men for their used potions.
Luka noticed that Hildru wanted to say something. "What is it?" he asked in a polite voice.
"We are worried about our village. Is it possible to go there even though it's not in your travel plan? There are several settlements along the way, and we should check on them as well," the guide proposed.
"Of course!" Luka agreed. "I would be worried about my family, too."
"Thank you, Your Grace!" Dagobert and Hildru bowed from the waist in appreciation.
"We should depart now to avoid inhaling too much smoke from the fire," the male guide urged. "Once we are far away, we can make camp and rest."
"That's fine." Luka waited for Serle to hand him the empty vials, and then Luka returned to the cabin. As the carriage traveled, he began to practice casting Holy Fire since it wouldn't damage the cabin's interior.
Luka considered making Holy Water, but the vehicle shook too much; he would spill the water all over the floor if Luka tried to fill the small glass vials.
The vehicle stopped an hour later, and Luka climbed out. He saw a desolate plain and felt the spot offered excellent visibility of their surroundings.
The guides unrolled sleeping bags around a campfire and took out blankets and pillows.
Luka went to bed with his pets and soon fell asleep.
But sometime later, he felt a hand shook him awake!
"Your Grace, there's a band of zombies approaching!" Dagobert warned.
Luka immediately climbed out of his sleeping bag and activated
his Spatial Sense. His heart sank when he counted over forty undead creatures approaching the camp! Even worse, Luka sensed more of them coming from afar!
The mage used Void Step to ascend to the sky for a better view. Luka sent several Light Balls over the approaching enemies and winced when he saw them. The zombies had rotted bodies, and many of them were missing limbs and body parts.
Hildru witnessed their horrific state and fainted.
The mage used Touch the Horizon and teleported to the nearest group of enemies. Luka expended extra mana to cast Holy Fire on the zombie horde. The golden flames quickly spread because their bodies were dry and stuck close together. The light from the ensuing conflagration lit up the night sky for miles.
However, the undead monsters continued their endless march toward his companions on the ground despite being aflame.
Luka created a thick Light Barrier to separate the undead from his comrades. While the zombies remained stuck a mere few feet away from the templars, the horses, and the carriage, Luka cast Spatial Blade and quickly cut off their limbs. Now missing arms and legs, the zombies flopped on the ground like fishes out of water. The mage repeatedly cast Holy Fire on them until this first batch of undead turned to ashes.
Then Luka turned his attention to the next wave and repeated the process. The second group contained fifty-one zombies and included many young children. He assumed that these kids were infected later than the first group of mainly fighting men.
Luka steeled his heart for the task at hand and chopped the undead children to pieces before freeing them with Holy Fire. As he watched the young victims burn, Luka prayed to Altima and asked the goddess to reincarnate them to better new lives.
The templars ignored the burning wreck on the ground. Instead, their heads craned upward as the men positioned themselves directly under Luka if he fell from the sky. They didn't know what magic he used to fly nor how long this spell effect would last. Thus, the knights prepared to catch Luka before he hit the ground.
The holy warriors recognized Holy Fire, and they were shocked that the young lad could cast this advanced light spell repeatedly given its high mana cost during the evening. The templars wanted to intervene in Luka's fight with the undead but realized that they didn't carry enough holy water to defeat all the zombies that appeared.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 78
