Netheril’s Glory-Chapter 104: The outbreak.
The white tower in the night environment had a pure white glow with red lines spreading on it. The glowing building, standing alone on the hillside, looked weird, but it also evoked people's curiosity, like an evil fairy luring people into the swamp in the dark.
At this moment, Bilan and Dickie were panting on the floor of the white tower's hall. Since Punk had not added any furniture in the white tower's hall from the beginning to the end, the tired Dickie and Bilan, while enduring the strong smell of blood in the hall, could only sit on the ground to rest.
"Huu! Huu! Are we safe now!"
Dickie asked while gasping heavily. He was just an ordinary human, so he had drained the last bit of his strength after running such a long distance. Now he had collapsed on the ground, and he didn't even care about the strong bloody smell that could make ordinary people nauseated.
Bilan, as a professional, was a little better. At this time, she was half-kneeling on the ground and was inspecting the little boy's wound.
There was a moment of silence in the hall of the white tower.
"Damn it, why do those people watched us being chased but didn't come out to help? Can't they see that we have a seriously injured child with us?"
In the process of running away, Dickie noticed that many townspeople, who were normally very friendly and honest, looking at him and Bilan through their windows; however, even after listening to their constant call for help, no one came out to stop the crazy missionaries, no one even said anything. As if they were watching a horror drama, and they kept looking with a look of dread on their faces.
"Damn it, why, didn't they see those crazy missionaries? As long as a dozen people came for help, they could have stopped those guys, don't they have sympathy?"
At the end of his speech, Dickie almost roared out as tears ran down his cheek. He grew up in the small town of Niailan and lived with these townspeople his entire life. Still, he had never imagined that the real faces of these harmonious and friendly townspeople were so shameful and cowardly that they watched indifferently while he and Bilan were being chased. Many people even gloated at their misfortune.
"Humans are contradictory creatures. They are friendly, and they are also cowardly. It is just a matter of choice under different circumstances, so the reason those people didn't help us was not because they are against us."
Bilan was carefully using a spell to soothe the little boy's pain, but suddenly hearing Dickie's roar, she spoke these facts in a sad tone.
"………………"
Hearing Bilan's words, Dickie became silent. Since he was a child, he grew up mostly seeing the kindness of people, so he never knew that there was such an ugly side to human nature. Today, he saw a group of crazy believers and a group of cowardly townspeople. The former frightened him, while the latter... made him sad.
"But we can't give up hope, no matter how others treat us, as good people, we must always stick to the kindness in our heart. After all, kindness is such a thing that is given without expecting anything back in return!"
In the swaying light of the gloomy hall, Bilan gently stroked Dickie's messy hair, and she comforted the crying Dickie with a gentle voice. Although Bilan herself was also feeling very sad and helpless because of what happened today, she felt that the simple boy in front of her needed more comfort than herself today.
Dickie looked at Bilan with tears in his eyes, and this beautiful girl in front of him seemed to be the only light in this time of darkness.
"Cheer up. We need to treat this child and then get out of here."
There was a kind of firmness and persistence in Bilan's soft voice. She gently lifted the sore Dickie, and then trot to Punk's experiment table and began to carefully search for knives and medicines.
Although Punk had left several magic traps near the experimental platform, Bilan, who was often forced to stay beside the experimental platform, remembered the locations of those magic traps. As for what would happen when Punk came back... Bilan didn't have time to think about that now, and It was more important to her to save people and think about the consequences later.
Dickie looked at Bilan's back in a daze. At this time, he found out how terrible and strange the environment of the white tower was. And seeing the blood-stained experimental platform... It looked like a research base of an evil mage to Dickie, and he could not help but wonder if when Bilan said "not bad," if she was really talking about this kind of environment.
Thinking of this, Dickie couldn't help but feel a little sour. He now knew that Bilan told such to keep him from worrying about her. Looking at Bilan's back, Dickie suddenly felt that there was an incredible amount of strength hidden in her petite body.
"How can I stay depressed and become a burden to Bilan?"
Dickie stood up with his teeth clenched. He felt that he had to run very hard to catch up with the girl's back, and he couldn't slack off at all.
"Miss Bilan... Let me help you."
The white tower on the hillside stood tall against the whistling cold wind. Although it was dark, it could still give shelter to the two sad travelers. However, the residents of Niailan didn't have such "good luck" as Bilan and Dickie.
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The defense of the white tower was set up according to Punk's style. In order to facilitate the transportation of slaves, Punk set up the magic formation in a way that allowed people to go in and out, so it could be said that it didn't have a very tight defense, but Punk wasn't much bothered about it, as he always carried important things with him. And the things in the white tower were just a few worthless auxiliary tools.
Therefore, the formations of the white tower were more inclined toward attack that used several magic stones as the energy source. The missionaries who rushed into the formation's range mindlessly were instantly blown to pieces by the fierce magic traps.
However, without the supplement of Punk's mana, these inefficient attacking formations would consume all their energy very quickly. Moreover, since Punk had already dealt with the last few slaves before he left, there was no food or water stored in the white tower, so Dickie and Bilan could not stay here for too long.
On the outside of the white tower, five or six dull-looking missionaries, dressed in grey and red robes, were standing quietly outside the range of the magic formations. Their eyes were fixed on the white tower on the mountain, and with their motionless figures, they looked like a few wax statues.
On the other side, the Niailan town had completely lost its peace and harmony at this time. The terrible disease suddenly broke out as if it had fallen from the sky. Nearly one-third of the residents found that without their knowledge, their bodies had become fragile, and as long as they were slightly bumped, their bones would be fractured or even shatter into many pieces.
While everyone was panicking about the sudden spread of this strange disease, the missionaries of the Ti Xiaer Church changed their previous attitude. They formed small groups, then went from door to door and offered Holy water that could cure the so-called "gray bone curse." If the other side didn't drink willingly, then several missionaries would rush in and forcefully put it in their throat.
But the so-called "holy water" truly had the ability to cure this terrible disease, and nearly one-third of the sick townspeople had joined this strange Church in order to get rid of the unknown disease. Many people had been forced to drink the "holy water," but without exception, anyone who consumed the "holy water" had become crazy believers of the goddess Ti Xiaer within half an hour.
Naturally, the sober townspeople who saw this scene quickly realized that this was a huge conspiracy, but even after knowing that, they could only hide in their homes without saying a word. They were afraid of being found by those crazy missionaries, so no one had the courage to stand up and fight or even escape.
Conspiracy or not, the epidemic and the cult spread like wildfire in the villages and towns around Dolez city. However, due to the inconvenient transportation, all the messengers, who went to report the sudden news, still hadn't reached Dolez city.