C16- Arriving at Piscea

A seventeen year old girl wearing a white coat was hurriedly mixing things in a mortar. Her pestle was shining red ever so slightly from time to time. She had skin whiter than normal, a characteristic trait of the Piscin people. Her long blonde hair was tied to a bun. Her beautiful face was distorted with stress, biting her lips while trying not to cry. It was obvious from her face and movements, she was in a real hurry.

She was in a large room with a large wooden table and a lot of shelves with books, small boxes and vials on them. The air in the room was clean despite all the different materials and plants spread on the table, but the faint smell of the herbs could still be felt. The walls were made out of stone, and there was a big fireplace on one side of the room. The fireplace was designed to not let smoke out into the room.

The door suddenly opened. A burly middle aged man with a grim expression wearing thick white fur walked in.

"Amy-"

Her heart quickened. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Dad, I think I am really close with this one. Please give me more time."

"Amy."

Her vision was getting blurry. Her hands started to shake, but she insisted nonetheless.

"Look, I just need a day or so-"

"AMY!"

Sniff~ Pta Pta

"Dad... please..."

A couple of tears dropped inside the mortar.

"Amy, please leave the castle- no, leave Piscea."

"I-I still have t-time. I-I c-can find th-the cure."

"Please listen to me Amy."

Although she didn't have any hope, she asked him anyways.

"Wi-will you come with me if I go, dad?"

"I'm sorry, neither me nor your mother can come with you. You have to leave without us."

"THEN WHY?! WHY SHOULD I LEAVE?!"

She was crying and even though she couldn't look at her father's face, she knew he was also crying. She didn't understand why her father was telling her to leave when he himself wasn't going to.

"Why can't you come with me? Is it because of your responsibility as the ruler of this small city state? Almost everyone is already sick with this damned plague! Why do you care about it so much?!"

She hated this city because it was taking her father away from her. She hated her father because he chose the city over her.

"It's not because of the city, Amy. It's because..."

But she hated this plague the most, because it took everything from her.

"... your mother caught the plague as well."

*****

Waking up while hearing a violin, Corvin felt good. Feeling like he was sleeping on clouds, only with a lot of mental effort, he forced himself to get up.

"Tch, you woke up. Bummer."

The first thing he saw was a handsome boy with an annoyed expression.

"Why are you angry that I woke up?"

"Huh? Is that even a question? We still have some time before we cross the border."

"So?"

"That means your 'long journey philosophy mode' will be annoying me when you are awake."

"Huh? Did you-"

"Yes, I did use magic to make your sleep comfortable so you wouldn't talk."

"Why are you so grumpy today? Did you miss Clair that much already?"

"Haa?! Why wou-"

Knock knock knock

"Young Master, Mister Corvin. We have arrived at the destination."

Before Noah could shout at Corvin to hide his embarrasment, the coachman notified their arrival.

"Give excuses another time and wear your coat. This place is cold."

"Yeah, I know. Unlike you, I actually care about my classes."

"Yet I already have a job and you don't."

"Tch."

After a bit of banter, the duo stepped out of the carriage. The coachman gave them their baggage and left.

"So this is Piscea, huh?"

"Well, one of the warmer parts of it."

"So, where are we exactly?"

"I think we are in a city state called Celati."

"Celati... Oh! Isn't this one of those cities ruled by... ummm..."

"Yeah, even though it's only one city, the ruler of Celati is selected by the people. Whenever the current governor dies, or rules the city for ten years, a new one is chosen by the people."

"That must cost a lot right?"

"Well, the population is only around a hundred thousand, and the city is one of the major centers of trade coming into Piscea. So they have the resources to do it."

"Interesting place..."

"Yes, but in my opinion everywhere should be ruled by people chosen by the citizens."

"Well, it is going to be hard, achieving that."

"I know... Let's meet the governor tomorrow and find an inn. My dad must have sent a notice already but I am too tired."

"Okay, let's look around."

After an hour or so of walking around, they found an inn and went inside. Placing their baggage in their rooms and going back downstairs to eat, while also trying to talk with people and get a grasp on the situation.

"They say weird monsters are attacking people."

"I haven't heard from my friend for a week. Someone told me the whole village was gone."

"Some villages are attacked by monsters and wiped out, I heard."

After going back to their rooms, the duo had demoralized faces.

"Noah, how much of what we heard is true in your opinion?"

"I don't know. But everyone is talking about weird monsters. Could it be-"

"Yes. This plague is also a colossus."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Huh? O-oh, just a feeling I guess."

'Can't tell him I heard it from a mysterious guy from my dreams.'

"Corvin, let's sleep. We need to be faster in solving this so let's get up early."

"Sigh, It really is looking bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if some cities got destroyed completely. Let's just hope it doesn't get worse."

*****

"What is this?"

A regular guard in a city state in Piscea found two corpses at the house he was sent to inspect. One of the corpses was a human male. It was a built man holding an axe as it laid down on the ground. The other was a humanoid monster with a long rat tail and horns. But, even though it had probably been dead for hours, the monster's corpse didn't disintegrate like other monsters.

Looking at the monster's corpse, certain rumours crept up to his mind. Unsure about what this was, he called for the guard captain.

"Captain, there is a monster corpse that isn't disappearing in this house.", he told to his captain as he brought him to the house.

The captain looked at the corpses for a bit and gritted his teeth. All he saw was the signals to disaster.

"This isn't a monster. The plague has come to here as well. Issue the highest state of emergency, as fast as possible. Stop entry and exit to the city except for essential supplies! No one here is to tell anyone a single word about what happened here! Understood?"

"Yes!", shouted the guards, and left to do their tasks.

"Damn it!", shouted the guard captain and kicked a wall.

"This damned thing came here too fast, fuck!"