Chp.37: The situation in the cities
Of course, the success of Rhaegal's part of the plan was conditional on whether or not King Marcus agreed to do as Haku told him. If he didn't help them, then in a short time what had happened in the labor camp would have been discovered and the ships carrying the fugitive prisoners would have been pursued by the army. While Rhaegal and his companions had been able to defeat the labor camp guards, they were small in number compared to the number of soldiers stationed in the cities, and furthermore their victory was due to much preparation, planning and study of the battlefield. If an army were actively pursuing them, Rhaegal wouldn't have a clue what to do.
But just as Haku had predicted, Marcus had decided to follow his directions, at least for now. After all, in the face of that crisis, Haku's proposal was the best way out. Besides, technically, the king didn't have much of a choice since Haku still had the entire kingdom as his hostage. Therefore, very cunningly, he had simply decided to act as the dragon had kindly 'advised' him, postponing any stance for or against Haku until a later time. At the moment what united them was only an alignment of interests; once that situation vanished, the king's actions would become unpredictable. But for now, Haku was sure he could trust him. And he was right.
Marcus had hand-picked the officials to send to the site. They were people extremely capable of their work, learned, with excellent oratory and who, above all, knew who to be loyal to. Even though they clearly understood that there was no epidemic, and that the king was just trying to hide something, these officials had ignored it and asked for no further explanations, merely listening and memorizing what they were supposed to do. Marcus had also given them some very powerful guards, none lower than level adamantium, who would protect them and make sure no one violated their commands. These guards would also be their riders, since each of them had a wyvern or at least an amphitrite, with which they would fly east across the Province of Baudonia. Marcus had finally entrusted each of them with a royal seal and a letter containing the mandatory order for all soldiers and citizens of any city to obey those people, otherwise they would be accused of being perjured traitors and be punished as such. With that evidence in hand, no one could have denied the legitimacy of those officials to take the lead.
They had left immediately after receiving all the instructions. Time was short and they had to hurry. Marcus had limited himself to sending an official only to the eighteen main cities of the Province of Baudonia, since it would take too long to find people who could manage each community and village; after all, it was only a temporary measure, and he would soon be stepping in personally to make things right. Furthermore, Haku had explicitly asked the king to deal with cities, not all population centers, so he was likely to comply. After all, most of the army was stationed there; once that was blocked, there would be no more danger to Haku and his allies. Each officer set out accompanied by five level adamantium soldiers selected by Thornag for their incorruptibility and diligence, and thanks to their mounts they covered the great distance in less than two days.
Their arrival received different welcomes depending on the city where they went. In most cases the officer who controlled that territory simply stepped aside, since he didn't want to get in trouble, much less with the crown; therefore he immediately handed over command of the army to the officer in question and carried out his every order without batting an eye. However, some did not welcome the arrival of royal officials as well, especially the officers closest to Carrion. Sometimes it was the same officer who controlled the whole territory, other times instead they were sergeants or lieutenants who contested the legitimacy of the officer even when the officer in command had declared it valid. However, since the official had both the royal seal and the king's letter, and most importantly he was escorted by five level adamantium soldiers, no one could oppose him. And the few who seriously tried to do anything were immediately beaten and sent to a cell.
Once installed, the official in charge of each city ordered all doors and gates to be closed immediately and no one to be let in or out, explaining that such measures were wanted by the king to prevent a disastrous epidemic that was rapidly spreading. The people in charge of the city, who had obviously never heard of an epidemic, obviously asked for an explanation, or at least a simple elucidation, and the official had explained to them what the king had told him, namely that the contagion had begun in the areas inhabited in the east and was rapidly spreading; if they asked for further details, the official replied that he didn't know them. When they asked him to at least tell what the epidemic consisted of, the official told them that it was the terrible red death. This was enough to make everyone consider the safety measures taken more than acceptable: the red death was in fact a terrifying disease that not only spread rapidly but had a very high death rate, and moreover killed in a slow and painful way, so much so that many of its victims had voluntarily committed suicide to escape the pain. Wherever it appeared, it was said that it would exterminate half of that nation and possibly part of its neighbors as well. There was no cure for the red death: not even the most powerful healing magic could stop it. Only certain legendary levels had been given the ability by the gods in the past to cure that disease, but no mortal could do so. Therefore, when someone heard of the red death's appearance, the safest reaction was to isolate the affected area and prevent anyone from leaving it, or, if this wasn't possible, to barricade all other inhabited centres, especially the cities, and not allow no one to enter until the epidemic subsided. If someone was infected, he or she should be immediately isolated and with him or her every person who had come into contact with him or her within the last twenty-four hours. Once dead, the corpse had to be immediately burned: the red death in fact didn't vanish when the body died, but remained in it for several weeks after death, and therefore any rat, bird, insect or even worm that would eat it would contracted the disease too and spread it elsewhere. The only way to prevent this event was to destroy every single part of the body until only ash was left.
The mention of the red death was enough to convince not only the officers but also the soldiers themselves of the importance of keeping the gates closed. While some of their companions were still out, they had no intention of risking the terrifying disease. The official ordered that if anyone showed up at the gates, regardless of whether he was a soldier, a peasant, a vagabond or even a nobleman, he should be left outside and at most the sentries should throw him a bag full of food from the walls to keep him from starving; that was the only charity one was allowed to give when the red death was around. And to make sure no one violated the command, the five level adamantium soldiers took turns in which they flew their mounts around the walls to make sure there were no trespassers… or rather, to prevent any spies from trying to get out of the way. city and went to inform Carrion of what had happened. Such a move was successful: in fact they found some in every city trying to sneak away, and of course they eliminated them before they could do anything. After all, adamantium levels were still the maximum level of strength a mortal could reach without the help of the gods: there was no way that some mere spies could escape their eyes or manage to escape them. With these security measures, virtually every city in the Province of Baudonia had been sealed off completely.
However, the duties of the royal official didn't stop there. After all, his duty was not only to quarantine the whole city, but also to make sure that everyone was following royal orders. It was easy for the officers: even those who were hostile to the new leadership had no intention of challenging the danger posed by the red death. It was the same for the soldiers: they were used to obeying, so it made no difference to them which orders they had to carry out. The same, however, could not be said for the population. The news circulated quickly and people obviously became frightened, and when the sun rose the next day a large crowd made their way to the palace where the official was staying, asking him for an explanation. But the officials chosen by the king were known for their gab, and in fact he didn't let himself be intimidated, but rather personally left the palace without being escorted by any guards and spoke directly to the people.
"Citizens" he began. "I know you're scared, and I'd be lying if I told you that you shouldn't be. I'm scared too. I know that the rumor has already spread, and so now I can confirm that yes, the red death has really appeared in these lands. I don't think so need me to tell you the terrible stories related to this disease, or to tell you how many people it has killed, or in what horrible way it has torn them apart from the inside and how they prayed for their deaths. cursed would be madness. So I won't ask you to not be afraid, just to remain calm. If we panic, then surely we will all die. The red death thrives where there is chaos, because the absence of order prevents us from take the precautionary measures necessary to contain this disease. Therefore, I ask you, no, I implore you to remain calm and continue to lead your lives as you always have, as ordinary law-abiding citizens. Our wise king, His Majesty Marcus, he has already learned of the disease and is dealing with the matter. In the coming days he too will come here, bringing us supplies and medicines to continue resisting, and he will show us his plan to defeat the disease. Until then, as long as we stay sealed inside the city and don't let anyone in, then we'll be safe. And in case any of you have relatives or friends elsewhere, you don't have to worry: the precautionary measures that I took in this city have also been taken in all the other cities of this land, and will soon be taken in villages and small communities as well. rural. I understand that this isn't a sufficient guarantee for you to know if your loved ones will be fine... but I ask you, however, to take courage and believe that we will all get out of this situation alive. So please go back to your homes and try to distract yourself, and have faith that this will all work out for the best. Because I believe... no, forgive me, I expressed myself badly; I have the absolute certainty that it will be like this, and I won't stop fighting for it to be like this. Therefore, don't stop fighting either, and believe in our ruler and in our future!"
Similar speeches were given in all the cities of the Province of Baudonia and had exactly the desired effect: the population calmed down and was convinced that everything would be fine. Even though they were still afraid, they now had more confidence in their future. And so, there was no attempt to escape the city. Just like Haku wanted, no one would go near the labor camps anymore; and since no one had left the city, the guards who were in the camp did not notice the situation. This left the field completely free for Rhaegal and his men, who freed all the prisoners and then escaped unmolested.
In the following days, Marcus would actually come in person to visit the Province of Baudonia bringing food, water and medicine and giving solemn speeches everywhere to calm the people; he would fake that situation for a month or two and then declare the emergency over. This would have increased his popularity and completely covered up Carrion's actions, eliminating any possible shame on the name of the Jurao Kingdom. Or perhaps the king would have done something else as well; Haku wasn't sure if he would fulfill their little unwritten agreement to the end... but that could only be revealed later.