Chapter 121 - On the Road to Valkland

Gren was smart enough to bring Georgia up to the front seat before taking off so that she could guide him through the tunnels. What he wasn't smart enough to do was check what kind of transmission was in the truck before trying to drive it. The grinding noise that came from the clutch when he tried to switch into first gear was horrifying and he didn't realize that the parking brake was on so he over revved the engine. Thankfully, only he knew that the truck was not supposed to be making those noises so he was spared from the others' judgement.

The tunnels were wide but Gren traveled down them at a crawling speed so that he could get used to controlling the truck. It was completely different from any vehicle he had operated before but the basic principles on how to control a car were common knowledge on Earth. When the tunnel reached the gate leading out through the Church's not-so-secret secret exit, Gren brought the hulk of a machine to a halt and reengaged the parking brake. "How do you open the gate?"

Gren called out to Georgia but the noise of the truck and her earmuffs made it difficult for her to hear him. "What!?" Gren quickly realized the problem and shut the engine off.

"I was asking you how to open the gate." This time, Gren's words were understandable by Georgia.

"Give me a moment and I'll go open it up. I forgot that the gatekeepers were recalled to the headquarters last week. Most of my knights were recalled which is why it's only the four of us." Georgia was annoyed at the headquarters and wanted to complain about it to someone. For her, Gren was the perfect person to complain to at the moment since he wasn't part of the Church.

Georgia and a couple of the other knights opened up the gate and waved Gren through. After the truck cleared the gate they closed it and locked it back up before getting back into their positions. "Just go left and we'll reach the road to Valkland." Gren knew the way to the road but wasn't going to tell Georgia to stop telling him where to go. It was better to have her confirming the way he needed to travel.

The perfect thing for a road trip like this was music but there were no radio stations and Gren was driving so he couldn't play the guitar. Even singing would split his attention which wouldn't be a smart idea since he was still new to driving. As Gren became a bit more comfortable with the truck he started to accelerate, causing the engine to over rev once again. The over revving was a sign that Gren needed to shift gears which was accompanied by yet another series of grinding the clutch until the truck was in second gear. This process would repeat itself for a while until the truck was in the fourth gear and Gren didn't dare speed up anymore. The roads only had gentle bends with the exception of the intersection that they hadn't reached yet so Gren was able to learn how to control the vehicle without worrying about turning too much.

"It might be too late to ask you this but are you sure that this truck of yours will be able to make it there? I don't know if I trust this thing." Gren wasn't always reliable according to the reports that Georgia had received from the knights that were watching over him so she was understandably nervous.

"It should make it but I might need to stop in the middle of the trip to refill it. I've got more fuel for it and it's brand new so there are no mechanical issues yet." Gren didn't know how far the tank would take it or how far away Valkland was so it was pointless to even begin trying to calculate if they'd make it there on one tank. "As long as you point me in the right direction then we'll get there just fine." They were currently traveling at around 40 miles per hour which was faster than the speed of the horses and they wouldn't need to stop in the middle of the trip to let the truck rest like they would with horses. There was a good reason that the industrial revolution made draft horses and pack animals obsolete; they were better in almost every way.

"I'll take your word for it for now but I hope that you don't let us down. The lives of many people are counting on us." Gren knew that more than anybody else. Back on Earth he had learned about epidemics while in school and, with them not knowing anything about germ theory, the problem would just be repeated in this world.

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The first obstacle that they faced on the road was a trading caravan headed to Adierton from Fort Togo. Gren's truck was a terrifying thing to encounter for those that weren't familiar with it. Its noise and size caused a small panic with the merchants until he waved out and let them know that he was friendly. It was a short encounter but Gren was able to talk with them a bit and ask what they thought of the truck. The merchants liked the capacity and protection of the truck but they lost interest when they found out that it'd need a special fuel that only Gren could supply them with. There was one merchant that wanted to purchase the recipe for the fuel but even Gren wasn't quite sure how to make it.

The encounter with the merchants allowed the mages to take a much-needed break. The constant motion of the vehicle had left many of them feeling ill with the healers working overtime to prevent each other from throwing up and passing out. After they got started again, Gren could only pray that they didn't get too sick in the back since slowing down wasn't an option.

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A couple of hours and several wasted meals later, Gren came across a second caravan. However, this one had to be coming from Valkland since they had already passed the major intersection. There were many people that needed to walk since they couldn't all fit in the wagons they had and Gren was worried that they might be carrying the disease with them. After coming to a stop, Gren quickly shut down the vehicle and gave directions to Georgia. "There's a chance that some of the people in that group are infected. Tell the others to keep away while I go check on the situation."

The people from Valkland were less worried about the truck and instead were glad to see other people. An older woman that was at the driver's seat of a wagon called out to Gren as he approached them. "Fellow traveler, do you have any food or water to spare!?"

Gren had been stockpiling food so sharing some wouldn't be a problem but he needed to contain the situation. He couldn't get too close to them so he brought out his megaphone. "I am with the Church of Healing Light and I'm here to help the people of Valkland. Please allow me to check you for any signs of the disease and in exchange you will be given food, water, and our healing services for free."

Mentioning the disease didn't seem to be a smart move since the people became defensive. There were many variations of them saying "None of us are diseased!" instead of any signs of them beginning to cooperate. Gren was confused by this since the Church's services were usually expensive and this was going to be free.

Instead of trying to figure it out on his own, Gren decided to head back to the truck and ask the others what might be wrong with what he said. There were two possibilities that the others in his group came up with; the Valkland group might not believe Gren about it being free or they might not believe that he's from the Church. They decided to have one of the healers and Georgia go with him to talk to the travelers from Valkland and help clear up the misunderstandings.

The travelers had large numbers but Georgia approached them with no fear. "Greetings. I'm the commander of the Hildr's Grace order of knights, Georgia de la Rosa. I am accompanied by many healers on a humanitarian mission to help assist the people of Valkland by the order of Adierton's high priestess, Gabriella de la Rosa." This was the first time that Gren had seen Georgia take a diplomatic approach. "Food and water can be supplied to those that need them but we need to make sure that the disease doesn't spread to the other cities."

"You'll find no ally here. You and your fellow worshippers of that false goddess have caused enough harm." The outburst from one of the travelers revealed an issue that Gren hadn't considered. The people didn't like the Church of Healing Light.

Georgia didn't seem to appreciate that comment so Gren wanted to quickly defuse the situation. "It's fine to accept the help even if you don't worship the same deity. During disasters like this it's only natural to help one another."

"Killing people and burning their bodies is a strange way of helping them." The traveler's reply only left Gren confused.

There was some sort of disconnect between the two groups and Gren felt like there was only one way to fix that. "Okay, I'm going to be honest with you for a moment. I have no idea what you're talking about and it doesn't seem like the others in my group know what you're talking about either. If you just keep yelling at us without explaining a thing then we're never going to understand what's going on."

Gren's words caused the guy to go back and discuss things with the other travelers. Gren decided to do the same but with just Georgia and the healer that was already with them. "I've got no clue what they might do so be prepared for anything. Even though the majority of them haven't yelled at us, they're not standing up for us either so there's a good chance that they don't like us."

"I think that we'll be fine." Georgia was relaxed and leaned against the truck. "Most of them are unarmed and nobody in their group seems to be able to hunt which is why they asked for food." Gren didn't think about that but that wasn't the problem that he was worried about.

"I don't think that they can do significant damage to us either but it won't look good if we fight them. Try not to hurt them if they do end up getting violent." As Gren looked back towards the group of travelers, he noticed that the man was returning to the front of their caravan. "It looks like their representative has returned. Let's just try to keep calm."

The man looked back once towards the others before stepping forward from their group. Gren's trio went to meet up with him so that they could figure out how to fix the misunderstanding between them. "So, did you guys make a decision? The longer we wait, the more likely it will be that people will die so we're on a tight schedule." This back and forth was making Gren get a bit impatient.

"You'd just be going to cause more death. You and your Church's soldiers already killed hundreds of people in the name of your Goddess." If true, the guy's anger would be justified.

"That's impossible. We only have a couple of knights left in Valkland." Georgia was quick to refute his claims. "Two weeks ago they were recalled to the Land of Healing Light and just last week I met them in Adierton where they marched with many of my own knights to the holy land. Either you're lying or the people that claimed to be part of the Church were lying. We just got a message from Valkland's healers this morning saying that they needed help healing people because they were overworked."

"You're on the same side so of course you would lie for them." The man tried to go back to arguing but was quickly interrupted by the woman that called out to Gren when they first met.

"Enough! Our people are starving and thirsty. It's pointless to argue with them and these people aren't responsible for what may or may not have been done by the members of the Church in Valkland." Gren was happy to see that she was level-headed. "What do we need to do in order to get the food? What will happen if someone is found to be infected?"

These were easy questions for Gren to answer. "You just need to agree to be checked out by me. If they're infected then I'll try to heal them. If I can't heal them then I'll try to keep healing them and removing their symptoms until someone from the Land of Healing Light can fix the problem." Gren realized that separating them would cause problems but a quarantine was necessary. "I haven't encountered the disease yet and I don't know how it spreads so I can't completely answer your questions. After everybody has been checked then I'll be able to distribute the food and water. I can give you enough to last all of you until you reach Adierton as long as you don't gorge yourselves on it."

"Alright. I don't know about the rest but myself and my family will accept." That was enough for Gren to begin the system's scan of her body but the family members needed to agree as well. Thankfully, the woman didn't have any signs of a disease or infection.

"Alright, you're clean. I need each family member to agree to it individually. Infants that can not give permission will need to be checked physically." Gren went through the first wagon and checked each person for signs of infection. There were no infants in the first wagon so he didn't need to mention the part about the infants but he could hear an infant crying from further back in the caravan. The other members of the family cooperated and he was able to get the search over with in an efficient manner. While Gren was at it, he decided to heal some of the injuries that the people in the wagon had. "No disease detected. Your family is fine and I won't charge for healing any of your injuries. Please move forward; when I'm done checking the others I'll begin to distribute the food and water."

Finding the next set of volunteers was easier. With one group already being inspected and even healed in plain sight it was easy for the others to see that Gren was telling the truth. Not everybody had a wagon so Gren would need to supply them with bags so that they could carry the food but that wouldn't cost much at all. Putting the FMC logo on the bags would even get him free advertisements for the mercenary guild so it would all work out in the end. The inspection was going well with no signs of the disease being detected but things became difficult after the individuals and the first two wagons had passed the line. The driver of the third wagon--the man that had been against the Church every step of the way so far--was being stubborn and refused to allow Gren to inspect the people on board. There was a blanket covering the back of the wagon with no movement underneath it so Gren was beginning to suspect that he might be hiding bodies. The man had gone on about how some group in Valkland was burning bodies earlier so it wasn't that strange of a conclusion to come to; some people took the loss of their family harder than others so there was no telling how far they'd go in order to keep them by their side.

Rather than waste time with the guy, Gren turned to the others behind him. They were more accommodating but in the fifth wagon was the first sign of the disease. It wasn't from one of the humans like Gren expected but they had brought some of their surviving livestock.

<WARNING>

<Deadly bacteria detected>

<Caution is advised>

This was the first time that Gren had come across this feature from the system. There was even a visualization of where the bacteria was inside of his scanning radius that he was able to see. It wasn't long until the others realized that Gren was acting odd. "What's wrong?" Georgia wasn't far away from Gren since she was keeping an eye on the driver of the third wagon.

"At least one of the animals on that wagon is infected. Stay away from it; I don't know how it's spread yet." The system even said that it was deadly so Gren was concerned but he needed to create a plan to protect himself before going in. The system had everything he needed but if he missed anything in his preparations then there was a good chance that he would end up becoming infected. With a mysterious disease that had no known cure so far, that was an outcome that Gren could not allow.