Chapter 124 - A Grim Situation

The situation with the cattle seemed to be a surprise to the people from that wagon. According to them, the infected man said that one of their calves ran into the woods. The man was their neighbor in Valkland and was close to them so they didn't suspect that he was lying to them. The fact that the cattle were infected was unknown to them as well and they may have unwittingly contributed to spreading the infection by selling their adult cattle just before leaving on the trip to Adierton. That was a situation that Gren would need to look into; if the adult cattle were also carrying the disease then each one would contribute to the infection of dozens of people.

"The problem is worse than I thought it'd be. I can tell the difference between an infected and clean animal but I don't think that anybody else can. The animals don't show any physical signs of being infected." Gren was worried and needed to discuss things with Georgia to get her opinion on what to do next. "The disease seems to be spread through the meat and blood of the animals so we might be able to get around this by having people switch to a vegetable-only diet for a while but I don't know whether or not that's possible with the different races."

"For humans it might be possible but even then it'll be challenging in this duchy. They don't have enough farms to feed everybody since they've been getting attacked by monsters and wild clans." Georgia didn't like what was going on in the duchy but wasn't able to talk about it normally since she couldn't rant to her underlings. "The Church had been warning them for decades that they need to wall in their farms but they failed to take our advice. We even offered to build them as long as they paid for them but the previous dukes were all cheap bastards and now they're paying the price." It was clear that Georgia didn't think highly of the Adiers but Gren had already known that since nobody in the Church seemed to care much for them.

"Back when us Rosas had our own land, we knew that the most important thing was protecting our farmers. These Adiers just thought to make money from killing monsters and selling their parts--abandoning their people to the whims of wild animals and bandits. Well, the current Duke isn't that bad." Georgia saying that an Adier wasn't that bad seemed almost blasphemous with the family's past actions against the Church. "It's clear that he at least tries to change things but nobody's on his side anymore. People keep saying that things will change when the king's ten year plan comes to fruition and the craftsmen have been trained but they don't realize that the king would love for the Adiers to disappear so that his sister's power is diminished."

Gren didn't know much about the politics of the land so he didn't know about the things that Georgia was talking about. There were bits and pieces that he knew like the craftsmen being trained in Sekaton and that there was trouble between the king and the king's own sister but the ten year plan and past advice from the Church to the Adier family was all news to him. "It seems tough but the only thing I can really help with is walling in their farms. I did it for Jellen a while back in exchange for a piece of land but I haven't returned there since I put them up. For now we'll need to work with what we've got and see if people will cooperate with me and let me inspect their livestock. I'm really not looking forward to that."

"Even if they don't, I think we can get the city's lord to help us. Baron Golan is a religious man and has been in love with my sister for years. As long as he doesn't find out that she's pregnant again then everything should be fine." Georgia dropped a bombshell in the middle of the conversation and continued on like it was nothing. "I would feel bad for the guy if he wasn't such a disgusting person."

"I hope that I can count on you when it comes time to ask him for help. I've never talked to nobles that weren't familiar with my identity. I have a feeling that I'd just mess things up since I don't know the proper etiquette for speaking with nobles." Gren could try to wing it and act polite but if there were any customs that he wasn't aware of then it would not only be a waste of time but he would likely ruin their chances of getting help in the end. "I think it's about time we wrapped things up here and got back on the road. If we keep talking like this I'm going to run out of energy. We've only got one more wagon to check." The batteries that Gren currently had weren't that good; in AA sizes they could only hold a 900 mAh charge when better batteries could hold thousands.

After finishing up the conversation with Georgia, Gren turned his attention to the stubborn man guarding the third wagon. Pushing him out of the way and inspecting the wagon was possible but not preferable since Gren wanted to find a peaceful solution. Hopefully he would change his mind if he knew how serious the problem was.

As Gren approached the man, it became clear that he wasn't welcome. "Sorry to bother you but you're the only person left that has not been checked. I'm not sure if you realize how dangerous this disease is yet."

"I've seen it kill my sister. I know how dangerous it is. I also know how dangerous your kind is." This again? They had argued about this enough already and it was clear that the arguments would go nowhere. "I don't care about the food anymore, just leave me be."

"This isn't about the food. I've got family in Adierton and I'll be damned if I let you infect them using whatever you're hiding in your wagon." The chance of that happening was slim but the fact that it was a possibility made Gren even more annoyed by the guy's actions. "It's not like you have anything to lose. The guy over there that's infected is being given free treatment and the infected animals I've uncovered will get treated before being returned to the owners. What possible reason could you have for wanting to hide what's in your wagon and preventing everybody else from getting food?" While a bit underhanded, Gren was hoping to guilt the man into complying.

"Does a man need a reason to not want his things searched? I've already told you to leave me be." Reasoning with the man was going nowhere. There were two options that Gren had in front of him and neither were good. He could force the man away from the wagon and inspect it or let him leave and potentially infect more people. Whichever choice he made would have major consequences.