I Became a Lord in the Game

Chapter : 151

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The place I arrived at, following the guide, was a senator’s house built quite lavishly. According to the guide, he was a senator with considerable influence among the neutral faction.

“At least they did not make it blatantly obvious. Then again, judging by how smoothly he talked last time, he did not look like some incompetent noble.”

“Doesn’t that just make things more troublesome for us? Magician Agpiel.”

If only he had been like the usual nobles—useless and greedy—things would have been easier, so I did not know why he had to be competent of all things. I had not even seen the patient yet, but it did not seem like something that would be solved in a short time.

“Please wait a moment, Your Grace. I will tell them inside.”

“Go on.”

A moment later.

The door opened, and the guide came out. It looked like he had already explained everything.

“Ugh…!”

“This is bad.”

As I stepped through the doorway, a vile stench stabbed into my nose.

The smell of pus as flesh rotted away. They had tried to cover it with expensive perfumes and spices, but that only made it worse.

The odors were mixing, hitting my sense of smell hard.

And a smell like this meant the situation was even worse than it looked.

“It seems the condition is more severe than I thought.”

“Even so, we won’t know until we see it ourselves.”

As I spoke with Magician Agpiel, I headed toward the bed inside the room. There was a woman there, and a caregiver who was wiping her body.

When the caregiver noticed me, she flinched and bowed her head.

“Ah! Y-Your Grace, I greet you.”

“It is fine. Keep going.”

“Y-Yes….”

Only after I gestured did the caregiver resume wiping the woman’s body.

“What are the signs like?”

“She suffered from an extreme fever, and then she became like this.”

“There hasn’t really been any coughing or phlegm?”

“There is no coughing, but there is phlegm. She keeps spitting out bright yellow phlegm.”

“I heard a new symptom appeared recently too. That she keeps having diarrhea?”

“T-That is correct.”

Leaving the caregiver behind with her eyes wide in shock, I scanned the woman again.

‘Hmm.’

The patient’s condition was worse than I expected. Her skin was weeping, with yellowish, bloody fluid running down, and every time she breathed, a harsh, wheezing sound rasped out.

On top of that, the exposed skin—her face and arms—was turning black.

“This…. Cover your mouth and fall back for now.”

Seeing it, Magician Agpiel shouted urgently and drew a sigil with his hand. A clear, refreshing mystique surged and enveloped us—some kind of protective magic against disease, it seemed.

“There are symptoms of the Black Death. It is a vicious plague, but here?”

“And the weeping sores on the skin and the high fever look closer to the Red Death, don’t they? Magician Agpiel.”

“Hmmm…. Yes, that is true.”

Nodding, Magician Agpiel wore a grave expression.

Everyone would know the Black Death well, since we were taught how it once devastated Europe, and the Red Death was another name for smallpox.

In other words, that patient had symptoms of both the Black Death and smallpox. And if you added the diarrhea on top, it looked like there was also a waterborne disease like dysentery.

‘If it were the real epidemic that I knew, I wouldn’t even be able to stand here like this.’

By now, everything should have been scorched into ruin. That meant either this disease was not the epidemic I knew, or it could be due to some kind of power (Magician Agpiel had mentioned magic).

“Take this first. Just in case, safety comes first.”

“Ah, thank you. Magician Agpiel.”

Magician Agpiel took a cloth from inside his robe and handed it to me. Judging by the mystical power I could feel from it, it seemed to be a magical item.

“Where does the patient’s drinking water come from? Do you draw it separately? Or do you keep using what you have always used?”

“W-We use it as is. We have a well on the grounds, so we use that.”

“Everyone in the household too?”

“Yes. Everyone drinks that as their water, and so on.”

“Hm…. Who exactly has fallen ill so far?”

“Mostly the family members have been afflicted. A few servants have too, but they are mostly people who count as managers.”

As I thought. It was not a normal epidemic. There were even symptoms of a waterborne epidemic like diarrhea, but not everyone who shared the same water had gotten sick? That meant there was some other vector.

“I see. Thank you for telling me. You have been working hard.”

“N-No, Your Grace, Margrave.”

“If you have her drink this potion, her condition should improve. Have her drink it slowly, in portions, while checking her condition.”

As I said that, I handed the potion from inside my robe to the caregiver. I was starting to run low now, so Azuela really needed to arrive soon.

To think there were this many people sick….

“I need to do a brief investigation. Can you provide someone from the family?”

As I left the room, I asked the guide. The guide thought for a moment, then nodded.

“There are still a few healthy servants. Will these people be acceptable as well?”

“Why wouldn’t they be. However, I need to investigate the family members…. Can you step in and smooth over any pushback? I intend to do direct questioning, regardless of whether they are men or women.”

“Of course, if it is for treatment, it is possible…. But for what reason…?”

Bowing his head, the guide asked cautiously. Investigating nobles was not something easily permitted. If some nobody investigator stepped up and said that, it would be something that would earn him a beating. But my case was different.

Margrave.

And was I not the Performer of Miracles, reputed to be pious and honorable? On top of that, with Baron Pierre’s hint in play, the guide was not someone who could treat me carelessly.

“Only you will know.”

“Yes? Y-Yes, yes.”

When I spoke with a hard expression, the guide stared at me too, his face tensing.

“This epidemic is a bit strange. If it were a normal epidemic, then as far as I know, this household couldn’t be calm like this.”

“What do you mean they cannot be calm…?”

“It means everyone should have been infected.”

Magician Agpiel, who had been listening quietly beside us, cut in and said that.

“Especially since there are symptoms of a waterborne epidemic among the symptoms right now. That happens when the water source is contaminated. But the servants have no major issues, and only the family members are infected? That means there is another factor in who gets sick.”

“Are you saying someone deliberately spread an epidemic in our household?”

The guide said that with his face twisted. At a glance, he looked quite angry.

Well, what noble would be happy about their family being attacked?

“That is why I am going to investigate. So swallow your anger and help me.”

Patting the guide’s shoulder, I said that.

---

If it was not a normal epidemic, then there was definitely a vector that was spreading it. And at least here, it would have been something shared in common only among the nobles.

So I ordered the guide to investigate every trivial detail of anything the family members commonly used or came into contact with.

At first, he looked like he wanted to ask why we had to go this far, but faced with my stern expression, he did not dare complain and instead busied himself pushing his subordinates.

Truly a fine specimen of a noble, you could say.

And not long after.

“Y-Your Grace! I think this is it.”

The guide found the common link.

The answer was a bit deflating, though….

It was food. High-grade bread.

“Hm, was there no other point of contact besides this?”

“Yes, Your Grace. This high-grade bread was a special gift to our family. Among the servants, we only shared a little with some of the managers.”

“Hmmm, who gave it as a gift?”

Then the guide opened his mouth with a very troubled expression.

“It is the Poldein Merchant Guild. It is a place that mainly sells grain to the poor and ordinary citizens. This time, they said they were making a premium bread oven bakery for nobles, and they gifted it, but….”

“Why? Why are you making that troubled face?”

“Really…. Is this the cause? The source of the disease? Poldein Merchant Guild is a merchant guild owned by Sir Andrea Bardi, Your Grace.”

Oh. To think a connection would surface like this. I might be able to solve the problem faster than I thought.

“It is only that it is a possibility. Now we have to find out. So do not say anything unnecessary. If baseless rumors cause confusion…. you will bear all responsibility. Understood?”

“O-Of course. I will keep it in mind.”

“Then you may leave. I have something to discuss.”

“Understood, Your Grace. Then please speak comfortably.”

At my threat, the guide broke into a sweat and hurried out the door. Watching his back, Magician Agpiel spoke the moment the door closed.

“It seems Baron Pierre’s suspicion was correct.”

“I think so too…. but it won’t be easy to secure proof. Isn’t it too flimsy to claim an epidemic spread through bread alone?”

“That is why we need proof. We just need to check the food they sell to the poor, or the premium bread they were gifting to noble houses, don’t we?”

It was a reasonable point, but I still felt skeptical.

“They are not idiots, so would they keep it in their warehouse as usual? And it is too much trouble to inspect a warehouse on mere suspicion. It is a merchant guild owned by Sir Andrea Bardi. Magician Agpiel.”

“Why are you making it so difficult?”

Magician Agpiel clicked his tongue and scolded me.

“They said it was received as a gift, didn’t they? They probably haven’t sent it to every noble family yet, so if we request it first, they will have to give it.”

“Oh?”

It was an excellent stratagem.

“We can make an excuse that we heard about it from people around us, right?”

“Yes. Who would suspect anything? They will just give it.”

“And then we can hire people and receive food in areas where the epidemic is spreading. On top of that, there are rumors that Sir Andrea Bardi is handing out food to the poor under the guise of charity.”

I nodded as I answered. It felt easier than expected, and it seemed like things might be resolved quickly.

---

“So…. you are saying we should use bait?”

After hearing the details, Baron Pierre frowned slightly and asked back.

“Why? Does it feel unpleasant?”

“If it goes wrong, we might end up having someone eat contaminated food. And if we say we are using bait, it won’t look good. Nobles don’t view such stratagems favorably, do they….”

True. A stratagem that used a person—especially a noble—as bait carried a high risk of losing the nobles’ trust.

“Do you think I would let them eat it? We will receive it, and Magician Agpiel will investigate it immediately. And as for that trust issue, wouldn’t it be enough if someone tight-lipped who follows you does it? Is there no suitable family or person?”

“Hm….”

At that, Baron Pierre fell into thought for a moment. Then he slowly nodded and spoke.

“Yes, there is. I have one close associate who was selected as the chairman of the investigation committee this time.”

“Oh, that senator?”

“Yes. That friend will do it without complaint.”

“Good. Then let’s proceed right away.”

Very good.

If things went smoothly without problems, it seemed like we could resolve this quickly and head for The Holy See.

If there were no problems, that is.