Er Mu - Release that Witch

Puzzled Black Hammer picked up one of the bags, and placed it near his ear and shook it, only then did he untie the rope and smell what was inside, “No odour?”

“Just take them to Silver Ring and Pots, afterward you will know that this is the real medicine,” Theo said. “They should be somewhere in the tavern.”

“Since we discovered their infection, I made them hide in the basement, and I didn’t allow them to come out. Nowadays whenever people see someone with black spots, it’s quite likely that they will go out of their way to attack the sick, and because of this, the den of the skeleton fingers won’t open its door to let them in.” Black Hammer picked up the second bag and announced, “Sir, I’ll go now and give it a try.”

When he got up and left, Hill was still staring at the table, not saying a word, which made Theo secretly shake his head.

An ordinary person who lives under the constant threat of the demonic plague can never keep so calm when he hears that he can get the medicine to cure the disease. Even if you do not want to seem too excited, at least take a look at it and ask a few words. With his performance, Hill has proven that he doesn’t hold the qualification to become a spy.

“Can this medicine really cure the demonic plague?” Little Finger shouted suddenly. “Sir, where did you get this from?”

Even the little girl is better at it than him, Theo thought while taking a sip of his wine, “Without a doubt, after all, it was given to me by my Lord in the Royal Palace, other than him, who else would dare to go against the Church?”

In no time, Black Hammer came back and brought Silver Ring and Pots along, “Oh, my God, this medicine is incredible! Just moments after they drank it, the black spot on their bodies had already began to disappear.”

Seeing Theo, both men immediately went to their knees even though their wounds were still bleeding, and in unison they said, “Sir, Thanks a lot for your medicine, you’ve saved our lives!”

“First go and bandage your wounds,” Theo waved at their injuries. Although the purified water was able to heal the disease, it still could not heal their wounds. Such serious injuries would have to recover like any other injury, and needed at least a week, “Rather than thanking me, you should thank my employer. If you can fulfill this current mission, it is even possible that you can get rid of your identity as street rats.”

“Maj… No, I mean, does your employer really want us to sell this medicine?” Black Hammer asked excitedly. Apparently, he had already realized how much revenue they could make by selling these potions.

“That’s right; the Church is currently using the medicine to deceive the people, which has made my employer furious with them. If he allows this group of so called fortune tellers who lack any scruple keep going, I’m afraid the whole King’s City will have changed into a cathedral soon, rather than Wimbledon’s home territory.” Theo lowered his voice, “Also, he is unwilling to see such a huge city only be left with only a few citizens, therefore, this medicine absolutely cannot be sold at a price so expensive that it would lead to it becoming unaffordable for most people.” He took another two leather bags from his waist and threw them on the table, “These kind of bags, will be sold for at most for ten silver royals.”

“T-ten silver royals?” Black Hammer exclaimed, his eyes shot wide open.

“Yes, six belong to my employer, the rest will belong to you,” he extended his palm, “And this medicine should be enough to use 5000–6000 people. Therefore you can obtain at least several hundred royals, even after splitting it up, it is still not a small amount. It should be sufficient for you to spend it for the rest of your life in comfort.

The other side seemed as if they wanted to speak but were unable to find the words. The whole time they stared a the water backs on the table, seemingly thinking about how to obtain even greater benefits.

Within his heart, Theo clearly knew what was going through these street rats’ minds.

The potion itself had no processing cost, even if they gave it away for free, it wouldn’t have been a problem. However, without a profit to be shared, he could only rely on himself, which would substantially lower the efficiency and would also be much more eye-catching. So, by letting the rats sell the medicine, he could reduce the risk, and ten silver royals was also a price that the majority of the urban citizens would be able to pay. Of course, to be honest, he couldn’t trust that they would sell it so cheaply, whether they stole a part of it to sell in the inner city, or transferred it to the black market, they would always make huge profits.

Ultimately, the amount of potion sold to the citizen for a low price would perhaps be less than half of it, but this wasn’t the focus of Theo’s concern. His task was to undermine the conspiracy of the Church as much as possible so that everyone could understand that the Holy Elixir was not the only antidote able to dispel the evil spirits nor was it such a rare or expensive thing. The result would be that the propaganda of the Church would become publicity questioned, especially by those believers who had gone to great extends to buy such costly medicine, beginning to question themselves about whether god’s spokesperson had cheated them or not.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking,” Theo opened his mouth and began to speak, “You want to hide some of the medicine and secretly sell it for a higher prices by selling it to the upper ranks, I can act as if I haven’t seen it… but I won’t forget,” his tone became cold, “My employer really isn’t a good-natured person, if you do not want to drown into the moat, it would be the best to show a bit of restraint, after all, only alive can you feel the pleasures of living.”

“But what should we do if someone else resells the medicine?” Silver Ring asked.

“That’s very easy to be solved; everyone can only buy only one bag and they have to drink it on the spot.” After he finished giving his advice, he looked at Black Hammer and asked, “How is it, are you interested in this business?”

“But the Covert Trumpeter may not be able to handle so much medicine, I think …”

Theo interrupted him immediately. “It’s your business to arrange for the people who will sell the medicine and it is also your decision where you will sell it. I’m just the substitute my employer has sent to keep an eye on you.”

Black Hammer gnashed his teeth, look at his four subordinates, and when he saw that none of them were raising any objection, he smashed his fist on the table and proclaimed, “This business, I will take it!”

“Well,” Theo nodded, “On sunset, the day after tomorrow, a carriage carrying the medicine will come to the pub’s entryway, so you have time until then to arrange your workforce and also spread the news about the drug release. Do a good job of it; my employer doesn’t want to see any failure.”

The day after tomorrow is the last day of the First Army’s stay. After they leave the city, no matter what the city turns into, it won’t cause a threat for His Royal Highness, Theo thought.

…

After leaving the tavern, it didn’t take long until Hill had caught up to him.

“Won’t you meet up with my companions? They are all eager to take revenge against Timothy.”

“For the time being I’m trusting you because you passed the test,” Theo shook his head and continued. “If you had not been caught today, what would have been your next steps?”

“I would have gone back and told everyone the news, and listened to their opinions about it. I’m not sure if I should continue to keep watch for a while or if I should immediately go to His Highness Roland,” Fawkes replied.

“Oh?” Theo’s interest was piqued, so he asked, “What’s your opinion about it?”

For a moment Hill hesitated, then stated what was on his mind, “I do not think that His Royal Highness is the same as most of the other nobles. Very few of them wouldn’t spare any effort to save the fugitives, and… he also treats the witches equally favorable as everyone else. Supposing the case that Timothy would be the same, it would be unlikely that my wife would’ve…” He became silent for a while, “So I would prefer to serve His Highness directly.”

“If that is the case you should go back and say nothing, act as if you have never been to the pier.”

“Why…” Hill lifted his head in astonishment.

“An outstanding spy should make a habit of concealing their secrets inside of their heart, rather than sharing everything with others, especially at such a critical moment as this.” Theo stated one reason after another, “If you want to work for His Highness, there are still many things you will need to learn.”

In the grand hall of the church, the presiding priest was overlooking the farmer kneeling before his feet.

The farmers originally tall and sturdy stature had now turned into a completely crooked lump, with his hands slightly trembling and his skin showing an abnormal purple color. Not much longer and those patches will condense into dark spots, and eventually spread all over his body. By only getting infected today he can be considered as strong enough.

“I remember you; you are Rocky Mountain living in the Eastern District, you frequently come to the church to bring us fresh wheat grain,” the priest said.

“You… recognize me! That’s great, Your Reverence” he kowtowed again and again, “The demonic plague infected my family, I, I need the Holy Elixir, I beseech you.”

“However, what is it that you brought with you to the Church today? The Holy Elixir isn’t something that I can arbitrarily give away,” Ferry stated, not stalling or taking his time. “The exchange it requires has to be given by your heart.”

“I, I in order to buy medicine, I have been cheated by those rats and lost all my money,” Rock Hill said with a trembling voice, “Please forgive me, for my heart wasn’t sincere, I should have never sought shortcuts by going through the black market. At present I only have one last egg left, please accept it.” With this words, he took one plump egg out of his chest and offered it with his hands extended above his head.

“Pinning your hope on the deceiving and mean people of the black market will naturally be punished, but God will always extend his hand to help a lost lamb back on the right track. Only those who recognize their own faults will be able to go further and further on their pilgrimage.” Ferry took the egg and smiled.” Get up; God forgives you. ”

“Re-really?” Rocky Mountain didn’t dare believe his ears.

“God’s envoys will never deceive someone.” Ferry beckon waved, and another follower holding a box with potions immediately came over. Ferry picked four bottles and handed them to Rocky Mountain. “If I remember correctly, your family has a total of four people, right?”

“Yes, Your Reverence,” he swallowed his tears, took the Holy Elixir in his hands and then leaned over to kiss the priest’s shoes, “Thank you, thank you, from now on I will dedicate my whole life to the Church and to God!”

This scene also touched all the believers standing at the side, they immediately began to cheering, happily welcoming a new member to their family of believers.

Waiting until the cheers ebbed down a little, Ferry held his hand up indicating that they should become quiet, then said with a clear voice: “Next.”

…

This kind of Holy Elixir distribution continued until dusk.

With the sounding of the King’s City’s bell, Priest Ferry declared the end of the day’s distribution ceremony which would be continued tomorrow morning, leaving the begging crowd behind in the main hall.

Although his body had become somewhat tired, his spirit was still fully burning. Since standing in the grand hall listening to the pleas and prayers of the people, and watching as they couldn’t wait to do everything they could to please him, made it impossible to not feel like a God in his mind.

No, what is commonly known as God is really just the Church itself, Ferry thought. After developing the demonic disease and the corresponding antidote, we can easily decide about other people’s life and death, with this kind of power in our hands, what is the difference between us and God? Sighing with emotion, he was once more assured that giving up the inheritance of his family business and joining the Church had been the right choice.