Chapter 87: Amesles

Our sailing trip went rather smoothly.

For the sake of low maintenance need and energy efficiency, I ordered the Cimas to maintain a cruising speed of about 25 km per hour. [1] It’s only about the speed of a bicycle going downhill, but it is still much faster than the speed of the sailing boats of this world.

Sometimes there are fast boats that use wind magic to reach speeds of about 60 km per hour, but normally they can’t maintain such top speed for long, probably because the wind magic user would run out of MP. We’d already encountered pirate ships and navy patrols several times, but after 40 minutes at high speed, they would give up chasing us and conduct their business elsewhere.

For example, we just managed to outrun what looked like a navy ship.

“They finally gave up on us.”

Cecily, who had been constantly watching behind us while squinting, finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Do you think we’re safe now?”

“Aah. Those people must have realized that it’s impossible to chase after us. However, I think it’s time to rethink our plan. After all, the closer we are to a big port, the more patrol ships we’ll encounter.”

The Imperial Navy is trying to suppress the pirates and smugglers. I don’t mind our ship being searched for contraband, but there’s over 250 million Lehmen on board, as well as other treasures that might lead to a complicated situation.

According to Cecily, it’s considered normal for military personnel to conduct a looting when they’re doing searches, which is not unlike how pirates work. If I had known earlier, I would have just left most of the valuables back on Western Island.

Even though I could use the Captive Angel to return there, I’m not sure I could return to this ship again afterward. That’s because even though I can remember the ship, there’s no way I can remember a location in the middle of the ocean; it feels like everywhere is the same.

It’s not the only treasure that I’m worried about. I’m quite certain that sooner or later, I would meet with some soldiers that would try to do indecent act toward me. After all, if their military discipline is low, they might think they can do whatever they want to civilians.

And so, to avoid such a bleak scenario, we have decided to just run away from every ship; if we see something that even looks remotely like a ship, we would steer clear away from it.

Ideally, in order to reach the Imperial Capital of Lulu Sanjion, we would enter a large port and take land transportation, but I heard that the inspection and immigration procedures are strict in such places.

Fortunately, our ship was small and had a shallow draft, meaning we could dock at a small fishing port. We decided it would be better to find some small port we could safely moor in and then travel the rest of the way through the land route. Since we’ve brought two horse-shaped golems, such means of transportation won’t be difficult.

“If we happen to come across an uncrowded pier, should we dock there?”

“I also think it’s better that way.”

“If it’s a quiet pier that you want, Okami-san, how about that one over there? Doesn’t seem like many people or boats visit it frequently.”

When I looked in the direction Miina pointed, I saw a small fishing village previously hidden by a cove.

“Oh. That would do, I think. Also, it looks rustic and quaint.”

In Japan, such places that are hidden away from the masses were often the home of the best guest houses. They usually have hidden hot springs that in the past belonged to feudal warlords that serve delicious local cuisine.

Until recently, I had been the one providing all the hospitality, so it would be nice to try food prepared by others for the first time in a while. Now that I think about it, even though I have spent quite some time here on another world, I’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy local cuisine.

“Let’s stop there and relax for today.”

“That’s right. And we have lots of money, so let’s have a feast tonight!” Miina said excitedly.

“It’s a small village, so we can’t expect too much for the accommodation, but I’m sure there will at least be some locally brewed sake. Also, it would be great if there were some lonely widowers that need to be comforted.” Rouge said with a similarly high spirit.

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However, when we reached the port, what awaits us there took us by surprise. It’s because even though it was supposed to be a fishing village, but not a single boat was to be seen around the pier.

Maybe all of them are still out fishing? But, it’s already past noon.

“That’s weird. I don’t see anyone…”

“Shirou, stay close to me.” Cecily said while keeping alert on her surroundings.

There’s the smell of smoke, so I’m sure that there are people living here. But we haven’t met a single person yet.

Walking past the harbour toward the residential area, we finally spotted a villager. However, that person’s behaviour was really strange. The person was sitting idly on the ground, leaning against the wall of a house, with a vacant, empty look.

“Hello there!” I tried to give a greeting cheerfully, but Cecily suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder before I could approach the person.

“Wait!”

“What’s wrong, Cecily?”

Cecily took a whiff of the air.

“This is…”

Miina’s and Rouge’s complexion had changed as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shirou, don’t you realize it? The smell of something burning. To be precise, it smells like they’re burning corpses.”

Eh?

“Could it be that, they’re having a cremation funeral right now?”

“It can’t be. The people around here bury the deceased.”

“That means… there’s a battle going on?!”

“I don’t think that’s the case either, since there’s no sound of people fighting.”

As the four of us were talking, some old man appeared around the corner and came toward us with a surprised look on his face.

“You people, how did you arrive here!?”

“We came from the sea…”

I answered very vaguely and tried to pass it off with a smile, but the old man shook his head with a somber look on his face.

“You came at a terrible time. This village has been barricaded since there’s a plague going on.”

That must be the reason there’s not many people outside.

“It’s barricaded, huh. You don’t suppose there’s a way for us to get out into the highways?”

The old man’s face looks even graver at Cecily’s question. “The soldiers have encircled the village to ban anyone from leaving. They’ve even seized all the ships.”

That explains why there isn’t any ship in the dock.

“Some people even tried to sneak out, but they were killed with arrows.”

Even if it’s for the sake of containing an outbreak, that’s too cruel.

“Okami-san, it’s dangerous being here now. Let’s get back to the ship right away.”

“Y-yeah.”

Rouge and Cecily immediately turned on their back as well.

“What is it, Shirou? It’ll be troublesome if the soldiers find us. Let’s sail away right now.”

Yes, I understand that too, Cecily. But, somehow, I feel like I shouldn’t just turn my back here…

“Father! It’s Anne! Anne has suddenly collapsed!”  A middle-aged man ran up to the old man. He’s holding a little girl close to his chest.

“Anne also got amesles… Oh lord, please have mercy on us…” The old man covered his face with his hands and began to cry.

“Shirou, come on. If this is an amesles plageu, we need to get out fast. It’s a dangerous disease!”

I understand, Rouge. I know that plagues are terrible, and it made me tremble with fear. I’ve had a lot of scary things happen to me since I came to this world, but this is probably one that I fear the most. It made me want to get the hell out of here. And it would be so easy to escape, since we have ship.

And yet…

The time when I was almost raped by the soldiers, the time when Janice raped me, the time when we were against the white maggot, and the time when I was fighting in the dungeon to save Cecily; in each and every one of them, I felt scared, I felt frustrated, and tormented, but in the end, I was always able to move on and live as happy as I could be.

But this. This here, now, I feel that if I were ever to leave the girl in front of me and escape by myself, I feel that I would never be able to live with myself and be happy ever again.

“Let me check her condition.”

I managed to take a step forward on shaky legs.

“Shirou!”

“I might be able to save her!” I yelled out loud, as if to inspire myself.

Otherwise, my legs might give away and I could fall to the ground, and then Cecily would have carried me out of there, which would have made the situation more complicated.

“And you are?”

The father hurriedly took his little girl toward me with a gaze as if clinging to hope.

 “I’m just a simple traveller, but I know a thing or two about medicine. Let me check on her.”

I then examined the girl lying on the ground with [Repair]

＃＃＃＃

Repair target: Human (Anne Gavotte, age 6)

Description: Infected with Amesles virus (similar to the measles vius). Currently on the verge of developing encephalitis [2]

MP consumption: 1718

Repair time: 181 hours and 27 minutes

＃＃＃＃

I see, so it’s basically like measles. Back on Earth, I don’t think there’s a direct cure for measles. As I can’t make a panacea yet, I have to make do with symptomatic treatment.

“How is it, Shirou?”

Cecily, who had been some distance away from me, came to my side and bent down with me.

“I could manage the fever with antipyretics, but she’s on the verge of developing encephalitis.”

“That, is not good, right?”

“Right now, I’m trying to think of countermeasures.”

I used the creation magic search function to look up “encephalitis” as a keyword.

“Got it.”

＃＃＃＃

Item Production：Antiviral medicine

Category：Medicine Creation

MP Consumption　873

Explanation: Effective against encephalitis and meningitis that occur in patients with impaired immune function.

Production time：11 hours 42 minutes

＃＃＃＃

I’ll make the medicine right away. Anyway, let’s put her somewhere comfortable so she can rest.”

It was going to be a race against time. So I turned to the three of them.

“Everyone, you should go back to the ship, to avoid being infected.”

“But Okami-san, how about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I once had measles when I was a child.”

“Measles?”

“Ah, I mean Amesles.”

If measles and amesles are the same thing, then I should be immune to it. At least I hope so.

“Once you get it, you’ll never contract it again, so don’t worry.”

“But we still can’t leave you here alone. If something were to happen with you…”

“Then I’ll stay with him as bodyguard.” Rouge said while raising her hand.

“Rouge?”

“There was an outbreak of Amesles plague in my hometown long time ago. I also got sick at the time too, so you could say I’ve already gotten it once. My father died from it though…”

“I’m sorry… My condolences…”

“Well, anyway, if what you say is true, I should be immune from it too, right? If so, then let me help you.”

I’m really glad for her help, that’s really reassuring.

“Thank you, Rouge, please lend me a hand.”

“Don’t worry about me lending you a hand, I’ll even lend you a breast if you want!”

I’ll be fine with just having your hand, for now. As for your breasts… let me borrow it sometime in the future.

And so Rouge, who has more strength than me, took the little girl in her arms and hurried to the old man’s house.

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1 Around 15.5 miles per hour

2  Encephalitis is most often due to a virus, such as: herpes simplex viruses, which cause cold sores (this is the most common cause of encephalitis) the varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles. measles, mumps and rubella viruses.

Source:  https://www.nhs.uk › conditions › encephalitis › causes

Generally has 10-40% fatality rate (unless if you contract it because of rabies, in which case it virtually has 100% fatality rate), but the recovery process is long, and some won’t ever make full recovery.  Best to be avoided as much as possible.

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Additional rant about why this chapter took so long:

So anyway, there’s problem with my External HD. Somehow, some of my translated works become corrupted files, so it really got me frustrated with how I had to redo some parts (not the whole chapters since I got back up). Funny thing is, I’ve tried consulting it to the IT and they said there’s no virus and no bad sectors.

*Shrugs*

I guess I’ll try saving it in cloud from now on.