The Grim Reaper’s Scythe

Lady Shitoen, who had likewise lifted her cup, froze in place.

“An illness… what kind?”

When I asked, Vandel let out an exasperated sigh.

“If we knew the cause, we would not be calling it mysterious.”

“The patients?”

I set my cup back onto the saucer, but beside me, Lady Shitoen did not move an inch. She held her cup in both hands as though wrapping it, letting the steam drift upward.

I found myself a little worried whether she was all right.

Ever since that incident where she was attacked, she had been a little emotionally unstable.

At any rate, she absolutely refused to leave my side.

At first, I thought she wanted me with her because she was frightened, but.

That was not it.

I realized it was the opposite.

For some reason, she refused to leave because she intended to protect me from danger.

Strangely enough, she believed that I was in danger.

Since we left the royal capital, she had been riding in the carriage with her maid while I traveled on horseback with the knights, but she kept looking at me anxiously through the window, so in the end I had no choice but to hand my horse over to Raul and ride in the carriage with her all the way here.

Even inside the carriage, she stayed pressed close to me, and only then would she finally look reassured.

“Where are the patients now?”

Lady Shitoen asked quietly.

“In an isolated building.”

Lord Marder answered.

“What? Not in a hospital?”

At my surprise, Lady Shitoen’s brows drew together, and her gaze sharpened.

“Could it be an infectious disease?”

Her words made me start.

“Is it?”

When I turned to Vandel, he gave a firm shake of the head.

“We do not know. However, because there are many patients showing similar symptoms, we cannot let them near a hospital with ordinary people in it. If it is an infectious disease…”

Vandel fell silent there.

I see.

So this was the confidential matter.

An illness that had broken out in his territory, and one that might be infectious.

“I very much want to hear Lady Shitoen’s opinion.”

Vandel looked at Lady Shitoen seriously, but I sprang to my feet without thinking.

“I refuse! How can I send her somewhere that dangerous!?”

This was not a matter of asking advice about anemia or poor health.

She would be going into a building where something unknown was spreading.

“What do you intend to do if something happens to Lady Shitoen!?”

“It has not yet been decided that it is an infectious disease.”

Vandel stood as well.

“I myself met the patients, and as you can see, I am fine.”

“I did as well, Your Highness. I lived together with the patients for several days.”

Even Lord Marder stood up.

“We do not understand it, Your Highness. Some show the symptoms, while others remain completely healthy… We do not understand the difference. But this is a grave matter.”

“Well, of course it is! All you can do is lock the patients up for a while and watch what happens!”

“It does not end with a matter that simple.”

Vandel’s voice turned severe.

“For some reason, this illness only appears in the refugee residential district. If word of this gets out, vicious discrimination will begin.”

I caught my breath.

I could not say no way. After all, had I not just said lock them up myself?

“So far, the relationship between the refugees and the local people is good. But if this leaks out, conflict will begin.”

Vandel bit down on his thumbnail. Ah, that bad habit of his, I thought with a strange sense of nostalgia.

“My land lies on the border with another country. If unrest breaks out in my territory over something like this, word will spread quickly, and in the worst case, the Mira Empire will invade. And they would have a plausible justification.”

“An infectious disease broke out, and for the sake of disinfection, they burned the whole village.”

Lord Marder said it flatly, but it sent a chill through me.

“They would no doubt claim that because we were dragging our feet, they did it in our place.”

Vandel spat the words, and I cut in.

“No… no matter what, that is… I mean, they are your own countrymen, are they not?”

Even if they had come here, they were originally people of the same country. Would they really burn them?

“They are not our countrymen. We are refugees. We abandoned that country. To them, we are traitors.”

There was weight in Lord Marder’s words. Perhaps because that was the reality, and the truth.

“You understand it too, do you not? What is our greatest duty?”

Vandel shot me a sharp glare.

To guard the border.

To keep the country safe.

I understood that without Vandel having to tell me.

“For that reason, we must deal with this in secret.”

No one must learn of it, Vandel said, glaring at me.

“I had planned to go to the royal capital under the pretense of celebrating your engagement and summon a renowned physician… but if people learned why I had requested a doctor to be sent, it would invite unnecessary prying. That is what had me troubled, but…”

Vandel glanced at Lady Shitoen.

“Fortunately, she is not a doctor.”

I finally understood.

She had medical knowledge. But she was not a doctor.

A newlywed couple had come to visit a close friend in his territory while also thanking him for celebrating their engagement.

On the surface, that story would hold.

Which made her convenient for settling things quietly.

“What exactly are the symptoms?”

Lady Shitoen’s bell-like voice, however, immediately changed into a soft laugh.

“First, should not all of you be seated?”

Prompted by her, we looked at one another.

The three of us men had all leapt to our feet like fools and were growling at one another face-to-face, which was embarrassing.

We all cleared our throats and sat back down on the sofas.

“Most of the patients first developed diarrhea, and that was what led to their condition worsening.”

Lord Marder began to explain. I see, so it starts with stomach trouble.

“After that, they complain of stomach pain, and the fatigue continues. Then their skin gradually turns dark bluish, and in the end, they die.”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

I raised my voice, cutting across Lord Marder.

“You are saying this so calmly, but that is terrifying! What is that supposed to be!?”

“That is exactly why we are troubled.”

Vandel bared his teeth. Well, sure, but this was obviously already beyond us.

“With something like this… is there not anything to do but wait until every infected person dies? How are you dealing with it right now?”

When I looked at Lord Marder, he grimaced.

“As I said before, we are only carrying the patients into empty buildings. There is nothing else we can do.”

Well, that figures.

“We have imposed a gag order, but rumors have begun to spread from the nearby villages. And to make matters worse, merchants from the Mira Empire are connected to the outbreak. It would be disastrous if that made its way back there.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

When I blinked, Vandel let out a deep sigh.

“It seems the patients who came down with diarrhea bought dried fish from traveling merchants and ate it. After that, the number of people with stomach trouble began to increase.”

“Then is it not just food poisoning from that dried fish?”

With a bitter expression, Vandel shook his head at me.

“Some who came down with diarrhea showed no further symptoms. And while some entire families were wiped out, in other households only the men were affected.”

“What is that supposed to be?”

I had absolutely no idea.

It looked as though the Grim Reaper was swinging his scythe around at random.