Chapter 281- Weapon of mass destruction

Weapon of mass destruction

Ming continued chatting with the three scouts as if meeting up some long lost brothers. Chu, on the other hand, focused on the short priest. In the few travels he experienced on the road, he never encountered an oldish priest being part of a scouting party.

"Priest Quarrie, my brother and I have yet to earn our stiff skin from adventuring. But this is the first I have seen a priest riding with scouts."

"Little Yegg, when you adventure across the empire, you will meet up similar groupings. Usually, when you have different parties forming a convoy for travel, you may encounter a scouting party formed like this one. Especially if the convoy has any traveling priests."

"Oh, how come?"

"Haha, before the sun sets, it's customary for the scouting party to forge ahead in the evening with a priest. The goal of this party is to find a suitable campsite for the night. We, priests, accompany them to check the water source. Sometimes, the discovered watering hole might be stagnant and not suitable to drink. It is our responsibility to check the water. Especially for a large convoy."

Priest Quarrie explained to this curious young adventurer. He felt these two boys had amicable personalities. Looking at the water pouches near the fire, he extended his hand.

"Young Yegg, did you draw that water from the pool? If so, I can conduct my checks so we can report back to the convoy."

"Sure, I would be honored for Priest Quarrie to ensure I have clean water."

Chu said while handing over the full pouch to the priest.

The greying priest opened the wooden stopper and sniffed the contents. He then carefully poured a little of the water into his cupped palm. Scrutinizing it in the light of the late evening, he sipped it slowly. Raising his head, he nodded in satisfaction.

"The water is clear and free of a muddy taste. This pool is a suitable watering hole."

Priest Quarrie reported while placing his stamp of approval.

"There is a suitable campsite not far from here. It can hold the entire convoy. We'll need to have a wagon come down with some barrels so as to carry the water back to camp."

"There is a large flat area just past this pond. They can fill up when they pass by to set up camp if you like."

Chu said as he listed to one of the scouts. The middle-aged man shook his head and laughed as if enjoying a joke.

"Little Yegg, when you take on a task of accompanying merchants on a journey, you will understand why we do it as we suggested. If we let such a large convoy formed from different merchants and guards to pass along the road and take their fill, fighting might be the least of our worries."

"Brother Kale is right, not only will those in the lead want to take their time, but when the rear of the convoy reaches here, this pool will have become a mess. Imagine what a hundred horses and men will do to this little watering hole."

"Exactly, the best decision a scout can make on the road is to find a water source after the campsite. This way only a few men will have to fetch the water for the entire camp. Most of the time it is only for topping up the travel supplies and cooking. This time we found a stream this evening so the horses will have already been taken care of. All we need is enough to cook and drink for tonight."

The scouts explained. Looking at the two boys they paused and grinned. From the brief meeting, these young adventurers seem keen on learning the ways of the road.

"Usually, the convoy pays a few coppers to the men who gather the water. After traveling so long on the road, everyone thinks of this as a chore. How about it, would you two brothers like the chance to earn a few extra coppers? You guys can mingle a little and pick those older codgers for information or return to your camp afterward."

Chu listened to the offer from the scouts before facing Ming.

"How about it, Rover? What to earn a few extra coins?"

"Sure, Brother Yegg. I don't see why not."

***

Shortly after midnight, Chu shifted uneasily while watching the writhing masses before him. His heart palpitated on hearing the accompanying moans and groans from over three hundred travelers. Across the campsite, wherever visible by the smoking embers, guards, merchants, and priests crawled over the tufts of grass.

The least affected summoned enough energy to clutch their belly and wobble into the darkness. Others not so fortunate, cursed while crawling and relieving themselves. The main contingent of this convoy who occupied the center of the campsite, however, seemed to receive an even greater affliction.

Chu shuddered as he witnessed them turn and twist with painful faces on the ground. The slurs escaping their mouths proved unidentifiable.

"Cold... So cold... what plague have my gods unleashed on us...?"

"Priest Quarrie, hold on. Here, drink some of this antidote."

"No use, young Tegg. I cast a Blessing and drank an antidote potion already. Whatever madness is this, came from the heavens. Even Healer Anny's spell proved useless. I can't find her since she hobbled off to the bushes. Brother Tegg, please let my fellow priests at the Church of Natures Bounty pray for my soul..."

"Priest Quarrie, Priest Quarrie? It's Yegg, Yegg, not Tegg..."

Chu watched the sweating yet shivering old priest crawl into the darkness. He swore the contorted pain and terrifying diarrhea had shriveled the priest before his eyes.

"Mindy, don't hate me so. The reason I left you for Tim was that he had bigger breasts than you."

Chu stepped past the dreaming guard and made his way to the circle of covered wagons belonging to House Gofart. Previously when they delivered the water, the scouts introduced them to the servants belonging to the various merchants. He found Ming staring around uncomfortably.

"Ming, I think we should leave. Whatever this is, it has affected only the humans in the convoy. Only the horses seem to look normal, at least for now. Maybe it is a case of bad food poisoning but the guards and merchants here act as if they have lost their minds."

"Let's get out of here, Chu. I expected something like this from anyone related to this merchant caravan but I don't know why Priest Quarrie and the others fell ill. Maybe it really is a plague."

Ming mumbled as he hastily led the way towards their camp by the watering hole.

Chu followed behind while avoiding the travelers. Crossing something which healing potions, antidotes, and healing spells became useless was cause for concern. He had walked towards the perimeter of the campsite when he paused.

"Hey, Ming? What do you mean, you expected those people from merchant Gofart to act like that?"

"I popped a few of my concocted pellets into their water barrels when I delivered it. I figured it would have created a good distraction for us to find and even sneak away with their goods. Who knows what happened to Kale and the other members of the convoy. I don't have a pill that causes severe, cramping diarrhea..."

Ming explained without slowing. Before Chu could reply, two crisp hoots of an owl sounded from out in the grasslands. Standing at the edge of the campsite, Chu felt a weight lifted as he answered the hoot. Three cloaked figures melded out of the shadows.

"What happened here?"

"I can't say. I do have an idea of what happened to some of them. Did you just arrive?"

Chu replied to the Asian looking girl.

"No, Lucy found out that the convoy didn't pass the town so we hurried to catch up with you. We arrived much sooner but we had to look for a watering hole."

"Watering hole? But there is a pool close to where we camped."

"Dyna stopped us since Lykos refused to drink and Lucy also said it smelt funny."

Miki said while shooting an interested gaze at the defenseless masses. Some girls hugged dolls and squealed at sparkling jewelry. She, however, reveled in witnessing carnage.

Chu ignored her curiosity as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"That can't be right. We drank the same water..."

"Well, if nothing happened to you, then all the better. Let's make use of this opportunity to see what we have here."

Miki advised while swiveling her neck to soak in the toppled travelers. Undoubtedly, this conversation held her back from mingling among the fallen. Sighing, Chu pointed in the direction he knew she wanted. He could not ignore the logic from her statement. This convoy stood defenseless.

Following behind, they soon surrounded the wagon carrying not the traveling supplies but the merchant goods. Miki casually, kicked away a glazed eyed guard emptying his stomach contents beside the wagon wheel. She stooped next to the man while muttering and then beckoned to Lucy. Harnessing her strength, Lucy climbed on the wagon and opened one of the small crates. A wafting smell of pure fragrance calmed their minds.

Peering while holding a burning torch, they gazed into the crate filled with slightly shimmering stones of all sizes. Chu gently pushed the torch away from the contents as he scooped a handful of the whitish rocks and sniffed.

"Incense. Or at least some form of it. Careful, it can catch on fire and burn like oil."

"Rocks, all of the crates Lucy opened are filled with smelly stones. Don't they have gold or silver? Maybe we checked the wrong wagon?"

Ming mused. All the random crates contained scented stones. He and Lucy hopped off to lead the way to another wagon.

Chu shook his head while smiling at remembering the timeline of civilization. In this present-day era where salt traded as a valuable commodity, there were many items worth more than gold.

"Stones again... Where is the gold?"

"You're looking at it. I suspect these stones have a value more than gold coins. Think about it, where can you find them within the entire Empire? You are scorning a small fortune should we decide to sell them all."

"This wagon has something else."

Lucy interrupted before Ming's eyes could register the dollar signs.

Chu inhaled a smell which caused his stomach to grumble in hunger. Dipping his hands, he removed some finely ground red powder. The urge to taste won over as he sampled a little of the dust on his finger. His eyes opened wide on recalling something similar.

"Spices."

Chu raised his head as he counted around ten wagons filled with the standard crates used to deliver goods.

"A fortune. We struck it rich."

Standing next to him, Dyna clasped her hands behind her back like an old patriarch.

"Yea, but how are we going to steal all this? And also why did that old man keep calling you Yegg?"

****