With Hatchet’s having solved the food issues for the caravan until they reach the capital there seemed to be no animosity towards Ajax and him from anyone except the apprentice merchant that got fooled.

“Do you know what type of plague it is, considering the makeup of your team and the precautions taken in the city I assume it is helped along or even created by somebody.” Hatchet broke the silence after he finished his portion.

“The plague itself is not that dangerous.” the lead healer says after getting a nod from Leonard. “Besides some mild respiratory infection and some exotic ways of spreading besides the mundane ones. Their combination actually makes stopping its spread quite difficult inside cities.”

“A whole city went into quarantine because of something like the cold that spreads easier?” Ajax’s mouth got the words out before the brain could filter them.

“You seem to have some knowledge. No, the main side effect of the plague is what makes it so dangerous, it makes it so that stamina is no longer consumed by the infected, instead a person’s Vitality is very slowly used." Despite her warm tone the words sent a shiver through everyone.

Vitality was the only dump stat possible out of the eight. Putting all your points into vitality was, though stupid from a level of strength perspective, not going to cause side effects like the others tearing the body apart without a more spread out investment. The loss of vitality like that would mean loss of levels and life span. Ajax was no longer surprised that he hadn’t seen anyone moving in the city, they were all tucked away in bed if they knew what was good for them.

“Those methods of transmission you mentioned, could you perhaps share what they are?” the caravan leader asked with a shaky voice. “I would also be interested in hiring your services before we go our separate ways tomorrow.”

“You’ve no need to worry, none of you are infected.” the healer said. “Had even one of you been infected I would have felt the magic of the disease spread through the air around before we arrived.”

“As for the method of transmission, the mundane was airborne. The magical one is in fact based on sound, anyone who hears an infected cough without then looking at him would also be infected.” she offered.

This is where Ajax felt completely out of his depth. A disease that spreads through sound. That was something else, even with the limitation of anyone that actually sees the source of the sound not getting infected all it would take is one person coughing in the night from his bed and everyone in the building near him would become infected.

“I think it best I turn in for the night so I am ready to leave in the morning.” Ajax said as he mechanically stood up. What kind of skill or magic would allow someone to give a disease this kind of effect was what occupied his mind now. “Good luck, I hope you catch him quick.” he threw out offhandedly as he made his way towards the cart.

“Sir Leonard Smith doesn’t need to rely on luck.” the young soldier piped in. “We already know the ident-”

“Enough” Leonard interrupted the man. The person’s identity was a sensitive subject and one that shouldn’t be broached in public.

The young soldier realized his mistake as he bowed and apologized profusely. Deep down he was disappointed in himself, many times Leonard had told him to get control of his temper and yet again he had lost it, all because of a somewhat talented commoner refusing Leonards offer of employment.

The confused looks on everyone’s faces let Leonard decide that clearing out the witnesses wasn’t required. It was here that Leonard’s skills failed him , both Hatchet and the caravan leader had managed to school their expressions enough as to not give away the fact that they understood what was happening.

Whoever the perpetrator was, Hatchet knew that he belonged to a high up noble family, at least a highly influential marquis if not a ducal house. This was something he would have to look into discreetly once he made it to the capital, he knew his skills were not going to be enough for this so he would need to ask Luna. A heavy weight pressed upon his heart as he realized the first time he would see his old teammate and friend he would be showing up with two requests.

Hatchet didn’t know he was in fact wrong. His fear was that the perpetrator was the final living heir of a house and would be spared to preserve the house. This wasn’t the case, yes the perpetrator was in fact the oldest heir to a powerful marquis family but he wasn’t the sole heir. The reason for the secrecy was to preserve the reputation of the marquis family.

The rest of the night was spent in silence apart from the few times the caravan leader asked the healers if they were sure nobody was infected, despite their answer being negative he still drank a potion.

The following morning the two groups split up without much fanfare. The healers and the duke’s men had their mission and the caravan continued on towards the capital. They made good time, knowing there wasn’t any deal to be made at any of the villages in between them and the capital. The caravan was ready to simply go around them in hopes of saving time, but alas it was not to be.

“Ho there travelers.” an old voice shouted towards the caravan.

As the caravan slowly came to a stop they could all see the food market that had been set up in this village. All of the stalls were filled with a minimal amount of unripe vegetables and fruit. The meat still looked the part at least but it wasn’t hard for any of them to figure out what was going on.

“You must be hungry after your journey.” the old man continued with a fake smile as his eyes twinkled with greed. “We might not have much but we are prepared to share some with you, for a modest price of course.”

It was clear that this village as a whole had probably received the same treatment as the caravas and had most of their reserves taken away for the city. They in turn then turned to selling overpriced substandard foot to others who had suffered their fate at a premium.

“We are very thankful for your kind hospitality!” The caravan leader called back without moving to get out of the caravan. “Sadly we are in a hurry if we are to make it to the capital in five days so we won’t be stopping at any of the villages in between here and there.”

The headman looked like he had taken a big bite from one of the unripe lemons sitting on the stand behind him as he watched the richest caravan he had seen since they were pillaged take off without waiting to buy anything.

The caravan leader however was grinning like the cat that got the cream. There was no way he would be swindled by two people in two days, he thought to himself as the village was left behind in the dust. Not to mention that this old man was even greedier than the last one. With that thought he turned around and looked at Hatchet as he was talking with Ajax in their cart.

“It seems like our training has left quite a blind spot for you.” Hatchet silently lamented.

“What do you mean?” Ajax asked though he had an inkling of what he was referring to.

“Despite all our training and preparation in those five years it seems that you are still behind when it comes to common knowledge outside of that backwater barony.” he explained the exact thing Ajax was now considering. “I’m sorry to say that I don’t have the experience to teach you what is possible with mana. It was written all over your face last night as you finally processed what other talented people could do with mana.”

“Yes…” Ajax agreed. “I spent quite a bit of time last night wandering about magic gear as well as other more niche applications of mana besides elemental magic and healing. It’s offensive use in alchemy is just one of probably many, how many other uses does it have that I haven’t even thought about yet?”