Goddess Kaleidoscope

Charlotte looked bewildered at the sudden appearance of the messenger, while Rudd beside him gave him a look that said, "See what I just said?" before waving back at the knight who delivered the message.

“Here I am, the priest Rudd you are looking for.”

Upon hearing Lud's shout, the messenger cavalryman quickly dismounted, and without even catching his breath, hurriedly pulled a letter from his satchel.

"Please take a look at the Earl's personal letter."

Upon receiving the envelope from the messenger, Ludwig noticed that the inkpad did indeed bear Count Ramley's seal. He quickly opened it and glanced at it, his expression rapidly turning serious.

"Sir, what...what happened?"

“Something has happened in Oyster Harbor to the west. A plague broke out there in March, and the situation is critical. The Earl has asked me to go there to save lives.”

"Oh no! No way?"

Upon hearing how serious the matter was, Charlotte was taken aback. Then, recalling Lude's earlier mention of "raising a flag," she felt a pang of sympathy.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Ludwig disregarded his classes and immediately called over an older class monitor he knew to pass on a message to the other teachers at the school before rushing back to the temple.

Lude knew Oyster Harbor somewhat; it was the largest seaport in the northern part of the kingdom, a bustling commercial hub where merchants from all over the continent gathered. More than half of the various potions Lude had sold went to Oyster Harbor and were then shipped to all parts of the world via sea.

Last autumn, Lud had planned a trip, with the bustling Oyster Harbour as his first choice. Little did he know that such a serious incident would occur there after only one winter.

Although this world has unscientific medical methods like divine magic, it is precisely because of the existence of divine magic that the development of conventional medical technology is extremely slow, to the point that it can be described as "utterly pathetic".

Therefore, once a highly contagious disease emerges, the medical system centered on divine magic is very likely to be "broke through" in a short period of time. This is because once the infection spreads, the number of new patients each day is far beyond what lower-ranking priests can handle with just three or five divine spells a day, not to mention that some areas don't even have any priests at all.

In fact, plagues break out every year in the world, the only difference being their scale. Poor transportation has unexpectedly played a positive role in this regard. Many villages and towns affected by plagues are located in remote areas, so the virus dies out before it can spread.

However, the situation in Oyster Harbor, where the outbreak occurred, is different. It is a maritime hub in the northern part of the kingdom, with a relatively dense urban population and a large number of surrounding villages and towns.

The port is not nominally part of the Earldom of Ramley; the local lord is Viscount Maup. However, because the entire territory faces the sea and is surrounded on three sides by the Earldom, it is actually still under the Earldom's influence and is considered to be within their sphere of influence.

Whether out of humanitarian concern or self-interest, Ludwig cannot ignore the outbreak in Oyster Harbor. The two places are about 800 miles apart, which sounds far, but if the outbreak is allowed to continue to spread, no one can guarantee that Pine Tree Town will be safe.

Furthermore, crises often come with opportunities. Wealthy port cities like Oyster Harbor are usually arenas for large religious sects. Under normal circumstances, small sects like their Medicine God Sect, with only a few thousand members, would not be qualified to venture into such densely populated metropolises.

Since the local area has already begun to request assistance, it indicates that the epidemic is not well controlled. While there are certain risks in stepping in at this time, if the crisis can be resolved, the influence of the Medicine God Cult and the Pantheon can be spread there. Even if the local area is not able to gain a foothold in the end, a large number of believers can be gained, and a good reputation can be earned.

However, Lud needs more intelligence before he can carry out any action.

The Earl's letter of appeal was brief, mainly requesting that Rudd make a trip to Wolfhelm City. Oyster Harbor was right next to the Earl's territory, and if the plague were to go uncontrolled, they would be the first to suffer. Therefore, the Earl had no interest in standing idly by.

Therefore, without delay, Lud decided to head to Wolfhelm City as soon as possible to personally meet the current Earl of House Ramley and learn the details from him. However, just as he habitually took out his dragon scales, preparing to use them to strike the dragon, he suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering something.

Just three days ago, Nidhogg took the initiative to come over. In addition to visiting his youngest daughter who was being fostered by Rudd, he also told Rudd that he and his wife were going on a long trip and would not be able to return for at least a month.

The dragon race is a very loose society with almost no so-called power structure. However, a general assembly of all dragons is held every hundred years at the highest snow mountain in the Forgotten Icefield (the polar region). All dragons who have reached adulthood or are about to reach adulthood will attend.

Like Nidhogg's non-flying neighbor, Huanglong, who set off as early as the beginning of last year.

For Nidhogg, this was the first time in his five hundred years of dragon life that he had attended the Dragon Clan Assembly. If Tawawa hadn't mentioned it to him, he wouldn't have even known that the dragons, who were known for their lack of organization and discipline, actually had such a collective activity!

So Nidhogg decided to go with his wife, who was also attending the convention for the first time, but before they set off, they needed to entrust their two little troublemakers to the trustworthy Ludd.

However, because the two little ones were too lively and not as well-behaved as Kanna (relatively speaking), Lud was worried that if he brought them to Pine Town, they might cause trouble or even danger by running around. So he settled them in the demi-human settlement in "Peach Garden".

However, Ah Qin's kobold rangers were clearly no match for the two one-year-old dragons, each over three meters long, so Lud sent Hydra over as temporary babysitters.

Left with no other option, since the dragon wasn't in the service area, Rudd had to resort to other conventional means to reach Wolfhelm City, feeling a little disappointed. After all, riding a dragon wasn't just about speed; it was also about prestige!

Since this is a medical mission, and a rather "big" one at that, Aina will definitely be part of the entourage; they'll need her to be able to handle the water in crucial moments. Romian can also be brought along. The dragon girl officially advanced to "apprentice priestess" in winter, gaining the authority to use divine magic, so this is a good opportunity for the little girl to gain some experience under her care.

In addition, Lud also plans to borrow a group of people from the dwarves, preferably the group that participated in the quarantine operation last year, whose experience can be applied to the fight against the plague.

End of this chapter

The three sisters directly delivered an "oracle" to the dwarves of the dungeon. Gulig immediately dispatched a team of 500 men, who arrived in Pine Town the next morning, ready to accompany Lud to Oyster Harbor to fight the epidemic.

The dwarves were very enthusiastic about this support mission, partly to complete the task given by the goddess, and partly to support a dwarven clan that had settled in Oyster Harbor.

This dwarf clan is called the "Golden Axe Clan," and their population is less than a thousand. When it comes to these fellow dwarves, many more traditional dwarves describe them as "unorthodox," more like merchants than craftsmen, and reeking of money.

It is said that the Golden Axe Clan originally started with handicrafts and was good at making all kinds of exquisite jewelry. However, they later discovered that the human dealers they cooperated with were making an excessively large profit margin. So, the chieftain of the Golden Axe Clan got angry and started to form a merchant guild to do business. As a result, they got out of control.

Over the years, the Golden Axe Chamber of Commerce has become the number one enterprise in Oyster Harbor. It has its own fleet of ships and vehicles, and its business is no longer limited to jewelry and accessories, but covers more than a dozen fields, so it is very wealthy!

Interestingly, although the Golden Axe Clan did not respond to Gulig's call, they were close allies with the Steel Whip Clan through marriage. Gulig's sister was the current chieftain's wife, and his two nephews, Yorn and Charlotte, also worked for Gulig.

For this "Reclaim the Old City" campaign, the Golden Axe Merchant Guild provided substantial financial and material support. Otherwise, Gulig could not have gathered more than 30,000 dwarves and taken over the ancient city in such a grand manner by simply shouting slogans.

So when Gulige heard that there was an epidemic in Oyster Harbor, he was more anxious than anyone else.

That evening, the dwarf support team made a temporary stop in town, mainly to help Lud rush to produce the necessary medical supplies.

Although the intelligence available at present is limited, Lude does not know what caused the plague in Oyster Harbor and cannot prepare targeted treatment drugs, but medical consumables such as masks and disinfectants are definitely better in large quantities, and the more prepared in advance, the better.

In the last poisonous mushroom incident, the mask Lud used withstood the test of real combat. Although he did not have the "high-tech product" of sprayed cloth, which can only be produced by modern petrochemical technology, he could achieve a similar effect with divine magic.

In the traditional system of divine arts, there is a technique called "purification," which is specifically designed for this purpose. Theoretically, it can effectively remove any kind of toxins, but its actual use requires some skill.

In the early stages of treating infected individuals, Lude discovered that while the Purification spell could cure them, the parasitic spores had already circulated throughout the body via the infected person's bloodstream. Therefore, continuous output was usually required, and it would take about three to four Purification spells to remove all the spores.

This amount of consumption was obviously too much. Even if Lude had exhausted all five goddesses under his command, he still couldn't cure the hundreds of infected people at the time. In the end, he still had to use conventional methods to detoxify.

Furthermore, there is another problem with the purification spell for treating infectious diseases: because the cured person did not rely on their own immune system to overcome the disease, they do not develop immunity even after being cured, and may be reinfected as soon as they turn their backs.

Therefore, in dealing with an epidemic, prevention is more important than treatment—cutting off the transmission routes of the virus and preventing its spread. This is precisely the purpose of masks and disinfectants; they are prepared to protect those who are not yet infected.

Of the various supplies, masks are the simplest to prepare. As long as the God of Medicine applies the protective layer, even a pair of semi-transparent lace underwear can achieve the same level of protection as a gas mask. Moreover, because masks are small, the amount of divine power required for a single mask is negligible. Lu De would apply the protective layer to an entire bolt of cloth at once before handing it over to the tailor for cutting.

The disinfectant solution is not difficult to prepare. Just dilute the 1,000-fold tear solution by another 100 times. So, as long as Aina is around, this stuff is theoretically unlimited; you can have as much as you need.

However, to avoid the disinfectant looking too much like ordinary water and causing uninformed people to doubt its effectiveness, Lu De added several plant extracts that also have some bactericidal properties, dyeing it light blue and giving it a faint fragrance.

When it comes to creating an air of mystery, Ludwig has become quite adept at it!

Inside the nuns' quarters at the temple, Aina and Romian, who had been chosen by Ludwig to accompany him on the medical mission, were packing their belongings.

Every second counts in healing and saving lives, so Lud plans to set off tomorrow, first heading to Wolfhelm, the capital of Earl Ramli's territory. There are river ferries there that go to Oyster Harbor, and you can simply go downstream to the estuary.

Aina was quite looking forward to this trip. Even if it wasn't for leisure, seeing the legendary ocean would be a great experience.

"Senior sister, how long will this trip take?"

"I don't know, but Master said that a round trip to the seaside would take half a month, and it involves not only a car but also a boat. Come to think of it, I've never been on a boat before! Luo Mi'an, have you ever been on one?"

"I rode the sea a few times with my mother when I was a child, but it was always in the river. I have never seen the real ocean."

Recalling her childhood and her mother's smiling face, Romian's eyes couldn't help but reveal a trace of nostalgia and sorrow. In the dragon girl's memory, she and her mother were not originally from the Kingdom of Duran, but migrated from a far place in the south to settle down. She couldn't remember where their original home was, only that Uncle Bourne led her and her mother on a journey of more than half a year, traversing mountains and rivers, before finally arriving at a place called Zola Village.

Even so, the villains eventually found the mother and daughter. If it weren't for Uncle Bourne and her mother's protection, Romian wouldn't be alive today.

This painful memory still haunts Romian's nightmares from time to time, leaving a wound in her heart that is difficult to heal.

Sometimes Romianne hated her father, the man who hadn't visited her and her mother even once since she was seven. To this day, Romianne didn't even know his last name, only that his name was Adrian, and that he was the eldest son of a noble family—that was all she knew.

Suddenly reminded of these sad things, Romian, feeling a bit down, secretly patted her cheeks behind Aina's back, trying to cheer herself up.

She is no longer the lonely and helpless little girl she once was. She has a learned master and two kind senior sisters by her side, and she has also been favored by the goddess. Less than a year after becoming a nun, she was promoted to "apprentice priest" and gained the ability to use divine magic.

I must make good use of this power, just like my amazing master, and strive to save all living beings!

End of this chapter

Romian has only recently been promoted to novice priest, and is allowed to use three low-level divine spells per day. This level is average and not particularly outstanding.

On the day Romian completed her ascension ceremony, the Dragon Girl received three gifts from Rude: a priest's scepter, a prayer pendant engraved with the goddess's image, and a booklet called "Trial Manual".

Lude told Romian that their Medicine God Cult's priests differed from other sects in one major way: they could gain more blessings by continuously completing various trials given by the goddess. Therefore, theoretically, even without advancing in rank, they could still increase the number of divine spell slots they could use.

The Goddess's Trials can be roughly divided into four types, three of which are clearly recorded in the Trial Manual. They are also divided into three levels according to difficulty: high, medium, and low. Upon completion, you can receive different rewards and corresponding "Holy Seals".

There are the most low-level trials, numbering in the hundreds. The conditions for completion are relatively simple, such as treating a certain number of patients or personally preparing a certain number of potions. For every five completed, one can obtain a "temporary divine spell slot".

However, temporary divine spell slots are limited to low-level divine spells, and unlike regular divine spell slots, they don't reset the next day after use; once used, they're gone. The advantage, however, is that they can be accumulated and kept for unforeseen circumstances.

The intermediate trials are generally much more difficult than the lower-level ones. There are a total of one hundred trials. After completing five, you can choose to receive a general divine spell slot or a blessing (buff).

The next level of trials, numbering only ten, are located on the last page of the manual. All are extremely difficult, some requiring long periods of accumulated effort, others fraught with life-threatening risks. However, the rewards for completing each trial are exceptionally generous and varied.

In addition to the three types listed in the booklet, there is also a "special trial," in which the goddess directly bestows a divine decree upon the person in question. However, this is generally an advanced trial, and upon completion, one can advance in rank.

Romian calculated that just by completing all the trials in the tome, she could obtain nearly a hundred temporary divine spell slots and at most twenty ordinary divine spell slots. In other sects, this would be comparable to the level of an archbishop.

But with so many trials, completing them all is by no means easy; without decades of arduous and unremitting effort, one can forget about ever seeing the end.

Out of curiosity, Romian asked Rude if he had completed all the trials. Rude smiled slightly, rolled up the sleeve of his robe, and revealed a large arm covered with various "holy seals".

"I'm ashamed to say I'm still a little short."

As a native of this other world, Romian obviously didn't understand what an "achievement system" was, let alone what kind of deadly temptation this seemingly insignificant thing could have, turning normal people into obsessive squirrel party members.

The next morning, the rescue team set off for Wolfhelm City. In addition to the five hundred dwarves, the team also included a medical group of thirty people, all of whom were first-term students in the medical department of Ludlow Academy. These students were originally not supposed to officially graduate until the end of June, but due to this incident, Ludlow pulled them out early, treating it as a unique graduation exam.

These students are only fifteen years old on average, the youngest just turned thirteen and the oldest is not yet eighteen; they are all quite young. However, by the standards of this world, thirteen or fourteen years old is already considered an adult.

Ruth did not force these students to participate, but instead adopted a voluntary registration system. As a result, not a single student in the first cohort chose to withdraw. This was partly because Ruth taught them the compassion of a healer and that healing the sick would bring the goddess's blessing, but more importantly, it was because they trusted Ruth.

With the high priest present, they will surely be safe.

After the rescue team set off, the medical team and the large group of dwarves drove the supply wagons slowly forward, while Lud, along with Aina and Romian, traveled lightly on horseback with the messenger knights to Wolfhelm City to meet the Earl.

By buffing their swift horses with powerful magical spells, the light cavalry arrived at Wolfhelm City, the capital of the Earl's territory, in just two days. This city, built against the mountainside, is one of the four major cities in the north of the kingdom. The Ramli family, as one of the founding fathers, has a history of owning this place that even predates the kingdom itself, dating back to the previous dynasty before the outbreak of the God War.

Without lingering to admire the magnificent city, the group headed straight for the castle halfway up the mountain after entering. A green signal flare was launched into the air from outside the gate, and guards cleared the way for them beforehand, allowing them to gallop freely without hindrance.

This clearly demonstrates the city's overall military prowess.

When Lud and his party arrived at the castle gate, several people were already waiting for them at the drawbridge. Among them were Sharo and Jegan, who were old acquaintances. What caught Lud's attention were a dignified middle-aged man and an old man with a cane, who were presumably the current Earl and the old Earl.

"Lord Lude, I have long admired your name; it is a pleasure to finally meet you today."

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the count, seemingly sensing that Ludwig disliked the formalities of the nobility, didn't stand on ceremony and pulled Ludwig inside, taking the initiative to discuss the latest developments in Oyster Harbor.

The count made Ludwig understand how dire the situation was with just one sentence.