When Diego opened his eyes again, there was already a quiet and peaceful scene around him. He found himself lying on the bed, with exquisite crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling above his head, the surrounding walls inlaid with mosaic tiles, and underneath him
On the soft feather mattress, several priestesses were surrounding him, as if they had been watching over him for a long time.
Indeed, I took care of it for a long time...
Through the window, Diego could see that the sky outside the house had dimmed, leaving only a dim red light. Obviously, it was already approaching nightfall. And it was still noon when he crawled out of the sewer... He was at least unconscious.
long time……
More than half a day...
"Thank Goddess, you're awake!"
"He's awake!"
the priestesses shouted happily.
"Water...water..."
Diego demanded in a weak voice. He found a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, making it difficult for him to even speak.
The priestesses quickly brought a glass of water. Just as Diego was about to raise his hand to get it, the priestess next to him had already taken the lead, came over, supported his waist with one hand, and handed the water glass to his lips with the other.
Diego didn't have the strength to look at the priestess for a second, and his thirst made him drink all the water in the glass. Even if the water scratched his throat, it would sting. He knew that he must have hurt his neck, and he might be running away.
He might have been stabbed in the throat by a ratman during the process. But at that time, he drank the painkiller and temporarily forgot about the pain. But now, the effect of the medicine has completely worn off, and the wounds on his body are becoming more and more painful.
"I...how long have I been unconscious?"
The witch hunter struggled to squeeze out a few words.
"It's been two days."
A familiar female voice came from behind, that was the voice of Lyanna, the Priestess and Dean of the Elengrad Medical College.
Diego could not turn his head, and after a while, the chief priestess walked in front of him.
"It's incredible that you are still alive after suffering such serious injuries. Thank you goddess..."
She said with a solemn look on her face.
"Doctor, you guys, you'd better stay away from me. I escaped from the deepest and dirtiest place in the sewer. Those rat men... are like monsters covered with pustules... I... I can't guarantee that I haven't contracted this damn plague.
…”
"I know. I checked it too."
Before Diego could explain more, the chief priestess interrupted him.
"Your wound has not suppurated or been infected, and your blood is still fresh and red. This proves that you have not contracted the plague."
Lyanna said calmly.
"But... why..."
Diego asked hard.
"I don't know... maybe you have immunity in your body, or the potion you drank can just suppress the toxins that counteract the plague. Both are possible. I'm still researching it."
Lyanna answered calmly. There was no emotion on her fair face, only calmness and rationality. And this calmness made people feel an inexplicable sense of security. It was as if this place was a sanctuary.
"In this catastrophe, many people were infected and died. However, a small group of people survived in the house with piles of corpses, even if they were bitten by rats..."
The priestess's face remained calm.
"They're naturally immune to the plague, right?"
"Maybe that's the case. These people have become volunteers and are under observation in the monastery."
"including you."
Lyanna added.
"I still have a lot of unfinished business!"
Diego wanted to protest loudly, but his voice hung in the air and could not be expanded. As long as he pulled his throat a little, a tearing pain would spread throughout his throat.
"What else can you do in your current state?"
The head priestess said coldly.
"That information...those..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a rush of footsteps outside the room. It was a large group of footsteps. There seemed to be at least twenty or thirty people.
Soon, a burly and huge figure appeared in front of the witch hunter.
"The great lord..."
Rhodes made a stop gesture to save Diego from these empty etiquette.
"Your body?"
Rhodes asked with concern. Although he really wanted to know what the witch hunter experienced underground and what he saw, he couldn't live without care, and he had to put it first.
"No problem, I won't die."
Diego laughed at himself.
"High Lord, I must tell you what I experienced underground."
Diego spoke with difficulty, his voice was slightly trembling, and his face was painful and stiff. Rhodes guessed that the wound might involve the vocal cords. He motioned to the witch hunter to slow down and said that they had plenty of time. At least now, whether it is the plague or the
There are no signs of another large-scale outbreak of rats.
"It's the Rat Man."
Diego said seriously and solemnly.
After listening, Rhodes' expression was calm and composed, without any emotion revealed. It was as if everything had been known for a long time.
It is true that he has known for a long time... or that the occurrence of the plague is related to the rat people has long been speculated by Rhodes. He also listed many possibilities, but he did not have the time or energy to investigate them one by one. The people in the city
There are still many dead people. How to comfort the living people, settle the refugees, protect the uninfected, and collect supplies? There are too many things to be busy and consider.
"I got it."
Rhodes returned calmly.
"Is it a lot?"
Rhodes asked next.
"A lot. There are at least hundreds of them in the sewers. This is just one sewer. There are hundreds of sewers in the city of Elengrad. Who knows how many there are?!"
Diego said angrily.
Rhodes knew the worries of the witch hunters. Generally speaking, rat-men were creatures hiding in dark corners. They would not see the light easily. If one rat-man appeared in a house, there might be dozens of them.
Only one of its kind is hiding underground in this house. One hundred ratmen appeared in the sewers, proving that there may be thousands of them. And as Diego said, this is just one of the sewers, Erengrad
There are hundreds of sewers underground, which is terrifying if you think about it.
"Are you sure that the source of the plague was poisoned by ratmen?"
Rhodes asked next.
"I can't guarantee it 100%, but nine times out of ten...the rat catcher saw those big pots that smelled bad, with corpses and reptiles mixed in them...something similar to a big pot was boiling and cooking them...
To keep...the poison tank...at a constant temperature. It should be said...that it is...the most suitable temperature to keep the plague from growing..."
Diego said tremblingly. It was not fear, but simply the pain caused by the injury that made him unable to speak normally.
"Do you have any samples?"
Priestess Lyanna on the side suddenly intervened and asked.
"There should be some, and there are a lot of them. I guess... the Rat Man suddenly appeared to protect or even divert those poison sources."
"Then we should go down again, collect those ratmen, and then obtain samples. If we find the source of the plague, it will be of great help in developing antidotes and epidemic prevention."
Lyanna said excitedly.
However, the cold words coming from the side extinguished the fire of hope that the priestess had just ignited.
"It's useless. It's been two days. If there were really poisonous tanks and a place where the plague was boiled, they would have been moved by them long ago. There are many sewers in the city of Elengrad. It's not easy to find them again if you move them to any place.
As for the settlement, forget it, this plague, it should be said that the same is true for several plagues in history. It is not only effective and lethal to the human body, but also to rats. Those rats that gnawed on human corpses died that night
They will be infected and die, and the next day their bodies will turn a terrifying black color. The symptoms are the same as those of infected people. The organs inside will rot quickly and eventually dissolve. This is true for humans and mice, and it is the same for rat people. People around the source of the plague
The probability of the Rat Man being infected is definitely very high. Generally, the attack cycle for humans is about a week. The Rat Man's metabolism is faster, and it is estimated that the Rat Man will die of the attack in two or three days. At this time, it is basically meaningless for the guards to go down and clear them up.
.And it may result in more casualties.”
Rhodes' words were calm and cold, as if there was no emotional fluctuation. In fact, this is also the case. Since the outbreak of the Great Plague in Elengrad, Rhodes and Alves have been thinking about the source of the plague every day, and have already considered various possibilities.
It has been analyzed hundreds of times. The participation of the rat people is undoubtedly the priority among all possibilities.