Chapter 490: The Collapse of the Blockade
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"It looks like... That fellow has tricked us again."
In one of the rooms of the palace, Bishop Cameron put down the letter, squinting his eyes; neither joy nor anger could be heard from his calm tone of voice.
"What? He isn’t stuck in the siege?" The Elder Bishop was stunned, and asked hesitantly.
"The latest news, Benjamin and the king had appeared in Kerr Village, in the east. How could he be in the siege?" Bishop Cameron shook his head, saying, "The ones that had attacked the detention center, I’m afraid those were only his mages and some... substitute pretending to be him."
The elderly bishop was still somewhat afraid to believe it: "We have checked everyone under his command. Other than him, no one has the power to break through the detention center’s defenses."
Bishop Cameron continued shaking his head, saying: "I also do not understand why, but things have already happened. It is either that his substitute had broken through to the detention center, or that the one who had appeared with the king in the eastern village is the substitute we’re talking about."
Hearing that, the elderly bishop showed a very fretful expression.
"This cunning rascal..."
Although using the substitute for the king had helped put Carretas into their hands, but he still felt a huge pressure. Magic was flowing through the midst of the people, they could not stop it. And rumors were rampant; almost half the villages had fallen towards Benjamin’s influence, causing their position to not be stable in the least bit.
All of these were the seeds Benjamin had planted in this nation.
From their perspective, as long as Benjamin was disposed of, everything in Carretas would slowly progress in a good direction. Because of that, they had mobilize so much energy and effort, wanting to erase Benjamin from this world at any cost.
Too bad, this was not the Kingdom of Helius, or else...
The elderly bishop thought regretfully.
"Send people to the eastern village. No matter what, we must find the king and get him back." After a temporary silence, Bishop Cameron opened his mouth to speak.
The elderly bishop nodded.
"In addition, no matter who it was that had attacked the detention center, a hundred over mages must be inside the siege." Bishop Cameron continued to speak, "We cannot let them lead us by our noses, we must continue to seal off that area. Wait until the hundred mages have been found, and all have been cleansed. Then we shall slowly complete what is left to be done."
Hearing that, the elderly bishop sighed. Although he really wanted to use the fastest way possible to punish Benjamin, but under the circumstances before their eyes, they could only do so.
Right as he turned around, ready to leave the room.
"There’s... There’s news!"
A Holy Knight pushed open the doors, hurried into the room and shouted breathlessly.
"What news?" The elderly bishop’s heart suddenly had a surge of bad premonition. He furrowed his brows, asking with an unhappy expression.
"It’s... It’s the people in Amber City." The Holy Knight opened his mouth doubtfully, saying, "These few days, we’re not sure what has happened, everywhere people are saying that there is a outbreak of the plague in Amber City. A lot of people want to leave, that place... Probably cannot be contained anymore."
"What?!"
Hearing thus, the faces of the two bishops finally showed, once again, stunned expressions.
The room was plunged into a deadly silence.
Meanwhile.
Under the clear, blue sky, on the many main roads on the fringes of Amber City, countless of people were crowded there, and many had only self-made grey cloth masks. At a glance, everyone was tightly packed together, like ants coming out from their nest in full force.
They were the citizens who had been influenced by rumors of the plague, and wanted to escape the disaster.
"Sister, do you think the plague is really in the city?"
"Are you crazy, so many people are running out, how can the news be false? Just follow and hide."
"Alright..."
The news of the plague had only been spread these few days. Once dispersed, the rate at which it spread was very fast, faster than a real plague. The ordinary folks could not figure out if there was the plague or not, but what if there was? Adding to that the effects of herd mentality, most of the people were running out.
However, at the time, on the outskirts of Amber City, the situation was rather unusual.
At the end of every road stood a blockade made up of army troops. It was not that they did not allow people to pass through, only that everyone who passed had to take over ten minutes to do so. This was causing the citizens, who were trying to run from disaster, feel even more anxious.
Seeing how the soldiers did the inspection, pinching on their faces, and even pulling their eyelids to look up into their eyeballs; compared to how a doctor checked his patient... They looked rather similar.
"Can these people move faster? So many people are stuck here, what if we get infected too?"
"Mummy, I feel a bit itchy, could it be... Could it be..."
Anxiety and worry was brewing in the midst of the crowds.
As for the hundred over mages led by Varys, they were also hiding amongst the people at this time. Only, as the agents of the entire ‘plague’ rumor, seeing the result of their work, they still felt extremely nervous.
"It’s already like this, why isn’t there a riot yet?" Frank lowered his voice; he could not help but speak.
Their position was very close to the control outposts; in approximately a few hours, it would be their turn to be inspected by the soldiers. At that time, if there were still no riots, the situation would become very troublesome.
"Rumors are still rumors." Varys shook his head, saying, "These people are only scared, afraid... There has to be something to push them on a bit."
"How do we push?"
Varys fell into deep thought for a moment, and suddenly, there was a flash of an idea.
"...Got it."
Following the transition of time, the anxiety in the people’s hearts was slowly increasing. Many of them were already impatient and wanted to disregard the soldiers and rush out. But, what a pity, they were still afraid of the authority of the army, so they held on.
Just as Varys had said, perhaps something was really needed to give them a push, to increase their fear of the plague, so much that it would take over their reasons, before the situation could change.
Right then...
Who knew if it was a coincidence or not; not far from Varys, a young man, who looked to be frail and thin, covered his head, and, with his eyes rolling back, fell down.
His fainting movement was not slight; many people turned their heads to look.
Suddenly, there was an explosion in the midst of the people.
"My heavens, this man... This man has got the plague!"
"Quick, run! Don’t touch this guy!"
"What are you checking for? Let us through, if you don’t let us through, everyone is going to get infected!"
Like a spark thrown onto a floor full of gasoline, in an instant, the people who had still been able to restrain themselves suddenly went crazy. What joke was this? There was already someone near them that had fainted, who could hold their patience and continue waiting?
Reason was taken over by fear, and they fought to rush out.
Everything was happening too suddenly, and the soldiers who were blocking the roads... They obviously were unable to stop such a crowd.
"Hey! You guys….. What are you guys doing..."
The captain of the soldiers held the hilt of the sword on his waist, as though he wanted to shake up the citizens who had lost control. However, before he could even complete his sentence, he was submerged in the midst of the crowds that came unceasingly.
The people, like waters breaking through a dam, flooded out.
The Carretas officers— or, in other words, the Church’s blockade, collapsed completely at this point.