Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 44 Mission: 05-1 Black's Death

After a night's rest, at dawn, Ritsuka left the town again with Mephistopheles and Georgios.

This trip had two purposes. One was to continue trying to see if he could encounter any lone Heroic Spirits wandering in the wild, and the other was to take Georgos, who was skilled in dealing with demons, back to the forest they had been in before to see if they could break through and reach the cave.

With Georgos's Noble Phantasm, they might be able to attempt a large-scale sweep and wipe out the monsters' vitality in one fell swoop.

So, Nero was the one staying in the town today. However, even if he stayed, it wasn't like Nero would actually stay in the lord's mansion all day. After saying goodbye to Ritsuka and the others, he walked alone into the town's streets.

It was the mid-fourteenth century, the dark and ignorant Middle Ages, before the dawn of civilization. Therefore, the town's sanitation was far from perfect. Even without looking at the grime lurking in the corners, the streets themselves stagnated with a slightly unpleasant odor. Add to that the town's stagnant atmosphere, and the entire place resembled a pool of stagnant, fetid water.

There was nothing worth seeing on such a street. Nero wasn't a saint like Georgios, willing to provide all kinds of help to the townspeople for free, so he soon got bored. She wandered aimlessly through the streets, wondering when she could return.

As he walked, a faint but piercing cry reached Nero's ears. Nero's brows jumped, and he had a bad premonition in his heart, so he walked over quickly.

On the outskirts of the town, in a dirty alley, an old woman in a headscarf was holding an unconscious young man, crying and at a loss.

"What are you crying for?"

Nero's silhouette appeared at the entrance of the alley, casting a shadow against the sunlight on the two men. The old woman looked at Nero, released the man in her arms, and crawled over on her hands and knees, crying, "You must be a noble! Please, please save my child!"

Nero looked at the man. Suddenly, he realized that he only appeared unconscious, but was actually in a state of unconsciousness. He was still awake, his eyes open, staring blankly at the sky, but he could neither hear nor see, only a stream of air and garbled words constantly emanating from his mouth.

This behavior made Nero feel nervous: "Is he sick?"

Nero, being a demon, was not afraid of being infected. He walked past the mother into the alley, came up to the young man, and ripped open the coarse cloth shirt without any hesitation.

Then, the large black spots all over the other person's body made Nero gasp. She reached out and tried to touch the other person's forehead, and sure enough, it was burning hot.

It was undoubtedly the Black Death, a massive plague that swept across Europe in the 14th century.

As its name suggests, this rat-borne virus causes large, painful black spots to appear on the infected body, leading to rapid loss of consciousness and death within two to three days. Highly contagious, highly lethal, and rapidly developing, it was a veritable black death that loomed over medieval Europe.

"Damn it, why did it have to be today?" Nero gritted her teeth, stood up, and leaving the weeping mother and child behind, she quickly walked towards the lord's palace. She was not Giorgos, and she could not summon God to heal the sick. For the infected patients, all she could do was to give them a quick death.

But for the small town of Latvinci, this wasn't just a matter of life and death. Nero remembered the clothing the man had worn; it was the same attire worn by the serfs belonging to the lord. The appearance of this first victim of the Black Death proved that the rat swarm that attacked the day before yesterday was definitely carrying a pathogen. Anyone attacked by rats that day would likely fall ill in the next two days, including Fujimaru Ritsuka!

By then, the town will have completely turned into hell.

Nero then called out to Chaldea's supporters, "Mashu, can you hear me?" After a while, Mashu's voice finally rang out from the void, "Miss Nero, are you calling me?"

The urgency of the matter forced Nero to make it short: "The rats that day were carrying pathogens, and the Black Death was about to break out in the town."

With just these words, Mashu immediately understood the seriousness of the problem and said, "I'll inform the Master right away!"

The communication was severed. Nero unceremoniously pushed open the lord's door, brushed past various unimportant people and objects, and without any notice, came before the lord himself: "My Lord, there is a plague breaking out in this town."

The lord, who had been about to show some displeasure at Nero's rudeness, suddenly changed his expression. He frowned, looked at Nero and asked, "Really? How did you know?"

Nero moved her lips slightly, wanting to say that she had already met the patient. But the problem was that she was not a doctor, so how could she predict the outbreak of the plague based on a patient?
Although the Black Death had been quietly spreading across Europe for over a year, this was the Middle Ages, with poor transportation and limited information. Even if the lord before him knew of the plague, he wouldn't know the specific symptoms. How could Nero convince him with a patient?

So Nero bit his lip and finally answered: "Because, this is the devil's method."

That was the perfect excuse, using superstition to make the lord submit to Nero's words. It was no lie, and the unusual rat swarm the day before yesterday served as proof.

"……demon."

The lord repeated the word solemnly, his expression gradually distorted: "I knew it!"

Nero was still working to prevent a large-scale outbreak of the disease: "This disease was brought by those cursed rats. Infected people will develop black spots on their bodies, become confused and fall into a coma. If possible, Lord, please isolate the infected people and those who have encountered the rats..."

"I see."

The lord waved his hand to indicate that he understood, then walked into the depths of the lord's mansion with a cold face.

That was the end of what Nero could do. She sighed and turned to walk outside.

All that was left was hope. If the lord could separate the people in time to prevent infection, and then have Georgos find a way to cause another miracle... perhaps the outbreak of the plague could be suppressed.

Now all they could do was wait. After a while, Mashu's voice came to Nero's ears again: "Miss Nero, you can rest assured!"

"Hmm?" Nero made a puzzled sound.

"Master and the others discovered a new Heroic Spirit on the beach. It seems that the other party has the ability to control the plague!"

(End of this chapter)