rune hunter

Chapter 1 The Plague Comes
The sound of footsteps outside the door awakened Tika from her dream. She shivered and curled up in a corner against the wall, feeling her stomach twitching and her hands and feet getting cold.In fact, she has been tense for the past few days, and even the slightest movement will make her feel nervous.

The girl secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, grabbed the fire stick and hugged her tightly.

I'm still alive, you bastards!Tika cried out in her heart, of course she wanted to live, but other people in the village didn't think so.

They wanted to drive her out of the village, but they didn't dare to contact her. They could only stare at her with disgusted eyes from a distance, with the words "get out" written all over their faces.Uncles and aunts who were kind in the past suddenly became indifferent like strangers overnight, and even hated like enemies.

If possible, the villagers would have pierced her with a pitchfork like a badger stealing food, and thrown her far into the woods.In fact the girl had overheard such remarks behind the door, and she had no doubts about it herself.In the eyes of the villagers, Tika, who was serving as a waiter in the tavern, was not considered a serious girl, and was an unnecessary burden to the village, and even if she was removed, she would not feel bad.

The matter started a few days ago. Potter, who was feeding the horses of the nobles in the city, sneaked back to the village and brought news of the outbreak of the plague.This former self-proclaimed respectable guy has turned into a frightened old dog, hiding in the tavern and dreaming and dying every day.

At first everyone thought he was drunk and talking drunk, but no one took it seriously.But after only three days, he fell ill. The skin all over his body was swollen and festered, exuding a rotten stench, talking nonsense, having a fever, coughing up blood, and finally unconscious, and died miserably in pain and despair. .

For the sake of the remaining copper coins in his pocket, Tika has been taking care of the poor man, and finally she held his nose and dragged the guy to the stable in the backyard.

The tragedy didn't end there, and before Potter could draw his last breath, the old bard who often lived in the tavern also suffered disaster.While the old man was drinking his ale and talking about things as usual, he suddenly rolled his eyes and passed out.The old man was weak, and he was summoned by God to go away after not making it through the night.

The unbelieving boss gave the employees double salaries, and then announced a discount to sell drinks in an attempt to save the tavern's popularity, but the next morning, he himself collapsed in the bar.

The noisy tavern in the past suddenly became a haunted house, and all the alcoholic customers ran away.An invisible shadow shrouded the village, making every villager tremble.They were terrified, yet bewildered.

No one knows why the plague came, and no one knows what to do about it.When the only priest in the village was also infected and died, they didn't even know which god to pray to.

The waiters in the tavern died one after another, but Tika was still alive and kicking.The girl's parents died unexpectedly when she was a child. At that time, some people privately said that she was a broom star, and now she is left alone. This rumor has become a conclusion.The panic-stricken villagers would rather believe such absurd nonsense, and cast the malice transformed from fear on the innocent girl.

"Damn it!" Tika cursed in a low voice, who would dare to wander outside so late?
The old people in the village said that the god of death would knock on the door of the patients' homes at night and take away their souls.So everyone blocked the door of the house before nightfall, not daring to make a sound, for fear of being found by the god of death.

The weird crackling sound caught Tika's attention. She cautiously moved to the edge of the window and peeked out. The window was bright.

The tavern where the dead first appeared was used as a place to store the corpses. At the moment, the tavern was burning with flames, and the bright flames shot up into the sky, illuminating half of the sky like daylight.

Tikka vaguely saw the familiar figure carrying a bow and arrow in the flames of the sky, and he couldn't help but let out a breath, relaxing his whole body.That was the adopted son of the old bard, the only "big hunter" Al in the village.In the past few years, he has been living in the forest, and only occasionally comes back to sell some furs and herbs.

The wilderness of this era is not yet a world where ordinary humans can live.Outside the village is the boundless virgin forest, and there is only one small road leading to the city.There are all kinds of ferocious beasts living in the forest. If it weren't for the thin protection of the gods in the village, they would have been swallowed by wild nature long ago.

All the villages and towns with a radius of hundreds of miles will not exceed the number of big hunters capable of hunting deep into the forest. However, El is only 17 years old this year, so it can be said that he has a bright future.In this world, strength represents status. It is said that even the lord has the intention to betroth his daughter to him.

Of course, the so-called lord is just a joke. What kind of territory is a poor mountain village like this?Even the Lord Viscount in Queensland City, who is famous for his greed for money, abandoned this kind of poverty like a waste of money.It didn't cost much to buy a formal letter of appointment from him.

Al stared at the black smoke rising from the flames, and stroked his chest with his right hand.The boy's figure is not burly, even thinner than his peers, his appearance is a bit delicate, he looks more like a girl.But there was a calm and fierce aura faintly exuding from him, like a hunter in the jungle, which could not be underestimated.

He didn't know which god his adoptive father believed in, so he could only pray for the old man's soul to depend on.The two of them were still bickering when they left last time, but in the blink of an eye they were separated by life and death.Thinking of this, he felt a little sad. Once the old man left, he would no longer have any relatives. The tavern was burning in the raging fire, and his only residence was also burned.

The dead are gone, and the living still have to work hard to live. El raised his legs and walked towards the lord's house.

In the dark night, the lord's mansion was silent and eerily silent.El pushed lightly on the door, but the door was not locked, and there was a mess in front of the hall and outside.

Al frowned and hurried into the house.It was pitch black and the wind was blowing. As expected, the building was empty. It seemed that the lord had already taken advantage of the darkness to escape.

Facing the invisible plague and natural disasters, human beings don't know how to deal with it, so they can only flee in vain. Even they themselves know that running away will not solve any problems, but fear will swallow their reason and drive them into madness.

Poor lady, I hope your fat body is also resistant to disease.

He prayed for the eldest lady of the lord's house in his heart, and the boy shook his head. He knew the real reason why the old miser wanted to introduce his daughter to him.In addition to wanting to offset the fur money of fifty gold coins he owed him, he also had to take into account the unfathomable appetite of the eldest lady.

"The lord is gone, the priest is dead, it's terrible..."

Whispering in his mouth, the boy turned his head, two clusters of dim blue light bloomed deep in a pair of black pupils, and the world in his eyes was as clearly visible as daylight.

Looking up, I could see villagers walking out of their homes in twos and threes in the distance, with expressions of fear and confusion on their faces.And the midair was filled with black mist that cannot be detected by ordinary naked eyes. The mist drifted out from the tavern and dissipated a lot after the fire, but some of it was still mixed in the air and slowly gathered into the bodies of the villagers.

"Gods bless, El, you're finally back!"

Tika wiped her tears, and without putting on her clothes, she wrapped the sheet around her body and ran out barefoot, but when she ran in front of the boy, she hesitated and took a few steps back.

Seeing her appear, the villagers who had gathered together also stopped in their tracks.As the bartender who has the most contact with patients, no one dares to approach her.

"I've heard what happened, don't worry, Tika, go back and get dressed." Al patted the girl on the shoulder, although he knew it was just meaningless consolation, Tika still nodded, because this It was Al who said it, and he never lied to her.

There are horror legends about the plague, but few people can understand its true colors. The ignorant usually regard the plague as an irresistible natural disaster, a punishment from the gods.In fact, in this remote area, the villagers have no means of resistance except for the priest's treatment.

El walked out of the lord's mansion with a sullen face. He was a hunter rather than a priest. Even if he could see the spread of the plague, he couldn't stop it.Burning corpses is only the most basic common sense of epidemic prevention, but it can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

He took out a green leaf from his pocket and handed it to Tika, beckoning her to chew it slowly in his mouth.The bitterness of the grass juice made Tika's freckled face twitch like a trembling quail.However, as the grass juice was absorbed by the stomach, it could be seen that the black mist accumulated in her body slowly dissipated.

This herb can treat some diseases, including relieving the erosion of the plague, but it grows deep in the forest, and ordinary people have no way to collect it.It's not enough to rely on what he carries with him.

He raised his head and saw pairs of confused and expectant eyes around him, including old people and children.After the lord disappeared, El was the person with the highest status in the village.
Facing these helpless villagers, El wanted to leave. As long as he entered the forest, the purification power of nature was enough to resist the plague.But this is his hometown, the place where he grew up, and he can't just walk away out of responsibility.

"Everyone come here! Listen to me!" Sighing, Al shouted at the top of his voice.

"Throw all clothing or daily necessities that have been in contact with the sick person into the fire and burn them!"

"Keep it clean! Don't drink raw water!"

"Men with hunting experience are ready! Tomorrow morning we will go to the forest to gather medicine!"

The experience of traveling all over the years has given El a lot of knowledge, but he is not a professional pastor after all, and these methods are not long-term solutions. He can only go to the city to see the situation after the situation in the village stabilizes.

At this time, El hadn't realized what a terrible disaster he was about to face.

In 16 BC, the dark history known as the "Great Plague Age" slowly kicked off. Unimaginable natural disasters swept across the entire territory of Canillas, and the Nine Kingdoms fell into the shadow of terror. Tens of millions of humans lost their lives. Life, countless cities turned into dead ruins, disappeared from the map.

And that desperate era is also known as - the eve of the catastrophe.

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(End of this chapter)