Fifth Hundred and Sixth Cargo
During the night, on the wilderness of Northern Ufeiga, the train Desert Arrow was rapidly advancing northward, day and night, with its final destination, the port of Kankdar on the northern coast, already very close. Soon, it would end its journey through Adis and return to its destination.
Inside the brightly lit train, in one of the carriages, Gaspare, wearing a cleric’s robe and with half his upper body wrapped in bandages, sat on the bed. He appeared weak as he placed his hand on the table next to him, where the bandage had been removed, revealing the gruesome wound underneath.
Next to Gaspare, Vania, dressed in white nun’s clothing, sat in her seat, her hand hovering slightly above Gaspare’s wound. As Vania’s hand emitted a faint glow, Gaspare’s arm wound began to heal visibly, slowly but surely. Before long, only a small scar remained.
“It’s almost healed now,” Vania said softly, her tone reminiscent of a doctor in a hospital. “I’ll apply some medicine, and another treatment the day after tomorrow will complete the healing. Please don’t move during this time, and be careful with any other injuries you might have.”
Gaspare grumbled slightly as he looked at his healing wound. “Hmph… This is quite a troublesome injury. Even the power of the Path of the Holy Mother couldn’t speed up the recovery. It seems these heretics were well-prepared.”
“If the heretics wanted to target us, they would naturally consider the power of the Holy Mother,” Vania responded, reflecting on the events of the Judgement by Lightning. “I’ve heard of poisons that can weaken the healing ability of the Path of the Holy Mother before, but this is the first time I’ve encountered one. Handling it has been much more complicated than I expected. If my skills were more refined, perhaps I could save even more people…”
Gaspare continued, recalling the battle in Baruk Palace when the Savior Faction’s elite forces attacked the envoy group. Many weapons were coated with a peculiar spiritual poison, which, although not extremely potent, significantly reduced healing effects. Wounds inflicted by such poisoned blades resisted healing, especially those affected by the Path of the Holy Mother.
“There’s no need for you to blame yourself, Vania. The heretics have been resisting the holy teachings for centuries, and their survival is proof of their methods. The Diminishing Creation Poison is one of them. It originates from ancient ‘Shadow’ societies and somehow fell into the hands of the heretics.”
“Huh, to be honest, when I realized that my severe injuries were worsened by the Diminishing Creation Poison, I thought I was doomed. I never imagined your medical skills outside the Path of the Holy Mother would be so advanced, able to save me…” Gaspare marveled, looking at his re-bandaged wounds. Vania responded politely.
“This is nothing. It’s just basic knowledge of treating external injuries. I worked in the Extraordinary Injury Department of a hospital in Prit before. I do have some basic medical knowledge…”
“Ha… Vania, you’re too modest. I’ve seen extraordinary beings like you with medical abilities before, but your expertise is unprecedented.”
Gaspare continued, reflecting on the truth of the matter. Due to the poison, many of the envoy group’s guards’ injuries were difficult to treat solely with their abilities. In such cases, medical skills beyond their abilities became crucial.
On the day of the Judgement by Lightning, after Vania woke up, she immediately began treating the wounded from the battle in the palace. Among the few survivors of the envoy group’s guards, nearly everyone had wounds caused by the Diminishing Creation Poison. Vania, who had just woken up, performed several surgeries in quick succession, combining her abilities and medical skills to save their lives.
Due to the effects of the Diminishing Creation Poison, Vania’s healing abilities were greatly reduced. She had to deeply understand the condition of each wounded person, prioritize treatments, and allocate her limited healing abilities to the most critical areas. She stabilized their conditions before gradually continuing the healing process. This required not only extraordinary abilities but also profound medical knowledge to perform treatments even when her abilities were weakened.
Fortunately, due to Akka’s presence, Vania possessed extensive medical knowledge compared to other ordinary users of the Path of the Holy Mother. Through her abilities, she successfully saved several guards from the envoy group. After barely recovering, they all expressed their gratitude towards Vania. Although she managed to save many guards, the effects of the poison and reduced healing abilities meant their recovery was slow, similar to how a normal person would recover with holy healing abilities.
“I never expected to survive this trip, let alone witness the peace you brought to Adus. I may have had some reservations about you before, and my attitude towards you on the journey was somewhat dismissive. I apologize for that,” Gaspare sighed. Vania, who had finished her treatment, began putting away her medicines.
“That’s fine… It was just good luck. There’s no need to apologize, Gaspare. You and your fellow clerics fulfilled your duties faithfully until the end. I should be the one thanking you. Please rest well now.”
With that, Vania packed her medical box and prepared to leave the carriage. Gaspare paused for a moment, then reminded her.
“Vania, our guard force has taken heavy losses, and the train’s security is much weaker. If there are any malefactors, it would be very dangerous. So please be extra cautious…”
Vania, who was preparing to leave, paused slightly, then responded.
“Thank you for the reminder. However, our train will arrive in Kankdar in the morning. We are already in a safe area, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
Vania finished speaking and left the carriage, then went to the bar car to order a juice. She sat down and drank it while gazing out at the dark, desolate night scene. Reflecting on the successful peace agreement in Adis and her upcoming return to Kankdar, she felt a mix of emotions.
“I never expected that this trip to Adis would result in a peace agreement. Initially, I just hoped to return safely. But the fact that we actually brought peace to Adus is an unexpected blessing…”
“And this blessing is entirely due to Miss Dorothy and the Rosy Cross behind her. I never imagined that the Rosy Cross would have connections to the ancient beliefs of Northern Ufeiga and could invoke the power of the ancient deity, the Judge of Heaven…”
“The Judge of Heaven… It is said that in ancient times, the deity of Northern Ufeiga who controlled lightning and enlightenment. If His power can be borrowed by the Rosy Cross, does it mean there is a connection between the Judge of Heaven and Akka? Now, many know that lightning represents ‘Enlightenment.’ Could the Judge of Heaven be an elemental deity like the Holy Son? If so, then what He serves… could be the main god of ‘Enlightenment,’ which might be Akka.”
As Vania pondered this, she suddenly felt that speculating about deities was disrespectful. She quickly prayed to Akka for forgiveness.
After praying for a while, Vania realized that this place wasn’t suitable for prayer, so she decided to finish her juice and return to her cabin to continue her prayers.
Leaving the bar car, Vania didn’t notice that someone was watching her from the dining car. The eyes belonged to the bartender in the dining car, among the train crew.
“The treatments are over for today…”
Dorothy, sitting in her cabin, confirmed through various vantage points that Vania had returned safely. She sighed in relief and gradually recalled the numerous zombies she had scattered throughout the train. She withdrew their senses, knowing that Vania’s guard force suffered heavy losses in the battle at Baruk Palace, both in terms of reconnaissance and protection capabilities.
Therefore, Dorothy increased her vigilance on the journey back, monitoring internal and external threats. After all, Vania was a significant target, and the possibility of assassination was high. An attempt had failed on the way there, and another attempt on the way back was not impossible.
For the past two days, Dorothy had used zombies to guard against possible attacks on the train, but fortunately, she hadn’t encountered any dangerous situations.
“In the morning, we’ll reach Kankdar. The entire train has already left Adus’ border and is completely outside the influence of the Savior Faction. It’s almost safe now…
“Mmm… I’m starting to feel sleepy. It’s time for bed. I’ll sleep well tonight and enjoy a meal when we arrive at the station tomorrow.”
Stretching, Dorothy stood up from her seat, changed into her sleeping clothes, yawned, and lay down on the bed. After covering herself with the blanket, she listened to Vania’s prayer as she drifted off to sleep.
Even in her sleep, Dorothy did not completely relax her vigilance. In her lucid dreams, she controlled a few zombies to monitor the train’s status, maintaining some level of awareness even in a semi-conscious state. Although not as strong as when awake, she would be immediately awakened if there were any major disturbances. Fortunately, there were no such incidents during the night journey.
…
Time passed slowly, and the night grew deeper. Desert Arrow continued its journey forward without encountering any abnormalities.
Suddenly, the train began to decelerate. A wounded guard on night duty noticed this and stuck his head out to check. He saw a train station ahead with lights on, indicating the train was stopping for water and coal supplies, so he put aside his suspicions and paid no further attention.
Sure enough, the train gradually slowed down and stopped at the station platform. The crew opened the doors and went down to communicate with the station staff and collect the prepared supplies.
One of the Desert Arrow’s attendants noticed something unusual when talking to the station manager. The manager’s gestures and words during the conversation drew additional attention. Seeing this, the attendant’s focus heightened significantly.
“So, there’s another batch of drinks to be loaded. They’re in there. Send a few people with us to fetch them.”
“Alright, let me check first.”
Listening to the station manager, the attendant gathered a few people and entered the station together. Inside a room, they saw several large boxes on the ground.
Seeing the boxes, the attendants paused slightly. One of them approached and circled around the boxes, then walked to one of them and opened the lid to inspect the contents. Inside were indeed bottles of wine.
The attendant reached into the gap between the bottles and pulled out a small booklet. On the cover of the booklet was a white sun wheel emblem with the phrase “Holy is the Lord” written in Northern Ufeiga language below it.
“What is this?”
“For now, don’t worry about what it is. Just load them onto the train. Everything you need to do is written inside.
“All actions will take place in the morning when the train arrives at Kankdar Station. Success is mandatory, failure is not allowed… Even if it fails, follow the instructions as closely as possible.”
