Just as the Golden Company was discussing how to deal with the plague, a contingent was slowly approaching the Golden Company from about a league south of their encampment.
The composition of this contingent was somewhat complex; judging by the attire of the vast majority of them, none were warriors—there were farmers, physicians, and even slaves. Hundreds of oxcarts, all piled high with various medicinal herbs, were in the middle of the group. Leading them were some monks and priests in clerical robes, but from the emblems on their robes and the holy symbols on the banners they held high, their faith did not seem to be any of the church faiths popular in the Free Trade City States at present.
At this moment, a rider dressed as a warrior rode over from the direction of the Golden Company, dismounted, and saluted the leading priest, then quickly reported: "Lord Marthus, the Golden Company has discovered us and is assembling their forces at the encampment."
The person leading this contingent was Marthus, the current Chief Priest of the god of calamity. He was originally supposed to be in Miracle Port assisting in the construction of the Temple of the God of Calamities, but upon learning that a plague was breaking out in the Disputed Lands, he felt it was a good opportunity to develop the faith of the god of calamity, so he reported his idea to Lynd.
Lynd quickly agreed to his plan and gave him maximum support, not only preparing ample medicines and provisions for him but also assigning thousands of people to him, including physicians he had specially trained to combat the plague and the special medicine Artemisinin produced in Black Hollow.
To expand their influence, after Marthus brought his people to the Disputed Lands, he divided them into three. The other two teams, led by priests, were sent to the military encampments in Lys and Tyrosh respectively, while he personally led his people to the encampment in Myr.
"Stop!" Marthus ordered loudly, and the contingent slowly halted as the command was relayed.
Then, Marthus instructed the accompanying priests beside him: "Perform the sacred rites. Let the god of calamity bless them to avoid being afflicted by the plague disaster."
Hearing the command, the accompanying priests had their attendants hold high the holy symbol banner of the god of calamity, lit the censers at their waists, held them in their hands, and had attendants bring out blessed holy bread on plates. They walked through the crowd, chanting prayers aloud.
The believers also stopped what they were doing and silently recited prayers with the priests, then received a small piece of holy bread mixed with medicine from the attendants and ate it.
At the same time, Marthus, with a few people, mounted their horses and rode towards the Golden Company. They soon arrived in front of the assembling Golden Company forces and saw Mis Toyn, the Commander of the Golden Company, at the front of the contingent.
Marthus signaled for those beside him to stop, then rode his horse to Mis Toyn, saluted him, and said, "Long time no see, Commander Mis Toyn."
Marthus's choice of the Golden Company as a missionary point was not random. As the second son of his family, he had traveled abroad for a period, during which he served as a mercenary in the Golden Company for some time. Furthermore, when Kohor later hired the Golden Company, he also served as a liaison officer, maintaining a good relationship with the Golden Company.
"Lord Marthus?" Mis Toyn quickly recognized the newcomer.
The other generals of the Golden Company also successively recognized the identity of the newcomer, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Lord Marthus, you are now…" Mis Toyn looked at Marthus's attire and hesitated.
"I am now the Chief High Priest of the god of calamity," Marthus quickly answered Mis Toyn's question and then informed everyone of his purpose, saying, "The reason I came here is that I was summoned by my Lord to resolve this plague disaster. In the contingent behind me are doctors and believers who will specifically care for plague-infected patients. Furthermore, I have brought enough medicine, which should be able to save everyone."
Hearing Marthus's words, everyone present was stunned. Most of them had never heard of the god of calamity, and only a few who were concerned about the situation in the Free Trade City States knew its origins.
"Are you sent by Lord Linde?" Mis Toyn asked in a deep voice.
Marthus nodded and said, "It was my Lord's summons, and the Prophet also agreed to my request. Most of the medicinal materials and physicians in the contingent were arranged by the Prophet."
Mis Toyn was at a loss for words. He felt that in front of the encampment was not a good place for a conversation, so he welcomed Marthus into the encampment, while signaling his subordinates to send people to Marthus's contingent to check if they were indeed all physicians and believers, as Marthus had said.
At the same time, the same thing happened outside the encampments of Lys and Tyrosh. The priests dispatched by Marthus to these two places were in similar situations to him; they had all spent some time in the Windblown and the Cat Company and had good relationships with the mercenary companies.
When the Three City States avoided the plague-infected mercenary companies and Unsullied, only the believers and priests of the Temple of the God of Calamities from Summerhall came to the Disputed Lands, bringing a large number of doctors and medicines to treat those suffering from the plague.
Whether or not the god of calamity truly blessed the Disputed Lands and cleared the plague, in short, after the god of calamity entered the Disputed Lands, the plague stopped spreading, and with the treatment of the god of calamity's believers, many people who were originally on the verge of death were saved. A plague that had terrified the entire Free Trade City States subsided in just a month and a half.
Everyone noticed that before the Temple of the God of Calamities entered the Disputed Lands, hundreds died from the plague daily, and hundreds were infected. But after the god of calamity entered the Disputed Lands, the number of daily deaths was only one or two, and plague infections dropped to a dozen or so people. After half a month, no one was infected with the plague anymore.
Everyone believed that this was the divine power of the god of calamity at work, and no one believed that the medicine had played a role, because they could see that the medicine used by the monks and believers of the god of calamity was no different from the medicine previously sent by the Three City States, and at that time, those medicines had no effect whatsoever. The same medicine, in the hands of the monks and believers of the god of calamity, was able to work wonders. The only explanation could only be the blessing of the god of calamity.
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