"You know, my lord. Those have been really dark times. Everything was… dark. We were just trying to get by when the plague began."
David drunkenly continued his narration, ignoring Josef's absentminded look. The young scribe hadn't even taken a sip from his beer, only playing around with his cup.
"I still remember. Old Franz was sitting in the corner over there. He was the only one left that evening.
Suddenly my wife and I overheard his mumbling. 'Dead. So many dead.' He said this multiple times.
Mister Captain, even you would have been scared, right? My wife told me to throw Franz out. So, I went over.
That's when he turned his head towards me. I was frightened. I tell you! So frightened! He was so pale!"
Simply recalling this day, David's whole body shuddered. Noticing such an extreme reaction, even Josef began listening to his story.
"Luckily Franz didn't do anything stupid. He seemed to know what I wanted. He lightly shook his head before leaving.
However, Franz stopped for a second at the door. I'm sure I saw him tearing up when he said 'David! All the birds are dead!'
We didn't sleep well that night. The next day the village was in an uproar… Franz had died."
Observing from the corner of his eye Josef noticed that even the captain slightly winced. It seemed humans became better storytellers as they increased their intoxication.
And judging form David's alcohol intake he would soon become a worldclass speaker… at least compared to other uneducated villagers.
Letting out a light chuckle, even Josef couldn't deny he became slightly engrossed in this story. Finally, his dull days in the carriage could be considered over.
The young scribe watched as David quickly downed another cup to calm his nerves before continuing to talk:
"That morning everyone gathered around Franz's barn. That's when I understood what he said the day before. All his chicken's laid dead on the ground.
You have to imagine the situation, my lord. Everyone was scared. Nobody dared to take a closer look."
"How did you know that Franz was dead then?", the engrossed captain asked.
"Ah… It was Maria who told everyone. Such a sweet young girl. She would always help Franz with his animals in the morning.
You know Franz had no children. He was always happy when Maria came. But that day the poor girl found him with foam in his mouth. Dead.
A…anyways… So, our village gathered around Franz's house. The last to come were naturally Iain and Lilly. Seeking attention as always.
So, they arrived and Lilly naively entered Franz's house. It took a while before she came out with a worried expression and quickly talked to Maria.
Afterwards she declared that a plague might spread from today and everyone should try to have less contact.
Naturally the villagers were in panic! Poor Maria was instantly avoided by everyone! Such a nice girl suddenly became an outcast! Where was the justice in this!"
Suddenly a shocking noise resounded through the room. While talking himself into a rage, David crashed his cup on the floor as he yelled the word justice.
His reddened eyes moved rapidly.
However, when he noticed Josef's smile, a chill suddenly ran down his back. Like a storm this feeling cleared up his clouded mind.
He hastily apologized and tried to pile up the pieces of his crashed cup under the table. Hopefully distracting everyone, David soon continued with his story:
"From that day on our lives turned to hell.
From time-to-time people would find dead birds lying on the streets. No one dared to leave their house anymore if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Our already bad business came to a complete standstill. We even began growing our own crops."
David clearly had to suppress his tears as he continued.
"Everyone lived in fear. As soon as your skin looked slightly pale, you were sent to Lilly. She and her brother built a temporary shack in order to take all those… ill people in.
However, don't be fooled by them. This witch! She only saved people when she felt like it.
You know who is the richest man in town? It's Peter Dornbach. You might find the name familiar. That's because he has relatives in Regensburg.
The Dornbach's are a big merchant family and Peter has worked in Regensburg for a long time.
When his son suddenly turned sick, he didn't hesitate to take out all his money and begged Lilly to heal him.
Surprise… his son was fine the next day. Who knows if he was even ill in the first place?!!"
The old smith grit his teeth as Josef listened with a raised eyebrow. It was obvious that David bore a deep grudge against Lilly. He even used the word 'witch'.
"A few days later… my Rosi began to turn pale.
Naturally I wouldn't go and beg the people who turned our lives miserable. So, I had a smart idea.
I followed Lilly into the forest and simply gathered the same herbs she did.
At home I brewed them in water… and gave them to my wife.
But… it just didn't help! I watched as my beautiful wife turned weaker and weaker.
When she couldn't even stand up anymore, I finally let go of my pride and asked Lilly for help.
I still remember that look on her face as she scolded me for not coming earlier. I had to endure that brat lessoning me. At the end she even told me that there wasn't much hope left for my wife.
That day I demolished half my smithy before drinking myself to sleep.
When I went to look for Rosi the next day I was already looking at a corpse.
I broke down then and there. Everything lost its meaning."
At that point David couldn't hold back anymore. The captain let out a sympathetic sigh as the old smith bawled his eyes out.
Josef on the other hand didn't feel much. Although he had this big flaw sometimes, his pity was only reserved for those who deserved it. David didn't count among those.
The Zrathras warrior, however, grew more interested in this healer called Lilly. From everything he heard until now the plague in question seemed to be bird flu.
For a healer in a remote village to be able to treat this illness was a remarkable feat. Even if she could only safe freshly ill patients, she was still outstanding.
Furthermore… How could Lilly avoid getting sick herself?
David called the young healer a witch. Naturally Josef found the idea of witchcraft in this empire laughable. However, it wasn't too far off from another possibility in Josef's mind…
After a few minutes the young scribe noticed David's sobs stopping. His interest fully aroused he urged the old smith:
"Are you done? I still hope you finish your story."
With his current mindset the old smith didn't mind the rudeness in the lord's words. Concentrating himself to move his heavy tongue he slowly continued:
"Without Rosi I didn't have much to life for. I don't even know how I came home that day. For a few days I was living in a trac… tr… trance.
Then one day I noticed the few old herbs I gathered. I suddenly remembered how I followed… Lilly. I also remembered not seeing those herbs at her house.
That's when I understood something. Lilly must have known that I followed her. She … she deliberately led me to pick the wrong herbs!
Those two brother and sister were still out to destroy my life! I don't know how I deserved this. Why me?! Why… me?!
That's when I saw red! Since I had no… nothing to lose, I grabbed my hammer and left my house. I wanted revenge.
It was already dark when I arrived at the shack where Lilly treated people.
She was still there at night, pretending to be a… a good person. But everything would end that day!
So I quietly sneaked up to the door. I opened it and... that's when I saw it! Lilly was indeed a witch!"
Reaching this point, Josef leaned his body forward, showing his obvious interest. However, a slight frown appeared on his forehead.
"I… I'm not kidding your mighty lordship. She didn't even notice me. She was too concentrated on her spell!
But I saw it clearly. Lilly kneeled next to a patient. Her hands were glowing as she moved them around. Her eyes were closed too! She was obviously casting a spell!
I hate myself so much for not just crushing her head then. But I was in such a p…panic!
Everyone knows that witches have many mysterious ways. What if I couldn't kill her? I would surely live a life worse than death right now!
And even if I killed her, what if I was still cursed afterwards?"
Drops of sweat dripped down from David's head. Josef observed him closely. Judging from the panic in his eyes, the man didn't seem to be lying.
"That's when I made another big mistake. I… I ran away. I'm such a coward…
The next day I tried to tell the others. However, they mostly called me crazy.
Now I'm an outcast. Especially since the plague passed and we didn't lose many people.
Lilly became a hero and I'm the loser. Where… tell me, lord, where is the justice in this world?"