Tristan let out a sharp sigh through his mouth. He had to postpone his journey back to his palace.
"Okay, let's go there." Tristan said it to the two knights and the eight palace soldiers who were guarding him.
Just as Tristan took a step down the stairs, the woman called out to him.
"Your Majesty, please help me, I want to see my daughter. We haven't seen each other for a long time." The woman was still sitting there, tears flowing like a waterfall, making it difficult for her to see.
The four palace soldiers, who had released their grip on the woman's arms a second before, hurried to stand in front of their king, preventing the woman from approaching him.
Tristan stared straight at the woman. Her hair was messy, and her clothes were shabby, as if she hadn't cleaned herself and changed her clothes for a long time. The woman kept asking the king to help her, even though the king ignored her.
The system had not told him whether he had succeeded or failed in carrying out the fourth task. That meant the fourth task was not over yet.
Maybe because the woman was still asking for his help.
Tristan didn't help and didn't respond to the woman. He wasn't sure if hearing the woman speak and looking at him caused the system to assume that he couldn't entirely ignore her.
"Your Majesty." The woman tried hard to stay alive because she believed she would live with her daughter again one day. "Sir Verrel." She pleaded with her king and the innkeeper.
Tristan should have rushed to his horse and then left the inn to go to the house of the man who was infected with the terrible disease, but he found himself unable to move.
He could feel the woman's sadness, and of course, the woman's daughter also missed her mother.
Tristan's mother died while he was in prison. Every night, when he was going to sleep, he held back his tears and apologized to his mother because he couldn't attend her funeral.
He also deeply regretted trusting someone who considered him a friend, if he had listened to his mother's words, he wouldn't be in prison and his mother's disease wouldn't have gotten worse, which caused her to die.
His late mother, who taught him to help people, would certainly encourage him to help the woman and forget the task of the system.
However, the penalty of the system was real. He could not imagine what kind of terrible punishment he would get.
"I promise I will pay the rest of my husband's debt. Please, let me meet my daughter." The woman prostrated herself, showing her sincerity.
Tristan wanted to tell the woman to divorce her useless husband.
Tristan glanced at the fat and bearded innkeeper. The old man was shocked and shuddered in horror. He quickly ordered his assistant to bring the woman's daughter.
The innkeeper misinterpreted the king's gaze. He thought the king was giving him a signal to grant the woman's wish.
Tristan watched the woman embrace her daughter. They cried to express their longing. The scene was truly touching.
The woman's daughter was 12 years old. Tristan wondered if the girl worked to serve men.
Tristan hurriedly walked to his horse. He had to leave the inn quickly. Besides, the woman had already met her daughter, and she knew that her husband was a bastard.
[You have completed the fourth task perfectly]
Tristan let out a breath through his mouth. He loosened his muscles; he had just discovered he was quite tense.
***
Many neighbors gathered in front of the fence of the couple's house who were infected with the terrible disease.
If there were no soldiers guarding the house, they would have entered the couple's room to see the condition of their neighbors, who had been married for six years, even though they were also afraid of being infected.
Physician Joseph was relieved that the 30-year-old man's wife was not pregnant, as no one knew whether the disease might harm the fetus or induce a miscarriage. They also didn't have children yet.
Many children in the Kavar Kingdom are infected with pus and red eye disease. The children were harshly scratching their itchy bodies, causing the skin to peel off. This exacerbated their condition.
When the king and his entourage came, the crowd took a few steps back, allowing the king, two knights, and eight palace warriors to enter the yard.
Tristan got off the golden-maned white stallion. He patted Golden on the shoulder before approaching Physician Joseph and Physician Jennifer, who were waiting for him on the terrace.
"Your Majesty." The two physicians bowed.
"The man…" Tristan pointed to the closed door of the house.
"We decided to treat the man in this house, Your Majesty. So it is easier for us to examine the three of them, and it also saves us time," explained Physician Joseph.
"I agree with you both." Tristan nodded. He held Physician Joseph's hand, which was about to open the door. He was not ready to see the condition of the man who, 30 minutes ago, was found by two soldiers lying near the border.
Tristan wasn't sure if he could hold himself back from throwing up his breakfast. Not only their condition, but the stench of pus coming out of the lumps on their bodies could also trigger him to vomit.
"How is the man's condition?" Tristan asked.
"The lumps are almost all over his body, but his eyes are red just like the couple," said Physician Jennifer.
"He can't speak. We're waiting for his family or a friend who can communicate and translate his sign language for us," said Physician Joseph.
"We want to know if he's been infected with the disease for a long time," said Physician Jennifer.
Tristan nodded. He also suspected that the man had probably been suffering from the disease for a few days.
Tristan came from a modern world where many diseases have been cured. However, because he was not familiar with the world of health and had never worked in the healthcare industry, he did not know how to research a disease to find a cure or vaccine.
The fact that he was imprisoned for 10 years with no access to television, cell phones, or newspapers, made him unaware of the developments in the healthcare sector.
Tristan leaves everything to the physicians.
"Oh." Tristan had an idea. He looked at the two physicians in front of him, who were waiting for him to enter the house. "Would you be offended if I asked another physicians to help you find a cure for them?"
The two physicians shook their heads without thinking first.
"That's a good idea, Your Majesty. We're not offended at all," said physician Joseph.
"We hope the other physicians will be willing to work with us to find a cure for the disease because you asked them to," said physician Jennifer.
Tristan forgot that only physician Joseph and physician Jennifer had come directly to this house to check on the condition and take care of the couple. They were not afraid of getting infected, unlike the other physicians.
Tristan called out to the Knight Aiden, who was standing near his horse.
"You go to the general who is guarding the border fence. Tell him to announce to all the physicians that I ask them to find a cure for the purulent and red eye disease," Tristan said.
"Then also tell the general to mobilize hundreds of soldiers to check everyone in this area and find those infected with the purulent and red eyes disease," Tristan said seriously.
The mute man might have been sick since yesterday, but the people around him hadn't realized it.
"I will convey your orders to the generals guarding the border fence, Your Majesty." Knight Aiden bowed. Then he quickly walked towards his horse to go to the border fence, 2 kilometers away.
"Your Majesty." When a soldier arrived in front of his monarch, he dismounted from his horse. "You have a letter from King Albert, Your Majesty."
Tristan received a white letter with the Kavar Kingdom seal. He read King Albert's letter with seriousness. "King Albert wants to see me."