Savage Forest - Chapter 57 - Belle Reservoir

Time passed again in the blink of an eye.

Even as weeks passed, the plague continued to grow in size without any signs of going away.

A new problem arose in Perugia’s camp.

Despite the initial decline of the plague in Aquilea, news arrived that the number of patients in Perugia had suddenly increased overnight by several dozen. As a result, nearly one-third of the Perugians had abandoned their usual tasks for weeks and gathered at the designated treatment centers in their area.

Still, there have been no reported deaths thus far. However, with the continuous rise in patient numbers, the likelihood of casualties grew stronger.

‘But it’s strange… it’s such a highly contagious disease, why haven’t there been casualties yet?’

Enya pondered, her concern directed towards Ihita and some Nervana people who were always sweating profusely taking care of the patients.

Today, Enya had to inspect the food warehouse, a task that brought back unpleasant memories. Anxious to complete her duties, she hastened her steps. She meticulously counted and recorded the inventory before preparing to depart the warehouse. However, something caught her attention.

‘Oh, what is this…?’

One of the bags, stacked up to the ceiling in several layers, burst and spilled half of its contents. The grains of the fruit were pouring down like marbles.

It was as if someone hastily tried to steal it, accidentally scratched it, and couldn’t clean up the traces.

“This… it’s the fruit of the poppuri tree.”

Enya lifted one of the grains and placed it in the palm of her hand to observe.

‘I was told that this warehouse was a food warehouse where barley was stored…’

Startled, Enya hurriedly opened all the sacks around her.

All the sacks, which she expected to be filled with barley, were filled with popurri. She then quickly checked the table that Old Lady Piache gave her.

‘I heard this warehouse was managed by the Perugian side.’

What happened? Why did they have to store so many popurri fruits and hide them as barley?

Enya suddenly felt a strange sensation and crushed the poppuri fruit in her palm. Sure enough, black sap flowed out and soaked her palms. As she shook it off again, she suddenly noticed something she had always suspected.

‘The marks can’t be erased.’

Indeed, the popurri sap on her palms did not come off as if they had stained the skin. The black sap stained the skin, making it look like she had come with skin disease.

Then, a great realization hit her head.

‘Per, perhaps the number of patients suddenly increased in Perugia…’

Indeed, the symptoms of the plague patients she observed a few times and the skin stained with poppuri looked the same.

Unbelievable…

She never thought they would be using poppuri in this way, which she thought was only part of an anesthetic.

But still, the weirdness didn’t go away.

Why did they have to increase the number of patients who were not sick, even using these subtle tricks?

Enya wanted to hurry up and tell Piache and the people of the Nervana Forest about her discovery. She didn’t know that maybe the truth about the many patients who were not getting better even after having been cared for a long time might be revealed.

It was then.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise outside, and someone burst open the warehouse door and came in. It happened in an instant. Two burly women grabbed her by the arms and pulled her out of the warehouse.

“Wa, wait! Wha, what is this…?!”

Coincidentally, Rigata’s subordinates, who took turns escorting her, were unable to follow her to the warehouse as they were helping with the pharmacy work. Enya had moved her limp feet as the women dragged her along.

The place she eventually arrived at seemed to be a barracks used as a meeting place for the old Aquilea camp led by Servia.

There, she could instantly recognize Servia’s face.

Enya shuddered at the unusual atmosphere surrounding Servia. Seeing that there were many Aquilean women following her in the barracks, she broke into a cold sweat as she saw vivid acrimony in their eyes.

Things were going wrong.

A woman who surrounded Enya raised the torch she was holding high and started screaming.

“She is the culprit of the Plague! Kill that b*tch so that Aquilea can live!”

Their eyes looked like they were on fire. In an instant, the other women followed the screaming woman and started raising their voices.

“Your b*tch killed my son…!”

“You’ve been attached to Aquilea for a long time, so go away…! Please stop torturing us, you child of the devil..!”

The people began to riot at her, screaming at the top of their lungs and throwing everything they had in their hands at her. Not only her but the two other women who dragged Enya here screamed as they were hit.

In an instant, someone appeared at the half-open entrance to the barracks. Servia walked slowly into the barracks with a cold smile.

“Quiet…!”

With that word, the protesters who had been causing a commotion quickly fell silent. Enya caught her breath when she saw a familiar face among those Aquilea girls.

It was Luhan and Ashika who had put her in danger before.

Seeing their faces, an indescribable rage surged up. Enya quickly shook off the arms of the women who were holding her and tried to move forward. However, she fell on her knees in front of Servia and was slapped on the cheek.

Slap!

Together with the pain of her cheek being hit, her head turned to the side over and over again. Even a groan couldn’t come out right. Servia approached Enya, who was limp after receiving the final slapping, before lifting her chin with her ferocious eyes.

Finding Enya’s defiant gaze ridiculous, she laughed.

“From the look in your eyes, it seems you still don’t realize what your sins are.”

Seeing Servia’s familiar black eyes, the first emotion that preceded anger was habitual fear. Seeing Enya’s lips tremble slightly, her eyes flashed. She said in a hoarse voice.

“You dare still keep your eyes open in front of me after making my son’s face look like that…?”

The anger and rage dripping from Servia’s voice made Enya’s body feel as if she would fall to the ground even though she was being held by the two women.

But she cried out, chewing her bleeding lips, to overcome her.

“Se, Servia. You are crazy…!”

Servia lifted her eerie eyes and raised her head arrogantly, challenging her.

Enya gritted her teeth and shouted though her voice trembled. For Tarhan’s sake, she couldn’t play into the hands of this witch-like woman.

“Your time is over. Do you think Tarhan will leave you alone like this when he comes back? This time it won’t end with your son’s nose…!”

Enya threw out the most venomous words she could think of. But even so, Servia’s confident expression did not disappear.

Suddenly, there was an unknown fear.

Servia twisted her expression like a monster and started laughing.

Ha, hah. Hahaha!

The voice broke erratically.

“Tarhan? You mean the man who is busy leading the Allied Forces without even knowing that my son is sharpening a knife for him in the same barracks…?”

Then she spoke, looking down at Enya.

Enya’s expression didn’t change. Tarhan was not the kind of person to be beaten by the likes of Gernan.

“Did you ever think that your son was in a more dangerous position?”

Servia didn’t even snort at her words.

“Of course, I know that Tarhan is a very dangerous monster.”

As she came up to her and lifted Enya’s chin, `she opened her mouth with a suspicious laugh.

“But if half of the Allied Forces turned their backs on Tarhan, would he be safe…?”

Her heart sank hearing those words. Before she could even reflect on the words, Servia grabbed her neck with both hands.

Enya struggled in pain as her head turned white.

Enya’s body began to tremble out of control. What did that mean? Tarhan’s forces turned against him…?

Looking down at Enya, Servia laughed meanly.

“Now… I’m going to you out of my sight. It has been long overdue.”

Enya gasped and clawed and slapped her wrists but Servia’s jubilant eyes shone, showing no pain at all. In the next moment, she had a clear idea of who was behind Servia.

She could see the blazing red hair of Perugia, a member of the Allied Forces.

Enya saw Avisak’s eyes widen as he came out of the barracks as if he were seeing a friend he hadn’t seen in a while.

“Oh my, who is this…! Enya…!”

Avisak came to Enya’s side, stiff from shock.

Enya was still speechless at Avisak’s ability to treat others warmly anytime, anywhere. When she stood in front of someone like her, she would think about it for days and days, forgetting what she was trying to say, and answer only the questions she asked.

It was the same now.

Enya looked up at Avisak, who smiled innocently as if she hadn’t noticed the current situation.

“Because that Tarhan man is much stiffer than I thought. I also needed a solution. Enya, will you understand?”

Enya couldn’t utter a word because of the burning hatred.

Perugia betrayed Tarhan.

At that moment, a memory flashed in her mind not long ago. It was the figure of Avisak, who had arrived at the warehouse in advance on the night Gernan tried to assault her.

‘Could this have already been talked about since then…’

Anger welled up before the resentment.

Abishak, who read Enya’s expression, smiled bitterly and spoke.

“To create a disturbance in Aquilea, where Tarhan left, I had to create a fake plague with the poppuri fruit. Of course, I never dreamed that a real plague would spread before that…”

Avisak added, stroking Enya’s chin tenderly.

“The remaining soldiers of Perugia and I will now follow the Allied Forces that have reached the road to the Argon Desert to spread the news. We will join forces with Gernan, who will be prepared there, to establish a new leader in the Allied Forces.”

Establish a new leader of the Allied Forces…

Her cruel words made her teeth quiver, and her teeth chatter with anger.

“How, how could Avisak do that? How many sacrifices Tarhan has made for Perugia… When he was the deputy chieftain, the one who saved you from food shortages was also Tarhan! How could you betray him…”

Before she could fire more shots at Avisak’s abominable face, Servia slapped her across the cheek.

Slap!

She couldn’t wake her mind. At the same time, Servia coldly ordered.

“This leper bitch speaks too many useless things. Take her.”

Her hair was grabbed violently.

“Ha, haah…!”

Enya’s hair was firmly grasped, and she was forcefully pulled along by the hands of those women.