The Action in the City
The Action in the City
"Holy medicine?" Theo stopped smiling and sneered. "We can also cure patients who're infected with the epidemic without the medicine of the church." He removed the two small bladders from his waist and put them on the table. "Blaming the witches is just their usual trick, after all, the dead won't refute them."
Black Hammer was puzzled and picked up one of the bladders, shaking it by his ear and then untying the rope to smell. "No smell?"
"You take it to Silver Ring and Pott and let them drink it to see if it's a real medicine," said Theo, "The two men should be still in the pub."
"Since they were found infected, I let them hide in the basement, and they don't come out. Because now black spot patients are easy to be attacked outside, and Skeleton Fingers wouldn't open the door to put them in," Black Hammer picked up the bag and said, "Lord Theo, I'll try it."
When Black Hammer left, Hill was still staring at the table, not saying a word, which made Theo shake his head inwardly.
As an ordinary person living under the demonic plague, when hearing that a medicine could cure the disease, how could he have been so calm? Even if he was not excited to take a look at the medicine, at least he would ask about it more. As an intelligence officer, such a performance was not qualified.
"This medicine can really cure the demonic plague?" cried Little Finger, "Lord Theo, how did you get it?"
Even a little girl was better than him. Theo drank a glass of wine and said, "Of course, His Lordship in the palace gave it to me. Except him, who dares to do something against the church?"
A moment later, Black Hammer came back with Silver Ring and Pott. "My God, this medicine is incredible! Not long after drinking it, their black spots were gone."
"Lord Theo, thank you for your medicine." The two thumped down, kneeling on the ground, while Pott's cracked skin was still bleeding. "You've saved our lives!"
"First, bandage the wound." Theo waved his hand. Although the water could get rid of the disease, it could not heal the wounds. If people who were seriously injured wanted to recover, they needed at least a week or so. "You don't need to thank me, and you had better thank my employer. If you complete this task well, you'll have the opportunity to get rid of the Rats' status."
"No, I mean that your employer is really going to let us sell the medicine?" Black Hammer asked excitedly. Obviously, he also realized that selling that special medicine could bring in much more income.
"Yes, the church tricking the people in this way has made him very angry. If these church scoundrels continue to act unscrupulously like this, I'm afraid the whole king's city will become a big church, rather than the domain of Wimbledon," Theo said heavily, "In addition, he doesn't want to see that there're few living in the huge city. Therefore, the medicine can't be sold at a high price, so that most civilians in the city can afford it." He took two bladders again and said, "This bag can be sold for, at most, 10 silver royals."
"Ten, ten silver royals!?" Black Hammer widened his eyes in astonishment.
"Yes, you have to give six silver royals to my employer, and then the rest belongs to you," he said, "And the medicine is enough for 5,000 to 6,000 people, so you can get at least a few hundred gold royals. Even if you share it equally, it isn't a small number, enough for you to spend in a lifetime."
They had a hesitant look, staring at the bladders on the table as if they were considering how to get more benefits from them.
Theo had a clear idea of what these Rats were thinking.
The medicine itself had no cost, and it did not matter even if it was given freely. However, such a big share, if he distributed by himself, would be inefficient and it would be too noticeable. It could reduce risks by letting Rats sell the medicine, and 10 silver royals was affordable for the majority of the people. Of course, these people could not honestly sell at low prices, but whether they sold some to Inner City or handed them over to the black market, they could both gain a huge income.
Eventually, less than half of the medicine could be sold to civilians at a low price, but that was not the focus of Theo. The task His Royal Highness gave him was to thwart the church's conspiracy as much as possible, as long as people all understood that the holy medicine was not the only antidote to fight against the epidemic, and it was not something rare or expensive. Then the contents of the priest's propaganda would be questioned by the public, especially those believers who took a great expense to bring the holy medicine. They would be more doubtful from the bottom of their hearts if the spokesman of the gods was deceiving them.
"I know what you're thinking," Theo said, "You hide some of the medicine and sell it secretly, or give priority to the buyers who offer high prices. I'll ignore these... but don't forget." His tone became cold. "My employer isn't kind, if you don't want to be sunk into the moat, you'd better restrain yourselves. After all, only those who're alive can have the opportunity to enjoy life."
"But what happens if someone else sells it?" Silver Ring asked.
"It's very easy. Everyone can only buy one and use it on the spot." He finished saying that and looked at Black Hammer. "How about this business? Are you interested?"
"The Covert Trumpeter may not be able to sell so much medicine, so I want..."
Theo stopped his words directly. "Who and where to sell the medicine is your business, while my duty is to watch for you for His Lordship."
Black Hammer gnashed his teeth and looked around. Seeing that there were no objections around, he smashed a fist on the table. "This business, I accept!"
"Very good." He nodded. "As the sun sets on the day after tomorrow, the carriage carrying the potion will reach the gate of the pub. You'll have to arrange the manpower and release the news of new medicine. Work hard, my employer doesn't want to see failure."
Theo thought that the day after tomorrow was the last day of the First Army's stay, and no matter what the city would look like later, it would not cause a threat to His Highness.
…
Not long after getting out of the pub, Hill chased him from behind.
"Won't you meet my partners? They're all eager to avenge against Timothy."
"I believe you temporarily because you've passed the test, but it doesn't mean that I believe them also." Theo shook his head. "If you hadn't been caught today, what would you have planned to do?"
"I wanted to go back to tell the news to the others, and listen to their views, whether we continue to observe for some more time, or go to His Highness directly," he replied.
"Oh?" Theo asked with interest, "What's your personal view?"
Hill hesitated a little and said, "I think His Highness is different from most of the nobles, for few people will do their best to save the fugitives like him, and... he also treats the witches equally. If Timothy did everything like him, my wife wasn't... " He was silent for a moment. "So I'm more inclined to work directly for His Highness."
"Then you go back and don't say anything, and you've never been to the wharf."
"Why... " He raised his head in amazement.
"A good intelligence man should be accustomed to hiding secrets in his heart, rather than share them with others, especially at this critical moment," Theo said slowly, "If you want to work for His Highness, there're many other things you need to learn."