Warhammer Divine Throne

Chapter 1178: Chapter 510: Musillon, the Cursed Lands (2)

The establishment of the quarantine zone was merely to prevent the peasants from leaving on their own and bringing the diseases on their bodies to other duchies. Each tower can be self-sustained through farming and grazing. Most duchies in the kingdom dispatch a small force to garrison two to three towers in the quarantine zone, with soldiers rotating every two months. Most towers have a knight stationed at them.

”Duke Lorne has ordered more troops for the quarantine zone and encourages the Expedition Knights and Ranger Knights to patrol here more often.” Bertrand produced a permit signed by Duke of Winford, Francois: ”Of course, knights are free to enter and exit the quarantine zone, and those with a permit signed by the duke can also enter and exit freely. When I was passing through, I chatted with the local guard knights and soldiers. In reality, a small drink and a strip of bacon can open them up for conversation, these people bored with garrison life.”

”Mr. Bertrand clearly has his own insights into gathering intelligence,” Surya said with a smile.

”Not at all, Lady Surya, I just know quite a bit about people’s habits from my days as a desperado.” Bertrand quickly replied humbly: ”Ahem, frankly speaking, the quarantine zone of Musillon rarely faced situations where the peasants attempted to leave. I mean, most of the peasants there do not even know what the world outside the village is like, let alone leaving Musillon. The real trouble for the guards are the unending desperadoes and smugglers.”

”Desperadoes and smugglers?” Laine mused.

”Yes, many desperadoes try to cross the quarantine zone to make a living in Musillon, and a large number of smugglers often sneak goods in and out of Musillon across the quarantine zone. The guards frequently face challenges from these people,” the short Hugo whispered: ”My Count, I quietly tried to gather information from the guards. It turns out that as long as you can offer enough commission, smuggling happens frequently, provided it meets the tastes of the guards and castle lord, and is unrelated to cults. The guard knights often have a secret passageway for moving stolen goods and arranging the passage of smugglers. If one insists on forcing their way through, the guards will resort to force to solve the problem.”

As expected, Laine thought, sending Bertrand’s group to investigate Musillon was indeed the right decision.

These guys, originally bandits and thieves, naturally excel at finding these gray areas ways to survive.

”The quarantine zone is currently like this, how about the interior of Musillon?” Laine continued to ask: ”How is the living condition of the inhabitants? And what is the activity of the vampires like?”

”Very terrible, Lord Laine.” Bertrand frowned: ”Before experiencing floods and wars, the living conditions of the tenants were okay. But after Duke Lorne twice swept through Musillon, the peasants there have now fallen into extreme poverty. The entire Musillon is now soaked in swamps, swamps everywhere like quagmires, villages are more dilapidated and ruined, many houses are severely damaged, the streets are like sewers. Many peasants would rather lock themselves indoors, eating rats and drinking dirty water, waiting to die rather than go hunting or working in the fields.”

”When we were acting in the wilds of Musillon, we actually prepared some so-called ’little gifts’, including a few small bottles of wine, some jerky, and some bread. However, when we approached the village and took these out to ask some questions, the first reaction of the Musillon peasants was not to accept with joy, but with extreme fear,” Bertrand’s expression looked pained: ”They behaved as if they had seen something very terrifying, fleeing desperately until they were out of our sight.”

”In the muddy roads and swamps, corpses are everywhere, the deceased undead have not been properly buried, and these corpses and souls will never rest in peace. They will either gradually rot away or rise again as wandering zombies.”

Upon hearing this, Laine also felt deeply troubled. The environment of Musillon being so harsh means that the human army would indeed face many difficulties in trying to fight here, and it’s no wonder that Lorne had encountered so much trouble when attacking Musillon.

Surya, listening to Bertrand’s descriptions of the horrific scenes, closed her eyes with a bit of reluctance, while Juan wore a face full of indignation, the young man thinking that the evil in this place must be purified. The maid Sylvia had a look of disgust, seeming that mentioning this place and issue seriously affected her mood.

Only Laine remained unmoved, aside from frowning slightly, he showed no more reactions: ”Continue, Bertrand, Remon, what else did you investigate?”

”We investigated several villages, and the situation we saw was pretty much the same, Lord Laine,” Bertrand continued, the face of Lord Winford showed some weariness and reluctance: ”Most peasants marry within close kin, long-term corruption and poor sanitary conditions have made them deformed and plagued by disease. Eventually, we found a young man willing to answer our questions. He was obviously starving, and after eating frantically, he told us all Musillon people are terrified. Duke Lorne had twice besieged this place, and wherever he went, he would immediately set up a Holy Grail Court, and almost the entire village would be executed by fire.”