Chapter 28 Saturnalia Festival: "Handbook for Disease Prevention and Control"
In the darkness, only a flash of red could be seen inside one of the tents.
Catherine, hiding in the shadows, watched the candlelight flicker forward, gradually emerging from the tent, until a face came into view. The man shielded the candlelight with his hand to prevent it from being blown out by the wind. The firelight danced on his wrinkled face—it was Ronald.
Catherine didn't have a deep impression of him, only vaguely remembering that Ronald was the oldest person in the camp, with rich experience, so everyone seemed willing to seek his help when they encountered problems, and would ask for his opinion on important matters.
However, Ronald at this moment was not like the silent but kind old man in my memory. His eyes, reflected in the candlelight, looked sharp and shrewd; a single glance from them could intimidate a person.
Once outside the tent, he carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching, then blew out the candle, avoided the watchmen, and entered the group of tents.
Catherine stood quietly in the same spot for a while before slowly emerging from the shadows. She carefully watched her path as she walked towards the tent Ronald had just come out of, making sure she didn't step on anything and make a sound.
Ronald deliberately chose to come here late at night, and his expression was wary; there must be some secrets hidden inside that tent.
What a coincidence, she loves eavesdropping on secrets.
The tent was empty and uninhabited, filled with some miscellaneous items that couldn't get wet, so there was no one guarding it, and no lock—of course, such things weren't possible in the Devil's Forest. Therefore, Catherine easily walked in.
The weather was pretty good today; the fog wasn't as thick as usual. Half of the curtain was hanging on a hook, and a few rays of moonlight shone through, illuminating a small area inside the tent.
Catherine's eyes swept across the surrounding wooden shelves, one shelf at a time. Initially, she glanced at the middle two shelves first, but on her second scan, she noticed one particular book.
She reached out and pulled it out from inside.
Catherine looked at the gold-embossed lettering on the cover and read it aloud softly: "...Epidemic Prevention Manual?"
Judging from the name, it seems to be just an ordinary popular science book about diseases, but among the books on these two floors, only this one is different from the others.
The book has slight oval-shaped dents on both sides of its spine, indicating that it was recently read and the dents have not yet healed on their own.
It had rained a couple of days ago in Devil's Forest, making the air humid, and the book had absorbed a lot of water as a result. When Catherine turned the pages, she felt the soft texture, which always reminded her of the skin of certain animals.
Catherine walked into the moonlight and used that little bit of light to read the words in the book.
The dim lighting should have made reading very difficult for her. However, the previous changes in her body seemed to have improved her eyesight considerably, allowing her to easily see the contents of the book.
As time slowly passed, Catherine finished reading the first two chapters.
She gradually realized that some of the things written in the book could indeed prevent and treat epidemics, but they were not things that ordinary doctors could learn.
Because what's written here are the methods for making potions, which require a magician who understands magic to operate.
This is a collection of books that only the Vatican possesses!
Just then, faint footsteps could be heard outside. Catherine quickly closed the book, preparing to put it back in its place.
The moonlight slid down as she raised the book, landing on a passage she hadn't yet seen on the page, and a few words instantly caught her eye.
Catherine's eyes widened in astonishment. But the footsteps were getting closer to the tent, leaving her no time to think. She pushed the book inside and immediately went to the innermost part of the tent, squatting down behind a pile of miscellaneous items. Just as she squatted down, the footsteps reached the doorway.
With a whoosh, the half-closed curtain was lifted. Immediately afterwards, a head peeked in.
Hearing the noise, he seemed to turn his head, look around, and then muttered in confusion, "Nobody's here?"
As he left, you could still hear him muttering to himself in confusion, "Strange, I clearly heard some noise over here just now..."
The footsteps faded into the distance, and Catherine sighed, standing up from the corner. She walked back to the wooden shelf, pulled out the book she had just read, and turned to the last page she had seen.
Her gaze swept back to the spot the moonlight had found, and indeed, she hadn't been mistaken. Next to a method for making control potions, there was a note: Sacrificial flesh and blood can be used as a medium for dissemination.
Catherine stood in the darkness, where the moonlight did not reach her, and she felt cold all over.
She tried to comfort herself, thinking that the owner of these notes was probably just in the conceptual stage and hadn't even started implementing them yet. But looking at the marks left by time on the cover, she knew the book was quite old, and she certainly wasn't the first one.
Of course, it won't be the last one.
She immediately thought of the silver python and the mark on Tarasco's body, a mark that could drive someone mad with the slightest touch, which also had an inextricable connection with the Vatican.
Is there any connection between these two?
Catherine silently put the book back where it belonged, then went back to her tent. She had gained a new clue, but more fog rolled in, obscuring her vision.
-
The next few days passed uneventfully at the camp. Catherine spent three days in a daze in her tent. It wasn't until the evening of the fourth day, when Erica brought dinner, that she didn't leave immediately as before.
She looked down at the tips of her shoes, appearing hesitant, as if she had something to say.
Catherine glanced at her: "Is there anything else?"
Erica was still organizing her thoughts, trying to figure out how to start the conversation, but seeing that the witch had asked first, she immediately smiled and replied, "Oh! Tonight we're going to celebrate Saturnalia, a festival for us humans. It'll be very lively! Would you like to join us, Witch?"
Hearing Erica's words, Catherine was somewhat dazed. Had it already reached Saturnalia?
The Saturnalia Festival is one of the grandest festivals in Vilandel. However, the Devil's Forest is densely vegetated and perpetually shrouded in fog, making it difficult to distinguish between day and night. After a while, one loses track of time...
If Erica hadn't mentioned it, Catherine wouldn't have realized that two months had already passed since she entered the Devil's Forest.
“I will go.” Thinking of the festival scene in her memory, which seemed like a past life, Catherine accepted Erica’s invitation.
Night fell in the blink of an eye, and the entire campsite came alive. Normally, by this time, most of the lights in the tents would have already been turned off, but tonight they were all on, and even more were lit, leaving no open space untouched.
The children gathered together, laughing and playing, running and chasing each other. The adults did not stop them much, but advised them to play only in the center of the camp and not to go to the edge.
Catherine lifted the curtain and went outside, discovering the food preparation area. Several large pots were full, presumably containing the wild animals hunted in the previous two days. Piles of wood sat beneath, and flames licked the bottoms of the pots, filling the camp with the aroma of food.
"Lady Witch."
"Greetings, sir."
"..."
As Catherine emerged from the tent, everyone who passed by bowed and greeted her. Then they straightened up, laughing, and ran off to other places.
Everyone's face was beaming with smiles; it was clear that this was the happiest day they had had since arriving at Devil's Forest.
Catherine also encountered Bart, who seemed to have recovered well and was no longer as fragile as she had remembered him. However, his previous injuries were too severe; although she had dragged him back from the gates of hell with her own blood, he still had many wounds of varying sizes, so he was still somewhat inconvenient to move around.
"Witch-sama!"
When Bart woke up, he learned from those around him that he was still alive only because of the witch.
Catherine crossed her arms and critically examined his wounds before finally managing to say, "Hmm... the recovery is not bad."
Bart chuckled and scratched the back of his head: "It's all thanks to Lady Witch! My mother said that if it weren't for you, I'd probably be in the underworld by now."
Catherine neither confirmed nor denied this.
Bart glanced in the direction Catherine had come from: "Sir, are you going to the celebration? You can continue walking forward, turn right after you reach about the fifth or sixth tent, and you'll be there. Hahaha, of course, the delicious aromas wafting in the air will also guide you."
With Bart's help, Catherine easily found a place to hold the celebration.
It wasn't time yet, so the sumptuous food hadn't been served. Several burly men were arranging the tables and chairs neatly, while a woman holding plates, knives, and forks stood by, waiting for the right moment to place the cutlery on the set table.
Catherine intended to find a seat anywhere, but when the people setting up the venue saw her, they all crowded around her and led her to the main table.
Catherine sat down casually, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the people in front of her busily preparing.
The joyous scenes of Saturnalia's festival from memory gradually surfaced before my eyes. Although conditions were somewhat limited in Devil's Forest, it was clear that they were still trying their best to recreate the grand festival scene of Vilandel City in previous years.
She was staring blankly ahead when someone suddenly sat down next to her.
Catherine glanced to the side and saw a burly man. He was holding a bottle of wine, smiling at her, the scar on his face adding to his heroic appearance.
She vaguely remembered the man; his name seemed to be Benson.
"My lady, this is the fine wine we brought. It is said to have been brewed for a very long time and tastes absolutely amazing."
Catherine listened for a while, then her attention was drawn to the wine bottle.
The bottle inevitably shook when I walked over, leaving a lot of liquid clinging to its sides. Now that it's on the table, the liquid is slowly sliding down due to gravity... Just by looking at the speed at which it flows, you can tell how fragrant and delicious this wine is!
Benson could tell from Catherine's eyes that she was interested in the wine.
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