Chapter 475: The Church Assassin, Viper Arezzo Arrives

【Viper】 Arezzo, carrying a suitcase, stepped onto the wooden dock of Nevis Port when the spring was in full bloom.

It had been nearly ten years since he last visited, and Nevis Port had changed quite a bit from his memory. Arezzo squinted in the sunlight, looking around, always feeling something was missing yet something new had appeared, but in his urgency, he couldn’t figure it out.

He walked slowly through the constantly moving crowd. After passing several piers and a few ships loading and unloading passengers, he noticed what was different:

The port area was cleaner. There was less sewage on the ground, almost no cow or horse dung, and certainly, gentlemen no longer just stood anywhere and began... heh.

Instead, there were conspicuous signs everywhere, pointing towards small houses emitting an indistinct smell.

Not only was it cleaner, but it was also hotter. A wave of heat hit Arezzo, and he instinctively stepped aside, seeing in a small roadside house, steam rising from two large pots boiling water.

Soon, a row of shirtless dockworkers lined up, opening the faucets under the large pots, each filling a bowl of water.

As they leaned against the water house, carefully blowing on the boiling water to cool it, Arezzo clearly saw more than one person’s face show a sincere smile of happiness.

Emmm...

Public toilets, free water supply?

Instinct told Arezzo that these measures could reduce the occurrence of epidemics and allow the poor to die less—from the essence, they could also cultivate the vitality of the city, making it more vibrant.

And the one who implemented these...

Was Garrett Nordmark. He had specifically come to assassinate that person.

Arezzo continued with the flow of people. Walking down the wooden dock onto solid ground, it wasn’t long before he heard a bustling noise ahead, with people on both sides pulling their voices loud and clear:

"Vaccination! Smallpox vaccine! Only 1 gold coin per person, one vaccination, lifetime immunity! — Sir, you look like you’re from out of town, would you like to get vaccinated?"

"Opposing universal vaccination! Opposing tax increases! Our legitimate income should not be endlessly plundered!"

Huh?

Interesting.

Universal vaccination?

One gold coin per person?

How many people were in Nevis City again? Let me think... wasn’t it over a million? Among them, at least eight to nine hundred thousand people couldn’t afford a gold coin head tax, right?

That means, they had to scrape together eight to nine hundred thousand gold coins from the remaining merchants and nobles...

Hehe...

Hehe...

Arezzo’s eyebrows raised, revealing an extremely joyful smile. He followed the crowd to the vaccination station, curiously asked:

"Can this thing really prevent smallpox forever? Is it that effective?"

"Of course, sir!" The person at the vaccination station, clean and tidy with a snow-white collar, looked up spiritedly:

"It’s definitely effective! There are papers published in ’Magic’ and ’Arcane’! The research of the great mages can’t be wrong!"

Hehe... you still read ’Magic’ and ’Arcane’? Aren’t those journals one gold coin each? Can you afford them?

Arezzo smiled outwardly, but inwardly he sneered. He inquired curiously about the vaccination method, left a silver coin, and said goodbye. Not a few steps away, the little man came running up:

"Si-, Sir!"

The young man’s face was youthful, flushed red by the harbor wind, clearly still a teenager. He dodged left and right through the crowd, blocking Arezzo’s path, chin held high as he looked up at him:

"I’m a student at Lawrence General Education School! Hired by the City Hall, here to vaccinate the citizens against smallpox! You don’t need to give me a reward!"

Arezzo smiled silently. He tapped the young man with his chestnut walking stick, curling his lips:

"Pardon me, young sir. Then, consider this silver coin as my apology; please use it to study well!"

He strode away. Leaving the port area, he casually hailed a carriage:

"Take me to... the Oak Forest Medical Research Institute? Is that what it’s called? Go around the entrance!"

Garrett’s hospital had already made a name for itself; even a carriage driver at the port knew its name. As the carriage driver drove on, he chatted with Arezzo, spitting enthusiastically and very talkative:

"Where are you coming from, sir?"

"Going to the Red Cross for what? — Oh, the place you mentioned, there’s a white flag with a red cross visible from afar hanging at the top. We just call it the Red Cross, easy to recognize."

"That place is miraculous

! — One of our fellow drivers heard from a customer that the mage in the Red Cross replaced an old man’s lungs with cow lungs, and the man lived!"

"Smallpox vaccine? That’s definitely real, it’s even logged in ’Arcane’, how could it not be real?"

"Universal vaccination? — That’s a good thing! Sir, you don’t know, people like us who drive carriages, if we get smallpox, even if we recover, the house and carriage have to be burned down! I had an old friend, just like that went bankrupt, could only go to the poorhouse!"

"Me? I haven’t done it yet, one gold coin is really too expensive, if it was only one silver coin, I’d go right away!"

"Sir, you really don’t feel unwell anywhere? — Oh, I get it, then you must be going there to have them replace your cow... what was it?"

"… Just drive properly!"

Arezzo raised his chestnut walking stick, then put it down, put it down and raised it again, endured and endured, and didn’t end up giving that talkative carriage driver a whack. Soon, the carriage driver pointed ahead and called out:

"Sir, look, the Red Cross flag! We’re almost there!"

Arezzo looked up and indeed saw a peculiar flag. Rectangular, white background, with a thick red cross in the middle, equal in length and width, not touching the edges of the flag at any side.

Arezzo searched his memory, seemingly no noble’s coat of arms had such a symbol...

Made it up themselves? Or, does it have a special meaning in magic?

Indicates some special spell?

Hmph, typical mages! Always loving to do some unconventional things!

The carriage clattered forward. Turning a corner, the "Red Cross" ahead at the intersection was just in sight. Arezzo glanced casually and saw outside the fence, people puffing and sweating as they planted trees:

"Is this place not yet built?" he asked the carriage driver casually:

"Still planting trees now?"

"Ah, that’s not it." The carriage driver turned his head and glanced over, his tone immediately respectful:

"The mages inside are really good. They say they treat the poor, and it doesn’t matter if they can’t pay, just plant oak trees outside the fence—minor illnesses, plant one oak tree, serious illnesses, plant a few more. They say, it’s to live up to their name."

At this point, the carriage was slowly decelerating. Arezzo raised his hand and knocked on the front carriage shaft, tossing over a silver coin:

"Slow down, keep going."

Meanwhile, his gaze swept around. The three-story building’s main entrance was squarely fitted with a shining brass plaque:

Oak Forest Medical Research Institute.

It was here. This master assassin, known as "Viper," silently told himself.

The master of this place was his target this time, a young low-level mage. Hmm, said to be a priest as well?

Anyway, more difficult to kill than a pure mage or priest, but not too hard. Then, the key to completing the mission lay in the defensive forces around the target.

Arezzo leaned back in the carriage seat, half-closing his eyes, peering through the slits of his eyelids at the medical institute. Some barbarians at the gate as door guards, low level, not a concern;

Some magic fluctuations inside the wall, but not high level, at most second or third tier spells, probably no powerful figures;

No trace of a mage tower, no sense of tower spirits scanning, the defenses here should not be a concern...

So, the guards around the target?

The target’s magical equipment?

Find an opportunity to go inside the medical institute to see, but no rush...

Killing, well, killing a mage with a mage tower, scouting one or two months beforehand, that’s normal. The church didn’t set a time limit, if he succeeded within half a year, they probably wouldn’t rush him—

Arezzo closed his eyes, drifting away, no longer looking back.

His cover identity abroad was a naturalist, visiting friends in Nevis and planning to publish a book. From proofreading, typesetting, to printing, it would take several months, he could plan slowly, aiming for a sure kill—

And moreover, the undercurrent stirred by the smallpox vaccination incident also piqued his interest. Maybe, besides completing his target, he could play a bigger game?

Arezzo’s thin lips pursed into a line, then slowly curled up. Thinking of stirring up an unprecedented turmoil in such a city, his narrow eyes couldn’t help but flash with excitement:

Too interesting!

Hiding in the shadows, stirring up chaotic hearts, instigating complex desires, greed, and fear, leveraging a strange city to rise up, ultimately brewing an uncontrollable storm...

What’s the fun in just killing one person?

If

you’re going to do it, do it big!

"Dear old Stephen—" Feeling good, his tone became especially gentle, causing the church spy playing his "old friend" to shiver:

"Do me a favor, find me the recent papers on the smallpox vaccine. Of course, especially those by Mage Nordmark and the two articles in ’Magic’ and ’Arcane’..."

The council’s journals, theoretically not open for subscription, but not so difficult for someone with real connections. That spy, rooted in Nevis City for twenty years, soon brought over a thick stack.

Under the bright light of the undying flame, "Viper" Arezzo eagerly began reading the papers. While reading, he laughed:

"The smallpox vaccine is taken from cows? — To this day, has no one vaccinated thought of this?"

"Aren’t they afraid of any complications?"

"According to the papers, it really doesn’t need to be one gold coin per person... those who are taxed, have they never suspected the council of taking the opportunity to embezzle?"

"Interesting, interesting... there’s so much that can be done here..."

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