Disease

Mallory started giving her speech which voiced her own thoughts after a few days of thinking things over. "There is disease spreading among our people and it is like a silent and slow killer which will not be noticed until it has been spread among too many people. By then it will already be too late and it will be difficult to cure even if those skilled in healing or curing magic arrive to try solve things. The source of this problem stems from the slums where there is a place which men visit for pleasure."

Some started to kick up a fuss and complained. "So this is what it is about?"

"I always knew that place was a problem."

"Huff! Such a dirty place!"

Mallory shook her head and put on a forgiving appearance towards those behind the problem. "The people who are the cause of this may not be at fault as it may not be their own choice to perform such acts. They are forced to keep working for someone else's benefit and have to bear the consequences.

As a result of that, their bodies have become tainted by disease and that has spread to their customers. In turn it has spread from their customers to their partners and will be passed on further if there are any other interactions like that.. ahem.."

She then continued. "The reason why I have brought this up is because I may have a way to cure those affected but this problem must be dealt with at its roots and all should be made aware of the dangers. From now on there must be even the most basic countermeasures put in place to provide certain standards for health care in work places if they wish to remain open."

Mallory had come to the conclusion that while she could save many people being taken advantage of, not everyone was innocent and once she dealt with the business and had it removed, someone else would try to take its place and run it in a similar manner.

Those without jobs would starve and get involved with more crime so it was difficult to deal with.

In the city, it was not completely illegal to run a brothel and the rules or laws were quite vague when it came to the conditions of work places or treatment of the staff.

While there was a higher grade brothel within the city, not everyone could afford to visit it and when they did, they would rarely do so because of a lack of funds.

Those that visited the brothel in the sums would be able to make several visits and not have their Valis drained but it obviously came at a cost.

Three people came forward and it was Franco and Swaine who had dragged someone over. "We have brought one but they did put up a little of a struggle."

Mallory nodded as she took out a talisman. "Thanks."

"Everyone come and witness. This is a victim of that place and this will prove to you my words are not a lie."

She placed the talisman on the body of the man which had their identity hidden with a mask over their face. "Cleanse!"

The talisman activated and let out a pure white light which then entered the body of the man.

He let out a groan and then the talisman started turning black as the magic power cleansed and forced out any remains of the disease or impurities which were then absorbed by the talisman before it was quickly destroyed by Mallory.

Mallory observed it with her eyes and smiled. "One cleansing talisman can cure minor diseases and poisons. Purifying talismans can help cure curses and magic. There will be limitations to what a talisman can cure depending on the severity of the disease so some may need a higher grade one or more lesser talismans. Now is our time to act!"

She then turned to give a signal to Swaine. "Good job, now you can take him away."

Several of her familia were watching from far away and among them was Seshat who was being carried by Oars. "It seems that she really wants to draw up more attention to this. Perhaps for her own benefit but also to bring to light the problems that are affecting the city."

Oars nodded. "Un.. not every place is perfect and it will have problems somewhere. This is just one of many problems and if she has been correct with her markings on the map then this event alone affects a large part of the cities population."

If one visited the brothel and they were not single then they would return to their wife or lover and spread it to them.

If their lover or wife were also unfaithful then that would be spread to another until that ended.

More active people with many partners would be the main culprits for the spread.

If people in the city were not dying from corpse poisons then they were weakening or dying from sexually transmitted diseases depending on the severity of the disease or how many they had contracted.

The main problem was that those two combined together may cause many deaths and problems to weaken the cities power but there was not enough to completely destroy it so there should be more than that.

Publicly exposing everyone was like hanging out everyone's dirty laundry to the public which would only cause more problems and conflicts so she chose to keep those involved from being exposed.

Mallory stood in front of the crowd and declared. "I have asked my familia to help with this and many will be asked to come forward for treatment which will be mandatory to prevent further spread of these diseases."

She carried her spear and lead the way. "Follow me!"

Several familia and city guards stayed close and prevented anyone from being harmed as they entered the slums.

Mallory pointed to everything around her. "Look at it all! This is how they all are living without any hope and only further despair. All we can do for them is to turn a pitiful look towards them and offer a little food or Valis to help them but our charity could get them killed. One coin could be given but once it is discovered by the others, they will want to take it away so what we do out of kindness may only bring them harm."

They then stepped in front of the brothel. "Good sirs, you must have enjoyed the merchandise right?"

One of the guards looked down at Mallory who was dressed neatly in her ceremonial clothing and frowned. "This is not a place a kid like you can be. Unless you do not wish to become one of those merchandise then you should leave quickly."

Mallory showed a look of sarcasm on her face as she answered when she placed her hand on his body. "Do not worry because I already know the answer. Cleanse!"

The guard looked shocked and wanted to resist but the light entered his body as it cleansed it. "This.. what is?"

Mallory rolled her eyes as she ducked to avoid a punch thrown by the other man. "Sigh."

Her spear turned around and the back end hit the man in the face which knocked him down.

She placed her hand on him while he was down and said. "Cleanse!"

The other guard recovered and angrily asked. "What did you do?!"

Mallory stepped back and looked at him with eyes full of pity. "You were unwell and you did not even know it. Well maybe there were some signs but you probably thought nothing of them but now you should feel a little better. Sadly… one will not be enough for you two."

"Cleanse!"

"Cleanse!"

"Cleanse!"