Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 366 - 55: Return to the City

When Losa and his group returned to Constantinople, it was already dusk.

Although the plague of rats was stopped in time, the trauma it caused to Constantinople was still significant. As Losa and his group walked through the city gates, they saw the same washerwoman carrying her child they had encountered on their first visit to Constantinople.

Her back was now empty, and she sat on the edge of a collapsed house, staring blankly ahead, mumbling to herself.

Looking around, there were quite a few people like her.

Some men, with numb expressions, rummaged through the debris, searching for buried belongings. The disaster was over, and those who survived had to continue living.

"This is a warning from the Heavenly Father. When the final judgment comes, no one can escape. At that time, the guilty will fall into Hell, and only the innocent can ascend to Heaven."

An ascetic with a compassionate expression shouted this among the crowd: "Only the crusade can atone for sins."

"In the Levant, those wicked, Satan-controlled tyrant Saladin are eyeing the Holy Land. Head east and let the blood of those heretics stain the Cross red!"

Losa was slightly taken aback. He did not expect to encounter an ascetic from the Great Orthodox Church advocating for the Crusaders in the heart of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

"Humans are born with sin."

He chewed over this statement, showing a faint hint of sarcasm on his face.

Under the guise of Anna, the Purple Robe Princess, Losa and his group, escorted by the Varangian Guard, passed unimpeded toward the inner city of Constantinople.

...

The purple dome of Brahna Palace reflected magnificent colors under the sunset.

Anna’s footsteps were somewhat heavy, with an unmistakable fatigue lingering on her face.

"Anna, you’re back!"

The Empress rose to greet her.

"Yes."

Anna was clearly not in high spirits.

"What exactly happened with this rat plague? Who is that evil Black Wizard?"

On the way back, Anna had communicated with Ragaya through badges but hadn’t gone into details.

"I’m not in the mood. Let me take a bath first."

Having run around in the underground palace for half a day, she felt like she was about to be marinated. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"I’ll go with you."

"Alright."

Anna went to the bathroom in their chambers and soaked herself in the steamy pool, listening to the Empress recount the losses the Empire had suffered from this disaster.

Several major nobles in the inner city had perished, with nearly a thousand casualties. In the outer city and villages near Constantinople, the death toll exceeded ten thousand.

The most heavily affected were the densely populated areas in the outer city.

Many were families or widows of mercenaries who had settled there for generations.

Some nearby villages had turned into dead zones overnight.

"Fortunately, you stopped the disaster in time."

Even as she spoke, the Empress still felt a chill. The disaster had caused such significant damage to Constantinople in so little time. Had it persisted longer, wouldn’t it have been like being overrun and looted by an army of heretics?

"Li Yena couldn’t make it back."

"If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have discovered it so quickly."

After Anna spoke, she submerged her head under the water and didn’t come up for a long time.

Ragaya sighed softly. She knew the witch Li Yena seemed quite wanton in her actions, and she had once wanted Anna to distance herself from her, yet she never expected...

Even as the Regent Empress of the Eastern Empire, she still felt a deep sense of powerlessness when faced with such a "natural disaster."

In her youth, she had once thought of learning witchcraft alongside Anna, but the towering threshold of the Wizard World barred most who were interested in this world.

...

Jeanne was directing the veteran soldiers to clear the debris of collapsed houses, fill in the tunnels dug by the rats, and perhaps the next day, they might have to invite masons and stoneworkers to check whether these tunnels had damaged the foundations of the house.

She heard footsteps outside.

She quickly went out to meet them and let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Losa’s group unharmed. "What on earth happened?"

Losa briefly explained the situation and then sent someone to prepare bathwater.

Thinking back to their experience in the underground palace was like recalling a hellish oppression.

"I apologize, my lord. I shouldn’t have acted alone."

Jeanne’s face was full of remorse.

She hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.

"It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’ve already asked Anna to prepare a set of communication badges for each of you, so this won’t happen again."

Communication badges were precious, but Losa had been a great help to Anna this time.

"Oh, by the way, Anna also mentioned that the Empress will summon me tomorrow to bestow some rewards. I plan to ask for it all in gold coins to upgrade you."

This incident served as a warning for Losa.

If he only wanted to focus on his own well-being, the current strength of him and his followers was actually sufficient, at least to ensure their own safety.

But once involved in major events, their extraordinary power had to at least be at Anna’s level.

He estimated that raising Jeanne to the full level of Elite First Stage might make her comparable to an almost legendary-level wizard like Anna.

Moreover, system followers would be even stronger in some aspects.

Plus, Losa now had an elite-level item, the "War Records of the Wolf Race Civil War." On a personal level, he definitely preferred to upgrade Prajna.

But from an effectiveness standpoint, Chelina had performed admirably recently, so it was in the best interest to prioritize her upgrade.

Furthermore, the Wolf Race Civil War was related to Chelina. Giving it to her could earn more support in the battle records and help deepen their relationship.

"Thank you, my lord."

Jeanne’s face showed even deeper remorse.

Losa waved it off. "No need for formalities between us. I’m going to take a bath now. You have no idea how dirty it was down in that underground palace."

He submerged himself in the bathtub, using a soap made of fat and spices to scrub his body.

From the adjacent bathroom, he could faintly hear Furinjira’s laughter.

He rested his head on the edge of the bathtub, relaxing his body.

Just then, he suddenly heard a sneaky sound of footsteps.

Just as he was about to ask, he felt a soft hand cover his mouth.

"Shh, keep quiet!"

Turning around, through the haze of steam, Losa saw Jeanne’s somewhat nervous and anxious face.

"What are you doing here? I’m in the middle of a bath."

Losa was a bit surprised and asked in a lowered voice.

"To bathe with you, of course."

It was then that he realized Jeanne was also unclothed.