บท 156: The First Village

At Brunilda's observation, Mattheus thought he might need to use some of his healing magic in the village, considering the state of the place. 

"Do you bury your dead?" Mattheus asked the marquess.

"No. The ground gets difficult to dig for a good half of the year if it isn't pre-tilled."

"Digging graves ahead of time seems to be asking for it, especially for such a superstitious people," Brunilda remarked.

"Mn. We cremate our dead with very few exceptions. It keeps the spirits from waking up and becoming walking corpses."

Mattheus parked once he arrived at the largest building, which looked like a chapel. Ignoring a church that wasn't used as a church, judging by the signs of toys scattered like abandoned treasures, he could tell the building with the bell tower was temporarily repurposed to isolate the sick—even small communities understood the idea of a contagious illness.