Discretion is the Better Part of Valour

What about my own risk? I don't know much concerning smallpox, about how contagious it is or what the likely duration of an outbreak would be. After all, the disease was eradicated in the world I came from before I was even born, so why should I know? As far as I am aware, I was never vaccinated against it.

Might I find as I approached the area of the outbreak that roadblocks had been set up to prevent people entering and putting themselves in danger? If I did manage to reach the castle, might I find the gates barred to prevent anyone entering? What if the castle inhabitants are already ill - or worse?

Eventually I reluctantly come to the decision that to proceed would be foolhardy. I hate to delay, but I will have to wait for the outbreak to pass. I shall therefore have to find shelter and the means to pay for it. Selling the horse would help in the short term, but the more I think about the outbreak the more I fear that it might take months rather than days or weeks for it to die down.

Theras would be the best place to look for a job, of course, but I am reluctant to go there. Though no-one is likely to be actively searching for me, I might run into one of Gustav's former associates, and that would probably not be good. I had intended to give the city a wide berth on my journey to Castle Freydair.

At breakfast, I ask the waiter whether he knows of any local job vacancies and accommodation. It's not a very populous area, so I think it unlikely, but it can't hurt to ask.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/List_of_epidemics indicates that smallpox epidemics are generally shorter than a year - possibly much shorter - but can sometimes last for several years.]

1. He doesn't.
2. He does.
3. He says that the inn needs another barmaid. Though I had told myself that I wouldn't work as one again, it would provide me with accommodation as well as money.
4. Karshin, eavesdropping at the next table, overhears. He makes a suggestion.

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