"Ah, this is the good stuff." I sigh in relief as I hold both a beautiful woman in my arms and a fine glass of drink. Behind me, of course, was a display of my accomplishments. All manner of personally made gifts and more official kinds. I had no particular favourite, however.
Because I was the culmination of each award. I earned each one and it showed. The woman I held knew it. The men who shipped in my drink knew it.
"Come on, Stolpzhen, let's get in the water already!" my woman of the day begged me as she tugged at her lewd dress. And, as per usual, those aelenvari really knew how to draw out a woman's best aspects.
"Oh, go on then." I say with a grin as I take her by the hip and give her lips a fleeting kiss. Then, when I was done enjoying her soft lips, I got up. Taking off my shirt before taking one final swing of my drink. A smile on my face as she laughed as she led me to the water.
"I don't suppose the weather will turn bad at some point tonight?" she longingly asked as we sat down in the mountainside pool. But, then again, what wasn't mountainside in this land? I guess I could not complain. It was a splendid view that it gave me.
And I got to enjoy it with all the aforementioned goodies my pride and skill have won me. Yet, there was one downside to it all. It had left me with a ravenous hunger for it all. Getting to the top on my own hasn't exactly taught me to treasure what I can get...
"No, got to enjoy what you can I am afraid."
"Aw..." she moans in annoyance before she starts trying to take it up a notch.
"Careful now," I tell her with an equally lusty grin, "the water is strong." I remind her before she slips.
"Ah!" she laughs as she floats down to the other end of the pool. Before I could catch up with her, however, I hear footsteps for some reason.
"Can I help you?" I ask the stranger who had walked onto my property. Under normal circumstances, this might've been a reason to panic. But this man bore all the decoration of a public official. And, well, no one had privacy when it came to them.
I even found myself looking at the winds nearby as I thought that. Because no one truly had any privacy if they lived out in the open. A certain someone did not have so many songs written about him because he wanted them sung. The stories of red winds were lessons full of truth.
"Urgent work." the man said with a frustrating amount of simplicity and detail deprivation.
"I'm on holiday." I sardonically remind him as this was not my actual home. Merely my holiday home. My real home was locked away in a place no winds could reach.
"I thought you said no one would disturb us!?" my daily take-home complained as she got out of the pool. Both I and this man received a glare before she then stormed off inside. But, not before I could get a light smack of her arse.
"Yes, I did." I answer, yet, the words were meant for this incline-bait.
"If you please, your office, Surgeon Stolpzhen." the man requested as he lifted his arm and gestured me into the house.
"Honestly..." I mutter in complaint before doing as he requested. But, I made a point of taking my time. The weather was nice and I intended to spend as much time as I could in it. The gods made this grand construct beyond the sky for a reason.
And by Aahtha's good name, it was to be enjoyed in the accompanying of buxom women!
"So who is the client?" I ask ahead of time as a visit like this meant deep pockets were involved. I was employed in a normal firm like everyone else. But, I had gained a rep for how freelance I took my work.
"Lord and Lady Sl'Ayiysab of the Grand-Kingdom of Ibenorroco." he answers just as we reach the door.
"Eh?" I let out as I freeze up in confusion. What did some snooty, soggy nobles from across the All-Coast want with me...? Did they not have a dozen surgeons equal to or greater than me? Well, I am happy that they came to me. As, well, it meant that I truly was the best.
"I will explain or hand over the details inside. So, again, please, your office." he answers while I change my posture to a more professional one. It must've been quite the situation if foreign nobility was asking for my help. But, of course, I also reserved the right to decline. Which, the sight of an annoyed woman in a tight, easily removed bikini made me inclined to do.
"I am sorry, this might take a while." I tell her as I move her fuming head against my refined body. And what she did made me smile as I felt a wet sensation and a distinct pop.
"It best not take so long that I become bored." she gasps quietly as she fiddles with her prized goods.
"I hope not!" I let out enthusiastically before we go into my office. And, before I sit down, I pick up a dressing gown. If they wanted to call me directly, I doubt they'd want to see me half-naked. Then again, what could they do if I sarcastically point out that I was supposed to be on holiday?
"As said just now, your clients are the Lord and Lady Sl'Ayiysab of the Grand-Kingdom of Ibenorroco." he pointlessly reminds me before he hands me over a tube. One I initially struggled to open as it was some Ibenorrocoian device. Far more tedious than a simple tablet. Or, you know, regular paper.
"So, they want me to fix up their daughter?" I ask him as I suddenly am exposed to the secrets of this invention. A projection made entirely of magic-influenced water. Something that did impress me as it was almost like I was looking at the actual thing. And, I had to admit from a glance that this daughter of theirs was in bad shape.
Broken bones all about her, particularly in the jaw area. It was practically impossible to miss all the cuts and deep dagger wounds. But, one thing did not sit right with me. It wasn't just a picture made of water that I had, details about her injuries and all that were here too.
Someone had tried to sort her out before...? In Thrurstradtur too of all places. I would've thought that this would've been a done-by issue for them. Yet, here we were.
"The medical staff at St. Bruttar Brief Recovery and Healing Centre have had no luck in trying to resolve her injuries. At some point, the parents found out and they have insisted quite firmly that the best of the best be called upon."
"So you're working directly with the royal family, then?"
"I cannot give you any details regarding my work. Only what you will be doing." he asserts as I start to remember where I had seen all those details on his uniform before. If the heads of the Seven-Peak Union were concerned than this was a volatile situation. And, I had to admit, it made me uncomfortable being put in something like this.
It was far beyond the issues I normally dealt with! I was a surgeon! A really good one! I was, however, not a politician or a player in their malicious games!
"And if I decline to help them?" I ask while checking for any details regarding pay or just anything that looked like a contract. I wanted some kind of guarantee that I wasn't being held at spellpoint here... People from the King's personal staff did not just play messenger...
"Someone better will be chosen."
And that made me scoff, "Then why did you come to me first?" what kind of bluff was he making?
"Because you fit the bare minimum." he replies without so much as a crack in his expression.
"I beg your pardon?" I say with growing annoyance.
"They wanted a skill surgeon, and His Lunar Majesty saw fit to send for you as you would be, of course, the cheapest option."
"Well, you're certainly right about me being the cheapest option." I growl before I slam my hands on my desk.
"Of course, you aren't the best." he says with a nod to one of my many trophy cabinets.
"Why you... Fine, no monetary pay. Only that hidden smirk wiped off your face!" I snap before the magic in the device suddenly flashes.
And, the man smirks, "You really are the cheapest option." he huffs with a slight smirk before he leaves my office. And, going by his direction, he was quick to leave my holiday home too.
"And why did you flash?" I pointlessly ask the Ibenorrocoian machine.
"I will ask only once, Surgeon. For your sake, make sure my daughter walks out of that building better than when she entered it." the man who suddenly formed in the water told me. And, I had to admit, he was quite the intimidating man. Even if this was just a magic construct. I could still tell he was a man of action in that kingdom across the great sea...
"I assure you, Lord Sl'Ayiysab, I will get it done. Because the price of pride is always worth paying in full."
"Be sure your petty issues do not interfere." he growls lowly before he disappears.
"Great..." I let out after making a loud tut. Not only had I walked into that government official's ploy by saving his boss some money. I was also under spellpoint from one of the most powerful men in the world.
"So, I see they're gone. And just in time too." the woman I brought in lets out lustfully as she starts to undress at the door.
"You will need to leave, I have work." I tell her without so much as a hint to the prior playfulness I spoke to her with before.
"What...? I can't believe this! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" she starts to go off while I start gathering what I might need. If this was in Thrurstradtur, I would need all the necessary tabletwork. Identification and all that stuff. Most importantly, however, I needed to get my tools which I rarely used.
And, despite my prior complaints of being on holiday. I had brought all this stuff here recently or set it up a long time ago in anticipation for sudden, urgent work. So, at the very least, my professional caution was justified. And, if one bit of caution was enough, then I could do with a lot more.
I was worried about this job, however. Despite all my skill as a surgeon, I had never seen a patient who was simply not healing. I've handled patients who were too strong, and in turn could not get enough magic to heal. But never one who failed to recover in a place like Thrurstradtur...
Say what you will about that Academy, but it led to Thrurstradtur's rise as the technology capital of the continent. If their system of taking people's external-magic and their auras to feed back into systems like this wasn't enough... Then I'd have my work cut out for me. And, of course, it would cause other issues regardless.
This was digging into my holiday and work just loved to keep me around... Their heels would be most certainly dug in to stop me from getting my lost time back. Yet, if I was in another country... What were they going to do...?
Besides, I have been meaning to go back to the city I learned my profession at anyway. I can get both a lovely refresher in their amazing technology and see the new stuff first! It was an exciting opportunity if you ignored why I was going. Besides, I could always find a lovely hotel and a bored maid to restart my holiday with.