"I'm back!"
"Pardon me"
Emma and Alfraed finally arrived in the former's house and the later hurriedly took a place beside the ailing mother to check up on her condition. But, before he could do what he needed to do...
"...Who...are...you...?" asked the mother with a feeble voice. Surprised knowing that there was suddenly an unknown man beside her, and tried to get up to protect her children. Yet, due to her deteriorating health, she was unable to do so.
"Mother, brother Alf is here to help. Don't worry" fortunately, Evan was able to calm her down and explained the situation briefly.
'Brother Alf?' The mother recalled that name, it was a familiar name, since her children often mentioned the name of the man in front of her happily these days.
The two told her they had fun playing in his shop and often brought back delicious foods made by him to share with her. She meant to visit and conveyed her gratitude for accompanying them all this time, but unable to due to work. Thus, this was their first meeting.
After the mother understood the situation, without delay, Alfraed started to check on her condition thoroughly, yet carefully, as to not make her uncomfortable.
Her fever was very high and she was coughing a lot. In fact, the mother was barely conscious. Having said that, he already knew what her illness was and it matched his initial guess.
"This should do it"
Then, Alfraed placed his hands on top of the twin's mother and activated his most dependable magic.
Both hands began to shine, softly illuminating the dimly lit room. Warm spherical lights started to spread from his hands until it covered the two's mother completely, as if protecting her from any incoming harm.
In mere minute, the lights sank into the mother, color returned to her pale complexion, her ragged breathing became normal, and the raging temperature of her body subsided. The twin's mother was now sleeping soundly on her bed.
"I'm done" announced Alfraed.
""....""
The pair of boy and girl standing still beside him were surprised witnessing the spectacle that just happened, about how he managed to effectively heal their critical mother in a short amount of time.
"So, i-is she, okay, now?" Emma timidly asked him with an expression that was a perfect blend of relieve, disbelief, and curiousity.
Alfraed explained that what he had done merely improved their mother's body condition with healing magic to fight the disease. Unfortunately, the disease itself was still there, even something as powerful as magic was unable to make it disappear, and if not taken care off properly from now on, she might fell sick once more.
Alfraed's healing magic was seemingly slower than other healers'. Generally, healers only 'heal' a person, or conducting a single process. On the other hand, Alfraed added two additional processes to his healing treatment. So, he conducted a total of three processes when healing a person, instead of only one.
The first process was 'analyze', where he scanned the whole body in details to prioritize which wound he needed to prioritize and let the rest healed naturally or assisted with potion.
The second, was the 'healing' process itself, if Alfraed was compared with other healers while performing this process alone, without doubt, he would be faster.
The third and last process, 'reinforcement'. As the name suggested, he made minute adjustment to make the body more resilient, and people who got a chance to be healed by him ended up healthier. In the future, the twin's mother would rarely get sick.
Why went through this troublesome process? This process was all he know. Alfraed's mana was only slightly above average. That amount was not enough to perform continuous indiscriminate healing to a whole body continuously, much less healing several people at the same time like other healers for long period of time.
Moreover, he often got injured during training. Through experiences, he learned by himself to prioritize which wound to heal and strengthened that part to avoid future injury. His master noticed this and gave even harsher training menu to him. As a result, his physical strength developed greatly.
How great? Only time would tell.
"Brother Alf, what illness did mother has?" this time, came a question from Evan. The boy also wanted to know how they could avoid it in the future.
"A bad case of flu"
""...What?!..."" Emma and Evan were surprised with the answer. They never imagined the illness would be something so simple? Until now, all they knew about flu was merely coughs and sneezes, followed by a mild increase in one's temperature, sometime.
"But, her body was boiling?!" said Emma, still did not believe what she just heard.
"Yes" answered Alfraed calmly.
"Foams came out from her mouth and she shuddered frequently" Evan continued his sister's explanation.
"Yes" answered Alfraed with a smile.
Alfraed said once again to them that it was a bad case of flu. Not a normal flu. The fever that their mother had was because her body was doing its best to fight the harmful disease by warming itself up. Thus, the fever was not a bad thing, but, being in that condition was very exhausting.
""...?...""
-I don't understand- was written in the twin's adorable faces.
"Anyway, please tell your mother to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration and fully rest for now. Generally, flu resolved on its own. If not, she must had been in a situation where she lack rest and not eating properly. Also, give her this medical potion if her temperature went up again"
"...How...much...is this?" Emma asked Alfraed reluctantly, afraid of hearing the answer.
"Well, 300 Rune"
"Erpp" Emma let out a cute startled sound. The tiny bottle she received, smaller than average potion, was equal in price to the food her family ate for four days.
"What's the matter?" asked Alfraed worriedly, wondering whether the little girl caught the flu from her mother, which was possible.
"Th-the...m-money...Erp!"
"I told you, I'm helping. So, don't worry about the money. Let's work together to make your mother healthy again" said Alfraed while poking her forehead repeatedly in a playful manner. Evan smiled wryly seeing his sister's head moving back and forth like a broken spring doll.
Alfraed did not pay attention to his surrounding when entering. But, now that he had finished treating the twin's mother, he could see the size of their house was comparable to his shop's business area, if not smaller, and everything was put in one place without partition. Furthermore, the wall was thin with several visible holes, and cold winds could enter without reserved.
"...Say, you two, are you hungry..?"
""...Yes..?"" the twin looked at each other when hearing his question, and gave him their honest answer reluctantly.
"I see. I'll prepare something..."
Alfraed told the two that he would prepare a warm meal for them in his house, and came back here as soon as he was done, so that they could eat together like usual. In the end, he also decided to bring his spare blankets for them to use.
-------
The rice and chicken soup prepared by Alfraed was indeed warm, and appetizing, the twin really liked it. Her mother even managed to finish two servings of the soup, and was now looking a lot better than she was an hour ago.
"There is still more, eat plenty" encouraged Alfraed. The twin did just that, asking for more eagerly, and he happily complied to their requests.
In addition, the dish was simple to prepare, and he already written the recipe and instructions for the two, which they would give to their mother later on.
Alfraed decided to stay the night in the twin's place to monitor their mother's condition, and the two children were sleeping on his lap comfortably, covered by his warm blankets. The fear and stress that took hold of their heart and mind faded away, and their body finally accepted fatigue that had been piled up.
"Sleep well you two"
Alfraed suddenly felt like having cute younger siblings, a relationship he never had, there was this feeling inside of him that wanted to protect them as best he could.
---In the morning, after he made breakfast and confirming that the mother was already in a lot better condition and resting again, Alfraed took his leave and went to the Association's branch to promote his products.
-------
An hour later, the mother woke up, she could feel how fresh her body was. The illness she had yesterday felt like a mere illusion. It was so unreal.
Simultaneously, she could feel how soaked her cloth and took it off, revealing a mature body that was developed in the right places. Despite her age and already having two children, her figure was still in great shape and looked no different than women in their mid-twenties.
Immediately, Emma brought a change of cloth for her, and Evan closed his eyes tightly with both hands. Their mother often lack grace in her daily activities, the very definition of clumsy.
After putting on a new dry clothes prepared by her lovely daughter, she drank water prepared by her adorable son. She felt blessed, and her determination to give her all for them was renewed. But, before that...
"...Emma, how much do we need to pay?" asked her mother, worried whether she could financialy pay for receiving Alfraed's generous service.
"...Err, nothing...?" Yet, her daughter gave unexpected answer while scratching her head.
"Really? But, I vaguely heard the medical potion only is at least 300 Rune, not to mention the dish he made... and... and... his magic, it must be expensive..."
Emma's mother was anxious, then, Emma told her mother, as well as Evan, about the conversation she had with Alfraed, and how he refused to sell anything to her due to not having any money to pay for it. But, was willing to help her without asking for any compensation instead.
Moreover, before he left, Alfraed said that he would teach Emma and Evan how to read, write, and do calculation whenever they came to play in his shop, if he had free time.
"He's an awkwardly good person, that 'brother Alf'" commented their affectionate mother, finally able to put on a smile.
""Agree!!"" the twin consented their mother's opinion that was awfully accurate.