'User is informed that the charm magic is working.
Exp +200 (700/1000)
Charm magic permanently unlocked and added to character natural skills'
It seemed to be working and working well at that. Iris could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
To be honest, this had been a gamble Iris had willingly taken to get Nicole on her side and it was not easy to pull off. But it genuinely seemed as if she was getting somewhere with Nicole.
She had not expected the other to tell her the truth about the Vizier but it was good to hear. The other was beginning to open up to her.
In reality, Iris already knew all that about the Vizier. The original novel had made it a big plot twist and the Vizier was the reason Mc and his party had been able to destroy Oreta in the first place.
"W-Wait, you knew? And you still want to talk with her?" Nicole looked slightly pained as she asked this.
Iris would have preferred any other option but all the others were significantly tougher to approach than the Vizier.
"Don't worry too much about me. Let's go inside" Iris gestured to the castle door behind her and the other finally snapped out of whatever daze she had been in. Poor girl had not even realized that she had charm magic on her.
Thankfully, it was not strong and would wear off in an hour.
Iris studied the door as she approached it. There was something weird about the feeling around that door.
It looked just like any ordinary door and her medical vision told her that there was no magic being involved with it, but something seemed wrong with it.
Her face must have shown her real thoughts because Nicole tensed at her side.
"You can feel it? The magic being cast around this place? I did not think it was even possible with the markings made to hide it" ah, so that was it.
Iris could not see the magic around it because something was hiding it from her.
This was a very advanced form of magic and the Vizier must have paid heavily for it. One had to wonder why there was this much security around the Vizier.
Iris might have wondered about it as well….
….had she not already known what the reason was.
"The sickness must be really bad to warrant all this security" Nicole breathed sharply but did not comment.
She pushed the door but it did not open.
Instead, she chanted something, likely the password to open the doorway, and magical arrays started running through the door.
It was much more visible to her now and the magic also seemed to be aimed around the door.
This was a magic portal and the door had just been a scam.
"Let's get going. Brace yourself because it is going to stink inside there" Nicole warned Iris and she took a deep breath.
But nothing could have prepared her for the over-powering smell she encountered inside the room. It was overwhelming and addicting, the sweet blending into spicy and sour. It was a weird experience to be in there.
She had read the description in the original novel but experiencing it for herself was different.
And then there was the fragile body, reduced to mere skin and bones in front of her - the Vizier herself.
"N-Nicole? Is that you? Is it time for the doctor to have a look at me?" the voice sounded fragile and on the verge of breaking.
The Vizier had been originally an elder elf in her 760s but here she looked like an ancient and that was saying something when the elves lived for close to 1000 years.
She had been an Elvian capital exile and had made home here. No one knew what she had done till the end and no one found out either.
She had died when she had refused to accept a rare potion for the MC and had asked for him to use it on his young harem member instead who had caught the same disease as her.
But that would be years later. Despite her current condition, the other still had solid 6-7 years left inside her.
"My Lady, I'm afraid the doctor had been delayed by the commission this month. We were unable to meet the required quota for the silver even with the taxes. There was too much to be done in the lower town" Nicole did sound sorry.
"I see. Then raise the taxes on our part of the import. It had been a while since we did that" the elder rasped out, her voice breaking and Nicole looked even more uncomfortable.
"We did that last week. We cannot go any higher or the general public would start to revolt against us" The elder lady looked to be at a loss. It seemed as if her memory was affected by her illness as well.
"Then, we can start another trade? Sell off some of our routes?" the elder proposed, sounding desperate before she broke out into coughs.
"W-We cannot. Our routes are already a fraction of what we initially had. Any more of this and we would have nothing left." the old lady started to stand up but Nicole made a swift way to her side.
"Please don't worry yourself. I will think of something to make it alright once more" Nicole promised and that was the only thing that stabilized the old lady.
"I suppose I can try to have a look at her. Move aside" her voice startled the other two and they jerked in her direction as one.
"O-Ouch, I pulled my neck" the elder complained at the sudden move and rubbed at her neck weekly.
"Allow me to see" Iris motioned for Nicole to scoot over and the other did it with a concerned face.
"You brought someone here? How could you?" the old lady hissed but it lacked any power behind it.
"She's a healer and I can attest to her skills. Please allow her to have a look at you" Nicole suddenly seemed to remember Iris and her skills. Her voice sounded pleading as she turned to the elder.
"A healer? But you said that the commission healer would not come till we pay them" the elder asked, clearly confused now.
"This person is a healer but she's not with the commission. Or she says she is not with them" Nicole replied.
The elder looked shocked but then shook her head in regret and acceptance.
"What can you do when even the best commission doctors have given up on me. But alright, you can try to heal me and we shall see where it takes us. Cannot be worse than my current condition"
The elder seemed to have accepted her doom and it made Iris frown. It sounded like a challenge to her and her skills.
Michael had no problem ignoring this but it was an insult to Iris's skills. They had to do their best now.
"Lie down and allow me to have a look. Has your neck healed yet? There was a lot of damage there I had to fix. That injury was much more than a pulled muscle" the elder moved her shoulder and neck area and a look of wonder erupted on her face.
Her eyes held a new light as she turned to Iris again. The lack of pain must be registering in her mind now and it brought a small but noticeable smile on the other's face.