[WARNING this book contains violence, abuse, torture, death, inappropriate language, and things of a sexual nature]
[This is your only warning]
"Agatha, can you tell me what time it is?"
I know the time is 7:31 a.m., but I know it is a rhetorical question, so I don't answer.
"Can you tell me why you are late?"
"I have no logical answer to your question, so I have no answer."
"Agatha, this is your final warning! Unless you want to go back into the silent room, I suggest you arrive on time next time. If this wasn't a simple mission, you could be the death of yourself or your team, am I understood?"
"Yes, Father"
"Let's head out."
"Yes, Sir"
The silent room does not follow the logic of a typical family. In the quiet room, one experiences torture; the louder you are, the longer the torture. Because of that room, I lost the ability to beg and the ability to cry from my pain. It is a room that my family is centered around. It allows us to learn to be quiet from pain because the moment you vocalize your pain on a mission, whether killing a person or fighting a monster, is the difference between life and death. It also allows our family to grow in its ability to treat wounds, poisons, and illnesses. Due to that room, we were even able to take medicine to make scars fade quickly. It is room to treat the disobedient, and the respectful silence is survival in a critical moment. All children experience the space in my family for me. I was 10 when I first went into that room. I've since entered that room 3 more times after that. I am 19 now, and I have scars that force me to wear gloves because the cream doesn't work perfectly.
"Agatha, get out of your head. We are almost there."
"Understood"
We were running through the forest no matter where we made a path cutting through the trees and along the ground of the woods. Soon the trees got closer together, and I could barely see, but we kept running till we found a cave entrance. There stood the twins Yato and Juno of the branch family. However, they are far enough away that they are not technically related to me. Seeing us, they stood even taller when they noticed it was my father. Although I didn't mention it, my father is second in command of our family, meaning besides the head of the family, he is the second most person in charge of our family affairs. My father stopped running and walked up to the twins. Following behind my father step by step, I stood by his side.
"Are you sure it is here?"
"Yes, sir" (twins in unison)
"Juno, what is your report."
Becoming stiff, Juno started shaking. I guess he is still as nervous as he was when we were kids.
"There are currently three gargantuan poison snakes inside. One of them is a hatchling which will be the easiest to kill, but the other two are more aggressive due to their newly hatched egg. From the size of both the parents, they seem to be between 50 and 100 years old. We won't be sure till I count all the major scales."
"Yato, what is your report."
Looking at my father without shaking, he gave his report. I see Yato became braver over the years.
"We will enter the cave. Be careful there is a drop-off in a crack. If you fall, you will die to keep along the right wall for 15 paces, then turn left, under the raised area of the ground. The entrance is only big enough for two of us at a time. We need to be in and out of there in the next hour. Their feeding habits are more predictable during this time, so it is safest if we head out now."
Understanding the situation, we all started to head inside as per Yato's instructions. It felt cramped, dark, and wet, my father taking the lead with Yato to ensure we all made our way there in one piece. I could smell the rot of dead people and animals that had died in this place, making me nauseous, but I kept going. Soon we reached the crack that my father and Yato had already entered. I probably didn't need to, but I took a breath to prepare myself mentally for the fight. Seeing that I needed to prepare my nerves, Juno steadied his hand by grabbing mine, probably because he was scared of the danger ahead. He was shaking like a leaf in a storm, so I let him hold my hand to calm down. With that, we jumped down, sliding to prevent ourselves from going too fast. We landed on a soft platform of moss and dead bodies. Next to us, my father stood holding a finger over his mouth, telling us to be quiet. Juno and I both grabbed our weapon of choice. I grabbed my compact short bow and took out an arrow with a paralysis poison. Within the next few seconds, it became a fight for our lives.
Yato was one of the first few people to get hit. However, he didn't get knocked out; he wound up hitting a wall hard enough that his ability to fight was noticeable, and those bastardly snakes took notice. The largest one tried to swallow him in one bite. Still, I got to the snake first, shooting one of my arrows into its eye, angering it to the point that I got cut by the cave wall. However, all I could do was glance down to ensure I would still be able to use my arm. With my poisoned arrow in its eye, my father and Juno were fighting the other snake, but both had a hard time. Though my father was only struggling, we are all fighting snakes that can swallow all of us whole. The snake I shot in the eye started to slow down. Within that time, Yato snapped out of it and moved as fast as he was before. This time Yato killed that snake while I moved to help Juno in the same way but this time blinding both eyes of the snake. As blood ran down my arm, I could only focus on assisting and slowing down the snakes' attacks. With that assistance, both Yato and Juno killed the hatchling then all of us jumped in and started to help my father fight the giant snake.
This time though, almost all of us got thrown against the wall beside my father, but due to my current injuries, I had no choice but to switch my weapon from a bow to a rope dart. Using my body's momentum, I cut along the snake's body till I finally hit some soft flesh with as much speed as I could muster. As blood and guts from the snake started to cover me, I began to cut along the snake's body as it screamed and writhed in pain, unable to throw me off due to the help of everyone else. Soon the last snake was dead. Although I wanted to get cleaned up, I had no choice but to help dismantle and retrieve the poison from the snakes and flesh that was entirely edible. The rest we left behind and headed home. Being the one covered in the most blood, I rushed forward because I hated the smell of blood the most. Being on my feet, I rushed through the town, running into the house and dropping off the meat ignoring my mother as she saw how much blood covered me. I went to the bathhouse with a change of clothes. My mother was yelling at me, trying to get me to talk to her or let her see and treat my injury, not that she would genuinely treat me. My mother has been trying to build my immunity against poison since I was three so that I wouldn't die as quickly, so she would most likely take the chance to poison me. I didn't want to deal with it at the moment.
"Agatha Asami, you will listen to your mother. Turn around at let me treat you before I get angry. You will listen to me and hear me out while I treat you because this is something you need to hear."
I can't argue with her when she is like this. So I cooperated as she stitched me together while putting a vial of poison on my wound. She also put medicine on me and wrapped my arm, preventing bleeding. While she bandaged me up, she started to talk.
"Tomorrow, your father will be going to a council meeting. You are required to go with him and the family head. You can't skip or be late because the Head of the family asked you to go to represent the Medical department of the family."
She started to put pressure on my arm as she began to talk, making me bleed through my bandages. I didn't cry, but I know she had been jealous for years; she represented the medical department until now due to my capabilities. She had been recent of less interest to the department. And even though I hate blood, I am better in medical expertise than my mother. She hates that because she loves being in the center of attention.
"I will send people to have your dress for the occasion. Behave and don't make an embarrassment of your father or me."
Nodding my head was all I could do with that. She let me go. She didn't even change my bandages after making me bleed, so I rewrapped my arm, feeling hazy from the poison. I went to the bathhouse and washed though I couldn't soak due to my wound. I still tried to receive more comfort from its warmth than my family.
Looking at the sky after my bath, I wore a bathrobe and gloves over my hands to hide my scars. I went to my room, putting on a simple outfit. I left the property hoping I could see my friend and get my mind off the town meeting tomorrow, although I wish she had told me sooner. Running along the road, I ran to our favored meeting spot. Although I don't know his last name, I've known him since I was 10. I told him almost everything well besides the family tradition, at least. I didn't tell him much about my family; I just talked about small things. If there was a day that he found out about what goes on in my family, I'm scared that he would think less of me. I don't give a damn about my family and the traditions. I don't want to lose him. My only friend Kenji. Running to our favorite spot, I saw him.
"Kenji!"
Turning around, I could see his deep grey eyes and long black hair. I sometimes don't understand how we became friends with him being as handsome as he is, way out of my league regarding looks and personality.
"Agatha!"
Wrapping his arms around me, he hugged me in his tight grasp. Holding my arms and looking at me, I kept a straight face when it came to the pain, but I smiled.
"Kenji, you're holding me too tight."
"Sorry anyways, how was your mission? You didn't give me any details besides you have to go out and kill a select species of a monster; tell me about it. Did you get hurt? Also, you were in a rush to meet me, so I want answers."
"Okay, I can't answer all of your questions."
"You can answer some, though, right?"
"Yes, I can. First of all, the mission went well, obviously because I am still alive. The monster we were hunting was a poisonous gargantuan snake nest. I got hit but sustained no serious injury."
"You got hit by one of those snakes? Did you even receive any medical help? let me have a look."
Before I could even protest, he patted my legs and arms. Realizing something off my arm, he pulled up my sleeve to reveal my injury. Although I could tell that my arm was starting to change color, only a trained eye in the medical arts can tell. Unless it is another practitioner, no average person can notice. Damn that poison. Seeing my injury, he became serious and almost seemed angry.
"Umm, are you okay?"
"Why didn't you tell me you were seriously hurt and have been poisoned?"
Can he tell? Which means that he is a practitioner. I know all the medical personnel in town, so it is evident that he is a practitioner. Wait, this isn't as important. He is angry. Why is he mad?
"Why are you mad?"
"Of course, I'm mad your hurt, and you didn't tell me the whole truth about your injury. I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at my weakness. Because of that, you were unable to trust me."
"I trust you; the snake didn't poison me so I won't die. I'll be sore and dizzy for the next couple of days."
Holding my arm, his hands started to shake slightly, touching my injury.
"I know you're smart enough not to get poisoned. unless attacked by a monster so tell me who poisoned you."
"You know I can't answer that."
"Why? Why won't you tell me every time you're injured? You usually avoid any subject about it, or you avoid me entirely. Even when we were ten, I felt avoided. At the time, I thought you were shy and didn't trust me. Still, we have known each other for nine years, but over the years, you have told me nothing as to why you'd be so injured. You didn't tell me anything about the scars on your hands. I wanted to protect you and be someone you rely on, but you're not telling me anything. How am I supposed to help you and protect you if you don't tell me anything?"
I needed to treasure him but also discourage him from going any further. Hopefully, I can tell him one day, but I'm not brave enough. Grabbing his hand, I smiled. I don't know if that smile seemed sad, but I didn't want him to worry.
"It's not something I can tell you, at least not for now."
"But when will that be? I feel hopeless whenever I see you injured, yet you play it off like you're not. You don't even cry from pain. When will I be someone you rely on."
Saying that he grabbed my shoulders. His hands, which used to be small like mine, are much larger. Now that we are older, it's hard for me to believe he is two years older than me. He has changed so much that I suppose he will also change his mind about me. He seems so sad that he can't help me. Will he look at me the same way when he knows about my family about how I was raised? Will he still care? Or will he leave me behind? Scared, I grabbed his hand.
"I already rely so much on you. I hope I'll be brave enough to tell you everything one day."
Struggling with his inner turmoil, he seemed to want to change the subject.
"So, what else did you want to tell me."
"Umm, it's not something huge, but the Patriarch of the family asked me to go with him to the town meeting tomorrow."
"What? Why are you telling me this now? That is great news. It means that you are rising in the ranks of your family."
Something about him changed when I mentioned the meeting. Because of that, he let go of my shoulders and seemed nervous.
"Is there something your not telling me? It seems you are upset, and I'm only telling you now because I just found out."
"Nothing is wrong with me beside you will find out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Did we say we would meet tomorrow, or is something else happening tomorrow?"
"You'll find out."
With that, he kissed my forehead like he was afraid to part. Still, I was surprised because this was the first time I had ever experienced this form of contact from anyone besides my grandparents. Before I could even say a word, he rushed off. I couldn't even see his expression when he left.
"Bye."
I decided to relax for a little while after he left. I didn't want to go home just yet, but what should I do? When I thought that my stomach protested because it was currently 12:30 p.m., and I hadn't eaten anything since I woke up. I guess I'll eat, although I shouldn't have anything too heavy because I still have the poison in my system. I am glad I didn't tell Kenji the poison, although my mother didn't tell me what it was. As soon as it started affecting my system, I knew the poison was from a baneberry plant. It's a plant that can kill or cause severe complications for an average person. Too bad I've been building immunity to poisons since I was three. Although that doesn't mean it won't affect me, it still hurts. Mainly because as soon as I started walking once more, I started losing sensation in my limbs. Reaching for the tree, I sat in the grass. I closed my eyes, cultivating my internal energy to grow stronger and fight against the poison. Just like an immune system against disease, I'm making my body aware that this is something that needs to be remembered and eliminated as soon as it enters my body, when it is harmful, of course.
Soon a few minutes turned into a couple of hours. Although I wanted to get up and get food, my body needed to have my entire focus to ensure I won't collapse. However, I won't die; I'm not one to let others worry about me. Soon as I opened my eyes, it was already starting to get dark outside. It seems to be approximate 5:32 p.m. Although it felt like only a couple of hours while i was cultivating, it was much longer. Although I know i wanted to spend my day differently doesn't mean that i have any choice but to go home.
*Cough Cough*
"Who's there?"
Looking around, I finally noticed blood and a man losing consciousness.
Flipping him over, I saw a massive gash in his chest. Although I shouldn't move him as much as possible, I still need to get him to a safe place where I can treat him.
"I'm sorry this is going to hurt."
Seeing that he seemed to have heard me, I wrapped his injury by ripping my clothes and using them as a temporary bandage. I laid my second layer of clothes on the ground, lifting and getting him on it. Due to him being much heavier than me and the fact that I am injured, I can only drag him across the ground on my clothes. I could only hope to get him to my home fast enough.
That is when I started to get closer to my home. I could shout for help. Seeing Den, I know he is more than capable of helping me carry this man.
"Den, help me carry this man. He is heavily injured, and I am not strong enough to lift him."
Running over and lifting the man carefully but quickly, he started bombarding me with questions, and one fact remains. We aren't allowed to treat him unless we are confident of his identity because we have to have someone pay for the treatment. It is brutal to me that we can't just treat them and find payments from them, but they are greedy for money.
"You know we aren't allowed to treat him in the doctors' room if we don't have a guarantee for being paid back."
"Help me get this man to my room. I will treat him there and charge him later. He will die if we don't act fast."
The man that Dan was carrying was slowly becoming delirious from the blood loss, although I don't know if it is because of something else I will find out later. Walking to my room, I threw all of my sheets off the bed, laying a waterproof sheet to prevent him from bleeding all over my bed. I had dan lay the man down, and I started to grab all my medical supplies. Removing the bandages, I began to put medicine on his wounds while looking for any traces of poison, anything that could cause problems for the man later on. However, just before this, I gave him medication to reduce blood flow so that he won't bleed to death before I was done cleaning. At the same time, my hands were covered in blood. I had to take off my gloves to that i could delicately stitch his damaged organs. However, this part takes a lot of focus. I used materials that would degrade the body, leaving nothing harmful behind. It will last long enough that the body will naturally heal. With tweezers, I pulled debris from his wound. After getting as much to almost all the debris out, I started stitching his injuries, this time using my cultivation to inject energy into the man's body in hopes that it would prompt faster healing. In contrast, I started to stitch him back together.
After putting gauze on his wound, i wrapped his waist so that there would be evenly distributed pressure along his waist so that he didn't bleed too harshly. Grabbing medicine, I had him ingest it to return his blood flow to normal. I did numb him, but I only did a small amount, so he should be gaining feeling in a couple of minutes.
"Sir, are you still conscious."
I thought that he wasn't conscious, but he was because he nodded his head and tried to speak.
"Don't push yourself. I just need to give you some medicine, but you must ingest it. I will sit you up; I need you to swallow the medicine no matter how bitter."
Opening his eyes, I saw how his eyes seemed like emeralds. I almost got distracted by how handsome he was, but I still put the medicine in his mouth, this time giving him some water to swallow. Swallowing the treatment with the water, you can tell he was shocked, considering how bitter the pill is. He seemed to contemplate spitting out the water with the medicine, but as soon as I saw his expression, I covered his mouth, forcing him to swallow. Although my hands were covered in blood earlier, I had washed them to feed him medicine.
"I'm sorry, but you need this medicine to regulate the blood flow. I had to give you other medication earlier so you wouldn't bleed out. This should help control your blood flow once more. So please don't hate me this is to help."
Nodding his head, he seemed to start falling asleep. I would, too, because he almost died, and his body needs rest.
"You can rest. I'll ask you more questions when you wake up."
Not fighting my suggestion, he passed out due to exhaustion. With him being asleep, I started to wipe off his body from blood and clean him up. Seeing his hair coated in blood, I wiped off his body with a wet rag. Soon, the bucket of water I was using became full of blood over and over. I filled a bucket of water to wash his body. Soon I was able to wash his hair which was coated in blood. Washing his hair, I could tell that his platinum blond hair was beautiful. If any girl were to see it, they would become jealous of how soft it was. Having to dry his hair, I can tell that although he seems to be covered in old scars from possible training and real-life fights, he took care of himself or others. Either way, he is healthy apart from his current injury. Removing the waterproof sheet from under him, I went outside to get it washed and cleaned of the blood. I know that I need to get this done quickly and ask help from one of my cousins to dress the man in other clothes because I need to wash his clothes as well. Although I would like to get this part is done as quickly as possible to ensure that he doesn't relapse within the time that I am gone, although sure that he is out of danger from his injuries, one can retreat, causing the wounds to reopen and that could kill him. Knowing Dan was possibly still awake, I went to find his sense. I knew he could handle helping me. Although he pretends not to care, he usually allows others without asking anything in return; however, I typically make him food as a thank you, this time around, I will have to ask him to reclothe a man, so I think I should give him something other than food. I'll probably pay him and buy him new clothes. I should also probably get him and his fiance a second wedding gift because they plan to have a small wedding ceremony soon, just them and people they deem essential in their lives. Although I wasn't invited, I am happy for them, since they are childhood sweethearts and I have known them and their families since I was little. Soon I found Dan as he was spending time with his fiance. I don't want to disturb them, but I need Dan's help.
"Hey, Mizuki, Dan, I am sorry for interrupting you, but Dan, I would like your help with that patient and was wondering if i could let him borrow your clothes so that I can wash his."
Mizuki at first looked confused, probably trying to remember what patient I was talking about since she works in the nurse's quarters here. It seemed to have clicked in her head because she appeared to have understood what I was referring to.
"It's okay, Dan. I will wait here for you, and Agatha, if you need any help, you know that I am more than willing to help you."
"Thank you, but I think I am already through the crucial stages of taking care of it."
"You know I am always here if you need help."
Dan stood up, kissed Mizuki on the forehead, and headed back to his place to grab some clothes. Then we both headed over to my room. Due to traditional rules about relationships between a man and a woman, I wasn't allowed to help Dan, but he could get the man out of his clothes and into clean clothes with ease. Not long after, I was able to wash the blood-soaked garments. Some of it was torn, but I know how to sew, and I didnt want the man to keep Dan's clothes.
Soon I could let the clothes hang to dry, although I noticed a family crest on his clothes. The crest hat the talons of a dragon. It looked like the embroidery was done from a silver thread that contrasted with the black of his outfit. I tried to ignore it, but I now know what family this man is from. He is from the Takeo family, and this man is most likely the heir to that family. The people of that family have a color hierarchy. If you had gold, you were the patriarch of the family. If you had silver, you were the heir, but then they had the color range from pure white to black as the uniform itself—the darker the color, the lower the standing in the family.
I know who he is from this alone. His name is Kage Takeo, Heir to the Takeo family. Although we never met, I learned about him through the talk of the town. A protege in the martial community and is in the top ten strongest cultivators of this town. He is said to be a master of almost all melee weaponry and bows. How did someone that strong get that injured? I won't know, but I feel it wasn't good. The thing he fought was human though his wound had only the debris from him collapsing at some point when I was cultivating. It was an even slash, so it was a frontal attack, although it seems like it may have been a frontal attack to the fact that he became aware of the attack because he has defensive marks along his body. Although I should tell his family that he is here, I know that because of how he was injured, he was most likely ambushed by someone in his family, or else it was an outsider that was trying to take him down either way if anyone finds out where he is not only will he be in danger so will I. covering him in the sheets, I started to mend his clothes. Although it would be evident that I had to restitch them, I decided to add a design to the parts I would be stitching to make it so that the stitches seem purposeful. I added a grey vine with silver leaves on each cut piece. Though it isn't perfect like a professional, it looks intentional and less accidental. Hopefully, he is okay with it. Either way, he can always get a new set of clothes like the original design if he chooses.
At some point, I fell asleep after finishing stitching the clothes. I folded them and set them at the foot of the bed. Although I probably should have eaten something before then since I ate practically nothing all day I was sound asleep by midnight.