"It's finally over!" exclaimed Nyx, coming out of what had been his hiding spot for the past day.
As if on cue, she peeked up from her book at window. Sure enough, stray rays of sunlight were poking into the room. Even the wind had stopped; so abruptly it would have been deemed unnervingly suspicious on Earth. Fortunately, this was Aran; here it signified the end of a dreary day. Her mood lightened at this. She could finally use magic!
Like a starved beast, she grappled her mana, working it in the pattern of 1st Order spell [Heal Undead]. Different from the previous day, there was no push back, no berserking mana slipping out of her grasp and causing damage to her body. The injuries from the previous attempt vanished in an instant.
Gently, she set her book down, got up from the bed and patted her abdomen. The dull pain was gone. Satisfied, she called the cat over to her and handed him the book, which he swallowed instantly. Then her gaze shot to Isaac.
Since their brief dispute, they- more accurately she, since she was always the one initiating conversations between them- had not said a word to each other.
The bastard had some serious balls to speak to her like he did. The fact that he had tried taking the moral high ground was ridiculous. Accusing her of killing Saana, of turning him into an undead? So what! Was he not the one who had attacked her when she proposed they go their separate ways in peace. Was it not the hag who had destroyed the geezer's tower and killed him unprovoked? Were they not the ones who started it? Where then, had he gotten the fucking balls to get in her face like that?
Maybe I've been treating him too cordially, she thought.
The reason she had turned the bastard into her undead minion, more than to aid her in battles, was to watch him suffer up close. She would not deny that she derived pleasure from seeing his despair-riddled starved face on the first day, but since then that satisfaction had continually diminished. It was no longer as fun as it used to be. Now he took her cordiality as a reason to be rude; maybe if she was harsher with him the enjoyment would return.
But that was something to think about another time. At the moment, what she wanted most was to leave this town.
"Get up," she ordered. "Take all your shit. We're leaving."
Without waiting to see if her orders were followed, she turned to the cat and held out her arms. Nyx got the message almost instantly, running up to her and jumping into her arms. She caught him with one hand and tugged him under her breasts while stroking him with the other hand. Then she moved to the door and swung it open.
Getting to the common room, she found an crowd entering. Off the top of her head, she counted more than three dozen people; filling the seven tables while leaving others with no place to sit. They all appeared to be in a joyous mood; one of them had brought a lute, he tugged at its strings as he began a song thanking the Dragon for fending off the Tiger. When she came down the stairs his voice faltered as his eyes fell upon her. However, he quickly recovered and burst into song once again, louder and jollier. Soon others joined in.
Sage went to the counter and slammed the keys down.
"My sincerest gratitude for the accommodation madam," she said, making herself sound cheery. "But we have to get going."
"Oh," the fat woman seemed slightly taken aback. "You're not staying to celebrate?"
"I wish we could, but the road calls."
"Oh right," the woman seemed a little disappointed. "What a shame, especially since everyone seems to be having fun. This time the Equinox one took one of the livestock. A sheep was lost to the Cold Doom and nothing else." After saying this, her face scrounged up in deliberation. "Well, there was also Daisy's horse which was sacrificed to the Great God's flame. The poor dear is not taking it well however."
Daisy, Sage had learned the previous day, was the female mercenary. Her companion was called Terence. Since the two were unfriendly towards her for some reason, she never bothered to find out what they were doing in Tima.
"Say," the innkeeper looked over Sage's shoulder and leaned in to whisper. "Did you and Isen make up? It's not good for a couple to fight longer than a few hours."
"I want to," she muttered back, trying not to let the disgust at her insinuation creep into her voice. With the next sentence she added a whine to her tone; "but Isen can be so stubborn! If only he could see things my way."
"All men are stubborn dear," the innkeeper said, her face suddenly had a far-off look. "You should have seen my husband when he was alive, never been a more stubborn man to walk on Aran I tell you."
"Is that so?"
"Yes." The innkeeper leaned back and looked at her. "It was always frustrating when we fought, but in the end, we always made up. Sometimes you have to be the one to extend the branch of truce."
"I'll keep that in mind," She acceded.
"Good," the portly woman responded with a smile. "Good luck on the road then."
With that, she and Isaac left the inn. They found countless people moving about the streets, most of them headed to the plaza; that place was spewing more jolly noise than the inn. In the stable to the side, she spotted the two mercenaries; they both stood over a scorched carcass while the woman cried into the man's chest.
"Come horse, we're leaving," she yelled to the monstrous steed just metres from them; completely ignoring the pair.
The helhurst expelled a harsh frosty breath through its nose in what looked like protest. However, it could not resist her order and marched up to them. Isaac stepped in front of her and took the beast's reins. Now all they had to do was get the helm and leave town.
Unfortunately, they only travelled a few metres in the direction of the smithy before they were forced to stop when a thin middle-aged woman jumped in their way and knelt in front of them.
"Please great alchemist, I beseech you!" she cried before Sage had a chance to say anything.
As much as she wanted to shove the woman away and leave, there were a lot of onlookers.
"Might there be something I could aid you with madam," she slipped into character. Hopefully it was not something that would take too long.
"it's my son," the woman tearfully looked up at her. "A few days ago he fell ill and has been bedridden since." Then she crawled forward and grabbed her coat. "Please, I don't have coin but can you please spare a potion for me? Have pity on us! My boy is the only one I have in this life. I can't afford to lose him, please!"
Sage removed the woman's hands from her coat and helped her up. She then looked around, spying the dozen plus onlookers, before looking back at the woman.
"My apologies lady, but that is not possible," she politely tried to shoot her down. "Vigour potions cost money to produce. If I give one away, someone else will come with a tale similar to yours. Then more will come until I've donated my entire livelihood."
"You can't spare one?" the woman looked devastated. However, she bounced back a second later and grabbed Sage's coat lapels with newfound determination. "But you can check my boy, right? I heard alchemists know a lot about illnesses, that's how your kind are able to develop cures."
"I-"
"Please!" the woman begged, sinking back to her knees and flashing a desperate face.
Another look around the street and Sage released a sigh. In the next town they visit she would set her boundaries straight from the begin so this shit could be prevented.
"Lead the way," she responded.
She with Nyx on her shoulder and Isaac tugging the reins of the helhurst, followed the woman to her house. It was a not far.
The day before the previous one, Sage had noted that the there was not much disparity in wealth between Tima's townsfolk. Except for establishments like the inn and the smithy, most buildings were roughly of equal size. The same could be said about the house the lady led them to, the only difference being that it was not in the most pristine shape. Large cracks perforated much of its walls and even parts of the door. From the looks of it, the place could shield its inhabitants from an Equinox; however, she was highly doubtful it could protect from winter.
The woman pushed the door and looked back at her. "Please come in."
Sage silently followed her to a room on the far end. In this room, a young man lay on a thin bed. He appeared to be somewhere in his late teens. When she and the boy's mother entered, he turned to face them, his breath short and heavy. Sage noted his bloodshot eyes had a blue colouring at the bottom. Every so often, his hand shot to the side of his neck and scratched.
After hearing the woman's plea one more time, she stepped forward and grabbed the young man's hand. She turned it over and looked at his nails before dropping it. Then she pried his mouth open and was assaulted by what would no doubt have been a smelly breath if not for her mask. She was treated to rows of yellow teeth, but her gaze moved passed them to his tongue, noting its unnatural size. When she was done, she stepped back and looked at the woman.
"Please Lady Alchemist," said woman begged. "What's wrong with my boy?"
"It's nothing serious," she responded, spying the pale knight creep close to the boy and inspect his neck. "The problem can be solved with a stable diet of spinach, beans and dairy products such as milk or cheese. He should also make sure to eat chicken and meat, especially the liver. For your son to recover, he has to eat all these. If you are unable to get these foods then talk to your fellow townsmen, I'm sure they will be willing to help out after you explain it to them."
"Really," the woman looked ecstatic, tears flowing from her eyes as she clasped Sage's hand between her two. "Thank you so much! I hope the Flame blesses you!"
May He never come close to me, she retorted nonverbally before bidding the woman farewell.
It was when they were outside that the bastard knight initiated a conversation between them for the first time.
"He is not malnourished. He's missing blood."
"I am aware," she responded, shooting him a sideways scowl. All she had needed was a single look at the boy to concluded he was suffering from anaemia. The symptoms were quite clear to her; after all, in her past life she had contracted it a few times when she was still an amateur. "The food I recommended will aid with forming new blood."
"That's not what I am getting at," the pale knight responded in frustration. "His blood has been taken."
"So?" she responded dully. "What d'you expect me to do?" Before he could respond, she turned to him and give him a stare. "You do realise what we are right? This has nothing to do with us."
"You-" he tried to say, but she cut him off.
"The only thing we're going to fucking do is leave this town," she said with finality, causing him to harrumph and look away.
When they stepped back on the street, she felt the bastard's eyes drilling in the back of her head; which she opted to ignore as she chose the street leading the smithy.
Unfortunately, it was not long before a they encountered someone on the road who had heard that she had agreed to help the woman. This person, a man on the cusp of old age, then went on his knees and begged her to save his grandson who had also become bedridden.
Listening to him, Sage tried not grind her teeth so loud he would hear them. I fuckin swear this is the last time I'm doing this shit! Where the fuck had these people been hiding that they were only coming out when she was preparing to leave?
This town was merely supposed to be a shelter from the Equinox. Now that the danger had passed, she was eager to be away from this place, especially before anyone decided to hound her for selling potions that were not potent enough. Although her defence was passable, the preferable scenario was one where she never had to use it.
"Fuck it!" she muttered under her breath before turning to Isaac. "Go get the helm and meet me outside town, I'll be there as soon as I can." Then, turning to her shoulder, she said, "Nyx, go with him."
The cat gave her a hesitant look, but when she continued to glare, he gave up and jumped off her shoulder; into Isaac's shadow and disappeared. This caused a few gasps from the people in the street, background noise she was beginning to give less of a fuck about.
"Lead the way," she said after watching the bastard knight drag the horse away.
The man led her to his house, where she checked on a young man with a less sever case of anaemia than the previous beggar's son. After recommending the same diet she had suggested to the middle-aged woman, she left his house. However, this time she crept to an empty alley and activated {Invisibility}. With that, no one would see her; now all she had to do was meet up with Isaac and Nyx outside town and then she would be on her way, far from this place.
At least that was plan… before she felt the distance between her and Isaac and Nyx increase further than it should have. Cursing under her breath, she turned to the northwest of the town. In the distance was a large hill with a castle positioned on the peak.
The dumb fuck Isaac was accelerating in its direction.