A worn-down wooden door of a shack in the middle of Naiccos' slums slowly creaked open.
The door wasn't opened all the way, instead being opened just enough for a pair of gloomy eyes to peek through the opening.
"…"
The pair of eyes silently studied the two—no, three—people that were in front of the shack.
The wandering gaze soon stopped moving and was fixed on a blood-stained and tattered young man – Luke.
Noticing the pair of eyes looking at Luke, whom he was carrying on his shoulder, Ellios spoke up while feigning a smile.
"We could exchange pleasantries, but I don't think there's time for that."
Meanwhile, Anastasia, who was standing right behind Ellios, tried her hardest not to frown, but had little success as her face was as twisted as it could be.
"Hmph."
The person behind the gaze snorted and moved away as they closed the door.
Some sort of ratcheting noise could be heard from inside the shack, and moments later, the door swung open.
Standing in the doorway was a woman with crossed arms.
Her dull gray hair flowed all the way down to her knees. Despite what one may think when seeing the color of her hair, the woman appeared to only be in her mid-thirties, but neither the dark circles under her eyes nor her slightly hunched back helped her look any younger.
Ellios, still feigning a smile, looked at the woman.
"Hello, Norma."
Even though the pair of people were in disguise, it did not matter to the woman in front of them. She could see right through it.
As if bothered by their appearance, the woman, Norma, beckoned Ellios and Anastasia.
"…Come in."
The pair of people walked into the shack without a word of protest.
Norma looked through the still-opened door, both to the right and to the left.
She then turned towards Ellios with narrowed eyes, her paranoia obvious.
"You weren't followed, were you?"
Ellios shook his head.
"Of course not."
Closing the door, she sighed.
"Follow me."
While the shack they were in seemed much bigger than the rest of the shacks in the slums, the inside of it resembled nothing short of a proper house.
Even the door that seemed shabby and run-down from the outside was nice and polished from the inside, and it even had an intricate locking mechanism.
Anastasia still hasn't said a word, deciding that it would be for the best if they got through their current situation without any incidents. In her mind, letting Ellios handle this would assure that outcome.
After making their way into another room, Norma motioned at a rectangular, flat table in the middle of the room.
"Place him there."
Abiding by her instructions, Ellios gently laid Luke down on the table.
Luke was at death's door. His face was now devoid of any warmth or color.
Norma wasted no time, as she wordlessly approached Luke and placed her finger over one of his wounds.
With fresh blood staining her finger, she raised it to her lips and licked it.
After tasting his blood, she had a surprised expression.
Her lips twisted into a smile.
"Hmm… Turns out you've brought someone interesting to me…"
Needless to say, such a smile didn't fit on such a person at all.
Ellios and Anastasia observed the woman in silence. They wouldn't unnecessarily meddle in her work.
Norma hastily walked to the corner of the room where a big dresser was.
She opened it and looked inside with a pondering expression.
The inside of the dresser was full of sealed leather bags, physically separated into rows, with a different symbol representing each row.
Usually, this part of her job was the easiest, but in Luke's case, Norma wondered which bag she should use.
After staring at the bags for a bit longer, Norma picked one of them up and rushed back to the table where Luke lay.
Ellios and Anastasia used the little amount of bandages they had on them to patch Luke's worst wounds up, but he still kept losing blood rapidly from his other wounds. If not for the bandages, Luke would've long bled out by now.
While the bandages slowed down the bleeding considerably, it was a fact that Luke still kept bleeding out of the bandaged wounds as well.
Norma picked up a mortar and pestle and ground several different leaves into tiny pieces before pouring some cold water into the mortar.
She opened Luke's mouth and made him drink the contents.
It was a bit difficult as the inside of Luke's mouth was very dry, but with some effort, Norma managed to do it.
Luke's wounds slowly stopped bleeding in real time.
As soon as his wounds completely stopped bleeding, Norma opened up the sealed leather bag.
Inside the bag was a thick, vermillion-red liquid with a metallic smell.
It was blood.
Norma put one hand above the bag and the other on the vein that was on the inside of Luke's elbow; a small stream of blood floated from the bag and flowed into the hand above the bag and into Norma's arm.
The veins across her body expanded as fresh blood pumped through them and into Luke.
With a strained face, Norma emptied the contents of the leather pouch.
No, it would be more accurate to say that the blood was being sucked out of the bag by Luke through Norma.
She looked at Ellios with slight panic.
"A-Another… Bring me another bag! Third row!"
Ellios was surprised by her expression but nodded and fetched her the requested bag nonetheless.
He had seen this procedure multiple times in the past, but Norma had never made such a face.
"Open it up! Hurry!"
She couldn't currently open the bag herself, as she couldn't stop in the middle of the procedure. It was obvious that she had underestimated the amount of blood Luke needed.
Ellios opened the bag and placed it next to the first bag, which was on the table, next to Luke's shoulder.
After less than a minute since she started, the first bag was empty.
Norma immediately moved onto the next bag, which took longer to empty than the first one. Her expression also stabilized, and by the time the second bag was empty, Luke's face had regained a lot of its lost color.
Once the blood transfusion was done, Norma moved on to treating Luke's wounds while the medicine she had fed him was still in effect.
She started by treating the broken bones first, fixing them back into their original positions, and reconnecting them using a white ointment applied directly to the bones.
This method was used to treat the broken thigh bone and the broken bones in his limp arm, as well as his broken fingers.
These procedures took less than 15 minutes. Calling Norma fast was an understatement.
All that was left after that was fixing Luke's broken ribs and ruptured organs.
The medicine he was fed would ensure no internal or external bleeding, but no matter how fast Norma worked, organ failure was always a possibility.
After making a vertical incision across Luke's chest, Norma was surprised by the amount of luck that Luke had.
Aside from a couple of broken ribs, only his liver was punctured by two loose bones.
Thirty minutes later, the surgery was completed, and all Luke had to do now was rest.
Needless to say, the remainder of the minor cuts and scratches on his body were promptly taken care of with a combination of bandages and herbs after the surgery was over.
His wounds would heal in around a day, thanks to the various ointments and herbs used to treat him, as well as Norma's high medical proficiency.
"…Phew."
Norma heaved a tired sigh. Working on Luke proved to be a very arduous task.
She was sitting down, with Ellios and Anastasia across her.
They were sitting on cushioned wooden chairs around a rectangular wooden table.
A heavy silence spread throughout the room.
Ellios didn't want to interact with the woman in front of him any more than necessary.
As for Anastasia, she was struggling not to think about killing the woman in front of her right this instant.
And so, the one who broke the silence was Norma herself.
"I never expected you to come knocking at my door again, y'know?"
Ellios kept his composure as he answered.
"It was simply a matter of necessity."
Norma sneered in disdain.
"Who's the kid anyway?"Gotta be someone important for you to come to me."
With a slight smile on his face, Ellios answered.
"That young man is my disciple."
Raising one of her eyebrows as if in doubt, Norma stared at Ellios in silence for some time before speaking.
"…Alright, where's the punchline?"
With a smile still on his face, Ellios slowly shook his head.
"Hoh… Now there's something I thought I'd never witness. I guess people can change after all."
Norma then redirected her gaze to Anastasia and smirked.
"As long as they're alive, that is."
Anastasia's face contorted at that remark, and she stood up without thinking, making the chair she was sitting on fall over.
"Anastasia…"
Breathing in and out rapidly, she tried her best to calm down. Acting on impulse was one of her weaknesses, but Ellios would usually keep her in check when it came to situations like these.
But aside from being a medical specialist, Norma also had other talents.
"Oh, poor little Sia, I see you're still on a tight leash. How sad…"
"…!"
Flames erupted from Anastasia's eyes as she kept glaring at Norma. She gritted her teeth in rage. The moment she answered Norma's taunts was the moment she'd completely be caught in her verbal trap.
Sia was an old nickname of hers reserved only for her close friends and family. Not even Ellios called her by that nickname.
Norma used to be among that small number of people, but that wasn't the case anymore, and for years at that.
But after what she did to Anastasia's brother, an enormous rift filled with animosity formed between the two.
Anastasia was already traveling with Ellios at that point, so her hatred towards Norma also applied to Ellios, in the form of disgust towards the woman.
Ellios placed his hand on Anastasia's shoulder.
She hadn't noticed it, but he stood up at some point and was now standing right next to her.
To Anastasia, Ellios was both a teacher and a friend. He was someone she had deep respect for.
That is the reason she was able to calm down after he looked her in the eyes.
Anastasia scornfully looked at Norma, clicked her tongue, and left the room.
Sitting back down on the chair, Ellios looked towards the woman sitting across him.
"Now that the nuisance has been dealt with, let's talk about my payment…"
With a condescending tone, Norma started telling Ellios about her request.