Aaron looked down at the body of the bandit and sighed.
Afterwards, a mere glance at the rest of the crew made them flee, abandoning the unconscious body of their boss behind as they ran for their lives.
The villagers saw the opportunity created by Aaron and began to stand up for themselves, an act that Aaron found rather distasteful since it had been only the elderly man who stood up to the evil that almost befell them.
A few of the villagers chased down the rest of the bandits with shovels, sticks, rakes and pretty much anything they could lay their hands on.
Aaron walked through the crowd, heading over to the old man who had shown some courage.
He crouched in front of him and patted the old man's back, smiling at him. The old man was a little bit flustered but began to loosen up a few seconds later, smiling back at Aaron with the few teeth he had left.
"You did well, Mister Jang," Aaron commended him.
After they had spoken for some time, Aaron got up and started to walk away.
The crowd of villagers began to cheer him on for his bravery and for rescuing them with Aaron smiling and waving before he walked far enough for them not to make out his figure anymore.
After Aaron had left, Mister Jang didn't notice what had happened to him at first until he saw his cane on the ground beside him.
It was then that Mister Jang realised that he was standing erect and without his cane.
"What's... going on... here?" he questioned himself internally.
He couldn't believe it but he was standing straight without the need of his long-term companion — his cane — and his back pains had left him in an instant as well.
He turned in the direction that Aaron walked but the young man was no longer in sight.
.
.
.
Aaron blinked several times as he got to the entrance of the Love Clinic.
It was just two days since he defeated the bandits and sent the group of savages fleeing for their lives.
Now, Elsa was calling him out of his office to come and control the crowd of clients.
Aaron came out and couldn't believe it.
Was his forced heroic deed some sort of magnet?
He usually had an average of two to three clients per day but now, about nine people were standing outside and if he counted the pregnant lady coming closer and closer from afar... that made them ten.
That was a crowd.
They had come with different complaints and didn't care what his clinic specialised in.
Chest pain.
Cough.
Weakness.
Headaches.
Fever.
Abdominal pain.
Diarrhoea as well as any kind of complaints one could think of.
Aaron looked at Elsa, who looked back at him with a confused look. She had first been overwhelmed, not knowing what to do with the sudden influx of clients and the day was yet to reach noon.
Everyone was agitating because Elsa had made the silly mistake of mixing up their numbers.
"I've been here since the cock crowed!" one of them complained.
"That's a lie! I was here before you. I saw you when you came with that guy!" another countered while also pointing to another client like himself.
The argument between them continued until Aaron came forth.
"Silence, please!" he demanded. "Any more noise and I won't attend to anybody today."
The environment fell quiet instantly. No one wanted to not be seen by Aaron.
He was the talk of the village in these past few days. Rumours, bred from speculation, had spread like wildfire about how Aaron was capable of manipulating the powers of this world.
The power that the villagers termed 'Magic'.
.
.
.
The testament of Aaron's youthful bravery had gone far beyond the borders of Bambara and now the Love Clinic was booming.
It was time to consider employing more hands but Aaron was hesitant to take that decision because Elsa was still adjusting to the work rate and he did her hands to become stronger at work.
From two to nine clients, now Aaron sees at least twenty clients daily and for a wide range of diverse complaints.
The one thought he did consider though was the one about changing the name of his clinic. Originally Elsa's idea, Aaron was ready to adopt it.
"Love Clinic doesn't just cut it. We already see many complaints in this place. We are basically doctors now," Elsa debated at the time they discussed the issue.
Aaron had given it some thought over the past two days and was still thinking about it now. He leaned back on his chair and threw his head back, heaving a sigh.
"Naming is hard."
Just as he thought of the new name, a knock came on his door and it opened shortly after.
It was Elsa.
"Forgive my intrusion, master," she apologised as Aaron took a glance at her from head to toe.
"What's the matter?"
"There are some people here to see you?"
Aaron sat up, interested to know who these people were.
"Who are they?" he inquired further.
"They said they were sent by the chieftain."
"The chieftain?" Aaron thought while clasping his hands together as a rest for his chin.
His eyes were narrowed at Elsa in a sharp gaze. Aaron appeared to Elsa as if he understood the gravity of the matter. But it seemed that he didn't else he would have discharged Elsa immediately and invited the retinue of the chieftain or even go and meet with them outside.
In that short time of silence, Aaron searched his memories but the ones accessible to him had no records of who this chieftain was.
He cleared his throat and faked an expression of understanding and insight of the situation whereas he was completely ignorant of who the retinue of the chieftain was.
"Ahem, let them in," he instructed as he relaxed on his chair and watched Elsa's bottoms wiggle away from him.
After a few minutes, a group of four individuals walked into his office with the blue-haired one in front holding a missive.
Aaron was taken aback.
The entourage of the chieftain before him was very much different from what he imagined.
The blue-haired one handed Aaron the letter and returned to join the rest without saying a word yet since their entrance.
Aaron read the content of the letter and looked at them, saying no words either.
"An invitation?" he muttered.
"Yes. My lady chieftain invites you to the palace," the blue-haired member of the entourage purred, flaunting her bouncy buxom in front of Aaron with her cheeks burning red as she bit her index fingers in a lewd way.