Chapter 162: She Dashes To Another Rescue
Robin held the small clear slime in her hand. The old man peered through his glasses at it.
"A slime? Don't slimes usually attack people?But this one is so docile...A tamed slime?"
At those words, Quinn felt a bit resentful. His kind were not pets!
"No, this one has an intelligence and language of its own. So it's a friend of mine." Robin replied. "It's just a bit difficult to understand is all."
"Is that so?...But, how is a slime supposed to help me?" The old man asked.
"A famous slime....that can heal anything....even scars can be removed without a problem...." Robin hinted.
"Oh! So this is a king slime!?" The old man asked in surprise, finally understanding. "Perhaps this really is my lucky day! If anyone can tell what's wrong with me, surely a king slime can! What do I need to do?"
"Nothing. Just sit still and breathe as normally as you can." Robin replied. Unfortunately, something must have caught in his throat, because he had a coughing fit right after that.
The king slime grew larger, and hopped over to the old man's shoulders, in an easy manner. It was as if it were saying 'This is fine, too.'
As Robin watched, the old man seemed to overlap with her memory of her grandma. She had always been a talker, but always seemed to have a persistent cough that followed her around. She always insisted it was just a cold.
Even her parents weren't aware of how bad her situation was. But they were genuine in their concern for her. Her father had even put her on a tropical cruise during the cold winter months to help her avoid the chill.
When her parents had died in the accident, Robin's grandmother had also keeled over in a heart attack from the shock. But, even if her parent's deaths hadn't happened, she would not have lived long. The autopsy her brother insisted on showed that she was in the 2nd stage of lung cancer.
Robin blinked and returned to the present. She really hoped she was wrong.
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"FOOLS!! THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU!!" An entire tableful of food was dashed to the ground in front of a familiar bulgy-nosed dwarf, and his companions.
"How is it that you can't even find four dwarves, huh!?" Their employer, a dark-bearded dwarf decked in fineries scolded. "Traughn's group was mysteriously taken out, and now four dwarves have disappeared under your very noses! Aren't you ashamed of yourself!? You call yourself experts!?"
"Experts at throat-cutting? Yes. Experts at sniffing out long gone tracks? no." Bulby-Nose harrumphed, clearly unsatisfied with how he was being treated.
"You're not getting paid to stand around and gripe about what you can't do. You're being paid to do your work! If you can't finish your job, then you will never get paid!" The gold-decked dwarf sniffed. Bulby-nose winced. But he had no other choice but to bear the insult, as he needed the coin.
"Don't come back to report until you finish your job!" The shrill voice of the opulent dwarf shooed the group out of the room.
Once they had left the house, one of them spit on the ground. "If I were offered a single copper ta take that fat plague out, than I'd do it."
"Why a copper? He isna worth even a smallsy." Another sneered. "If it weren't fer Boss's little girl needing a cure, We'd be quitting this thankless job inna heartbeat!"
Bulby-nose turned to a dwarf that approached him.
"How is she?" He asked.
"Not good. The bruises are spread to tha point where it's painful for her to even breathe. She may not last the night." The dwarf shook his head, tears in his eye. "She keeps calling fer ye. She wants to see ye."
Bulby-nose was silent. "Help me take care of her. I'll come back with tha cure in these next few days."
"But Boss Rahm! She may not even last a few days at this rate!" The dwarf said, hid voice choked up by the lump in his throat.
"...Tomorrow. Regardless of what happens, I'll go an see her tomorrow." Bulby-I mean Boss Rahm replied quietly with his back turned.
"Thank you, Boss! I'll go and tell her right now!" The dwarf replied looking relieved.
Rahm stood there in the dark alley alone for a long minute. Then he looked up at the starry sky.
"Why must the heavens force my hand? I never wanted any of this."He sighed at length.
Then, his shoulders shook as he leaned against a wall, and crouched down. For a moment, it looked as if a falling star slid down his cheek. But it was just the moon's reflection upon his tears.
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"I can't tell you how much younger I feel now!" the old dwarf laughed merrily. "It's like I'm a new dwarf! I can't thank ye enough!"
"Then, if you see anyone with bruises like I described, you can pay me back by having them come see me at the tavern." Robin said seriously. "And please do spread the word, okay?"
"Sure! Ah, young master, what name should they ask for?" The old dwarf asked.
"Tell them to look for Robin!" Came the reply.
After leaving the shop, Robin headed back to the inn. Now she had all that she needed to make chocolate. However, that day, she was destined not to return until nightfall.
A dwarven child dashed out of a nearby alleyway, tears blinding her eyes. With Robin's sharp senses, how could she not have seen her? But a familiar brilliant bruise on the girl's arm made her change her decission to dodge. Thus the girl crashed headfirst into Robin, who caught her before she fell to the ground.
"Oof! Hey, little girl, are you okay? Hey, what's the matter? " Robin asked, concerned.
The girl looked up at Robin, and began bawling her eyes out. In between her sobs, Robin gently managed to extract that all her friends were very sick, some were even near death. That this morning she noticed the same bruises that they had. And her mom just collapsed.
"Little girl, I happen to know something about your bruises. If you take me to those people you know who are the most sick, I'll be able to save everyone, and no one has to die." Robin told her.
"Ye-hic-Ye mean it?" The little girl stopped crying as she looked up at Robin.
"I'm positive." Robin nodded. "I've already helped two people get rid of their bruises for good."
"Than come an' heal mah ma!" The little girl tugged on Robin's clothes. "An' mah friends, an' their ma's!"
"Hold on. What is you're mother's name, little one?" Robin asked.
"Her name is Patty! Oh hurry!" The girl tugged, eager to drag her off.
Robin turned to Gerard. "Go tell Ayva I'm visiting a sick woman by the name of Patty. And, as there may be an infestation spreading, I'll need some helping hands."
"Got it. I'll go right away!" Gerard ran back to the inn.
"All right, little one. show me where your mother is." Robin said, as she hurried with the little girl into the alleyway. Luckily the girl didn't go anywhere she couldn't fit through. Christian and the knights on the other hand, were stuck at a rather narrow spot between two buildings.
"Find a more open location, and I'll send Skye to lead the way later!" Robin called back to them as she disappeared down the alleyways.
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"Ma! Ma!" The girl cried out as she dashed over to an unconscious woman on the floor of a rather low-ceiling home. Robin had to continuously duck her head. She swiftly knelt down next to the woman, and tapped her belt, summoning the king slime.
Upon coming into contact with the woman, it immediately realized the situation and got to work. As the situation was serious, it could only swiftly expel the parasites, and heal as it expelled to minimize the blood loss.
"What's going on! what are ye doing to mah ma?!" The little girl asked.
"Hush, girl! This is a king slime. If no one else can heal your mother, it can." Robin soothed the girl. Then she explained her mother's situation.
"Your mother, has some bad bugs inside her which are making her sick, and giving her those bruises. If the king slime doesn't get them out quickly, they'll hurt your mom from the inside to the point where she'll die. I promise that once the slime is done, there won't even be a single scar on her. ok?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone