Kapitel 24: Chapter 3 — We need more money
Keyaruga, Setsuna, and Freia once again walked through the slums. While the Hero of Healing was towering above two of his girls, the latter spoke about their dinner from the previous day. Even if it lasted just for a little bit. The red-haired lad got quite fond of the hidden needles, so now he had a few of them hidden in the sleeves.
"Setsuna doesn't want here." — The she-wolf said, feeling the stench of the lower city. Suffice to say, that place didn't remind her of the best moments of her life.
"Don't fret; if we ever go to that slave market again, it would be to destroy it." — The lad calmed down his ally. "For now, we make the last deal and skip the town. I don't want Ranalitta to make us an easy target."
"My lord, in the morning, when I and Setty went shopping, I heard something about some Kura… ha?" Just what we needed!
"Kureha?" The sorceress nodded. "What about her?"
"Apparently, she went ahead of the main Jioral forces and will soon be here."
"FUCK!!!" — Keyaruga sweared, nervously shaking his head.
"Who is that?" — Setsuna inquired, startled by her master's reaction. This must have been the first time he showed such emotion in her presence.
"Haven't you heard of her?" Everyone should've, she's a living legend! "Fine, she's a warrior. THE warrior! Beautiful and strong. I wish I could meet her again, but… if she's going to engage me in combat, I doubt I can handle her now. I would like her to join our cause." Despite the context of his words, they were filled with dreamy anticipation. So much so that Setsuna and Freia got a bit jealous. However, the previous just made a long exhale of acceptance, and the latter's face would soon get cold and unemotional. Either way, with the location of the potion exchange revealed, Keyaruga had to deal with the consequences.
Same place, an inn on the border of the lower and middle city. It looked shabby and unattractive from the outside, but the interior was really cozy and well-maintained. However, this time was different from all the others. The usually empty inn was now filled to the brim with "guests", more than twenty strong men. Mercenaries, masquerading as workers. You've picked a good day to double-cross us, Quinta…
"Greetings, good sir! Come here and sit with us." The situation got tense indeed. The girls got worried, and the hero himself wished to draw his saber. After all, with Cryleth's swordsmanship, he could fight armies, but not in an enclosed space. Not with two of his toys being so close. And when the healer tried summoning his jade eye… What is it? Oh damn, that hurt. I see, magic disrupting? You've made preparations.
"Good day, Ledra Goldman." With nothing else to do, the man took his place. Freia and Setsuna remained standing, but with a raised index finger, the hero warned them about the sudden moves. At least, he hoped so.
"I was starting to worry if you left our beautiful city. Sir, I am glad to see that you value our business relationship. Or, should I say, the Hero of Healing? The murderer of princess Flare?" With the merchant saying that, all the mercenaries gathered around their table. Only one bodyguard guarded the only exit. Is it because of my conversation with Freia? Whatever, I have to kill him and flee.
"Have you sold me? Or… Well-well, you haven't tried to kill me yet, so I presume you want us alive and away from Jioral? Think you can exploit us a little more, Ledra Goldman? Or should I say Quinta?" After all, Keyaruga himself had an ace up his sleeve.
"What?.. You have something on me? No matter, get him!" — The dealer snarled and his men charged forward. With nobody to plan the assault, Keyaruga left in the corner, the best place after doorways. The first blood was spilled after the healer decapitated his first victim. The second got stabbed by a toxic needle that came out of the left sleeve. Freia and Setsuna tried to use their magic, but all they got was severe headaches; they were useless now. Keyaruga impaled one, and the other got stabbed in the eye with a throwing knife. He even deflected a crossbow bolt before...
"A-A-A-A-A!!!" With a wild scream, the hero conjured a great icicle in his left hand and pierced the table and the black crystal hidden under it. Finally, Setsuna got her forearms clad in ice, which got painted in blood in a mere second. Freia prepared her lightning. And finally, Keyaruga put the tip of his saber close to the face of the treacherous dealer. Having lost six men in barely half a minute, the mercenaries lost their will to fight. Mostly.
"Ha-ha! You asked if I had something on you? I may know a man or two you tricked. But that shouldn't concern you! You know that me and Freia are heroes! Did you really think your small ambush with that pitiful magic disruptor would have any result aside from us murdering all you could throw at us?"
"Please, I don't want any trouble! We just need the recipe! My p-partner wishes to e… es… establish a mass production!" — The businessman explained, nervously rubbing his sweaty hands. He never liked the idea of tackling not even one, but two heroes instead of selling them to the coming Jioral forces, yet…
"He's not your partner, he's your boss! And these goons also work for him. Am I correct? Maybe… Afr Reol Ranalitta? Seems fitting." — Keyaruga presumed, not lowering his saber even a bit. His evil grin and worrisome awareness scared Quinta even more.
"N-no! He's not… We just want to increase our profit!" Pathetic excuse.
"Hm, whatever. I see there are reinforcements outside. So, how many corpses do you want me to leave? Including you and that bodyguard of yours."
"They're finally here?" Even though the hero could still easily murder him, Quinta breathed a sigh of relief. "Heh, you might be strong, but let me ask you: can you kill us all while protecting these girls and make it out alive?" What? Wait, he's actually got a point…
"Master, Setsuna…"
"We can fight! I can burn this entire rathole!" Us included…
"Hey, old man! Don't you think you've mistaken me for someone?" Time to act decisively! "They're actually my toys, loyal slaves! I like them, but if needed, I might leave them to die! But don't think it'll save you from my wrath! I'm the Hero of Healing, and you will endure a thousand painful deaths before I will finally let you die!"
"Y-you're bluffing!"
"Try me, little shit!" This time his bloodsoaked saber got dangerously close to the seller's neck. Truth be told, Keyaruga was not ready to die for his toys, not while his mission remained incomplete. If anything, he wasn't a brave knight armed with but a shield, always ready to protect and forgive even his worst offenders. Even the Hero of Magic was supposed to die, protecting the healer. But now... Having Freia and Setsuna perish, even accidentally…
"All right, let's have it your way." ...ultimately made the red-headed man sheath his blade. With the sharp object gone from the vicinity of his artery, Quinta finally relaxed a bit. Just like the rest of the mercenaries, they never expected a simple healer to be that proficient at murdering people. "This rumble is just too small for me to lose my precious toys in. You want a recipe? I'll give it to you, for… Hmm, five hundred gold."
"I… I agree to your terms."
"You don't sound satisfied. What, you wanted us chained, my girls sold, and me enslaved in a dungeon? Sorry, but this is the only fate I'd rather die than accept."
"O-of course not! My… partner just wanted to greet you!"
"Lies! But if you are telling the truth, tell him he should meet me himself next time. Now, make memos, for I won't repeat myself. First, you'll need wolfberries, osmanthus, and the blood of anyone who successfully survived the plague, you included, old man…" First, Keyaruga explained every step in theory. And after being presented with alchemical tools and the ingredients, the red-eyed lad demonstrated his mastery on the split table. Keyaruga even used a droplet of Quinta's blood to make a full-fledged medicine. Nobody noticed him using healing magic, though.
"Here you go, my family recipe. Even your stupid goons can brew it now. Give me my gold, and we'll call it a day."
"Wait! We need proof that this works!" Hm, suit yourself, old man. You won't profit from this anyway. Now, show me my client, Jade Eye.
"You, crossbowman in red. Drop your plaything and catch." Without even a slight concern, Keyaruga tossed him a bottle. Surprisingly enough, a cutthroat caught it with the right hand and, under the insistent sight of Quinta, drank it whole. No green spark, though. "Better?"
"Fucking worth it." Of course you'd swear. Maybe I should have Freia burn this place?
"Now, give me my money and raise your income as much as you can" Which isn't much, honestly. "Just remember to deal with honesty, otherwise your next "partner" might not be as merciful as I am now." Although the treat from the mercenaries was no more, they burst into laughter. In the end, their goal was achieved.
In the end, Quinta did reward Keyaruga with five hundred golden coins. Jioral cadmi, Scodilian tarns, Garalis' marks, and even Buranikka's gelis — three money bags the merchant gave the Hero of Healing could be a treasure for any numismatist. Two he handed to Freia; the other one remained on his belt. And now, the trio once again walked beside Ranalitta's shacks under the setting sun…
"I'm so sorry, Lord Keyaruga. If only I had been able to kill them faster, you wouldn't have needed to hand them the recipe." — The sorceress apologized with her head down.
"And Setsuna. Setsuna still too weak."
Both of them were upset by the transaction. They didn't even hold a grudge against Keyaruga for what he said. After all, his actions spoke much louder than words, and the girls were grateful for that. And the healer himself never wanted them dead, for that would make his life miserable once more.
"Pha-ha-ha! Come on, they won't even be able to take money from that! I tricked them. Only my blood can make that poisonous mess into a potion of healing. Without it, they would get a laxative at best. Also, with me healing the source, epidemics will soon fade away. So, Lord Afr can go to hell."
"Now that's actually quite smart of you, my Lord."
"Setsuna too thinks so."
"Wait, I still have potions in my backpack." The pink-haired girl took off her backpack and pulled out two boxes. "Can we, I don't know, give them to the poor?"
"We can, but I warn you, Freia. Things won't go the way that you think they will."
"Uh-huh." Setsuna completely agreed with her master.
"I beg you! I don't want to leave them like that when I can help!"
"Hm, fine."
A few minutes later, the trio handed the wondrous medicine to those who seemed like they needed it the most. And if the first dozen or so were grateful enough to thank the pink-haired girl for her generosity, twenty five others barely even understood the caster's generosity. And reaching a half-dilapidated asylum for the wretched had to be her worst mistake. There, the girl approached a hag, sitting near the broken door.
"I'm sorry. You seem to be suffering from the plague, and…" Freia stopped, when the wretched woman raised her hateful gaze. "I… might have a cure…"
"You… don't want to be here." With the dirty elder saying that with her creaky voice, the ruckus started in the ruins. A bearded man with yellowish skin emerged from the inside to…
"Hey! What are you?.." …literally rip the box from the hands of the sorceress. Then, he pushed her, but the shocked ex-princess got caught by Keyaruga, who already put a saber between his toy and the human filth. Whatever the latter tried to do, that put an end of it.
Ultimately, the magician did gave the stinking paupers what they needed — all the remaining potions. But instead of just sharing the cure, they…
"They… are fighting. Why? Why, my lord?" Now, the Hero of Magic gazed with terror at the terrible result of her actions.
"Humans are dumb. Can't help each other." — Setsuna explained without a trace of surprise.
"They have no other choice. Here, if you share something, you say, "I'm a loser. I'll give you everything". The only reason you weren't snatched away and raped is me and Setsuna."
"So… I shouldn't help people?"
"You should, but not in this way. Humans are determined by their place in society, and so to help the poor, you must improve their conditions. After all, you don't expect a pack of dogs to behave when you throw them a bone.
"..."
"My lord, they're people, not dogs!"
"They no look different." — Setsuna interjected herself once more into the conversation.
"Let's go. We've drawn too much attention as it is. We have to leave Ranalitta." And with Keyaruga's last decree, the trio went away. Freia took one last look at the asylum to…
"I'll find a way to help you properly, I promise."
…
It's been a few minutes since the sorceress got her lesson. Setsuna got unusually tense, and so did Keyaruga. He felt that he was being followed. And then, his instincts screamed: run, or die fighting!The healer chose to fight. He drew the saber, turned around, and deflected a mighty sword thrust before dodging three consecutive slashes, one of which reached his cheek.
(https://ranobehub.org/api/media/45068 - SFW illustration)
"At this point, I am not even surprised to have my lunge deflected. You really do possess Cryleth's technique. To think that someone outside of our family could achieve something like that! Who are you?" — Asked the war maiden, the Jioral's mightiest swordswoman. Kureha Cryleth, the only human here who was a match for the Hero of Healing.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein