บท 5: The unexplained disease.
A hooded young man roamed the slums in search of the place where an old man and his grandson were waiting. The letter that he had received not only contained the location of said house, but also the problem that that small family had.
As the young man looked ragged and dirty, he blended well with people from the slums, his appearance made very few people even bother to turn their gaze in his direction.
Around it you could see a strange mixture of constructions completely made of wood or wooden structures and a facade of some type of adobe. People could be observed returning from their respective working days, many of the inns and bars had much more movement at night, so the chandeliers of these establishments illuminated the young man's path.
After walking nine full blocks, he finally left the slum business district and into the uptown area. The first thing he observed was an old church that also served as an orphanage, behind a small fence made of stone, one of the nuns could be seen scolding the children so they could go to rest from their busy day of games and work.
At the rear of the church was a small cemetery located in a rather inappropriate location, but the truth is that no one bothered to look after the community of people from the slums. As he moved away from the commercial district, the buildings were much more austere and ramshackle.
Along his way, he felt many gazes rested on him, but thanks to his appearance, those gazes lost interest quite quickly and returned to their wakefulness. It was clear that people in the slums seized the moment when some sucker with money wandered into the wrong place and would use that opportunity for an easy profit.
After a long journey that lasted just over an hour and a half, he finally reached the house he was looking for. It was a small one-story house, the facade was practically crumbling, the rotten timbers that made up the railings of the entrance bear witness to it.
The young man carefully observed the house, there was a light on inside. After verifying that the place was inhabited, he finally allowed himself to climb the small step that led to the entrance door.
- "! Tok! Crack! " –The door rang in poor condition as it peeled off with the soft knock of the visitor.
The moment he watched the door peel off, the visitor immediately stopped. He seemed to be watching the door curiously, waiting for some response from within.
In a short time, a young man with brown hair, brown eyes, a slightly brown complexion, and a dirty appearance not very favorable opened the door to verify the identity of the visitor. Perhaps describing his action as "Open" is somewhat inappropriate, in reality, the young man pushed the door with distrust, leaving it partially open, that is to say, from a practically closed door he peered outside his house.
What he observed was an extremely suspicious man who looked unfavorable, even a homeless man would be cleaner than the man who knocked on his door.
— "What do you want?" The boy inside was completely defensive, he clearly didn't trust his visitor.
— "Goodnight. I have received the letter that was sent by one of the people who live in this house and I have come to help them with their problem." The thirteen-year-old man noticed a somewhat strange factor, the way of visitor speaking and his appearance were dissonant, something did not coincide in these two factors.
—"you? Seriously? To be honest I was expecting something different." That kind of reaction couldn't be helped. Given the appearance that the hooded man was particularly striking, it was normal to perceive him as an extremely poor person.
Of course, this factor was not fortuitous. The appearance of the hooded not only functioned as a shield, it also functioned as a unit of measurement. Since only an extremely desperate person would let such an individual into their home. It wasn't like every person who sent a letter greeted him warmly, in fact, it was just the opposite.
— "They tell me very often. However, there is a possibility that he can help his grandfather." The hooded man affirmed without a hint of hesitation in his tone.
— "Even if that's true, I have no money." Clearly, the man at the young man's door needs money that he couldn't provide. This was simply a natural conclusion that anyone would come to.
— "In that case don't worry. I will not ask for money in exchange for curing your grandfather."
— "In that case, what do you want?" The Young Man was puzzled. Maybe because he didn't ask for money, that man had that kind of appearance? The situation was extremely suspicious, but it was true that his grandfather would not hold out any longer and if this risk was able to heal his grandfather, it might very well be worth accepting the deal from the man at his door.
— "Information." He said without hesitation.
— "What?!" The young man was surprised by the answer.
— "As you heard." The hooded man paused, after confirming that the boy had no intention of speaking, continued. "I will occasionally come in search of information. When that time comes, I look forward to your full cooperation."
— "And what if I don't have that information?" That was a question anyone would have expected.
— "Nothing will happen. I'll just ask you a different question until I can answer any of my questions, that's all."
— "And what happens if I give you wrong information?"
-—"Well, if the information is wrong, it will not lead to a complicated situation. However, if you deliberately lie or cheat on me, it is quite easy to know where the problem lies. In this circumstance, I consider that you would not want to know the consequences" The man's voice was cordial. However, it had a rather chilling cold tone. The young man at the door, sensing the danger took a closer look, the cloak still covered the visitor's face, but he could see his eyes shine like those of a murderous beast inside that cloak.
The hooded man was not so stupid as to ask a single person, he would ask several people and if the information matched at least three times, it would be taken as reliable information.
— "C-can you guarantee that you will cure my grandfather?" The young man's voice sounded hesitant, as it was quite clear that who his visitor was extremely dangerous.
— "Just as you cannot guarantee the reliability of the information; I cannot guarantee your grandfather's full recovery. That said, I will do my best to cure it." The young man had a mixed feeling. The guy at his door was a dangerous person, but in turn, he didn't seem to have lied to him once.
Lacking a better option, he decided to take the risk and opened the doors of his house to the hooded man.
—"My grandfather rests in the back room." He said as he pointed to a slightly open door at the end of the only hallway that his house had.
—"I understand" The hooded man entered the property and took a slight look inside, his gesture was discreet enough not to be noticed.
The house was in very bad condition, in the space that was presumably the living room there was only a table, an old armchair, a couple of shelves, and a decorative table in the hallway, that was all. Ignoring the bad state of the place, the hooded man simply went to the door indicated.
After opening the door, an unpleasant air assaulted his nostrils. The dampness and the old man's bodily stench created a rancid unpleasant stale air. After shrugging his shoulders, scolding himself for having such a childish gesture as almost covering his nose, he advanced as if nothing had happened and sat on a small chair located next to the old man's bed.
After taking out a mortar and some plants that he had prepared in advance in the small bag he carried with him. He began to check the physical condition of the old man. On the other hand, the young man simply stood by the door while he watched the hooded man work.
One thing was for sure, even if he wasn't a full-fledged doctor, he at least seemed to know what he was doing. First I remove the covers that covered the old man in search of any injury, then confirm that there was no injury, he touched the old man's forehead.
When the old man coughed a somewhat dry cough with a small sound similar to whistle revealed hiss the problem.
— "Sir, could you sit down?" The old man was in such a bad shape that he mistook the stranger for his grandson.
The race to which the hooded man belonged to a rare variety of specters called: Harvesters. Said race was fearsome for its food and battle power. However, by nature, they were calm and peaceful beings who were not dangerous as long as they were not disturbed.
Regarding their diet, their race could consume any type of food. However, certain foods could be more beneficial than others, with human souls or souls of similar creatures being their preferred food, due to the great concentration of spiritual energy they possessed.
As well as extracting the soul of a living being, he could also examine it,
to the point where a modern medical scan would have a tough competition against the natural ability of the Harvesters race possessed.
After placing his hand on the old man's back and examining his soul for pain or abnormal states, the Harvester finally came to a conclusion. Unlike a doctor or a machine, the Harvester could sense the ailment of his patient, which was transmitted directly to him through the spiritual information of his body.
In other words, for a few seconds, the specter had felt the old man's pain. After removing his hand, he crossed his arms to think and then began to search for something in the small bag he carried with him.
— "Do you know what kind of disease my grandfather has?" Asked the anxious young man who was waiting by the door.
—"His grandfather has the beginning of pneumonia." The hooded man replied as he continued rummaging through his bag.
— "P-pneum... Is that disease dangerous?" For the young man, the hooded man spoke a strange language that he did not quite understand, whatever it was "Pneumonia" sounded like something extremely dangerous and deadly. - "M-my grandfather will die?" - He asked hesitantly.
— "Can be." He answered dryly and devoid of emotions. - "That depends on you since I can only provide you with a basic treatment."
— "What should I do?" Asked the anxious young man.
— "To start with, you should do something with the humidity, patch and replace certain places in the house to improve the temperature, also build a place where you can light a fire continuously."
— "B-but I don't have money to do something like that." His statement was true, he could not afford everything the hooded man said.
— "Honestly speaking, you don't need so much money to do all that." He affirmed while he kept checking his bag.
— "What do you mean?"
— "You can make a deal with a blacksmith to get a saw or an old ax. Wood can be found anywhere and it is enough to give it a suitable treatment, for that you could buy a drink or two to a carpenter, since a drunk always talks more than he should, especially if it is to show off. Finally, it is enough to make a hole in the floor by removing some planks so that it is possible to make a campfire directly on the ground under the house, making a not so deep hole would be ideal, that would allow you to set a fire inside the house. Just make sure there is considerable space between the fire you build and the wood so your house doesn't end up in flames." Then the hooded man turned his look momentarily towards the direction of the young man. "Remember that ingenuity is your best weapon."
— "Who are you…?"
— "Only a suspicious subject" He replied as he took out of his suitcase a strange blackish-looking substance with a slight brown hue. "I will take care of your grandfather tonight and I will leave in the morning." He said as he approached the old man. "Then it will depend on you whether he lives or not."
— "But I don't know how to take care of my grandfather."
— "I'll show you what you should do before I go." The hooded man broke a portion of the substance that he had taken from his suitcase. "Now, you must bear in mind that paying for a doctor is always better and you should start saving for one."
— "What do you have in your hands?" He asked curiously. It didn't matter how he looked at that substance; the substance in the hooded man's hands seemed to be poison.
— "This is propolis, it is a type of natural antibiotic that can be obtained from beehives. Just give your grandfather a small piece in the morning and another at night to boost his immune system. Fortunately, your grandfather is not allergic to this substance, so you don't need to worry. You should also give him plenty of water over two weeks, be sure to boil it before giving it to him." The hooded man explained as he helped the old man chew. The old man's reaction was not exactly positive, as the propolis is extremely bitter and leaves an unpleasant itch in the mouth.
— "Are you sure you're not giving him poison?!"
—In response, the hooded man put a little of the substance in his mouth. "It isn't. Do you want some? It helps you not to get sick."
— "N-No, thanks."
— "Well, now we have to clean the old man's body, bring cold water and warm water, the rest I will provide." The young man seemed confused, each request of the hooded man seemed more strange than the previous one.
Thus began a long night caring for a convalescent old man, all the requests of the hooded man were extremely confusing. For example, there was a time when he placed a cold water washcloth on his grandfather's forehead, while he placed his feet in hot water. For the young man, it was meaningless action. However, as he did so, his grandfather's face began to improve as his fever dropped.
The hooded man seemed to be some kind of very strange witch doctor, but the next morning his grandfather looked much better. Certainly, the cough persisted, but according to the hooded man, it would improve if he followed his instructions to the letter.
The hooded man slept a couple of hours at home, it was noon when the stranger finally left home. He never said his name, nor how to find him. He only asked to be left with a note explaining his grandfather's condition in the same tree and that he would return when it was time to collect his reward.
Everything seemed to be going well as the hooded man left the place where the young man lived until a scandal outside caught his attention. There seemed to be some kind of dispute between soldiers and dangerous-looking men.
He came out to tell the hooded man to take refuge inside his house until he saw one of the soldiers and bandits attack a carriage in a place close to where the hooded man was, he wanted to offer him refuge in his home, the hooded one him It had helped, but it was also true that it did not have the ability of the gangs to stand against that dominated the lower neighborhoods and less the soldiers that the territory
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