บท 45: I Guarantee It

"You shouldn't go, Lian," Carol said. "Instead, it might be better for us to head to another city after this."

Lian smiled in response. "Then you should wipe that mark off on your forehead."

Carol still had the fake slave mark there. "Wouldn't it be better if I did the opposite? I should keep it, so others think I already have an owner?"

"That was when you didn't know how to use Star Energy," Lian mentioned. "Now you can more or less be considered a Star Energy Warrior, no?"

Joani, who was listening, gave some advice. "So she wasn't actually enslaved, huh? Well, that makes sense. If she was a slave, her master would definitely have used her as a shield, so she should have been the first one to die against that creature. If I were you, I would keep this mark. You can definitely use Star Energy, but it's obvious just how new you are to it. Besides..." Joani looked at Carol from top to bottom before continuing, "You will definitely catch some lustful eyes. Some will be much stronger than you. It'll be better if others think you have an owner."

"This shitty ass world," Carol immediately exclaimed.

However, that raised concern for Lian. After all, Tuly wasn't here anymore to act as a deterrent for others. "Joani, tell me one thing. How can we avoid such problems?"

"Connections and strength," Joani answered instantly. "If you don't have any of the two, then you'll always be at risk. Well, you can also decide to not return to the city and live outside. With your strength, I don't think that would be impossible."

"Connections..." Lian pondered over it for a bit. "Does being taken in by that crazy Star Apothecary you told us about count?"

Joani faintly smiled in response. "It definitely does. No one in Tume City would want to get on that woman's bad side."

"A woman?" Lian and Carol didn't expect that. "Who is she?"

Lian's group was able to scare the rest of the assailants on their way back to the settlement. There, Joani found proper treatment as Lian and Carol followed him around. After that, Joani contracted some mercenaries to act as guards for him while they returned to Tume City. He might have lost an arm, but he still had a lot of power there.

Lian and Carol also followed him, although Lian kept his distance from the mercenaries with Carol. He didn't know when Joani might turn against them, so it was better to be safe than sorry. It's just that both Lian and Carol were truly exhausted by the time they arrived in Tume City. Let's not forget that the journey to the settlement near Ostalas Forest took two days, and neither Lian nor Carol slept on the way back.

Surprisingly, though, Joani simply dispersed the mercenaries after arriving at the Apothecary Guild. He really didn't try anything with Carol and Lian. "Alright, we're here. Come with me."

The three of them followed Joani, who attracted a lot of attention with his lost arm. However, no one said anything.

The Apothecary Guild had a huge territory in Tume City, and its back was full of residences for the apothecaries that lived there. Joani was obviously one of them. Well, that made sense. Grisa had mentioned before that Tume City probably didn't have more than a few tens of Apothecaries, so most of them lived in the guild, and the guild had space for them.

"So all apothecaries live here, huh?" Lian couldn't help but ask.

"Not all of them," Joani corrected him. "Tume City has a total of 43 properly accepted apothecaries by the Apothecary Guild. Out of these, only 34 live here."

It was then that Joani remembered something. "Well, there shouldn't be more than 20 or so living here in a few days."

"How come?" Lian and Carol asked, puzzled.

"Hahaha!" Joani laughed as he pointed at his missing arm, telling him, "There was one thing Blan said was true. The City Lord did personally visit and ask many apothecaries to make the Three Phases Leveling Medicine and promised a Star Fall Fragment in exchange for the first medicine he could get. Sadly, I didn't have time to make one back in Ostalas Forest. Anyway, as I mentioned before, I wasn't the only one trying to make it. If that monster is still there, I reckon that not many will come back alive. It's just that not everyone took the job either. The apothecary I'm about to introduce you just happens to be one of them."

Carol found something strange. "You have recuperated a little bit after losing your arm. It should be a huge hindrance to you for the rest of your life. With that, how come you don't seem to be that affected? No, to be honest, you didn't seem that affected by the loss of your arm even back in the core region of Ostalas Forest."

Now that Lian thought about it, he had to admit Carol was right. "That's true. What's the trick here?"

"Come with me, and you'll find out in a moment," Joani answered. "We're almost there anyway."

Sometime later, they arrived in front of one of the guild's residences. At the front, two women seemed to be guarding the entrance. Lian could tell that they were both Level Two Star Energy Warriors due to their crowns.

Joani was happy to arrive there. However, the two women guarding the entrance didn't seem to share the feeling. "Joani, what the hell do you want here? Lady Asfrika doesn't have time for the likes of you."

Lian was surprised by how they treated Joani. After all, they were only Level Two Star Energy Warriors while Joani was still an apothecary. His position should have been much higher.

Joani didn't care, though. "Tell Asfrika that her dreams have come true. All she needs to do is receive my friends and me here. Otherwise, she'll regret it for the rest of her life. I guarantee it."