Chương 39: Avoid Bar fights, please! part 3

"No, no, no! This can't be possible!"

Madame Bianca was throwing a tantrum.

"I don't care what you do, I don't care how you do it, you must take out that filthy place before winter ends or I'll have someone kill you"

"With all due respect madame, it's just not possible. They are beyond paranoid, they read all of my movements and now I'm even afraid they might come for me"

Thomas, the pig faced merchant, replied meekly.

"Did I not pay enough to get the job done? are you telling me I made a wrong decision by choosing you to make it happen? You know the stakes, so make it happen now!"

"But, madame, you're missing the point. I think they already knows about our association"

"What makes you say that?"

Thomas cleared his throat before answering.

"Even tough there's still time before the freeze they're already trying to secure a food supplier, I made the numbers and they should have enough to last for almost the entire winter. Why would someone bother buying any more food if they know it'll spoil anyways? it's to show us that they know about our plans and they're supporting us"

"So you're saying they are going to help us to produce famine? that's preposterous! what does he get out of it? nothing, so it's impossible"

Madame Bianca is getting angrier by the second, she can't stand incompetence and when she associated with Thomas she thought he was the most capable man in town, but so far he's been disappointing her time after time.

"Maybe they're connected with a noble house and we haven't heard about it yet"

"Don't even mention it, that's impossible... and even if it were true it would be in our best interest to play dumb"

Madame Bianca scoffed at Thomas

"Why don't you talk with those Hi... Heerakoo is it? with those guys who came with them, perhaps they can convince the silver goddess to sell us the tavern"

"That would be impossible, we have one of them staying at the brothel and he has a loose mouth. He really hates that Ryu guy, the new cook at the tavern, it's almost all he talks about. It's true that they parted way enemies and now are business rivals"

That made her think of a possibility, something that could help them accomplish their goal without getting her own hands dirty.

Since Ryu took over the tavern the brothel was completely empty at lunch and dinner hours, as in absolutely devoid of people, making the girls quarrel over even the worst clients. The only upside was that they shut down the inn, so they still got enough money from the night activities, but even if she had no clients at all she already had enough money to live a long life at the big city.

She didn't need any more cash, what she wanted was political influence and a high position in society. For that reason she had been associating with many nobles throughout the years providing them with top quality slaves for any kind of physical labor, but despite her efforts, years passed by and all the promises they made her were nothing but shallow words.

Now that she was getting too old for marrying she decided to lower her expectations and associated with a lowly baron who would marry one of his sons with her, as long as she could provide enough wealth to be worth the trouble and the social mockery of marrying an old hag that started as a prostitute and fucked her way up in society.

In order to live up to her end of the bargain she needed to provide the biggest load of slaves she had ever put together, one last time, that's all she needed. She can't just sabotage people directly, because if she did so they would accuse her of conspiring, she needed to enslave as many people as she could and at the same time appear to be the heroin that saved the town.

For years she had been preparing for this moment, but now everything was going downhill due to this country bumpkins that appeared on her doorstep.

"Since they're rivals, the only thing we need to do is support one side and let them destroy the other one"

Madame Bianca said with an evil grin painted on her face.

"Then I better hurry, I was told by my informants that the silver goddess asked Heeraakoo, heera- those pesky guys, for a meeting"

Thomas stood up and left the room, leaving madame Bianca seeping wine from a crystal clear glass carelessly.

At the same time at the tavern things were getting messy.

"No, you're doing it wrong! you need to do it a bit harder!"

Ryu told Claire from behind while grabbing her hair, as the counter she was leaning on knocked on the wall over and over due to the repetitive movement.

"Is it better like this? mmmhm"

Claire replied moaning

"Yes, keep going, do it faster, faster!"

Ryu exclaimed in a loud voice. Claire was already giving her best, sweat ran through her forehead but she didn't care.

"Does it feel good?"

Ryu asked

"Yes, yes! it does!"

She said panting

"Congratulations Claire, that was great!"

Ryu said after using his analyze skill to confirm the quality of the dough Claire just kneaded.

"It was all thanks to you mister Ryu"

"I said it already, drop the mister or people will start to suspect I'm the one running the business. Where's Helena with the hair band I asked?"

Ryu said tapping his foot on the floor.

"It's ok, I can make due without a hair band"

"No, you can't get your hair dirty with flour and I won't be able to hold your hair everytime you knead the dough"

Rina, who heard everything from the beginning poked her head through the door.

"Man! I'm so disappointed! I thought you were doing the dirty... Come in Helena, it's safe"

Helena walks in pushing past Rina making her stumble forward.

"What were you two doing? Rina wouldn't let me come in and I heard some weird noises"

"Don't look at me, it was all inside Rina's mind. I see you brought the hair band, finally! put it on Claire, this will keep you from dirtying your hair"

"I could just cut it, it would be less trouble, I can't accept something so valuable"

Claire says embarrassed

"Nonsense! every girl working in here must look at her best at all times!"

Claire took the hair band and tied it on her hair making a pony tail, her long blond hair falls down to her waist even when tied up making Ryu fall in a short daze.

"If that's everything I'll go tend some tables"

Helena blurted out

"Actually no, I'm going to need your help after closing time so please make some time."

Ryu said

"You're overwoking me Ryu! I need to sleep too!"

She complained and quickly left the room before Ryu could reply.

Meanwhile Claire started to make another batch of dough, it took her much longer than Ryu to make a good quality product, and she had to run it through Ryu every so often to get his approval. But sooner or later she would learn how to bake and cook like Ryu does and that kept her hopes up even in the face of multiple failures.

Most of the time Ryu would just ask her to peel potatoes or slice vegetables, but even so, she felt she was learning so much she couldn't keep her excitement.

Time passed and before she could realize it, it was already closing time. She went to her bedroom as quick as she could to tell her sister everything about her day. Sera was waiting for her still awake, she was bored because it only took her about an hour to tidy up the room and organize what little belongings they had, and the rest of the day she was completely unoccupied.

At the barracks at least she had people to talk to, and sometimes elder women would ask for her help in exchange for food or stuff they didn't need anymore.

But now she felt completely useless, there wasn't much she could do during the winter anyways, her health condition would get a lot worse during cold days. Sometimes it was so bad she couldn't even get out of bed and her body ached so much that she couldn't sleep either.

Just by the time they were about to go to sleep a knock on the door made them jerk in surprise.

'I knew it, now Ryu is banging on our door because he wants to take advantage of us, but I won't let him touch Sera, I'll do whatever I have to'

Claire opened the door and she wasn't surprised to see Ryu waiting outside.

"May I come in?"

Ryu whispered, making Claire realize that whatever he wanted, he needed it to be a secret. This thought gave her some hope that in case he wanted to try anything with her sister she could scream and foil his dirty plans. Just before she could start undressing herself again Ryu stopped her hand.

"What are you doing Claire? please stop"

He hissed in a low yet audible voice. After Ryu came in, Helena followed him inside and closed the door behind her. He had a bag on his hand and Helena was holding a clay bottle.

"What can I do for you sir?"

Claire said sheepishly.

"Actually, we're here for your sister"

Helena giggled thinking on what Ryu told her when they were outside the door, he told her that If a man was to knock on her door that late, Claire would surely think it was a booty call

When Claire heard that they came to see her sister, the worst possible scenarios besieged her mind, but the fact that they were being so polite calmed her down a bit.

"Hi Sera, we're here to help you, but before we continue I need you two to swear that whatever happens will be kept a secret, no matter what"

Ryu said, still whispering. Both Claire and Sera were so surprised they couldn't find any words, so they just nodded instead.

"We don't know yet what's wrong with you, but we may be able to help. I don't want to give you false hopes but we'll do the best we can to help you. I need you to sit on the bed to allow us to get a closer look, also, you may feel a slight discomfort when I look at you"

Sera did as she was told and Ryu leaned forward and used considerate on her.

Sera 16/85 (starving)

Ever since they came into town Ryu avoided using considerate on people, because even tough most people didn't notice whenever he used his skill, Luke was somehow able to notice it. Luke also told him that he feels uneasy whenever he did, that's why Ryu prepared Sera beforehand.

"Helena, I think I know what's wrong with her, but before I do anything, you should give it a try"

Helena placed her hands on Sera's back and used her healing skill. But when Ryu used his considerate skill on Sera again, nothing had changed.

"What's wrong with my sister? please tell me mister Ryu!"

"It's ok sister, we don't have enough to pay for the treatment anyways"

Sera said with a saddened face, doing her best to keep the tears from flowing.

Claire begged as she grabbed Ryu's shirt tightly.

"Please, give us some space Claire!"

Helena huffed, but Claire was so desperate she couldn't let go of Ryu.

"Please help her, I'll do whatever you ask of me, anything, I'll be your mistress, your slave, anything but please help her!"

Claire was starting to raise her voice, so Ryu put his hand on her mouth to shut her.

"First, I'm doing this for Sera, so she will be the one paying. But she will only have to pay if I manage to cure her, so if she's doesn't get better you won't have to pay a single copper. And second, please stop it Claire or Helena will think badly of me"

Ryu grumbled, and he only let go of Claire once she calmed herself down.

"Helena, since your help here is no longer needed I'll have to ask you to get out since it's a little crowded in here"

Helena handed Ryu the clay bottle and went to her room obediently. She wasn't sure what was Ryu going to do, but at least she knew that he wasn't the kind of man that would take advantage of people in need, or at least she hoped so. But she was so tired anyway that she just went to sleep without caring for the world.

"Please take off your dress Sera, I'm not trying to pull anything crazy it's just to examine you"

Contrary to what both sisters thought, he was being completely honest about it. What he didn't know though was that in this world underwear was not usual for people, the closest thing that could be found were corsets and only noble women wore them.

Both sisters thought that it was Ryu's way to ask for payment upfront, nevertheless, Sera started undressing anyway. Her blond hair looked like straw, the complete opposite of her sister's silky hair. Her ribs stood out and her abdomen was almost non existent. Her arms and legs were thin as branches. In summary, she was all skin and bones.

The sight shocked Ryu and Clare alike. Despite being sisters, Claire would work long hours and only went to the barracks to sleep, leaving Sera alone most of the time. Whenever her sister was out, Sera would save every coin instead of spending it on food and only ate when Claire brought leftovers from work. Yet Ryu had an hypothesis he wanted to put to test.

"Good news is you'll get better, bad news is that the treatment will last for the rest of your life"

Ryu managed to say

"What is it doctor? is it expensive?"

Sera asked, without a single drop of blood on her body to spare for blushing for being naked. Without her clothes on she looked more like an undead than a human being.

"I'm not a doctor, and yes, it can be expensive"

Ryu put the bag on Sera's hands.

"You need to eat as many of these croquettes as you can, whenever you can, but do it slowly since they'll make you thirsty. Claire bring some water please"

As soon as Ryu used his considerate skill on Sera he knew the situation, but he needed to perform a body check to keep the appearance that he noticed after seeing it with his own eyes.

The most important thing was that, thanks to Helena's failed healing attempt, he figured out something important. Whenever a person is healed, be it with medicine or Helena's skill, it consumes part of their stamina making them feel tired. If they lacked stamina, their bodies wouldn't be able to recover health points.

When he first met his companions he thought they were all a bunch of lazy people, when actually it was that they lacked the stamina needed to move properly. Even when they had enough rest they would get tired soon because their bodies didn't have enough energy to replenish their stamina. The first clue to this was that Anne was the one in the best condition and the only one able to walk and move properly and both Ayumi and Helena were the laziest among them.

Anne used to walk long distances and gather berries and food, thus keeping her body in a somewhat good condition. But both Anne and Ayumi spent too much mana and without proper nourishment their bodies couldn't take the burden and needed to rest for longer periods.

Claire came back from the kitchen with a jug of water and a wooden mug and put it in the night table. Sera took it as her queue to eat a croquette.

Ryu knew from watching Mochi that the croquettes were an excellent source of energy. The same cat that would eat a lot of meat, could only nibble on a few croquettes before getting stuffed.

With Sera it was the same, but her body was in such condition that she couldn't force herself to eat more than one.

"Was that all? will she be ok?"

Claire pleaded

"I'm not sure yet, I'll need to examine Sera daily if that's ok with both of you, I can't do it alone or I'd be killed on the spot. I need someone to bear witness that I'm only doing what's necessary for your sister to recover properly. About the treatment, I told you it was a treatment that you would need to take for life because you were starving and you will need to keep yourself well fed for the rest of your life. But, if my suspicions are correct, there's something else and to be sure I'll need to examine you until you get back on good health.

Before I leave I need to make sure you understand this, you can't skip a meal and you need to bring that bag with you at all hours. Whenever you feel like you could eat a croquette you need to do so right away and when you run out of them just ask me for more. For now you'll remain in bed until I say so and every night before sleeping you'll take a few drops of the content in the flask. That's a powerful medicine but it will make you sleep within seconds so be careful. If you don't follow my instructions I won't help you anymore, is that clear?"

Claire kept her hand covering her mouth wide open ever since Sera undressed and only managed to blurt out a few words of thank you.

If Ryu's theory is correct the reason behind Sera's condition is not just that she skipped a few meals, according to Claire her sister got worse suddenly. The only explanation was that Sera was either a mage or a priest and spent her mana without noticing it. Without someone's help, even if she ate three meals a day it wouldn't have been enough to keep her healthy, since it was her own power the reason behind her sickness.

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