I'm just strong enough to survive because I'm a Normal Healer. - 09: An Unexpected Issue.
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- I'm just strong enough to survive because I'm a Normal Healer.
- 09: An Unexpected Issue.
As Abel finished retelling the past, he looked at Faye with an indifferent gaze.
“Well, that’s about it. There’s nothing more to be said…” he said as he puts a firewood into the burning campfire.
“…Yes, I don’t think there is anything more to be said.” she said as she looked down on the floor, avoiding his gaze.
“…If you’re feeling bad, I don’t think you should. It’s understandable that you would forget. Five years is a long time.” he said.
“Five years is a long time. But something of that experience shouldn’t be thrown away, I did…and I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you…my savior.”
“…You’re making it weird. It wasn’t that much of a big deal. Also, if you’re feeling indebted, don’t be. Your family has already paid enough as it is for us at the orphanage.” he said.
“But it’s my debt! I never got to repay you upfront for it.” she said.
“And you don’t have to.”
“Then why are you here then? I felt like you intentionally got my attention by sitting here at the back of the mansion.” she said.
“…You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“The Kids and the sisters are staying here for a bit because the orphanage got attacked.”
“Attacked?”
“It got burned down, but thankfully everyone is here. Your Father and Mother offered this place to us to stay over while the orphanage is being rebuilt. And to repay their services to us, I offered my help to them. Just a bit ago, your father and I went into the forest to hunt the game you guys feasted on today.” he said.
“I-I see…and where are you guys staying over?”
“At the barracks.” he said as he pointed to the barracks at the corner.
“…”
“The kids are sleeping, so don’t try to make any noise.” he said.
“…and what about you? What are you doing at this time of hour?” she asked.
“I’m just tired and couldn’t sleep. I usually do this about twice a week back at the orphanage…don’t worry, I won’t be a bother to you and the guest.” he said.
“So, you just burn wood?”
“Yes…it keeps my head at peace and helps me pass the time” he said.
“I see.”
“You should go and sleep now, I don’t want to waste anymore of your time.” he said.
“What do you plan to do tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, but if your father ever asks me to do something, I’m always willing to do it.” he said.
“I see, then I’ll leave you be then.” As Faye stood up and made her way back to the house, she looked back once for a bit and realized just how big Abel had grown.
“Goodnight…Abel.”
“Goodnight Miss, Faye.”
As Faye realized just how much time has passed, the burden of not being able to pay him back weighed on her pride and conscience.
So, before she went to bed, she made her way to her parents’ room.
Knocking on their door, she permitted herself in and found that her mother was reading a book while her father was at his desk, doing his usual role as the lord of this city.
“…Father, do you have anything planned for Abel tomorrow?” she asked.
“Hmm, so you’ve met with him.” said Loyd as he put down his pen.
“He retold me the story of how we met.”
“And? How did it go?” asked her mother.
“It’s nothing much to talk about, I was just reminded of how much I owe him for the things he did.” said Faye.
“Faye, Abel is a good man…just as how he was willing to risk his life for you out of no exchange, I’m sure that he’s willing to put this all behind.”
“But I can’t…I have to repay him.”
“Then do it by the heart. We Starfall’s never forget to repay our debts to those who we favor, if you’re that willing to pay him back, then so be it. But it’s on your terms.” he said.
“…I see, thank you father.”
As Faye left her parent’s room, sir Loyd continued his work. But as he did, he suddenly heard the flapping of a pair of wings from the window.
“Hmm? A letter at this time of night?” he asked himself as he approached the carrier bird.
“What is it darling?” asked Frey as she also noticed the carrier.
“…It’s a message from the church.”
“What? What does it say?” she said as she was surprised.
“The church…it has been attacked.”
“What!?”
“Demons…the demons figured out where the hero’s location was. As of now, in the urgency of it all, the hero is said to be making his way to our city.”
“So what should we do?”
“We’re tasked to recover and meet with the hero privately and put him under our protection. It takes abut a day for the carrier bird to reach our territory and two days by horse for them to arrive from the church. By now, the hero has probably made his way through halfway the plains…we must prepare.”
“What can we do? If the hero is making his way here…we will be put under observation by the enemy. I don’t want our city to be overwhelmed by a sudden invasion of demons.” said Frey as she was worrie for the people
“This is a task handed to us by the church. We don’t have any way of refusing it. So the only thing we can do is prepare…prepare for the worst.”
“But why us? Why our city? There are more secure places all over the world, so why us?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but once we meet the hero, all we can do now is support the one person prophesied to stop all wars.”
***
As Faye was making her way back to her room, she meet Roderick out by the halls beside her bedroom door, seemingly waiting for her.
“Oh, Faye you came back.” said Roderick as he was happy to find her here.
“Roderick, what are you doing here at this time of hour?” she asked.
“Oh, um since we’re here in a town that has an Adventurers Guild, how about we register ourselves as Adventurers. We never really got to do it back at the academy.” said Roderick.
“Hmm, I think Cier is already registered, but sure, lets register tomorrow.” she said.
***
The next day, Abel was called into the mansion where he found that Sir Loyd and his family were dining, along with the guests, Roderick and Cier.
“You’ve called for me?” he asked.
“Yes, please have seat with us.” said Sir Loyd.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I already ate with the kids.”
“I see, well, I’m pretty sure you’re wondering why I called you here?” he asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Usually, Reginold would be the one to give you your next task, but as of recently, I’ve asked Reginold for something in the market. He’s busy at the moment.”
“…I see.”
“Well, since my daughter has come back home, they were wondering if you could assist them with having to register in the guild to become adventurers.”
“…Pardon?”
“From what I know, you have a connection with the receptionist at the guild? I’m sure having to talk with her will surely make the registration easier.”
“Hmm, I guess I can talk with her.” he said.
“Perfect, now after you register, please come back to the mansion at around mid-day. I have something else that I need you to do. So be sure not to be late.” he said.
“I will.”
As Abel exited the dining room, Roderick stared at Abel’s back as he left.
“So, he must be the one who saved you from when you were young.” he said to Faye who was slowly enjoying her meal.
“He is…”
“…How capable is he?” he asked.
“Why are you asking me that?” she asked.
“Hmm, can’t you tell just how crazy his body is? I thought that for all the time we spent watching other students body figures at the academy, you would have figured out by now just how capable a person is simply by a single glance.”
“What can you tell us Roderick?” asked Sir Loyd.
“Well, from the moment he entered the room till the moment he left, not once has he had his guard down.”
“And how can you be so sure about that?” asked Cier.
“I tested him. For a split second, I let out a murderous intent only to his way and in return, he gave me a single glance filled with a more chilling gaze…which I’m pretty sure no one noticed.
“…Is this true?”
“Honest to God it is. You sir have yourself here a pretty amazing guy.” he said.
“…I see.” Although Sir Loyd was impressed by this, he looked to Roderick, wondering why he gave such a test to Abel.
***
“This is the Adventurer’s guild.” said Abel as he introduced it to the three, Faye, Cier and Roderick.
“Whoa, it’s quite bigger compared to the one near the academy.” said Cier.
“Is it?” asked Roderick.
“Well, this guild has been in the city for centuries, it looks pretty old, but it has an impressive record. Some people called this place the “Old Giddy” for being so old.” said Abel.
“Hmm, it’s been so long since I’ve been here.” said Faye as she had a look around.
“Let’s get inside. At this time of year, a lot of the kids our age from the public school usually come by to try and register as an Adventurer.”
“Have you registered yet Abel?” asked Cier.
“Oh um, no Miss Cier.”
“Don’t call me Miss Cier, just Cier is fine.” she said friendly like.
“Oh, okay…anyway, for the reason that I’m not registered yet is because I have to look out for the kids at the orphanage. I’ll only register once the orphanage is restored.” he said.
“Hmm, and how confident are you at passing the guild’s registration test?” asked Roderick.
“Pretty confident. I’ve been coming to this place for about five years or so, so I know almost anything there is to know about being an adventurer.” said Abel as he entered the guild.
As the three followed behind him, they were met with dozens of rough looking men inside looking over the board. With that, on the other side, the registration was also lined up with adventurers trying to register their hunt and or register as an adventurer.
“Wow, there’s a lot of them here.” said Cier.
“It’s pretty rowdy compared to the other Guilds.” said Roderick.
“Come on, let’s take this test.” said Faye.
“Wait for me here, I’ll go talk to the receptionist.” said Abel.
As Abel approached Anna the receptionist, he was surprised to find a long line of injured men by the other side of the room.
“Anna, what’s going on? Why are there so many injured adventurers here in the guild?” asked Abel.
“Abel you’re here! Please help us, one of our healers went to recruit some other healers in the church but he hasn’t returned yet.”
“Wha- but why are they here in the guild? Why not at the clinic?”
“They said that it was already full, the clinic couldn’t accept any more adventurers.” said Anna.
“What?”
“Please Abel, there’s a lot of injured mean in there, needing your help.”
“Okay, I’ll help. But before that, tell me why there this much injured adventurers this early in the morning.” he asked.
“…I’m not supposed to say…but if this information can help you heal, I’ll tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Demons…” she whispered into his ear.
“!?” and to his shock, he turned to the injured Adventurers and quickly started assessing their injuries. He completely forgot about Faye and her friends.
Seeing as how he was now focusing his time on them; Faye was curious as to why he’s here instead of helping them register.
“Abel what’s going on, aren’t we supposed to be registering in the guild?” asked Faye.
“Not right now…A lot of the adventurers are injured, and they need me. Their lacking the manpower in this place and there’s only so many healers in the city so I can’t help you right now, I’m sorry.” he said as he went and picked up one man and placed him in an open spot on the floor.
There, he could see some demonic energy flowing from one of the scars left by the demon.
“Damn…this is pretty dense.” he said to himself as he was starting to sweat heavily.
“Abel, what is going on?” asked Faye.
“Miss Faye, please just go home. Right now, I don’t think the guild has any time to proceed with registering or starting the test for new adventurers. The guild is too busy for that…maybe next time.” he said.
“But-”
“Please, I have my hands full in here. And please tell Sir Loyd that I’ll come back around midday, for now i have to help the guild.” he said as he continued assessing the man in front of him.
“O-okay.” said Faye nervously.
‘…15 injuries…this man really took a beating.’ he thought as he finally got a search of the man’s entire body.
And without wasting any more time, he clasped his hands together and conjured a magical circle over the man’s lying body.
Seeing this, Faye was surprised to see such a complex magic circle.
As the circle was manifested, it produced a strong light that caught everyone’s attention. Especially Cier who was known for her interest and talents in magic.
The magic circle that Abel conjured started healing the man. His scars and injuries were starting to fade and with it, the dark demonic energy which was poisoning the man’s body was slowly starting to get erased.
Soon, he kept on going with helping the next man.
As Faye remained watching him work, soon another healer came into the guild, but he was all alone.
“Where’s the rest?” asked Abel to the other Healer.
“They’re not coming, they said something about an important mission was underway and they can’t waste a single healer from missing from the church.” said the healer.
“What?!”
“It’s only us now, you focus on the dark energy while I focus on the lacerations. You’re better on that part.” said the other healer.
“Fine.” With that said, Abel started helping the healer.
As they worked, Cier approached Faye from behind and asked her a question.
“What’s going on? I thought you guys were getting registered?” asked Cier.
“I don’t think so…the guild is pretty busy right now, maybe another time.” she said.
“Okay…but what about him?” asked Cier as he pointed to Abel working.
“The guild needs him right now. We shouldn’t be getting in his way.” said Faye.
“Okay…but what was that magic circle he conjured just a minute ago? Do you know what it was?” asked Cier.
“Not really, it was pretty complex, but we shouldn’t get in his way. You can ask him later.” said Faye.
“Fine, let’s just hang around the city then.”
As the three left, Abel continued on his work.
Time passed and Abel finally finished helping the guild. As he rested, Anna approached him and gave him a mana potion.
“T-thank you…I was really starting to run out of mana.” he said.
“No problem.” said Anna.
“What’s going on? Is there an invasion happening right now?” he asked her.
“Maybe…some adventurers are still trying to investigate what’s happening out there. But most of its speculation leans on the Demons coming here in the territory of the city.”
“Has there been sightings recently?” asked Abel.
“No, it’s just this day…reports said that injured adventurers started coming in around midnight.” said Anna.
“But why?” he asked.
“I don’t -” but before Anna could say anymore, someone entered the room.
And this man called to Abel.
“Abel let’s go. The Lord is waiting for us.” said a man in full armor. And from his voice, Abel recognized it.
“…Mr. Reginold?” he asked.
“Let’s go Abel, Sir Loyd is waiting for you.” said Reginold.
“Y-yes! I’ll be there.” As Abel quickly stood up and went to Reginold who for some reason was wearing a full armor, Reginold didn’t wait any longer and exited the guild.
As Abel followed him, they both were able to ride the horse that Reginold rode into the city and with it, they made their way back to the Mansion.
“What’s going on Mr. Reginold, why are you in a clad of armor?” asked Abel.
“I’ve been tasked by the lord to investigate a certain tragedy that has been creeping up in the outskirts of the city recently.” said Reginold.
“Was this about the Demon attacks?”
“Yes, Demons are starting to creep in to the city and we have to prepare ourselves for an attack.” said Reginold.
“But why? Why is it happening now?”
“It’s because the Demons have found out where the hero is heading.”
“What?”
“Just prepare yourself Abel, over two dozen Demons are making their way to the city, and we need all hands we can get just to counter them.”
“Shouldn’t we involve the guild in this?” he asked.
“The guild is involved. Right now, four of the strongest available adventurers are situated somewhere in the outskirts of the city, waiting for the Demons to cross by…with them, plus you, me and Sir Loyd, we are the only force to counter this threat.”
“But what about the other adventurers?”
“This is a private matter. We intend to secure the Hero once he arrives at the outskirts of the city, but before that happens, we must clean up the demons loitering nearby. If the people know about the existence of the hero’s arrival, then it will only raise the chances of our city being overrun by more demons in the future.”
“So, we have to deal with the demons privately first then meet with the hero? Why?”
“If the Demons were wiped out by nothing more than ordinary men and not the hero, then their assumptions about the hero’s whereabout were wrong. As long as we keep him hidden, everything should move smoothly.”
“I see.
“…You’ve killed a demon before, haven’t you?” asked Reginold.
“I did…I guess I’ll have to kill more today.” he said as his gaze turned murderous.
“Hmm, good. That’s a good expression.” said Reginold.