After I had composed myself into a more presentable state, I opened the door and peered inside the church.
teria’s picnic basket was set down on the table as she busily unpacked everything. She was muttering to herself and didn’t seem to notice .
“Ahem, I Uh- I’m sorry you saw that,” I cleared my throat and called out to her. She jumped at the sound before wiping around.
“A-ah, Leon! D-don't apologize, please. It's fine!” She said before looking down,” A-are you done…doing whatever you were doing?”
“Ah, yeah, for now. I was just thinking about sothing,” I said, looking away and scratching the back of my head. The sweat had started to dry and was making my scalp itch.
“That’s…great. D-do you usually think…like that?” She asked, and a blush appeared on her face.
I tilted my head at that. I wasn’t sure what she ant by that.
“Like what?” I asked.
“Um…w-without any…clothes on…” She muttered softly.
“W-what?! No-no, no, no! I just didn’t want my clothes to get sweaty since I was moving a bunch! I keep my clothes when I’m thinking normally,” I felt panic surge through as I quickly tried explaining.
I wasn’t a perv who just randomly took his clothes off when I thought too hard! Who would do that?
“Ah, right! Of course, that would be silly…” She paused a bit before asking, “So, w-what were you thinking about that you had to take your clothes off?”
“Like I said, I just didn’t want my clothes to get sweaty since I was moving so much!” I exclaid before answering the question.
”I was practicing and thinking about my martial arts style, so I was moving a lot to try out the moves. I knew I was gonna get all sweaty and didn’t want my clothes to stink. That’s why I took them off,” I reiterated.
I had to get that point across. teria was the only person I had interacted with more than once since I ca to the city. I did not want her to think I was a perv. Also, I liked her company; if she avoided because of this, I would be upset.
“Oh, I see… Yeah, that makes sense. Totally,” She said, nodding a few tis before glancing back at .
“Still, I’m glad that your wounds have healed. I didn’t think it would be that fast, though. Did you get a potion?” She asked.
“Oh no, I just heal up fast,” I said, waving my hand and looking down at my arm. There were so light scars from everything, but nothing too bad.
“What? You just let everything heal naturally? That’s… amazing. Still, why didn’t you get a potion? It would have helped you a lot,” teria said and crossed her arms while looking at with a frown.
“ I… I don’t know where to get one if I’m being honest,” I said, “I’m new to the city, so I don’t know where everything is yet.”
It felt weird admitting it, but my little wander around the other day taught I needed a guide or sothing if I wanted to find where things were. Maybe I could ask her to show around; that would help a ton.
“Eh? You’re new to the city? How long have you been here?” teria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked up and down before hesitantly speaking.
“Oh, only about a week,” I answered truthfully. I don’t understand why that matters, though.
“W-what!? Wait a minute, last ti we t, you said you just leveled up a few days ago. If you’ve only been in the city for a week, that ans you leveled up right before you got here, right?” She asked, her voice thick with disbelief and sothing else I couldn’t place.
“Yep. I broke– I an, I leveled up right before I got into the city. Why, what’s wrong?” I said, not understanding why she’s asking this. I told her last ti I had just leveled up.
“So, that was the first ti you went into the dungeon, then? When you went to kill the infant dragon, that was the first ti you went into the dungeon? And you went all the way down to the tenth floor on your first try?” teria had turned paler than usual as she said that.
“Yeah. I an, there wasn’t a point in just wandering the top floors since they weren’t giving a challenge. So I just kept going down until I hit sothing that gave a challenge,” I explained, confused.
How else would anyone do that? What’s the point of staying on the top floors when nothing can hurt you? You need to push yourself to your limits if you want to break them.
Unless it's different for falna? Hmm, maybe they don’t need to risk their lives as much as cultivators do.
teria stayed silent and looked at , pale-faced and jaw open. I slowly got the feeling I had ssed up by saying all of that, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong.
“Um, why are you looking at like that? Is sothing wrong?” I asked hesitantly. Maybe I had broken so sort of taboo.
Well, another taboo besides going into the dungeon without being blessed. But she didn’t know about that one, so it's fine.
My voice seed to have broken her out of her stupor as she blinked and shook her head. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath before she opened them again, and stared at .
“Please tell you went to the library and read up on the monsters?” She said, a slight edge to her voice.
“Oh, yeah, I went and read up on all the monsters. It was very helpful, so thanks for letting know about it. I was planning on going back into the dungeon in a couple of days, but I haven’t been back yet,” I thanked her before smiling and continuing.
“I never would have found it without you. So, thanks for caring enough to tell about it,” I said.
She looked at for a mont longer before she sighed and nodded. “Good. I’m glad I could help. Though please be careful. The dungeon is super dangerous, and I don’t want you getting hurt like last ti.”
She paused for a bit before she gestured over to the table full of food and said, “Shall we have breakfast? I packed a lot again, so please, eat as much as you would like.”
I nodded and went to sit down. A full spread had been laid out on the table again with enough food to rival a buffet.
We each took a little of the food for our plates and started eating. This ti, the main center of the breakfast was potatoes and eggs rather than bread and jams like last ti.
“Yum, thank you! Why so much food again, though?” I asked, savoring a bite of the baked potato I had in front of . I hoped her familiar hadn’t ditched her again, but why else would she bring this much food?
“Oh-well… I figured since you ate so much last ti, that I should bring the sa amount again. I don’t want you to go hungry after all,” teria gave a giggle and took a bite of her eggs.
“Besides,” She continued with so food in her mouth, “It’s not like anything we don’t eat will go to waste. I’ll just take it back and save it. Or feed it to my familia when they get back.”
“Oh, are they coming back soon?” I asked curiously.
“Yeah, from what I’ve heard, they are coming back early. They aren’t happy about it, but my goddess said they should co back since the city’s in an uproar over sothing,” teria said before taking a sip of juice.
“What are they even doing anyway?” I popped so of the olet in my mouth and was greeted with the softest, fluffiest egg I’ve ever had. How the hell did she make this so good?
“I-I can’t say, honestly,” She said, her eyes shifting away from , “I just know they don’t plan to stop by for long. A quick resupply and a check on how things are in the city, and they’ll be leaving again.”
I felt like she was lying about not knowing, but that was fine. We could both hide things from each other and still be friends. Her familia didn’t matter to .
“I see…at least you can see for a little bit before they leave again, right?” I smiled, which she returned.
“Yeah, that’s true. I just wish they would stay for longer. I feel like it's been forever since we’ve eaten or gone out together with everyone. And everyone that stays behind is just so busy,” She said sadly.
Silence settled over the table after she said that, as we both quietly ate. I thought about what to ask before deciding that she was the perfect candidate to show around the city.
I gathered up my courage and thought about how to phrase this. I don’t want to co off as creepy or make her feel uncomfortable. Hmm, this is hard…
“Hey, are you doing anything for the rest of the day?” I decided that I should probably ask if she was busy first. Don’t want to get in the way of anything.
“Huh? Oh, no, nothing in particular. Why?” She broke out of her train of thought and tilted her head.
“Oh really? Great! Then, do you think you could show around? Please,” I asked with a pleading tone.
Seriously, if she doesn't agree, then I’ll have to go back to just wandering around. And that would take way longer than if I got a tour of the place. I at least wanna know the major landmarks and stuff.
teria let out a choking sound, which made stand up and go over to help her. She waved off, though, and gulped down a cup of juice before giving a few coughs.
“Huff, S-so suddenly? Where do you even want to go?” She caught her breath and asked after a few monts.
“Well, I mostly want to find out all the major landmarks around the city. After that, maybe find a potion shop too. Oh, and if you know where any clinics are, that would be great too,” I thought about it for a mont before rapidly firing off my answers.
“So, will you show around? Please? I’ll be completely lost without you,” I added and asked again.
teria pursed her lips together and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. I simply waited nervously for her answer.
I saw her nod and shake her head a few tis, glance at , then back around the church before looking at again. Damn, she’s really thinking hard about this.
A minute or so went by before she nodded and looked at again.
“S-sure. I can show you around, if you’re okay with being a bit ah…slow,” She stuttered before hesitantly accepting.
Yes!
“But, let’s finish eating first, okay?” She continued, to which I nodded.
“Of course! The food’s too good to let go to waste. Say, how did you make the olet so fluffy? It’s the best I’ve ever had,” I said, sitting back down and asking.
“Oh, so the secret is separating the whites and yolks and then beating the whites a ton until they look like snowy mountain tops,” She explained with a smile and kept going on to tell how to steam the eggs to make sure they stay fluffy.
I smiled and listened to her excitedly tell about how she cooked everything. I had to ask a few questions since I didn’t understand so of the terms she used, but I feel like I learned a lot.
We chatted and ate for a while, exchanging cooking escapes and tips. Well, it was mostly telling her about my ss-ups while I was walking here, and her telling how to do things properly.
Eventually, we finished eating and started cleaning up the table. While we did so, teria changed the subject to where we were going today.
“So, do you have sowhere in mind you want to go? I can show you the main shops I go to and where a lot of the people in my familia go, but I don’t know if that’s enough for you,” She said as she wrapped up the utensils and plates.
“Hmm, you ntioned sothing about potions, right? I would like to know where a good shop is to buy so, in case I need so again. After that, I don’t know, maybe just show the major landmarks?” I handed her so leftover bread and humd in thought, but ca up surprisingly empty.
I had gotten clothes and a stockpile of food so far. I had shelter; the only thing missing was a way to earn money.
“Oh, and do you know any place that’s hiring? I kinda need a job,” I said after thinking about it. I doubt teria knows any good places to get a job, but I could ask.
“Hmm, let’s see… I know a few shops that have potions, so we can swing by them so you can see which you like better. Why do you need a job, though? Isn’t the money you make from the dungeon enough?” She finished packing everything up before she turned and raised an eyebrow at .
“Yeah, about that…” Shit, how do I lie to her? I couldn’t tell her that the guild was out since I don’t have a familia.
“It’s…difficult for to make enough money from the guild. They won’t pay what I need,” I said hesitantly after a few monts of thought.
“Really?” She threw up her eyebrows in surprise.
“Yep. I’m broke,” I said, completely straight-faced. It was worth it, but it still hurt, damn it.
“I see…” She looked at with…sadness? Why was she sad?
“Then, I’ll show you so of the cheaper shops. We can go and ask around if anyone’s hiring too,” She said after a few monts, and the sadness disappeared as she smiled.
“Great! Then, please lead the way,” I said with a grin.
We left the picnic basket in the church. teria said no one besides us two would go there, so we didn’t have to worry about it being stolen. I shrugged and followed along.
We walked side by side, the city slowly starting to co alive around us as the morning continued. The streets slowly filled with people as we walked before we made it to the center of the city.
The tower on top of the dungeon lood over us as the circle filled up with adventurers making their way toward the dungeon. We made it into the circle before teria threw her arms wide and gestured up to the tower.
“Ta dah! Welco to the main landmark of Orario. This is Babel, built on top of the dungeon and is ho to a ton of businesses,” She said in full tour guide mode, which made chuckle.
“Ah, so that’s what it’s called! Seems like a weird place to build a tower, don’t you think?” I asked as I thought about what would happen if the dungeon monsters ever got out.
I guess that’s why they have guards at the bottom during the night, huh. During the day, the adventurers handle the monsters by going in and killing everything, and at night, the guards kill anything that might sneak up.
“I think it was ant to be a cap on the dungeon. My goddess told that before it was built, monsters would just pour out in droves. The land would be covered in hordes the size of a city, and the sky would be blacked out with just how many there were,” teria said fearfully.
I imagined it and felt a shudder go down my spine. Yep, glad for the tower then. Definitely don’t want to deal with what sounded like the apocalypse.
Though it sounded strangely like a beast horde in those cultivation novels…
“Anyway, the shops are a good place to start. The higher floors will be more expensive, but if we stay on the lower floors, then it should be in your budget,” teria’s voice broke out of my thoughts as she led the way toward Babel.
I followed her as she guided up the staircase and into the main lobby of the tower. There was a directory that broke down the tower by floor and listed what shops were on each floor.
There was also an elevator.
An honest-to-good elevator.
The hell? Wasn’t this world supposed to have the technological equivalent of the Middle period? Why the hell was there just a random elevator?
Magic. That’s the only answer. I don’t know how, and I’m not going to question it. Magic it is.
Anyway, after taking a ride up an elevator, we arrived on the floor that had the alchemy and potion shops.
Never thought I would say that sentence, but here we are.
“So, the cheapest stuff would be at the beginning. After that, if we walk down so more, stuff starts getting more expensive. They aren’t all that effective, but it's better than nothing,” teria said as we started window browsing.
“I see…how effective are the cheap ones?” I asked as I slowly drifted my eyes over the potions. They had simple nas like low healing potion, regular healing potion, and greater healing potion.
The low healing potion was about five hundred valis. Definitely within budget, but I did heal pretty fast already. I don’t really wanna waste the money on sothing that’s not gonna be useful…
“I don’t really know if I’m being honest,” teria admitted in a soft voice, which surprised .
“Huh? You know, like, a ton of stuff about the dungeon and monsters when we were talking about it the other day, though,” I said, confused.
She was the one who told about the monsters' nas and all that stuff. Hell, she seed to know about a ton of stuff in general. It was weird that she didn’t know about this stuff.
“Well…I-I’ve never actually taken one before. I’ve always taken the uh, the stronger stuff,” She explained with so hesitation.
“Really? You only drink this stuff?” I asked with disbelief while gesturing at the regular healing potion. It was about sixty thousand valis. Way out of budget.
“Oh, I don’t get potions from here. S-so I don’t actually know how, well, everything works,” She dropped her shoulders and looked down at the ground when she admitted that.
“I see…So, this is the cheapest spot you know, then?” I asked, realizing why she brought here.
“Yeah, from what I’ve heard, anyway. I’m sorry I can’t tell you how well they work,” She apologized, which made feel bad.
“No, don’t apologize. I asked for a potion shop and you brought to one. So seriously, don’t apologize. Besides, if you’ve heard about it, then it must have a good reputation,” I waved off her apology and smiled.
She made to say sothing but was cut off when the shopkeeper, a small dwarf with a bushy beard, ca over and started talking to us.
“You need so help buying sothing, or you're just gonna gawk at my wares?” The dwarf grunted.
“Yeah, how good are your low healing potions?” I turned and asked. Great, so help!
“Good enough! Are you gonna buy them or not?” The dwarf snapped with irritation.
“Uh, I an, like how big of an injury can it heal?” I blinked in surprise and clarified.
“It wouldn’t heal a deep cut or a broken bone. It's good for minor scratches and bruises. If you want to heal sothing by gushing blood, then you need the regular.” The dwarf huffed and crossed his arms.
Hmm, that’s kinda underwhelming…
“You should get a few low healing potions, Leon. It’s dangerous to go in there without at least one for ergencies,” teria chid in with a pleading tone.
“Listen to your girlfriend, buddy. Lots of people have died because they didn’t have a potion to give them the little boost they needed to get out,” The dwarf’s voice went low when he said that.
Sounds like he’s speaking from experience. I looked a little closer and saw the Qi bounce off his skin, so he was blessed. Probably a retired adventurer.
“W-what!” teria squeaked from beside . I glanced over and saw her face gain a healthy flush as she started talking.
“D-do we really look like a couple? T-that’s a bit too soon, don’t you think? This is only the second ti we’ve t. Then again, maybe this is a date after all…” teria babbled before her voice got so small I couldn’t hear it at the end there.
“Hehe, Girly, calm down. You might enjoy that thought, but your face is gonna explode if it gets any redder. Keep your imagination in check,” The dwarf let out a laugh at her reaction.
teria got even redder and stopped speaking in complete sentences. She resorted to just waving her arms around and shaking her head in denial.
“Th-that’s not–I wasn’t imagining–I guess it would be–But we’re not–”, she kept saying.
“We’re not dating. She’s just showing around the city. Please don’t ss with her,” I cut in and drew the attention of the dwarf back onto .
I felt bad for teria. I an, look at her! Her face is redder than a lobster.
“Anyway, I’ll buy two of the low healing potions,” I said before reaching into my pocket and taking the required valis from my ring.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” The dwarf said, took the money I handed him, and gave the two potions.
I grabbed them and pulled them behind my back before storing them in my ring. I then turned and got teria’s attention.
“Alrighty, all done. Let’s go,” I said and waved my hand at the dwarf. teria snapped out of whatever trance she was in and silently followed out.
We went back out into the hall and walked to where the elevator was. I was thinking about what else I should grab or at least check out if I didn’t want to spend the money to buy anything.
I glanced at the directory on the wall and scanned through the floors. Other than the potion shops, there were weapons shops and armor shops as well.
The weapon shops were useless to for obvious reasons, but the armor shops could be helpful. It depends on what armor we were talking about and how pricey it was.
Then again, my skin kinda acted like armor. At least, against the minor monsters of the first few floors. So, I would need to get so armor that was better than that and was lightweight since I was very mobile when I fought.
“Hmm, what do you think about checking out the armor shops, teria?” I asked only to get silence.
I turned around, confused, only to see teria was still silent and looking at the ground. Looks like the dwarf really upset her.
“teria?” I said before, gently shaking her shoulder.
She reacted like I had just burned her, jumping back from my touch and letting out a little scream.
“Ahh! W-what? Oh, Leon, sorry, I was thinking about…stuff. What did you say?” She caught her breath and asked.
“Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go check out the armor shops with ? But if you want to go ho, then we can do that. I don’t want you…pushing yourself,” I said hesitantly, unsure how to phrase my offer of going back.
If she felt uncomfortable shopping with , then I could understand it. The dwarf must have made her upset. She probably didn’t want a repeat of that.
“P-pushing myself? W-what? N-no, don’t worry, I’m fine. You said armor, right? Then let’s go, co on,” She said before hopping into the elevator with urgency.
I quickly followed after, and off we went. The ride was silent, but there was this weird tension in the air now. teria kept fighting with her hands and shifting from side to side. I was debating on if I should just call it a day and walk her ho.
Damn that dwarf, the whole atmosphere is ruined because of him. This was supposed to be a fun outing, and now it's all awkward.
I sighed as the elevator opened up and we were let out onto the armor floor. The noise of hamring and the sll of oil, tal, and leather entered my nose as we walked out.
“So, the cheapest shops are the closest ones, right?” I turned and asked teria, who gave a small smile.
“Yep, you got it,” She said softly, but I could tell she was still thinking about sothing. Probably that damn dwarf.
“Got it. Then, do you want to wait out here for a minute while I go and check out the prices? I’m probably not gonna buy anything, I just want to see how much everything costs,” I said, trying to avoid a repeat of the dwarf situation.
“Oh, I can wait if you want to…” She trailed off at the end, her voice unsure.
“I… That’s not what I ant,” I said, sighing before I decided to just bite the bullet and address the problem.
“I just thought you wouldn’t want to co in with again. You know, to prevent any more misunderstandings and so you don’t get upset again,” I said, which made teria’s eyes widen.
“Huh? What are you talking about? Why do you think I’m upset?” She asked.
“Well…you turned really red when that dwarf thought we were dating. I thought you got mad at him, and I didn’t want you to get upset again if the clerk thinks we’re dating again. So, I asked if you would want to stay out here. So, the whole getting mistaken as a couple doesn’t happen again,” I explained, feeling a little embarrassed.
It was weird talking about this with soone I just t, and who was so against the idea of dating, but communication is important.
I’m not good at talking or thinking about what to say, so I think it's better to just say what I an and hope it goes well. I’d rather be blunt and explain everything to her than have her think I don’t want her around.
teria seed shocked by my explanation, though I have no idea why. Still, I patiently waited for her to talk. It took a few monts, but eventually she did.
“T-that…Ugh, that’s not what happened. I wasn’t upset because he thought we were um…dating. I wasn’t really even upset, well maybe a little upset, but not because he thought we were dating, but because of sothing different,” She said and rubbed her hand to her forehead.
“Then…why were you so quiet in the elevator?” I asked hesitantly. If she were just embarrassed, then I could understand why she turned red. But that didn’t explain why she was so quiet afterward.
“That’s…That’s because I was thinking about sothing,” She said. I went to ask a follow-up question only to get shushed as she waved her arms in front of her.
“And don’t ask what I was thinking about! Just know, I’m not upset, so we can go in together, understand?” She cut off with a stern look. I nodded as I let the information wash over .
Good. I’m glad she’s feeling better. Though if I keep talking about it, then she will get angry with . So, let’s drop it for now.
Still, I wonder what she was thinking about that she couldn’t tell ?
I didn’t have a chance to think about it too hard before teria walked into the closest armor shop. I looked at the prices and imdiately knew I wasn't buying anything today.
“Well, what do you think?” teria called out from my side as I browsed through everything.
“Yeah, I can’t afford anything. I’m not surprised, but I was hoping I could get at least sothing, but no dice,” I said, disappointed at the result but not surprised.
“Ah, really? I’m sorry… I don’t know of any place that’s cheaper than here,” She said awkwardly and shuffled her feet.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s not like I need armor. It’d just be nice to have,” I waved my hand and smiled at her.
“Still, thanks for showing this place, teria. I never would have known the tower had shops in it if you didn’t tell . Honestly, this was a great day,” I said before turning around.
“Co on, let’s go back to the church. That way, you can go ho and prepare a nice big welco party for your familia when they get back,” I said and started walking out of the store.
teria gave a nod and glanced back at the armor I was looking at before following .
“Ah, okay.” She said, and we quickly went back down the elevator to the lobby.
I was happy with the little outing. Despite the dwarf throwing a wrench in the vibes, I think it was a pretty good day. Sha it had to end–
“Um, please wait a mont!” teria called out from behind . I turned and looked at her.
“I-I need to go and pick sothing up. It’s close by, so if you would like to join …then maybe we can go together?” She asked. Her voice was hard, like it took all her courage to ask that.
“Of course! Lead the way!” I smiled and twirled my wrist toward her. She smiled and off we went.
We started going in the direction of the guild, and I started to worry that she had business there. I don’t want to interact with Chris after my tax evasion or with Rose after I declined being an adventurer.
I just feel like it would be awkward. Especially with Chris. Who knows, he might have decided to turn in.
…
On second thought, if he did that, then he would get in trouble too. So no, I’m probably safe from that.
My fears were unfounded, though, as we walked right past the guild and kept going down the street. Though as we walked, I noticed teria started to get a bit…strained.
Her breathing started to get uneven, and she started slowing down. Sweat started to form on her face, and her skin started getting paler than it normally was.
“Are you okay? We can take a break if you want,” I said gently, but she just shook her head.
“Ha- No, I-it’s okay… Once we get there *huff* then I can take a break,” She said in between huffs and puffs.
Now, it wasn’t like she was breathing like she just went for a run or anything. But it was like how so people would get labor breaths from walking up a steep hill. Only we were on flat ground.
I offered again, but she was determined to keep going, so that’s exactly what we did. I nervously kept glancing at her, worried she would get worse, but luckily she didn’t.
Eventually, we got to our destination. It was a white stone building that had a crest embedded above the front entrance. The crest was a circle in the middle of leaves with what looked like a flower underneath it.
There was a sign that read “Dian Cecht Familia Pharmacy”.
Hm, why did she bring us to a pharmacy? Oh, is this where the good potions that she usually drinks are from? Maybe she just wanted to show where it was…
We entered the pharmacy, and I was greeted by blue walls, grey pillars, and a granite countertop. There was a woman about my age manning the front of the store.
She had long grey hair, purple eyes, and was maybe five feet tall. Shorter than teria and much shorter than . Oh, maybe she’s a halfling.
Wait, that’s not what they’re called here. What was it again…ah, pallum. That’s it. Maybe she’s a pallum. Thank you, library… you’re still horribly organized.
“Welco in, how can I–Oh, teria, Hi! Are you here for your pick up?” The girl greeted us with a tired voice before she perked up when she saw teria.
“H-Hi Airmid. Yes, I’m here for the pick up,” teria caught her breath and slowly answered Airmid’s question.
Airmid threw a glance my way, but nodded and left to get teria’s order after seeing I didn’t need anything.
We were left all alone in front of the store after Airmid went sowhere in the back. teria went up and leaned over the counter, and started fanning her face while I leaned back on one of the pillars.
I looked around for a mont, gawking at the interior design before my eyes settled on teria. She was acting weird, and I wanted to figure out why.
So slowly, using the instinct I had briefly discovered when I helped Gramps at the clinic, I started to pick her apart.
Her skin was just as pale as when we first t. Her clothes were clean and well taken care of, and her hair was well grood. She dressed well and had access to a good amount of money.
She looked like a noble lady who ca out of a storybook. But there were little things that showed she wasn’t healthy.
The way her arms and shoulders tensed when she went to pick sothing up, and the slow and deliberate movents that she tried to hide. How her chest rose and fell unevenly, like she was constantly catching her breath even before we had our little walk over here.
Her arms and wrists were on the skinny side despite clearly having access to a lot of food. Her skin wasn’t just pale from not going out into the sun; it seed to lack any blood at all. Looking closely, her muscles weren’t all that developed either.
And all of this was in spite of the fact that she was blessed. And every other blessed person I had seen had been in peak health. Hell, even Airmid, who was a good half a foot shorter than teria, had more fat and muscle on her.
I thought it was weird how out of breath she got from just a short walk, but looking at it from another angle, I was surprised she pushed through. I couldn’t see her legs since she was wearing a dress, but if they were as deteriorated as her arms, then that would explain how slow she went.
Hmm, this is painting a picture I don’t like…
“Here you go. This should be enough to last for a week, but if not, then let us know and we can prepare so more for you,” Airmid ca back with a small box and set it down on the counter.
“Oh, I hope it will last that long. I’m not sure now,” teria whispered sadly, clearly causing so concern in Airmid.
Airmid leaned closer and whispered to teria. I couldn’t hear what she said, but I could see teria nod her head and Airmid’s expression darken before she whispered sothing back.
teria let out a soft ‘thank you’ before she took a shaky breath and turned back to with a smile on her face.
“Ah, Leon, do you think you could help carry this? Only back to the church, I’ll carry it on my own the rest of the way,” She gestured to the crate.
“Of course I can! Do you want to rest a little longer, though? You were pretty tired just now,” I was hesitant to bring it up, but I didn’t want her to get worse.
“I’m fine now. I had my little break, and I can make it back to the church just fine. It’s closer to here than Babel after all,” She said with a smile to which I relented.
“Alright. Let’s go then. Oh, I didn’t say hi, I’m sorry. I’m Leon, it’s nice to et you,” I approached and greeted Airmid when I realized I had forgotten my manners.
“Leon? Nice to et you as well, I am Airmid. I’m the head healer here and also the captain of the Dain Cecht familia. Please co to us if you need any potions or other healing services,” Airmid gave a small bow to which I panicly returned.
Though now that I got closer, I noticed that the way the Qi bounced off her was different than with teria. With teria, it bounced off right when it touched her skin, but with Airmid, there was maybe a centiter of space between her skin and where the Qi was bouncing off.
Interestingly, the Qi couldn’t get as close to Airmid as it could to every other blessed person I t until this point. I wonder why?
I didn’t get the chance to ask Airmid why she was so weird compared to everyone else, since teria butted in at that mont.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce you two. Airmid, this is Leon. He’s new to the city, so I’m showing him around. Leon, this is Airmid. She’s one of the best healers in the city, so if you need sothing healed, then co here,” teria smiled and happily gave us introductions despite us just doing it ourselves.
“Yes, I am one of the best healers in the city. I am not the best, though, so please keep that in mind if you co here and I can’t heal you,” Airmid said with a light glare at teria.
teria stuck out her tongue at Airmid in defiance before she turned to and said, “Co on, Leon, let’s get going.”
“Ah, yes. Well, it was nice eting you, Airmid. I hope you have a good rest of your day,” I said as I gathered up the crate and started walking out with teria.
“Nice eting you as well, Leon. Oh, and careful with the crate, the contents are fragile!” She shouted behind us as we exited the shop.
teria and I slowly made our way to the church, and I was pleased to find out teria had gotten a lot better. I guess the little break she had when we stopped at the shop was enough.
Still, that does beg the question of what was in the crate and why she needed it in the first place.
“So, what’s in the crate that you needed to get so badly?” I decided to throw subtlety out the window and just ask.
“Oh, you know… Just so potions for my familia. They are coming back soon, so I wanted to help them stock up on supplies,” teria said with a giggle, though she gave the crate a nervous glance.
“That’s nice of you. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” I responded after a few monts. I didn’t believe her, though.
Still, I dropped the topic, and we eventually made it back to the church. It was afternoon, yet the church still gave the sleepy vibes of morning or sunset to . Maybe that's just because it was a bit decrepit.
“Alright then. Thank you for carrying that back, but I can take it from here. Let just go inside and get the picnic basket real quick,” She said in a cheerful tone before rushing off into the church.
That left alone with the crate and too much curiosity for my own good. I was dying to know what was in it, so as soon as teria went inside, I sprang into action.
First, I delicately put it down, rembering Airmid’s words about it being fragile before I opened it with a gentle pop. Inside, lined up in neat rows, surrounded by packaging, were glass bottles filled with a red liquid.
And all of them, without fail, have teria's na written on them. Either to help Airmid keep track of them or for so other reason, they all were labeled with teria’s na. They were also labeled with small neat letters that read, “high elixir”.
And there were seven. One for each day of the week. How perfect.
I quickly closed the crate and picked it back up when teria ca back out. She tried to take it from , but I insisted on carrying it while I walked her ho. And if not to her ho, then at least closer than we were.
After a bit of back and forth, she relented and agreed to let walk most of the way ho with her. She grumbled a bit, but I didn’t budge and just slowly let my thoughts drift.
teria was sick. Very sick.
That was the only conclusion I could draw from everything. Not a hard thing to figure out, but I was glad I did.
Now, I don’t know exactly how strong a high elixir is, but considering she didn’t even know how well a high potion worked, I’m gonna assu a high elixir was a few leagues above it.
That, combined with how many bottles of the stuff she’s going through weekly, led to believe it's a long-term illness.
One that might not be getting better.
I felt my heart drop at the thought. If she wasn’t getting better despite taking a high elixir daily, then sothing was wrong. Especially if one of the best healers in the city couldn’t do it.
I gripped the crate a little tighter and glanced over at teria. Sure enough, the walk was enough to get her breathing labored again. I don’t know how she would have made it back ho if I hadn’t helped her.
I just hope I can keep helping her.
I don’t want to lose my first friend I made in the city. Especially not to sothing as stupid as an illness. This is a world with magic, for goodness' sake, there’s got to be a way to cure her.
And if there isn’t a way, then I’ll make one.
Simple as that.
======================================
Whew! This was the longest chapter I’ve ever written, and I still didn’t cover everything I wanted to. Funny how that works out, but that’s life for you.
Still, we find out the first major butterfly effect of Leon being here. The Zeus and Hera familias got called back to the city before they could slay Leviathan. Why? Well, the gods are kinda losing their crap about Leon’s lightning tribulation. This is just a consequence of that.
Not that Leon knows that lol. Poor man, he’s gonna et soone he is very much not ready to et. Hopefully, it’ll go well when that happens.
As for Leon himself, he has just found another long-term goal. Find a way to cure teria. The first step is figuring out if he can do anything to help her. I’m sure he’ll figure it out eventually. Might take getting struck by lightning again for it to happen, though.
And to be clear, Leon likes teria as a friend currently. He thinks she’s cute sotis, but that’s not an he’s in love with her. She’s his first friend he t in the city, and it's the only one that seems to give a damn about his well-being. Of course, he’s got attached to her.
As for teria, well, I was actually thinking about writing a whole chapter in her POV. Just so we can see what’s going through her head, cause I guarantee you it's a bit different than what you’re thinking of. Or maybe you're spot on. Who knows?
I don’t know when it’ll happen; it might be the next update, might be later down the line when they have more interactions. Let know if you want that sooner or later. I’m pretty much down for either. If we wait, then we can have more events to go over, but if I do wait, then I feel like it would be too much to go over in one chapter.
This chapter would already be pretty long from her POV as it is. Anywho, let know if y’all want that now or later.
Until next ti, friends!
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