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Chapter 300: Maela - Markets and Multiverses
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 05:31:39 +0000 UTCThree days passed. Trish and I continued our healing spree, and in that time, we saw over a hundred patients. Most of the problems we treated were on the smaller side. With a population of only 7,000, there weren’t exactly thousands of injuries a week. Of course, there were still emergencies that cropped up. We lived in the middle of a rainforest filled with venomous and disease-carrying insects, after all. There were still people who got sick or poisoned and needed help beyond what a potion could provide.
However, the ratio was lower than I had expected. The alchemists of this town were very used to whipping up antidotes for this area's venomous creatures. In addition, people didn't hesitate to remove poisoned limbs if the situation was desperate. In this world, it wasn’t hard for people to replace limbs if needed. That meant that people were more willing to cut off an arm or leg if a poison was too dangerous. Then, they would replace the limb with a prosthetic after returning to town.
For that reason, we had less patients to treat each day than I had first expected. It also meant that we needed less time and essence per patient. After all, many of the injuries we ended up treated were minor.
Even so, we maintained a grueling pace to make sure the villagers who needed treatment all saw us. After three days, we were exhausted - but the results were satisfying. Now, most of the villagers smiled when they saw Trish and I. I had even heard a few off-handed comments about how Markus was a lucky guy, having married such a kind and beautiful healer. A few other people sometimes mentioned that they had a few sons my age, if I wanted to meet them. They didn’t seem entirely serious when they said that - probably because there was still a divide between our group and the rest of the town. But after three days, the elders felt comfortable enough to joke around with me and tease me. Even though I had no particular interest in romance right now, I took that as a good sign. It wasn’t quite the deep sense of trust and community I hoped to build, but it was a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, the others in our group had also started to find ways to blend into the community. They didn’t have access to a healing ability, the way I did. That made it harder for them to build goodwill at the rapid pace Trish and I worked at. However, they still worked hard to build footholds of their own. Markus ended up connecting with an old lumberjack, who had served in the Damilius military during a previous continental war. A day later, Markus started working as a lumberjack.
Felix started a job of his own as a 'simple' alchemist. The industrial revolution hadn’t fully swept through this town yet, so potion production was actually on the lower side. The local alchemists thus focused on anti-poison and disease potions, because they didn't have enough time to make potions for more complicated problems. Felix immediately started working on filling in the gaps. With some help from Markus, Iselde’s family, and Vance’s family, we set up a larger potion-mixing vat. It still wasn’t quite the same size as the ones we had seen underneath the sewers of Verne, where the vat produced hundreds of gallons of potion per day. However, it was larger and more streamlined than the setups the local alchemists were using. Normally, that required special metals to set up, since the metal needed to conduct binding essence. Felix Felix could sidestep that requirement with his absurd affinity for Binding essence. With these advantages, Felix started mass-producing potions to cure weirder poisons and diseases.
Anise, meanwhile, ended up helping people move around heavy objects. Her 'force manipulation ability' was perfect for it. She didn’t seem thrilled about her job, but she was willing to do it while she searched for a better option. The upside that Anise found about our new home was practicing her magic. We were surrounded by rainforest… which also meant that there were huge swathes of private, deserted land near us. It was perfect for Anise to try out new spells and play with her magic. She just had to make sure nobody was peeking on her during her practice.
My mother… sat in the house that we had rented, and acted like a walking corpse. Even the previous dim intelligence in her eyes was starting to fade. When I investigated her brain, I saw that it was far more clogged with dried fizz clumps than before. Especially near the center of her brain, where I couldn't extract the fizz safely. I wasn’t sure if she was going to wake up again. There wasn’t much I could do to help her, either. Part of me felt sad, for a family relationship I had always wanted from my mother but hadn't gotten this life. A bigger part of me was unsurprised. With how my mother had acted in this life, this was the expected outcome. I had tried to give her every chance to change things, but her willpower and my healing skills both proved insufficient. I hoped that in the future, I wouldn't have to face this kind of problem again. I also hoped that in her next life, my mother would lead a happier life. For now, there wasn't much I could do but make her comfortable and see how long she lasted.
Vance and Iselde, meanwhile, ended up helping Felix with his alchemy business. Both of them were competent enough at Alchemy to scrape by, and with Felix’s help, they could at least help mass-produce simpler potions. I doubted it was their dream job, but it was a stable job in an unstable situation.
At the end of the third day, the elder’s son approached me after I returned home from Trish's clinic.
“The two of you have been working hard,” he said, giving me a curious look. “I expected you to only offer free healing for a little while. But you and the doctor have been healing people for free for three days now. If you don’t mind answering, can I ask why?”
“We want to build goodwill, and a sense of community,” I said. “Moving to a new town isn’t about money, or belongings. For something to feel like home, the people are the biggest part of the equation. We’re different from the people who were born in this town. We didn’t grow up with everyone else, and… erm… we look a bit different,” I said, indicating my tan-colored skin. While it had stood out a little bit in Damilius, it stood out much more here, where the sun was hot and people's skin colors were darker. “Also, we have accents that people from this town don’t, and we don’t speak Zannan very well yet. Not all of the townsmen here even speak Damilian, so we can’t even converse with everyone. I want to fit in more. I want to have a real community here. That starts with showing goodwill. For people to accept us, we have to accept them first, right? I also want to show them that despite being outsiders, we're good people.” I smiled. "That's the reason. Nothing too special, but it's my goal.”
The elder’s son nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose that makes sense. Why did you folks move here, anyway?”
“Well… there was a small catastrophe on the Zelyrian continent, and we ended up fleeing from it,” I said. I launched into a retelling of the events that had led us here, starting with our time at the fort on the front lines.
As I spoke, the elder’s son started to give the distant horizon more careful looks. I couldn’t tell whether he felt uneasy or just thoughtful, but he had a rather peculiar expression on his face. Finally, he nodded.
“What happened on the Zelyrian continent sounds horrifying. Do you think the catastrophe will spread?" He asked.
I paused. "I don't... think so? The catastrophe was spreading slower and slower as it got further away from the epicenter. I suspect it will outright stop at some point." I paused, and for the first time since entering Zanna, I tried sensing the sub-layer of reality. However, it didn't seem to be present in Zanna at all. It wasn't that it had broken... it was as if it had never existed to begin with.
I frowned. Was the weird sub-layer of reality something that only existed on the Zelyrian continent? That was... odd. And also implied that the sub-layer of reality might be rather artificial in nature. That could explain why a single catastrophe could shatter it... but more importantly, it meant that the catastrophe wouldn't spread here.
"We're probably safe here," I said.
The elder's son patted me on the shoulder. “I hope so too. I'll bring it up with my father later, to see if we can think of any countermeasures. Either way, that nightmare is behind you. You’ve done a lot of good work in the village so far, and I hope that nobody gives you a hard time for being from a different continent.” Then, he frowned. “Though, I do have a more personal question to ask. Are you… all right with healing someone else? My sister was born with a rather unusual disease, and I wanted to know if you're willing to take a look at it."
I suppressed the urge to grin. This was exactly what I had been waiting for.
“Of course. I'm happy to help,” I said.
The elder’s son led me to his house, making small talk as we moved along. Finally, when we reached his house, he led me to a room, before he knocked on the door.
“Maela, there is a visitor. Are you feeling up to seeing her? She might be able to help,” He asked.
“Brother, you don't have to keep searching... fine, forget it. She can come in,” came a whispery voice from inside the room.
We entered, and I scanned the room. It didn't take me long to find the patient.
True to the details in the travelogue, Maela looked like there was a problem with her back. She flinched anytime she moved, and it looked like her spine was inflamed. Maela herself looked to be in her late teenage years, but she was laying in bed like an elderly patient. It looked unpleasant.
However, the travelogue had left a few rather important details out. Perhaps the author had never actually seen Maela, or perhaps they just hadn't cared enough to talk about her more. Either way, the problem was far from simple.
In addition to the inflammation in her back, there was something wrong with her legs.
They were far, far too thin. It almost looked like severe malnutrition… but it was only her legs that seemed as thin as skin and bones. There was almost no muscle on her calves and shins at all. I tried not to wince. It looked very painful.
“Can you heal her?” asked the elder’s son, as he gave me a hopeful glance.
"Let me check how my ability interacts with her condition," I said. "May I?" I asked Maela.
She nodded. I splashed a few drops of water on her leg, then sent a little bit of essence into her body. A moment later, I grinned.
A small part of the essence made its way towards her spine, healing away some of the inflammation. However, another part of the essence made its way towards her legs. A moment later, her expression brightened. She turned towards me, and I could see a mixture of shock and a faint, nearly undetectable trace of hope in her eyes.
“I felt something,” she said. “My back and my legs felt better. What did you do?”
“I used my healing ability,” I said. “I'm pretty sure I can heal you.” I smiled at her. “Let’s see if we can get your legs working again, okay?”
Maela eagerly nodded, almost like a chicken pecking at rice, and I smiled. Seeing patients happy always felt good. Then, I poured a full cup of water on her legs and got to work.
Author’s Note:
So, uhh… awkward side note.
Second volume of Budding Scientist released, like... two weeks ago. And I TOTALLY didn't forget to make an announcement about it then. The two week delay was for... uh... other reasons. I don't know what those reasons are, since I have yet to make something up T_T. In my defense, I was sick, and moving. Everything kinda got lost in the chaos for a while.
I’m still sick, and it sucks. But I have a new desk that’s pretty neat. Anyway, here’s a link to the second volume of my other story, if you’re interested.
Join my Discord! (I’m much more active there than in the comments section).
Comments
kyle
Did all of Trish's patients follow to this village or did they spread out?
