Chương 39: The Cure To Everything Is Money

Esmera's temple of Fanon was a small, unremarkable building on the main road. It was incomparable to even the few rich estates located right on the harbor. The only thing marking it was the hand insignia carved on the facade, and the long queue of people waiting outside. Alexandra got in line, and waited for her turn. Looking over the head of the man standing in front of her, she estimated about a dozen people were before her. It didn't take long, as the line was moving fast.

An attendant led her inside, then through a corridor and an office. A healer sat behind a desk, his gaze resting on her for longer than it should have. He knew who she was, and that was fine by her. He took a deep breath.

"What's the issue?"

"Sickness of mana," she answered. The healer frowned, and stood up.

"Wait here." He walked past her, to the door.

"You can sit." She did as asked, and took the chair opposite to the desk. Tapping her fingers on her laps, she waited. Less than five minutes later, the door opened again. Arame entered the room, walked around Alexandra and sat behind the desk. Their eyes met. The branch leader wasn't smiling.

"Sickness of mana. Really?" Alexandra shrugged.

"Do you have a cure?"

"You…" Arame raised her eyes to the ceiling.

"How did you catch it?"

"Nothing you should be concerned about. It won't spread." Alexandra paused.

"Unless I'm contagious, I guess."

"Sicknesses are not powerful enough curses to be contagious." She crossed her arms.

"I'll trust you and won't pry into how it happened. As for curing it…" Alexandra raised her chin.

"Can you?"

"It's possible. But it won't be cheap or easy. The Hands don't charge for healing, but we do ask for compensation for cosmetic operations or if precious materials are consumed." She paused.

"Sickness of mana's cure falls into the second category. You're lucky we have the potion you need in stock."

"How much?" Arame raised her hand.

"Five."

"Five?"

"Five gold." She sighed.

"I know it's expensive. But you must understand sicknesses are not simple." Alexandra pressed her lips together. She looked down, then back at the branch leader.

"Excuse me, I have no concept of how much that is." Arame watched her.

"We both know what I'm talking about."

"Ah," Arame started.

"I see. Yes, that makes sense. It's easy to forget about your… Anyway, one hundred iron make a bronze, one hundred bronze make a silver, and once more to get to a gold. A typical wage around these parts is about ten iron a day." Alexandra opened her mouth.

"I know," Arame said.

"That's a lot."

"Five million iron."

"We're not making profit on that. If that's any comfort to you." She couldn't afford that. Nobody could. Perhaps she could borrow from Louis, but even he shouldn't have that much money.

"I see." She stood up.

"Thank you for your time."

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Alexandra." Arame followed her.

"Fanon will always welcome you for healing. I hope you understand that this is a rule we must uphold. I trust that someone like you can gather the payment in no time." Alexandra frowned.

"Perhaps, but what if it was someone else?" Arame shook her head.

"Then they'd have to live with the sickness. Not being able to use mana is hardly life threatening. The order cannot afford to spend this much on non-necessary procedures." She left the temple dejected, her feet hitting the ground hard, and kicking any pebble that dared to stand in her way. She melded with the crowd of the main road, A Face Among Many doing its work to keep her inconspicuous. Summoned by the gods… Shouldn't that grant her a few privileges?

In any case, dwelling on it wasn't going to help her gather the money she needed to get rid of that stupid sickness. The silverlining, if there was one, was that she only had one skill requiring mana, so she wouldn't be too handicapped. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. However, it severely dampened her excitement at unlocking Life Curse.

She was already dreaming of freely casting Dark Bolt to her heart's content, killing the Yshant, and getting that sweet, sweet reward, but it wasn't to be. At least, not like that. Her steps took her up toward the wall, and Louis' place. She weaved through the alleys, trying to remember where it was. So what if she couldn't use Dark Bolt as much as she wanted. For one, Life Curse was significantly better than the alternative of losing lifeforce. Then, who said she had to rely on her warlock abilities?

Granted, the skills from her old class were more immediately useful than what she got from Heroine of Quests, but it didn't matter. She didn't even know why those skill quests were available to her, and she didn't know where to ask. Heroine of Quests was a divine class. The best kind of class. The solution had to come from there. She smiled as she located the floorboard hiding the entrance to her friend's lair. She lifted it and snuck inside.

Alexandra found Louis still asleep, snoring on his bed like it wasn't already close to noon.

"Hey, hey, hey!" She shouted, startling him awake.

"Guess who's back!"

"Who?" He grunted.

"Ah. Alex—""Wake up you lazy bum." She lifted his blanket.

"Let's go and meet that alchemist of yours." Louis sat up, hair matted, squinting at the light bleeding through the cracks in the floorboards above.

"You," he said, "are insane."

"Good morning to you too." Alexandra dropped onto the edge of his bed.

"Get dressed." He rubbed his face with both hands. Groaned. Swung his legs over the side and sat there for a moment, elbows on his knees, staring at nothing.

"Is it really noon?"

"Maybe in an hour or two." Another groan. He stood, grabbed his shirt off the floor, sniffed it, and put it on.

"Where have you been? I woke up and you were gone."

"Hunting verdant beasts. Like I said I would." Louis pulled his belt through the loops.

"All day and night?"

"Just day. I came back late and was locked outside the walls."

"That's not—" He stopped. Looked at her more carefully.

"You didn't talk to the watch, did you?"

"Sure did." She winced.

"One of those fake Wardens you mentioned. Took my name."

"Shit. Couldn't have a more suspicious woman knocking on the gate at night." She shrugged.

"At least the hunt went well. Killed a lot of them." She paused.

"Almost died. But who cares." He stared at her for another moment, then turned away and reached for his boots.

"Right. Fine. Who cares."

"That's what I said." He sat back down and started pulling them on.

"And you want to go see Maret now. That's why you're waking me up at—""Noon."

"—at an ungodly hour." He laced the first boot.

"Why the rush?"

"I need money." His hands stopped. He looked up.

"How much?"

"How much do you have?"

"Alex."

"Five gold." Louis put his boot down on the floor. Slowly. He looked at her the way a man looks at something he isn't sure is real.

"Five gold."

"Yes."

"Five."

"That's what I said." He stood up, one boot on, one boot off, and crossed his arms.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I'm sick."

"You're—" He blinked.

"You just told me you almost died hunting and now you're telling me you're sick?"

"That's unrelated."

"Is it?"

"Okay, it's not. But anyway," she leaned back on her palms, "sickness of mana. I went to the temple of Fanon this morning. That's the cost of the cure." Louis sat back down. He picked up his second boot and held it without putting it on.

"Sickness of mana," he repeated.

"An actual cursed sickness. How do you even… in Baleria of all places. Only the Yshant will be past Gold here."

"Gold?" she asked.

"I mean, unless you think the beast is only Silver? I don't see it reaching Platinum."

"I guess…" Alexandra nodded, pretending to understand what he was talking about.

"Anyway, the Hands don't have a cheaper option. It's the potion or nothing."

"Five gold." He set the boot down again. Pressed his fingers to his mouth.

"Alex, do you understand how much money that is?"

"They explained it to me at length, yes."

"Five gold is—" He did the calculation, jaw tightening as he got there.

"Five million iron."

"I know."

"Nobody has five gold." She scoffed.

"Oh. Come on. Plenty of people have five gold""I don't have five gold." She had suspected as much, but hearing it settled something unpleasantly in her chest.

"How much do you have?" Louis finally put his second boot on. Laced it. Stood up. He grabbed his coat off the hook by the wall.

"What happens if you don't treat it?"

"I can't use mana."

"Is that dangerous?"

"Not immediately. I have one skill that uses it." She paused.

"I'd rather have it against the Yshant." He stopped with one arm in his coat. Looked at her.

"You know how to make money, don't you?" Louis closed his eyes briefly, then finished putting his coat on. He turned to face her.

"Maret," he said.

"Maret," she agreed.

"If anyone in this city knows how to get that kind of money fast, it's him." He moved toward the ladder.

"Or he'll know someone who does." Alexandra stood and followed him.

"By the way, I gathered some paralytic agent from a Gallowbloom. Would he be interested?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself." Louis took her back to the main road, then into another small alley close to the western cliff. When they started following the massive wall, she looked over her head and saw the overhang she was on last night.

"Those rocks aren't going to fall, are they?"

"Happens now and then," Louis said.

"Always a tragedy. I don't know why Maret keeps his lab in this part of town. The Seven know he can afford better." The ground was uneven here, old cobblestones heaved up by roots or time, and the buildings that backed onto the cliff, digging deeper into the wall almost made it cavernous. Louis stopped. His hand caught her arm and he pulled her sideways into a recessed doorway, pressing flat against the wood. His other hand came up, one finger raised.

"Shit," he murmured.

"They're here too." She leaned to look past him. He pulled her back.

"Who?" she whispered.

"Merinus' men."