Past and present situation

A little while later, an old man had appeared before Blush and invited her further inside the building.

Blush had found a place to sit down and looked over curiously towards the old man. "Are you not wishing to purchase my goods?"

The old man sighed. "We can leave that for later. I have been looking for you for a while now and wish to recruit you. I am looking for a talented disciple to pass on my knowledge to before I die. You may or may not be aware of some things but I will explain a little about my origins."

He then continued. "I am a member of this countries doctors guild, within this country there an one king and many lords of different pieces of land. Spread out among those areas and the main capital is many guilds or groups full of crafters, merchants, builders, doctors, inventors and so on. Many have come together to protect ourselves and pool our resources to further our own pursuits of knowledge and the progression of our own or groups projects. We have our own rules but we protect our own people and my position within my own doctors guild is very high."

Blush nodded. "So you must all have a reason for wanting to meet me? I did not know any of this before and it has nothing to do with me."

The old man shook his head. "For now you should be safe from being bothered but with your talents, someone will notice and cause you problems. First I will explain the past of this country and then the present situation."

Blush nodded calmly and waited for him to explain.

He coughed and then explained. "When various crafts were showing some signs of progression, there had been many events that resulted in talents being recruited and treated unfairly as they were recruited by the lords of the land and were made to work and create things for their lords goals, even if it was for purposes of war and so on. The previous ruler had been unsatisfied that the lords were hoarding the talents for themselves for rebellious purposes and when the architecture of his castle had been exploited allowing the rebels to gain access through a hidden passage, the ruler had ordered a manhunt on many architects and inventors which were the source of his troubles. We as humans wish to learn more about the world and expand our understanding of nature and humanity to the point of being able to control or develop it into something new.. not everyone is the same as they wish to use what is learned to overcome nature and dominate their fellow humans. That is when various guilds or groups had been formed in order to protect ourselves and rebuild."

Blush nodded as she listened. 'So basically skilled people were recruited all over and exploited by those in power but the blame fell on their heads… or just those that can cause change to the world with their knowledge which had been targeted because of the fear of the current ruler. They must have banded together to survive and then reemerged when the ruler had stepped down or had less power.'

The old man sighed. "It took some time to rebuild but the lands are becoming more prosperous and each group has helped in the advancement of the country. It is not a perfect group since the hierarchy and self interest can cause problems within the groups but we have been able to make many improvements as time has passed. We have been able to prevent further exploitation of our talents but there will always be those that do not fit with our ideals and are excluded by the group or will be missed by us before they choose to follow a lord."

He then continued after a moment of silence. "This city is a free city that is used for mercenaries, different crafts or shops and trading. It is out of the control range of the nearby lord but I cannot tell you how long that may last because there have been many suspicious activities over the past few years as more talents have been disappearing from the city along with other missing adults or children. We suspect that the nearby lord has been preparing something sinister but my power is only so limited at my old age and there are various political reasons that are holding the guilds back from acting against him especially since we have no proof."

Blush nodded. 'If my guess is correct… Dr Gero is allied with the lord for his own goals which will help with his research. He needs test subjects and a skilled team to assist him to help speed up the progression to meet the lords needs. People will likely go missing from the slums or when making trips out of the city but there may also be rewards for people to be captured and sold as slaves. Those that are useful within the city will be poached to help further the research but it will also help to weaken the development of the city and reduce its ability to fight back once the lord makes their move. Dr Gero must be one of those that would be pushed out from their groups too when his attitude towards human life is considered.'

It would make sense that Dr Gero had been wandering to look for a place to work and have his needs met once he had been rejected by the doctors guild and their related groups.

An area that had been reported to have strange things happening and rumoured demon appearances would be the perfect place to use to cover the needs for his research and the lord there would be very ambitious to wish ti clear his land of his enemies or other intruders.

Over time the lords ambitions would grow and he would support Dr Gero even more as he has been able to expand his power and territory.

She then seriously spoke. "I understand what you must mean. While taking me on as a disciple, you will be providing a layer of protection for me. While I have to worry about the lord, I will also have to deal with others that will want to recruit me or those that see me as a rival to their business.'

Not every person would take kindly to being rejected by someone they wished to recruit and there were those that would destroy what they could not have.

There were also those that did not welcome friendly competition among those in their trade profession, once they started losing customers because of a competitor that had newly appeared and was very skilled, they may even take drastic action against that competition.

It was a wise move to have some political protection to stop certain people from acting out of line but even that protection can only go so far as there would be those that did not care for the consequences or would find ways to get someone else to do their dirty work or cover everything up for them.

Although she had the respect of the blacksmiths and had been provided with a place to stay and a job, it was wise to accept the old man's help so that she could learn from him and gain a direct way to sell her goods.

Blush smiled as she extended her hand towards the old man. "My name is Blush, please take care of me. If possible I would like to occasionally sell my higher quality goods but due to their lower supply and rarity, their prices should be higher or they should be auctioned in some way. Do you think you can arrange that?"

The old man nodded. "Of course, we occasionally place items in public auctions and they will be checked for their quality beforehand so you do not have to worry about the value being underestimated. I will do my best to pass on my techniques but you will need some experience so I expect you to make time for me."

Blush readily agreed. "I am living near the blacksmiths right now and work there but it is not a full time thing so I can make time. It would be good to gain some additional experience."

Although she knew much about the human body and her own from her previous life's knowledge and inspecting her bodies reactions to various things, she had yet to see the same from normal humans so she could not tell if each dosage of her medicines was correct but there were also some ailments in her present world that she lived in that may not exist in her previous one.

Although she had gained a lot of knowledge, she still needed to witness many things and gain experience to fully understand everything so she readily accepted the old man's offer. 'The main issue is… how long can this city possibly last before it is taken over and if it is.. won't the relationships and gains that I have tried to build vanish just like that? In between the lords ambitions, the demons own movements and Dr Gero's needs for research.. I expect many problems.'