103 The Master Alchemist Pt. 2

I knew I already saw a glance of the building when I passed by the place! Come on, please be there!

I earned some odd looks from the people I passed as I ran, but I didn't care. A little girl's life is on the line here!

I'm not sure why I was panicking so much then. Perhaps it's because for some odd reason, she reminded me of Erika—my little sister I had cruelly abandoned and lied to. She was a little bit older though. And her hair wasn't blonde. So I don't know where that thought came from.

Or perhaps it's because I was simply a good person at heart.

Heh, as if. I'm just doing this because I don't want to have any regrets later on from abandoning a little girl to her death.

At last, I reached the church. It was a large building located in a large intersection of the central district. Just from the well-maintained building, I could tell that it was a prosperous church. So the townspeople must be constantly donating to it then.

I rushed inside. There were only a number of nuns there, cleaning the place. I immediately yelled at them, saying I got someone who needed healing ASAP. Not in that exact word, but you get the point.

They immediately sent me to meet with the head of the church. To my relief, he was actually a high priest, so his healing skill should be enough to cure her, hopefully enough. And he was currently in as well, in the back room of the church. For once, I was grateful for my luck.

If only Nicole was here, she probably could've healed her in an instant.

I was led to what I assumed was the nursing room, since there were multiple identical and plain white beds all standing in a row. The nuns told me to put her on one of the beds, which I did immediately. The girl was still unconscious, and she was still burning as well. They then told me to wait as one of them went to fetch the head priest. I was so taken by worry I didn't have any time to notice that the nuns I met were actually quite pretty, with one having quite the sizable bust as well

The head priest soon arrived. My impression of him was a good one. He was a man in his later years, with a short white beard and a pair of small near-sight glasses below his eyes. He was wearing a white priest's robe that went down to his feet. He had a similar dragon symbol on his tall priest hat that Nicole had under her neck.

"Well met, my child," he spoke with a gentle tone. "I believe you have someone that is in need of the Saint's blessing?"

I told him everything. How I had met her by chance and how bad her condition was.

"Hmm?" He raised his eyebrows, scrubbing his beard. "So you say you don't even know this child?"

"Yes, Father," I replied. I know that's how you're supposed to call a priest.

"You do know that blessing someone would require a donation to the Church, correct?"

...Oh, right. It's like how you have to pay to uncurse or detoxify yourself in Dragon Quest.

"That's fine," I replied. "I'll pay for it."

"Then, it would be one gold coin," he said without skipping a beat.

Wait, seriously? One gold coin? Isn't that too expensive?

I was about to protest, but I stopped myself. There's no time to bargain. She needs to be looked at immediately.

And so, with great reluctance, I took out one gold coin from my pouch wallet and gave it to him.

"Thank you kindly, Sir." He gave a little bow, along with a smile that I felt was more fitting for a merchant over a holy man. "I shall pray to the Saint that your good deed will reach the Heavenly Dragon."

He then walked to where the little girl was laying down. After touching her forehead, no doubt to sense her temperature, he immediately began his work. He cast a series of spells, from detoxification spells to uncurse spells. To my horror however, none of them seemed to work. After he cast the last spell, and seeing no change to the state of the girl, he shook his head and returned back to me with a sad expression on his face.

"Unfortunately, this little one is beyond saving. I shall pray for her soul to be delivered to the heavens, but other than that, I can do nothing for her."

"Wait, don't you have something else you can do?" I refused to give up so easily. "Like a healing or rejuvenating potion?"

That question of mine however led to a scowl forming on the old man's face. "Apologies, but we are not an alchemist's brewery here. And I assure you, if a High Priest like me can't heal her, no one else can. It is simply her fate to perish to her illness. It would be wise for us to accept that and pray for her deliverance instead."

It's exactly what Nicole said all those months ago when I first met her. And yet, the way he spoke it was far different than her. Instead of comforting, it instead felt almost… dismissive, as if he couldn't be bothered to consider other options, choosing to believe that nothing could be done for the girl.

"...No," I replied, probably with an angry look on my face. "Forgive my insolence, but I am still not ready to give up yet, Father."

I walked over to her and lifted her up from the bed.

"Very well then." He sighed. "Then please, take her with you. When she perishes, then you should bring her back to us. We will bury her in a proper manner, if that is what you want."

If I give you some more gold coins as donations, no doubt… I thought to myself. My distaste of this ingenuine man only grew more and more.

"Can you return my gold coin to me, Father?" I asked. Now I definitely had a frown on my face. "I'll use it to pay for her treatment somewhere else."

"I'm sorry, but donations that have been given cannot be returned," was his answer.

I was tempted to fire a spell or two at him and forcefully get my money back, but there's no sense in causing a ruckus now. I need to go look for other places that can heal this little girl in my arms.

And so I left the church with one less gold piece, and with the same sickly girl that I had rescued off the streets.

Oh, I know! I should ask for help from those three!

My thoughts immediately went to my old party, and how they might be able to help. Especially Anton, who had some skill in healing spells.

Oh right, he's not that good at it. His ability should be less than what my Great Fairy is capable of. So there would be no point in asking him for help, is there?

"U-uuhhh…"

Hmm? That was—

"H-huh? W-where am I…?"

My heart skipped a beat.

The girl! Her eyes are stirring open! She's waking up!

I nearly dropped her in surprise. That would have been disastrous.

To my alarm, her eyes suddenly widened, as if she was witnessing something terrifying right in front of her. "I-I need to… I need to go! To her place… Lady Flameu's place…"

And with those words, she fell unconscious once again.

"H-hey, hang in there!" I shook her lightly. No dice. She laid as limp and lifeless as before. If not for her body heat, you could probably mistake her for a corpse.

Flameu? That's the name of that mage from before! She wants to meet her? Why?

It was then my turn for my eyes to widen. Of course! She's a skilled alchemist that has cured this town's plague! So maybe she wants to go to her to get herself cured!

I didn't hesitate. I immediately rushed towards the place where I could find that Flameu lady I saw before. Hopefully, she hadn't left town yet, or else…

Oh, and of course, I had to ask the townspeople where I could find her first. Thankfully, it didn't take long until I received the information I needed, especially when they saw the little girl in my arms. They rightfully assumed that I was taking her to the alchemist to be cured, and so they readily provided me with the address I needed. Apparently, she had a workshop at the edge of the town. I headed there at once, trying to balance speed and comfort as I held the little girl. I wouldn't want to rattle her when she was in this weak of a condition after all.

When I arrived there however, I was greeted with quite the intimidating sight.

The knight that was accompanying her was there, standing on the front of the wooden fence encircling her house. I wasn't sure why, but I felt intimidated, just by looking at him from a distance. Why is he standing like that? He's guarding her or something? Just from being there, it's like they're announcing that they don't want any visitors.

I paused my steps once I was about three feet away from him. Before I could open my mouth however…

"...Come in."

I didn't need to be told twice.

-------

Behind the gated fence was a small grassy area, with a bed of flowers beside the house and a small pond nearby. There was also a well near said pond. I noticed the smoke coming out from the chimney. And as I got closer, I could smell that characteristic medicine smell you would often find in alchemy shops.

There's no doubt about it. This really is her place.

The knight led me to the front door. The house itself wasn��t that big. It's certainly no mansion. It was more like a simple square house you could find anywhere. I had expected her dwelling to be bigger, since she was an important person and all, but if I took into consideration that she was a court mage, she probably had a bigger house in the capital, and this was merely a temporary place she used when she traveled here.

"Wait for a moment."

With the same monotone voice, filtered through the breathing gaps of his helmet, the knight told me to wait outside. Makes sense. He will have to announce my arrival to the alchemist first after all. I just hope she isn't in the middle of something. This girl really needs medical attention as fast as she can get it.

He entered the place, and I awkwardly stood there, still holding the little girl in my arms.

However, just a few moments later, a person came out from the house.

And it wasn't the knight.

"Oh my."

She rushed to my side and took the girl off my hands without even asking for my permission.

"This is bad. She won't last long with this high of a fever," she said with a worried look on her face as she rested one hand on her forehead. "Come." She gave a grave glance towards me. "You have to tell me everything. From when she started to get sick, how the illness started, and how her symptoms progressed."

Without even waiting for my answer, she took the little girl with her and rushed back into the house.

"A-alright…" Well, I like her excitement at the very least. She already seems to care more about her compared to that priest.

----------

I was greeted by a large room the moment I entered through the door. It was pretty much a full-blown alchemist laboratory. From a large cauldron in the middle of the room, that was currently brewing something by the way, with the smoke going upwards through the chimney situation right above it, to other, more proper chemistry equipment like beakers and a centrifuge. Though they were obviously not the modern versions of them, with the centrifuge being made out of wood and the sort that you have to move on your own. The beakers are still made out of glass however, though they don't have the usual measuring markings you would expect from them. There were also rows of shelves fitted with what looked to be alchemy ingredients, from crushed flowers to mushrooms to small bottles of what labeled as reagents. And like a proper lab, they were all labeled properly and stored neatly on the shelves.

So this is her workshop… I can't say I'm not impressed!

"Don't touch anything," the knight warned. I didn't need to see his eyes to tell that he was keeping them locked on at me, making sure that I didn't end up breaking or tripping on things. Ha! He probably thinks I'm like all those other clumsy kids! After Fiora's training, there's no way I would ever trip on anything ever again!

The alchemist took the little girl to the far end of the room, where there was another door leading somewhere else. I don't believe it leads to the outside at the back though. This room is large, sure, but the house isn't that small so that it can't fit another room beyond this one.

And sure enough, it brings us to a normal-looking bedroom, where I imagine she will take her rest. Though that makes me wonder. Does the knight have his own room? Or don't tell me he actually sleeps with her? That lucky bastard!

I said that because the alchemist was indeed one attractive woman. She fit that "mature, adult woman" charm to a T. She was dressed in a white dress underneath a dark red robe. And said dress exposed a fair amount of cleavage (is she not wearing any bras?) and a generous amount of her smooth, long legs, thanks to the long slit it had in the middle. And the subtle way her butt swayed after every move—it was simply heavenly.

Now, I don't know how handsome the knight is under all that armor, but knowing how knights tend to be in fantasy stories, especially one that dons an all black armor like that as if he's a chuuni who wants to be called a Death Knight, there's a good chance that he is indeed pretty good looking. Judging by his voice, he shouldn't be that far off from the alchemist in age.

Once inside the bedroom, the alchemist laid down the little girl on the bed before going back into the main/laboratory room, most likely to get her tools. In the meantime however, she bombarded me with a series of questions regarding the little girl. I answered the best as I could, admitting nothing, even the part where I had tried healing her with my great fairy. Her frown only grew every time I answered. As for the examination itself, it was as if she was a doctor from my old world. She opened her mouth, examined her tongue, listened to her heartbeat, and even took a sample of her blood using a needle. Of course, she didn't have the modern tools to do so, thus she had no way to measure things like blood pressure.

After she finished interrogating me about her, as she still worked on her examination while going through her notes, she suddenly said with a smile and glance, "You're a good boy, aren't you, going this far for someone you know nothing about?"

"Eh, it's nothing," I answered with a slightly bashful smile, scratching the back of my head. "I can't just abandon a little girl collapsing on the road like that now, can I?"

"Why not?" She returned with her own small smile. "You do know people die all the time from illnesses, right? Would you really go out of your way to help every single ill person you meet on the road? Usually, adventurers like you won't be playing the hero like this for free. If they're going to help someone, they will no doubt ask for a reward afterwards. You think a girl like her would be able to give the just amount of reward for the effort you've given to her? You said you have asked the church for help. They must have taken your coins for that. Even they won't heal people for free. And you've no doubt seen the way she's dressed. It's unlikely she would be able to return whatever amount of money and time you have spent on her."

"Well, if you put it like that, I guess I don't really have a good reason to help her, huh?" I replied. "But still. It's something I felt I wanted to do, and so I did it. That's all there is to it."

"...I see." I noticed that her smile seemed to have grown wider. "Your name?"

"Charles. Charles Pendleton. C-rank adventurer."

"I am Cordelia Flameu. It's a pleasure to meet you, Charles."

She didn't ask me anything else after that.

After spending some more time just looking at her working from a distance, she finally returned back to me and said, "Thank you for bringing her to me, Charles. But you should return for now. I would still have to do other tests for her that would take hours. Unfortunately, I don't believe her ailment is anything common. Come back in the morning, if you're still interested in her condition, that is. it's fine for you to leave her with me and continue on traveling. I know where she came from actually, so I assure you that I would make sure that she would return safe and sound to her family."

"Oh, really?" I replied. So that's why she mentioned your name. She had met her before. Thinking logically about it, no one would be bold enough to just seek out a famous healer like her when you have nothing to pay her for her services. So they must be acquainted at the very least.

"Actually, I haven't gotten an inn yet. So, I was thinking, maybe you have an extra room I can sleep in here?" Yeah, as she worked, I've been thinking to myself… Maybe I should stay here, just in case she needs any help. "Maybe I can help with my great fairy. I know she couldn't cure her the first time around, but she might be able to soothe her discomfort."

She paused for a few moments, before moving her attention towards the knight, who had been standing silently in the corner of the room all this time. "What do you think, Lord Berault? Can you share your room with him?"

"...If you wish. I shall sleep on the couch tonight," was his answer.

Oh, so he does have his own room. Still, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have a relationship.

"Well, there you have it," she returned back to me with a smirk. "You can stay."

And thus, I decided to stay there for the night.