House of Herbs

The cart arrived at a giant wooden gate inside the walls. The tall walls were partly covered in moss and were showing signs of crumbling, affecting the imposition of the structure and at the same time giving it an ancient feeling.

At the giant gate, guards armed with spears spotted the injured Edgar and immediately alerted their captain, who promptly gave further orders.

"Lapi, take them to the house of herbs and write down a report while Edgar is being treated. Then immediately report to Guard Chief Escuda."

It was rare for a mere guard to know how to write. In the whole slave camp, probably only the Overseer and a few adjutants knew script.

"Please follow me. The House of Herbs is just a hundred meter north from here, situated next to the wall."

The guard called Lapi quickly escorted them along the earthen road. There was no asphalt nor cobble, just hardened mud with a few stones spread around here and there.

Being curious about the House of Herbs, Sturm asked their escort about the local health system, but the guard acted as the boy did not exist. Irritatingly, Reinhardt had to repeat the question and quickly got an answer. Even though they hurried towards the House of Herbs, they were not too worried about Edgar's life. His condition had stabilized after applying the healing ointments.

Commoners were not allowed to enter hospitals or churches, as the priests would be able to grant further steps towards heaven. In fear of commoners using injuries as an excuse to meet priests, the three nations agreed on limiting access to priests to nobles.

A trained priest would be able to heal Edgar in an instant through holy magic, restoring the body without pain nor side effects. On the other hand, the healers had to use less effective methods through traditional medicine and herbalism, often failing to save their patients or not being able to heal them completely even after months of treatment.

The House of Herbs was a dome-shaped building covered with plenty of windows, while the center of the roof was made entirely of glass. It looked quite luxurious next to the muddy street.

In the middle of a wooden door decorated with leaves was a door knocker in the shape of a hand holding three connected rings. The guard pulled the inverted triangle made of those three rings and smashed it against the door.

*Bang*

"Yes, yes! Who is it? I'm busy right now." An audibly annoyed voice responded.

Hurried steps approached the door and quickly opened it. Inside the entrance stood a young man with long blonde hair, staring at the cart with his eyebrows slanted inwards and the corner of his mouth tilted downwards.

"Healer Kuran, merchant Edgar is unconscious and has severe burns on his arms. Please hurry and tend to him." The guard quickly explained and signaled Reinhardt to carry Edgar into the building.

The healer's eyes widened when he realized who the patient was. "Edgar? Quick, what are you waiting for? Carry him in. I will take care of him."

<<All those other merchants expect the best treatment but are too stingy to donate even a single coin. If Edgar dies, who will finance my experiments? The mayor's help barely covers the expenses of my garden.>>

Quickly following the healer in, they were led towards a table with white cloth strapped over it. Reinhardt cautiously laid down the merchant on the table and stepped back to give the healer some space.

"Third-degree burns on both arms. Aloe Vera is not enough for this. I will need some Aloe Glacialis. Yes, that should work. I see you have already applied my ointment to his wounds. I am glad I convinced Edgar to buy it. The ointment will probably let him fully recover the skin on his arms. As long as his nerves were not completely burned off, the arms will be as new. Now please give me some space so I can start the treatment."

Even though they had already expected this result, the group felt relieved. Daga bowed towards Reinhardt and left with a nod. His contract had already been fulfilled, and there was no reason for him to stay behind. Lapi, the guard, wanted to stop him for further questioning, but after he blinked once, the assassin had already disappeared.

<<How did he... ? Well, no matter. The mercenary should be enough for a full report. Now let's kick out that dirty slave. How dare he enter and desecrate a place of healing?>>

While the healer kept treating Edgar, cutting off dead tissue, and applying a mixture of different herbs and liquids, the guard took Reinhardt to the reception room for questioning.

"Slave. Why are you following us? Step out of this building right now and stop staining this sanctuary!"

"He is with us and is going nowhere," explained Reinhardt.

The guard seemed appalled by that decision. "But a slave inside the House of Herbs? What if other patients find out and refuse to be treated? Will you take responsibility for their deaths?"

Visibly annoyed, Reinhardt stepped towards the much smaller Lapi and looked down on him.

"If they refuse to enter and die, that is hardly our problem, is it? There is no law forbidding slaves from entering the House of Herbs, so don't make me angry, understood?"

Instead of discussing and angering the giant further, the guard averted his eyes and took out the necessary writing utensils for the report. Edgar's guard captain wanted to avoid trouble with the local guards and cooperatively recounted all the events in detail without leaving a single detail out. Lapi wrote down their experience on a piece of parchment with a feather and a bottle of ink.

Not letting himself be bothered by the guards' attitude, Sturm took a look around the House of Herbs. In the middle of the room was a huge round garden filled with herbs of all types and sizes. The windows in the wall and the skylight allowed sunlight to reach the plants. Around the garden, different areas were visible, as they were not separated by a wall. The kitchen, sleeping quarters, treatment room, and reception room were visible from any point of the room.

After the report was written, the guard looked through the herb garden towards the treatment area. Lapi wanted to wait a little bit more in case Edgar woke up, so he could confirm the story once again. The merchant was well known through Dagger's Rock Town, and his words would be more reliable than those of a mere slave and a mercenary.

"Mr. Lapi, how come you know how to read and write? Can all guards do that?" Sturm asked.

…

*harrumph*

Under the stare of a two-meter tall, ripped mercenary veteran, Lapi, the guard, suddenly found new motivation to talk and answer the slave's questions.

"A few years ago, an important member of the imperial family died due to an inaccurate report. The report had to go verbally through various instances, slowly changing throughout the process. In the end, the final report delivered to the commanding general caused their legion to fall into a trap. What should have been an easy victory ended up killing the third imperial prince. Since then, a position called shield scribe was established. We shield the communication channels from inaccuracies by giving even the most unimportant reports a written form. Shield scribes are spread throughout the whole Empire, and even the Huo Dynasty and most pirate lords adopted the position in their own army and guard forces."

The explanation was drawing to a close, and Healer Kuran approached them.

"Mr. Edgar will be fine. I gave him narcotics that will make him sleep until tomorrow. He needs rest, so please leave him in my care. I owe him a lot and will not take any money for this. Tomorrow you can pick him up. Oh, and Mr. Lapi, here is my medical report."

They were promptly kicked out of the House of Herbs, and the guard quickly went off to hand in the report. With hurried steps, he looked back every few meters to ensure that a certain mercenary was not following him. Reinhardt just stood next to Sturm, waving goodbye to Lapi, sending a chill down the guard's spine every time he turned around.

"Ha! A mere shield scribe trying to throw out one of the Thunder Merchant's most important members? He is lucky I cannot hurt him, or I would have educated him a little. Sturm, let's go. Edgar owns a house in the merchant district. We can rest there for the time being. Tomorrow we get Edgar, and afterward, we will tell you about our plans for your future."