Second Step (2.1)

"Congratulations, Michael. You are now an E-rank adventurer."

"Thank you. Rina."

"It is my pleasure, Michael! However, I must tell you that you cannot explore the dungeon alone just yet. Unless you already reach level 2."

"Sadly, I'm not yet reached level 2, Rina. Give me a little bit more time as I almost reach level 2."

"Then I wish you good luck."

"Thank you. See you next time."

To rank up to the E-rank adventurer, I need to take a test by sparring a B-rank adventurer. Of course, I'm lost against the tester because of the big difference between our power. Lucky for me, the test is to see if I'm ready to accept the E-rank quest.

The E-rank quest is more of a fight than a gathering like the F-rank quest. Even though they are only Goblin and wild wolves, the adventurer needs to be ready to face them, hence the test.

Anyway, I walk away from the guild and walk toward the inn where I stayed for the past month. The innkeeper told me to rent a house after I reached the E-rank as it was the minimum requirement for renting a house from the local lord.

I decide to take that advice. That is why when I arrive inside the inn, I walk toward the innkeeper, where a bright smile greeted me.

"Michael! You are so fast. Is there something you forgot from your room?"

"No, I don't, Lisa. I come to see you here to inform you that I will move out from the inn."

"Oh! You already reached E-rank then?"

"That I'm. I will take your advice to rent a small house for myself."

"That is good! Look like you already know not to rent something big. Every rookie adventurer thinks that they can pay for a bigger house with their money, but sadly for them, they are wrong."

"I know. Also, I prefer a small but peaceful house rather than big but placed in a crowded place."

"Yes. You are that kind of mind. Kind, compassionate, and prefer peace rather than violence. You are the White Healer, after all."

White Healer. That is the moniker I get after I volunteer to heal many injured people from the dungeon in the Church. The church is the main healer in this city. They have a job to heal injured people. However, they cannot heal illness and sickness. The Doctor can only heal it.

Sadly, unlike the church's healer, the Doctor charges you for their service, and they charge high. Because of this, many poor people cannot heal their illnesses. That changes when I volunteer in the church when I choose Hippocrates of Kos as my next Legendary Figure.

That day I heal at least a hundred sick individuals and injured people. While I reject all the money they offer, they stubbornly leave their money inside a bucket. The church did not accept the money and said that I earned it.

Hesitantly I take the money, but what makes me accept it is a little flower given by a little girl who has smallpox like many others who come to me. It was not worth anything but to me? It was priceless.

From there on, I keep coming to the church in the afternoon after completing my quest to heal the people and to tell the children a story.

"Please… It was nothing. I'm happy to help them all."

"Yes. That is why you are called the White Healer. A white-haired young man that smiles with kindness who heals the poor, the damned, and the cursed one. He wears a white cloak that reflects the light—he who holds a staff used as a tool of healing instead of a tool of destruction. The man rejected all riches in the world as he did not want to make the others suffer because they cannot pay him for his service. He is the white healer."

I can feel my face heat up as she finishes singing. It was a song created by some bard to heal from his sickness, and from there, it spread out to the others who began to sing it in the inn as well.

I snap from my thoughts when I feel Lisa hug me tightly. I was confused at first but decided to hug her back.

"You deserve that title. You heal us without asking for payment. You heal us because of your kindness, and more importantly, you heal my husband from what you call smallpox. We really thank you. Really. I don't know what I can do to repay you. I begin to regret telling you about the rental house."

"No. You don't need to thank me. Your warm food is enough for me."

Lisa releases her hug and looks at me in the eyes before smiling.

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Let me eat here from time to time, and we are even."

"Heh! Come here every day, and I will give you all my best food for you for free."

"Please don't do that. I don't want to get fat after all."

"Bwahahahaha"

I smile a little when I see Lisa begin to laugh.

"Get out you little rascal. Come here when you need to eat. I will cook you my best food."

"Then see you later."

After giving her my room key, I begin to walk toward the place where I can rent a house for myself. I have around twenty-eight gold coins in my possession from the quest, and the money from the people give me after I heal them.

I hope it is enough.

~Sometimes later~

It turns out it was enough. The rent is not too expensive. It cost me thirty silver coins every month. If I do not pay my rent for more than two months, they will take back my house and make me work in the mine for three months without getting paid.

The house itself is not too small but not big either. It was a one-story tall building with a small front yard I can use to make a garden. The location of my house is on the eastern side of the city where many adventurers lived.

Anyway, when I walk inside my house, there is nothing inside but a bed, a small table, and a chair in my bedroom. It looks like they did not provide anything other than a bed. Well, I guess it cannot be helped then.

I guess I need to buy some furniture then.

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|3rd POV|

Valur City is a busy city. Valur is a Dungeon City as there is a dungeon inside the city, and because of this, many people are walking, running, and dashing running around the city. This is the city where many adventurers stay to get some money and increase their power.

While the city lord is a benevolent lord, he cannot rule all the city by himself. Valur city is a massive city, after all.

However, because of this, there is a problem on one side of the city. This place where many poor people lived. Many diseases are in this place that makes the other sick. This place is called the slum. It was an unofficial name because it was not big enough to be called that.

However, it was still the same—many trash littering on the ground. Shit splattered around the road.

The noble that supposedly governed this part of the city did not care about the people here. So, when there is a pandemic happening in this district? They did not care. They did not quarantine the place or even try to cure it.

The disease is called smallpox, or as the people in this city called it, the Black Sickness. An incurable disease that even the top-tier Doctor and Healer can cure.

However, one day a man comes to Valur city and cures the disease. Many people did not know how he did it, but they did not complain. He uses his staff to cast magic that cures the disease. He also tells the people to gather cheap herbs that can be bought for a small price, boil them, and drink the water while it warms, not hot.

He says that it will prevent from getting that disease once again.

The people called him the White Healer. Many people know that his name is Michael, but the poor people decide not to call him by his name because they think that his name cannot be tainted.

Many people begin to observe him and sometimes greet him. His kind smile and handsome face make him really pleasant to observe. His story is also something many people adore—the story of King Arthur, the Dragon Slayer Sigurd, and Wandering Swordsman Kojiro.

Many people want to know about the White Healer. Because of this, he became the center of the rumor mill and gossip. One of those people is inside the Adventure Guild building.

"Did you hear the White Healer is renting a house?"

Many people already know about Michael moving out from the inn even though he just moved out.

"Really? Where has he lived?"

"In the eastern side. The adventurer district."

"Oh, really? That is good then."

"No, no, no. He rented that place at a higher price than normal."

"What?!?"

"Yes. He needs to pay fifteen silver coins upfront and thirty coins every month."

"What?!? How could they do that?!?"

"I know, right? He is the only individual that wants to heal us, a low-level citizen, and the people above decide to overcharge him."

"Yes. That is the price a Doctor should be charged with, but instead, they charge it to the only kind people here."

"Yes. I really hope Michael did not walk away from this city because of that bastard."

"Yeah… I'm not yet paid him back for healing me when I was on the brink of death."

"Me too, buddy, me too."

What they did not know, the Guild master heard what they were saying and raised his eyebrow in anger. Michael is the savior of Barik, the Guild Master, for healing his son who got the Black Sickness.

If he cannot help the person that helps his son, then Barik cannot forgive himself for the rest of his life.

Without thinking twice, Barik gets up from his seat behind the guild counter and begins to prepare his journey to the Lord Mansion, where he will talk with the City Lord.