72. Restoration and Risk

In Afeerbah, Rys, Cerone, and Alyssa had been making substantial headway towards reaching their goal of being able to leave the continent, but as they approached their goal the three of them became more hesitant. On one hand they were ahead of their original schedule, but on the other hand each of them had different reservations about leaving. 

Rys worried about the repercussions of their departure on the city, what the fungal brood mind would do, if Castus and Shi could make it. 

Alyssa worried about healing Rys before they left to give them the best chance in a new continent and concerns over Cerone's affliction. 

Cerone worried about her goals. Would the affliction from the fungal brood mind prevent her from taking her revenge against the church, would leaving the continent be the right choice to eventually complete that goal. 

The three of them used to chat all the time, but more recently they spoke less and less, not because they grew apart, but because they each were carrying more and more weight on their chests. They had grown some, gaining some height and levels. 

The trio walked down the streets. Beggers lined the once pristine streets. Ever since the news of the hero's demise people have been packing up and coming to Afeerbah to escape. When they originally came things had started to stabilize even with increased violence, but with the sheer numbers of travelers the city started to ooze with poverty and desperation. Food and daily necessities skyrocketed in price and prostitutes stood on every street corner. The mayor had also been missing for a number of months and the city leadership was now scrambling to fill in the voids. 

The three of them avoided the beggars with expert deftness. They had originally tried to help a few they took pity on, but it was a mistake. The second you showed an ounce of kindness, all the beggars in the area would swarm to you, trying to tear you apart for a single copper coin. Now they just ignored them. 

While the filth and poverty had invaded the city, it also gave the trio more and more work from the manager allowing them to be so far ahead of schedule. Currently they were on the way to a healer to finally fix Rys' leg. With their savings and earning rate, they firmly believed they would be able to afford to heal Rys and still book voyage soon. Entering the well lit clinic they found a number of amputees and injured people sitting in the lobby, clearly waiting for charity from the doctor. 

Approaching the desk Cerone tapped the wood to alert the clerk. A woman in her mid thirties with bags under her eyes looked away from the papers she had in her hands. "Oh, hello there... D'do you have an appointment?" She stammered, in need of a nap. 

"Yes we do. We're here for a limb restoration. It's under Rys." Cerone responded. They had come before so the doctor could check Rys out and determine if he could restore his leg, which had come out to be far cheaper than they expected at 40 gold. 

The woman nodded and flipped through a mess of papers, snatching one on the bottom. "Oh, yes, uhh, please go to room 2 behind me. The doctor will be there shortly." She weakly gestured behind herself to a wooden door. 

The trio entered the room. Rys crutched over to a chair, sitting down while the two girls stood. 

"I can't believe I'm getting my leg back. It doesn't feel real." Rys spoke.

Alyssa looked at him with a smile. "It a day for celebration you know!" 

"Once you have your leg back we can take on some more tricky jobs and then get out of here even faster!" Cerone responded. Though she intended it to be a positive thing, it only stirred negative emotions in the two of them. 

The doctor entered, breaking off their discussion. A younger man in his late twenty with thick bottle cap glasses slammed the door behind himself while swigging from a mana potion. "Alright lets get to it, busy, busy." He barely acknowledged the trio as he looked down at a stack of papers he was carrying. "Leg restoration, alright, this should do the trick." The doctor laid the papers down, moving his hand and creating an incredibly complex sigil that layered itself on top of four others that spun mystically around the radius of the main sigil. 

Once the sigil was formed he looked to Rys with an impatient expression. "Your stump?" He spoke with contempt. Rys not hesitating quickly untied his pant leg to expose the cleanly amputated stump. The doctor looked at it with an inquisitive expression. He paused to admire the amputation. "Before I start I have to ask, who performed your amputation. The work is admirable." The doctor they had seen on the first appointment had been different from this one, and the sudden question put the entire group on edge. While Havald didn't ask for them to hide him it felt wrong to let his information just go, especially with that elderly couple simply living life as they see fit, they didn't want to uproot their lives. 

"It was a... traveler that helped us out. We never got his name." Cerone was quick to make a lie. Rys and Alyssa nodding in agreement. The doctor continued to hold the sigil while looking at them with suspicion. 

"Well, that definitely wasn't a doctor. I'd have to say that 'traveler' you met was definitely a professional." The doctor stopped looking at the leg and held the sigil to the leg, and the trio watched in amazement as Rys' leg grow back from the stump like a timelapse of a tree sprouting. Over several seconds the bones, muscles and fibers of his leg formed, wrapped and sealed until Rys' fully formed leg was returned. 

Rys in amazement hopped down from the table he was sitting on and moved around on it. He was unsteady, but the excitement in his face was palpable. The doctor dispersed the sigil, writing down something on the stack of papers he had been holding earlier. "You can pay up front." He spoke while he turned to leave. He paused at the door and turned over his shoulder. After a second he continued on without another word. 

As the doctor entered into the hallway, he thought to himself. 'That was no traveler. That was healed without magic. They know someone who had the knowledge to heal without magic. I need to find out who it is.' 

The trio excitedly went up front and paid. Exiting out into the street just after. Rys was running and jumping around in circles. "Oh, it feels so good to be able to move around normally again. I can't tell you both how good this feels." Alyssa smiled looking at Rys.

"I'm glad we were able to heal your leg before we left Afeerbah. Cerone you said that the manager had another job for us?" Alyssa asked while she moved around with Rys as he grew more accustom to having a leg back. 

"Oh, uh yeah he did say that." Cerone responded while counting the remains of their funds. "Based on what he said I think this will be enough for us to book passage out of here." 

Rys rushed up to Cerone. "Then what are we waiting for! I need to test this leg out!" His giggles of glee and their childish demeanor brought some happiness to the otherwise depressed street. 

Walking up to the mansion the trio of them weren't even stopped by the gate guard. Over the last year they had come and gone from the manor a number of times, they knew most of the staff at this point. They walked without escort and made their way to the manager's office without being stopped. Along the way they said hello to all of their favorite servants of the manor. 

The trio entered the office and the manager sat behind his desk, smaller than usual. He looked grim. 

"Manager, I brought everyone for the mission you said you had." Cerone spoke. 

The manager looked up from the paperwork. "Oh, you three, good." He spoke with a flat neutral tone. They had noticed ever since the disappearance of the mayor months ago, the manager had grown more and more depressed. The quantity of paperwork on his desk had also piled up to a comical size. 

"As I'm sure you three have noticed, since the disappearance of the mayor the town has been thrown into turmoil. While we have tried to place a new mayor in his seat due to his extended absence, factions within the city are constantly waring with each other, trying to put their candidate in that seat. While I don't care about it, the resulting moves have made my job hell. With the massive migration of people to Afeerbah our resources are strained. More so than ever with supplies being locked up and limited as political moves. 

I say all of this no to belittle you three kids, but to bring some attention to how serious what I'm going to ask you three to do for me is. Yevelian, the scum that is suspected to have taken the mayor was sighted on a routine maintenance check. Unfortunately, it was in a part of the system that is relatively untouched. While you and various other groups consistently clear out the riff raff that climb their way up the sewer system towards the surface the lower parts are left unchecked. Afeerbah is an old city. The sewer system is an inheritance from a city long past. Besides what we have had charted, where Yevelian was spotted is past what we have mapped. 

I am asking you three to dive deeper into the sewers than many have in the past in hopes of locating Yevelian and where he may have the mayor, or at least proof of death so I can end this political charade and get the city moving back in the right direction. Without it I cannot enact proper procedures and factions can continue to vie for the temporary mayor position."

The trio looked at the manager with surprise and concern. For the most part their missions so far had been simple exterminations and the occasional patrol in the sewers, nothing too dangerous, but after the encounter with the fungal brood mind, the three of them had understood that the depths of the sewer system contained things far too dangerous for them. 

The manager read their silence as concern. Sighing, he spoke up again. "I know its dangerous, but honestly you three are the last option I have left. Not only do you have an impressive record diving into the sewers without casualty, you also have a perfect completion rate. There's also the other issue that you three are the last adventure group in the city I know of that isn't already affiliated with a political group trying to gain control of the city. All other groups have been bought out and are declining to accept the mission. Please." 

The manager looked desperate and based on the amount of work laying on his desk the three of them could see that this was his last option. 

Cerone spoke up for the group. "We will do it, but we want a guaranteed voyage off the continent." 

The manager's face lit up. "Yes, yes, yes. I will see to it. If you can find proof of the mayors death or where Yevelian is hiding I can do that." He agreed almost too quickly. 

"Can you show us where he was last spotted?" Alyssa asked. 

The manager nodded in affirmation and reached in his desk for a thick set of maps.