Chapter 2

"He's dead."

Yuran's face held a stoic expression and an unchanging gaze as she delivered somber news about the patient to the patient's sniffling friend. Worried and cluttered, she had been patiently sitting there waiting for half an hour.

"WHAT?!" 

Mercia's eyes darkened, horror shadowing over her face. "Oliver's d-dead…?"

"No, I'm just kidding. He's asleep," Yuran blinked dryly.

Mercia imagined herself slapping Yuran, picking up her body, and thrashing her against the wall to wipe the smug look off her face. She couldn't, so instead a grumpy pout sizzled over her lips and her furiously furrowed eyebrows frowned.

"Don't kid around like that," she snapped, irritated at Yuran's jokes and pranks. Her straight blonde strands bounced up and down as she spoke.

Yuran chuckled. Mercia was her good friend. Teasing her was fun. A social butterfly who was always up to date on the latest trends for everything ranging from foods to outfits to hairstyles and accessories. She and her twin, Lilith, would meet with Raine at lunch every day and chat. Yuran joined them the latest because of her job as a healer.

The sleeping man on the bed was Oliver, a collector of herbs and other pharmaceutical substances who assisted Raine, an avid alchemist. He had a gentle face and a lean body, khaki-tan color in his fluffed bangs that complimented emerald crystals for eyes. 

Mercia's honey-blonde hair and purple eyes glittered violently, shaking back and forth. Her easily readable facial expressions showcased her spontaneous personality perfectly. 

"He must've passed out from exhaustion again…" she muttered, rubbing her temples. 

Oliver's sleep problems allow him two hours at most each night; he works laboriously gathering herbs in the Wicked Woods… Mercia thought. It must've resulted in him passing out from exhaustion during work!

Yuran clicked her tongue. "Tsk. Tell Raine to give him a rest, Oliver can do some lab jobs. He's pushover-nice, so he'll even do the tedious tasks."

"Okay, thanks Yuran!" Mercia beamed with vibrant magenta irises as she walked toward the door. "I'll see you at lunch."

Yuran adjusted her round frame glasses with slow hands and droopy eyes."It's still early morning…"

She glanced at the clock.

"… Oh, it's 10:00 a.m."

***

Mercia had fixed up her hair neatly, vibrant purple ribbons streaking through curtains of straight bangs. Lilith sat beside her, the polar opposite of Mercia's talkative persona. She quietly dabbled at her food and listened to the chatter, content with the sunlight warming her back and the tapping sounds of cutlery against plates.

They were at the village eatery. Their village, Corrotsonne, was among the better and larger commoner villages, organized and relatively well off despite living near a cursed forest tainted with dark blume—the Wicked Woods. 

Corrotsonne had a stable economy with a hospice, an eatery, and many local shops. This was because of the specialty in alchemy, earning the village a better income than most other commoner settlements in the region. Raine was the most talented; praised as a young genius. However, if the village lacked supplies, the marketplace was only four miles away. 

"I'll have to delay the astrad fern elixirs," Raine whined. "I need my herbs… my herbs…! They're my babies…"

"Nerd."

"Shut it Yuran, you're just a healer! You wouldn't understand," Raine yelped between mock sobs. Her fiery red hair encased her shoulders as wavy strands swished back and forth clinging together. 

In response, Yuran viciously stabbed lettuce and shoved it voraciously into her mouth, munching loudly.

"Wait, that gives me an idea… I'm a genius!" Raine exclaimed, her cornflower-like blue eyes shimmering in excitement. 

Lilith sipped some iced lemon tea, looking back and forth warily between her two friends. 

A light seemed to have gone off over Raine's head, her eyes sparkling ambitiously. Yuran disliked that look.

"Yuran, you should gather herbs instead! You have healing powers from divine blume! You're basically immune to the dark blume in the forest, so you could go deeper in it too, maybe even to the third layer and gather the higher tier herbs…"

Yuran gave Raine a deadeye stare. 

As if cued, Mercia gasped dramatically. "What a good idea! Then Oliver can take on some less taxing jobs for his well-being." 

"Yeah, it's a win-win!" Raine rambled on, pampering Yuran with smug compliments. "Yuran, please? You're the only one in the entire village with healing powers and they're super strong. Even nobles would be jealous!" 

"Sugary words aren't going to convince me," Yuran grumbled. 

"You're looking very attractive today."

"Okay, I'll do it." 

Suddenly, there was a clang of metal hitting the floor. Lilith had dropped her fork. Her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment as she bent down to pick it up, putting it aside to wash later. She was trying her best to not laugh, but a few subtle giggles escaped her hand-covered mouth. 

Yuran adjusted her round frame glasses and tucked away wisps of soft snowy strands.

It's a job that'll be harder but it'll be more profitable and brag-worthy. Arguably, I could make more money with the clients who'd buy expensive herbs from a cursed forest than healing injured people. And not just any cursed forest, but the Wicked Woods, possibly even the third layer. Imagine how much I could sell the herbs deep within the forest for…

At the thought of all the jewbis she could gain, Yuran smiled. 

"Oh boy, I don't like that smile…" Mercia muttered nervously.

Yuran was starting to look money-crazed again, and she was off the clock right now.

~