Valeria wanted this kid to come with her. First, she would have him help her with her problems, such as lodging, bathing, food, and so on, and then, she could give the kid her own aid.

  “Do you want to continue your work, or would you rather get back to your wife?” She asked.

  “I need to report the necromancer to my superiors, so getting there is a priority. Fortunately, me and my wife live on the way to the Hermann estate, so one doesn’t exclude the other.”

  “Very well. I will have you lead me there. Do you have any objections?”

  The kid, (Abram was his name, if she remembered correctly), wore a reluctant expression. Fortunately, it seemed his upbringing was good enough for him to remember about gratitude.

  “Well, you are my life’s savior. From what I understood, You are not employed by any noble family. Do you wish for me to introduce you?”

  ‘My goodness, this child speaks quite eloquently when he isn’t throwing f words around.’

  “Oh, please. I’ retired already. On the contrary, you should claim the credit for discovering and defeating those abominations yourself. In return, I’ll have you introduce me to your wife.”

  Abram nearly knocked his kneecaps with his forehead, so deep was his gratitude.

  “Thank you. Normally, I wouldn’t agree to such a thing, but I really need that promotion, or my wife won’t be able to use magic again. So once again, thank you.”

  ‘He’s scoring points, this kid.’

  He didn’t seem happy. A lot of people would say stuff like ‘I normally wouldn’t do this, but if it’s for my family…’ And so on. They want to seem so caring, genuine, and noble. Meanwhile, their eyes look like that of a government official who was just handed a thick, unmarked envelope.

  But this kid looked like he was telling the truth.

  Which is why Valeria started to take a liking to Abram. He did have pride, but was ready to discard it if need be. There is nothing more irritating than a person who is willing to let their family suffer because they think themselves too good to receive charity.

  “Very well. I have already harvested all the cores. Your wound, while it bled a lot, isn’t something that would make walking impossible. Prepare yourself for travel. I hope we can set out at dawn.”

  Abram pushed the blanket he was covered with aside, and looked at his bandaged leg. He touched the wound through the fabric, and hissed in pain.

  “Are you sure it’s no problem for me to move? I know that I normally should get out of here as soon as possible so that necrotic mana doesn’t infect the wound, but I’m a life mage. I should be able to stay here and recuperate as long as I circle my mana correctly. If I remember correctly, this wound looked quite horrible?”

  “Don’t be such a drama queen. What that tongue cut was mostly skin and fat. And twenty four stitches barely counts as a wound. Get up. It’s getting brighter outside.

  “Wait... Stitches? You mean you closed the wound by sewing it together?! Like cloth!?”

  “What else was I supposed to do, in your opinion?”

  “Use a potion, obviously!”

  “I don’t have any.”

  As a matter of fact, Valeria didn’t even know what potion was, but seeing how worked up Abram was over it, he would tell her later anyway.

  “Oh. Right, you have mana interference resistance, potions won’t work on you. Makes sense you would use other means. Sorry. Still, are you sure it’s safe?”

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  Oh. So knowledge of potions was useless to her anyway. Good to know.

  “I sewn together enough wounds to qualify as a decent tailor. You can relax. Walking may hurt a bit, though.”

  “A bit?”

  “Enough to build character. Stop with the chit chat, I can see you are stalling for time.”

  Valeria reached for his collar, and pulled Abram up. He reluctantly put some weight on his wounded leg. When it didn’t turn to dust immediately, he walked to his bag more confidently. He pulled out a small bottle, poured some of the liquid under the bandage, and downed the rest.

  ‘This is probably that potion he was talking about. I was worried when I didn’t find any medical supplies in his bag, but I guess I was wrong.’

  Abram pulled his pants up, and got his clothes under control. After checking his equipment, he stood facing Valeria, all with an extremely suffering expression.

  “I’m ready.”

  “Good. Let’s go. And stop making that martyrial face.”

  They walked out of the house, and into the mist illuminated by early daylight.

  “I’m afraid It’s the first time I’m around these parts. Would you be so kind as to lead the way?”

  Abram moved forward, limping.

  “It still hurts.” He complained, hissing.

  “Walk it off. You even have a spear to support yourself with, no?“

  “Said a woman walking with both a staff and a cane.”

  “It’s an axe. Also, wait sixty years and see if you’ll still have that spring in your step.”

  “I don’t have any, for the time being.”

  Valeria groaned.

  “Tell me, how can a man with enough guts to waltz straight into a monsters’ den whine so much?”

  “I’m not whining. It’s common sense to treat wounds with a potion, and rest for the period of time needed to fully heal, or else the wound can continue reopening and eventually get infected. I estimate that I need around four days of resting. I would only need two if not for the necrotic mana around us.”

  “How is it supposed to come apart if I stitched it together, huh? Think about it.”

  Abram seemingly decided to shut up and stopped hissing. They made their way roughly in the same direction Valeria already travelled in. The thorny bushes were gradually growing more and more lush, and both travelers had to be careful with the thorns.

  “Come to think of it, what was that thing that sprouted vines when you’ve thrown it?”

  The greenery around them was far from verdant, but it still reminded Valeria of that peculiar weapon Abram used to try preventing her from giving him first aid.

  “Just a seed of a certain plant wrapped in some fertilizer. Proper use of growth magic resulted in what you’ve seen. Also, it wouldn’t normally wilt nearly as fast as it did.”

  “Necrotic mana again?”

  “Mhm.”

  Valeria could see why Abram pitied her for being unable to use magic. For a person who can do fantastic stuff like this, inability to do so must seem like being crippled. Still, ‘Mana Interferance Resistance’ implied that she would be resistant to any magics cast upon her, including those of enemies.

  Frankly speaking, Valera was glad she was ‘disabled’. Learning to use something like actual, real magic, and at her age at that, would be most likely impossible.

  With her condition, she would at least be safe from some of enemies attacks, while not having to alter her own style that much. Perfect.

  “Could you tell me about your wife? You told me she is sick. Any details you can share?”

  “She has an excessive core deviation. If she uses her magic as she is now, it will result in strained pathways and full body pain. Worst case scenario, she might even die.”

  “Is there a reason for this condition? Or a way to cure it?”

  “Don’t spread this, but it’s because she used a mana pill from an uncertified source. Good, certified alchemists are almost entirely monopolizes by noble families, which is why a common person can’t really afford anything good.”

  “What does such a pill do?”

  “This particular one was supposed to introduce imbalance to the core, but it did so excessively. On the other side, balancers bought from the same source were way too weak.”

  “Why would you purposely get imbalances?”

  Valeria wasn’t an expert, but that sounded retarded.

  “Because imbalanced core is what allows people to use magic. I get that you can’t exactly imagine it yourself, not feeling mana and all, but think about it this way. The more of a level difference a river has, the faster it flows. Unfortunately, my Flora made her ‘river’ flow so fast, it started violently destroying everything in its path. You can’t have a water wheel on a waterfall.”

  “So she used dangerous doping, and got an obvious result?”

  Now Abram looked angry.

  “Look here. You are technically right, but frontier is dangerous. We need magic to survive, and advancing it past the beginner stage without drugs is something every kid dreams of doing, until those dreams are inevitably shattered by reality. Every single time. Understand? Pills are needed, but you can only get them either from nobles, or some shady sources. We thought we could work solo, but that was a mistake.”

  “Is that why you want to get a promotion?”

  “Yes. If I can become a butler, even getting a pill tailored specifically for Flora will be within our reach.”

  “Then I wish you success.”

  ‘Fascinating. Be it corporations or otherworldly nobility, ways to keep the rats running are always ingenious.’

  They continued walking, until they stood before the first tree Valeria had seen in this strange country.