After the meeting, while everybody had left, Thea and Silas remained.

  "I have another task for you, Silas."

  Thea sounded pretty serious.

  "Yes, Miss Thea. I'll do whatever you need."

  "It's not that difficult of a task. I need you to send a letter to your master."

  "...my master?! Did I not do my job correctly?"

  Silas was taken back by Thea's request.

  "No, no. It's nothing like that. You're doing great here. Even though this is not your forte, you're working as hard as you can to meet expectations."

  "Then, what is it you want with my master?"

  "Tell him I'm cashing in on my favor."

  "A favor?"

  "It's not my place to tell you. And it might be better if you don't know anything. Just tell him that I want to exchange the favor for gold and only gold. As for the amount, as much as he thinks the favor is worth."

  Silas stood there for a moment.

  "My master is not one to owe favors to others. In all the years I've known him, he has never been in debt to someone. And he owes you?"

  "Yes? Is that so surprising?"

  Thea twisted her head to the side.

  "Yes. It's very surprising to me. What favor did you do him?"

  Silas asked curiously.

  "Hmm."

  Thea smiled gently.

  "Ask him yourself. If he's not told you, then I shouldn't either."

  "What? You're really not going to tell me?"

  Silas looked like a sad dog wanting a treat. Well, a sad wolf because Silas was a wolf beast-men.

  "I'll give you one piece of hint if you do something for me."

  Thea leaned against a table, arms crossed.

  "Which is?"

  "Tell me, what do you think of Janna?"

  "Janna? W-why are you asking me?"

  "I don't know. I spend a lot of time with her, but I don't know what other people think of her. Maybe you don't like something about her that I should tell her. So what's your opinion of her?"

  This was not Thea's goal though. Thea already knew Janna was a perfect and compassionate human being. All her flaws made her who she is. She just wanted to know if Silas liked Janna.

  "I-I think she's incredible. And kind-hearted. Otherwise, the children wouldn't gather around her and love her so much. She's strong. You saw her, when she protected everyone. She didn't back down once and just kept blocking the attacks with her body. It's amazing how she's still so humble to everyone despite how much power she holds. Most people don't turn out like that, they let the fame and power take over. But Janna's still the same cute person as before."

  Thea's eyebrows raised, and her ears perked up.

  "What was that?"

  "What was what?"

  "Did you just say she's 'cute'?"

  "W-what are you talking about? I just said I admired her."

  Silas became flustered, he realized he had slipped a word in.

  "Oh, ho. I get it. You admire~ her."

  Thea had a sly smile on her face. And her voice sounded like it was implying something else.

  "Wait, it's not like that."

  Silas tried to defend himself.

  "Of course you admire her character as a person. Wait, what did you think I meant?"

  But as if she never meant to imply anything, Thea questioned Silas' words.

  "No...nothing. I really do admire her...as a person. I really do."

  Silas was quick to correct himself.

  "Really? Sure you don't admire her cuteness?"

  Thea seemed to really like teasing Silas now.

  "Miss Thea. It's nothing like that. I'm-"

  "Of course, I also admire her cuteness. It's only natural to think she's cute."

  "...yes, yes."

  Silas was having a hard time being teased by Thea.

  "But you know, I heard that finding someone your age cute usually means you like them."

  "Miss Thea, please. That can't be true. It doesn't make sense."

  Silas' face was becoming increasingly red. He decided to be a bit stern and steer away from the topic.

  "Hmm....you tell me. Do you like Janna?"

  The direct question made Silas' heart beat faster.

  "As a person."

  Silas coughed and said.

  "Hmm, sure. As a person..."

  Thea did her devilish smirk.

  "Anyways, Miss Thea. About that thing you said earlier."

  Silas quickly switched the topic.

  "What thing?"

  "Actually, I would like to apologize first. I didn't think that you were a doctor."

  Silas made a bow.

  "No, it's my fault. I should've told you about my expertise."

  "No, I should've asked and informed you about what's going on in the village."

  "Let's stop this and move on. We can't change the past anyway. What were you going to say?"

  "So we have a doctor on hand. Her name's Sivi. She's an alright doctor but she's only started learning a few years back and she's only been practicing since summer."

  "So only a few months? Couldn't you have hired someone experienced?"

  "Well, we tried. But no one wanted to come work here. There's enough suffering everywhere else that most doctors are too busy."

  "Haa~ it doesn't help that doctors are so rare."

  Thea sighed. It was true that doctors were uncommon in this world. Most people would rather make potions and earn a living.

  "Sivi's been trying her best to help anyone she can. But there's some people that she doesn't know what to do. If you're free right now, could you visit them?"

  "Yes, but you'll have to inform Janna that I'll take a bit to come back."

  "I'll send someone. But umm..."

  Silas scratched his head.

  "What is it?"

  "You said you would give me a hint on the thing that master owes you a favor."

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  "Right, I'll tell you even though you didn't tell me the truth."

  "W-what do you mean? I answered the question as best as I could."

  "Sure, sure. You only admire her as a person. As for the hint, the next time you meet him, ask him about your scar."

  "You mean meet my master? And I already know what these scars are from."

  Silas had two scars on his face. One is a scar on the left side of his neck running down from his ear. It was the bigger scar. He has a small one on his lower left jaw under the edge of the lips.

  "It was from a drunk adventurer."

  "The scar on the back of your head."

  "..."

  Silas was silent.

  "How do you know about that?"

  Silas was trembling.

  "I also know about the one on your back."

  Silas was shocked.

  "Only master knows about it. How do you know?"

  The scars on the back of his head and back were things he only ever told to his master. Silas was rattled by Thea.

  "I said it's not my place to tell you. You can ask him yourself when you meet him. But..."

  "But?"

  "Be careful. If you think your heart can't handle it...then don't ask him."

  "What does that mean? Why can't you tell me right now?"

  "It shouldn't be me who tells you. Anyways, let's hurry. There's a patient waiting for me."

  "Wait-"

  Thea stood up and walked off, leaving him there to think with a thoughtful frown. He quickly followed Thea out the room. He gave one of the employees a message to deliver to Janna about Thea being a bit delayed from going back to the orphanage.

  "You really should get a messenger bird. It makes communication easy."

  Silas suggested to Thea.

  "I used to have a pet. It was a small blue gecko."

  Thea was silent for a moment.

  "What was it's name?"

  "...I didn't give him a name. He liked being called gecko."

  Silas was a bit confused but he went along with it.

  "What happened to him?"

  "Gecko's typically live for five to ten years. He left me when he was eight. He was a special gecko too. He was extremely smart, to the point he was like a human."

  "You must've loved him."

  "No, I hated that guy. He was so annoying and playful. He always pulled on my hair when I was sleeping. And he would leave the dorm room when he wanted and come back days later."

  "But you kept him as a pet for eight years?"

  "Haa~ looking back, I think he understood me. It was fun having him around even if he always played tricks. What I'm saying is that my memories of him are happy ones. He was special, you know? If it's not something on the same level as him, I don't think I can have another pet."

  "I hope you find one then. Mystics are hard to come by and they only bond with people they like."

  Mystics are animals that are born with the intelligence of a human. They are special inside their species. Unlike their family, mystic animals are able to learn magic and some can even use human speech. It's truly a mystery how they are born, but everyone wants one as a companion.

  "I hope so too."

  About two minutes later, Silas brought Thea to the edge of the village. In front of a broken down shabby house. There was a female with long dark brown hair standing outside the door. She had her hands on her face.

  "Sivi! What happened?"

  Silas had mentioned her before. The amateur doctor who had been curing the people in the village for the past months.

  "Oh...sir, it's you."

  Sivi put her hands down after wiping her tears away. She had been crying outside of the house for some reason.

  "What's wrong? Did something happen to you?"

  Silas seemed to care about Sivi a lot.

  "It's nothing. I just felt sad because I can't help the patient. So I came out here to vent."

  "Oh~ you're such a kind soul. It's not like you can help everyone in the world. There are times where you'll feel hopeless."

  Silas consoled Sivi.

  "Why is Miss Thea here?"

  Sivi pointed at Thea.

  "Hello."

  Thea extended her hand. Sivi quickly shook it.

  "Hi, I've heard so much about you from Su. And I've seen you around, but I've never talked to you before. It's nice to finally talk to you, Miss Thea."

  "I hope Su only told you about my good side. I wouldn't want people to learn of my bad habits."

  Thea smiled and continued shaking Sivi's hand. She shook it for an uncomfortable amount of time. All the while giving Sivi a smile.

  "Miss Thea?"

  "Let's go in. The patient is waiting."

  "Huh? Are you a doctor too, Miss Thea?"

  "Yes, I am. It's one of my two expertises."

  Thea opened the door and head inside. There were three people inside.

  "Hello."

  Thea greeted them. Two people were women in their thirties, and they were sitting next to someone laying on a blanket on the floor. That person was much older, almost reaching the age of sixty.

  "Hello, Miss Thea."

  The two women greeted Thea.

  "I'm here to take a look at her."

  Thea sat down next to the patient.

  "Yes, please help us."

  The two women begged Thea.

  "I'll do what I can. Have some hope."

  Thea started checking the patient.

  "Her blood pressure seems normal."

  "The symptoms show on her back."

  Sivi pointed out to Thea.

  "Wait, I'll get to it. I need to check everywhere to make sure."

  Thea checked the patient's eyes, mouth, neck, hands and feet.

  "Alright, turn her over. Gently."

  After turning the patient over, Thea lifted the shirt to see her back. It was greenish in color. But there was pus or anything developing on it.

  "Hmm. It's infecting her spine."

  Thea made a careful observation after using some of the tools from her magic bag.

  "Her spine?"

  The two women next to the patient got scared.

  "Stop. Any loud noises will make the spread worse."

  The two women nodded their heads.

  "What exactly is this?"

  Sivi asked Thea.

  "It's not a disease, it's an insect that's latched on to her and is trying to take over her body for itself.."

  Everybody gasped inside the house.

  "Is-is she going to die?"

  One of the women asked Thea.

  "Don't worry, it usually takes two week for the person to die after symptoms show. By my estimates, she still has a week left to be treated."

  The two women cheered.

  "I can make the medicine to apply on her back that'll force the insect out and kill it. But the problem is that the herb needed for it. I don't have it."

  The two women's face changed to one of dread.

  "Miss Thea. If it's an herb that you can buy from other towns, I can have it delivered via birds."

  "Yes, big cities should have it. Here."

  Thea took out a large book from her magic bag. She flipped through it to a page. There, she pointed to the herb. It was gray and blue in color. With a small red bead at the top of it.

  "It's called Gloombirth. It's very small. I need the stalk and the red bead you see here. It grows on the west side of the continent. So you'll have a better change of finding it there."

  "Yes, I'll get right to it."

  Silas left them immediately to get the herb as fast as possible.

  "Now, I need some information."

  Thea turned back towards the two women and Sivi.

  "Sorry? Did we do something wrong?"

  The women didn't understand Thea. They thought they were in trouble.

  "No. I meant where did you come from and how many people were with you when you got here."

  "Oh. My family comes from the west. From Locktios. The king there is mad and it's a really terrible place to live at the moment."

  "I remember hearing about this. He's going around wanting to massacre everyone on the edge of the kingdom."

  Sivi said.

  "No. He's not wanting to. He *IS* killing people."

  The women corrected Sivi.

  "That's horrible."

  Sivi put her hand on her mouth.

  "It's much more horrible than you can imagine."

  The women had a sorrowful expression.

  "Alright, stop talking about it. There's nothing we can do about that, but there is something we can do at this moment. How many people were with you when you left and did you pass through any forests after you were forced out from your home and came here?"

  Thea changed the subject back to what she needed to know.

  "There were eight of us, I think. We met the group of refugees on our path to Zatiax but when we heard their stories, we decided to join them. And yes, we passed through a forest before that. It was a normal forest though."

  "Did you see any green flowers handing on vines in the forest?"

  "Now that you mention it...is that the cause of my aunt's disease?"

  "Possibly. I need to know who else was with you guys, they could also be infected."

  "Are we also infected?"

  "We'll know after checking."

  Thea checked the two for signs of any green skin on their back. The two women brought Thea to the refugees they remembered travelling with.

  "Sorry to tell you, but you're also infected."

  In total, Thea found two others with the same disease. Their symptoms weren't as obvious as the first one Thea checked but they would also need treatment.

  "Uhm, Miss Thea?"

  Sivi called out to Thea as they walked back into Silas's shop.

  "What is it?"

  "Is this disease...can it spread to other people?"

  "No, it can't spread until its host is dead."

  "I see. I was worried it might've spread to everyone else."

  "Oh, you were worried?"

  "...yes?"

  The mood seemed to have changed. Thea was now cold to Sivi after they stepped into the shop. Something had changed.

  "What happened?"

  Silas was at the desk, doing something on his notebook.

  "Why don't you ask her?"

  Thea sat down at a chair and gestured towards Sivi.

  "I-I don't understand, Miss Thea. Did I do something wrong?"

  Sivi asked Thea. Meanwhile, Silas was confused as to what was happening.

  "I don't know. You might've already done something and I just don't know about it."

  Thea answered Sivi.

  "Wait, Miss Thea, Sivi has been working hard to help the people. What are you implying?"

  Silas stepped in to help his employee.

  "It's exactly that. She's not here to help people."

  "Wh-what are you saying?"

  Sivi looked confused too. And a little bit stressed.

  "Silas, you saw her crying outside the house, right?"

  "Yes, I did. That should prove that she is committed to helping people and feels terrible when she can't do anything."

  "That would be the case if those were real tears."

  "What?"

  Both of them gasped at Thea's remark.

  "Crow's arrow. Are you familiar with it?"

  "Yes. That's the herb that makes one cry..."

  Silas came to a realization.

  "It was named as such because it made the person cry like a soldier getting hit in the knee with an arrow. And do you want to take a guess as to what herb I smelled when I first met Sivi?"

  Silas was silent. There was no need to guess. He looked at Sivi. The room was silent for a moment.

  "What do you have to say?"

  Thea's voice actually startled the two.

  "What's your goal?"

  Sivi stood there for a moment. Then tears started flowing out from her eyes. Big blobs of tears.

  "I'M SORRY!"

  Sivi knelt down and placed her hands on Thea's knees. She apologized loudly. Thea could feel that these were real tears and she was actually feeling sad.

  "Stop! Stop crying. Why are you crying in the first place?"

  Thea was taken back by this development. She had thought that Sivi had some evil intentions and would try to escape when interrogated. But she started bawling her eyes out instead.

  "I-I-I don't want to be a doctor."

  "Huh? Then why did you become a doctor? And apply for a job here?"

  "That..."

  Sivi's gaze shifted down. She was avoiding looking at Thea.

  "Just say it."

  "...It's because of money! I wanted the money."

  "What?"

  "There's something I want to research for myself, but nobody would let me research it. So I needed money, and a lot of it, to be able to conduct the research on my own."

  Sivi spilled out everything.

  "I hate actually coming in contact with people that are sick. But I still want to help them in other ways. After I touched that patient from before, I felt disgusted. But I couldn't show that to the people around as it would be bad to be seen like that. So I used the Crow's arrow poison to make myself cry and hide my disgust. There. Are you happy now?"

  It seemed that Sivi was frustrated by something and just blurted out everything.

  "Oh, ok. Why didn't you say anything to Silas, then?"

  "Because that would make me lose my salary?"

  Sivi turned her head sideways. She was questioning if Thea was listening to her or not.

  "So you love money?"

  "No, I need money for my research."

  "Which is?"

  "Poison. There's many poisons in the world. And venoms. They're usually feared but they can also be used to help people. I want to research the effects of poisons on the human body, actually all kinds of species' body."

  "Oh, that seemed interesting. What's your end goal with this research?"

  "I want to develop a cure. A miracle cure that will heal all the types of poisons in this world. And also venoms from any creature."

  "That's a pretty ambitious goal."

  "I read about it in books. It's said to even neutralize a poison dragon's poison."