Chapter 36 Read intentions

By the time we returned to the inn it was already dark. To my surprise the boy was awake and had barely finished eating. So to prevent him from bothering me about her sister at the time, I told him if he would like a bath.

Taking advantage of the fact that I had already rented the entire bathhouse for that night, I sent him along with Ryuuji (who after his fight needed another shower) to the men's bathroom, while Ren had the women's one for her. I must say, considering that she lived until now on the mountain and that she avoided being seen, this surely was her first “human bath”.

I don't know if it's because of being a woman, because birds like to bathe or it was just a matter of experiencing something new, but after the bath she was ecstatic and very accommodating. Which will be good (if she keeps like that), so she will be more obedient. It's not like she hasn't done everything I've ordered so far, but she was always reluctant (sooner or later she could refuse).

Since I think about it, Ren and Ryuuji are currently my most useful tools. The Argent guard serves to keep up appearances and get rid of minor inconvenience. As for Zera ... Well, the truth is that since I have mercenaries I find him less and less useful, considering that Estor knows how to read and write in the language of the East, and that Zera brings the risk of him figure the truth about me.

However, given his way of acting, I would say that he would never question my posture. So it's unlikely to bring me problems, although I have never liked loose ends.

After the bath, the boy couldn't take it anymore and fell asleep, thanks to which I was also able to sleep peacefully in a more or less comfortable bed after days of camping.

Early in the morning the boy told us his story. Apparently he had already talked a little with the captain and the other two from Galatea, but seeing him downhearted they decided that it was better to lift his spirits with food and in the end they didn't hear about what happened.

The final destiny of Galatea was as predicted, although that of the > was a surprise. I had heard a little about that group when we arrived in the city. Garonte affiliates and therefore their boss prefer to call them rebels. A group of mostly poor people who oppose the government and the 'legal' traffickers of people. Of course, legal matters are subjective and I don't doubt that they also oppose illegal ones.

In the end my bet of not ignoring this child may bear fruit much sooner than expected. It seemed to me a fortunate coincidence that he was from Galatea, but that he is related to the rebel group is very good to be true. Who knows, maybe I'll find some way to prevent them from causing me problems or I can even take advantage of them.

After hearing the story we headed to see the child's sister, the baker's daughter in Ryuuji's story. On the way I noticed that Galatea's guard whom Ryuuji left unconscious had the same name as the > of the child ... Interesting.

Unfortunately we run into a problem. The boy had been running desperately around the city for help, so he has no idea which way he took to the place where I found him. For the same reason he doesn't know how to get where his sister is.

For now we go to where we met and from there we will start looking. Although if this is fruitless I will have wasted valuable time, considering that I will soon have to leave the city.

Fortunately, without having passed an hour since we started, we met a pair who were looking for the child. One of them was Molak, a big guy like Garonte, although the latter still surpasses him by a head. This is a level 12 swordsman. Without considering Garonte and the people of Iren, he is the highest level person I have seen so far.

The other subject was a much younger man, called Ruthen. A level 6 thief, which is a considerable achievement for his age. Who for some reason has a particular tendency to apologize for no apparent reason.

We had most of our conversation after they blindfolded us. Of course, it's naive of them to think that will suffice to disorient me, considering that I memorized the map of the city I got yesterday, in addition to taking control of how many steps and turns we have taken. I know perfectly where we are.

Finally we arrived at our destination, where we finally removed the blindfolds. It looks like a somewhat demolished house, if I'm not mistaken we are at the poorest end of the city. Thanks to the monocle I can know that there are a couple of people on the roof above us, maybe prepared to attack if they believe us dangerous. And if I look at the street there are another suspicious people in each corner.

I think they are not so naive. Well, if they didn't have at least this level of vigilance they wouldn't have lasted so long without being caught.

"Sorry for the inconvenience. It's over here".

Hearing Ruthen's voice knocking from a door, the boy runs to the room without wasting time, so I and the rest follow. Of course, most of the mercenaries were unable to enter due to the limited space in the room, so they piled up at the door to observe.

"Sister!"

On the floor of the room, covered with an old blanket, is a young girl with long hair and an expression of pain on her face. The analysis shows without a doubt the state >.

"It seems correct to assume she is suffering the effects of some kind of poison".

"You are quite smart, it's the same our medic said. But we have no idea what kind of poison it could be. It could be of an insect, snake, plant or some monster, so we don't know what antidote is needed. And neither we know if we have it".

Eh?

Does the source of the poison matter? Well, naturally it does in the real world. In TLO the antidotes were used according to the intensity of the poison, all the poisons that cause > are considered normal poisons, which are cured with a bottle of normal >.

I hadn't thought about it too much, but will the basic antidote of the game be effective? If so, I have a full inventory slot of it. If it is effective it would mean that I will be safe against any regular poison, but if it isn't, it means that I must get different kinds of antidotes for each poison ...

I certainly prefer to find out when I'm not the one affected. Congratulations girl, now you will serve for my experiment, from now on I will call you by your name, Selia.

Even so, exactly how long have she been poisoned? Considering her low level and amount of VP, the effect of the poison is incredibly slow compared to TLO. Otherwise she would be dead long ago.

"Help her! Please help my sister !!"

Hum. Don't hate me if this doesn't work.

With everyone's expectant eyes fixed on me, I put my hand in my item bag and took out a bottle of antidote.

If this works out then this antidote will be very valuable, in which case, I don't know if I can replace it in this world. But since this is an investment to know if it will work, in the end I should have no problem giving it to her.

After putting the bottle in her mouth, I decided to make her drink the contents, after which she couldn't help coughing twice. After a few seconds her expression of pain vanished, and what her face showed was exhaustion.

The monocle confirms it, the > state disappeared. This is a great discovery. Thank you for offering as a guinea pig, Selia.

"I-Is she...?"

"She is exhausted, but alive. She will be fine".

The tension left everyone around me, while they were drawing a smile. The child's face turned particularly illuminated. Without wasting time, he leaned against his sister while tears sprang out of control.

We decided to leave them alone for now.

Upon leaving the room, I saw a man waiting for us at the entrance. He was thin and despite being somewhat dirty, he had quite white skin. I was struck by his orange-brown hair. However, more interesting was the title >.

"Sallo. What are you doing here?"

"I heard that a large group of people were with you, so I couldn't help coming to see what was happening".

The man scanned us all, perhaps looking for some suspicious sign in our appearance or expressions.

"I'm sorry for not having consulted before. But listen, Selia is no longer suffering! We believe she will get well".

"And I guess we should thank these people".

Ruthen stands aside and makes a courteous signal with his hand in my direction.

"It's thanks to this man, Argent. He immediately recognized that Selia was poisoned and applied the correct antidote without wasting time".

"Oh! Is he a poison specialist medic?"

"Well, he said he wasn't a medic ..."

At that moment I could see a look of suspicion coming from this Sallo.

"I see. Well, it doesn't really matter. Thank you so much for saving the girl. It's never nice to see someone so young gone, even less when she leaves a child alone".

"It's a pleasure. It's not that I did it completely selflessly. What happens is that we actually know these siblings. My closest guards come from Galatea, and the boy is friends with my comrade".

After observing me for a brief moment and crossing glances with Molak, Sallo seems to decide that everything is fine and lets out a sigh.

"I see. Then it isn't strange to want to help her. It's simply a coincidence that you met here".

"A benevolent coincidence. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been able to help them".

"What will they do now?"

"Well, you have done enough. From now on we will take care of them. As soon as Selia is well, she will come with us".

"It's not a bad idea". Sallo said before directing his gaze to Ruthen.

"You can stay here until you wake up. I'm sorry, but right now it would be better if you didn't leave this house".

"I understand. If you'll excuse us, we'll watch over Selia until she wakes up".

After this the rebels left the house. With nothing else to do, I decided to observe how the girl was doing. I don't think it happens, but it's still early to think that there will be no side effects from the antidote.

"Mr. Argent! With all my heart, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SAVING MY SISTER !!"

The strength in the child's voice took me by surprise. I think I've got another tool. I still have to think what it can do for me.

"Ah... No..."

Apparently, now that she has stopped suffering pain, Selia is dreaming. It's funny to see someone talking while sleeping.

"Don't do it ... Don't mess with the soldiers ..."

Soldiers?

As far as I knew, the only soldiers Selia should have had contact with were those of Iren when they attacked Galataea.

"Mr. Ruthen ... Don't let them ... Provoke the soldiers ..."

...

T-This girl ... Will be possible.

Is it possible that confident rebel boy Ruthen talked about their plans in front of this girl just because she seemed unconscious?

That would mean that Selia has information about the plans of the rebels. That means she can still be very useful ...

Soldiers?

...

Shit! This must be a joke!

◆◇◆◇

"Sallo, what did you discover?"

"Well, he didn't seem to be lying. Although it seems surprising to me that he knew exactly what kind of antidote to use. A man who is knowledgeable about poisons, but is not a medic. It gives me a bad feeling ... What do you say? Your instincts have always been sharper than mine. Even if you don't know how to read the expressions, you are usually never wrong".

"I couldn't perceive malice ... Rather, I'm not sure what I perceived ... Mr. Argent and the young Ryuuji. There is something completely abnormal about them".