Chapter 21
Let's Get a Job
Karasu stuck to her promise. When Tokiya woke up in the morning, she was there. In fact, she was the first thing he saw as she gently poked his forehead. After lazily opening his eyes, he was barely able to see the orange dawn sky through the thick trees. Instead of his head being on Karasu's lap like it was when he fell asleep, he was now on the cold ground. He frowned at her.
"Stop doing that."
He coldly closed his eyes and turned away. Whining like a child, Karasu began repeatedly hitting Tokiya on his shoulder with both hands.
"Come o~oooon. Wake up already. We have to get going."
Using Karasu's voice, Tokiya could tell that there was no urgency, so he continued to try to sleep. However, he wasn't very successful due to the purple nuisance's tantrum. Eventually, he gave up and sat up, facing Karasu.
"Leave me alone, dammit!"
Karasu flinched, and an expression of false hurt crossed her face. With his reprimand having done its job, Tokiya began to lie back down until he observed something about Karasu's body.
"Your arm… It's back."
Karasu's face brightened with pride, quickly forgetting her previous hurt.
"Yup, I used my temporal magic to fix it up once my mana was restored."
Tokiya stared at her with a blank expression.
"She's so easy to please..."
Karasu continued, pointing at Tokiya.
"You should check your arm too."
Tokiya looked down at his left arm to see that it was in its normal state as if the prior day's events didn't happen. Karasu chuckled as Tokiya's expression warmed in relief.
"Heheh, you're welcome."
Tokiya looked up at Karasu and smiled genuinely.
"Thanks, Karasu."
Karasu's eyes widened as she covered her blushing face dramatically.
"No! Don't look at me like that! You're gonna make my heart melt!"
Tokiya glanced down, ignoring Karasu's antics. His smile remained on his face. He hoped she knew that he was thanking her for much more than just healing his arm. Unfortunately, this prompted him to think about yesterday's events. His expression slowly darkened until something fell on his head.
It was Karasu's hand, which started off gentle but became a bit rougher as she began to ruffle his hair. The gesture was of a familiar type, one that was rough out of affection rather than mean-spiritedness. Tokiya tensed up in remembrance of Berserker, and Karasu, realizing her gesture was not having the intended effect, leaned forward and kissed Tokiya on the forehead. He jolted back and quickly stood up.
"Don't do that! That's weird!"
He placed his hand on the spot Karasu kissed him, and she frowned at his defensive action.
"But why? You let me do it last night."
"T-that was different! And don't say it like that!"
Karasu stood up and slowly approached Tokiya.
"Say it like wha~t?"
Tokiya stood frozen, too flustered to act. Karasu reached out and placed her hand back on Tokiya's head.
"You shouldn't forget what happened yesterday, but you also have to move on. That's the number one rule of failure. Carry on with the lessons of yesterday."
After her words, the gesture felt warmer, and Tokiya's expression softened. He chuckled.
"Thanks for reminding me I'm a failure."
After ruffling his hair one last time, she retracted her hand, smiling proudly.
"Now, let's get going. We have to move efficiently if we want to make it to Ardston without another mishap."
She looked to her side and raised her eyebrows as if she remembered something. She bent down and picked up a torn-up bag.
"Oh, I found your bag in the forest this morning, but it was all torn up. An animal must've gotten to it."
Tokiya stared at the bag with his usual half-frown expression. Karasu was happy to see his face back to normal.
"I must've dropped it in all the commotion with Ubi. It's no use to us like that though."
Karasu chuckled and grinned her signature smile of self-proudness.
"Don't be disappointed, Tokiya. Feast your eyes on this!"
From out the inside of her coat pocket, Karasu pulled a small purple feather. She let go of the feather, and at first it floated slowly downwards but began to quickly plunge as the singular feather transformed into many berries. Tokiya recognized the berries as some of the ones he and Berserker had picked when they first entered the forest.
Tokiya looked up at Karasu with raised eyebrows.
"You can do that? Is there anything you can't do at this point?"
Karasu put her delicate hand on her puffed-out chest.
"I'm not like the other mages, Tokiya. That's all you need to know."
Looking at the berries on the ground made Tokiya's stomach growl. He bent down and grabbed a handful of berries. Tokiya began quickly wolfing down the small fruits. Karasu pointed to the sky.
"With this storage ability and my temporal magic, I'll ensure you make it to Ardston without a hitch."
Karasu began walking, and Tokiya quickly followed behind her, still eating berries from his hand.
*****
When the two exited the shade forest, the beaming sun hit them hard. Once their eyes adjusted, they could see the military outpost, slightly blurred in the distance. They began their journey to the outpost with a trail eventually revealing itself.
There was a silence between them as they walked side by side. Tokiya looked up to see Karasu whose face looked detached and slightly cold. This coldness wasn't directed at anyone. That's just how her face was when she wasn't trying to comfort anyone or lighten the mood. It felt more real than her playful side.
"Hey, Karasu."
She smiled and turned her head to Tokiya.
"Yes?"
"What do you think of King Lucian?"
Karasu raised her eyebrows and hesitated before answering. Tokiya pointed an accusatory finger at her.
"Aha, so you know something about him. Spill it!"
Karasu backed up and returned the gesture, pointing her own finger at Tokiya.
"The fact that you asked that question means that you know something. What do you know and how'd you find out?"
After a brief pause, they both retracted their arms. Tokiya sighed.
"Eien told me. He seemed to really hate the guy."
Karasu groaned and shook her fists.
"That damn Eien! He just doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut! And the others! Why aren't they keeping him in check?"
Tokiya raised one eyebrow.
"By others do you mean a guy who looks like me with an eyepatch? Are there more like-"
Karasu interrupted Tokiya with a distressed look on her face.
"He revealed himself to you?"
"U-uh, yeah..."
Karasu dramatically fell to her hands and knees and struck the ground.
"Everyone around me is an idiot!"
Tokiya stared down at her, slightly concerned.
"Is it a bad thing that I met him?"
Karasu tilted her head up to look at him.
"It could've been. Who knows how many memories that could have uncovered? That idiot did not need to reveal himself to do his job."
Tokiya had a slight idea of what Karasu could have been referring to but still wanted to clarify.
"What exactly is his job?"
Karasu took a deep breath and stood up, finally acting her age. She brushed off her coat.
"His job is to make sure Eien doesn't just overload you with memories to possess your body. Despite him having the skills to do the job, he's just far too immature."
Tokiya stared at Karasu with a blank expression.
"Is she really talking about being childish?"
Karasu continued.
"I guess I can't be too hard on him. You're still here after all, and I would be very upset if something happened to my little baby."
Tokiya continued walking again and sucked his teeth.
"Don't call me that."
Karasu chased after him with a playful expression on her face.
"Aw~, why not? I remember when you were a baby, and you were the cutest little thing. I just wanted to hold you forever and ever."
A chill was sent down Tokiya's spine. He spun around and drew a finger out on Karasu.
"You're such a creep!"
Karasu smirked at his reaction. She looked at his outstretched arm, which happened to be his right arm. With a frown, she grabbed the arm.
"This looks ugly."
Visibly confused, Tokiya looked at his arm but saw nothing other than the black sleeve of his jacket.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look. This arm has the full sleeve, but your left sleeve is completely torn off. It looks terrible."
Tokiya snatched his arm back.
"I think we have bigger things to be concerned about."
He turned around and continued following the path. Karasu had no choice but to follow, dropping her complaint.
*****
Eventually they made it to the outpost. It was very secure with there being a tall stone wall around it and guards stationed at both entrances, one on the north and one on the south. Next to the guards were multiple wagons with various items, presumably things that had been denied entry into the outpost.
The guards were clad in silver armor, making their faces not visible. Unlike Gremory, these guards, along with every other soldier in the outpost, were not local police. They were Imperial Knights who had gone through the academy and were professionally trained by the best in the country.
Tokiya and Karasu approached the two guards stationed in front of the entrance. Karasu spoke first.
"Hello, gentlemen. My friend and I would like to enter this military outpost. Would that be alright?"
One of the guards stepped forward, his demeanor cold and professional.
"A search must be conducted before you enter."
Tokiya nodded.
"That's fine."
The two guards got to work searching both Tokiya and Karasu. Tokiya's search went by quickly and without trouble. Karasu's, however, resulted in countless feathers falling from the inside of her coat and onto the ground. The guard searching her stood frozen, unsure of what to make of this display. Karasu chuckled nervously.
"Oops, my feathers fell. We're heading over to Ardston to sell them. Sorry if they caused you any trouble."
The guard stared at her skeptically, but after inspecting the feathers, he decided to drop the matter. However, Tokiya's guard had taken up a new subject as he noticed Tokiya's left arm.
"Sir, let me see your arm."
Tokiya raised an eyebrow.
"My arm?"
Before Tokiya could agree or disagree, the guard had already grabbed Tokiya's arm and was inspecting it. After a quick confirmation, he dropped the arm.
"Please wait here."
The guard walked over to a small tent nearby and went in. Within a few seconds he returned with something in his hands, which he gave to Tokiya. It was an envelope with the words "To Tokiya" written on the front. The guard spoke.
"This came a while ago in the military mail. There were instructions to give it to a man with a thorned vine tattoo. I'm assuming your name is also Tokiya."
Tokiya nodded.
"That is my name."
The other guard motioned towards the entrance.
"Well, you guys are good to enter. Good luck with your...feather business?"
With that, the two entered the outpost. It looked like a small town just filled with Imperial Knights or people who worked in other branches of the military. There were normal civilians too, all of whom were residents of the outpost, for no sane traveler would go to a place so close to Istar forest. There was nothing that stood out about this place in terms of architecture or design, showing that it really was a military outpost before anything else.
Tokiya stood next to the wall that surrounded the outpost, out of the way of everything. He immediately went to open the mysterious letter with Karasu peering over his shoulder. After ripping open the envelope, a poorly folded piece of simple white paper was revealed. The messily presented paper was written on with extremely neat handwriting. Tokiya stared at the letter blankly, for there was only one person who could produce this contrast. The letter read:
Hey, Tokiya,
Since you're reading this, you've made it to the Istar outpost. Good job! I mostly believed you could do it. I'm just joking. Anyways, I have some important instructions for you. Shortly after you and Berserker left, the Imperial Knights paid us a visit regarding you and the cult. However, these weren't just any Imperial Knights. General Justina Lumen, THE Justina Lumen, came to our small town. I still can't get over that. She wants to meet up with you and ask you some questions about the cult, so she's heading to Ardston. You'll make it there before her, and I thought I'd tell you, so you don't miss her. Thank Berserker for me. Seriously, we owe him a lot.
Come home soon,
Gremory
Tokiya's facial muscles tensed up at the last lines of the letter, so he took a deep breath to recollect himself. He turned to Karasu.
"Apparently, some Imperial Knight is going to meet us in Ardston to ask me some questions about the Cult of the Black Sword. Do you think she'll take me to the capital or something?"
Karasu snatched the letter from him.
"Let me see that."
As she read it, her eyes widened.
"Are you serious? You're either stupid or too nonchalant to care that you're going to meet one of the Four Generals of Oravell."
Tokiya stared at her blankly. She sighed.
"It's clearly the former."
Running his hand through his hair, Tokiya averted his gaze.
"I don't know. I think I've heard her name in the news before, but she's clearly not that famous if I don't know who she is."
Karasu frowned.
"Your standards for famous are Vanguard, the literal legend of this country, and King Lucian. I don't know if I trust that."
"Then, enlighten me. Who are these Four Generals?"
Karasu smirked, proud to be the one to impart knowledge to Tokiya.
"The Four Generals are the four strongest Imperial Knights who have earned direct recognition from King Lucian himself. Vanguard was actually a general back in his day. The country's current generals are Justina Lumen, Zac Strite, Aigo Kaiser, and Leon Kaiser."
Tokiya raised an eyebrow.
"Kaiser? Like King Lucian? It sounds a bit nepotistic to appoint your own sons as generals."
Karasu shook her hand, showing partial correctness.
"Well, they aren't really his children. Leon and Aigo are the adopted children of King Lucian. He took them from pretty bad upbringings and gave them second chances at life. Apparently, he's really serious about tradition and refused to give them his last name, hence his being Kaiseris and theirs being Kaiser."
Tokiya raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"King Lucian doesn't sound as bad as Eien makes him out to be."
Karasu scoffed. This was followed by a growl from her stomach. She chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Let's go get something to eat. You must be hungry too."
"Sure..."
Tokiya and Karasu walked throughout the outpost taking note of different restaurants until they found the cheapest one. Once there, with the very little money they had, they got one small meal, which they shared. Karasu made a joke about how romantic it was, but Tokiya paid her no attention. After they ate their unsatisfactory meal, they were back on the streets.
"..."
"..."
"So, what now, Karasu?"
Karasu slowly nodded her head as the state of their situation set in.
"Well, we just spent our last bit of money on a meal that didn't even fill us. Now, it's time to find a place to stay, but we have no money, so..."
She slowly turned to Tokiya with an expression of realization on her face.
"Tokiya, we need money!"
Tokiya nodded, glad Karasu finally grasped their situation. However, just as fast as she came to her realization, she began to smirk.
"Wait. What am I thinking? I have temporal magic, a thief's dream! Money should never be a problem for me."
Tokiya reached up and plucked her forehead.
"No, we are not resorting to crime."
Karasu pouted, rubbing her forehead.
"Ok, mister moral compass. What do you suggest?"
"I saw this job board a little back that way. That's our solution."
Karasu stared at him with a nervous expression.
"A job?"
*****
The job board was filled with a range of different requests, mostly related to the military. Tokiya searched the pinned sheets of paper, diligently trying to find the job best suited for him. Karasu, on the other hand, simply stood there pouting and showing zero effort. Eventually, Tokiya's eyes landed on a job that he felt confident he could do. He took the paper off the board.
"Military canine training..."
Karasu peered over his shoulder.
"That's what you want to do?"
Tokiya shrugged.
"I worked with a lot of animals back on the farm, so this doesn't seem too off from what I'm used to doing. What job are you going to take, Karasu?"
She groaned as she directed her attention back at the board and pretended to search.
"Uh...give me some time, ok?"
Tokiya stood there silently as Karasu continued to tap her chin in false thought. She frowned.
"It's hard to decide with you looking. How about you go off to your job, and I'll stay here and find a job."
She started pushing Tokiya away, and he frowned as she did.
"Fine. But you better have money when I come back. Not stolen money!"
She continued pushing him.
"Yeah, yeah, just get going."
Tokiya began to skeptically walk away. However, he didn't get far before Karasu called after him.
"Tokiya, one more thing."
He turned around with attitude, feeling like he would rage if he had to deal with Karasu for one more second.
"What do you want?"
She pushed something against his chest. Tokiya instinctively grabbed it and began inspecting it. It was a small dagger with a purple handle and a feathered guard.
"Since we'll be separated for the day, you should take that to keep yourself safe."
Tokiya curiously tested his grip on the dagger. It reminded him a lot of Karasu based on its appearance alone. However, there was something more to it. Not something you could see or hear, but there was a warm feeling he got while holding it. But at the end of the day, it was still just a dagger.
"A dagger? You expect this to protect me from the cult?"
Karasu winked at him.
"It's a special dagger. Just trust me, ok?"
Mumbling grumpily under his breath, Tokiya began to walk away, leaving Karasu alone with the job board. He put the dagger in the inside pocket of his jacket. He didn't put it past the cult to try something, even in a military outpost, so all he could do was hope Karasu was right about the dagger.
Once Tokiya had vanished from her sight, Karasu directed her attention back to the board. Her eyes narrowed as if the board was her most formidable foe yet.
"Why do I have to get a job? Tokiya wouldn't know if I stole money or not..."
She began to really consider a life of crime and almost robbed a guy walking past her. However, Tokiya's words replayed in her mind, and they reminded her of words someone had spoken to her in the past. She kicked the ground, slightly flustered from the memory.
"Damn these morally righteous people!"
She angrily searched the board, and it didn't take her long to find one that caught her eye. She snatched the paper off the board.
"In need of nurses..."
Karasu grinned, already plotting how to use her temporal magic to do the least amount of work possible.
*****
Eventually, Tokiya arrived at the location on his chosen job listing. It was a small, almost rundown shack on the northeast side of the outpost. It didn't look like a building that served the military, but this certainly was the given address, so he entered anyway.
The interior wasn't anything special either. If anything, it looked like a tavern, and the people inside definitely did not look like military personnel. However, most of them were large men dressed in leather, so Tokiya stood out quite a bit. He walked through the questioning stares as he made his way to what seemed to be a receptionist's desk. Unsurprisingly, the person behind the desk also looked like a member of a gang of burly mountain bandits.
Tokiya placed the job request paper on the counter. The man looked at him with an uninterested look.
"Um, I'm here for the job."
At first the man maintained his rude look as if he didn't even hear Tokiya. But after a brief moment his eyes widened with a new look of disbelief.
"You're here for the canine training job?"
Tokiya slowly nodded.
"Yeah?"
The man snatched the paper off the counter and closely inspected it.
"What did he put on this paper… Oh… Oh. Well, since you're already here, it'd be a waste to send you home, so you can just follow me."
Tokiya stared at the man with a perplexed expression as he stood up and began to lead the way to a door in the back of the room. The longer Tokiya followed the man, the stronger the ominous feeling in his stomach became. They arrived at the ominous door, but the man just casually opened it and entered. Tokiya skeptically followed him.
The room that the door led to was brightly lit, which completely subverted Tokiya's expectations. The walls were painted a light blue with clouds and flowers to decorate them. What surprised him even more was the swarm of ferocious dogs that rushed towards him. However, their appearance was misleading, for all they did was jump up and down and eagerly lick him. The man who led him there stood there casually as if he was used to this.
A voice from further in the room spoke, causing Tokiya and the man to turn their attention to it.
"Mord, who's that."
The man next to Tokiya, now revealed to be Mord, pointed to Tokiya as he responded to the man who just spoke.
"This here is...uh, what's your name?"
"Tokiya..."
"Tokiya. This is Tokiya. He's here for the...job."
The man's eyes widened, which was the same reaction Mord had when Tokiya mentioned the job. Tokiya thought about ditching the job, but the man began to approach him and Mord, dodging the various dog toys and stains of what may or may not have been piss.
He wasn't as bulky as Mord or the other men Tokiya had seen. However, he certainly was the most frightening of them all due to his stern face and scar that permanently closed his right eye. Although he wasn't as bulky as the others, he was just as tall, so when he finally got close to Tokiya, his shadow was cast over him. The man spoke first.
"I shouldn't be surprised that my poster worked, but it's almost hard to believe we finally got someone for the job."
The man's voice didn't really match his appearance. It was friendly. Tokiya didn't know how to take it, but it wasn't anything new to him given his interactions with Karasu.
Mord frowned.
"Drom, you're such an idiot. I looked at the poster when Tokita showed it to me, and you completely misrepresented the whole job! Imagine if the higher-ups found out about your little stunt."
Tokiya lowered his eyebrows.
"My name is Tokiya."
Mord turned to him dismissively.
"That's what I said."
Drom ignored Mord and began just addressing Tokiya.
"Please excuse my brother. He's obviously never heard that the end always justifies the means."
Mord was now visibly frustrated with his oblivious brother.
"Your means were straight up evil!"
Tokiya backed up slowly.
"Well, what exactly is this job? I'm starting to think I won't be training these friendly dogs here?"
As Tokiya subtly backed up towards the exit, Drom quickly ushered him further into the room.
"Yeah, but don't worry. I didn't lie on the poster. You will be training a canine, just not your typical military dog."
Drom was surprisingly strong considering his build. Tokiya could've challenged him and probably won in a test of pure strength. However, Drom was probably combat trained, so the odds weren't in Tokiya's favor. The dogs followed the two as they got further into the room, but Mord just stood in his place, sighing to himself.
The two stopped in front of an ominously large door that almost reached the ceiling of the room. The oversized latch lock keeping it shut certainly did not ease Tokiya.
"W-What's behind the door?"
Drom casually shrugged.
"There's a new strategy being invested in for the Kankaran War that involves strengthening the Canine Division. Unfortunately, our regular dogs aren't exactly fit to be fighting alongside Imperial Knights, so we've been breeding."
"Breeding?"
Drom struggled to lift the latch lock but eventually got it. His voice was a bit shaky afterwards.
"Y-yeah, breeding. We haven't been very successful though because the new breeds keep on turning out extremely aggressive, hence your job."
The door creaked open, and as if he was scared of what would happen if he allowed it to open further, Drom quickly pushed Tokiya inside.
"W-What?"
Drom awkwardly waved his hand.
"We really appreciate you doing this for us. Thanks!"
The door slammed shut, and Tokiya could hear the latch be put back in place. Tokiya ran up to the door and slammed his fist on it.
"Hey! Hold on! I want out! This is way too shady!"
On the other side of the door, Drom walked back to his brother, who was staring at him with a disappointed expression.
"I know that we're desperate for someone to tame that thing, but what you did just now was absolutely terrible."
Drom shrugged.
"You didn't stop me."
Mord sighed as he turned around and began walking out of the room.
"I didn't care enough to. But that doesn't mean I agree with it."
Not thinking anymore about the situation, Mord left the room, and Drom returned to playing with the dogs.
Back with Tokiya, the room he was locked in was pitch black with only a sliver of light coming through the small cracks of the door. Tokiya sucked his teeth.
"Whatever. I survived encounters with two existents. I can handle a grumpy dog."
Despite his confident statement, as he walked into the room, his steps were slow and weary. He cautiously looked around, keeping his eyes peeled for any aggressive canine. Suddenly, he felt a collection of objects move as he accidentally kicked them. They slid across the floor, making an unsettling sound. Tokiya tentatively approached the objects and bent down to inspect them. They were bones.
Tokiya stared down at them with wide eyes. Usually bones in a room that was known to contain a dog would be normal. However, the shape of the bones and the general arrangement, which was slightly messed up from his kick, made Tokiya quickly recognize these bones as the bones of a human.
Something wet fell on the top of Tokiya's head. Considering the state of the shack, Tokiya just assumed the roof was leaking. However, it wasn't raining that day. In fact, there were no clouds in the sky. He slowly cranked his head up as the liquid continued to fall.
He was greeted by the faint sight of two rows of sharp teeth. Piercing through the darkness were the frightening red eyes of the creature above him. The beast had to be about eight feet tall. Its eyes narrowed as the liquid, now known to be its saliva, continued to drip. Tokiya let out an audible gulp.
"Shit."
*****
The hospital, Karasu's workplace, was in the northwest part of the outpost, being just a short walk from the main fort. Unlike the shack that Tokiya found himself in, the hospital was well kept. Once she entered, she walked up to the woman at the front desk.
Karasu spoke with a near sing-song voice, which was odd considering her lack of enthusiasm about having to work.
"Hello, I'm here for the nursing job."
The woman looked up at her bright eyes.
"Oh, thank you so much. We're really understaffed, and no one has been showing up. You really are a lifesaver. Just head to the back, and they'll put you straight to work."
Karasu raised an eyebrow.
"There's no interview or any qualification checks?"
The woman rubbed the back of her head and awkwardly chuckled.
"We don't really have the option to be selective right now."
Karasu shrugged and began making her way to the back of the hospital, ready to get this over with. She entered the decently wide hallway that contained many doors, leading to different medical rooms. People were running around the busy area, which must've been a result of their lack of staffing.
In the commotion, a woman in a white nurse uniform bumped into her. She stared at Karasu with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning her purple coat.
"Are you lost, ma'am?"
Karasu placed her hand on her puffed-out chest.
"Ma'am? I'm not that old. Anyways, I'm here as a nurse. I need you to assign me to the patient in the most critical condition. It's...the boss' orders."
The woman, still frantic from everything going on, didn't have time to verify Karasu's claims or question her.
"U-um, sure, I think the man in room twenty-three is supposed to be doing really bad."
With that, the woman quickly scurried off. Karasu began walking down the hallway, grinning to herself.
"If I'm going to be here, I might as well make the most of it."
She arrived at room twenty-three and casually entered as if she had been working there for years. The room was well lit due to the lamps and sunlight coming through the window. It was good that the room was light, or else it would've been all too depressing for the man lying in the bed by the window. His breath was heavy, and he was shirtless, showing a deep scar across his chest. However, his most notable feature was the lack of his right leg.
Karasu walked further into the room. There was a desk near the bed and on it were shells of cracked green crystals. She figured they were used healing crystals that were used to keep the man in stable condition. The man spoke, which startled Karasu, for she subconsciously counted the patient as a dead man.
"Are...you a new...doctor?"
His voice was heavy, and he took small breaks between his words. Karasu chuckled to herself. This was the perfect target for her plan.
"No, I'm a new nurse."
"Oh...I see."
There was a terribly awkward silence. Karasu didn't seem to mind it, but the man did.
"Aren't you here to...do something? You...haven't even asked...for my name yet."
Karasu's back was turned to him when she responded.
"Not to be a jerk, but I don't really care."
The man let out a chuckle, which came out weird due to his awkward breathing.
"You're a terrible nurse. What are you even here for?"
Karasu pondered whether she should bother answering or not. Luckily, she didn't have to think too hard, for the door opened, gaining the attention of both her and the man. An old man in a white coat and various pieces of equipment entered. He was clearly the doctor.
Karasu grinned.
"Right on time, Mr. Doctor. Watch as I-"
The doctor interjected with a stern voice.
"Who are you?"
Karasu frowned, responding in an equally stern voice.
"Don't interrupt me. But to ease your suspicion, I'll tell you that I'm a new nurse here."
She pointed to the patient, who was watching the scene with a perplexed expression. Neither he nor the doctor believed that Karasu was really supposed to be there, but they let her continue.
"I won't waste any time. You see the state of this man here. He'll never be able to live a normal life again. Well, that's what I would say if I wasn't the greatest mage in this country."
The doctor rubbed his temple with the energy of an exhausted man. He sighed at Karasu's theatrical performance.
"Listen, lady, things are busy around here, so there's no time for whatever you have going on here. If you really are a nurse here, go somewhere where you'll actually be useful."
He removed his hand from his head and directed his gaze to Karasu and the bed. The doctor's eyes widened. The missing leg of the patient was suddenly back. Closer inspection revealed that the patient's scar was gone, and his breathing was back to normal.
"What the hell?"
Karasu puffed out her chest and grinned proudly.
"Ha! Your eyes don't deceive you. With my temporal magic I have completely healed this man."
The doctor stared on in disbelief. The patient was just as confused, for his leg and chest seemed to recover instantly. He wondered if it was an illusion, but that suspicion was dissolved as soon as he moved his leg.
"I-It's actually healed..."
The doctor raised his eyebrows.
"A temporal mage?"
Dismissing the patient's and doctor's amazement, Karasu leaned towards the doctor with a mischievous grin.
"This is a big deal, Mr. Doctor. I just healed your most critical patient. I deserve to be rewarded, don't you think?"
Despite Karasu's saint-like act of healing the patient, her current demeanor was slightly unsettling to the doctor. He took a small step back.
"What are you getting at?"
Karasu flipped her hair dramatically.
"I'm afraid that the measly nurse pay doesn't match my amazing deed here today, wouldn't you agree? So, I was thinking about an increase in pay."
"That's not really up to me, but how much were you thinking?"
Karasu leaned in further and whispered into the ear of the doctor. It took him a moment to process what she told him. Once he mentally confirmed her words, his eyes widened, and he lurched back, which slightly shocked the patient.
"Th-That much? There's no way you'd ever get paid that much!"
Karasu frowned before sighing and shrugging.
"Oh well, if I can't have my money, this guy doesn't need his leg."
The patient's eyes widened, and the doctor immediately outstretched his arms to halt Karasu.
"Wait! Fine."
He sighed with a shaky breath.
"I'll see what I can do..."
Karasu clapped her hands together and smiled pleasantly. However, her now bright demeanor wasn't fooling anyone in that room.
"Very good! Now everyone's happy!"
The room became quiet, and nobody moved. The doctor and the patient were trying to process what just happened, and Karasu was awaiting her compensation. She smirked to herself.
"I bet Tokiya is working so hard right now. Haha, maybe jobs aren't so bad after all. Now I'll just take my money and leave."
"Excuse me, miss."
Karasu turned to the patient, who was now addressing her.
"Thank you for healing me. You may be rude, but at the end of the day you still gave me my life back."
He gave her a small, but genuine smile.
"I like you better when you're helping people."
Karasu subconsciously raised her eyebrows. Those words resonated with her, and memories came flooding back to her. Memories of him. She quickly turned around to face the doctor again but didn't directly look him in the eye.
"I suppose I did ask for quite a lot of money. So, to really earn that money, I guess I have some more mana I can use to heal a few more patients..."
A more satisfied look came onto the doctor's face. He found this to be a much better deal.
"I think we can work with that. Follow me, and I'll take you to see more patients."
The doctor began to lead Karasu out the room. As she followed him, she didn't dare look back at the patient. Once she exited the room and closed the door behind her, she quietly sucked her teeth and muttered to herself.
"Damn these morally righteous people."
*****
It had been almost two hours since Drom had left Tokiya alone, and he had completely forgotten about him. He was too occupied with playing with the dogs and probably had already subconsciously registered Tokiya as dead. It wasn't until he heard a scream coming from the ominous room that he remembered his employee.
He called out to his brother.
"Hey, Mord! I think this one died!"
Mord entered the canine room lazily, clearly not wanting to be involved.
"Don't you think you owe it to him to get his body? You did kinda force him into this. At least with the others, they signed a contract."
"No, not really. And besides, this means we don't have to worry about feeding it."
Mord sighed, giving up. Suddenly, more noises could be heard coming from the room. However, they weren't screams. They sounded more like laughter. The two extremely confused men quickly made their way to the door and lifted the lock. They allowed the door to swing wide open, letting the light from their room rush in.
With shocked faces, they gazed upon a very much alive Tokiya. However, he appeared to be in a...peculiar situation. He was kneeling on the floor with his right arm raised in the mouth of the giant dog. Tokiya blinked and scrunched his face as he adjusted to the light. The four, including the beast, stared at each other for a brief moment. Tokiya broke the silence.
"It's about damn time."
*****
"At first I thought I was going to die, and I almost did after he began chasing me around the room. However, it suddenly became very friendly with me. I didn't even do anything. It just started playing with me."
The brothers and Tokiya were back in the tavern-like lobby. They were able to easily remove Tokiya from the beast's room without any signs of aggression from it. Mord stared at Tokiya suspiciously.
"There's no way it just suddenly stopped trying to kill you without you doing anything. Are you sure you aren't leaving something out?"
Tokiya nodded. He was about to speak, but Drom interrupted him.
"It doesn't matter what happened in there, Mord. What really matters is the fact that that thing is tamed. Now the higher-ups will finally get off our backs."
Mord shrugged.
"I guess..."
Suddenly, Drom's face lit up with realization.
"Oh, I almost forgot. You need your money. Come on, Mord, let's go get his money."
Mord sighed and followed his brother to the counter at the back of the room, leaving Tokiya sitting at a table alone. He began thinking about what happened with the beast.
"I was sure I was going to die back then. It almost reminds me of every other time I almost died."
Tokiya remembered that when the beast had cornered him, his will to survive substantially increased. This was of course due to the previous day's events, but it was almost as if the beast resonated with his will and stopped trying to kill him. Tokiya sighed, accepting that he would not be able to understand what happened there.
He began to get bored. There were still a good amount of other men in the room, so while he waited, Tokiya naturally began listening to a conversation being had by two men sitting at the table next to him. One of them had white hair and the other had brown hair.
"I heard General Leon won another battle. Ever since he became a general, Oravell's been doing much better in the war."
"I know right. Leon and King Lucian are like a dream team. I also heard that Kankara lost their strongest soldier. What was his name? Miyata, I think it was..."
"Ha! That's not news. That happened a while ago. And even if Miyata was around, he'd be no match for General Leon. I'm tellin' you man, he's going to be the next Vanguard."
"The next Vanguard? You're givin' that kid too much credit. Speakin' of Vanguard, I heard his regalia has been spotted recently."
"Oh please, Vanguard's sword has been missing for years. There are always rumors of it being spotted, but they're all just rumors. And you better listen to me, if General Leon keeps up his momentum, he'll go down in history!"
"Yeah, let's hope he doesn't pull anything stupid like that one guy. I'm blanking on his nickname."
"You talkin' bout The Berserker?"
"Yeah, him! I'm glad I was never in a squad with him. How crazy do you have to be to kill your whole squad? Honestly, there's not a single thought in that guy's-"
Tokiya abruptly stood up, causing his chair to skid back. Both men looked up at Tokiya as he turned to them with a dark expression.
"Don't talk about him like that."
The white-haired man raised an eyebrow as they both stood up. Tensions were rising quickly.
"You talkin' to us?"
Tokiya clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Sure, these people were intimidating, but he couldn't let them talk down on Berserker. Not after what happened yesterday.
"Don't talk about Berserker like that. You know nothing about him."
The brown-haired man simply laughed.
"Ha! Sure, I've never met the guy, but this is the idiot who embraced people calling him a berserker. Even he knew how ridiculous his crime was."
Tokiya's eyes twitched.
"A-an idiot?"
Tokiya took a forceful step, but the white-haired man pushed him back with one hand.
"Don't get too feisty, kid. We'll beat the shit out of you."
Tokiya clenched his left hand. He wanted to punch the guy. He wanted to punch both of them harder than he punched Mors. He wanted them to pay for what they said about Berserker. Tokiya began to hate the name "Berserker." He knew Berserker, and that wasn't who he was.
"Whoa, everyone calm down."
The heads of Tokiya and the two men turned to see Mord and Drom who had come back. Mord sighed.
"Don't fight. Tokita was just leaving anyway."
Tokiya frowned at Mord once again forgetting his name, but his attitude was changed when Mord shoved two gold coins into his hands. His eyes widened.
"Two gold coins? That's a lot, don't you think? Much more than what was on the job poster."
Drom smiled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, you kinda just did save our careers, and this is really going to help us in the war...hopefully. So, we think you deserve it."
Mord pushed Tokiya along.
"Now get out of here. We don't want any fights."
Tokiya wanted to protest, but after a deep breath, he decided that Mord's suggestion would be best. So, after tentatively gathering the sense to be the bigger person, Tokiya left the building.
He was now walking on the streets of the outpost. He sighed.
"Berserker wouldn't want me to linger on the situation. That's easier said than done though..."
He looked down at the two gold coins in his hand. He just went from poor to rich by a traveler's standards. One of these coins could probably get him and Karasu from here to Ardston with every need paid for.
"Oh, yeah, Karasu... She better have gotten some money too. Not that we'll need it now."
Suddenly, Tokiya bumped into something, which actually turned out to be a someone. It was a man. He had a red mohawk and was purposefully contorting his face to look more intimidating. To put it simply, he was a punk.
Tokiya sighed. He was already in a bad mood and didn't have the patience to deal with this.
"Sorry..."
The punk grinned.
"That's a good sum of money you got there. You wouldn't happen to be feeling charitable today?"
Without responding to the punk, Tokiya began to walk around him. However, he was quickly grabbed by the collar of his jacket. Tokiya looked back to see that he was surrounded by punks. The red mohawk punk chuckled as he pointed to the alley next to them.
"Let's take this somewhere more private."