First Outer World Story Series: The Black Mist that Devours - Chapter 87
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
(Izumi POV)
“In retrospect, I don’t know how we managed to survive the days and nights of adversity that accompanied by.”
“I know, right? I also miss the time when I was requested by Fox Princess-sama to join her.”
At the moment, my team was preparing to move on to the next region. But in the midst of it all, Ryo and the others were ruminating on the past nine years.
“But soon, we’ll be able to get in touch with Ichiko-san, won’t we?”
“Yes, that is what Kurokiri informed us. But even if we can establish contact with her, we’ll still have to pick her up.”
“I can’t wait to see what kind of person she is.”
As usual, everyone was talking about Ichiko as if she were a stranger even though they should have been intimate with each other except for Une, whom she had never really met.
“Izumi? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… nothing…”
But I can’t tell them about that. This was after all to avoid being perceived by whatever it was that had tampered with our memories.
And then I felt the presence of someone approaching this direction.
“Someone… is coming…”
“Who is…? Oh, it’s a member of our group, isn’t it? Is something the matter?”
“Ah, good thing I was just in time. Miss Ryo. May I ask you a favor?”
The one who approached us was one of the younger members of the “Mercenary of the Mist”.
Perhaps it was because he had been running that he appeared somewhat out of breath.
“It depends on what the matter is. Go ahead and say it.”
“Yes.”
Ryo prompted him to speak, and the group member began the conversation.
“Earlier, we loaded our belongings onto a carriage and wheeled it out of the gate, and some of the slum residents were aware of Miss Ryo and requested that we offer medical assistance. They blocked the way, saying, ‘If you don’t give us treatment, we won’t let you through!’.”
“Oh. So it’s another hassle. By the way, what are the specifics of the treatment being sought?”
“The majority are just fractures and cuts. But it takes some time for them to heal spontaneously. The rest are just a few sick people.”
Ryo mulled over her options after receiving the report. Meanwhile, my colleagues and I were packing our belongings.
“Why doesn’t the administration of this street offer treatment?”
“They can’t afford to send their invaluable healers to someone who is poor and not a resident of this street. That’s what they said. Well, to put it simply, it’s a monopoly. What an atrocious story.”
It was, indeed, an atrocious story. However, since my group and I had witnessed and listened to many stories far worse than this one over the past nine years or so, we didn’t feel that it was that horrendous. People with healing skills were, without a doubt, indispensable.
“Just to be sure I have this right, the slum is outside the street, right?”
“Right. There will be protesters from all walks of life, but slum dwellers are treated as outcasts.”
“Then I’ll leave the minor ones to the others and focus on the critically wounded. However, I cannot heal the sick, and there is a limit on how many times I can use my skill each day, so I will leave once I have healed a specific number of people. If they try to obstruct me at that time, I will use my ability to force my way through.”
Ryo headed outside the gate after stating so, where she employed ?Command? to treat the wounded. After healing a reasonable number of people, she repelled all attempts to restrain her physically and psychologically and departed the street.
Nonetheless, now that we had some income as recompense for the treatment, our pockets were somewhat warmer.
————–
A few days later.
On the main road, the “Mercenary of the Mist,” and I were protecting a girl.
The girl was found collapsed in the middle of the road, and after confirming the girl’s name and other details, a contract was struck to bring her to the next town under the condition that she would serve as a maid in the mercenary group.
Manokami Shigan was the name of the girl. Her age was around 14-15. Her features were relatively well-defined, though she always wore a hood over her eyes, and she had stunning brown hair. Her chest was… about the same size as mine?
As for her status, she was level 1 and her skill was ?Automatic Escape?, a skill that allowed her to automatically transfer location and escape in the event of imminent danger. Even she herself had no idea why she was lying in the middle of the road due to this skill.
However, based on the skill’s effect, I can somehow tell that she fled from something hazardous while asleep.
Now, regarding Shigan, she was a very talented maid, who assisted us in our everyday activities. And, despite the fact that her face was rarely exposed, the way she smiled and her well-groomed demeanor had seamlessly merged her into the “Mercenary of the Mist” without bringing any sense of discomfort.
Notwithstanding, I somehow sensed that something was not good about Shigan. Yet, there was no justification or anything to that feeling. It was merely a vague and undesirable feeling. That was all there was to it.
So I concluded that such a feeling was a misunderstanding on my part, and decided to interact with Shigan as I would with anyone else.
And a few days after Shigan joined, there was a contact from Kurokiri.