Leaving Town (Part 1)

Thorn Forest was unusually lively that year. Though the season had turned bitterly cold, though the snow in the forest lay thick, and though the townsfolk rarely dared set foot inside anymore, wave after wave of adventurers had brought back the bustle of other seasons. As a result, Rika Town outside the forest had come alive again that winter.

With the arrival of the adventurers, Romon, who had long been harassed by the tax collector, found a new opportunity to make money. As his Healing Spell grew more proficient, his business improved as well.

A friendly Druid whose prices were reasonable was far better than facing a Temple priest. At the very least, it was not nearly so uncomfortable.

However, while tax collector Bakasi did not dare offend so many adventurers just to make trouble for Romon, he made a great fuss over taxes. At first, he demanded one-third of Romon's earnings. Later, he brazenly produced some so-called tax code and claimed that Romon's work was illegal. Though Romon would not be heavily fined, he would have to pay even higher taxes.

Of the five silver coins he charged for each treatment, he was required to hand over as many as four under that so-called new rule.

Even Romon, who had always endured things quietly on the surface, was thoroughly enraged this time. Healing consumed enormous strength and mental energy; it did not come without a cost. How could they do this?

"Romon, hurry down!" Just as he sat in his upstairs room pondering how to resolve this crisis, someone suddenly called for him below.

"Coming!" Romon answered at once.

Before he had even reached the bottom of the stairs, the stench of blood rushed into his nose. Romon hurried down the remaining steps. Sure enough, several badly wounded people lay flat in the center of the small inn.

"Romon, they ran into vicious magical beasts and were seriously injured. Come take a look!" The captain of Burke's party, who had been introduced by the captain of Haiwavi's mercenary group last time, immediately called out when he saw Romon come downstairs.

"So many injured this time?" Romon's gaze merely swept over their wounds, and his heart tightened.

If his previous treatments had only involved healing wounds, this time truly felt like saving lives.

There were five injured people in total. The other four were manageable. Though their injuries were serious, the First-Level Druid spell Cure Minor Wounds could still handle them.

But the man lying closest to the stairs, spread out on a large animal hide, was far too severely wounded.

"Why didn't you go to the Temple?" When it came to healing, professional priests were still stronger, something even Romon would not deny. Besides, although Priest Tennis was not a very decent man, he was a twenty-nine-year-old priest who had reached Fourth Level. Priests were unlike Druids; their Healing Spells were much more powerful. A Fourth-Level Priest had already mastered Cure Light Wounds, a spell Druids could only learn at Fifth or Sixth Level. So-called light wounds were already enough to deal with injuries of this severity.

"Romon, the Temple priests have already used up their Healing Spells for today. Their lives are in your hands now!" All those injured this time were members who had followed Burke from the beginning, so he was extremely anxious. Seeing Romon's hesitation, he immediately shouted.

"All right. I'll do my best." Since that was the case, Romon nodded and walked over to the most severely wounded man first.

The moment he examined him, his expression darkened. The magical beast had torn open a huge gash in the man's abdomen. Though it had been bound with clean strips of cloth, blood still dripped steadily down.

As a First-Level Druid, Romon could use a Healing Spell to close small wounds, but such a massive gash was beyond his ability.

"Romon, please help him. He's my friend's younger brother. If you can heal him, I'll pay you three times as many silver coins." Though Burke understood that wounds of this severity were difficult for Romon, at this moment, he could only hope for a miracle.

After all, aside from the priests, Romon was the only person in town who could provide even somewhat decent healing. As for Druid Jefa, who had always been hostile toward adventurers entering the forest for profit, they had not even considered asking him. It would have been good enough if he did not attack them instead.

Romon nodded and told them to quickly prepare needle and thread, as well as strong liquor for disinfection.

Burke understood the use of strong liquor. The last time someone in his party had been injured, strong liquor had helped the wound heal faster. But what did they need needle and thread for?

Healing in this world was limited to Divine Spells that closed wounds, assisted by herbs. Since the effects were so good, the surgical methods of Earth had naturally never developed here. Earth's methods of treating injuries without Divine Spells were still unknown to the people of this world, and even less understood.

However, based on his trust in Romon, Burke quickly prepared everything. In fact, Motte Inn had all these things. Since they were willing to pay, Motte and his wife were naturally happy to sell them.

That was also why, although the townsfolk had all grown distant from Romon, Motte and his wife still allowed him to stay there.

There was affection, but there was profit as well. Because Romon stayed there, adventurers gathered at the inn in greater numbers, and all kinds of supplies sold quickly.

If not for that, with wounded people making a mess of the inn every day, even Motte and his wife, kind as they were, would not have tolerated it.

The operation went very smoothly. Though Romon had never studied medicine, the medicines of this world were remarkably effective. Under a chorus of stunned gazes, he stitched the man's wound shut with needle and thread, then applied a thin layer of ointment over it. This time, he used the best ointment he had. With such a serious wound, he could not afford to be careless.

Once he finished applying it, Romon stretched out his hand. A faint green glow immediately appeared in his palm. The green light flashed and then faded. In a few days, that terrifying wound would presumably heal.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Romon said, "All right. Don't drink alcohol, and rest for ten days. It should be mostly healed by then."

"That did it?" Burke stared in disbelief.

Romon's swift movements as he stitched flesh together still made Burke's heart race when he thought back on them. But when he saw the injured man's breathing had clearly steadied, Burke immediately grabbed Romon's hand and thanked him again and again.

Romon blushed slightly and hurriedly said there was no need. He then had them prepare more strong liquor and, as before, treated the wounds of the others.

Once he finished, Romon could no longer hide the exhaustion on his face. In truth, it was mainly his first time stitching up a wound that he had found hard to adjust to. But no one else knew that. Seeing how exhausted he was from healing them, Burke looked even more grateful. He insisted on leaving fifty silver coins behind before taking his men away.

After some thought, Romon gave forty silver coins to Mr. Motte and asked him to pay the taxes on his behalf. Sooner or later, he would recover this money with interest, but the time was not right yet.

"Romon, I heard you actually saved a fellow whose guts had been ripped open by a magical beast?" News traveled quickly in the small town. In less than half a day, nearly everyone had heard of the miraculous spells of Romon, the First-Level Druid.

The captain of Haiwavi's mercenary group even came to the inn. After teasing Romon for a while, he gave him an important piece of news.

"Still, handing over forty out of fifty silver coins is far too much of a loss. Why don't you register officially with the Adventurers' Guild? With your current ability, your business will surely do well in the future. You can't keep going on like this." The captain of Haiwavi's mercenary group said with a grin.

From him, Romon learned that while healing work like his was indeed subject to heavy taxes for someone without a profession, things would be different if he joined an organization such as the Adventurers' Guild. At that point, his healing work would be legal and legitimate, leaving tax collector Bakasi with no excuse to impose excessive taxes. In the future, he would only need to pay one-tenth of his healing income.

Romon thanked the captain of Haiwavi's mercenary group. He also learned from him that there was an Adventurers' Guild not far from Rika Town, and that the Barnel Caravan would soon be traveling there.

When Romon ran into Barnel, he mentioned that he wanted to accompany him to the small city of Apus. Because of tax collector Bakasi, Barnel had also grown somewhat distant from Romon. However, Romon's sudden display of healing talent made him feel there was no need to make their relationship too awkward. Besides, Romon merely wanted to travel with them along the way; it was not too troublesome. After thinking it over briefly, Barnel readily agreed.

Busy days always passed quickly. Before long, it was time for the Barnel Caravan to set out.

Romon washed up early in the morning, ate breakfast, and waited at Motte Inn.

"Romon, sorry. There was too much cargo, so we're late." After quite some time, merchant Barnel finally appeared at Motte Inn, leading the caravan.

"So much stuff?" Romon knew Barnel's business was substantial, but when he went outside and saw more than ten large carts, he was still somewhat surprised.

"It's winter, isn't it? The small city doesn't have enough cloth or grain stored up, so we can barely make a little money." Barnel spoke modestly, though his face held considerable pride.

Romon did not spoil his mood and continued praising him a few times. At once, the distant and awkward atmosphere that had existed between him and the caravan vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed at all.

The weather was good that day, with gentle winds and bright sunshine. The caravan's goods were pulled by animals similar to the oxen and horses of Earth. The carts were spacious, so Romon was fortunate enough to avoid the misery of traveling on foot.

Sitting in the open cart and breathing out clouds of white vapor, Romon was in an excellent mood. It was not only because of the purpose of his journey, but also because this was the first time he had traveled so far since coming to this world.

Everyone was curious, and Romon was no exception. He eagerly wanted to learn what the world beyond was truly like.

The carts rolled along at an unhurried pace, and Romon chatted on and off with the caravan members. Though these people who traveled far and wide lacked much formal knowledge, their experience far surpassed that of anyone in the small town. They had visited many cities and met many people. Through talking with them, Romon learned a little about the outside world. To him, these were things no book contained, and things he would certainly need in the future.

They chatted and laughed along the way, and the journey was not tiring. After a full day, a city gate and high walls came into view. They were not magnificent compared to the buildings of Earth, but were far taller than even the highest building in Rika Town. Romon knew they had arrived.