Chapter 3

The door opened as he walked in. The inside was rows and rows of cabins filled with potions and herbs.

“Aiden, what brings you here.” A man in his mid 40’s was sitting in a stool in the middle of the room with a little girl sitting in front of him in a chair. Beside her was a woman who was likely to be her mother.

“You’re with a patient, I can wait.” The man did not speak further as if silently acknowledging him and proceeded with his work and Aiden sat in one of the spare seats in the side.

“Did you eat something bad?” The man asked the little girl as he started to diagnose her. His hands started to draw runes as it glowed.

“No.” she replied slowly.

“Aisha! You should tell the physician the truth.” Her mother scolded her.

“I had some sweets… lots of it.” She replied slowly.

“That explains the stomach ach.”

“Where did you get these sweets?” her mother asked confused

“Some people were giving them to everyone. It wasn’t just me; everyone ate them.” Aisha tried defending herself.

Both Aisha and her mother seemed like they could get by without help even though they were not well off. And when Aisha said everyone, she probably meant her friends so they were probably children of people with means. So, who are these people giving sweets to children. Maybe it was a celebration and some nobles were feeling generous. They do that sometimes.

“Who are these people?” Aisha’s mom asked

“I don’t know.”

“Even if they were giving them out you shouldn’t eat too much.” The man said as he got up. He started looking around and went to a cabinet as he pulled out a small glass vial filled with yellow colored potion.

“Give this to her, ten drops mixed with water for 3 days and she should be fine.”

The mother thanked him as she took the vial from him and paid. Soon both mother and daughter left.

“You don’t seem injured.” The man said as he looked at Aiden.

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“No, I am not.” He replied.

“Did I order a batch?” He went to the seat opposite him and sat down.

“No.”

“Then?”

“I have a patient for you to look at.”

“Is Ivar hurt?” The man asked.

“No, someone else. And he just needs a check up. He got chucked by a cockatrice.”

“A cockatrice!” The man exclaimed

“A wingless one.” Aiden corrected himself as the man looked like he was going to run out of the door. “And its not serious, he just needs a checkup to make sure everything is ok.”

The man relaxed as he got up, “Ok, lets go. Did the Viatores sent you? Did they not have anyone there to look at patients.”

“No, he is at my place.”

The man stopped with a skeptical look on his, “Your place? But you don’t have friends.”

What does he mean he doesn’t have friends. Its true, he doesn’t have friends. Because he chooses to not have any. He has important work to do. Like saving the world. Or finding people and directing them to the path of saving the world.

“He is not a friend. He is someone I found in the forest. He was attacked by the cockatrice.”

“And you saved him!” The man said exited. “Is it my influence? I saved you and now you saved someone else.”

“Um, sure Arthur, that’s why.” He did not want to be remained of his dark history but the man was a living breathing remainder. Why did he decide to move in next door to Arthur? What was he thinking? He probably wasn’t. He didn’t want to admit it but he probably felt save close to him. He was his first positive encounter after leaving his home when he was 18. So, he probably unconsciously wanted to be close to him. Especially after the disasters his over confidence led him to. Learning the theory and practicing in close confines of the mansion and putting it to practical use are very, very different things. Especially when one has never been in a real fight.

And most importantly because he thought he was the protagonist there was no way he was going to die. Until he passed on his role to someone else there was no way something was going to happen to him. Except he forgot one thing, something always happens to the protagonist. Or the fact that he was a sheltered young boy out into the world alone for the first time, overconfident in his skills thinking he knew everything and could handle anything thrown at him. He was wrong, very wrong and way over his head. But he won the fight though, even if he was in the verge of dying, he won. And that’s when he met Arthur. When he first saw him, he thought he was dead for sure, he was filled out, fit, bigger than average, and looked like a mercenary with droopy eyes that stared at him without exposing his thoughts. Except he saved him.

He could never forget his past immature self. Every time he thought about it, he wanted to crawl underground. And after sometime Ivar showed up but by then he had already experienced the cruel world.

‘Is that why Ivar is stalking me. Does he know about my dark past.

“But that’s not you.” Aiden came back from his thought.

“What is not me?”

“Bringing someone into you house. That is not like you.” Arthur said seeming deep in thought. “What are you up to? For the past 3 years I have known you, you have never shown any intention to be close to anyone to bring them in your personal space let alone a complete stranger.”

“You know your patient is waiting for you. He might have a brain hemorrhage and can die any second now.”

“Oh my let’s go then.” Arthur said finally getting up ready to go. “Why didn’t you bring him right here?”

“Slipped my mind.”

‘Because I am trying to make him feel significant.’