Shaula can only imagine what her wound will feel like tomorrow as well. This woman must fear living life with her new mutilated visage. She will face herself in the mirror everyday and realize what has been done to her child and her. The event will remain fresh in their mind so long as she has such a cruel reminder.
Shaula remembers her scars as well. Those burn marks gave her made her never forget what she had done and had made her wonder if God had labeled her actions as sin.
As for this family, the little boy, Bels, will be greeted by his mother along with a reminder of what he went through today. Would he stop facing her eventually if he kept seeing the wound? Would he get nightmares about what they did to her and him?
Shaula tries to figure out something, anything, that could help this woman and her family. She thinks about Prisca and raises her eyes.
"Mrs Litun, I… I know a beastkin healer who would definitely be willing to see you. She's normally someone who offers healing to whoever needs it and she's very good as well. I feel like she’d be willing to pay off the favor she owes me too. I can talk to her the next time we meet, what do you think?"
However, Shaula frowns upon considering this option further.
In truth, she doesn't know the next time that she could get in touch with Prisca. They haven't made concrete plans and Prisca hasn't given any useful information that Shaula can use to make contact with her. If she doesn't drop by tonight or tomorrow at their neighborhood bar, would Mrs Litun and her family be willing to wait to be healed?
The wound could start to get infected… Her husband might just bring her to a city healer anyways and create a debt with them. Even if they wait for me to get in touch with Prisca, would this woman get a good sleep tonight? Tomorrow night? The wound would eat away at her sanity the longer it stays on her face.
Shaula's expression falls as she considers all of this. She doesn’t want to make this woman and her family wait even a single night. Dzan perceives that what Shaula has offered isn't feasible at the moment, and his sense of guilt forces him to blurt out another option.
"You… You need a lot of money for a good healing service like this, right? How much money would you need to get a competent healer to treat an injury like yours?" Dzan asks Mrs Litun.
"I don’t know honestly. I… I might need ten or fifteen silver coins, maybe more. I’ve had friends tell me that healers at the second and third tier charge about that much for their work." Mrs Litun says, her lips forming a thin line.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
...Is that all? Shaula thinks to herself. Ajax and her sense for money have always been skewed based on how easily they can grab that money using their thieving abilities. However she considers the true price a bit further.
"For healing magic, isn't that… excessive?"
Shaula does the math in her head. One copper coin is about $10, give or take $5, and 25 copper coins is equal to a silver coin. So twenty silver should be between $2 500 and $7 500 back in Western Britannia.
Those prices are closer to what actual plastic surgery might cost back on Earth. However on Omicron, in the Federation specifically, due to the prevalence of magic techniques and mana, a healer who could heal skin shouldn’t be very uncommon. Shaula had seen dozens of paramedic-type healers during today's statue march proceedings.
I think those guys were just first tier healers, but are second and third tier healers that much more expensive?
The tier system for healers specifies degrees of competence among healers. From what Shaula remembers, second tier healers can restore major muscle injuries as well as hairline fractures. Third tier healers can do more, but she’s unsure how much more right now.
The cost that Mrs Litun had ballparked is certainly not something that she and her family could manage. Twenty silver coins is equivalent to multiple months of income for working class families in this city. Shaula knows that families who are living week to week barely have enough saved for regular emergencies, let alone something like this.
"Fuck, I don't have my money with me right now. Dzan, how much do you have on you? You were working today, right?" Shaula winks.
"Oh… Hm, I might have that amount available, but–"
"You don't have to worry about it!” Shaula says with a bright smile on her face. “Use whatever you have right now to help Mrs Litun. Ajax or I will pay you back. You know we’re good for it, right?" Shaula smiles brightly.
Dzan looks at her, a bit stunned at her sudden shift in attitude, and sighs. He has been doing a lot of pickpocketing today and grabbed a lot of bronze and some silver coins from his marks within and around Maz square. If he hands Mrs Litun all of that money for the trouble she’s gone through, then it should be able to cover what she needs.
Dzan also still remembers how gracious Shaula had been when he stole from her. She had gotten her money back, as was the right of the looted, but she even handed him some silver when she didn’t need to.
He still feels some struggle with handing over his (by thief standards) hard-earned money so easily, but just looking at Mrs Litun and Bels in her arms, he can only feel exasperation at how soft he is. As long as Shaula is willing to pay him back, he doesn’t see any real issues with parting with his money for now. He may still have his own debts to worry about but he’s not heartless.
Fuck it… I saved her kid, I’m not going to be responsible for making him even more traumatized by having to look at what that creep did to his mom…