Once I recovered my vitality, the four of us proceeded to the dungeon's mana source. Yubel proceeded to absorb it, gaining more power in the process, and with that, the job was done because there was only one thing left to do...
CELEBRATE!
I mean, we're just young in our 20s and we just want to go to a tavern and drink.
Outside the dungeon was the village of Sandiie, in a relatively small place, but it is a trading hub between the capital and the Zhanty docks, which are used for trade with other continents.
That explains why they cared so little about the destruction of the local wildlife. It’s a trading village, not a hunting or gathering community. This would only affect the poorer people and wasn’t a priority for the rich. The goblins were clever not to mess with the merchant caravans.
But anyway...
The problem is already solved. We took this information to the Adventurers’ Guild and the town hall, demonstrating that we had eradicated the plague of goblins and giant snakes, hoping to claim some reward.
They didn’t give us much money since it wasn’t a priority, but it was enough to drink all night.
"Food and drink, all to fill our stomachs and soothe our hearts," shouted Eduard as he hugged Yubel and me.
While Amelia performed some party tricks to entertain the others in the bar, these moments make the whole odyssey worth it. I mean, defeating the Demon Lord isn’t easy. Although there are many heroes in different countries, most only focus on protecting their own lands.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to do the same, but… oh, forget it, I’ll leave the work for later. Right now, I just want to drink with my friends...
And so the night went by. The bar closed at midnight, and we were all very drunk. Since we started our adventure, we had never partied so much, and the night was still young, as there was a festival in the square.
The mayor had announced that the forest plague had been resolved by the wonderful mayor... a festival to thank a political figure...
Well, he paid us and we love parties, so what does it matter?
We left the bar and all headed to the square, but all the alcohol we had consumed needed to be expelled, so we proceeded to urinate next to a wall in a dark alley.
We were all urinating in front of the wall in this order: Yubel, Eduard, and me. As could not be avoided, we compared our swords, specifically how long we had them. I’ve never been insecure, but those two idiots had bigger ones than me.
It shouldn’t bother me…
But Eduard, the idiot, started laughing, calling me "short dick," and Yubel couldn’t hold back his laughter. Feeling humiliated, I said something I would regret.
I said, "At least it’s bigger than Amelia’s,"
a stupid thing to say, right?
Until I looked to my left and saw Amelia urinating while standing. I had never seen a naked woman, but I knew that sword shouldn’t belong to a woman, and worse, of the four of us, Amelia had the biggest one, and she announced it loudly…
"How silly you are, Ester, have you never seen a woman with much more virility than you?"
Everyone was laughing at me, the "Short Dick," but Amelia’s part bewildered me… I knew she was a woman, but I think she was from a foreign country, though I doubt that explains her condition…
I felt a mix in my heart: the mockery and the shock of seeing my childhood crush urinating while standing was too much to process. I put away my small sword and told them I was going to the inn to sleep. My friends continued laughing and told me they would just go to the festival for a while and not to take it personally with smiles on their faces…
I just wanted to die.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I took the long way to the inn, as I said, I had a lot to process…
I arrived at the red-light district of the village, filled with brothels and dive bars. What had happened earlier affected me so much that I wanted to ask a sex worker if my little sword was average or if I was really less of a man than I thought...
But I was so embarrassed that I passed by a dark alley next to a brothel and overheard a conversation taking place at the back door of the establishment.
“Come on, brother, this girl can work at your place. It would only be 15 silver coins, you’ll recover it in a week, and you’ll have this sex slave for your personal use for much longer,” exclaimed a dark-looking merchant.
I couldn’t see his face clearly, but my deepest instincts warned me that I was dealing with someone very dangerous.
image [https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/078/581/832/large/duval-saul-ewqeewqqew.jpg?1722503784]
The man at the door responded: “Look at the state you’re delivering this woman in, she’s mutilated and has strange stains on her skin. I don’t think I’ll get even a copper coin per client for her.”
The merchant responded, “Actually, I know, I want to get rid of her; she gives me a bad image… Let’s do something, just give me 5 silver coins. I know you won’t believe me, but she has elven blood. It’s not obvious because she’s missing her ears, but I think she could be useful to you.”
The man at the door frowned, and then I interrupted them: “I’ll pay the 5 silver coins.”
The merchant glanced at me sideways, sensing his ill intentions, I said, “I have some guys working in a dungeon; they haven’t seen a woman in a while. I think even she will make them happy.”
The merchant gave a terrifying smile, as if he wanted the girl to suffer more, and accepted the coins. We closed the deal, I picked up the girl in my arms, and the merchant disappeared. I felt no trace of his presence anymore.
…
I left the red-light district with the girl in my arms. The more I looked at her, the more horrified I was.
Her physical condition was such that I wondered how she was still alive. Her ears had been cut off, her face was covered in poorly healed scars, her body was bruised, and her right arm was completely severed.
Above all, she had a vacant look, as if she were in a vegetative state…
Without hesitation, I headed to the village church…
Since it was midnight, only an old nun and the church guard were present. At first, they refused to attend to me until I showed them a letter my master had given me before my journey.
My master had many connections within the church, or so I suppose, as those letters had no text, only symbols. I don’t know what they meant, but the elderly nun recognized them and gave me an address that was almost outside the village.
She told me that there was the former priest of the city.
“If there’s anyone who can help you, young man, it’s that man.” I thanked the woman and continued on my way.
With the girl in my arms, I went to see the priest…
Though I wondered if they gave me the right address, as I only saw a farmer outside his house playing a guitar. I asked him quietly:
“Are you Priest Vince?” and he said:
“Not a priest anymore, just Vince. What do you want from me, altar boy?” with a grumpy face. I didn’t want to continue talking to him.
So I just showed him the letter with the strange symbols and said, “My master told me to show this if I needed help from the church of this village.” Well, he gave me several letters for various villages, I don’t know why they are all similar, but out of respect and for backup, I always carry them with me.
Vince’s eyes widened, and he asked for my name.
I told him my name was Ester and, with an almost terrifying smile, he said: “I thought I’d never meet you. What do you need, does it have something to do with that person in your arms, is she a friend of yours?”
I replied that I needed to heal her and that I would need some animals that wouldn’t mind being sacrificed.
…
We went to what looked like a stable, which inside was a strange combination of a library and a goat and sheep breeding facility.
I placed the girl on a table and could see the state of her body. Her right arm was cut off up to the forearm, her skin was covered in rashes, burns, and bruises. Not to mention her ears had been cut off and she had a vacant look, almost as if she had no soul.
It was a disturbing sight. I wondered what kind of monster would do this to another human being. I could heal her body, but I wondered if I could heal her mind…
First, I began using my regenerative magic…
The damage to her body was so severe that periodically I had to sacrifice sheep and goats with my degenerative magic to regain my vitality.
Vince watched with an astonished look and didn’t mind that I killed his animals to help a stranger. It was almost as if the show was worth the ticket. Well, he was a priest, he must have a certain curiosity about this type of magic.
It took me a long time, but I managed to heal her skin, her ears, and restore her regenerative system, but I couldn’t regenerate her right arm.
Her own body refused to regenerate it, something I had never encountered before. It was as if the body itself believed that the arm was still alive, even though it was no longer attached to her body, as it simply wouldn’t regenerate.
That was a problem, but the bigger problem was how to heal this girl’s mind…
Then Vince exclaimed, “Wow, very impressive coming from Kang’s son.”
I responded, “Although I’m not his son, I’m an orphan. Master Kang took care of me and my friends. Although he always treated us as his own children, I’m flattered that you think of me as his son.”
Vince, with a hard-to-read face, replied:
“I notice some resemblance between you two. Well, it doesn’t matter. Your healing was excellent, although I don’t quite understand how you use the mana from my animals in your healing, but that’s something we can leave for later. I know you’re too exhausted to notice the girl’s ears.”
I had already seen them, but it’s true I hadn’t noticed… they were elf ears. Not just any elf, but a high elf.
How the heck did a high elf end up in the red-light district of this village?
Seeing my surprise, Vince said, “Hey, altar boy, Kang taught you how to heal a person’s mind, right?”
Among the medical techniques used on soldiers, the most crucial is maintaining the mental health of the troops, as a person can learn to live without a limb, but soldiers with a broken mind or severe post-traumatic stress couldn’t always lead a fulfilling life.
In extreme cases, even soldiers who emerged victorious and were revered as heroes committed suicide once the wars were over.
The horrors of the battlefield can scar men forever, which is why priests prioritized healing their minds once the conflict ended. But not many priests could do this without consequences.
I looked Vince in the eyes and said, “I know how to treat the patient, but I’ve never healed the mind of an elf.”
The problem with this is that to heal the mind, you need to enter the person’s memories.
A human doesn’t have a very long life; a standard treatment may take a few hours in real time, but inside the mind, years can pass. Being an elf, it could take much longer in her memories.
Although I’m a bit afraid… it’s too late to back out now…
I suppose I could heal her mind gradually. I’ll first make her aware of her surroundings, and little by little, I’ll heal her mind, restore her consciousness, and memories. I didn’t know how long it would take, so I asked Vince to sacrifice one last sheep to gain more vitality.
I took a piece of chalk, imbued it with my vitality, and drew some symbols in the form of a magic circle around the table…
Next to the elf, with my hand on her forehead, I used the incantation…
“Spirits of memory, bless me with your presence and grant me the strength to heal broken dreams. Heal the mind.”
I’m praying to the Goddess that this isn’t too painful of a journey.