Eventually, they arrived at the abandoned monastery without encountering a single monster. They were extremely lucky, or something was keeping the monsters away. The monastery was quite small; there was a tiny chapel that could only contain about ten people, a bigger chapter that was also the lobby, and dozens of chambers for monks to live in.
Akki immediately fell off the horse when the cantering stopped after they entered the chapter room. As the whimpering started, Roal locked the door with a giant wood bolt. Scurrying, Roal lifted Akki in his arms and rested him on the meeting table in the center of the lobby. He stooped and lightly slapped on the injured's cheek, "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, just take the arrow out. I'm not dying," Akki raised his left wrist, "Just tired of casting Monster Sickening." His sleeve fell lower and revealed his inner forearm, which had a glowing strip of purple skin bump. The bump is about ten centimeters long. It was a shared ethnic feature of both Bohitoes and Jurens. However, Monster Sickening was a hex wielded only by Juren monster exterminators.
"Wait, Monster Sickening is a—"
"I know a lot, okay? Just take the arrow out! It is still in my damn shoulder," Akki angrily told Roal, suppressing his desire to yell.
"Fine, fine. Be a bit more patient. Stop acting like I'm peeling a cat alive," Roal softly held the crossbow bolt and pressed down the patient's right shoulder while he complained. This action completely stopped Akki's shouting suppressment.
"Ou~~Ou~~Ouch! Oh! No! Wait! Wait!"
Bearing all the yelps and squeals while putting down the struggling, Roal slowly wiggled and tweaked until he could see the lower part of the arrowhead above Akki's flesh. Using a powerful jerk, Roal tugged the bolt out.
"Okay! Okay! It's out! Didn't hear you crying like a baby when you were hit," Being infected by the young man's anxiety, Roal raised his voice slightly louder than usual and sat on the ground.
Akki's chest swelled and shrank as he panted heavily. Gliding down his body, his sweat and the blood from the wound had soaked his haori coat. Gradually, his breath slowed down and softened. "You know it feels so much worse when the adrenaline's gone, right?" he let the words out with the light panting, "Anyway, thank you."
"Don't thank me too soon," the old man tossed the bolt aside, walking toward his horse. He was sure that this man was much more than a regular criminal. The term warriors used to describe adrenaline was "battle hype." Only those who could afford to learn anatomy would use the term "adrenaline."
"What do you mean?" Akki sat up from the table, watching the Eternian opening his tag bags.
"You still need some elixir to fully recover, don't you?" Roal reached his hand into one of the bags.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"It's okay. You've done too much for me." Akki said, easing his breath. He didn't like to owe others anything, especially things as valuable as elixir.
"Well, you don't get to decide if I did too much or too little," Roal walked back, holding a vial of purplish liquid, "I'll decide after you tell me what you've done and why you did it."
Akki exhaled profoundly and took a deep breath. There, he began, "I arrived here only a few weeks ago as a monster hunter. The monastery was already infected by the monster core, so naturally, I came to hunt monsters that were generated here. Yet, I found the hidden account book belonging to the abbot who used to run this place. It showed that the funds from the town had been decreasing every year before the whole place was abandoned. The reason given by the accountant was that 'the town government itself was running out of money.' Yet, it couldn't be true because the town had been economically growing during that period of time, and I found the suicide note of the abbot accusing the accountant of embezzlement—"
"So you broke into the treasury for evidence?"
"Yeah, and guess what I found," Akki giggled in pride.
"The town account book!"
"Not just that," Akki smirked proudly, "But also the personal account book of the town accountant."
As Akki lay back on the round stone table in joy, the grey-haired old man caressed his half-bald head and tittered, "Who are you exactly, Mr. Marvelous?"
"Just a traveling ronin."
"Congratulation. You've earned my support," Roal pulled off the cork stopper and placed the bottle of elixir next to his patient. After he held his hands above the wound, the purplish elixir started to shine. His hands waved vertically and slightly shifted up and down repeatedly, mimicking the movement of the sea surface. He asked the young man if he had already examined the three account books as he changed his gesture. His hands circulated upon the injury for ten laps, still waving, while the shining elixir glared a dazzling white light.
"Yeah, I even circled the unmatching parts, but it is much more obvious on the accountant's personal one," the injured answered as the glaring liquid flowed into midair and flooded into his wound. The light of the elixir quickly faded and left behind no liquid but an unimpaired shoulder.
"So, what's your plan now?" Roal gave a big sigh and sat on the edge of the table.
"I can't cast Monster Sickening when I'm sleeping, so we take turns to sleep, and I will go kill the accountant tomorrow. You may give me a hand if you want to," Akki jumped off the table.
"Or you just show the account books to the local lord?"
"I need to do it after killing the accountant. He was in charge of all the authoritative forces. Those armored soldiers are too many and too strong. I won't even be able to get close to the lord. Trust me, I tried," Akki ambled aimlessly inside the room.
"Then you should check this out," the elder took out a shield badge with the relief of an opened book and his name—Roal Ranith—above the book.
"Roal Ranith?"
"That's my name, and I'm an international advisor to all authorities in FASOTO. I can arrange an immediate meeting with the lord," Roal explained, putting the badge back into his pocket.
"Then, it may actually work! They can't turn down an invite from an international advisor!" Akki beamed out of pure happiness. He never thought this problem could be solved in a peaceful way.
"Where did you put the evidence? I need to pay a visit to the local lord and royal agent right now," the advisor reached out his hand.
"I don't have it with me. The innkeeper helped me a lot during the investigation, so I let him protect the account books for me. I can't carry them with me."
A frown formed on Ranith's face, "And you left this part out when I told you to tell me—"
"You didn't let me finish!" Akki suddenly yelled in indignation, "I wasn't done, and you just took over, remember? It was a few minutes ago!" Akki generally considered himself an easygoing person, but he was never able to resist the wrath when it hit.
"Yeah, yeah… This one's on me. Huh, huh, huh," Roal, with his palm on his forehead, gave an embarrassed laugh while untying the rein from the pillar.
Akki sighed out his untempered anger, "Let's just move on," Akki propped his hands on the horseback and sprang up perfectly, combining the strength of all four limbs to pull himself onto the horse. With one foot pressing on the stirrup and both hands hauling the saddle, Roal got himself up the horseback, too.