25 - Doubts

“Well, that is no doubt the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Liara said, smiling sadly.

Ake sighed and rested his arms on his knees. He couldn’t have possibly told them every little detail, so it was understandable.

“I do want to believe you, but I’m sorry, it is just impossible,” Liara leaned and rubbed his bare back. “No one in town will believe you if you suddenly tell them that the town is in huge danger and we should run away or something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ake, the Guildmaster will never hide something that big,” Sila added from the other side of the bed. “No one would want to be blamed if a whole town of people died or something. It is his job and I have known him for years already. He is a good man.”

Ake felt the sting when the girls believed another man more than him. He kept it to himself because he knew he was being unreasonable to feel that way.

Of course, no one wouldn’t believe it when he told them what he had figured out. He had expected as much, as it only got more obvious when he put more thought into it.

They had shared bodily warmth and fun time together, but it didn’t mean the two ladies would suddenly believe his every word. The two had no idea what he had gone through in his past life. In their eyes, he was still a poor soul from another world who didn’t truly know how this world worked.

They were simply not there just yet even if they were already comfortable to be around with each other barely with any clothes on. Besides, it was simply too outlandish for any locals to wrap their heads around it.

A pair of arms wrapped around him from the back as he sulked, “I’m sorry, we are sorry,” said Sila as she tried to make him feel a little better.

“You said the [Healer] whispered to you to ‘stay safe’, but maybe she meant staying safe from something else?” Liara asked, trying to make him look at the matter in a different way.

“What else should I worry about?”

“Well, the ride in the airship is not totally safe,” Liara shrugged. “She must have known you should be one of its passengers when she met you along with us.”

“Maybe she wants you to stay safe for some time until she can arrange a more permanent deal with her,” Sila wiggled her eyebrows, “and you know for what.”

Ake sighed as he started to doubt himself. Was he really being overly paranoid again? His guts were rarely wrong but it had been mistaken before.

“And you two are fine with this because?”

“Lady Rinia is a very fine woman, Ake, and you know that better than us,” Liara said. “The [Healer] had saved me from certain death a few times already. I’ve heard only praises of her and she has never uttered a complaint or lash at anyone under her, not even when she is woken up in the middle of the night.”

“She is loved by everyone, that’s for sure,” Sila added while still happily pressing on and grinding herself at him.

“I’ve come up with such a plan because of the rumors of her going around,” Liara said. “A part of me hopes it isn’t true but it is what it is. A fine noble lady such as her has options, she would never have invited you to her room if she wasn't as desperate.”

“But what if this got out?” Sila asked as she was curious herself.

“Then she might just tell everyone that she has already taken him officially as her apprentice,” Liara shrugged.

“Does that make it even worse?” Ake said while looking at the two. “A teacher sleeping with her student? That’s not right, right?”

Liara exchanged looks with Sila before the younger shrugged. Ake kept the competitiveness between the apprentice healers to himself as they probably already knew it. Who would want to be part of the noble family? It was a sure way to rise in the world.

“Is that what it is like in your world?” Sila asked.

Ake nodded, “of course, how could someone like a teacher take advantage of her lesser?”

“Well, all the knowledge and tens of decades of experience she will pass over is simply invaluable. No book could record everything and no gold can be enough to pay for such a thing,” Liara said and Sila nodded along. “And it is known that it is the apprentice's duty to lessen the burden of his or her Master in return, whatever the method may be.”

Tens of decades? How old was she again? He was curious, but he knew the question about age would be something he should never ask a woman.

“That’s… makes sense, I guess,” Ake admitted. “But does this seem unfair to the apprentice? What if some nasty person abuses this?”

Sila scoffed, “Of course, what else is new? But I bet Lady Rinia will never do something like that. Not only me, every man and woman would wish they were in your place, you know.”

“Yes, choosing your Master wisely is a thing too.”

“Fine, but hopefully it won’t come to that,” Ake resigned himself and placed the issue in the alien culture file along with others.

“Then, let’s finally give your new ability a live test?” Sila jumped on the bed as she suggested.

“Unless you are planning repeatedly to let yourself get hurt, sure,” Ake replied. “I won’t stop you if you enjoy such a thing.”

“You know I’m not that kind of girl,” the girl pouted but still blushed.

“Then why are you blushing?” Ake jabbed.

“Uuu, Liara, Ake is being mean again!” the girl complained to her partner.

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The smaller but much older girl just shook her head at their antics.

Ake smiled. He liked where this light-hearted odd affair was heading. He just didn’t think he could call whatever this was a relationship, surprisingly, not even inside his head.

A hurried knocking at the door pulled everyone's attention. They quickly dressed up as the knocking became insistent.

A young man was waiting outside as Liara opened the door.

“Finally, good, you all are here,” the boy breathed in relief. “The Guildmaster sent me, the airship has arrived and will be leaving promptly. He urged you all to get only the essentials and hurry your way to the dock as the airship is on a new tighter schedule.”

“Well, that’s really early, it suppose to come-”

“I don’t know the details but I still have a few other people to give this message, save her,” he pointed at Sila. “The Guildmaster insisted I make only the briefest stop,” the young man cut Liara off, gave a small bow, swiftly turned around, and left in a hurry.

“Well, that’s kind of odd,” Sila chuckled.

Ake focused and his senses followed where the messenger boy was going and he was heading straight to the hospital next. The message was sent in relative silence as if the airship's arrival was to be kept a secret. The fact blasted his paranoia off the roof once again.

Surely such arrival would be something to be widely celebrated as there was no other method of traveling grander than this. Its early arrival should have been made known to the public when all preparations had already been made, but strangely enough, the news was personally delivered.

It might be his paranoia talking again, but something felt terribly wrong.

Goosebumps crawled all over him.

Ake cursed inside.

“Where is the airship usually docks?” He asked the two.

“The south walls, near the river,” Liara said. “Why?”

“Well, the big man told us to hurry, so we better hurry, right?” Ake said as he kept holding onto the shards.

Liara’s eyes went wide as if she had seen something in his eyes.

“But surely I can still go say goodbye and get my stuff, right?” Sila asked. “Ake?”

“I don’t think so, but-”

“But why?” The girl had the gall to smile so beautifully.

Her reaction was not surprising when, between them, he would say the girl would be the least experienced. Sila hadn’t gone out the walls as much as Liara, and she didn’t have a lifetime wealth of experience, so, of course, she didn’t see anything suspicious about this.

“The news is not announced as it usually does, Sila,” Liara pointed out the obvious before turning towards him. “Don’t worry, I’ll go with her,” Liara said.

What she said only made him even more worried.

“Liara,” Ake stopped her. “I really think we should just go together.”

“Look, I’ll make sure we make it,” the lovely woman replied with her hand on his chest. “You go first and save the best spot for us, you hear?”

Liara and Sila stared at him, pleading with their eyes. They were excited that the schedule was pushed forward and he could understand why they couldn’t just leave suddenly.

Unlike him or Liara, the girl had a family and a dear father to leave behind. They would be worried if she had suddenly disappeared. It made a lot of sense as Sila could never leave without at least saying goodbye.

Ake clutched on the shards hard, “okay, I’ll wait for you two there,” he said. It felt like it was the hardest decision he had made in his entire life.

He pushed his paranoia down and marched toward his destination. It was probably nothing as it wouldn’t take even a few minutes for the ladies to catch back. There was no monster banging the walls or any other signs. They would start over in the new place and laugh back at his paranoia.

“Everything will be fine,” he muttered to himself.

He kept his senses on the girls until they were out of his range. Ake kept a calm march even though his head was playing the worst-case scenarios he could think of. Mega earthquakes and gigantic worm attacks were among them, but none of them made any sense.

One thing was clear, his guts just won’t let him have some peace of mind. The Guildmaster’s message was mild, he noticed that, but the man could have done it in order to not alarm anyone else. Mass panic would make everything worse.

The airship was small, the last time he heard about it, and there was a limit of how many could take a ride in it. The max was ten to fifteen people.

As expected, the day was just another day for the whole town. Everyone was just doing their daily routine and the few kids running around were absolutely clueless. He truly hoped it was only him who thought too deeply into this.

Sila would say a quick goodbye and they would hurry to meet him there. There was nothing to it.

Ake was soaked in the familiar cold unfeeling fog. Otherwise, he didn’t think he would be able to move as decisively or objectively as he could. He smiled guiltlessly at those who greeted him along the way, but he said nothing about what he was in a hurry for.

He made it to the spot in no time.

It was the emptier part of the town and so there were not many onlookers who noticed the airship floating high above. The design of the airship was not as he expected and he loved to learn how it worked.

“You’ve made it!” yelled someone as she leaped down and rushed towards him.

The look on the Lady said everything and Ake stopped on his feet.

He turned around and sprinted, or at least he tried.

A vice hand caught his arm and he was pulled into her equally vice embrace.

“Pull us up, hurry!” The lady yelled as soon as she had him.

He felt a powerful lurch as if he was riding an abnormally fast elevator. He couldn’t see anything in between her breasts, but he knew they were moving unbelievably quickly.

“Lady Rinia, please,” Ake mustered as the woman let him go a little.

“I’m sorry-” her voice was cut to a stop as she gasped in terror.

Before he knew it, a deafening blast echoed in the air.

Ake forced his entire being to separate himself and turned towards the town.

A blinding light was all he could see before his back was forcefully yanked away as something pounded inside his head repeatedly. It hurt so much until everything else didn’t matter anymore.

The next thing he knew the world was spinning around him.

Ake felt it when he was tossed and spun around for whatever reason. There were other people around him in a similar manner, but everything was too chaotic to make any sense.

Cold thuds echoed in his ears. He didn't know what happened next, but it felt like a hulking beast had used his body to vent its anger until probably all his bones were broken apart.

And then everything went dark.

Ake truly thought it was the end of him, but his eyes blinked open.

Despite what it should’ve been his untimely death, he woke up in the tender care and on the soft laps of a fine woman. He knew her all too well but it didn’t feel nearly as good as it should have been. It couldn’t be when he had just lost something in just a blink of an eye.

And it was something he had only begun to cherish.

Ake gripped on the shards hard.