After meeting Anna (to my absolute surprise) back in Springwood, I found out her grandfather and my benefactor, Arthur, is down with a mysterious illness. We chatted for a bit, reminiscing about our past together, before finally going to the local clinic to go speak with Arthur.

The clinic in question is a familiar one to me, as I myself was once admitted to it due to Grim’s crazy idea to push me off a ledge (if you can’t remember, then don’t worry, I’m not that mad at him). In any case, this clinic is known as Harper’s Clinic, named after the doctor there, Ms. Harper, who both treated me and taught me the basics of first aid. It’s thanks to her teachings that I was promoted to Captain of Logistics over in Great Hiana by The BBG, which later turned into our very own gang, ARA.

To me, she is a person of admiration. Actually, respect is the more apt term, as she’s always had this cool aura around her that made you feel at ease, even when she was in the middle of operating on you. I can’t quite explain it, but whenever I saw her, I’d just feel at peace, like If I died here, I wouldn’t mind.

Well, that makes it sound like she’s not capable for the job she has, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Trust me, she’s objectively the best Doctor in Trivis Numerica. She would frequent our shop while Grim & I were working in Springwood and tell me about how she had to travel to this place and that place to treat this person and that person, all while drinking her Latte and thanking me for being a good listener.

I do feel a bit ashamed to admit it, but this is also the main reason I drink Lattes instead of Black Coffee. To be honest, I prefer to take my coffee black, but every time I take a whiff of a Latte, I’m reminded of her smile as she eagerly drinks hers. Black Coffee just doesn’t elicit those memories for me, so sadly, I rarely drink it, despite my preferences.

A-Ahem, I started babbling. Apologies for that (wait, who am I even talking to?). But still, I’m sure this explains why I felt so calm about entering the building, despite knowing I’m about to see a frail Arthur. I know it may seem a bit heartless on my part, heck, even Anna questioned my nonchalant attitude, but I assured her it’s just because I might see Harper again.

“Hmm…” She frowned upon hearing that, “You really like Harper, huh? You two used to stow away alone together just to talk for hours on end about some medical practices and techniques.”

“Whoa, you actually remember what we were talking about?” I was surprised at her attentiveness, “How’d you know?”

“A-Ah!” She yelped as if realizing she said something she shouldn’t have, “I-I just happened to overhear you two! Right, that’s it!”

“…” I gave her a smug look, “Were you jealous?”

“Geez, shut up!” She lightly punched my shoulder, “In any case, she’s way older than you. She wouldn’t go out with someone like you in a million years!”

Just then, the very person we were talking about (badmouthing?) passed by us. I was expecting her to just pass by us without recognizing me. After all, a lot of people told me I look way different thanks to my eye color changing, but this isn’t what happened with her…

“Is that you, Edward?!” She immediately gave me a strong hug, pulling me into her soft bosom, “I haven’t seen you in so long! Look how much you’ve grown!”

“Back off, woman.” A short yet angered Anna forcefully split up our embrace, “Shouldn’t you be taking care of Gramps?”

“Oh my, Anna.” Ms. Harper gave her a worried expression, “Jealousy won’t get you what you want, you know.”

“I AM NOT JEALOUS!” She yelled out without any regard to where we are.

“Hahahahaha!” Ms. Harper noticed she hit the nail on the head with that one before continuing her thought, “But you know, the only reason I’m so lax right now is because you two are here. I imagine you’re here to visit Arthur, right Edward?”

“Exactly, how is he? Anna told me the situation is quite dire, but I’d still like to see him if possible.”

“Is that what she said now?” A question mark emerged from Harper’s noggin, “Well, you’ll be happy to know she was exaggerating quite a bit, since Arthur is doing quite fine, he’s just a bit sluggish.”

I looked at Anna with a look that said Explain yourself!, but she just shrugged her shoulders and said:

“I didn’t quite understand all the words Harper said to me back when he was initially diagnosed. All I heard was that the disease he had was never before seen and assumed the worst.”

“That’s your grandpa you’re talking about!” I scolded her, “Don’t just chalk it up to him being near death! I was feeling uneasy for the past 3 hours for nothing!”

“Ah, so you did care for Gramps. Glad you’re not that heartless at least.” She crossed her arms and huffed whilst looking away.

“…” Harper stood between us for a while in silence before asking, “You guys talked for 3 hours before going to visit him?”

Anna still refused to say anything or even turn around, but her ears turning bright read were a clear cut indicator Harper read her like a book once again. Wait, I never noticed this, but Harper also has a Brown Iro. Could she also be…!

“Ms. Harper, have you ever talked to an animal before?” I asked her out of curiosity.

Anna turned around to make sure she heard me correctly, but Ms. Harper just looked at me weird. She averted direct eye contact, and overall acted like she was hiding something. She glanced back at me, noticed I was still gazing at her fiercely, then finally sighed and confessed.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I-!” She wavered a bit, but then continued, “… I sometimes talk to the stray cats I feed. B-But it’s normal, I swear!”

Well, I found out something wholesome about Ms. Harper right now, but that’s certainly not what I asked her.

“But did they ever… talk back to you?” I asked once again.

“Come on, Edward, you don’t have to tease me just because I talk to animals sometimes!” She blushed while hitting me lightly on the chest, “Of course they didn’t!”

There! Gotcha! Now all I gotta do is read your mind and confirm if what you’re saying right now is true or false! Alright, here I go…!

“Edward...” She put her face up to mine, “Your eyes are glowing! Let me have that checked out!”

“Wawawawa-!” I didn’t expect her to do something so bold all of a sudden, “M-M-MISS HARPER I D-DON’T THINK THAT’S NECESSARY, PLEASE MOVE AWAY!”

“STOP FLIRTING!” Anna finally blew a fuse and grabbed my wrist, forcefully pulling me into Arthur’s room.

***

After barging into the room, I finally saw him. He was noticeably older, his face pale, and his hair has gone completely gray, in complete contrast to his previous visage. Back when I last saw him, he had jet black hair, so seeing him like this made me tear up. He was sleeping right now, which is surprising, as Anna kind of slammed then doors in her fit of rage.

I made sure not to wake him up as I approached, but then accidentally knocked over a nearby empty plate. Anna facepalmed, Ms. Harper ran into the room, and Arthur, well…

“HUH?!? What?! Oh, it’s just you, Ed.” He said after taking a look at me, “You changed a lot huh? Lookin’ like a real man now.”

“You recognize me?” I asked, “Even though I’m a lot older, and my eyes have gone Brown?”

“Of course I do.” He said as a matter of fact, “You’re the only guy I know with blond hair.”

“Whoa, Gramps, seems like you’re doing well!” Anna praised his excellent facial recognition ability, “Maybe Harper’s competent after all!”

“Rude!” Ms. Harper replied, “Of course my treatment is good, I operate on people all across Trivis Numerica!”

“Yeah yeah,” Anna rolled her eyes at her, “Come back when you’re world renowned like the Dolas.”

“Why youuu!” Ms. Harper tugged at her twintails, “You know damn well I’m not world renowned purely because I can’t get a passport!”

“You can’t?” I turned my head in surprise, “Why’s that?”

“Well, long story short:” Ms. Harper then explained, “I kind of pissed off the examiner and was banned from taking the exam.”

“So you can’t leave the country?! Ever?!” I got woozy from the shock.

“Nope, but I really don’t have that big of a reason to, so it’s fine.” She said, “If anyone from outside the country needs me, they can just come here to Springwood, and if not, then there are other Doctors who are willing to take up my task.”

I stood there in bewilderment at her sheer apathy for helping others outside of the country, but judging from how worn out she gets after just traveling around Trivis Numerica, I can imagine she’s probably glad to not have to worry about such matters.

“Now then,” Arthur spoke out with an Ehem!, “What brings you here, Ed? Where’s Lune?”

“Grim’s out in Sibirus doing a commission for the ITA, but I was free so I came to visit.” I explained, “But I heard you were sick, so I can’t help but ask, how are you?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me.” He waved his hand at me, “I’m a bit slow, sure, but otherwise I’m the same as when you last saw me.”

“Arthur, please understand the gravity of this situation.” Ms. Harper warned, “The condition you have is something I have never before seen. I reached out to many other Doctors from all across the world, but right now most of the mails haven’t even gotten to them, and the few that have don’t know what it is either.”

“Eh, if I die, so be it.” He said with an indifferent tone.

“Grampa!” Anna angrily shouted, “Don’t say such scary things! You’ll make it through this, you can’t give up just yet!”

“Come on, Dear,” He smiled at her, “I’ve lived a long enough life, and in that life I have but only one regret. Apart from that, I’d say I did my part in this world. Besides, I could use a retirement in the afterlife, ehe!”

“What do you mean ‘ehe’?!” She reprimanded him again, “Look, Edward’s here now, so everything’s gonna be fine!”

“Arthur!” I couldn’t take it anymore, “Let me see something.”

“?” All three of them gave me a weird look, but didn’t object to the idea of me giving my input.

What I want to do is see if I can, somehow, tap into Arthur’s mind and discover a cure using my Analyze ability. I’m not sure if this is how it works, but I’d do anything just to cure him, or at least give him a remedy. I can’t stand looking at him in his current state. Even though he said he’s fine with it, I’d fancy anything else over just letting him die.

“What is he doing?” Arthur’s inner thoughts materialize in front of me, “Is he in that weird Role-Playing phase where he thinks he’s got magical powers or something?”

Okay Arthur, rude. I’m trying to save your life, y’know.

“ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!” The word suddenly started twitching uncontrollably as I focused my all into his disease.

My thought process was If I can read people’s and animals’ minds, then maybe I can read the disease’s mind too. That way I could find a cure for it.

“ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI ANDOLIA BAONEI” The words repeated in front of me.

“Ms. Harper!” I turned to her quickly, “Do you perhaps know what Andolia Baonei is?”

She gave me a look that signified both bewilderment and pleasant surprise, “How do you know about that? Certainly, it’s a medical herb used for curing auto immune diseases, but you shouldn’t know about it.”

“How so?” I asked just in case.

“Because it can only be found in the country of Umoris over in Cardina.” She explained, “Heck, I’ve never even seen it, much less used it, but from my text books I’ve definitely heard great things about it.”

“Then I’m positive that we need that herb to cure Arthur!” I said victoriously, “D-Don’t ask how I know, though.”

To my surprise, they actually didn’t. Instead they were all smiles after finally getting a lead on how to cure Arthur. Anna especially was quite enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.

“Great!” She said, “Then I’m heading out tomorrow!”

“Hold it.” I stopped her from going too far, “You can’t go alone, it’s dangerous. Plus, you can’t just go tomorrow, even you should know a trip that far takes extensive preparation and planning.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that far!” She said with a sigh.

“It’s LITERALLY in the corner of another continent! Helloooo, you need to cross an ocean just to get there, then travel across the entirety of it immediately after!”

“He’s right, you know.” Arthur sided with me, “You should listen to Edward here, I have full trust in him. The last thing I want is for my granddaughter to get sick or injured (or worse) just because she rushed things for me.”

“Exactly, that being said, Ms. Harper,” I turned to her, “Can we take Arthur back to the restaurant? I’d like to call someone over to take care of him while he’s away. I wouldn’t dare burden you with the task.”

“Sure, no problem.” She said, “But you know, I don’t mind taking care of Arthur. His restaurant got me through the tougher parts of my career, so this is the least I could do for him.”

“Glad to hear it.” I answered back, “But I have the perfect guy for the job. I’m sure he’d appreciate it, too.”

Again, the others were a bit confused at my sudden suggestion, but chose to agree to it without further questioning. We helped him get out of the bed and gave him a cane, and after safely (and carefully) bringing him home, we had him rest. I then went to the post office to send a letter to an old friend.