There was a knock on her door, but there was no voice calling her name.

a stranger, she concluded.

She went to meet her visitor, and was greeted by two cloaked people in front of her house.

[Vivid Sword of Vese - LVL 175]

[Vibrant Shield of Vese - LVL 111]

Strong. She thought after casting Identify on them.

"Are you the healer?" asked one of them. Her voice, height, and figure were clear give away that she was a young woman.

"I am." She answered the cloaked young woman.

"Invite us across your threshold, healer." Demanded the other cloaked person. Her voice, height and figure indicated that she too, was a woman. Though, a much taller and older from the first one.

Hilda stayed quiet, not replying nor granting the demand.

The cloaked young woman gave the older one a rebuking glance, clearly disapproving her forceful way to the person they were visiting. The cloaked older woman bowed her head a little, acknowledging she had overstepped.

The young woman looked at Hilda and removed her hood. She had red hair and brown eyes, there was no freckle on her beautiful face and she had dignified look. If Hilda had to guess, she would be no older than thirteen. The older woman followed suit, she removed her hood and revealed her scar-filled face. She had brown hair but some of them had turned white. Her black eyes gave a piercing gaze. She appeared to in her late thirty.

A noble girl and her escort. Hilda concluded.

The girl gave Hilda a faint smile, a subtle apology for her companion previous action.

"Healer, we are travelers. We stumbled upon this village by chance, and decided to rest here for awhile. On our journey, we had accumulated injuries, so we asked the chief of the village for a potential treatment, and he pointed us to your house." The girl explained their situation, giving a background to her escort behavior.

"Healer," the girl continued, "We would like you to treat us, in exchange, we could offer you some silver." The girl took out a small pouch and held it in front of her, showing Hilda that they had the money.

Having heard their reason of visit and the offer they made, Hilda shook her head. "There is no need for money. The chief gave you his recommendation, I am obliged to serve his guest as best as I could. Please, come." Hilda said while leading them inside.

"I am sorry for the mess." Added her, while giving them the only two wooden chair she had for them to sit.

"It's fine." The girl replied. She looked around the room, there was so many crates full of dried herbs that made the room cramped. The shelfs on the wall were filled with jars of colorful liquid. She even could see a cauldron in the edge of the other room. "It's the first time I see the inside of a healer's house, so it is quite interesting," She added.

"Is that so?" Hilda answered from the the other room. She came back with a tray with some mini jars on it. She then went down on her knees in front of her sitting guests. "Please remove your cloak, you don't have to take off your clothes if you don't want to, but please reveal it enough for me to see your injuries." She said to them.

Her guests obliged. The girl was the first to be examined, she had minor cuts on her body and a light bruise on her hands. The only serious injury she had were blisters on her feet. Hilda treated the girl by pouring various potions in the mini jars on the wounds, then she casted Heal on her whole body.

After done with the girl, she moved to examined the older women. This time, the lady's condition took Hilda by surprise. The older woman had numerous cuts, burns, some small parts of her abdomen was even frozen.

Swords and spells, Hilda concluded.

Feeling done with what she had seen, she immediately casted Cure. A dim gentle blue light suddenly covered the older woman, and with it healed her wounds.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Hilda took a deep breath after casting the spell, It took quite a toll on her. She checked the woman for the last time to confirm the wounds, all were healed, except the scars on her face, which she probably had long before she began the journey. Such was the nature of all healing spells: Wounds that were not treated for too long wouldn't get healed, be it by Heal, Cure, or any other higher tier healing spells. Every person had their own limit of how long is too long for a wound to not be treated, it was largely depended on the person's level, class, and how severe the wound was.

"It is done." Hilda informed her guests.

"How long would you stay in this village?" She nonchalantly asked.

The two guests of her tensed ever so slightly and just as quickly schooling their body language to hide it.

"I have to know how much potion I have to make for the two of you. Your wounds are healed, but the accumulated fatigue is still lingering on your body. Plus, the potion would come in handy for you when you decide to continue your journey." She explained while going to the other room with a tray of potion she brought earlier.

"... make as much as you think a small waist bag could carry." The girl replied after a long pause.

"Alright," Hilda replied back from the other room.

She couldn't see their face, but she guessed she had successfully diverting their suspicion on her.

Shit, Hilda cursed internally. Both her grim face and anxious body language were well protected from the gaze of her guests by a wall dividing the room.

A runaway? she guessed.

The girl was definitely a noble, and the older woman was clearly her escort. The blisters both of them had on their feet proved that they had been walking- no, running- for a long time. They had been in such a rush that they ignored the wounds.

Furthermore, the injuries they had was clearly from confrontation with human and not monster. Hilda had been living in this village for ten years, and for ten years she had been healing injuries from the hunters who battling monsters on daily basis, she could tell which wound caused by which.

That means they have pursuers, She thought.

She asked the earlier question of the length of their stay because she wanted to know if they would leave fast enough before their pursuers came here and dragging the whole village in their mess. But her effort to lower their suspicion on her by explaining herself backfired when the girl evaded her question by diverting the topic to the amount of potion she had to make.

Do the chief know? Should I inform him? she asked herself. But if I am wrong I will be in trouble... let's wait for three days. Yes, that will be long enough for them to reasonably stay. If they still here after that long, I have to give hints to the chief.

After making her decision, Hilda renewed the potion in the tray, she quickly grabbed potion for blood loss, fatigue, and burns, four each. She went back to the other room and gave them to her guests.

"Thank you, healer." The girl said while she and the older woman dividing the potion equally and putting them in their waist bag. She tried to give the pouch of money she offered earlier but Hilda refused.

"Please, I already said it is not necessary."

"Just take it anyway, we will not left any deed unpaid," the girl insisted.

Hilda was taken aback, that was a warning isn't it? she thought to herself. After a long pause, she decided to receive the pouch as a subtle affirmation that she understood what they meant.

"Well then, thank you again for your hospitality, healer. Now, we will have to excuse ourse--" The girl's word was cut by the sudden movement of her escort. The older woman abruptly stood between the girl and the door.

"What?" The girl asked.

"There is commotion outside, and it is getting louder and closer." Her escort explained and urged her to prepare for battle.

The girl stood up and put up a fighting stance, both her and the older woman ready to activate their magic.

What should I do? Hilda thought while seeing her guests prepared to face the upcoming battle. But before she could think of anything, her door was kick-opened, and with it came in a bloodied figure.

The girl's escort instantly swung her barrier-covered hand and stopped just before the figure's neck. It was so swift, Hilda barely could blink before the escort's movement came to an end.

The red sunlight coming from the wide-opened door hid the figure's face in the dark shade, But in took only a moment before Hilda knew who it was, "Ceila?" She asked.

Hilda's question met no answer, and in the high tense situation they were in, the figure addressed the woman who held sharp barrier-covered hand to her neck instead, "Are you going to kill me, or are you just going to stand like that for the rest of the day?"

The escort stayed silent.

"Move aside then." The figure tried to walk pass the older woman, but the escort repositioned herself to block her, and the figure casually spitted on the woman's face in return.

The tense was growing higher.

"EVERYONE, PLEASE." Hilda spoke aloud to get the attention. She walked closer to the figure, "Ceila," She said while pulling her out of the blinding sunlight so her face wasn't hidden in the dark shade anymore. "What is the meaning of this?" She asked, by this time the older woman already took her barrier-covered hand out of Ceila's neck.

"That is my question." Ceila retorted while staring at the two new faces in the healer's house.

"... wait, your arm! Come here! Quick!" Hilda said when she finally noticed the condition Ceila was in. She sit her down on a wooden chair and casted Recovery, blinding blue light covered Ceila's entire body for few seconds before it dimmed out and died.

Ceila's mangled arm, the left side of her neck, and all injuries on her body was healed.

Hilda fell to the floor and gasping for the air, sweats covered her face. "What happened?" She asked while still breathing heavily.

"Got in fight with that." Ceila said while crossing her right leg on the left and pointing her finger to the wide-opened door.

Everyone in the room looked to the pointed way, to a body that was lying on the ground just a step away outside the door.

[Werewolf - LVL 198]

"Holy shit." The older woman said, her eyes were still on the monster's dead body.

"Who might you be?" The girl finally spoke, she looked at Ceila.

"No, Who are you?" Ceila retorted.

The enmity once again filled the room.