After I caught my breath I walked back over to the pool of blood the man was lying in and sat down just outside of it.
âIs he dead?â Isy asked.
âHeâs breathing⦠Now at leastâ¦â
âSo what do we do? Do we take him back to our room?â
I rested my chin in one of my hands, thinking for a moment. âAre there really no medical facilities around here? Like, where would you go if you broke an arm in a duel?â âIt feels like this should be common knowledgeâ¦â
âOh⦠Yeah, we could take him to the grand hallâ¦â
I sighed. âOk⦠Grab his legs. Letâs pick him up from the same side like this to try and stop his torso from compressing.â
She hesitantly agreed and helped me. It was slippery because of all the blood, but with an excessive amount of magic, it was manageable.
âAre you sure this is how we are supposed to carry him?â
âDo I look like a doctor?â I growled back.
It was a long walk⦠But eventually, we made it. We were directed to a medical wing that was surprisingly empty. And when we laid him down on an operating table the doctor started giving us orders⦠He didnât remove the knife blade, instead having me and Isy help him make some kind of drug that shocked him awake.
When he woke up the doctor forced him to inhale as deeply as he could and hold his breath, only then did he pull the knife blade, quickly patching the hole, and almost immediately knocking him back out with a different herb. Although, Iâm sure the pain helped.
âGood job you two, he should be just fine now. You can go. If heâs a friend I would check back in a couple hours.â
âIâm starting to get really concerned about our casualty rates in battles⦠Although I guess he washed his hands, thatâs a good sign, but do we really not have any dedicated doctors? He was wearing a teacher's uniformâ¦â âOh uh, right. We will get going nowâ¦â âAlthough, this is probably better than medieval all things considered⦠Right?â
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After I left the room I shuddered, feeling a sudden chill, this time able to easily enough suppress the urge to vomit. I was too worn out and desensitized. Although, it still twisted my stomach.
Isy suddenly gasped. âThe clothes!â She shouted.
âI guess we kind of just left them behindâ¦â âYou think theyâre still there?â
I saw her face sink as though all hope was lost, but I figured we should give it a try, and sure enough, the shop owner had seen us bolt right after leaving the store and watched over them for us. So there was a happy ending there too. Considering everything was just kind of working out, and I wasnât the one who almost died for once, I felt a weird sense of accomplishment, like I was moving up in the world. There was really only one problem⦠Although, it was more so a good thing⦠I just didnât want to deal with how awkward it would be, delivering Frostbite⦠Or I guess Mo, her clothes, after all that happened.
âYouâre worried about her arenât youâ¦â Isy muttered.
âI guess Iâm an open book when Iâm not trying to stay closedâ¦â I sighed. âYeah. I should check on her, and now I have a good excuse⦠I just really donât know how to deal with people when theyâre cryingâ¦â
âHow do you know sheâs crying?â
I paused for a moment, looking down at my hands and making sure to take my boots off and leave them outside my door to not bloody my room. âWell⦠She had a full-out mental breakdown⦠Even if it only lasted a few seconds. Sheâs also probably freaking out that she thinks she killed another student. I imagine until now all her targets were chosen because they were âBad peopleâ They were also probably all grown-ups⦠And she still hated killing them.â âWell⦠She might not be crying, but I bet sheâs pretty sad right now⦠If I comfort her⦠And she joins my guild, isnât it selfish of me to act like her friend? It feels stupid to ask that. But if I donât help her arenât I an even worse person?â
âI donât get itâ¦â
âYeah⦠I donât either, thatâs kind of the problemâ¦â I sighed. âI donât even know why I feel guilty⦠Maybe I just donât like her because she reminds me too much of⦠Someone elseâ¦â
âWell, why did you help me?â
I slowly walked inside and began changing. Regardless I would have to get the blood off before I went to see her, so as not to freak her out more. âWhy did I help her? She wasnât all the strong or talented, althoughâ¦â âI guess⦠It was because I thought I could turn you into something great, and⦠I also felt pretty bad for you⦠And you seemed like a nice person, although thatâs a bit ironic⦠Ohâ¦â
âWhat? What is it?â
âThe reason it was so easy to help you, was because I could see clearly how much better I could make your lifeâ¦â
âAnd you're saying you canât do the same for her?â
âCanât I? I mean, freeing her from her abusive parents, would make her life a lot better right? Taking away her family⦠I donât know⦠I never even got rid of my own⦠Not fully anywayâ¦â
Isy sighed as she washed her arms off before drying them and starting to put away the clothes we bought. âDoes it even really matter though? I mean. Right now, she doesnât know that man is alive, and sheâs sad. You would make her happy by telling her he is alive, right? So in other words, her life would be better in this moment with you in it. So⦠If it works out like that consistently, then why are you even worrying about being a good person or not? And I thought you wanted her to join the guild? How would her doing that make you a bad person?â
I turned the water on and finished taking off my armor, making sure to clean it first so it wouldnât rust. âThatâs a good question too⦠Why Iâm so worried about manipulating herâ¦â I sighed again. âYouâre right⦠Iâll⦠Go and check up on her⦠Tell her the guy survived⦠And bring her the clothes we boughtâ¦â