Inside the newly pitched tent at the Twinkle Orphanage, a moment of silence lingered like a physical presence. Lumielle stood frozen, staring at the frail figure laid upon the bedding. Her lips quivered as she finally stepped forward, eyes wide with disbelief. She fell to her knees beside him.
"Father…" Her voice came out on an uneven breath. "I thought… I thought I'd never get the chance to see you again."
Her hand gently brushed his cheek, fingers shaking as they ran through the gray wisps of his hair. Tears spilled down her flushed cheeks, dripping onto his blanket. Beside her, Lyndoria knelt quietly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She didn't speak—there were no words that could heal this kind of ache.
The others watched from a respectful distance. Sister Aeliana stood with her hands clasped solemnly in front of her. Zephyr whimpered softly at Daisuke's feet. Midnight sat perched atop a stack of crates, olive eyes unblinking. Tiphanna, Josephine, and the members of the Slum Sprites were also present, eyes glassy with sorrow.
Aeliana turned to Daisuke. "When you said you needed a place to lay someone to rest, I didn't expect you to bring the king himself," she murmured. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
The Slum Sprites looked from the monarch to Daisuke, mouths agape. First it was the princess and now the sovereign himself.
"That's really him?" Ribbit whispered, tilting his head with a raised eyebrow. "He's a bit… skeletony for a king, isn't he?"
Garrett elbowed him sharply in the side. "I swear to God, if you fart or say something stupid that gets us tossed in a cell…" he muttered, voice laced with warning.
Ribbit awkwardly covered both his mouth and his butt with his hands. Meanwhile, Brek's eyes narrowed pensively.
Haxks… This guy. It's wild to think that just a year ago, we were swiping fruit off vendor stalls and barely scraping by. Now we've got the king of an entire kingdom in our care. What's next—getting knighted?
"…That's really him, isn't it?" Tiphanna whispered, barely able to find her voice. "This is unbelievable… I've only ever seen him in paintings…"
Josephine nodded, pale and wide-eyed.
"I thought I was being invited over for a nice homemade dinner, and instead, you bring this to our doorstep?" Tiphanna turned to Haxks, eyes full of disbelief. "Even by your standards, this is insane."
Daisuke offered an awkward smile, cupping the back of his neck. Then he looked to Aeliana. "…How is he?"
The nun sighed softly. "I've done all that I can," she said, her voice gentle. "There are no external wounds… but internally, his body is ravaged. A constant war between harmful drugs and healing brews has left him fragile. I don't even want to imagine what that's done to his mind." She looked over at the mourning princess. "He's holding on. But barely."
Daisuke's smile faded.
His gaze drifted back to Lumielle. She was slumped and sobbing quietly. A knot formed in his chest as he watched her. I was right to go when I did, he thought, eyes narrowing as his mind drifted back to a memory.
The king's bedchamber was as dreary as Midnight had expressed in his psychic depictions. There, hunched beside the monarch, was the newly appointed doctor. The man's lips curled into a deranged smile as he prepared to administer a slow-acting toxin, whispering madly under his breath.
Before Daisuke could even draw his blade, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows and there was a flash of steel. The doctor's body hit the floor before he could even scream, blood splattering across the walls. Then the assassin turned on the king.
Daisuke moved faster. His dagger found its mark, and the hired killer dropped without a word, his expression frozen in horror. In the seconds that followed, Daisuke hoisted the unconscious king into his arms and vanished through the hidden passage uncovered by the Eye of Verity.
His eyes narrowed shrewdly as he shook off the memory. It's becoming clear that there's more than one plot running in that viper's nest of a palace, he thought grimly. The aristocrats are divided—and as Roselle rightfully said, that's going to be our leverage.
As he mulled over the list of remedies in his possession that might aid the king, his thoughts drifted to the two elixirs and the work journal Midnight had retrieved from the apothecary.
His fingers moved reflexively, pulling up his item window. He scrolled through the contents until he found the vial of shimmering pink liquid.
[Tear of Mercy]
A rare potion born of years of careful work by Lefahne and Zurrel. Blended with the essence of a dryad and brewed beneath the moon's glow, its recipe calls for uncommon herbs and ingredients that can only be gathered under specific conditions. The result is a soft pink draught that gently restores clarity to the mind and purity to the body.
Item Effect:
▪︎ Restores 90,000 Health
▪︎ Restores 40,000 Mana
▪︎ Repairs damaged nerves and neural pathways
▪︎ Mends the mana circulatory system
▪︎ Revitalizes muscles and bones
▪︎ Cures most status ailments
Cooldown: 10 Seconds]
Unbelievable! Daisuke thought in a daze. This isn't just your typical run-of-the-mill potion… it's a top-tier remedy! Damn, 90k health and even a reduced cooldown time? It easily blows the rest of the competition out of the water. No wonder that apothecary got attacked. If this hit the market, they'd have total control over the elite demographic of players and adventurers.
He eyed the singed journal with a frown. The text was mostly written in some foreign tongue that was far beyond his understanding.
Ugh… I can hardly make out a damn thing. But if I could find someone to decode and translate this, or better yet, reverse-engineer the elixir…
A slow grin tugged at his lips.
I could mass-produce and sell it under my own name. I'd corner the potion economy overnight. Hell, I'd have every major player eating out of my hand.
His eyes scanned the list of ingredients until one line stood out, scrawled at the bottom in a slightly different ink: "Essence of a Dryad."
The grin faded.
…And there's the catch.
Pushing the thought aside, Daisuke turned his eyes toward the frail king.
[Name: Vaelmir Thamien Evandred Ainsworth III
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Level: 93 | EXP: 3,729/1,351,406 (0.28%)
Age: 58
Current State:
▪︎ Coma
▪︎ Neurodegeneration
▪︎ Mana Conduit Dysfunction
▪︎ Disuse Atrophy]
His footsteps were soft as he stepped forward, drawing the attention of the tearful princess. Lumielle looked up, her face wet and filled with sorrow, her eyes glassy with despair.
"Haxks…" she choked out, her voice trembling. "I can't heal him. No matter how hard I try… he just won't wake up. Was this all a mistake? My brother, my servants, Hynes—did I lose them all because I tried to stand against the Mhaledictus? Am I just going to lose everything in the end?"
Suddenly, the soft notes of a monophonic melody filled the tent—a haunting, sentimental tune that carried the weight of a cherished memory. Lumielle's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening in disbelief.
She turned fully to him just as he crouched beside her. In his hand was the music box she thought she'd never see again. He offered her a small, quiet smile, then gently placed it into her palm.
"H-How did you—?"
Daisuke didn't answer. Instead, he pulled a vial from his inventory—the Tear of Mercy elixir. Without a word, he uncorked it and tilted its glowing contents carefully into the king's mouth.
The change was subtle but unmistakable. The monarch's brow softened. The tension in his limbs eased. A touch of color bloomed in his cheeks, which had Lumielle and Lyndoria looking on in speechless awe. Behind them, Aeliana and the others exchanged startled glances.
[Name: Vaelmir Thamien Evandred Ainsworth III
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Level: 93 | EXP: 3,729/1,351,406 (0.28%)
Age: 58
Current State: Coma]
"You're not going to lose anything," Daisuke said gently, still kneeling beside her. "And this? This isn't the end. I promised I'd fix everything… didn't I?"
"B-But the explosion," Lumielle stammered, "Reneal… and my servants."
Daisuke held her frantic gaze. "I'm not sure if they were trying to avoid unnecessary casualties or simply wanted to eliminate any chance of interference, but the tower was mostly empty during the blast. Aside from you, Lynn, and the six guards, no one else was inside."
He paused, then added, "As for Hynes—he drank the potion you left behind. The soldiers escorted him to a nearby clinic for proper treatment. He's alive."
Her hands flew to her mouth as tears welled up anew—this time in relief. "Th-Thank goodness… I'm so glad they're safe."
Lyndoria let out a long breath, her lips curling into a wan smile. The others around them visibly relaxed too, the tension loosening from their shoulders.
But Lumielle's eyes soon fell on her father again. "What… what did you give him?" She asked, studying his rosy cheeks. "He looks so much more at ease now."
"I was wondering the same," Aeliana chimed in, stepping forward. "My healing hardly did anything… but that potion—it's done more in moments than I could in hours."
Everyone looked to Daisuke, expectant.
"It's a rare potion I stumbled upon by chance," he replied casually, though there was a glint in his eye. "Physically, he should be completely healed. But the mental scars from everything he's been through… those are a different story. I can't say when—but if he finds the strength to overcome them, he might wake up eventually."
Aeliana laid a gentle hand on Lumielle's shoulder. "Then stay by his side. Talk to him. Let him hear your voice. If anything can reach him—it's you."
"…I will," Lumielle nodded, brushing her tears aside.
Daisuke rose, his tone shifting slightly. "I know it's late, but we should probably have a meeting to figure out what comes next."
The Mithrilcrest Deer from the music box gradually descended as the lullaby came to its end, but in its place, a fragile sense of hope took flight.