Not even halfway through the halls, Aliza suddenly tackled Linnie into an empty, dark room. She clasped her hands over his mouth, much to his protest.
"MMMMmmmff!" he growled, biting into her hand.
"Ow! Shut up, unless you've got a death wish!" she whispered.
Two voices could be heard from down the hall, growing louder as they came closer. Linnie nodded in understanding, and Aliza removed her hand.
"They really put up a fight, huh?" one said before bursting into laughter. "How pathetic was that? Seriously? You think the abbot'll be at least a little stronger, right?"
Aliza raised her eyebrow, trying to recognize what was off with their voices. That's when she realized it.
"It's the accent! What the hell are southerners doing around these parts...? There's no way they're slaves. And it's far too subtle... they can't be..?"
"Shut the fuck up. You're so damn annoying. It looks like we're too late, anyways."
Linnie and Aliza shared a similar reaction. Of course, they were for completely different reasons. Aliza deduced that these two men were incredibly dangerous. They had to have taken out the entire monastery, which would be impossible for even the abbot to do.
Linnie's fear... it was far more instinctual. Something deep inside of him was shaking, and it caused him to break into a cold sweat.
"I-I'm scared...?" he thought, looking down at his shaking hands.
"What!? You're saying someone already fought that old guy? Was it him? It was, wasn't it? The boss already told him to stop going off on his own... that pisses me off! He's always trying to steal all the glory—"
"Stop. Talking. It wasn't him. The boss sent him off on a solo mission last night."
"...What? Who was it, then?"
"I don't know, but they're—long—gone, now. They no doubt took the artifact with them, too."
They weren't 'long' gone. Not at all. Linnie started breathing heavily, which caused Aliza to slap her hand over his mouth once again.
"Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" she mouthed. He nodded, but his breathing didn't get any lighter.
"So what? We're screwed!? We're totally screwed!"
"I'm going to rip the tongue from your mouth and feed it to you, you loud bastard."
"...Asshole."
The voices got quieter as the two moved further into the building. Once it seemed like they were in the clear, Aliza and Linnie made a bolt for the exit. They burst through the door, taking in the fresh air.
"Gaud damn...! They really did kill everyone," Aliza said.
There was almost no sign of struggle. The bodies were left in piles, streaks of red left behind where they were dragged. Even the monk that they had left unconscious was dead.
"Let's..." Aliza started, but was cut off by a coughing fit. "My mana core... agh!"
"I get it, let's get out of here!" Linnie laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the path back to the city gates.
"L-Lady Aliza! Why are you holding the monastery's...?" the guard asked.
"You never saw it in my hands, got it?" she said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that... I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to—"
"Didn't I cure your daughter?" she asked angrily, turning to the other guards. "And you, it was your mother and brother. And you, too, I saved your wife."
"...That's right, Lady Aliza. You're free to pass. We didn't see anything!"
"Thanks guys!" she said, grinning.
The two felt a little more relaxed once they entered the city. Though, it lingered in the back of Aliza's mind that even within the walls they wouldn't necessarily be safe. Not from people as strong as those two men. Not until Alwyn was cured.
At least the sun was rising, and they could be in the comfort of the sun's light.
"That... was awesome! I've never gotten that close to dying so many times in one day!" Linnie laughed.
"Haaah, you're laughing?" she said, ruffling his hair. "You're pretty brave for a kid your age. I guess that wasn't the first person you've killed? I got worried for a second, there..."
"I'm already fourteen, alright? Of course I've killed people! Loads of people! And what's there to be scared about, anyway? We won!"
"We did. Pretty crazy finale, too, right?"
"Seriously! How'd you think to turn his blood into oil so quickly!?"
"Oh, well, I've done something similar once before. But, I didn't actually turn his blood into oil, you know? I don't have nearly enough mana for something like that. All I did was transfigure the blood's color."
"...What!? But—no way, it was definitely oil. It caught fire!"
"I just needed you to believe that it was oil so your flames would be able to light his blood on fire."
"Huuuh!?"
"Remember what I said about spells? It's not actually fire that you're creating when you cast a fire spell, it's just something with the properties of fire. Since I made you believe your spell would light the blood on fire, it did. You created fire with the property to use his blood as fuel."
"That makes no—well, a little sense, I guess? But, if I can make spells do whatever I want, what's the limit? Isn't that overpowered!?"
His words made her burst into laughter. "You're right, but I'm sure Alwyn's already told you that. There's no limit to magic, none at all. Well, it's way harder than you think. It only worked like it did today since... well, I guess you're just easily fooled."
"Thinking back, he really did believe me far too easily. As it was, I thought it was a long shot. Near impossible. A very last-ditch effort, really. But he did it. Huh." she thought to herself, puzzled.
They arrived back at the shop and pushed open the door. The doorbell rang, and they heard a groan from behind the curtain.
"Alwyn? You're not dead yet, are you?" Linnie called out, pushing into the operating room.
Purple and black had enveloped his limbs, and the disease was making its way up his neck. Linnie held his nose at the smell of rotting.
"Took you guys... long enough," he coughed.
"We ran into some trouble," Aliza explained. "I'll treat you right after Linnie."
"Lin got hurt?" Alwyn asked, trying to sit up.
"Don't get up. It's nothing serious, just some burns. He says they don't even hurt. Did you know about this?"
"I did. Crazy, right?"
"Ha, yeah. It is."
She made Linnie sit on a stool and hold his hands out. She poured disinfectant over his hands, which Linnie said felt kind of good. After that, she fed him a vial of thick red liquid. Linnie watched in awe as the burns completely healed in only a few moments.
"If they're all healed, why're you wrapping them?"
"Healing potions don't revert the injury, they just unnaturally speed up the healing process. Your hands will be really sensitive for a while. Not like you'll feel it... but it's good to keep them protected."
"...Okay!" He gave a bandaged thumbs-up.
"Now, for you... your treatment's gonna take a bit longer." She stifled a laugh. "And it's gonna hurt a lot more."
"Great... she's going to make me feel like hell, isn't she?" Alwyn thought.