Chapter 208: Reina (5)

The back-alley doctor, Duncan, could not take his eyes off the bag filled with gold for a long time.

He was leaning his arms and deep in thought, and Rachel, who was watching him, tilted her head and asked.

“What’s wrong? Are you perhaps worried that there isn’t enough money?”

“Hmm? Ah, no. It’s not that.”

Duncan, who suddenly regained his senses, waved his hand.

“It clearly looks like it exceeds 300 gold, so why would I.”

“Then? Are you worried that it has a tail attached to it?”

That could be the case.

300 gold was a large sum of money, and if one possessed all of it in gold, doubts could arise about the source.

Because typically, various interests are intertwined with such a large amount of money.

Even if it was a secret transaction, it was not uncommon for one to lose their head without anyone knowing if they got involved incorrectly.

“Don’t worry. You will be safe receiving it.”

“Heh heh. Why would I have that kind of worry? I already know where you are affiliated. It is unlikely that Shadow, which is shaking the Royal capital of the Empire, would do such a childish thing.”

“Then why are you doing this? You said you would treat my sister if I brought the money. I brought the money as promised. You just have to treat her.”

“The problem is that you brought the money.”

Wrinkles formed on Rachel’s brow.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Actually, I didn’t think you would really manage to get the money. I didn’t know you trusted my skill this much either.”

“Speak so I can understand.”

“To be honest, I lack confidence. I apologize.”

Rachel glared at him with terrifying eyes.

A look that seemed like she would draw her Black Sword and cut his throat right away.

“It seems you don’t know the saying that excessive greed hastens one’s death. The treatment fee you demanded was clearly 300 gold, and the gold I brought is more than that. It would be best to keep your promise while I’m speaking nicely.”

Duncan stumbled back in panic.

“J-just a moment. I don’t know what misunderstanding you have, but it’s true. I cannot treat your sister. I don’t have the ability to do so.”

Thud!

Rachel, who hit the wall, snarled as she looked at him.

“Don’t talk shit. You’re the best in the back alleys, aren’t you? You were the one who was confident that you could cure her.”

“That is true but…….”

Duncan lowered his gaze.

He was afraid of how Rachel would react if he said it was a lie.

That was right.

It was a lie.

He was indeed the best in the back alleys.

Called the dark doctor, he maintained his livelihood through illegal procedures while traveling here and there, and he was the top in that field.

That day, a person approached Duncan, who was drinking alcohol even though it was still broad daylight.

A request to secretly treat someone.

Well, since it wasn’t the first time, he accepted it lightly, and the place he secretly arrived at with his eyes blindfolded was Lunatic.

There, he ended up examining Reina.

‘I can’t cure her.’

The diagnosis was quickly made and that was the end of it, but at that time, Rachel grabbed his arm and earnestly requested.

She begged him to cure her sister’s leg, saying she would give him any amount of money.

He would have refused normally.

But greed took over.

‘Right, I can’t live on thin ice like this forever. If she prepares the money, I’ll just take that and run.’

Even though he was a doctor, since his main area of activity was the underworld, Duncan was quite confident in his skills and thought he could easily overpower Rachel alone and steal the money.

……That was his mistake.

Duncan didn’t know they were Shadow until then.

Duncan was released onto the streets of Icata after promising the deal with Rachel.

What he saw, chuckling at the thought of earning money, was a public bulletin board where Royal Dream’s articles and wanted posters about Shadow were posted.

The moment he saw the wanted poster, Duncan’s smile vanished as if it had been washed away.

‘……Shit. I’m screwed.’

Rachel’s face, which he had just seen, was prominently plastered on the wanted poster.

‘Then, that woman just now was Shadow? And that place was Shadow’s base?’

It was impossible for Duncan, who operated in the underworld, not to know Shadow.

Especially that name, which had been shaking the entire Empire recently.

‘Winning or losing against the woman is not the problem. If they mark me, my life is over instantly.’

However, going back and retracting the deal was not an option either.

Because he didn’t know where the base was.

The best-case scenario was for Rachel not to prepare the money, but contrary to his expectations, Rachel came back in just one day with a bag full of gold.

This was the background as to why Duncan had no choice but to make a distraught expression while looking at the bag just now.

Crash!

It was then.

Duncan’s body floated up with immense brute force and was slammed against the wall behind him.

“Agh!”

Duncan, struggling, looks at Rachel, who was pressing down on his neck with her forearm, with fearful eyes.

“……Hey. Are you playing games?”

A voice filled with killing intent.

“So. You were trying to scam me.”

Sling-

A creepy sound rang from below his neck.

A jet-black blade, which he hadn’t even seen when she drew it, was aimed at Adam’s apple.

Duncan carefully swallowed his saliva and hurriedly spouted excuses.

“Th-that’s not it! It was originally a surgery with a high probability of failure, and I just lost confidence after learning you were Shadow.”

“Don’t talk shit. Who do you take for a fool?”

“S-sorry! But I didn’t take you for a fool…… Agh! P-pleeeease save me…….”

His voice gradually became smaller.

Because Rachel, whose eyes were wide open, was gradually pressing down harder on his neck.

His pale face was slowly being encroached upon by the shadow of death.

The reason he could extend his breath was thanks to a single word he squeezed out just before losing consciousness.

“……I can’t do it, but I know a way.”

At that moment, the restraint choking his neck was released.

“Huuuck! Cough, cohooock!”

Duncan, who was sprawled on the floor, gasped for breath roughly.

“Speak.”

“Agh. Gulta and Hyde…….”

The Gulta Family.

And the Hyde Family were the families competing for the top position regarding medicine and manufacturing of potions on the continent.

Naturally, those two families would be able to cure Reina.

Because one side is the place that makes the divine elixir that heals all sicknesses, and the other side is the place that has the divine technique that can reattach and revive a person even if their neck is cut off.

However, if that were possible, would she have bothered asking a back-alley doctor?

‘She would have gone there long ago.’

For Rachel, both were limited options.

The Gulta Family absolutely did not trade with those whose identity was unclear or villains.

Especially villains, they treated them with near disgust, and geographically, they were also under the influence of the Varje Holy Kingdom, making it difficult to even visit them.

The Hyde Family was likewise difficult.

In a way, it was more realistically impossible than the Gulta Family.

The Hyde Family was a family belonging to the Naimus Empire territory.

“I, I have a method. A way to conduct a transaction with the Gulta Family! I will tell you that.”

***

Two more days passed since receiving the qualification test.

The atmosphere inside Lunatic changed greatly during that time.

It became boisterous in a good way.

The reason was undoubtedly Reina.

She had such a lively personality, and even though only one person was added, Lunatic, which previously only had Luis and Dayle, instantly became a lively atmosphere, packed with energy.

“Hahaha! Mr. Dayle. Look at this!”

“Oh oh, what! You walk well now, don’t you? Did you get used to your body?”

“Of course. It’s a piece of cake. Now I can even go up to the second floor by myself!”

Reina said, waving the crutch she held in her hand up high.

“Hey, hey! The liquor cabinet will break, the liquor cabinet will break. Be careful!”

“Hehe.”

Reina had changed a lot in the meantime.

Her long hair was cut short into a bob, and the atmosphere had distinctly changed, and her impression was also gradually changing due to Luis’s procedures.

And she was holding a crutch made of iron, which was an artifact Dayle had made for her.

Its name was ‘Leg Staff.’

It meant leg staff, and besides the function of adjusting the length, it was granted the [Feather] magic array that lightens the body.

Furthermore, the body of the crutch was made of Srodium, a material that was hard yet transmitted mana well.

The reason was that Reina had awakened to Magic.

“The pub is more bustling than usual today.”

“Ah, you’ve arrived, Mr. Luis?”

Luis returned to Lunatic just in time after finishing his early morning work.

Rachel was also with him as he took off his cleaning attire.

“Oh? Sister came too?”

“Yeah. We met on the way and came together.”

“Hee. That’s good, let’s eat lunch together!”

“Before that, have you completed the task I gave you yesterday, Ms. Reina?”

“Of course!”

Reina nodded confidently.

The tasks Luis gave her were the Magic [Telekinesis] and [Whisper], a low-grade Thievery Art and the basics of communication.

On the day the qualification test task was decided.

Gerard had instructed Luis and Dayle to train Reina before leaving for the Academy.

“There must be a special talent that shows extraordinary potential. Find it and teach her yourselves. We can’t send her on request in that state, anyway.”

Fortunately, in Shadow, there were various Secret Tomes starting from low-grade Thievery Arts to those Gerard had gradually stolen from the Academy Vault.

They were not spectacular Secret Tomes, but they were the basics, and that was enough.

Finding the special talent was quick.

Because Reina immediately sensed mana while being taught [The Thief’s Breath], the basic of a thief.

After that, it was a smooth road.

As Luis began to teach seriously and Dayle attached himself as an assistant next to him, Reina quickly acquired the teachings to the extent that she could be called a sponge.

Reina thus becomes a thief through crash course training.

[Watch closely.]

Sending the Whisper she learned from Luis yesterday, she immediately concentrated her mind.

Soon, a glass cup that was on the drying rack floated up, bobbing gently, following Reina’s gaze.

“Well done.”

As Luis nodded in satisfaction, the exclamations of Dayle and Rachel followed immediately.

“You already use [Telekinesis], and to that extent? She was a genius, wasn’t she?”

“Amazing, Reina!”

“Hee hee.”

Reina scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly.

“Then I will teach you something else today. Go to the second-floor archives and select the Magic you want to learn.”

“Yes!”

Reina answered energetically and moved her crutch to climb the stairs.

The three people watched her back.

Soon, as Reina disappeared in the direction of the office, Rachel opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“Thank you, Dayle. And Luis.”

“Thank you? If you are thankful, why don’t you and I, sometime, have a meal or…….”

“I merely followed the Master’s instruction, and there is no other intention. Regardless, we must complete the request.”

Luis, who cut off Dayle’s nonsense in advance, grabbed Dayle’s arm and pulled him outside.

“Prepare. Because we have to go buy ingredients.”

“Hey. Hey, hey. Just a moment.”

“Quickly.”

“Ugh.”

Rachel laughed softly watching that scene.

Whatever the reason, it wasn’t a lie that they cared for Reina.

She could feel it without them saying it.

From their words, actions, and eyes.

She wanted to repay that kindness.

No. She had to repay it.

‘Definitely.’

To do that, passing the qualification test by completing the request, as Luis said, was the priority.

Because only by entering Shadow could she give them direct help.

‘It is not too late to fix Reina’s leg after that.’

Rachel recalled the method Duncan had told her.

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