Chapter 84

"I like Reda too, but what are we going to do about this?"

Tap, tap. Someone patted his shoulder, and when he turned around, Riggs was standing there with a good-natured smile, pointing behind him. His finger was pointing towards the inn. Confused, Reda moved his gaze and his face contorted.

"Um, this, you see, it wasn't intentional at all—"

While breaking out in a cold sweat, Reda desperately tried to explain. In front of him, the inn's wall was covered in mud.

"I know that. Well, it's not Reda's fault, but rather that noisy woman's, too."

Reeda let out a sigh of relief.

"Clean it up before the evening service starts."

"Huh?"

Riggs handed him a deck brush with a smile.

"You can't be serious."

"Thanks, Healer."

"Wh-What!? I have to clean it!?"

"Tex, can you help... Oh, he's not here!"

His friend, whom he had hoped would help, had vanished without a trace. Reda cried, feeling so unreliable.

"Oh, I should get back to work."

"I'll get scolded by Mom too."

"Oh, my break is over."

The townspeople left without a word, scattering like spiders.

"I'm the only one cleaning!?"

"Dad, you can do it! I'm cheering for you!"

"Huh? You won't help?"

"Hehe, Dad is so loved."

"Even if you say that now, it just sounds sarcastic!"

With his shoulders slumped, Reda picked up the brush and faced the mud-covered wall of the inn.

***

Amanda Low, a staff member of the Recovery Guild, was on a carriage heading to the capital, still in her dirty clothes and face. She had fled from Amrus, feeling humiliated.

Sitting in her seat, she bit her nails without hiding her frustration, a frightening sight. The other passengers in the large carriage, which could hold about ten people, were so unnerved by Amanda's strange aura that they couldn't even offer a word of concern, creating an awkward atmosphere.

"Healers should be respected. That's right. That's how it should be. Healers who can use recovery magic, which ordinary people can't, are special. It has to be that way. Money isn't just for the technique. Why would someone who got healed complain about the healer? That's wrong, it's not right."

Her nails were already cracked and bleeding, but Amanda, unaware, continued to bite them.

"Those with great skills deserve proper evaluation and compensation. That's not wrong. No, I'm not wrong. The one who's wrong is Reda Dixon. Because of him, I, I—"

Her emotions had already surpassed anger.

Just as she was about to utter more complaints, the carriage jolted, and Amanda's body floated for a moment.

"What's going on!"

She shouted at the driver in frustration, but there was no response. Instead, the carriage stopped.

"What is this? I want to get back to the capital quickly, and you stop the carriage in the middle of the road! Hey! What's going on!"

No one answered her complaints. After a while, someone's footsteps approached, and the sound of a hand on the carriage door was heard.

"You, you should drive more carefully—"

Thinking the driver had come to apologize, Amanda opened her mouth to vent her frustration but froze mid-sentence. Because,

"Who are you?"

Five completely unfamiliar men appeared. All of them were armed.

"Ah!"

She let out a frightened scream and fell on her bottom. She saw it. Behind the five men who suddenly appeared, the driver was lying on the ground, bleeding.

"No, no, this can't be... Bandits."

She wondered why she hadn't noticed immediately. Their dirty appearances, the foul smell, and the blood-soaked swords. They were clearly not normal people.

"Hey, lady, we don't like that kind of talk. We're proud bandits. Get it wrong, and you'll be in for a rough time."

The leader, with a deep scar on his face, grinned. Amanda shuddered with fear.

"Well, you should know by now, but you're the spoils of war for us, the 'Black Wolves.' Don't even think of resisting— or we'll kill you."

"Ah!"

The bandits said this, but Amanda, a mere staff member of the Recovery Guild, had no way to resist. She looked to the other passengers in the carriage for help, but they were all frozen in despair.

(Why did this happen to me?)

In the moment she realized no help would come, Amanda cursed her misfortune in despair.