(Several hours later...)
As it turned out, showing that he could heal a paper cut was enough to get on her good side. Even then, the old woman calling herself Granny Lina told him to scram for the day, since she didn’t want too many people crowding her shop.
Because of that, he made his way out into the streets and simply waited for night to fall. He then spent the rest of the night healing everyone who came to him.
And as it so happened, he was now very, very close to reaching his goal.
Mystic Healer (Lv.4) [Experience: 1,225 → 3,881 / 4,000]
He only needed a couple hundred more experience, and he’d get a new skill. Would it be better than Healing Touch? It should, right?
Anyhow, it was once again time to head home. Except, just like yesterday, he felt like someone was following him. The only difference compared to yesterday was that his stats were twice what they had been before.
So, acting like a naive person, he stepped into an alleyway. As expected, the same two people from yesterday emerged, wielding their daggers and glaring at him with anger.
"Listen, you tried this yesterday, and it didn’t go that well. I’m not too keen on violence either, so I’d prefer it if you just took me to your boss and we talked things out."
But once again, they didn’t listen and started attacking. However, they were met with a very rude awakening as Arthur nimbly dodged both of their attacks and, without giving them a moment to breathe, kicked both of them in the balls.
The two assassins slid across the ground before colliding with the nearby dumpsters. If their balls were anything like their personalities, then they’d be tough to crack. That was why Arthur came prepared.
Nico stepped out from behind one of the dumpsters and rubbed his head. "You could’ve warned me that you were going to toss them at me. Tsk, I now have a bump on my head."
Arthur chuckled. "My bad. I forgot which dumpster you were behind."
"Really? Well, you hit both fucking dumpsters."
Whoopsies.
Either way, he pointed at the two assassins, who were clutching their balls with pained expressions.
"I called you since you might recognize them. They also seem too stubborn to actually speak, so I doubt torture will work. Not that I’m planning to torture them anyway."
Nico clicked his tongue and got right into it. He took off the assassins’ masks and looked closely at their faces. They looked like twins, and right off the bat, something seemed to click for Nico.
"Yeah, these are definitely our guys. But they’re not part of any group. They’re more like vigilantes, I guess?"
"They look like clones to me," Arthur said.
Nico turned to him with a puzzled look. "What do you mean, clones?"
He didn’t know what he meant either, at least not literally. But when he stared at these guys, especially their lifeless eyes, he felt like, with this world’s logic, that might just be possible.
And it seemed like he was right on the money, since the assassins suddenly dropped dead on the spot. Nico was the first to notice. His eyes widened when he checked the other assassin and found the same result.
They were actually both dead.
"Uh-huh. So I’m dealing with a necromancer? That’s just awesome. I don’t know about you, Nico, but I’m moving all my business to Granny Lina’s place for a few weeks before I get my own. I didn’t sign up to be a healer and deal with necromancers, sorry," Arthur said.
Nico let out a sigh. "I don’t blame you. But I doubt it’s a necromancer. It might just be someone producing copies of themselves. I can look into it while you’re working, then."
"Sure. Just don’t get yourself killed. While I can heal a fair bit, I can’t bring anyone back from the dead, you know?"
"Hah... I was supposed to die a couple of days ago if not for you. You might not want me to be indebted to you, but I am. Still, I’m not an idiot. I’ll be careful. See you tomorrow, Arthur."
With that, Nico made his way back onto the street. As for Arthur, he glanced at the two bodies on the ground and, with a slight shiver, made his way back home. Unlike the day before, the way back didn’t include two people chasing him, so it was much more relaxing.
As always, the neighborhood was silent. He was a bit surprised, to be honest. He knew there were at least a hundred people here, so where was everyone? They couldn’t all be holed up in their homes. Even Loren. He was the type of person who would probably find the slums and try to rule them. Did he just not know about this place?
Or maybe they were all just too scared to leave? Whatever the case, Arthur stepped back into his home. Right off the bat, he felt a wave of heat blow past him as his clothes clung tightly to his body from all the sweat.
He took a step back in surprise and bumped into the door.
"..."
Hey, Victoria? Do you mind letting me know beforehand that you’re renovating our house into a fucking furnace?
[Oh, you’re back. I tried my best to reinforce the garage so the heat doesn’t escape. Looks like it did anyway,] she replied.
What was that supposed to mean?
Garage?
Was she...?
[I’m almost done melting all the gold. If you think it’s hot out there, then I would recommend you don’t even come close to here. I’ll be done in 30 minutes, so just wait for a bit.]
He was at a loss for words. Was she actually smelting all that gold inside the garage all by herself? How was she not burning alive? Was she already at the stage where she could just tank the heat of the sun itself?
Arthur decided to heed her words and stay far away from that room. Instead, he went back outside and jumped onto the roof. It was much chillier up here, and he might actually be able to get a good night’s sleep.
He got comfortable on the flatter part of his roof and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.
But...
"Oh, you’re here too?"
The devil herself, Victoria, was already up here!