Returning the Favor

Turning the clock back a few minutes before Carolyn returned to the Wild Boar Inn, the tavern was experiencing its usual dinner rush. All four members of the family were needed in the tavern, so there was no one to man the front desk, but anything valuable had been stored and no one was stupid enough to steal from the inn to begin with.

The mood inside the tavern was more somber than usual thanks to news of the tax hike, but that made the patrons more eager to lose themselves in alcohol.

"Two beers here!"

"Three more here! And get me a snack to go with it."

"Keep 'em coming!"

If it was even one day earlier, Mila would have predicted that they would make a profit for the night, but at their current prices and the higher sales tax, this might not even help them break even. They had done what they could to somehow stay afloat, but if they didn't raise their prices, they would certainly go into the red and eventually sink. Mila had brought this up with her mother soon after hearing the news, but she remained stubborn. Mila couldn't understand why her mother wouldn't listen to reason, but something had to be done. They planned a family meeting that night after the tavern closed, so there was hope that some progress could be made there.

As Mila glanced at her hardheaded mother, she noticed something off about the colour of her face.

"Are you okay, Ma?"

"I'm, fine. Just get to work."

Despite her stern tone, Margaret was breathing heavily and had to rest her hand on a table. Even the patrons began noticing that something was wrong with her, but before anyone could offer assistance, she suddenly tumbled to the floor.

"Ma!!!"

Mila was the first to reach her, but everyone inside the tavern also rushed over to check on Margaret.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Is she okay?"

"Stop pushing!"

"Call a doctor!"

When Carolyn opened the door, she could only see a dome of people. She knew she heard Mila's voice, but she couldn't see her in the crowd.

"What happened?" she anxiously asked one of the young men at the edge of the crowd.

"The boss lady collapsed."

"What?!!!"

Carolyn's face quickly went pale as she recalled the time Hanson had fainted and imagined Margaret's limp body lying on the floor. She almost lost strength in her knees, but then Teri's face flashed into her mind.

'A doctor is no god; they may speak of miracles but never believe in them. I don't know what happened, but I can't expect that Miss Margaret will recover without any help.'

"You okay, Carol?"

The man who she had talked to called her name in a worried tone. She had never spoken with him before, but as one of the Wild Boar Inn's tenants, she was well known among the patrons.

"Yes, I was just shaken. Has anyone gone to call a doctor?"

"Yea, two guys already rushed outta here to do that."

"Good. Then I can focus on first aid."

Carolyn tied her hair into a ponytail using the black ribbon she brought from Noral Village and headed towards the crowd.

"The patient needs room to breathe. Spread out!"

Her steady and confident tone made her sound like a medical professional, so those close enough to hear her over the commotion hurriedly moved out of her way. They were confused when they saw Carolyn, but she exuded a strangely commanding aura that stopped them from questioning her. Once the gap opened in the crowd, Carolyn briskly moved towards the fallen Margaret, who was accompanied by Mila and Marco.

"Please excuse me."

While Mila and Marco were still too distressed to notice her, Carolyn checked Margaret's pulse and touched various parts of her body.

"Carol?"

"Fortunately, she's not in critical condition and the fall doesn't seem to have done much damage. Mila, is there somewhere more private we could move her to lie down?"

"Uh, her bedroom is behind the front desk."

Mila didn't know why Carolyn was taking command in this situation, but she felt surprisingly reliable, so Mila followed along without thinking too hard.

"Okay, please lead the way. Can anyone help Marco and I carry her?"

"Me!"

"I'll do it!"

"No, let me!"

"You and you. Two will be enough."

After selecting two muscular men with faint alcohol scents to assist, the group slowly lifted Margaret and brought her to the corridor connecting the tavern to the entrance. Getting through the door required extra patience and vigilance, but they got through without issue. Mila then went behind the front desk, moved the chair aside, and opened the door behind it. The door handle had been hidden behind the chair and the door was the same colour and style as the wall, so it had been hard to notice before Mila opened it.

Moving past the front desk and through the door was another struggle, but once again, they made it through without issue. After that door was a corridor and Margaret's bedroom was the first room they saw after entering that passage. Once they laid Margaret on her bed, all the men, including Marco, were sent out of the room.

"Mila, can you get a rag and a bucket of water for me? I want to wipe off Miss Margaret's sweat."

"Okay."

While Mila was gone, Carolyn removed Margaret's apron and opened her blouse so that she could examine her better. Though there were a few scars, Margaret had no signs of recent external injuries, but she did have a fever. As Carolyn placed her hand on Margaret's forehead to check her temperature, she recalled the night she grabbed Margaret's hand after getting the job at the Continental Courier Service.

'Could it be...?!'

Frightened by the possibility that came to her mind, Carolyn's expression became increasingly grave. Mila returned soon after with a bucket and a rag, so the two worked together to wipe off Margaret's body.

Once they were finished, Mila brought up the question had been nagging her since Carolyn first examined her mother.

"Carol, do you know what's wrong with Ma?"

Carolyn hesitated with her response for a few moments before they heard some approaching noise. Judging based on what she could hear, Carolyn had a good guess as to the cause of the commotion.

"It seems the doctor's here. Let's hear what he has to say."

Mila felt that Carolyn was sidestepping her question, but then Marco knocked on the door and confirmed that the doctor had arrived. Mila opened the door and welcomed Marco along with a stern old man with long eyebrows.

"Thanks for coming, Doc."

"Don't thank me yet. I won't be giving you any discounts because we know each other."

"That's fine."

Mila knew that the doctor was joking to lighten the mood, but it was still hard for her to do more than a force a smile. While the doctor approached Margaret, Mila spoke with her brother.

"Where's Uncle Rod?"

"He's handling things inside the tavern. The atmosphere isn't the best, but he said Ma would only be more upset if she found out we closed early because of her."

"He's not wrong but..."

From a practical standpoint Mila agreed that they couldn't afford to close, but she wondered if she could really continue serving with Margaret still unconscious.

"You can go back and help Uncle Rod. I'll stay with Ma for now."

"...Alright."

Marco hesitated, but he didn't think he could stay calm if he kept looking at his ill mother. Once Marco left and closed the door, the room descended into an uneasy silence. After examining Margaret, Carolyn believed she understood what the issue was, but the doctor might be able to discover something that she missed. A couple minutes later, the doctor finished checking Margaret and turned to face the two girls. There wasn't any change in his expression, so it was hard to tell what he had discovered.

"Doc, be honest with me. What's wrong with Ma?"

When the doctor sighed and shook his head in response, Carolyn and Mila felt a painful tightness in their chests. Fortunately, the situation wasn't as horrifying as they imagined.

"It's a combination of overwork and sleep deprivation. And a rather extreme case of it. It doesn't look like she's properly rested for the past two days."

"No, that's impossible. Ma and I went to bed late last night."

"Did you watch her fall asleep?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then, can you be sure that she stayed in bed?"

"...No. I can't prove it but, why would Ma stay up the entire night?"

"Perhaps, she was doing a second job."

At this time, Carolyn shared her opinion. After the doctor confirmed her suspicions, Carolyn recalled the circumstances of Kanna. She hadn't thought about it before, but now that she was more familiar with the city, she knew it was strange for the inn to stay afloat, given its prices.

This was something that Mila was even more clear about. At their current prices, there should be literally no profit to be made, but somehow Margaret could still buy ingredients and other supplies at their pre-tax hike prices, so they were able to keep their accounts slightly out of the red. It made no sense, so she had asked Margaret about it, but she had brushed her question off. That was the norm for her mother, so Mila hadn't thought it was odd, but now everything made sense.