A Murder Most Savage

A girl with light pink hair leaned over me. I did not know her, yet I couldn’t help but feel almost nostalgic, as if I had known her a long time. I tried to move but found my body failed to respond. I gazed up, trying to see her, but I was unable to make out her features. Even so, I knew she was crying. Her tears fell onto my cheek. Why was she crying?

“Don’t you dare die on me,” she sobbed.

When I awoke, I found myself in a cocoon-like wrapping. Half my face was covered, and my hand was wrapped tightly. It was likely the only reason I didn't bleed out. Lying next to me, half asleep, was Pippa.

“Did you do all this?”

“Pwii,” she responded with a slight nod and a yawn before snapping awake and looking both ways, pretending to be alert.

Fireballs, teleportation, and now silk webs, Pippa seemed to have some truly unique abilities.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” I mumbled out loud.

“Pwii?” she tilted her head to the side.

“Never mind, I was just thinking to myself.”

I went to pat her head, but the absence of my hand meant I came up short. Instead, I reached forward with my other hand, resting it on her head.

“Thank you.”

She let out a delighted “Pwii,” in response.

“Now then, we should probably get out of here.”

I looked around the chamber. It was in a state of disrepair compared to when we entered. Pillars were destroyed, broken stalactites were shattered on the ground and blood, mostly mine, was splattered all over the place. Next to me lay the lizard carcass.

“It's a shame we can’t bring this with us.”

Pippa flew up to the lizard beast's body and opened her mouth wide. I held my breath. Was she about to suck the entire creature into her tiny little stomach? Was she like a portable storage unit?

She bit the creature on the tail.

“Pippa…?”

She looked up at me, the tail still poking out of her mouth.

“Are you trying to carry the creature by eating it?”

The tip of the tail flopped out of her mouth.

“Pwii,” she nodded proudly.

I was at a loss for words. There was absolutely no way she could fit that lizard into her tiny body; the creature was bigger than I was. Yet, she was so confident she could do it, I didn't have the heart to break it to her that it was impossible.

“Pippa, let’s just leave the creature here. We can always come back to get it.”

She looked sadly at me and nodded.

As much as I was curious to observe her futile efforts, I was also in quite a lot of pain. Although Pippa had managed to patch me up and the bleeding had seemed to stop, it didn’t ease the pain in the slightest.

I yanked the tetanus blade from the creature's eye and began to look for an exit. I found one at the back of the chamber, and we followed it until we emerged into sunlight.

The moment I stepped outside, I was hit by the immediate smell of saltwater on the wind, the lapping waves, and the glistening sand. It was a far cry from the danger of the cave. I followed the beach until I reached the outskirts of a small town. As I approached it, Pippa hid herself in my badly torn jacket.

I half expected to see guards stationed at the entrance, but found nothing. Not even a wall around the town. If it were suddenly attacked, it would have no defence. Still, it made entering it all the easier.

I walked down the main street, trying to take everything in. There wasn’t much in this town, and most of the buildings appeared to be dwellings rather than shops.

Eventually, I came to a medical clinic. I figured that if anywhere could help me, it would probably be this place. I pushed open the door. There was a woman at a desk who looked like she hadn't slept for days, and several injured individuals sat patiently on chairs.

I was instantly reminded of any doctor's clinic I had visited before.

“Um. Can I see someone about my injuries?”

The woman looked up and pushed up her glasses.

“Gee, something got a real number on you. Name?”

“Kaito.”

“Take a seat anywhere. A healer will be with you shortly.”

I pulled up a chair and looked around the room. There were mostly adventurers with minor injuries. Scars and scratches. Some appeared to have sustained broken bones. Comparatively, I was in a much worse state.

As I waited for the healer, I couldn't help but listen to two men conversing, seemingly unconcerned about eavesdroppers. One had a battle axe strapped to his back and the other a broadsword resting next to his leg.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear about the heroes from the other world?” The broadsword man commented.

“What about ‘em?”

Were they talking about us?

The broadsword man leaned in, as if he was whispering, but didn’t lower his voice in the slightest.

“They say one of them murdered one of the Elders”

“Really? Is that the truth behind Elder Rudolf’s death?”

What? Elder Rudolf was dead? And murdered?

The broadsword man leaned back in his chair.

“Apparently so. One of the maids found his body in their room, and they had vanished without a trace.”

Wait a minute…

“That’s awful. Elder Rudolf was a kind man.”

“Indeed, he always helped out at the orphanage up on the hill.”

“To think a hero candidate would do such a thing,” the axe man responded, shaking his head.

Are they talking about me?

“Some hero, more of a villain. The attack was brutal,” the broadsword man waved his hand for emphasis.

“How so?”

“His throat was slit. But it went beyond that. Get this, full decapitation.”

“Get out, full decapitation?”

“Full decapitation.”

“Gee, that’s messed up.”

Elder Rudolf was dead, and someone killed him in my room, no less. It appeared I was being framed for the murder. Great, now I couldn’t return to my class or I would be arrested. Perhaps even executed.

“So what do we know of the perpetrator?”

“Not much, unfortunately, other than he is an Otherworlder.”

“What’s his name?”

I gulped.

“Kaito!” a woman’s voice called, causing me to jump. It was a blonde-haired woman who was strikingly beautiful. Most notable were her long, pointy ears.

Can’t I just have one moment to catch my breath?

Although I stood up to follow the woman, I also kept an ear out for the adventurers.

“Sadly, they never revealed his name.”

Thank God for that.

“Well, if we come across him, we will kill him.”

“Yeah! For Elder Rudolf.”

I quickly followed the pointy-eared woman. I think if I stayed any longer, my life might be even more in danger. The room she brought me to was nondescript, with books and a cabinet full of colourful translucent liquids.

“So what are we looking at?”

“Can you heal my eye and hand?”

“Let me see.”

I parted the wrapping, revealing my injured eye and held up my arm with the missing hand.

“That looks quite painful,” she commented without any emotion in her voice. “The good news is that I should be able to fix it. Just stay there while I channel the spell.”

She began to glow green as a magic circle appeared below her and at the tip of her staff. I waited, unsure what to expect.

But nothing happened.

“How odd, let me try again.”

The same sequence of events occurred, with nothing happening.

“Sorry, I don’t know why, but my healing spell doesn’t seem to be working.”

She wandered over to a cabinet and retrieved a bottle of red liquid.

“Drink this potion. It should heal your eye. As for your hand, we can try again after your health returns a bit.”

I did so, and the taste was surprisingly bitter. Yet nothing happened. My eye felt no better, and my hand certainly didn't regrow.

“That should’ve fixed your eye. I’ve never seen a case like you before.”

Although I had considered the possibility that healing magic wouldn’t work, I had hoped that by some stroke of luck it would. Alas, once again, I was at the mercy of having no skills.

I sighed.

“I figured as much. Do you have any non-magical options?”

The healer looked confused.

“How would you heal if not with magic or potions?”

“Like herbs and bandages, surgery?”

“That sounds barbaric.”

“I don’t have many options, do I?”

“I suppose not.” She paused to think, “Well, there is one person I can think of who might offer those services. But I must warn you, they are a little quirky.”

“Quirky is fine.”

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End of chapter 7