Book 1, Verse 24

Once the tents were set up and a fire was started, Niels and the strawberry woman came to join us in sitting around it. Both of them were smiling like they’d won the lottery.

It was only then that I realized that the woman had cat-like eyes and sharp fangs.

“What’s got you in such a good mood Niels?” Vivian asked. “And why is she sitting with us?” She pointed at the strawberry woman.

“Her name is Elisa, and she’ll be accompanying us on our way to Kuzges.”

Me and Vivian both looked shocked.

“What?!”

Elisa looked smug.

“See, your friend here told me that you three were heading to Kuzges to participate in the Wizards Council; I was going to go attend that alone, but there’s been a lot of unusual monster activity in King’s Wood recently. I could get there fine on my own, but having a few bodies between myself and death is always nice.”

I looked at Niels suspiciously.

“How did you convince her to do this?”

Niels shrugged and grabbed some of the rations out of his pack, before getting them ready to roast.

“I told her that it would be safer to come with us and that we had more supplies. She’ll be there to help us if any of us get knocked down.”

“Which I’ve already done, so I basically get to tag along for free.” Elisa said smugly.

Vivian looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Wait, so… Elisa gets to follow us, and if something like what happened to Shinko today happens again, she’ll save us?”

Niels placed one of the skewered pieces of meat over the fire and began roasting it.

“No.” Niels said. “She’s already saved one of us.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Before you say anything Shinko, I already agreed that any further costs of ingredients for potions she uses on us will be paid by myself.” Niels said.

“This seems like an incredibly one-sided deal.” I said, but honestly, I couldn’t figure out which side was getting the better deal. I looked at Elisa.

“Anyway, since you’ll be traveling with us for a little while, I suppose I’ll introduce myself. I’m Shinko Inori.” I bowed slightly.

Elisa nodded.

“I’m Vivian Rasch.”

I realized that I had never actually heard Vivian’s last name before.

I liked it; Rasch sounded pretty to me.

Elisa smiled.

“I already know long-ears.” She pointed at Niels, who rolled his eyes. “I’m Elisa Kott, the amazing alchemist.”

“So do you also run a tavern?” I asked; I remembered Niels had called his drink ‘non-alchemical,’ not ‘non-alcoholic.’

“No.” Elisa replied. “I conduct more practical alchemy; the kind of stuff that people need in their daily lives. But I also sell potions intended for adventurers and monster hunters to use. Like healing potions.”

I nodded.

Niels took the meat off the fire and handed the first piece to Elisa, then the next one to me, and then to Vivian. Elisa bit off a tiny piece of her meat and nibbled on it for a long while, then swallowed.

The rest of us ate our meat at a more normal pace, and by the time she was about halfway done with her own food, the rest of us had already finished.

“What about you?” Elisa pointed at me with her free hand as she nibbled on her meat. “Why are you tagging along to head to the Wizards Council?”

“I need a wizard to use magic to retrieve an item I left in a faraway land.” I lied.

Elisa nodded.

“Yeah, they’re good at that. It’ll probably be pricey though.”

Elisa suddenly sprouted a pair of cat ears on her head, and a matching tail swished into existence behind her.

My eyes went wide.

“Oh, looks like it wore off.”

“You’re a faunid?” Niels asked.

“Well I’m certainly not a rock.” Elisa replied. She brushed some of her hair away from her face, and I caught a glance of the side of her head.

She didn’t have normal human ears; those cat ears on top of her head were the real deal.

“How did you do that?” Vivian asked. “You made your ears and tail disappear!”

“It’s not hard.” Elisa said, then smiled smugly. “Oh, well, it’s not hard if you’re as skilled as I am. You’ll need to–”

My back hurt a lot.

It hurt like it was nearly broken.

I cried out in pain loudly.

Niels and Vivian both turned to look at me, terrified.

Elisa smiled.

“Looks like that one wore off too.”

I couldn’t breathe right. It hurt too much to do anything other than cry out in pain.

Niels looked Elisa in the eye and stood up.

“What did you do to him?” He asked firmly.

“What, I just gave him a mild pain reliever; he doesn’t have to be such a baby about it wearing off.” Elisa said calmly. “Of course, I happen to have some more of it with me, but I don’t know if you’ll be willing to pay in order to replace the ingredients for it.” She smiled.

Vivian glared at Elisa.

Niels bit his lip and looked like he was counting something in his head.

I did my best to stop wailing, but it hurt so much.

God, please make it stop hurting so much.

“Fine.” Niels said. “Give it to him.”

Elisa smiled, stood up, and made a show of searching through her pack. After a little while, she produced a small vial filled with a chalky white substance and walked over to me, before pressing it against my lips.

It tasted horrible, like mushy artichoke hearts and rotten carrots, but I couldn’t protest. Nearly as soon as she took the vial away from my lips, I began feeling better.

“There we go.” She said calmly. “It should last until morning.”

Vivian and Niels both looked at Elisa angrily, but I didn’t.

“Thank you, Elisa. I appreciate your help.”

Niels and Vivian both looked at me, somewhat surprised.

Elisa’s eyes widened slightly, then she smiled with barely-concealed pride.
“Of course you do! I’m the best in the business; it’s only natural for you to be thankful.”

After the meal, we put out the fire. While we did, I asked Niels and Vivian how they had defeated the axebane, and Niels told me that it had actually tried attacking Elisa, and that she had killed it by throwing a vial of acid at it; he said that it was a miracle that the acid hadn’t touched me.

After he said that, we each went to our own tents to retire for the night.

Miracle.

Some miracle.