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Casual Heroing, Adventuring Interlude
🕑 Added 2023-06-17 17:54:54 +0000 UTCNext chapter comes out Monday, June 19th!
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Adventuring Interlude β Chrysantus, Tullia, and Claudia
The cart rolled placidly on the road.
Chrysantus clicked his mouth and shut a thick monster's anthology with enough strength to wake up his wife.
"Rotten roots," Tullia swore. "What now? Just kill the bandits and let me sleep."
"No bandits, darling. You are the only [Thief] who stole my heart. However, in other news, I am bored silly. Do you feel like playing Fallen Leaf? I wanted to ask the others, too."
Tullia wrestled away the soft fur she had been sleeping on and placed her hand on her forehead, trying to guess the time of the day by the sun.
"It's early in the morning. Why should we drink?" She lamented.
"You just answered your own question. Early in the morning is the most boring of moments. Especially on the road."
"Goodness," another voice emerged from below more furs. "Chrysantus, are you still up? Just sleep. We should get to Amorium before sundown."
"Claudia," Chrysantus winced, "sorry, I thought you were sleeping more soundly than that, given your deep breathing. Are you feeling ok?"
A big woman, a testament to great genetics and a very high level emerged from the furs. Her looks did not betray her age. One could have guessed that she was, at best, thirty when in fact, she had crossed her forties a few years ago.
"World's Tree's shit," Claudia groaned, massaging her back. "I thought I was sleeping okay, but that damn [Curse] is still there. My back is killing me. My ass, too."
Chrysantus shot a sneaky look at his wife and gave her a brief nod.
Tullia immediately started humming her [Painfree Hymn].
"Oh, that's so nice," Claudia exhaled, relaxing her facial muscles.
"All those who got hit by the crazy cultists are hurting," Chrysantus sighed. "Some [Curses] are going away, but their chief was extremely high-leveled. In his 50s, probably. But don't worry, specialized [Healers] are coming from the Capital. The Guild owes us big time. All the excess Mana in your body will be purged, and then you'll be as good as new."
"I know, I know," Claudia sighed. "I just don't like going back to my children like this. They always worry about me."
"Count yourself lucky," Tullia said dejectedly. "Truffles barely cares. In his last message, he completely ignored the fact that we both survived a Named-Adventurer-ranked raid on some crazy Mauser's cultists."
"He was asking how he should go about killing [Soldiers]," Chrysantus snorted.
"And you were actually going to answer," Tullia punched her husband's arm. "You idiot. You know how Truffles is."
"He takes things very seriously," Chrysantus explained out loud for Claudia's sake.
Claudia had found herself in this argument more than once, and she didn't really know what else to offer other than the shortcomings of her own children.
"My boy is still a [Guard]. He eats and gossips all day. If I hadn't already been above level 30 when I had him, he'd probably be an avalanche of fat. And he never listens to me."
"Boys never listen," Tullia sighed.
"But your girl chose to pick up the family trade, right?" Chrysantus asked.
"She did. She's a Silver Rank. She's taking it quite cautiously if you ask me. Bah, we faced crazy monsters with poor tools. Nowadays, new Adventurers carry an Alchemy shop with them."
Chrysantus laughed politely.
"Reckless kids are still out and about, Claudia. The problem is that most of them just die. Your daughter is smart: just trust her judgment."
Claudia suddenly looked as if she just remembered that the two Adventurers in front of her were among the strongest on the whole continent.
"Right, right," she coughed, embarrassed. "How's Truffles doing?"
"He said he became friends with a Human who's teaching him how to read," Chrysantus said, moving his eyes to the sky. "I'm really curious to meet this guy."
"If Truffles has been swindled," Tullia growled.
"My love, he hasn't. Truffles isn't stupid. I'm just curious to see what kind of guy spends so much time among the homeless. Truffles mentioned he's a great Baker. Without the class."
"You are too soft on him," Tullia tched. "He's still a kid!"
"He's not. And it's good that he gets to know new people. Even Humans."
Claudia stayed silent, not daring to barge into such a personal argument.
"Are you going to do something about what happened to him at the inn?" Tullia pressed her husband.
"A beating? Good for him," Chrysantus looked surprised. "He's finally getting more involved with the world. Beatings are a good measure of what you are doing. The more you get, the better you are doing. I got a whole lot of them."
"Chrysantus, you know it's not the same."
"You just keep underestimating our child, my beautiful love," Chrysantus smiled. "And I bet that he's actually learning how to read."
"A kid with a [Bumbling Alchemist] class with a few levels⦠Chrysantus, we should stop indulging him," Tullia reiterated.
"Indulging what, exactly? Our son decided to slum it out with homeless guys to stay true to his dream of becoming a proper [Alchemist]. And he's making some progress. The Human says he knows how to make soap. Imagine that. And Truffles tested him with the advanced truth-stone I gave him. What do you think, Claudia?"
With both Named Adventurers' eyes on her, the strong woman felt like she had just regressed to being a Bronze-ranker all over.
"We have to trust our children to make the right choice, as Chrysantus said," Claudia spoke, looking at Tullia. "My husband died early, and neither Antoninus nor Livilla really remembers him. I was out on missions most of my time, and I had them stay with family or friends. They looked out for each other and⦠well, they are quite independent now."
Chrysantus extended a hand as if to showcase what Claudia had just said.
"So?" He asked his wife.
"It's whateverβ¦" she grumbled. "We do whatever you think is best for him anyway."
Chrysantus shrugged at that, unbothered by those words.
He knew his wife loved their son very dearly, but she was often overprotective because of Truffles's quirks.
Claudia had just uncorked a health potion and taken a swig from it when she started coughing profusely.
"Are you ok?" Chrysantus got closer to her, straining his ears.
There's something in her lungs.
"Lay against the side of the cart. If you lay down, it's going to be harder to breathe. You probably still have some blood in your lungs."
But Chrysantus bit his bottom lip. He had adventured long enough to know that the kind of health potions they had on them should have resolved those problems. But even with his experience, he had no idea what could be affecting this woman like this.
Egoistically, he silently thanked the World's Tree for the fact that it hadn't been his wife.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Claudia said with a raised hand, clearing her throat multiple times.
Tullia eyed her husband, but he shook his head.
There was no point in using another high-level skill if the underlying problem was still there.
Even after talking about their children, there was still heaviness in the air. Claudia kept shifting, trying to find a position where she could breathe freely.
Chrysantus used his amplified senses to listen and look at the rest of the carts.
Every person struck by the strongest [Necromancers] was suffering the same symptoms. And the symptoms emerged a few days after the raid actually ended. What was scarier was that people had either seen their symptoms disappear or worsen.
He could feel the slight wheezing of Claudia's breath.
"Maybe we should take a slight detour," Claudia suddenly said. "You know, first visit the [Healers], and then we go to town. This might be contagious."
"It's not," Chrysantus replied. "The [Healers] that were with us already made sure of that. They just don't know how to take care of the [Curse], nor could they identify it."
"Well," Claudia seemed uncomfortable, "would it be that bad? A little detour?"
"It would," Chrysantus replied with a wink. "I'm not opposed to a little boozing before we go into town with one of those stupid parades, but we need to get there. Everything is already organized. Plus, you know that the Steel Titan would never forgive us if he has to re-organize the entire security for this."
Claudia deflated a little.
"I'm sure your children will be really happy to see you," Tullia said.
Chrysantus cringed at that.
Tullia had clearly misread the situation.
Claudia was trying not to get in front of her children in this condition. His wife was a great performer with some of the greatest natural gifts he had ever seen; her class, in fact, was one of the most particular and useful in raids. But even though she had such an outgoing class, she could still be so dense at times.
"I've booked the Misery Dispeller," Chrysantus suddenly said. "The Guild will foot the bill, and he will take care of all of you, Claudia."
"What? Really?" Claudia looked surprised.
"Yes. He's going to reach us in a few days in Amorium. This is not his first time around; he has already cured thousands of people from curses."
The Misery Dispeller was a Named-Adventurer [Healer]/[Mage] who had made himself famous for jumping head-first into plagues. He used an ingenious mix of magic and alchemy, unlike normal [Healers], which were mostly alchemy-based.
His involvement clearly calmed Claudia down.
"Well, if it's him, I suppose there's nothing to say," she exhaled, nodding to herself.
"I'm sure," Chrysantus nodded. "Everything will be fine."
But as the cart kept rolling, Chrysantus couldnβt help but think to himself taking a detour could have helped. Maybe this is not the best time to enter the city.
