CHAPTER TWELVE: The Aide

DAKU

There was only one truth right at this moment, and that was this doe was in need of immediate medical attention. A healing potion wouldn't work on her because it was concocted to affect humans. And even if it could work, I didn't have it with me. Everything I needed was in my backpack.

But there was also another truth present and that was me as a Healer. I was uncertain if my abilities would work but I had to try. I couldn't just watch this poor creature die before my eyes.

And so, I approached it. Normally, it would flee as a flight-or-fight response but because of her condition, she had nothing left to do but to wait for her demise.

I stabbed the torch into the soil, erecting it like a candle. The proximity made me realize that her wound was indeed life-threatening—it was so deep that I could already see the bone.

"Here goes nothing," I stated as I pointed both of my palms close to the wound. I closed my eyes and felt the flow of magic within me to the end of my healing hands.

A soft luminating glow caught my shut vision. It was a sign of my technique doing its wonders. A burst of excitement flowed throughout my body after realizing how easy it is now for me to conjure the magic. But this also reminded me that I was indeed destined to become a Healer.

"Let's get this done with," I murmured before my thought diverted and deactivated the magic.

I watched how my magic unveiled itself before me. It was mesmerizing to see such beauty. I'd never appreciated the color green then than now. And the magic circle—its revolution made this magic cooler. So this was what magic looked like.

I never had a close encounter with magic before. I could even count the times I'd seen mages casting their magic.

My thought was brought back to the present when my eyes caught the doe's sudden movement. I looked at its wound and was ecstatic to see it completely closed and healed. The bloodstains remained but the source of it vanished as if it never existed in the first place.

Regaining its strength, the doe wasted no time to stand to test its body strength. She almost fell and I was ready to catch her if she did but she gained back her balance.

The doe shook her head to clear her mind before she tilted her head to gaze at me. She stared through my eyes with her hypnotizing orbs of vision. And for a moment, I thought my brain was playing tricks on me when I caught the doe's head dove for a bow.

Did she just thank me?

In just a blink of an eye, the doe galloped back into the darkness until my eyes could no longer see her.

"That was weird," I commented as I uprooted the torch from where it stood and went back to foraging.

After gathering the needed amount of food for the night, I retraced the path back to where Kana was. Luckily, the light from the fire made it easy for me to navigate.

"I'm back, Kana," I notified, diverting Kana's attention from playing with the sheathed dagger to my direction.

Her face sparkled and her eyes glimmered when she saw me. "Mister Daku! You're finally back!"

"I brought some Takematsu mushrooms and some berries!" I laid out a wide green leaf I picked along the way and placed our dinner on it.

"Takematsu?"

"You're gonna love this. It tastes just like chicken! Let me cook one."

I grabbed one mushroom and unsheathed my dagger. I pierced the mushroom into the dagger and brought it close to the fire. The aroma released by the cooked mushroom sent gurgling stomach to both Kana and me.

"Here," I handed the dagger to Kana which she humbly received. "Be careful. It's still hot."

Kana blew the mushroom to cool until she went for a bite.

"It really tastes like chicken, Mister Daku!" Kana exclaimed, earning a smile from me. I messed with her hair and proceeded to grab a nearby stick to hold the mushroom.

Kana consumed almost five mushrooms and half of the total berries. This food satisfied our rumbling stomachs better than we could ever imagined.

"I'm stuffed!" I rejoiced as I gulped the last food in my mouth.

"Thank you, Mister Daku!" Kana extended to which I responded with a smile.

The night was again filled with silence as we sought comfort. I leaned my back on the tree where Kana used to conceal herself while the little girl reclined on the soil with my lap as her makeshift pillow.

"Mister Daku?" Kana prompted who I thought was already sleeping. I looked at her even though her back was against me. "I'd like to apologize on behalf of my mother."

My brows furrowed following her statement.

"What do you mean, Kana?"

"If it wasn't for her suggestion of taking the shortcut we wouldn't be in this situation," she elaborated, catching me off guard.

"You don't have to be sorry and neither does your mother. We didn't want this to happen and your mother just wanted to help. We never expected this to happen so no one's at fault. Okay?"

"Okay, Mister Daku."

"Good. Now go to sleep. We still have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," I told her as I softly caressed her hair.

"Goodnight, Mister Daku."

"Goodnight, Kana."

***

"Mister Daku, look!" Kana exclaimed while pointing ahead of us where a bright wide clearing.

But we both knew that it wasn't a clearing but a road. The road that we'd been looking for two days and two nights. It took us that long to reach this point. But on the bright side, we didn't encounter any monsters.

"I see it, Kana!" I seconded as I wandered my eyes through the masked path ahead.

Kana and I rushed towards it like hungry savages. No one could blame us for this behavior because we were in fact savages, I meant, looked like savages.

"Yehey!" we both celebrated as we stepped out of the woods. We looked happy as we hopped up and down in circles.

"We finally did it, Mister Daku!"

I messed with her hair while she gave her biggest smile yet. I scanned the road but there was no sense of familiarity with it. But not with this young woman with me.

"Where should we go, Kana?" I asked while showing my utmost anticipation for her answer.

"Ha? I don't know."

"Ehh! What do you mean you don't know? Isn't this familiar to you? You once passed through her, right?"

Kana raised both her shoulders as a sign of her oblivion. "I must've slept on this part of the trip."

I imitated a cry as I washed my face with my hands. Disappointed and hopeless once again embodied my entirety.

"We have no choice but to wait for them here. If I'm not mistaken we are a day ahead of them," I mumbled.

"We don't need to wait, Mister Daku!" Kana claimed.

"Why?" I asked her but instead of telling me why, she pointed her finger behind me.

I followed its direction and the amount of relief poured over me was immeasurable upon seeing two figures heading in our direction.

"Mama! Mister Kenshi!" Kana greeted while waving her hand as high as she could.

I heard Miss Hanaka's response but barely. The distance made sure of that. But that didn't stop Miss Hanaka from calling out for her daughter as she continued yelling Kana's name.

Her calls got louder and louder, indicating her closing proximity. Kana, on the other hand, kept on waving while giggling, amused by her mother's yelling.

This sight pleased me as well. Nothing beats the kind of reunion because as an orphan like me moments like this were exceptional.

"Oh, Kana! Thank goodness you're alright!" Miss Hanaka cried as she embraced her daughter tightly as if she lost it for years. Well, I couldn't blame her. A mother being separated from her child made a single second feel like years.

"I'm fine, Mama. Mister Daku took good care of me," Kana testified, making me smile.

"How are you?" a deep, stoic voice asked. I looked at him as he carried my backpack. I may look unenthusiastic right now but deep within me was a happy and grateful Daku.

"I'm doing fine. How about you? Are you hurt?"

Kenshi shook his head. "I'm unscathed. The trip went softly."

"That's good to know."

"Daku!" Miss Hanaka yelled and then grabbed both of my hands. Her teary eyes bore into me like drills, touching my very heart. "How can I ever repay you?"

"Don't think about it, Miss Hanaka. It's fine. You don't have to trouble yourself about it—"

"No. Guilt will haunt me if I let this slide. At least let me make you some dinner once we reached the village," Miss Hanaka offered. It was a nice deal—a great one even.

"Well, if you insist then who are we to refuse?"

"Thank you!"

***

Three hours went by since we regrouped. Kana and Miss Hanaka talked nonstop about their moments during their separation. It was Kana who mostly talked while Miss Hanaka paid attention to her and listened.

Kenshi and I shared our stories as well, particularly the part where I cured a doe and saved her from the brink of death. Kenshi complimented me for being able to use healing magic easily.

The conversation lasted for another half an hour until Kenshi signaled us to stop. His brows met in the middle, a symbol of either confusion or suspicion.

I watched Kenshi wander his gaze through the horizon as if searching for something he knew. I did the same but having no idea of what we were looking for, seemed futile. Whatever this was, Kenshi was uncomfortable with it.

"This is where bandits ambush and attack carriages and merchants," Miss Hanaka announced.

The statement made Kana move closer to her mother while I tightened the grip on my backpack's strap. Kenshi, on the other hand, brought out his sword, preparing for battle.

"Watch out!" Kenshi suddenly shouted, shocking and scaring the shit out of me.

Several red magic circles appeared scattered on the ground beneath us. The scope it took was too vast that running out of it was utterly impossible.

Red magic circles were fire magics, and for techniques such as this, it was most likely to be explosive-type. Explosion magic was lethal and could turn a target into bits of flesh and bones. If lucky to evade the direct hit, the noise and impact it caused could still do damage.

"Please tell me you know defensive magic," I said to Kenshi.

"I have but it will only protect me alone."

Great. Just great.

A loud explosion echoed from all directions notifying that the outer magic circles already exploded. One after another it sent a cacophony of disturbing noises. And each boom released a high-pitched scream of Kana.

"Shit! Were these pre-embedded here?" I inquired but Kenshi shook in disapproval.

"Embedding magic circles don't look like this! This is real-time casting, which means the caster is just nearby. But I can't locate them?"

"Let's deal with that later but first, we have to figure out how we can withstand the explosion!"

All of a sudden, something jumped between Kenshi and me. It happened so fast that we only stared at each other. But then we both looked at the direction where the figure went and I was perplexed to see a doe.

But this was not a random doe but the one I healed. The bloodstained she had was already gone but my gut was telling me it was her. But what is she doing her?

The doe faced me and out of the blue, a thin transparent energy field originating from its body enveloped me, Kenshi, Kana, and Miss Hanaka. At the same moment, the barrier shielded us, and the magic circles that were close and just underneath us released a destructive explosion.