Waking up in my bed, I quickly realized that I couldn't remember how I had gotten back to the guild hall, let alone my room. I also quickly noticed that I had been changed into my sleep wear, and felt both shivers and goosebumps run up my spine upon the thought that someone had changed me while I was so defenseless. I swore to myself that I would never let my willpower drop below 20 points again since I didn't feel my drowsiness until after I had dropped below 25 points.
As I walked over to my dresser to pull out some clothes for the day, I quickly noticed what appeared to be another note, though this time it was lying on my nightstand instead of by the door. Rushing over, I quickly picked it up as I realized that the person who had brought me back last night was the same person who was stalking me.
Looking at the message left for me, I began to heavily blush upon realizing I was being stalked by a foul perverted minded creep. "You have such a nice package down there. I think I'll keep you all to myself. How does it feel to know you blew your first load last night and not even realize it?"
I felt highly offended by the fact that I had been taken advantage of, and I swore that once I learned who was doing this, I would make them suffer, Gallavador's Hall be damned. I once more went about my day, still not figuring out who my damned stalker was, and as I walked to Donven's butchery, I tried thinking of ways I could lure my stalker out into the open so I could capture them.
Knocking on the door, Donven's son opened the door again as he glanced at me. "My father's still sick and isn't open today."
Hearing this, I quickly thought back to my Death Sense skill and decided to see if I could see anything affecting Donven. "May I enter and see him?"
The boy hesitated, but finally he nodded his head as he stepped out of the doorway. I could see his worry for his father and internally commended him for being so strong as he looked over Donven.
Following the boy, I made my way up the stairs in the back, finding myself in the general gathering area for Donven's family. The boy then led me to a room off to the side, and as I opened the door, goose bumps immediately rose along my arms.
Walking in, I could see the light falling through the windows, however at the same time, the room appeared to be shrouded in shadows and black mist. My only assumption was that I was witnessing the indications of death thanks to my Death Sense, though I couldn't entirely figure out what all the darkness meant.
Making an uneducated assumption, I took a guess and figured that the darker the mist the more likely or closer someone was to dying and seeing how almost solid and tangible the dark mist appeared around Donven's bead, I could only assume that he was on his last legs.
"Your father is dying." I calmly stated to the boy as I continued looking over Donven, who was covered in sweat and weakly coughing every now and then.
"No, no he isn't! My Pops is strong! He's only sick, he'll get better soon." The young boy shook his head in denial as sobs racked his chest, causing him to shake as his voice quivered.
"He doesn't have much time left and you have to accept this fact. Do you have any other siblings or family that you can reach out to?" I ignored his plight and struck straight to the point. After all, as much as I respected the old man, I couldn't attach myself and become over saddened by his imminent death. There was no way I could cure him, and I highly doubted old man Otto could heal him enough to stop whatever disease was killing him. Instead I felt it would be best if the boy reached out to other members of family so that he may find solace amongst them.
The boy quietly nodded as small sobs and gasps left his lips as he looked at his father. "Mm My brother *sob* works at the *sniffle* adventurer's guild."
Hearing this, I crouched down and drew the boy's attention away from his father and on to me by gently placing my hand on his shoulder. "What's your brother's name?"
With tears flowing like rivers from his eyes, the boy looked at me as he attempted to wipe the snot from his nose. "Venrorik. *gasp* My brother's name is Venrorik."
"Okay. Does he know about your father's condition?" Knowing who I would need to look for, I figured it would be best to see if he had any clue about his father's condition before I went to find him.
The boy shook his head as he glanced back towards his father. "He's been on an escort mission for the past few weeks and I don't know how to write to let him know."
Hearing this, I finally understood as to why Donven had yet to be forced to go see Otto. His eldest son wasn't here to be able to make him go, and with how stubborn the old man could be I figured the boy didn't try to get his father to go since he felt that it would be pointless.
"Okay kid. I'm going to go back to the adventurer's guild and see if your brother is back yet, okay? I'll also bring Master Otto so he can take a look at your old man to see if he can still be saved. I want you to wait here, and continue doing what you can to help make your pops feel comfortable alright?"
The boy nodded, and I quickly made my exit before rushing back to the guild hall. Entering the building, I made my way over to the receptionist desk, looking at the kind elderly lady who tilled it.
"Hello Eric, what can I do for ya?" Brenda cheerily called out to me as I walked up to her.
"Hey Brenda, I was wondering if you could tell me if an adventurer by the name of Venrorik has returned from his escort mission yet."
Hearing my question, Brenda paused as she began thinking to herself. After a few short minutes and taking some time to look through the different quests that had been taken but yet to be finished, I heard her finally whisper "Ah hah. Here you are."
Looking back up at me, the little old lady gave a toothy grin before responding. "He hasn't returned just yet, though judging by the given timeline of the escort quest, I do believe he and his party should be arriving later this evening."
Hearing this I nodded, but figured I wouldn't wait for him since I had my own things to take care of. "When he returns, can you inform him that his father, Donven, has fallen extremely ill and that he needs to return home immediately."
Hearing this, worry flashed across the old lady's light gray eyes and she nodded in affirmation to my question before I quickly took off to look for Otto while she returned to working through her paperwork.
I found Otto leaving a different room as a bunch of what I could only assume was students were packing up their things, and I realized that he was leaving his advanced class that was a few months or so ahead of my group.
"Teacher!" I called out, drawing Otto's attention as he was walking away towards his office.
"Eric. What can I do for you?" Turning to look at me, Otto hoisted his papers as he got ready to put them in his inventory.
"Teacher. My boss is very sick, and I fear that he may be dying. I was hoping you would be willing to come and take a look at him." I quickly made my point, knowing that Otto was a busy man and that he wouldn't be able to make much time to come look at Donven.
Looking at me with a hawk-like glare, Otto finally nodded his head. "Lead the way boy."
We quickly took off making our way to Donven's place. While walking through the streets I first explained the full situation before we then began to talk quite a bit about the different herbs and how they could be used in making different medicines. Otto also pointed out different errors I had made while making my herbal brews earlier in the day, allowing me to find how I could improve my techniques and brews in general.
When we finally arrived at Donven's place, Otto immediately focused on the task at hand, and looking at Donven as he laid in his bed, Otto's face changed with a serious scowl across it.
After several tens of minutes, Otto finally finished his diagnosis. Looking at me and the boy, he spoke quietly so as not to wake Donven who had finally fallen into a painless sleep.
"It appears that Mr. Donven has fallen ill with a variant of the sun striker disease. I'm afraid that not even a divine priest would be able to cure him." Otto sympathetically spoke to us as we listened.
Hearing this, the young boy broke down into deep sobs as a heart wrenching cry racked his small frame. Otto looked at the young boy before kneeling down before him.
"Child, your father doesn't have much time left. I would recommend saying goodbye to him before you lose the chance. Once you're done, you can come back with us as I need to grab some herbs that can help ease your father of any of his pain until his final rest."
The young boy nodded as he quietly walked back into his father's room. Otto glanced at me once more before he turned back to enter the room. "Eric, you can head on back, I can take care of the lad until his brother returns. Also, I wish to speak with you, when would be best for you?"
Hearing this, I became slightly curious as to why Otto wished to speak with me, but I figured I would have enough time after supper to meet with him before going out to see my undead. "The hour after dinner works for me sir."
Nodding his head, Otto affirmed that that time would work for him as well before he reentered Donven's room and I made my way back up to the guild hall to wait for the evening.