-Thank you for waiting, Lord Marshal.
The maid was the first one who reached them, and was now gasping for air, while trying to talk.
-Catch your breath first, then tell me why you stopped us.
Paul said, as it was hard to understand the young woman, when she was breathing heavily.
At the same time, the two guards arrived and were also trying to catch their breath.
-Lord Marshal, our lady, the wife of the Iron Mountain City's city lord, would like to invite you to try to heal her daughters.
The maid said as soon as she steadied her breath.
-Our lady was on her way to seek your assistance in the Storm Wave City, but since she learned that you were in the capital, she sent us to find and invite you over, if possible.
One of the guards added.
Hearing that, Paul sighed.
There didn't seem to be any sense in rejecting the invitation, since it seemed that this woman was ready to go to the Storm Wave city to find him, which showed that she had to be desperate.
Especially when he considered that the Iron Mountain city was around four thousand kilometers away, if not even more.
-Alright, lead the way.
Paul said, deciding to at least see what was going on.
-Thank you, this way please.
The maid smiled happily when he agreed to come with them.
It didn't take long for their group to arrive at an Inn where they were greeted by more maids and guards, before they met the wife of Iron Mountain's city lord.
-I'm sorry for inviting you so suddenly, and thank you for coming anyway.
The woman said, bowing slightly before Paul.
-That's no problem.
Paul answered.
-Now, where are the patients?
He asked, wanting to get this over with as soon as he could.
-Please follow me.
The city lord's wife said, and led him and Elaina to the first floor of the inn, which was full og guards.
If Paul was not mistaken, this woman rented the whole inn, or at least this entire floor.
A moment later, they arrived at the door, which was guarded by female personnel.
-Let me warn you here that the sight is not pleasant.
The woman warned Paul and Elaina before opening the doors.
The two of them were rooted in place for a moment, seeing the two young ladies lying on the beds, inside the room.
Saying that the sight was not pleasant was an understatement of a millennium, to say the least.
The two girls were severely disfigured, and it was easy to guess that this was done to them as a form of punishment or revenge.
After his initial shock, Paul approached the nearest patient and placed his finger on her forehead to see the extent of damage that was done to her.
-Who did this to them?
Paul asked, after seeing the extent of the damage, which was horrible and much more severe than he expected.
-We don't know, and as you most likely already found out, there is no way for them to identify the culprit.
That was another understatement, and a colossal one at that.
Whoever did it to these two made sure that they could never reveal their identity by removing their tongues, gouging out their eyes, and even blocking their voices with a seal that Paul had never seen before.
More than that, both girls had their tendons in both arms and legs severed, their teeth were pulled out, their reproductive organs were crippled, and the list went on.
-I'm surprised that they are even alive at this point.
Paul said after diagnosing the second girl.
-Whoever did this to them was a healer or a skilled doctor.
He added.
-Is there any hope to heal them?
The patient's mother asked, not daring to hope for a positive answer.
She consulted hundreds of healers, doctors, and alchemists, but all of them said that it was impossible to heal her daughters, and it would be more merciful to end their suffering.
-Honestly speaking, I don't know.
Paul admitted.
-This is the first time I've seen this level of damage inflicted on anyone without killing them.
To heal them would take a lot of time and effort, and even though I'm certain that I can restore some parts of their bodies, I can't promise to heal them completely.
-So there is still hope?
The woman asked, with a spark of hope flickering in her eyes.
-Yes, there is, but as I said, I'm not confident in healing them fully.
All I can do is try and hope for the best.
Also, since it will take a lot of time, it would be better to transport them to Storm Wave City, if it's possible.
-It is possible, and if you'd like, we can be there by this evening.
The woman said.
-How?
Elaina, who was quiet all this time, asked.
-I have a flying beast that can easily transport all of us, and it's quite fast, as well, so if you wish, then we can all go together.
Hearing that, Paul agreed, and in less than an hour, everyone was outside the capital.
The woman, who introduced herself as Madam Gu, after she realized she never told Paul how to address her, summoned her beast, which turned out to be a mountain Owl, and was the size of a private jet.
Soon, Paul and Elaina could see that Madam Gu didn't exaggerate when she said that her beast was fast, as it didn't even take them two hours before they saw the storm wave city on the horizon.
-Since you could have arrived here so fast, why did you wait at the imperial capital?
Paul asked Madam Gu, as this made little sense to him.
-I heard from Madam Long that you were in the elven forest and would most likely be summoned before his majesty on your way back, so I decided to wait, hoping to meet you in the capital.
If that didn't work, then I would still go to the Storm Wave City to find you.
-That's another thing that's bothering me.
How did you hear about me?
Paul asked.
-My husband heard about what happened to Madam Yang, who is his cousin, and that there was a young healer who restored her neck, saving her life.
So I took this chance to seek your assistance with healing my daughters.
Madam Gu explained.