Outside of Beakwood, West Gate, 8:30AM—
Syla rode a carriage that will lead her to Aerdawn, the first city hat she'll visit, together with new people around her, some were merchants and others adventurers, Syla observed everyone with a healthy amount of caution, after what she experienced in Beakwood, Syla realized that she'll have to be more careful in the future, to reveal her apppearance, she must be sure about her surroundings perception with demihumans, and if Aerdawn happens to be one of the few places where a demihuman like her was unacceptable, then Syla would have to hide her presence, just like what she did at Beakwood.
The carriage carried her across the vast grassland that was surrounding Beakwood, multiple Grass Deers began to reveal their appearance in the distance, Slimes were having a party on the grassy plains as their body absorbed the grass blades that were cut off from its roots.
"Ahh, everyone.. As i've said before, Aerdawn is 3 days away from here, we will be sleeping in the wilds and rest whenever the horses are tired– If any danger appeared infront of us, then the adventurers will handle it." A voice came from the front of the wagon, the driver warned everyone about the lengthy journey that they'll have to take to reach Aerdawn, and with dangers waiting at any moment, he told the adventurers that boarded his carriage to handle it, that also means Syla would have to fight whenever a monster or bandits appeared.
"I have no problem." One of the merchant said, he was sitting with the other merchants on his side while Syla was sitting on the opposite side with the other adventurers. thankfully she got the furthest spot from the carriage, so she can watch the scenery with ease without having to worry about her vision being blocked by anyone.
"Same with me." Another merchant said.
"Same here, the adventurer's looked strong, so i have faith."
Everyone gradually came with terms to the driver's demand and rules, in exchange for protection, the adventurers received a discount for the trip. What previously priced at 1 Gold to ride the carriage was halved to only 5 Silvers for adventurers.
'This driver seems professional, he's fair to everyone and rewarded any effort that was put to make sure the trip went smooth.' Syla thought.
Along with her, the total amount of passengers in that carriage was 7 people, with 3 of them beign merchants and 4 of them being adventurers, which 2 of those adventurers being a swordsman, 1 being mage, and 1 being both.
'I bought 3 health potion, and filled my lunch box with dried jerky, it should last for about 3 days, if i run out of jerky, then i'll just have to catch an animal.. With everything that i've purchased, the price of staying in the inn, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. And the 1 Gold i received from Errick, i still have around 46 Golds— It's still a lot huh.. Well i suppose i never really bought anything expensive.. Potions aren't as expensive as i thought, and my weapons and clothes are still fine, though i might need to buy a new cloak when i arrive in Aerdawn.' Syla thought, her body shakes as the carriage traveled to the open plains following the dirt path.
There is still time before Syla arrived in Aerdawn, and after what she went through in Beakwood, the orc dungeon, and her accidental meeting with Fedhr, this was one of the few time where Syla could relax and let the wind graze her skin as the carriage brought her to a new place.
.
.
Meanwhile in Beakwood, at a certain house located inside of a dark alleyway—
A cat was seen walking through the narrow road, completely shrouded with darkness as the walls of buildings around it blocked the sun from giving its warm light, the cat which blended with the darkness thanks to its black fur and yellow eyes then ran away after hearing a footsteps in the distance.
The footsteps gradually became louder as moments later, a boy appeared in the alleyway, he looks familiar with his appearance similar to a 10 years old. The boy then approached the house that was in the alleyway and knocked on the door.
Knock knock!
The boy then opened the door after waiting for a few seconds, he didn't wait for an answer, but instead he entered the house as if it was his own. The house was dark, as expected from a building located within a shady alleyway that barely received any sun light.
Although the interior of the house looked neatly placed, the house looked like it was abandoned, with not a single sign that shows anyone living inside, the boy continue his walk further into the house, and reached a door that leads to a bedroom.
Knock
Knock!
"Mom! Im back!" The boy said, his voice sounded familiar, and upon looking at his face, it turns out the boy was none other than Seth.
Seth waited for his mother response, yet there was no voice or sounds of any kind that could give him the sign that his mother was inside. But Seth doesn't seem to get worried, his face was still the same as he was before he entered, his lips faintly smiled as he held a few copper coins in his hand. Then, with a gentle push, Seth opened the door and saw his mother, lying on the bed, her eyes slightly open, showing him that she was awake, yet her body looks frozen, as if she was paralyzed.
Seth approached his mother, his smile hadn't escaped from his face, once he stood right beside her, he then showed the copper coins that he got to his mother, his mother eyes moved towards him, then slowly but surely, her lips widened.
"Good job.. Seth..." She whispered quietly, her voice sounded tired and ghostly.
"Mom.. Please wait a little longer okay?" Seth said, his mouth still smiling, yet his eyes were glimmering as if he was holding his tears.
Time passed by, a few minutes, and even an hour. Seth sat on a chair along with his mother on the bed, his mother was quiet for the most part, she doesn't seem to be able to utter many words, let alone a sentence. But Seth was patient, he didn't get mad, he didn't even get bored, he waited again and again, for someone to come, someone that will bring them salvation.
If it wasn't obvious, Seth's mother seemed to be infected with a disease, a disease that caused her to be paralyzed, and unable to do anything except moving her eyes, her body was skinny, her bones can be seen almost protruding out of her skin, if it wasn't for Seth feeding her from time to time, she would've undoubtely died long ago.
"Haahh.. Haahh.." Suddenly, Seth's mother gasped violently, her breathing quickly turned unstable, and Seth immediately panicked as he tried to calm his mother down.
"Mom!! MOM!!" He shouted, he shook his mother's shoulder and lightly pushed her chest to give her a CPR.
When her breathing didn't return to normal, Seth finally broke into tears, his eyes turned into a waterfall as he desperately tried to save his mother.
"MOM!! MOM!!!!!" He screamed.
Just as he was about to give up, Seth then heard the front door of his house being forcefully barged in. At first he was scared, fearing that someone with a malicious intention might have entered his house, but after the door to his mother's bedroom was opened and Seth could finally see the person behind the door, he couldn't have been more relieved.
"M- MISS VERIMA!!" Seth shouted, he was still beside his unstable mother.
"UGH!" Verima then ran as fast as she could to Seth's mother side and pulled out a potion vial that she stored on her waist.
She then wasted no time before she opened the vial and chugged the whole thing down to Seth mother's throat, the liquid that was contained inside the vial soon were gulped by her, Seth's mother didn't know about Verima's visit and what she was giving her, so naturally, she tried to reject the potion, she tried to push Verima from her, but because of her disease, she doesn't have the strength to overpower Verima and could only accept her fate for the next minute.
"M- MOM!! CALM DOWN!! PLEASE! DRINK IT!" Seth screamed once again, he urged his mother to stay put and let Verima treat her.
Cough!
Cough!
Seth's mother coughed, even though she doesn't seem to have the power to cough, her body forced her to do it because she choked on the potion.
"Let her be for now." Verima said before she took a few step backwards, she also grabbed Seth and pulled him from the bed.
"Hey.. Miss Verima, my mom will be okay right!?" Seth said with his teary eyes, his smile also had completely faded.
"She will.. Trust me." Verima replied.
Seth's mother kept on having a violent seizure, as if her body was convulsing and rejecting the potion that Verima had given her, her pupils looked spiky, and her skin gradually turned pale. Then after everything was over, Seth's mother eventually went back to how she was before, her pupils and skin turned to normal again after a minute and she fell asleep with her eyes closed and both of her hands on her chest.
"...She's sleeping.." Verima said, she was relieved and also shocked.
"M- mom is sleeping?.." Seth replied, he looked at his mother in disbelief.
"Yeah.. She's fine now, Seth... She will be fine now.." Verima said as she lowered her body to meet Seth's eyes at the same height. "Your mother, who hasn't slept for over a month.. Now can finally sleep peacefully, you can stop your worries now.. It's all thanks to you that she can be cured.."
Just like how an old dam couldn't contain the water that it was containing within it, Seth's eyes began to swole and his tears rolled down faster and thicker than before, his snot coming down from his nose and he cried between Verima's arms as he hugged her tightly.
"T- THANK YOU.. THANK YOU!!.." He said, that was his most genuine thank you he ever given to someone else.