"Wow, Dickido, your singing is incredible! No wonder you're the best bard in the small town of Niailan!"
Bilan didn't hold back her admiration as she walked alongside Dickido on the stone-paved streets.
"It's nothing, really… just average," Dickido replied, shaking his head, clearly flustered. His face turned red with embarrassment.
"Pfft!"
Seeing his awkward reaction, Bilan couldn't help but laugh. She felt that whenever she was with Dickido, all the horrors of the White Tower—the blood, the screams, the cold, emotionless eyes—seemed to fade away…
"Uh… Bilan, how is your master? I heard he's a strict man," Dickido asked hesitantly. The people in town had always described the young wizard with an air of fear and mystery.
"He's… alright, I guess. The White Tower is a bit gloomy, but Master Punk is… decent."
Bilan forced a smile. In truth, she saw her mentor as an evil madman, but she didn't want to make Dickido worry.
Seeing Bilan's face turn pale, Dickido hesitated. He wanted to ask more, but before he could, Bilan suddenly pointed ahead.
"Look over there! What's wrong with that child?"
Seizing the chance to change the subject, Bilan quickly redirected his attention.
At the end of the street, a boy around eight or nine years old had collapsed in an alleyway, hugging his knees and crying.
Bilan, kind-hearted as she was, couldn't ignore it. She immediately ran over, with Dickido following close behind.
"Hey, are you alright? Can you stand? Tell me what happened," Bilan asked gently as she knelt beside the boy, trying to comfort him.
"Is he hurt?" Dickido asked, looking worried. The boy's cries were full of agony, far worse than what a simple fall should cause. Though Dickido wanted to help, he hesitated, afraid of making the injury worse.
"Can I take a look at your leg?" Bilan asked softly.
The boy didn't respond—his body just trembled as he sobbed in pain. Seeing this, Dickido carefully moved his hands aside to check the injury.
The moment they saw it, both of them gasped.
The boy's leg was visibly twisted, completely misaligned. His knee was swollen to the size of his thigh, and the deep bruising suggested a severe fracture.
"H-How did he get hurt this badly from just a fall?" Bilan muttered in shock. Through her mental perception, she could tell—it wasn't just a fracture. It was a comminuted fracture, shattered into multiple pieces. But how?
"W-What do we do? We need to find his family!" Dickido stammered, carefully lifting the barely conscious child. He was completely out of his depth.
"We can't leave him in the middle of the street. His fracture is severe—if the broken bone damages an artery, he'll suffer massive internal bleeding. We need to stop it now, or he'll go into shock!"
Though puzzled by how the injury happened, Bilan knew there was no time to dwell on it. If they didn't act quickly, the boy could lose his leg.
"Let's take him to that alley over there. We don't want to attract attention from those crazy missionaries of the Tishachar Church," Dickido suggested, pointing to a side alley.
"Agreed!"
The last thing they needed was to deal with those zealots while tending to the child. Without hesitation, they carefully carried the boy into the alley.
"Dickido, go find his family. I'll treat his wound in the meantime!"
After gently setting the boy down, Bilan checked his injury. Dickido hesitated but then nodded and ran toward the alley's exit.
"Alright… First, I need to stop the bleeding."
Seeing the boy slipping into unconsciousness, Bilan felt momentarily overwhelmed. His leg was bent at an unnatural angle, and panic threatened to cloud her mind.
"Think, think… You know healing magic, don't you?"
She muttered to herself, forcing herself to stay calm. Punk had given her a collection of spell parchments, and she vaguely recalled an apprentice-level healing spell among them…
Taking a deep breath, Bilan began chanting the spell. As the magic took form, her palm glowed with a faint yellow light.
Apprentice-level conjuration spell – Hemostasis:Constricts blood vessels to prevent further bleeding.
She placed her glowing hand over the swollen knee. Slowly, the internal bleeding began to stop. The swelling halted its spread, and the situation stabilized.
Just as Bilan sighed in relief—
"What are you doing?! There's an injured child here! I don't have time for your nonsense!"
Dickido's angry voice rang from the alley's entrance.
Bilan quickly stood up. She turned to see that the exit was now blocked by three figures wearing gray-red robes. They were missionaries of the Tishachar Church, clutching thick books in their hands.
They completely ignored Dickido's struggles. Even when he lashed out, hitting one of them in the stomach, the missionary didn't react at all. It was as if they felt no pain.
Boom!
Dickido was shoved to the ground, landing hard. His white robe was immediately covered in dust. He groaned in pain.
"What are you doing?! This child is injured—he needs help!" Bilan shouted, stepping forward angrily. She helped Dickido up while glaring at the missionaries.
But they didn't respond. Their vacant, lifeless eyes stared straight through her, as if she wasn't even there.
A sense of dread crept into Bilan's heart. She was a mage apprentice, but she had never learned any combat spells. If this turned into a fight, she wouldn't stand a chance. These missionaries were clearly unnatural—were they even human?
She instinctively stepped back, pressing against Dickido's side for support.
"What do you want?" Dickido demanded, trying to stand tall despite his fear. He positioned himself protectively in front of Bilan.
The missionaries remained silent. Then, the leader among them slowly reached into his robe. His skeletal fingers trembled as he pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a sickly pale-green liquid.
Under the dim sunlight, the carved spider emblem on the bottle glimmered ominously…