’Friend, someone’s coming.’
I opened my eyes and nodded faintly before closing them again.
But, of course, I didn’t sleep, not only because I was still cautious about this new place, but also because my habits had long since adapted to a life of constant vigilance.
True rest was for only home and familiar ground.
’Hmm...’
I already knew who the presence belonged to. That’s exactly why I was pretending to be asleep. I wanted to test her.
Just then, the fur curtain rustled as she passed through.
She stopped at the foot of the bed, gazing straight at me.
I held back the urge to check.
"Hmm... Should I wake him up or not?"
She muttered to herself.
"Urgh, why did dad send me anyway? Didn’t I already tell him he’s married?"
That eased one of my worries at least. But I also agreed with her question.
"Urgh... Whatever, it’s for his own good anyway," she whispered, resolve firming in her voice.
’?’
Then I felt it, a faint ripple of aura being gathered. Thanks to my high affinity, I could guess what she was trying to do.
"This much should be enough, right?"
And that only confirmed my suspicion.
’Damn, I gotta wake up before she really does it!’
"Umm..."
I let out a soft groan, as if stirring naturally. My brows furrowed as I blinked my eyes open slowly, ’adjusting’ them.
Rubbing my eyes with my left hand, I turned toward her.
"Hmm?"
Uru’en flinched, her eyes widening as our gazes met.
"Mor-?"
Then my eyes drifted to the large ball of water hovering above her palm. A question mark appeared above my head as I turned back at her in confusion and wariness.
"...(≖_≖)"
She blushed a little, hurriedly dispersing the waterball.
"( ˶°ㅁ°) !!"
We continued staring at each other in the grey pre-dawn light.
"G-good morning!" She stuttered. "It’s breakfast time, hurry up and come out!" And ran off awkwardly.
As soon as she left, a relieved sigh escaped from me.
’Thank goodness I acted immediately; if not, I would be drenched in water already!’
I even questioned her intelligence; couldn’t she have tried to wake me up by speaking first? Why go straight to that method?!
Then again, considering her weird tastes and habits, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she really thought a sudden splash of ice-cold water was a perfectly reasonable alarm clock.
I got up, stretching the stiffness from my limbs.
The air in the room was slightly damp, courtesy of her hastily dismissed spell.
I could still feel the faint, cool tingle of dispersed water aura.
’So much for a peaceful morning.’
I changed into fresh clothes and stepped out into the main hall.
There, Uru’en was already waiting for me, her earlier embarrassment nowhere to be seen.
I also didn’t say anything as we headed to the kitchen hall for breakfast.
Surprisingly, snow barbarians turned out to be early birds; half of them had already finished their breakfast and were going out to do their daily tasks.
What’s more, breakfast was a meal filled with meat once again; it seemed like their tribe really loved to eat meat.
While having breakfast, I asked Uru’en about when we were going out to do ’that’, and she promptly replied that it would be after she told me herself. There were a few more hours before we could go out.
"In that case, why don’t you show me the infirmary or anything close?" I suggested. "I want to show my gratitude by helping out the injured and the ill, if there are, of course. I’m also curious about your tribe’s healing methods."
Uru’en’s eyes lit up, as if she’d just remembered something important. "Ah! Right, you said you were a healer!"
’...Yep, there’s really something wrong with her.’ I confirmed inwardly.
"We have a recovery lodge. It’s nothing fancy. But I recall that Grandpa Goran is always complaining about being overworked. He will be happy to have an assistant, even for a few hours."
"Huh? Is he your real grandpa?"
If so, her connections were powerful; she was practically the next chief.
"Grandpa? No, but everyone calls him that, even my parents. Though I don’t know much about his real family."
"I see..." I muttered. "Right, you said he’s overworking. Doesn’t he have any disciples?"
"Disciple? No, almost no one in our tribe is interested in learning it. In fact, there were a few, but they couldn’t understand anything at all and ultimately failed to become healers." She shrugged, leading me along a path trodden hard into the snow, towards a large, solitary hut with smoke curling from a central chimney. "The young ones all want to be great hunters or warriors. Mending flesh is... less glorious than spilling blood, I guess. Besides, Grandpa’s methods are—"
She cut herself off, her steps faltering for a second. Her voice dropped. "...There was someone who succeeded."
I glanced at her profile.
Her expression had tightened, and the usual playful light in her eyes had dimmed.
There was a story there, and it wasn’t a happy one.
"Urgh!" She shook her head sharply. "Just... don’t talk about disciples or successors to Old Man Goran, okay? It’s a sore spot for him. For everyone..."
I nodded. "Understood."
"And we are here." She said, stopping in front of a hut.
It was a bit smaller than the others, built with thick logs and sealed tight against the cold.
"Let’s go in."
"Ok."
As we stepped inside, a strong, pungent odor hit me: a mix of dried herbs, crushed medicinal roots, and the sharp, coppery scent of old blood.
The space was dim, lit by a single, guttering oil lamp.
In the center of the room, slumped in a heavy wooden chair behind a cluttered table, was an old man.
He had a long, wild white beard that spilled over his chest, but his head was completely bald and shiny in the low light. His mouth was open, and a rhythmic, grating snore filled the hut.
"Zzzzz... hrk-gwomph... Zzzzz..."
Scattered around on simple fur-pallet beds were three injured tribesmen.
One had a heavily splinted leg. Another was propped up, his torso wrapped in thick bandages stained a rusty brown. The third was just glaring at the ceiling, looking deeply unhappy.
All three of them were awake. And all three were shooting death glares at the snoring old man from time to time.
Uru’en sighed, a sound of pure exasperation. She marched over to the table and brought her hand down on it with a sharp THWACK .
"Grandpa! Wake up!"
The old man jolted, his snore cutting off with a choke.
He blinked bleary, deep-set green eyes, focusing first on Uru’en, then on me.
"Wha—? Uru’en? Can’t you see I’m meditating?" he grumbled, his voice a dry rasp.
"Meditating? You were snoring loud enough to shake icicles off the roof!" the tribesman with the splinted leg growled.
Goran ignored him, his sharp gaze now locked on me. "Hmph. Another one of your strays, girl? This one looks a bit stringy for hunting."
"This is Lumin," Uru’en said, ignoring his words and introducing me. "He’s a guest. A healer guest. He’s here to help you."
Goran’s bushy white eyebrows crept upward.
He leaned forward, studying me with new, sharp interest. "A healer, you say?"
"Yes, but I’m just a beginner," I took the chance to greet him myself. "I hope I can be of help and learn a thing or two from you."
Goran stared at me deeply before waving his hand.
"Alright, you can start with that one." He pointed at the bandaged one. "But I have nothing to teach you."
’I guess whatever happened still weighs heavily on him.’ I thought before nodding and preparing for work. "Uru’en, you can call me once everything is ready. I will be here."
"Alright, I’ll be going then." Uru’en waved before giving Goran a sharp look. "Don’t overwork him; he still has other things to do." And left the hut.
"Hmph! That girl!"
Leaving Goran with a scoff.
I ignored him and went over to the patient’s side.
I wasn’t lying about what I said.
I really wanted to show my gratitude for their help.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
But as I was about to use Mender’s Paradox, the old man’s voice stopped me.