East Road Quest

Chapter 80: The Sage’s Hut

Sapph paused upon discovering the hut, taking a deep breath momentarily.

Wandering through a forest where trees grew two steps apart, entering such a place felt like a sudden cleanse in the air. Moonlight and starlight seeped through the trees, casting an unusually bright glow upon the hut.

The house, made of earth, had walls bulging outwards like a pumpkin pressed from above, and round wooden barks covered it like acorn caps instead of a roof. The yellow mud walls reflected the moonlight, twinkling in various colors depending on the viewing angle.

The door, shaped like a leaf, was not an actual leaf. Or if it were, it would have been a rather thick one.

Merrald, with two people slung over his shoulders, walked up to the hut and kicked the leaf-shaped door. The leaf emitted a dull, wooden sound.

“Sage, it’s me.”

Both the main door and windows were leaf-shaped and firmly closed. However, the sight of white smoke rising from the chimney suggested it was not empty.

Merrald kicked the door again, and suddenly, with a loud bang, black smoke billowed from the chimney.

“Sage!”

Merrald kicked the door open and entered.

Sapph had no choice but to follow hastily without a chance to ask anything.

Inside the hut was filled with a strange smell and black smoke. It was a mix of sweet strawberry scent, a musty rag smell, and a strong alcoholic odor.

An orange light from a hanging lantern brightly illuminated the living room, which was not a candle or oil lamp.

The earthen walls were covered with dried pilgrim corpses and strangely shaped plants hanging by their roots. The cauldron boiling on the hearth seemed like a fearsome witch’s potion from old tales.

From the outside, it looked like a mysterious hut of an elder enjoying retirement, but inside, it was entirely an alchemist’s laboratory.

“Oh, Merrald. Have you arrived?”

A woman emerged, waving away the black smoke.

“What have you been doing, Sage?”

Sapph couldn’t accept Merrald calling her ‘Sage.’

An elf appeared, wearing what looked like large oven mitts, a young woman in her thirties at most. She was also stunningly beautiful, the kind that would captivate any man at first sight.

Her waist-length blonde hair and blue eyes sparkled like jewels, reflecting the light from the ceiling lantern. With a slender figure and tall stature, Sapph had to look up quite high. Her smooth, flawless face, even with soot smudges, looked charming.

Like the elves they had seen by the pond, she had rabbit-like ears, a span long, perking up through her blonde hair.

“I was baking cookies, knowing you’d come. They’re a bit burnt, though.”

She flung open the closed leaf windows to ventilate.

“A bit burnt? I thought this time, the experiment failed, and I almost blew up the house!”

Merrald spoke in an angry tone. Despite the concern in his voice, his fierce appearance almost seemed ready to demolish the house.

However, the elf woman dismissed the orc’s anger with a gentle smile.

“Who is this child? Even if the Dark Forest is warm, why is she almost naked?”

Sage noticed Sapph and asked.

“A human girl.”

Merrald replied.

“I can see her race and gender!” Sage said as she took off her thin coat and handed it to Sapph.

Sapph put on the coat and spoke quickly.

“Are you the Sage of the Dark Forest? My name is Sapph. Please save Father Ruby and Father Jade.”

Sage smiled broadly and said.

“You speak the common tongue. It’s rare among humans these days! But Ruby and Jade?”

Merrald laid down Ruby and Jade on an empty table, one after the other.

“These two. I’ll explain the situation slowly, so please treat them first.”

“Am I a doctor? Why should I treat humans I don’t even know?”

Despite her words, Sage had already taken off her oven mitts and was examining the two.

“They need treatment. These are the ones the Sage mentioned.”

Merrald said.

Sage looked at Sapph with wide eyes.

“Ho, I can feel a different energy from you, not like ordinary humans.”

“He knows healing magic. But it’s the man who knows the magic of annihilation.”

Merrald pointed, and Sage examined Jade, who lay on the table.

“This one?”

Even unconscious, Jade was groaning.

Sage lightly touched the wound on his abdomen. Jade twitched reflexively.

“This wound is not severe. You’ve done well with the first aid. Sapph, was it? Come here.”

Sage commanded Sapph.

“If you know healing magic, this is your expertise, isn’t it? Go ahead.”

Sapph did as instructed.

“The problem is this one.”

Sage put on a white glove and checked Ruby’s eyes and pulse. After a brief examination, she asked.

“Poison?”

“It seems he’s been struck by the poison of Dukuboah, one of the heads of Heldra.”

Merrald said.

“Dukuboah’s poison? That’s troublesome. But you fought with Heldra?”

“Is this the child?”

Sage looked on in wonder, selecting a row of neatly arranged vials from the shelf on the wall.

She set a few vials on the empty table and took one to pour over Ruby’s body liberally. The ‘Sage’s Healing’ that Sapp had anticipated turned out to be rather rough and hasty.

Approaching the hearth, Sage pulled out a tray from inside. On the tray lay what appeared to be blackened lumps of coal, still emitting wisps of dark smoke.

Sapp had thought it was a specially concocted medicine, but it was actually the ‘slightly burnt’ cookies she had mentioned earlier.

“Hmm, they may not look great, but they’ll taste good. Want to try some, Merald?”

“No, thanks.”

“You’re too picky with food. How about you?” Sage offered the burnt cookies.

Sapp instinctively shook his head in refusal.

“Hmm, right. You’re probably too worried about your companion to eat something like this now.”

With a cookie in her mouth, Sage brought over a small cauldron and poured the vials she had placed on the table into it.

Alchemists are known to meticulously measure and mix medicines in precise ratios, but Sage did it carelessly, even using the stick she had picked up the cookies with to stir. She then placed the cauldron with the mixed chemicals over the fire and returned to Sapp’s side. Observing Sapp’s hand closely, Sage remarked,

“Oh my. You use the light of healing very well. It’s quite pure. You can stop now.”

Sapp spoke with concern,

“I’ve tried to stop the bleeding before, but it hasn’t improved at all.”

Sage stroked Jade’s forehead once and said,

“The loss of consciousness isn’t due to bleeding. It’s from internal shock.”

“Internal shock?”

“Didn’t you say you used the magic of annihilation? Then it’s natural that shock would accumulate. You’re probably also quite fatigued.”

“That’s right. He hasn’t been able to sleep properly for days.”

“Are you alright?”

Sage gently stroked Sapp’s forehead.

Sapp belatedly realized that the horns on her head were exposed. She flinched and stepped back, replying,

“I’m, I’m fine.”

She avoided eye contact, fearing it would seem stranger to cover her head now.

‘Come to think of it, even after seeing these horns, they called me a ‘human’ girl. Sage, Merald… Maybe elves don’t care about such things?’

Sage brought over a box filled with strange tools of unknown purpose.

“Merald, don’t just stand there. Help this child… What did you say the red-haired kid’s name was?”

Sage asked, pointing at Ruby.

“It’s Ruby.”

Sapp quickly responded.

“Right. Go wash Ruby.”

Sage instructed again.

Merald frowned.

“Me?”

“Would you rather have Sapp do it?”

“You want me to wash a man?”

“Would it have been better if it were a woman?”

“That’s not what I mean, but…

“Although I’ve neutralized it, there might still be some toxicity left, so the water used to wash must be stored in the chemical container.”

“I am the guardian of the Dark Forest, not a nurse!”

Merald grumbled as he lifted Ruby, wrapped in leaves just as she was. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he asked, “By the way, I’ve been exposed to this creature’s poison for quite some time. Shouldn’t I take some antidote? Half my face is already paralyzed, and I don’t even have the energy to properly retort to the old woman’s venomous words.”

“Oh dear, it seems you’ve been poisoned too. You claim to be unable to retort, yet I haven’t spewed any venom! If you clean Ruby thoroughly, I’ll prepare the medicine in the meantime.”

“I hate taking medicine. The old woman’s remedies are always so bitter.”

“I’ll also prepare some candy.”

“Sorghum candy? Honey candy?”

“Which do you prefer?”

“Honey candy.”

“Alas! We’ve run out of that. Only sorghum candy is left.”

“Damn it, are you telling me to take that bitter medicine with those tasteless candies?”

Merald’s muttering voice faded as he descended into the basement.

“In truth, everyone here should be prescribed an antidote. You, me, and Jade too. Oh, would you like some candy?”

Sage smiled warmly at Sapph and offered a clay jar. Inside were numerous pebble-sized, round, yellow candies.

“What’s candy?”

Sapph reached into the jar and pulled one out. It was soft and pliable, like clay.

“Don’t you know? They have it in the human world too, though made differently. In my case, I mixed honey with flour.”

Sapph popped the candy into his mouth and was taken aback by the sweetness, a sensation he had never experienced before, making his body tremble.

“How is it?”

Sage asked.

Sapph, trembling even in his lips, replied, “It’s… incredibly… delicious.”

“It’s good when you’re tired. Want another?”

Sage extended the jar. Unable to refuse, Sapph took another.

“Tell Merald you ate sorghum candy. If that guy knows we have these, he’ll eat them all.”

Sage closed the jar and hid it in a corner before giving an instruction.

“Now, go to that shelf and bring me the bottles I tell you, one by one.”

With the candy melting in his mouth and its sweetness enveloping his tongue once more, Sapph thought he could easily devour a whole jar himself, not just Merald.

“Start with the white bottle at the very end.”

Sage hung another small pot over the fire and pointed with her finger.

“Be careful not to break it. If you show that bottle to a knowledgeable alchemist back in your country, you could buy a castle with it—it’s that precious.”

Sapph carefully levitated the indicated bottle. Not because it was expensive, but because it contained the medicine that could save Ruby.

Sage began measuring the brought ingredients with a small spoon and adding them to the pot. This time, she seemed to put in more effort, and they remained silent for a while. Finally, she carelessly poured the contents of the first pot, which had been mixed haphazardly, into the pot with the meticulously mixed medicine, finishing the task.

Sage stretched her back with a sigh.

“Phew, it’s been a while since I’ve worked up a sweat.”

Sapph looked over at Jade, lying on the table, and asked, “Will they both be alright?”

“This child will be fine.”

Sage gazed down at Jade, who was breathing evenly with her eyes closed, and began to speak.

“Your healing magic is perfect. The internal shock will heal over time, so it’s best to leave it be. The real problem is the child you took to wash.”

“Is Ruby that serious?”

“The poison of Duor is the second strongest in this forest. Even a slight touch can cause one to lose consciousness within half an hour, and after sleeping for two days, one may never wake up again. It’s a miracle she’s alive after being covered in so much of it. She should have died before even arriving here.”

“Ruby is strong.”

“Physical strength and the body’s immune system are two different things.”

“Ruby is an angel. So, she’ll be able to endure it.”

“An angel? An angel, you say…”

Sage tilted her head in thought, then suddenly burst into a bright smile and nodded.

“Ah, that angel! Then there might be a slight possibility.”

“Do you know about angels? Merald didn’t.”

“Of course, I do. They are the guardians of faith for you, aren’t they?”

“To us elves, they are destroyers of faith. So, let’s not bring up angels again.”

Sage spoke firmly.

Saph closed her mouth in surprise.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t treat her. These are two separate matters.”

Sage spoke softly and walked back to the hearth.

“I should check if the antidote is well mixed. Hmm, it seems to be good. If it boils too long, it loses its effectiveness.”

She removed the pot from the fire.

“Is there anything more I can do?”

Saph asked.

“Well, what did you do before you came to this forest?”

“I was at a monastery.”

“Then you must be a priestess of the Kaitlic faith?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“Then your task is clear. Pray.”

Sage said with a grin. Despite the sound advice, Saph couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being mocked.