"Hey, what's wrong?", Litia asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Y'all look rather concerned. Is there something on my face?" It seems I wasn't the only one who had a miniature heart attack, as both Anastasia and Ender both had looks of dread on their faces, though Ender hid it much better.
"No, we're just...a little surprised is all.", I told her, trying to maintain a calm composure. "We just weren't expecting one of Dragonia's knights to be this far from the city."
"Yes, well…", she trailed off, getting another conflicted look on her face before looking up to us and nodding for us to come in. "Perhaps it would be better to walk and talk. I need to show y'all to where you can sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted. Oh, but could you tell me your names by chance?"
"Oh, my name is Anastasia.", Anastasia responded, taking the initiative. "That's Ender, and he's…" She trailed off, not sure if she should reveal my name just in case.
"...Six.", I relented, waiting for the possible realization of just who I was.
"Hmm, Six, huh?", she responded with a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at me. "What a weird name. Is that a new trend nowadays? Naming your kids after numbers?" Well, that's a weight off my shoulders. I had to fight myself from visibly sighing in relief.
"No, I'm just a strange case is all.", I responded, to which she nodded. Afterwards, she turned and motioned us to come in, readying the door to close behind us.
With that, the three of us followed her in, the large stone door closing shut behind us as we made our way through rather large, winding tunnels; stairs carved out of the ground wherever we had to go up or down. Torch sconces lined the walls on our left side, lighting the way for us as we proceeded. We walked in silence for a bit, Litia about to say something while Anastasia and Ender had looks that were a mix of caution and intrigue.
"Y'all asked what was going on earlier, right?", Litia asked, to which Anastasia nodded. Litia sighed before continuing in a strange tone, "Well, it's kind of a long story, so I don't want to get into the specifics…"
Hmm, with the way she said it, that sounds like code for "I don't wanna tell you."
"But, what I can tell you is that we are in the midst of a civil war.", Litia stated rather plainly. Great, something else to get in the way of my plans. I could hear the girls behind me gasp as the news was broken to us.
"What? Since when?", Anastasia asked before adding, "And more importantly, why?"
"Like I said, it's a difficult topic to explain to outsiders.", Litia reiterated before explaining. "All you need to know is that a coup was staged in our city, and now our great Queen, Deonora, has fallen ill."
"Damn, talk about bad timing.", I stated, causing Litia to nod her head nervously without looking back as we continued at a steady pace through the torch-lit tunnels. Is she hiding something?
"Indeed, it has been almost a month since the fighting started, and with some of our best warriors defecting, along with a horde of zombies thanks to some powerful lich, we have been forced to dig in here in the Mountain.", Litia explained as we began passing open chambers full of people, both human men and mamono. They varied from being just groups of refugees trying to help out where they can to warriors going about their business. "There's not many of us left, unfortunately. Many civilians, men especially, have been captured, leaving their wives all alone…"
"Have they attacked here yet?", Ender asked, trying to better gauge the situation.
"No, but they no doubt know we are here.", Litia responded as we continued walking. "It's only a matter of time before they do, though."
"Are you ready for a siege like that?", I asked curiously.
"Environment-wise, I think this is as good as it's going to get.", Litia answered before elaborating. "This mountain is full of twists and turns, making it great for traps and defensive positions, especially since we would have the high ground. However…"
"However what?", Anastasia asked, Litia trailing off.
"Well, like I said, we are very few in number. It wouldn't take much to overwhelm us.", Litia said as we kept on walking. "Not to mention, many of our warriors are still injured from the earlier conflicts. It's to the point where we have had to resort to guerrilla warfare of all things." Hmm, guess I shouldn't be surprised that people in a medieval setting aren't the biggest fans of guerrilla tactics.
"If you've got injured, Six here can help with tha-", Anastasia tried to offer in my stead, but was interrupted by Litia swinging around and holding me by the shoulders with a very tight grip thanks to her wing talons.
"You can!?", Litia said in excitement, seemingly not wanting to let go of me until I answered her.
"Yes, now calm down.", I said, trying to get her to let go of me. Instead, she let go of my shoulders, but gripped her left talons onto my duster as she turned around and began to drag me after her at a brisk pace, Ender and Anastasia following close behind.
"Change of plans! Come with me to the infirmary!", she yelled as we ran along more twisting tunnels at a much faster pace than before. I almost socked her in the face for what she was pulling, pun intended, but decided against it when she said where we were going.
Seems like she's got her heart in the right place, at least.
After dragging me through a series of winding tunnels, making me almost lose my sense of direction along the way, we finally arrived in front of a wooden door lodged into the tunnel. The wood was warped and old, but was decorated on the front with a big, red cross. Without hesitation, Litia nearly blew the door off of its shoddy hinges with her incredible wings.
"Malinda! I've got great news!", Litia announced as she barged in with me, finally letting go. Ender and Anastasia weren't far behind as they caught up to enter the room just after us. It looked similar to the rest of the chambers, though there were a lot more rock outcroppings that were being used as makeshift shelves and desks for various things.
There were all kinds of bottles and syringes filled with various medicines and there were also several powders and tablets laying in what looked to be makeshift weighing parchment. Along with all that were various surgical implements such as scalpels, cylinders full of leeches, needles for sutures and stitches, and even a goddamn microscope.
Hell Yeah! If I have a microscope, I may be able to modify it a bit to get myself a reading on the various unknown elements that make up demonic and spirit energy.
"Yes, Litia, what is it?", a clear and calm voice came from another chamber bordering on the one we were in. It seemed to be blocked by a white curtain, but I could just barely make out a couple beds with patients beyond it. "Aren't you supposed to be on watch, dear?"
"Well, yeah, but I got a surprise for ya!", Litia responded back loud enough for the other person to hear. After a few moments of waiting, we heard something coming into the room. It didn't sound like footsteps, though, more like…
"Okay, what is it, dear?", the woman said as she emerged from the curtain and slithered into the room. Wait, slithered? Taking a look at her, it appeared that she wasn't just some ordinary woman, nor an ordinary monster. She was a wurm. "Oh my, you should've just said I had visitors. Are they patients?"
Immediately upon seeing the wurm, the girls, along with myself, froze up since we were anticipating another encounter like earlier. However, we quickly relaxed when we noticed that she wasn't at all like the wurm I disposed of before. She had stark white hair with white and gray scales, a large black robe with white highlights, a black nurse's cap with a red cross on the front, red eyes and a small pair of angular glasses. She was holding a tray full of medicines and what looked like a bloody needle for stitches, along with a bowl of water and towel for washing off blood.
"No, even better!", Litia responded before gesturing to me. "According to this man's wives, he is skilled in medicine like you are, so I thought that maybe he could help you out." Wait, what? Wives? Yeah, try again, lady. I mean, it's not like I think they'd make bad wives, but I'm just not there yet.
Wait, yet?
"O-Oh, I'm flattered you'd think that, but we're not really his wives or anything.", Anastasia corrected, her cheeks flaring up. "We travel with him."
"Though we'd very much like to be.", Ender added, causing Anastasia to nod, her cheeks getting even redder. Meanwhile, both dragonkin in front of us were giving us strange looks.
"Hmm, while this is rather amusing, do you not remember the last time you tried this, Litia dear?", Malinda asked, bringing her hands to massage her head after setting down the tray, yawning as she did so. "That last human you brought in here to help almost ended up causing one of my patients to overdose."
"Well, yeah, but…", Litia said before trailing off again. "It's just that, well, you are always working so hard in here, doing so much for us, that I...really wanna do something to help you out in return." Malinda smiled in return as brought one of her hands to her chest.
"That's fine, dear, but I do not even know who they are.", Malinda responded, gesturing towards the three of us.
"Oh, right, this is Six and his wi-, I mean companions: Anastasia and Ender.", Litia introduced us quickly and excitedly, to which we each waved.
"I see. What a peculiar name", Malinda said before turning to address me, yawning again as she did. Good, she doesn't seem to recognize me, either. "Well, Six, what prior medical experience do you have?"
"I've performed multiple successful surgeries on both myself and other people. I've also treated multiple illnesses and poisons, as well as a plethora of long-standing addictions to various opioids and other narcotics.", I recounted to her with [Medicine 100].
"Hmm…", Malinda hummed to herself, seeming genuinely surprised with my response. "That's all well and good; however, how many of those cases were with mamono?"
"Well…", I trailed off, trying to find the right words to say before turning towards Anastasia and Ender, who were looking at me with hopeful looks. "I'm not gonna lie, I don't have much experience with mamono, but I have fixed up a serious injury on Ender here, so as long as they are relatively humanoid…"
"Yeah, an injury you caused.", Ender said quietly to herself, though it seems no one heard her. Oh, quiet you. The wurm seemed to be contemplating what I said in silence, the air between us getting slightly awkward as no one said anything.
"So...Could you give him a chance?", Litia asked before adding. "I don't want you to work yourself to death in here." Getting a better look at Malinda, I could see that Litia had a point. She looked seriously fatigued, with sleepy eyes she would constantly rub, deep bags under her eyes, all very clear signs of sleep deprivation. Thanks to my cybernetics, I no longer require sleep, but I can't say the same about her.
"...Fine, I'll see if I can't put him to work.", Malinda finally relented, causing Litia to jump for joy.
"Yes! You better not let her down now, ya hear?", Litia turned to tell me, pointed one of her talons at my face in a playful manner. Honestly, I would have declined by now given that this girls was just kind of signing me up for this without my consent, but a single thought kept me from doing so.
If what this girl said about the Queen being sick was true, then that means that she must be being kept here somewhere for treatment. I doubt they'd have her here in the infirmary next to all the other patients, but the point is I need an audience with her. After all, if I'm going to get the Dragon's Tearstone, I need to get on her good side, and what better way to do that then saving her life and helping her win a civil war? In all honesty, this whole civil war thing is kind of a blessing in disguise for me. For now, though, I should just go along with this whole doctor routine for now and build up as much intel as I can. If I can get into this doctor's good graces, then maybe she'll let me in on what exactly is up with the Queen.
"Sure, I'll see if I can't lighten the workload a bit.", I responded, taking full advantage of the situation.
"Alright, then I'll head back to my post for now. I'll be back to check up on y'all later.", Litia said with a smile as she went for the exit, turning back to us in the doorway. "It was nice meeting y'all. See ya later!" With that, she was gone.
"She seems cheerful.", Anastasia supplied her opinion as we stood there.
"Yes, she often has a one-track mind, but her heart is in the right place.", Malinda replied with a yawn. "Such a good girl."
"Speaking of one-track mind…", I said, changing the subject as I turned back to address Malinda. "You are certainly different than most wurms."
"You mean because I haven't tried to violate you?", Malinda asked with a smirk on her tired face.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean.", I responded before adding. "Most wurms are supposed to be super aggressive and obsessed with sex, yet you're so...calm."
"Well, you know that they say, don't judge a book by its cover.", Malinda said before explaining further. "I've always been an outlier compared to my species, though with my job here, I have to maintain a calm composure. People's lives are in my hands, and if I stay calm-"
"Then so will your patients.", I finished before adding, "Like I said, I've had a lot of experience leading people away from death's door. I know what it's like." Of course, I've obviously killed far more people than I've saved, but she didn't need to know that.
"Indeed, maybe I can work something out with you.", she said, gesturing for me to follow her into the patient room. "However, before anything serious, I need a demonstration. I will show you a human patient that I have already diagnosed a treatment plan for. I have information on their symptoms and vitals ready for you. All I need you to do is give an accurate diagnosis and an adequate treatment plan." As she said that, my Pip-Boy beeped signifying that the automatic Quest Tracker had activated. Taking a quick glance, I saw what it was.
Doctor's Orders
}Pass Malinda's Test
As we walked, the girls following behind me, we looked around to see many different patients in various states of consciousness on the beds. Most of them were mamono, but there were a few humans here and there.
"Wow, so many different mamono.", Anastasia said to herself before addressing Malinda. "You must be very smart to work on them all."
"Thank you, dear. I know I'm different from most wurms in that regard, as well.", she responded as we closed in on the patient.
"Though you must still have some kind of longing for pleasure. You are a wurm, after all.", Ender commented, to which Malinda adopted a sly, but still tired grin.
"I'll admit, I do still have cravings like any other mamono.", she admitted before continuing. "Typically, I just settle it with 'payment' from certain human patients. A little extra treatment, if you will." Well, at least it seems she won't try anything with me. Don't get me wrong, she is hot and has a nice rack, but I still need to get that Demonic Energy immunity, and thanks to that microscope, it doesn't seem like such a far off possibility anymore.
"Alright, here he is.", Malinda said as we approached a human man with black hair and an average build. He clearly isn't a warrior, more than likely some kind of merchant. He was laying down and breathing steadily, though he was unconscious. "Take your time and make sure you get an accurate diagnosis."
After getting the go ahead, I began to look over the patient as the girls watched. I checked his pulse and breathing to find that he likely wasn't in any kind of pain. Looking over his body, I found what looked to be a rather large, red bump on his shoulder just under the gown he was wearing. Looking it over, it very much looked like something I'd seen many times before: a radscorpion sting.
"How long has the patient been unconscious?", I asked, looking him over once more for any sign of infection or other stings.
"About two days.", Malinda responded, watching me intently.
"Have you taken a blood sample?", I asked as I began to check around under his gown for anything else, moving his limbs around to find they were a little too relaxed. I also found that, strangely enough, his dick was rather inflamed. It didn't seem to be an STI, but I couldn't rule it out.
"Yes, though before I show you, what do you think?", Malinda affirmed before asking.
"I think he has been stung and envenomed. I need to see what kind of toxin we are dealing with before I give any conclusions.", I told her up front to which she nodded, yawned and led us back to the lab we were in before. Once there, Malinda went about searching for the man's blood sample.
"How are you going to find out what poisoned him?", Anastasia asked.
"We're gonna look at his blood to figure it out.", I responded easily, waiting for Malinda to finish her search.
"How are you going to get that out of some blood?", Ender asked, but before I could answer, Malinda beat me to the punch.
"By looking at it under a very powerful and unique telescope.", Malinda explained as she returned with the sample in a very small, flat tube full of blood. "To be honest, I'm impressed you thought to do this. I was under the impression most people don't even know what these are." I guess microscopes are still pretty new in this world, huh?
"To be fair, your the first person I've seen on this continent who actually has one.", I said as I walked over and began to prepare the microscope while Malinda pressed multiple slides. After a bit of finagling, I managed to get it how I wanted. It was still rather large and primitive compared to what I'm used to, but it would work.
"You know, with a few modifications, you could make this thing even more efficient.", I pointed out to her as I began to look at each slide individually, attempting to isolate the toxin.
"You'll have to show me sometime. You already seem to be much more knowledgeable than the previous help I was provided.", Malinda replied with another yawn, pushing up her glasses afterwards.
"Yeah, Six is really smart when it comes to healing.", Anastasia complimented before turning to Ender. "Right, Ender?"
"Even though he was the one who injured me in the first place?", Ender said again, though this time loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Oh my, what happened?", Malinda asked.
"That...was a while ago.", I responded before explaining. "Long story short, she tried to rape me, so I messed her legs up pretty bad. Then, I healed her and sent her on her way." I didn't even have to look at Malinda to know she had a look of pure disbelief on her face.
"It's true. We're on much better terms now, though.", Anastasia backed me up as she put an arm around Ender's shoulder.
"Yeah, water under the bridge, right Ender?", I asked without looking up from the microscope, closing in on just what this toxin was.
"Yes, though I still wanna fuck you.", she replied plainly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know.", I said before finally finishing my examination. "That can wait. I think I figured out what's going on with the patient."
"By all means, tell me your thoughts.", Malinda responded, calm and ready for what I had to say.
"Well, the toxin in his blood is a mix of several things.", I began before explaining. "Firstly, and most importantly, there is a type of neurotoxin in his system, which is likely the cause of his relaxed muscles and deep sleep. I can't determine what it is exactly, it looks like tetrodotoxin, but it isn't. It's something else I can't exactly place, but I can tell it's much less potent. Good news is that he doesn't seem to have a lethal dose, either, and will wake up pretty soon with no permanent damage. Secondly, there seems to be some kind of aphrodisiac in the mix, which is why his prick is a bit redder than it should be, especially since there isn't any other sign of STI's."
"You...looked at his penis?", Anastasia asked, getting red in the face again as Ender smirked.
"Yeah? He could have had his penis chopped off for all I knew.", I told her before quickly moving on before any teasing could ensue.
"Good. Now, can you tell me where it came from?", Malinda asked before adding, "Also, how should we treat him?"
"Well, based on what the neurotoxin looks like, I'd immediately say some sort of sea creature, but…", I trailed off, thinking back to the look of his lumps. "I've seen stings like this before, and they didn't come from anything like that. I'd almost say it was a type of scorpion, but-"
"Very good.", Malinda interrupted me before explaining. "Those stings came from a Girtablilu. He just got a bit more than normal and fell into a deep sleep." Wait, a what? If I'm remembering right, aren't those a desert monster? How would he get stung by one of those? I almost voiced this sentiment when Ender did so before me.
"Aren't they found more in the desert region down South?", Ender asked.
"Typically, yes, though bandits come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, looking to take advantage of the lawlessness brought on by the civil war.", Malinda explained before adding. "Now, what should we do?"
"Well, if he's not needed anywhere urgently, I'd say just let him wait it out. It probably will only be a day or two more at most.", I responded before explaining. "He's not in any immediate danger or risk of dehydration, and he isn't in pain or discomfort. If anything, he'll just be hungry, thirsty, and horny when he wakes up. If he needs fluids, then-"
"I suppose we can leave it at that. I got the answer I was looking for.", Malinda interrupted yet again. I swear, if she keeps doing that, then we are going to have problems. "Besides providing him with water, he is safe to wait out the Girtablilu venom."
"If he is already going to be fine, then why did you have Six look him over?", Ender asked, slightly annoyed. At least there's something we can agree upon.
"I already told you, this was merely a test.", Malinda responded before adding, "I want to make absolutely sure he knows what he's doing before I let him work on a real patient, and he passed with flying colors."
"Fantastic.", I deadpanned before continuing. "Well, what next?"
"Now, we can move on to-", Malinda began, but she was the one being interrupted this time.
"We got wounded incoming!", a female voice shouted before in burst four more mamono in pairs carrying stretchers with clearly injured mamono on them. I couldn't recognize any of them, as I didn't see any of them coming up here. For the most part, they all seemed to be unremarkable-looking wyverns, though one of the girls carrying a stretcher caught my attention instantly.
She had black hair tied in a ponytail with black horns, black wings, what looked like a kind of primitive, white sports bra with a red tie, yellow eyes and black scales. What shocked me most, however, was that her wings weren't her arms, but instead were separate and on her back, identifying her immediately as an honest-to-God dragon.
"Malinda! These girls got hurt bad!", the black haired dragon spoke frantically as we all began to move toward the patient room, the girls and myself included. "They're bleeding and got that damn rot in their wounds!"
"Damn!", Malinda cursed as she began to lead the girls to empty beds that were right next to each other. "Place them down here and here, I'm gonna go get my surgical tools." After placing the girls on the bed, I alone followed Malinda back to the lab to help her out.
"What did they mean by rot?", I asked, trying to gauge their medical terms in comparison with what I know from Earth.
"Zombie rot.", Malinda said as she frantically began grabbing various clean surgical implements and placing them on the tray from before. "I'm just not sure if I'll be able to get it out of them both in time…"
"Then let me get one, you get the other.", I told her.
"No, out of the question!", she snapped back quickly before elaborating. "This is a very delicate matter, and I won't risk losing a life to potential incompetence."
"One of them is gonna die without me anyway, and you know it.", I retorted coldly before adding. "At least if she dies under my knife, I'll be the one held accountable instead."
"I...fine.", she relented before throwing a bit extra of everything on the tray. "We might as well try. You better not mess this up." As she said that, my Pip-Boy beeped again, signifying that the Automatic Quest Tracker had updated the quest "Doctor's Orders".
}Save the Wyvern's life
"Don't worry, I've got this.", I reassured her before we both came back out to face the music. Immediately, we rushed over to each of our patients and began to work.
"Who the Hell is this guy?", the black haired dragon exclaimed before adding. "We don't need outsiders in here, now leave!" The girls recoiled before Malinda addressed the black haired dragon without looking.
"He has my approval to heal patients.", she said clearly without losing focus. "He knows what he is doing." With that, the black haired dragon shut-up, instead glaring at me intensely as I worked, though I didn't care as I was too busy examining the patient.
She was a wyvern with red hair and red scales. Nice figure, skimpy clothes that were slightly ripped, and was sweating profusely. She had a deep gashes across her chest starting at her right collarbone and ending just before her left breast, as if she had been clawed by something, which was why her clothes were torn. She had scrapes and bruises in various other places, though those weren't major and, thus, no immediate cause for concern.
No, the main concern were the gashes as they were not only bleeding badly, but also seemed to be doing something quite alarming. The flesh surrounding the wound was dying.
"Necrosis, shit!", I cursed as I recognized the problem. So that's what Malinda meant by rot. If this isn't taken care of fast, it'll spread and sepsis will eventually set in, followed by death. Thankfully, she isn't in immediate risk of bleeding out, but she does seem to be in a lot of pain. First, I should give her some painkillers to help her relax, but then, the dead tissue needs to go before it spreads any further and antibiotics need to be administered.
Materializing some Med-X from my duster, I immediately injected it right above the right-most gash before digitizing the used syringe and grabbing primitive surgical scissors from the tray and materializing some penicillin in my duster. After quickly injecting the correct amount of penicillin to neutralize the infection, I gently grabbed the necrotic skin and readied my scissors.
"If you can hear me, this is going to hurt a bit, but I need you to stay conscious.", I spoke loud enough for her to hear. She gave a weak and lulled nod, giving me the go ahead. Good, at least it seems like the Med-X is having some affect, but it's too early to be in full swing yet. Shame, I don't have any time left to wait.
Without wasting anymore time, I began to cut off the necrotic flesh as she jerked slightly and began to give grunts of pain and bleed a bit more. Next to me, I could here the other injured wyvern screaming in pain much louder, but I didn't take my eyes off of the girl in front of me. After snipping the last of it off, she was bleeding a lot more now. The clock was ticking faster, though thankfully, it didn't mean much more to me now. For me, anyway, the hard part was over.
Quickly sterilizing the wounds, I took out a Stimpak and injected it in the center of her chest to properly disperse the medicine across her torso. The effect was instantaneous as the wyvern's chest began to quickly heal and stitch itself back together before our very eyes. I could hear the other mamono around me gasp as they beheld the Stimpak in action. After she had healed up fully, she immediately relaxed further and fell asleep. I immediately went to check her vitals, only to find that she was fine and would make a full recovery.
"What...What kind of medicine…?", I could hear one of the girls say to themselves as I turned my attention to the other patient. Malinda had already gotten the patient to drink some kind of potion and had removed the necrotic flesh. She was now threading a needle to begin suturing the wounds shut, which happened to be sideways on this patient's stomach.
"Wait, that's not necessary.", I said as I materialized another Stimpak in my duster. "Has the infection already been removed and has the wound been sterilized?"
"Yes, but she still needs stitches.", Malinda responded. Seems she was so focused on this wyvern that she didn't see how I treated the other one.
"Not with this she doesn't." I told her, finding a good spot and injecting the Stimpak into her.
"Hey! Just what are you injecting her...with…", Malinda started angrily yelling at me, but trailed off as she saw just what was happening. Like with the previous patient, the wounds were mending themselves at a rapid pace, fixing both broken capillaries and skin layers at a rapid pace. "What...exactly am I seeing?"
"Stimpak.", I told her as I held up the now empty Stimpak syringe. "It's a medicine that stimulates somatic cell division and promotes rapid regeneration of the body." As I finished, the wounds also finished repairing themselves, resulting in Malinda immediately checking on the patient's status. Afterwards, she went over to check on the patient I was working on originally.
"They're asleep, but their vitals are almost perfect. They'll both make full recoveries.", she said to herself, causing my Pip-Boy to beep in signification that the quest "Doctor's Orders had been completed, before looking back up to me with a scary glimmer in her eyes. "That medicine is amazing! No, it's more than that. It's revolutionary! Something like this changes everything! Oh, you simply must tell me how it's made."
"Hmm, it depends…", I began, thinking of what I can get out of this kind of information. "I can introduce the herbs required and teach you the proper formula, but you have to understand, I've got things I need, too."
"Name it, and I'll do it.", Malinda responded before adding. "I'll pleasure you any way you see fit, but I simply must have this medicine." As she said that, the girls around me started to either feel similarly or pout in mild jealousy. Whoops, forgot they were monsters. Accidentally gave them the wrong idea.
"Eh, no, that's not what I meant.", I said, causing Malinda to adopt a look of confusion. "I will happily give the herbs, formula, and tell you how to utilize all of them under 3 conditions." I meant it, too. I was cautious when it came to firearms, but medicine like this is much less likely to be used for nefarious purposes for obvious reasons. After all, even if the enemy gets their hands on it eventually, I'll either be long gone or it would do them no good, especially not if I make sure to take them out in one shot. You can't heal yourself if you're already dead.
"Name them.", Malinda responded without hesitation.
"First, I want to be able to use your microscope whenever, no questions asked.", I began, causing her to quickly nod in understanding. "Second, I'd like to be given an audience with the Primordial Being atop this Mountain, and third, I'd like to be given an audience with the Queen." In response to my other two conditions, Malinda, as well as a few other dragonkin present, adopted looks that were a mix of nervousness and caution.
"Well, your first condition I can grant easily, but…", Malinda trailed off again before explaining. "The other two aren't exactly in my power. I mean, the Queen is sick." While I am aware of that, I'm hoping they'll be able to give me more information so I can see if I can't treat her myself.
"I'd be the one of the ones you'd have to ask for something like that.", the black haired dragon from earlier chimed in, causing me to turn and face her. Unlike before, however, she now had a look that was a mix of gratefulness and intrigue. "My name is Lyra, and I'm one of the head Dragon Knights here in this hold."
"I see, so you can help me with my requests?", I asked.
"Indeed, I'm very grateful to you for helping out. If not for you, I very well may have lost an underling today.", she responded before adding, "Not that I'm knocking Malinda's skills, of course. Regardless, I'm your girl."
"Great, so you can.", I affirmed to which she shook her head.
"Not exactly.", she said before adding, "Here, it'd be better to explain elsewhere. Too many ears here."
"Fine, come on, girls.", I relented with a sigh before waving Anastasia and Ender to follow me, to which they did with big smiles on their faces. That's strange, I wonder what's got them so happy.
"W-Wait, I'll still get that medicine, right?", Malinda asked with a rather anxious, yet comical look on her bespectacled face.
"Don't worry, friend, I'll make sure the deal pans out.", Lyra waved to her and gave her a thumbs up as we reached to door leading out of the patient room. "Just leave it to me!" With that, we left the room and the infirmary behind, snaking our way through winding tunnels once again.
"You were awesome in there, Six!", Anastasia said cheerfully as we continued to walk behind Lyra the Dragon. I still couldn't get over that, by the way. I talked with a fucking DRAGON of all things, like the ones from Grognak the Barbarian! Oh man, this is so fucking rad.
"Indeed, and I am happy that you want to share your medicine with them.", Ender added, complimenting me even further.
"Thanks, girls.", I responded before adding, "I was not comfortable with sharing my weapon secrets, but medicine I'm all for. As long as I get what I came for, too." In response to my last directed statement, the Dragon leading us chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to help you with those requests of yours.", she said, slowing down as we reached a large, rather nice double door at the top of a long tunnel of nothing but stairs. "However, we need to get you and your wives up to speed first."
"Oh, we're not really...Wait, 'we'?", Anastasia asked in confusion before Lyra shoved the doors open to reveal what was inside. It was a large room with a big, stone table in the center surrounded by three powerful-looking dragons that looked to size us all up as we followed Lyra in.
The first and most prominent was a short haired, blonde, armored, proud-standing dragon with black wings and scales, skimpy armor that was black and silver with gold highlights and menacing-looking decorations, an ornate gold and blue sword that made me slightly salivate, and a hetero chromatic pair of eyes: her right being lilac, and her left being blue.
The next was a calm and serene looking dragon with a warm sweater that stopped at her midriff, black stockings, a maroon miniskirt with white highlights and another damn red tie. She had long, bluish hair with green scales and wings, and yellow eyes. Finally, there was a dragon with long, silverish hair with green wings and scales, a keyhole shirt that, again, stopped at the midriff, a matching skirt to the previous dragon and white stockings. She also seemed to be glaring at me in particular.
Hold on, it's not just her. The armored one is looking at me with concern, too.
"Oh, you're finally back. Will those girls be okay?", the calm dragon asked kindly.
"Not only that, but can you please explain why you brought three outsiders into this room?", the armored one asked in a calm, but slightly irked manner, continuing to stare at me. "I thought we made it clear that decisions like that need to be unanimous."
"Sorry about that, it all just kind of happened so fast.", Lyra replied before explaining. "This guy helped save the lives of my underlings in the infirmary, and he's promised to give us a revolutionary new medicine if we help him out with a couple things."
"And yet you didn't bother to even ask these outsiders their names.", the armored Dragon stated rather than asked.
"Oh, you're right, sorry.", Lyra responded before turning to us. "Well, how about it?"
"I'm Anastasia."
"Ender."
"And I'm-",
"Red-Eyes Six.", the armored dragon finished for me, causing my eyes to widen under my Gas Mask and adrenaline to start pumping. "The most wanted man in the Demon Realm, who managed to slay a staggering number of mamono during the Seige of Lescatie, and even matched the Demon Lord's Fourth Born herself in single combat, all without the blessings of the Chief God."
As she said that, my heart sank. Immediately, both Lyra and the other calm Dragon adopted looks of shock as they turned to face me, the girls behind me gathering closer for protection. All the while, the third dragon continued to glare at me with an angry look I couldn't rightly place.
I really fell into the deep end this time, huh?