Raguna was lucky that, despite Kardia's small size, the village had a clinic. Her first few months as a farmer were rough, but they would have been even worse if she hadn't had a doctor to look after her whenever she fainted from malnutrition or overwork.

"You again?" the doctor would ask gruffly whenever someone, usually Rosetta or Emmett, found Raguna slumped over in the dirt in the afternoons. "When are you going to learn not to push yourself to the point of exhaustion?" he would scold as he took her temperature and checked her pulse.

Raguna was usually too weak to reply with anything more than a pitiful moan.

"I'm going to start charging you if you don't start taking better care," Edward warned, frowning. "I have better things to do than look after a hardheaded young woman every other day, just because she keeps ignoring advice."

"Oh, you're back." A pretty young woman with bright red hair and a cowl looked around the curtain, not at all surprised to find Raguna lying in the patient's bed. "Overworked yourself again?" she asked, her expression concerned. Raguna nodded slightly.

"Hopeless," Edward muttered. "Anyway, Lara, are you done with your duties at the church for today?"

"Mhm, I'll go through the patient's records," she said, her clear voice ringing in the clinic.

"No need," the doctor called after her. "We already know what's wrong with her; she's an idiot."

Even if Raguna had had the strength to talk back, she had to admit that Edward had a bit of a point.

"Baa."

Translation: Gods, she's an idiot.

Comrade Falienzo and Comrade Gerulio were sitting against the barn wall, munching on some turnips they'd managed to salvage from the garbage pile; they weren't aesthetically pleasing enough for humans to sell, apparently, but that hardly mattered to a wooly.

"Baa," Comrade Gerulio snorted.

Translation: You'd think she'd notice and stop eating all those weeds. It's not like she hasn't got perfectly good vegetables to eat.

"Baaa, baa."

Translation: Humans are weird. They'd rather starve than go without money. They'd learn a thing or two from observing woolies, if you ask me.

Comrade Falienzo took another bite, savoring the texture and flavor; whatever Raguna was, she at least had talent for cultivating delicious crops... or at least, she did when she had help.

"Baa. Baaaa ba baaa."

Translation: They'd be so much less stupid if they did. Hmph, you'd never find a wooly starving for no reason, or abandoning another wooly to suffer the same fate. Raguna's friends just laugh at her for fainting; if it wasn't so satisfying, it would be sad.

Comrade Gerulio finished eating and licked his paws. Like Comrade Falienzo, he'd also been shorn, so he had no qualms about wiping them off on his torso once he was done.

"Baa?" he asked, once he was clean.

Translation: What are we supposed to do today, again?

"Ba, baa baa."

Translation: Water the strawberries and clear the field of trash.

Comrade Gerulio clicked his tongue and picked up his little watering can. Comrade Falienzo followed suit as soon as he'd chewed the last of his turnip.

"Baaaaa."

Translation: I hope she doesn't get out of the hospital today. I hate when she starts wheedling us to go faster. And I could do with a few more meals that aren't bloody grass.

"Baa," Comrade Falienzo assured him.

Translation: Don't worry. I spiked the weeds with enough toxins to keep her away for at least the rest of the afternoon.

Lara wasn't normally this busy. Though she held two jobs, they weren't strenuous enough to keep her from a nice, long walk in the evenings and a day off on the weekend. Her duties at the church were mostly concerned with cleaning, though she was also required to pray in the mornings and before bed. Lara didn't really consider this working, and even though Wes was kind enough to pay her a small stipend for her work, she more or less accepted it as part of her training to become a nun.

Her real job was in Edward's clinic, but for the most part, that was even less eventful than her chores at the church. As a nurse, Lara tended to small injuries, such as when the children came in with scraped knees, or acted as an assistant to the doctor. Most days, no one came in to see Edward, so she spent her time quietly making medicines and salves. It suited her; Lara liked to while away her days in her thoughts, and her jobs allowed her to do that without much fuss.

That is, until Raguna moved into Kardia.

The young woman was a whirlwind of disaster, as far as the nurse was concerned. She was amiable enough, and certainly not unpleasant to talk to, but she spent so much time in the infirmary that Lara had stopped being surprised at finding her unconscious on one of the two hospital beds every other day. If it wasn't malnutrition or dehydration, it was wounds from fighting in the caves outside of town, or exhaustion from overwork, or some bizarre stomach ache that sounded far too much like poisoning to be a coincidence. She'd once come in with the palms of her hands completely shredded; she had, apparently, lost her gloves and done all her fieldwork without them for two days before she'd had to come in to get her hands treated.

"Why didn't you just buy a new pair?!" Lara asked as she examined the skin, rubbed raw and covered in splinters. Raguna flinched violently every time Lara pulled one out.

"Can't afford them," she winced.

"Gloves aren't that expensive," Lara frowned.

"No, but tools are. And as these splinters can tell you, my tools are all in dire need of replacements," Raguna grimaced. Lara poured alcohol over the open cuts, ignoring the strangled hiss her patient made.

"Well you're going to have to buy them anyway; you can't work like this."

"I'll make a pair out of some old clothes or something..."

"Raguna! You can't be stingy when it comes to your health!"

"I'm not being stingy! I'm just poor!"

"You almost say that with pride," Lara muttered.

"It's not like I have a choice," Raguna sighed. "Work has been a lot less difficult with the woolies helping out, but there's still so much to do, and I don't have enough time or fodder to look after any more monsters."

"So why don't you work less of the land?"

"Because I'll never get out of the poorhouse otherwise," Raguna said, staring down at her hands as Lara bandaged them. "My strawberry crop won't grow in for at least a few more months, and in the meantime I still have to eat and maintain the farm."

"Well I can guarantee you that you won't be getting out of your financial troubles anytime soon, if you keep getting yourself injured or sick," Lara scolded as she wrapped and tied the bandages tightly. "How many times have you come in with a stomachache, for Gods' sake?!"

"I know, I need to eat better..."

"It's not enough to know it! You're still young, Raguna, but your body won't hold out forever if you keep treating it so poorly!" She pressed her palms over Raguna's hand, willing the farmer to understand what she was trying to say. For some reason her cheeks turned pink.

"I-I guess you're r-right," she stammered, averting her gaze. Lara let her hand go.

"Next time I find you in here, I'm not going to treat you," she warned. "You have to take responsibility for your own body." And I have a book I keep meaning to finish.

"Baaa."

Translation: Ugh, she's back.

Comrade Falienzo looked up from his watering can to see that Comrade Gerulio was right. Raguna had just pushed the gate to the field open, hoe hoisted over her shoulder nonchalantly.

"Hey Cloud, hey Slump!" she called cheerfully. Her stupid smile sent a shiver of rage through Comrade Falienzo.

"Baaa?!"

Translation: How is she not dead yet?!

It had been several weeks since Comrade Falienzo and Comrade Gerulio had come up with their plan of escape. The idea was simple; while working, spike the weeds and vegetables that Raguna usually set apart for her meals and poison her. Once she was dead, her orders would no longer bind them and the two woolies could make a bid for freedom. Unfortunately, Raguna just wouldn't die.

At first they thought they weren't using enough poison, or too weak a strain. They went out of their way to gather poisonous herbs and fruits and make powder out of them in the dead of night while their master was asleep. Their first few attempts didn't so much as put a damper in her step, and when they got frustrated and dumped an incredibly lethal amount in her food, she merely came down with a bad stomach ache that was quickly cured by the town doctor.

"Baa?!" Comrade Gerulio had complained.

Translation: What the hell is this woman made of?! That amount of poison would be enough to kill any monster, even a Minotaur!

"Baa... baa?"

Translation: Are you sure we're using the right herbs, Comrade?

"Baa!"

Translation: Of course! I'd never make a mistake like that!

"Baa..."

Translation: Perhaps we just have to use something stronger...

But no amount or type of poison would do more than send Raguna into severe stomach cramps. Eventually, both woolies gave up on trying to kill her with poison, though they still spiked her food from time to time when they wanted a day off... or when they were particularly angry.

To be fair, they were almost always angry.

"You guys have been slacking a bit, huh," Raguna mused as she surveyed the field, biting her lip thoughtfully. "I guess it can't be helped... I wasn't around to keep you company, so you must have been lonely, huh?"

"Baa!"

Translation: Comrade Falienzo, I won't rest until I've killed this stupid woman with my own two hands!

"Baa."

Translation: Good luck, Comrade. I'm starting to think she truly is the devil herself.

"Hey, Lara, I got a patient for ya."

Lara looked up from her book to find Emmett at the clinic door, a very familiar figure hoisted over his shoulder.

"Is it Raguna again?" she sighed.

"'Fraid so. Found her slumped over by the well, clutching her gut."

Lara closed the cover reluctantly and stood up. "Alright, bring her here, Emmett." The big man carried Raguna to her usual bed and lay her down with uncommon gentleness. She was knocked out cold but her face was lined with pain.

"Poor kid, she works so hard," he said, giving his friend a sympathetic glance. "It's really not her fault that Mist is using her."

"Even so, she needs to learn to take better care of herself," Lara said firmly.

"True enough. Anyway, I'll leave you to it, Lara. See you around."

"Yes, have a good day," she said. She waited for the bell on the door to chime before she sighed again and took a seat at Raguna's side. Lara couldn't help noticing how helpless and tired the young woman looked; her skin was pale and there was dirt smudged on her cheeks, but beneath her eyes were very visible black circles, and her face was drawn and thin. Lara reached out a hand to smooth out her dark hair.

She really is rather pretty, actually... or she would be, if she didn't seem to be at death's door all the time.

"Mm..." Raguna's eyes blinked open slowly, and Lara immediately pulled back, ashamed at having been caught touching a patient. "Lara?"

"Oh, uhm, yes... you're in the infirmary again..."

"So that's why my stomach is killing me," she moaned, curling in on her side.

"I don't know what you're doing to your poor stomach, but if I didn't know better I'd say you were being poisoned," Lara huffed as she stood up to get Raguna some medicine.

The patient laughed weakly.

"Poison? Me? Even I'm not dumb enough to eat plants that I know are poisonous, you know."

"Hmph, well even if you were, I don't think you could get this sick this often from regular poisons anyway."

"What, you think someone's trying to kill me?" Raguna laughed again. "If so, they're definitely not using enough."

"Perhaps..." Lara paused. "Or maybe you're just immune."

"Huh?"

"Well, you don't know anything about your past, do you?"

Raguna shook her head as Lara held out a tonic for her to drink.

"Seeing as you can handle yourself with a sword, you might have been a soldier. And if you were, you might have been fed poisons on purpose to bolster your immunity."

"Immune..." Raguna muttered to herself, but a moment later she snorted. "Even if that was true, I doubt anyone is trying to kill me, Lara."

"Well, perhaps you have a point," the nurse said, adjusting her cowl slightly. "But you should still be careful of what you eat."

"I'll make sure to keep it in mind."

Good, because I'll never finish my book if you keep coming in. Though... I guess it's not too bad, chatting like this once in a while.

Notes:

Raguna you bastard how dare you be immune to poison?!