Although on the outside, Zena looked uncaring, on the inside she was just too nervous. She had to exhibit strength if she wanted to pull off Fares' plan.
To the bald man beside her, though, she looked as if she had lost all hope. That bald man was Demerio, Daragma's third son.
Normally, he would not go on such an inferior errand, however, his father has promised him that after his nephew broke through, that he could have her all to himself.
Demerio licked his lips as he looked Zena up and down, thinking of all the possible things he will do to her. 'She looked exceptionally sexy today' He thought.
Zena shuddered at how this balm man keeps looking at her. Nonetheless, she still had the same uncaring look on her face.
"Hello sweetheart, why don't you forget about that nephew of mine and come with me instead? I will satisfy you plenty." The perverted bald man said with a lecherous look on his face.
Zena glared at him with disgust, before turning her head to the front and resuming her walk. The sooner she arrived, the sooner she would get rid of this disgusting family.
Demerio's face contorted with anger at the disrespect that this little girl, who was still wet behind the ears, was showing him. He lived for decades and had plenty of women be his wives. Who does this little girl think she was?
"Keep ignoring me, we will see who's going to get the final laugh." He muttered as he continued walking while making sure she does not run away.
___________
Somewhere else.
A door flung open and in came 2 people. A handsome man and a cute little girl. They were Fares and Mona, who has just arrived at Healer Raya's clinic.
As soon as they entered, the thick smell of herbs assaulted their senses. Mona held her nose with her tiny fingers, trying to stop the smell.
Meanwhile, Fares took a few deep breaths, trying to determine what type of herbs those were.
'That smell, no doubt about it. It is Papaver somniferum.' He thought. It also goes by the name Opium poppy. Some people may not know, but this particular plant is used to make opiate drugs that are used in anesthetics.
Fares' interest piqued, he knew what the plant is used for, however, he did not know where it came from in this day and age, and who was it used on.
"Healer Raya! It is me, Mona. What are you doing right now?" Mona asked going around searching the rooms for Healer Raya.
After a few more rooms, Mona finally found the old lady, however, she was not alone. The person with her was lying on their stomach with their back completely exposed, while the healer was applying some herpetic mixture to their back.
Mona had a naughty idea and decided to play a prank. "Big brother, quick, Healer Raya, fell unconscious." She shouted.
Healer Raya and the person with her looked at each other in confusion.
There was rustling outside, as Fares rushed into the room. When he saw what or more precisely who was in it, his face was a mixture of both resentment and dismay.
"You!"
"You!"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Both Fares and the person said to each other at the same time. The girl was naturally Olga, the blacksmith's daughter.
"Hahaha hahaha"
Meanwhile, Mona burst out laughing at the look on both of their faces.
Out of shock, Olga got up and prepared to attack Fares again. This bastard was not only blackmailing a little girl but was also peeping on her. As soon as she got up, Fares' nose bled, and turned his head away, wiping his nose. He could not help it, she had a perfect pair of hills.
When Olga noticed, it was already too late. She covered herself barely with an arm and rushed at Fares. "What are you looking at, bastard?" She said.
This time, however, her movements had been constrained due to her other hand covering her chest and the unhealed burns on her back. And even though she was still fast, with Fares 2 new nodes and his superior energy pathways to both his brain and legs nodes, he could see and evade her clumsy movements.
"I see. You just amounted to that after all, huh?" Fares said the anger could still be seen on his face.
"Don't look down on me, you bastard!" She said getting even more agitated, which was what Fares wanted. Olga then lunged at him again faster this time around, but Fares had pulled her into his trap already. He easily predicted where she was going and evaded her, before pointing two fingers at a point on her neck, knocking her out cold.
He caught her with his hands, but his hands caught something soft and firm. It was too much for Fares and his brain stopped functioning for a while.
"Oh my, kids these days sure are wild." Old Raya said as she saw the whole scene. She got up and took Olga away from Fares' arms.
Although she looked frail, she was still a late-stage Soul strengthening. Carrying Olga as if she weighs nothing, she placed her back on the bed.
"You can go now, I will be with you soon." She said waking Fares up from his stupor.
Fares rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he turned to glare at Mona and then left.
During all this time, Mona was laughing her ass off. After a little more she finally calmed down wiping tears off her eyes, 'That is what you get for keeping secrets from Mona.' She thought before following Fares outside.
A few minutes had passed by when finally Healer Raya came back down. "What did you do to her, my dear? She is fast asleep that I could finally apply the herbs to her back." She asked Fares.
"That? I just hit one of her acupoints." Fares said nonchalantly while waving his hands.
"What is am acupoint?" Raya inquired curiously.
Fares spent a good while, trying to explain it. For people who do not think about the human body as people from the modern era do, it was a bit more length to explain. So much so, that Mona fell asleep.
"I see, that certainly is interesting." the old lady said, pondering about it for a while.
"I see that you have managed to learn our language so fast, what a smart lad you are." Healer Raya complimented, before continuing, "So, young man, what brought you to my humble home this time?"
Fares told her about his plans, omitting the part of why it would work because it was too much of a hassle to explain.
Healer Raya listened patiently, nodding from time to time. "I see, if what you are saying is true, it could certainly work. But what did you come here for?"
"I was not sure if you could heal that type of injury, so I came by to make sure you don't treat it." He replied.
"I have not come in contact with something like that before, so I am not quite sure about it."
"Then just tell them that you can not and that only your apprentice can."
"And who might that be?" She asked amused.
"We will just play a trick on them and tell them that I am your apprentice."
"Hmmm, ok, I agree, only if you become my apprentice." Healer Raya said with a bit of cunning.
What she did not know was that Fares had already decided to do so since he arrived here today. He always thought that herbs and potion making to heal injuries would come in handy later on.
So after a while of acting, as if he was pondering over it, he said, "Fine. But you help me with this first.
" Deal." She said, smiling widely, showing the wrinkles on her face. She found a good bargain. That man was too smart and had unlimited knowledge, 'Will I be able to finally cure that?' She thought.
A few minutes of chatting later, the door suddenly flung open, and in came and an old man carrying a young muscular man as if he weighed nothing.
Behind them was a beautiful red-haired woman, who had a hard time putting on a sad face.
The old man was Daragma and the young muscular man in his arms was his grandson, Doga; behind them was Zena.
"Old hag, quick heal my grandson." He said rudely when he saw Raya.
She scowled at him but still acted professionally saying, "Put him on the bed over there." as she pointed at the last room on the first floor.
The old man took a look at Fares with suspicion clear in his eyes but quickly took his son over to the room. Healer Raya decided to play along and said, "If you will excuse me then." before following the rude old man.