Lament of the Slave

Chapter 88: Errands

"And you say it's a skill?" asked the Imperial Chief Healer, whom I couldn't see through the clouds of orange gas, even though he was only three paces away from me. Sure that he perceived me as well, if not better than I perceived him in my domain, I gave him a nod while ignoring notifications of my poisoning.

No one in the room seemed to have a problem with orange mist that attacked their nervous systems. Whether it was due to resistance to the poisons, or their regeneration was dealing with it like mine, was hard to tell. No one even flinched.

Since I was feeling tired and short of breath, you could say I was the worst off.

"A pretty powerful poison for a level twelve skill," Janina remarked, testing the taste of it on her tongue. Seeing her, I did the same, only to be disappointed by the lack of apple flavor. The poison was tasteless as it has been so far.

According to her old mentor, the glands in my tail were not so exceptional in the realm of beasts. Meaning many of them had a skill tailored to their bodies, not that they all had poison tails. For example, those with wings had [Flight]. I was a shining example of that.

As I began to ponder how to get rid of the poison filling the room, whether to open the windows to let in the fresh air, an energy swept through it. Bristling up my hair, it dissolved the orange mist in mere seconds. Looking at the source, I could only berate myself for not thinking that he would have such skill as a healer.

"I think that's all for the time being, Miss Grey," said the Imperial Chief Healer. He seemed delighted, pondering what he learned during this check-up, while I was glad to get it over with. It wasn't long before I reverted to my half-human form. "I'm getting better at this," I said aloud, able to speak again.

"That's what practice does," Rayden grumbled. "Now I have to organize some for you." Referring to my mana training and labyrinth expeditions with junior guards, she made it sound like she had to arrange it herself when it was more of a job for Travis, her assistant.

To tell the truth, thinking about it gave me a slight headache. There was so much to learn, so much to do, and so little time. It seemed almost impossible to juggle it all together. Training with Deckard, labyrinth dive with the junior guards, mana training, and little things like my body language or learning to speak Standard. All that while, I had to ignore the Agent's watchful eyes.

Ruffling my mane, despairing of not being able to do it all, my hand touched the moss rooted in my hair, and I whined out loud. Bloody hell, Esu! On top of all that, there was the training he arranged for me. It was less than a week away.

So yeah, I was in for a fucking busy few days or rather weeks and months.

"The Emperor insisted I send someone else, someone younger, expendable. How glad I am that I didn't. It was a genuine pleasure to meet you, Miss Grey." The Imperial Chief Healer gave me a polite nod, throwing me off guard by it. My first instinct was to express my disapproval of his visit and question its necessity at all.

"Lord Wigram," I returned the courtesy, swallowing the bitterness. It was hard to make a snarky remark when I knew Janina's old mentor didn't deserve it. As she told me, I had nothing to worry about from him. He hasn't touched me once during this entire examination, keeping his distance, giving me space. Yet despite his warm, albeit at times an overly enthusiastic attitude, I couldn't help but compare him to Dungreen. It wasn't fair to him, and I knew that. That madman simply left scars on my soul too deep to disappear in a few days of freedom.

"If you can think of anything we missed today, don't be afraid to come to see me. I'll be here until the full moon," the Imperial Chief Healer said, subtly hinting that he would not leave until after my training session with the mossbears. "I'll most likely be staying at Lord Egerton's palace." On hearing that, a smile flashed across Rayden's face. There was hardly anyone who wanted the imperial soldiers out of the barracks more than she did.