The Golem Adventurer

Chapter 46 - To Bring Back Normal

Our trek back to the fortress was a process of endurance and patience. This primeval forest was a maze; our path repeatedly blocked by numerous downed trees and large boulders covered in moss and lichen. When I first made my way up and down these mountains during my foray into the fortress, it didn't seem quite as bad. Maybe our much larger group had made the journey to and from less arduous. But now with only three of us here, including the pup held in my arms for safety, it all felt more exacerbated. Maybe it was because we felt pressed for time back then. At the very least, our relaxed pace allowed us time to converse with each other in peace.

We decided on Mateo to lead our group in pathfinding. He was the one who lead the group last time through the forest before and still had the most experience between all of us traversing these mountain ranges. As a Human in his late forties, Mateo was one of the oldest C-Ranked adventurers in the Guild. Unable to break through the wall that separated the C-Ranks from the B-Ranks, he was the end result of what most people would achieve if they stuck around long enough in the Guild and didn't die young. Despite it all, however, he's considered to be part of an upper echelon of the Average Joe adventurers and looked up to even among those equal in his rank. At least, that's what I thought after Aaric gave his more verbose explanation to me.

As we continued on, our conversation took its direction to more recent events. Without turning around, Mateo asked gruffly, "I didn't ask before since I was in a sour mood and I wanted to leave but what were you two doing back there in the infirmary?"

"Oh, that? Since you were gonna take a while, I wanted to see if they needed some help taking care of the patients." I replied back.

"With what? Changing their linen and wiping their asses?" He says with a surly tone in his voice.

"It seems that sour mood still hasn't left you, Mateo." Aaric remarks as he joins in on our conversation, "Arlan here has a knack for outlandish healing techniques. Burned the sickly wounds off one of the men in there with the tip of his finger and healed them back to normal. A skilled healer would have charged a good bit of coin for what he did. And he only used Tier 1 spells to do it."

Mateo harrumphed loudly, "Doing shit like that is going to attract unwanted attention, golem. Keep it up and you're gonna regret it someday."

"Yeah, I've heard that advice before." I reply back sardonically.

"Well, if someone else has already said it, then you should probably take it to heart!" he spits back while muttering insults under his breath. His words brought back the warnings that Lady Hina told me in Haldin. My goal getting into the higher ranks of the guild is a double-edged sword. I'm just a bunch of little secrets slowly trickling out hoping the big secrets that I'm holding don't get displayed for the world to see. If it came to that, I wouldn't be able to hide anymore. I'm a walking piece of advanced technology. Someone out there is going to want to know what makes me tick. And how they can make more. I just can't help but think how much easier this could be if I was human again. For some reason, my core begins to gently hum at the thought.

An awkward moment passes until Mateo begins to speak again, "...So you healed him, right?"

"Hm?" I was taken by surprise at his sudden question, "The guy I healed? Yeah, but his legs are still amputated. It was my first time doing it but he wanted the first shot so he could leave town and head to over to Weiss quickly."

Mateo sighed, "Let me guess... the bugger has enough money to pay for limb regeneration?"

"Apparently. Is it really that expensive?" I ask inquisitively.

"Bloody hell, it is! Unless you're some rich merchant or a noble most folks aren't getting their legs or arms back. Even I had to... erm..." Mateo trails off mid-sentence in frustration.

"Mateo, don't tell me... is it those money lenders again!?" Aaric flares up. "Is that why you were gone this morning? And why your mood's been so terrible since we left town?"

"That's none of your business, elf! And it's not his either!" he says directed at me and begins to walk further ahead from us in frustration.

I look over at Aaric who has a look of agitation washed over him, "He shouldn't have taken that deal. A bunch of us were saving up money for his treatment but he didn't want C-Ranks giving him what few coins they were already scraping by with. So he took out a loan instead and they've been hounding him since."

"Did he lose a limb too?"

"No. It's was... four years ago, I think? I had joined the Guild a year before then. Between Weiss and Ostia there's a vast stretch of desert. Both nations had bounties on Giant Pit Vipers that were attacking trade caravans, attracted to the livestock they were transporting from Weiss. The gold was very good so a bunch of us C-Rankers went north from Zauberheim. Mateo went with us too. Wanted to keep an eye out for us, he said. Just in case."

"An eye out for you all? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would." I remarked.

"Before then, he was an unofficial mentor to new adventurers. He's the one who trained me back then. He was much more boisterous back then, though his vocabulary was still the same. When he was in a room, you could feel his presence. His hearty personality covered every square inch."

"Alright, I'm following you. So what made him changed?"

Aaric's face darkened as he massaged his temples with one hand, "Everything was going well. Hunted plenty of vipers. Until we found their nest and the snake Brood Mother nesting inside it. Mateo tried fighting it off so everyone could escape but it sunk its poison fangs into Mateo's back. We all hacked it into pieces while it's teeth were still stuck into him. Everyone carried him back to Weiss while we dumped all of our antidote potions into him. A whole week of travel non-stop back to Zauberheim while we tried keeping him alive. By the time we got to the city gates, he reeked of death and screaming in pain. We spent all the reward money on paying the temple priests for healing. They got rid of the poison and cured his wounds but the damage was already done. He's had to live with constant pain and the treatment to cure it was even more expensive..."

Jesus, this hit closer to home than I thought, "So that's when he took out that loan then?"

Aaric shook his head, "He left to return back to Ostia after that. Disappeared for a whole year. Even the people who knew him over there didn't know where he went. Then one day he came back, fit and hale once more. We asked him if he was fully cured and he said he took on debts for it. He didn't want to live with constant pain anymore and he didn't want our coin to pay for it either."

I couldn't exactly blame him for it. He did whatever it took to bring back normal again. For some people that's worth any price. Living in constant pain is not a happy life.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from in front of us, "I can hear you two gossiping back there like my bloody ex-wife! If you want to bring up dumb stories, then I'll do it too! How about you, Aaric? I bet you made one of those trinkets for the elves in the infirmary, didn't you?"

"W-What?" Aaric began stumbling over his own words in embarrassment, "W-Well, I might have. T-There's nothing wrong in showing that you care! And I made you one too after the incident!" His voice regained composer before continuing into something with a bit more kick to it, "...You still have it, don't you? I hope you didn't throw it away."

"Ehh? That thing? I dunno. Probably put it somewhere..." he replies halfheartedly. Aaric and I continued forward until Mateo suddenly came back into view, standing on top of a pile of fallen wood, "So he told you the story, golem? Then let me give you one last piece of advice. Those hero acts of yours? It's going to cost you someday. My own gave me a private year of hell. Every day I was wondering if it was going to be the day I slit my own throat."

"Then, what? You saying you regret saving Aaric and your friends back then?" I asked incredulously.

"No, and I'm insulted that you'd say that." he replied bitterly, "Just hope that when you're in that position someday, you're ready to make that sacrifice."

The air stood still as we stared at each other "I already have."

Mateo rolled his shoulders and gave me a shrug, "I wasn't just talking about you, golem. You can't help everyone you meet and you're going to have to accept that."

Our exchange ended and we continued on. The silence was deafening.