In the hour following his talk with Mr. Hartwell, Leo decided to leave (with Professor Eury having returned to get through the portal) and walk through the Main Road. Gather information, take in the scenery, that sort of thing.
'Ideally, find a healer too. These damn broken ribs aren't making life easier.'
"Pain can be suppressed. Imbalance cannot," Leo muttered like a chant. "Come on, walk it off. Find a healer, dammit."
The best healers were certainly not within his reach. An average middle man would suffice for his purposes. Anything to bring him to full strength in six days. The gore of mangled flesh was capping him at about sixty percent. He walked the length of the Recreare.
He arrived at the Disner, eyes forward, and sighed.
"MOVE, MOVE!"
"THAT'S MINE!"
"Cheap mangos, people! Cheap mangos!"
Khao San Road, Orchard Road, and La Rambla—so many neighborhoods and markets and all of them filled to the brim. The center road was busy, the lanes were overflowing, and everything was a mess.
Put simply, the Disner was the same as ever. A food market of chaos and desperation. Like last time, Leo turned into the wind and slipped through the crowds. He quite literally had to travel two kilometers worth of crowds before things started thinning out and he could respawn.
"Haah…"
A gasp left him as soon as his physical body materialized. "Shit, man…"
His heart was struggling and his mana reserved were warping in unneeded ways. Not good, not good at all...!
Leo vomited out blood. He disappeared into an alleyway, hiding himself. He coughed up more and more blood until his nose started to blood.
"Haah....haah...."
Staring at the pool of his own blood, he blinked blearily and ran his bloody hands down his neck. He wanted to cry.
"God, I miss Phoebe..."
He had to leave this alley and keep marching forward. This was the direction where the Dark Sector was, his home. It was where Sakura Lane was, where he had pretended to be homeless. The deeper one went in this direction, the less faith and hope there was.
One direction that turned into hope and light.
One direction that progressively grew desolate and darkness.
Desolated, war-torn street. He even heard a rumour of a ghost village deep in Sakura Lane. The students that had saved him talked about it and had initially theorized the cult was located there.
He decided to venture to Sakura Lane. Not specifically for the village or anything. But in poverty, in darkness, was where he found most comfort. Near the evening…
It was a dead place. Forgotten Japanese homes. Abandoned by its people and its protectors.
'So damn cold.'
He needed to get back.
Back to the Dark Sector. Back to Phoebe.
He would do anything to make that happen.
His mismatched eyes flickered toward one of the only Japanese homes with a proper roof and walls. Outside, a small line of people huddled together, wrapped in thick coats, their breath visible in the frigid air.
'There are people inside. Hm…'
He knew what this was. During the highest point of the war, they were quite common. Healing houses.
Ever since the Second Heavenly War, sickness had spread like wildfire. Weakened bodies, contaminated water, and the aftermath of magical warfare had left entire districts vulnerable. The apothecaries worked tirelessly, but they were always overwhelmed.
Standing just a few feet from the entrance was something else.
A Sacred Guard.
A knight of sorts—one of the many who now served under the Citizen of Councils, a governing body formed after the war. Their role was to maintain peace, oversee territories, and police borders.
Leo exhaled quietly.
He studied them.
The knight was young. His armor was pristine, unblemished by battle. His stance was stiff, his helmet slightly oversized—a newbie. A naive little newbie.
The apothecary peaked out. "Henri, how many…? Ah, I see."
"About twenty-four more, Étienne. Do you want me to go for a supply run."
That dialect of French was way too uppity. Étienne the apothecary and Henri the Sacred Guard. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, especially from the reading he was getting on Henri, t hese were newbies. Regardless of personality, experience, or ideals, newbies were always gullible.
Leo rolled his shoulders and inhaled deeply.
His fingers twitched at his side. He could feel the mana buzzing in his veins, his instincts sharpening. For his daughter, he would do anything.
Anything.