Chapter 3592 Plausible Deniability (Part 1) "Salman got himself a new home and we got a powerful Healer. Everybody wins. Especially me." Jinx fidgeted with her hair. "I finally had a skilled mentor. Salman taught me everything I now know. If it weren't for my limited talent for magic, I would have learned much more and these knuckleheads wouldn't need your help." "Their condition is much better than I thought." Nalrond said after examining the four young men. "They will be up and running in days, not months." "It's easier to quell violent spirits when they think they almost killed someone." Jinx shrugged. "Also, it gave these idiots and all those foreigners out there a good scare. It will keep them in line and us alive." "Really?" A youth who was as pale as death sighed heavily, quickly regaining his color as the placebo effect faded. "I thought I was in critical condition!" "And I thought this thing distorted my words!" Jinx pointed at the Scrambler. "It does, but for those outside the room." Nalrond shrugged. "Otherwise we wouldn't be able to have a real conversation. Back to Salman, please." "Sure." She nodded. "A few months after he arrived at the village, a group of bandits attacked Gabash. Salman was treating a patient when the screaming started. When he looked through the window and saw those bastards cutting people down like wheat and setting our houses aflame, Salman lost it. "He smashed his way through the wall as a Rezar and slaughtered the bandits with just a wave of his hand. Once he was done with them, he healed the wounded, even those we were already mourning due to the severity of their injuries." "And?" Nalrond asked, picturing the scene in his mind. "I'll be honest with you. At first, Salman scared us more than any bandit." Jinx replied. "Then, Bor calmed us down and pointed out that we had gained not only a real Healer, but also a protector. "On top of that, we recovered everything the bandits had stolen from their corpses and split Salman's spoils of war between us as compensation. Horses are a great commodity for a poor village, you know?" "I do. Go on please." "Salman feared we would panic and chase him with pitchforks and torches but we offered him a beer instead." She said. "We stopped living in fear of criminals and started looking forward to their visit. The plan was simple. "As soon as a group of bandits was spotted, everyone ran away and Salman fought. No one got hurt and we earned quite a lot. It was perfect." She sighed heavily. "A perfect life ruined a little over a week ago by meddling, stupid merchants! "They heard about our village's reputation and decided to stop here for the night at the end of the monthly trade market. The next morning bandits attacked the caravan and when Salman saved the merchants, those idiots treated him like a monster." Jinx snarled in outrage. "We thought about making them disappear but merchants are not bandits. They were good people working an honest job to support their families. Their only crime was being at the right place at the wrong time. That and being ungrateful idiots. "Salman left Gabash right away to spare us from trouble and we haven't seen him since." "Any idea where he might have gone?" Nalrond asked. "Just one." Jinx replied. "More than once he told me he had to be wary of something called 'Awakened' and that the best place to avoid them was a 'mana geyser'. According to Salman, that's how he escaped the thing that destroyed your village. "He had a map of the geysers and only rested inside one of them. Whatever that means." "Of course!" Nalrond cursed himself for not thinking about it sooner. "Thanks, Jinx. I'll save Salman and bring him back, if that's what he wants." "Don't mention it." She shook her head. "Are your friends Rezars?" "No." The bitterness in his voice shattered what hope Jinx had left. "I too believed to be the only survivor of my tribe until I heard the rumors about the mysterious creature who manipulates light. "Unless someone took a different route or was rescued on their way here, Salman and I are the last two Rezars on Mogar." "Two?" Her honest shock took Nalrond by surprise. "Are you telling me that during the last three years, you had no child either? What's wrong with you Rezars?" "I was grieving and having a hybrid child-" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺 "Who cares about that when you also get power and strength?" She cut him short. "Salman had more suitors than me when I was young yet always acted like a timid maiden. Being a hybrid means having two baby makers yet you used none?" "Let's see if the others need help." Nalrond dodged the question and turned off the Scrambler before going back to the office. "I'm done here. What about you?" "Almost done too." Friya pointed at the short line of patients left. "Any idea where we can spend the night? The only tavern in town is fully booked." "If you work for me, you eat with me. That's my rule." Jinx bowed to them in gratitude. "You'll be my guests. I have plenty of free beds in the ward and lots of food in my pantry. Believe me, the tavern has nothing on me. I have only one condition for your stay." "Name it." Lith nodded. "My beds are for patients, not for making new ones." Baggy clothes or not, Jinx could estimate Friya's and Solus' curves. "Women on one side of the room and the men on the other. No crossing once the lights are out. Are we clear?" "Yes, ma'am." Lith chuckled, seeing a spark of Nana in her. After the patients left, Lith and the others pretended to resume the investigation. They scouted the village, but their goal was to assess if their competition had made any progress or if they still believed the rumors to be groundless. "This is Ryman." Nalrond introduced his friends before going back to the field. "He did for me what you did for Salman. You can trust him." "Do you have an unwashed piece of clothing belonging to him?" Protector asked. "I can track him by his scent." "That's why those foreigners were interested in Salman's belongings!" She cursed the Awakened and their ancestors. "Unluckily for them, I cleansed everything with darkness magic right after Salman left. I may not be as good as you guys but I bet those busybodies have found nothing." And she was right. "Sure, but what about my question?" Protector asked. "We can only hope I forgot something." She shrugged. "Follow me." Jinx led Ryman to her private quarters and then to the guest room. Her smell and the vapors of the balms and concoctions she prepared assaulted Ryman's nose, making his eyes water. "Gods, how much perfume do you wear?" He asked in a fit of cough. "Hey, I'm a Healer and a lady!" She blushed a little while sealing the jars, putting the aromatic herbs away, and opening the windows. "I like being clean and smelling of something that's not disinfectant in my own time." Protector had to wait for the air to freshen a bit before he could sniff again. Using darkness magic would have only erased whatever proof was left.