The Steep Path Ahead [Familiar of Zero AU]
- Thread starter shadenight123
- Start date
Being fair, assuming minor talents are not that uncommon,even most commoners, or at least those who don't live in the middle of absolutely nowhere, access to a minor water mage, probably not living on their village but in the closest town (or wherever they take their produce to the market), or possibly even doing rounds between the local villages every so often, while anything not serious enough for the water mage would likely get handled by some local folk medicine.
Where doctors probably come in are in that while said dot water mage would likely be able to deal with most things that come up, they are unlikely to have the power and/or skill to handle something too serious, and the water mage healers that could are very likely not the kind most commoners would have access to. And, while if the problem is located somewhere more central all they can do is pray to the founder, if it's in one of the limbs it can be amputated. Most water mage healers aren't likely trained or knowledgeable in amputation other than a very superficial level, while doctors in the verse might take more a role of surgeons, or rather, surgeons for surgeries bigger than a barber would do.
DonutAttack
Self-Requested Ban
- Location
- The factory of pastries
Will Luise, by some circumstance, meet her mother? It's very interesting to see a Saito with a Luise that's not treating him like a dog and has a bit more experience with the lower end of society.
That's the drama we are all waiting for.
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Which is why I'll make sure that said drama happens in the best of possible ways.
...
Or maybe I'll just drop this fic right the chapter before it happens, and then watch as the readers scream their anger upon the world.
...
Nah, I'm not that evil.
...
Or maybe I'll just drop this fic right the chapter before it happens, and then watch as the readers scream their anger upon the world.
...
Nah, I'm not that evil.
- Pronouns
- she/her
They'll probably have enough money for a hot bath once they sell the gryphon tail.
Arafell
Verified Cephalon
- Location
- Oregon
Followed by a sudden arrest for killing a domesticated gryphon of the Valliere family.
Her sister does take in wounded animals after all. . .
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
She's going to break into her mother's house isn't she?
Rather, she's going to be forced into defending something/someone against the duchess and she'll decide to stand her ground rather than escaoe.
- Pronouns
- she/her
Why not both? Upon arriving in the town, they discover that the local water mage is at the Valliere Mansion treating a noble and won't be back for a month. Determined not to wait, our two idiots attempt to sneak onto the grounds- *cue being mistaken for Germanian assassins*
Well you did kind of drop Dark Wings so . . .
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
If you drop the fic, I'll just thank you for sharing the chapters you have written so far. It is an excellent story, but don't feel obligated to write for us, write for YOU.
If you do keep it up, I'll continue to watch.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Damn. That means if he drops it, I'll have to be twice as much of a belligerent asshat to make up our quota. Stop shoving your responsibilities onto other people, Matou!
Chapter Sixteen
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Sixteen
Finding a water mage was not difficult, and neither was the selling of the reagents from the Gryphon. A few ecus richer than they had entered the city with, Saito and Luise found themselves staring at the inn that the guard had kindly suggested them.
"It's a brothel," Luise said, her disgust clear on her face.
"It's a brothel," Saito agreed, a smile and a lecherous grin on his lips.
Luise took a step backwards, and Saito took a step forward. They both looked at each other's eyes. "I hold the money," Luise said.
"I risked my life against a gryphon," Saito replied. "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?"
"I'm not setting foot inside a brothel," Luise said firmly. "And neither are you," she added hotly.
"We're partners-"
"Still doesn't mean I should step inside a brothel. I have a reputation to maintain, and such places of perdition-we will find another inn for the night," Luise stomped her right foot on the ground, and brought her hands to her sides. "If you take one more step inside, I'm going to get mad."
Saito gave one look to Luise, and one look to the brothel's door. "Might be a notice board for adventurer work inside," Saito said offhandedly.
Luise growled. "No job coming from such a place could be worth the stain upon our souls."
"Well, you'd pass on easy money?" Saito asked. "Aren't adventurers supposed to do the kind of job normal people wouldn't do?"
Luise took a deep breath, and then walked right up to Saito. "I will hit you," Luise said. "I will stomp on your feet. I swear in the name of the Founder if you even think about doing something perverted inside that brothel I will bring down the wrath of god upon you," she lifted her wand to make the point clearer. "Have. I. Been. Clear?"
"Yes," Saito said. "Maybe they'll have cosplay!" and as he said that strange word that meant absolutely nothing to Luise's ears, the excited boy stepped inside first.
There was heavy smoke hanging around the air, and as skimpily dressed women of definitely impure thoughts and motions walked around, Luise muttered a few prayers to hold herself, and her purity of heart, pristine. She pulled her cowl over her head to hide her face -it wouldn't do if someone in the future connected the poor nun Luise to such a place.
Saito, true to his word, neared the counter where an overweight man was rolling his thick mustache with one finger, animatedly talking with a couple of fellows who had drank far more than their due in the last few minutes.
Music was playing from a half-broken and definitely out of tune piano, but the mood was light enough -if the smoke didn't make it seem like a foggy day.
"Excuse me," Saito said, the eyes of the innkeeper moving to him in a second. "Burgeac sent us. We're adventurers just recently arrived in town-"
"My cousin did?" the innkeeper said, "Well, always nice of him to send business my way. You don't look like much, but I've got rats in my cellar."
"Big, alchemy enhanced rats?" Saito hazarded.
"Oh no, normal ones," the innkeeper replied. "I'd get a couple of cats to solve the problem, but they don't last around these parts. Too many drunks and some of the rats are outright mean. Go down there prepared for the fight of your lifetime if you disturb their nest."
Saito blinked. "But they're not giant rats," he said once more, just to be sure.
"Nah, they're regular rats. At least, I think they are regular rats. You and your friend a pair? If you can deal with them nice and easy, I can give you a spot in the stable with some fresh hay to sleep on."
"We'll take coin," Luise said gruffly, trying her best to mimic a male's voice.
"Fine then, one copper Ecu per rat," the man shrugged. "But I warn you-be careful with those things."
"How do you go down in the cellars with them being so hostile?" Saito asked.
"I throw half a pig's leg at them and hightail it afterwards," the innkeeper answered. "Oi, Beatrice! Show these two the door for the cellars! They've got rats to hunt!"
A portly woman ahead of her age, but covered in thick makeup to hide most of her years, gave one last cheerful wave to a group of drunken men by a table nearby and headed towards Saito and Luise, before bringing a hand to her curvy backside and shaking her head. "The rats are going to eat these two alive. They're scrawny things."
She shook her head once more, and gestured for them to follow her into the back, towards a trapdoor that stood in the larder, surrounded by hanging carcasses of pigs. "Down here darlings," the waitress said. "But try not to get bitten. Nobody likes the plague."
"Course not," Luise said gruffly. "It's not the first time we deal with rats."
Saito descended first, nimbly reaching the bottom of the cellar and letting his feet land on the cold stone floor. Luise came down next, her wand in hand.
"Do you need a torch dearies?" the waitress asked.
"It won't be needed-I have a candle," Luise said, lighting with a tiny explosion the candle in her free hand. The waitress sighed, and left the trapdoor open even as Saito began to walk ahead. This time, he clenched his shield in his left hand.
"Why are people so scared of rats?" Saito asked.
"Because only the insane aren't afraid of the plague. You need costly reagents to treat someone sick with it, and most people can't pay for them."
Saito nodded, and then spun as he heard a squeaking sound. Luise froze, taking a small set of hasty breaths as a large furry thing flipped its tail back and forth on her shoulder.
Saito pierced the rat off her in a second, and the moment he did, the scurrying horde began to emerge from around all corners. "Magic?" Saito whimpered out as he took in the situation. These weren't just one or two rats. This was a swarm of hundreds, if not thousands.
"I'm not blowing up a brothel, no matter how impure the people in it are," Luise snapped back.
"Tiny explosions?" Saito hazarded as he swung his sword with deadly grace, skewering rats and slicing them into thinly chopped dice. "Anything to give me a hand!"
"Give me time to think!" Luise exclaimed, "There's a sleeping spell-I can try that, but it might explode if-"
Saito outright slammed his shield down, turning into paste two dozens of mice at the same time. He was starting to feel sick. "Move it before I lose my lunch!"
"Urgh," Luise looked away, her wand moving as she began to chant.
"Please don't blow up the brothel," Saito whispered to himself. "Please don't blow up the brothel."
Luise growled through the stretched out words, and a tiny sphere of pure white light began to emerge from the tip of her wand. Within seconds, the sphere of bright light engulfed both Luise and Saito, taking in also the rats.
"Now the thing's big enough!" Saito said in the middle of all that white. "You can stop it here, Luise!"
"Trying-" Luise grumbled. "Might-explode."
"Luise, I think it's reaching for the stairs!" Saito yelled.
"Oh will you just shut u-"
The light disappeared in a flash, as if it had never been there to begin with. Luise frowned, and gave a half-slurred look around her premises. The rats were all peacefully snoring on the ground, most of them outright salivating on the floor or twitching in their sleep.
"Huzzah," Luise said. She then proceeded to faint. Saito caught her deftly, hoisting her in his arms in a bridal carry form of sorts.
The cellar appeared largely unscathed, and as he moved Luise to a corner, he wiped away the sweat from his brow. "Well-I'll need some bags."
Hopefully there would be enough to get a room somewhere cheap. Or maybe, since Luise was knocked out...
Well, this was an all new world, and his classmates would be jealous like no one else if they discovered he had been inside a real brothel doing real brothel things.
He began to chuckle as he tapped his fingers together, an 'excellent' thought crossing his mind.
As if hearing his thoughts, Luise grumbled in her sleep, and kicked at Saito's right leg while still sleeping. Saito groaned from the strike, and hissed in pain, holding the tears inside.
Even when knocked unconscious, his partner managed to make his life boring!
His partner truly couldn't be that boring!
Finding a water mage was not difficult, and neither was the selling of the reagents from the Gryphon. A few ecus richer than they had entered the city with, Saito and Luise found themselves staring at the inn that the guard had kindly suggested them.
"It's a brothel," Luise said, her disgust clear on her face.
"It's a brothel," Saito agreed, a smile and a lecherous grin on his lips.
Luise took a step backwards, and Saito took a step forward. They both looked at each other's eyes. "I hold the money," Luise said.
"I risked my life against a gryphon," Saito replied. "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?"
"I'm not setting foot inside a brothel," Luise said firmly. "And neither are you," she added hotly.
"We're partners-"
"Still doesn't mean I should step inside a brothel. I have a reputation to maintain, and such places of perdition-we will find another inn for the night," Luise stomped her right foot on the ground, and brought her hands to her sides. "If you take one more step inside, I'm going to get mad."
Saito gave one look to Luise, and one look to the brothel's door. "Might be a notice board for adventurer work inside," Saito said offhandedly.
Luise growled. "No job coming from such a place could be worth the stain upon our souls."
"Well, you'd pass on easy money?" Saito asked. "Aren't adventurers supposed to do the kind of job normal people wouldn't do?"
Luise took a deep breath, and then walked right up to Saito. "I will hit you," Luise said. "I will stomp on your feet. I swear in the name of the Founder if you even think about doing something perverted inside that brothel I will bring down the wrath of god upon you," she lifted her wand to make the point clearer. "Have. I. Been. Clear?"
"Yes," Saito said. "Maybe they'll have cosplay!" and as he said that strange word that meant absolutely nothing to Luise's ears, the excited boy stepped inside first.
There was heavy smoke hanging around the air, and as skimpily dressed women of definitely impure thoughts and motions walked around, Luise muttered a few prayers to hold herself, and her purity of heart, pristine. She pulled her cowl over her head to hide her face -it wouldn't do if someone in the future connected the poor nun Luise to such a place.
Saito, true to his word, neared the counter where an overweight man was rolling his thick mustache with one finger, animatedly talking with a couple of fellows who had drank far more than their due in the last few minutes.
Music was playing from a half-broken and definitely out of tune piano, but the mood was light enough -if the smoke didn't make it seem like a foggy day.
"Excuse me," Saito said, the eyes of the innkeeper moving to him in a second. "Burgeac sent us. We're adventurers just recently arrived in town-"
"My cousin did?" the innkeeper said, "Well, always nice of him to send business my way. You don't look like much, but I've got rats in my cellar."
"Big, alchemy enhanced rats?" Saito hazarded.
"Oh no, normal ones," the innkeeper replied. "I'd get a couple of cats to solve the problem, but they don't last around these parts. Too many drunks and some of the rats are outright mean. Go down there prepared for the fight of your lifetime if you disturb their nest."
Saito blinked. "But they're not giant rats," he said once more, just to be sure.
"Nah, they're regular rats. At least, I think they are regular rats. You and your friend a pair? If you can deal with them nice and easy, I can give you a spot in the stable with some fresh hay to sleep on."
"We'll take coin," Luise said gruffly, trying her best to mimic a male's voice.
"Fine then, one copper Ecu per rat," the man shrugged. "But I warn you-be careful with those things."
"How do you go down in the cellars with them being so hostile?" Saito asked.
"I throw half a pig's leg at them and hightail it afterwards," the innkeeper answered. "Oi, Beatrice! Show these two the door for the cellars! They've got rats to hunt!"
A portly woman ahead of her age, but covered in thick makeup to hide most of her years, gave one last cheerful wave to a group of drunken men by a table nearby and headed towards Saito and Luise, before bringing a hand to her curvy backside and shaking her head. "The rats are going to eat these two alive. They're scrawny things."
She shook her head once more, and gestured for them to follow her into the back, towards a trapdoor that stood in the larder, surrounded by hanging carcasses of pigs. "Down here darlings," the waitress said. "But try not to get bitten. Nobody likes the plague."
"Course not," Luise said gruffly. "It's not the first time we deal with rats."
Saito descended first, nimbly reaching the bottom of the cellar and letting his feet land on the cold stone floor. Luise came down next, her wand in hand.
"Do you need a torch dearies?" the waitress asked.
"It won't be needed-I have a candle," Luise said, lighting with a tiny explosion the candle in her free hand. The waitress sighed, and left the trapdoor open even as Saito began to walk ahead. This time, he clenched his shield in his left hand.
"Why are people so scared of rats?" Saito asked.
"Because only the insane aren't afraid of the plague. You need costly reagents to treat someone sick with it, and most people can't pay for them."
Saito nodded, and then spun as he heard a squeaking sound. Luise froze, taking a small set of hasty breaths as a large furry thing flipped its tail back and forth on her shoulder.
Saito pierced the rat off her in a second, and the moment he did, the scurrying horde began to emerge from around all corners. "Magic?" Saito whimpered out as he took in the situation. These weren't just one or two rats. This was a swarm of hundreds, if not thousands.
"I'm not blowing up a brothel, no matter how impure the people in it are," Luise snapped back.
"Tiny explosions?" Saito hazarded as he swung his sword with deadly grace, skewering rats and slicing them into thinly chopped dice. "Anything to give me a hand!"
"Give me time to think!" Luise exclaimed, "There's a sleeping spell-I can try that, but it might explode if-"
Saito outright slammed his shield down, turning into paste two dozens of mice at the same time. He was starting to feel sick. "Move it before I lose my lunch!"
"Urgh," Luise looked away, her wand moving as she began to chant.
"Please don't blow up the brothel," Saito whispered to himself. "Please don't blow up the brothel."
Luise growled through the stretched out words, and a tiny sphere of pure white light began to emerge from the tip of her wand. Within seconds, the sphere of bright light engulfed both Luise and Saito, taking in also the rats.
"Now the thing's big enough!" Saito said in the middle of all that white. "You can stop it here, Luise!"
"Trying-" Luise grumbled. "Might-explode."
"Luise, I think it's reaching for the stairs!" Saito yelled.
"Oh will you just shut u-"
The light disappeared in a flash, as if it had never been there to begin with. Luise frowned, and gave a half-slurred look around her premises. The rats were all peacefully snoring on the ground, most of them outright salivating on the floor or twitching in their sleep.
"Huzzah," Luise said. She then proceeded to faint. Saito caught her deftly, hoisting her in his arms in a bridal carry form of sorts.
The cellar appeared largely unscathed, and as he moved Luise to a corner, he wiped away the sweat from his brow. "Well-I'll need some bags."
Hopefully there would be enough to get a room somewhere cheap. Or maybe, since Luise was knocked out...
Well, this was an all new world, and his classmates would be jealous like no one else if they discovered he had been inside a real brothel doing real brothel things.
He began to chuckle as he tapped his fingers together, an 'excellent' thought crossing his mind.
As if hearing his thoughts, Luise grumbled in her sleep, and kicked at Saito's right leg while still sleeping. Saito groaned from the strike, and hissed in pain, holding the tears inside.
Even when knocked unconscious, his partner managed to make his life boring!
His partner truly couldn't be that boring!
That being said, the spell didn't explode. I call that an unexpected success.
- Pronouns
- she/her
Did Luise figure out true Explosion when she killed the griffin, with the non-lethal option?
Also holy shit Saito, have you never heard of STDs?
Also holy shit Saito, have you never heard of STDs?
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Lol.
Yeah, there are some serious differences between this Saito and the one in Enslaved, though to be fair to the latter, he was dealing with brainwashing runes. This Saito on the other hand is much more like the canon one (who was kind of insufferable to be honest, almost as bad as Louise).
- Location
- Hungary
Pretty sure STDs are very rare in Japan. I think.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
They may be rare, but still serious.
There is one really horrible STD that if you catch it is difficult to cure called Zouken Matou.
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Ars Poetica
ULTIMA RATIO NEMO OBLIGATUR
- Location
- The Kingdom of Fiore
- Pronouns
- He / Him / His
Well, some limbs are more important than others. Better amputation than castration, that's what I always say!
One of their doctors is credited with discovering the cure for... Can't remember which one. He's on 1000 yen bills. Saito should probably know about STDs, although like many guys that age may not care. He probably should have lice by now, though.
Historically, blacksmiths (?) used to double as dentists.
Ars Poetica
ULTIMA RATIO NEMO OBLIGATUR
- Location
- The Kingdom of Fiore
- Pronouns
- He / Him / His
Barbers. You're thinking of barbers. It's why they have the spiraling pole outside their buildings.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Barbers also moonlighted as surgeons.