Strangely enough, the hallways were half empty, they passed very few people on the way to the patient's room and that makes one wonder whether or not this guild is as productive as it once was.

  There are still cleaners and servants who worked on maintaining the place thankfully, so there's no real risk of infection around here. Whether or not this is the case for the other parts of the building is still unknown but honestly, right as long as this particular wing was clean, Liberty couldn't care less about the rest of the guild.

  She was brought to the third floor of the guild, here, several doors filled the hallway, every single one of them had a number marking their upper half. Liberty was led near the end of the hallway, where a door the color of onyx and marked with contrasting gold lines sits.

  Actually, most of the doors have the same design. 'VVIP rooms?' That was the only conclusion that Liberty could come to as she read the room's number. 'P - Room number 2.'

  Also, does this imply that number one is also occupied? Then why was she brought here? Does she also have to go and visit the patient in room number one? If so, then why does she have to go here first?

  Liberty had no more time to think because the director finally addressed her again, the bulky man was even scarier as he explained why she was here. "The person you are about to visit is one of the most important people here in Valdrosen, no one has been able to cure him but you said you are confident in your skills, right?"

  She bit her lip and nodded, "I am but..."

  "But nothing, you either need to heal him or leave this place, simple as that." Jorain cut her off, it is clear that he's not making any room for negotiations. "I am not giving you a license unless you do this much, you have three marks, which means you know white magic."

  'Know white— is that what this is all about?!' Doesn't this man know how dangerous that kind of magic is?! How dare he insinuate that she's willing to use that kind of thing here?!

  "Here we are." Jorain opens the door and steps inside, Liberty hesitantly follows. What else could she do? Does she say no? "And your patient is this man right here."

  The best way to describe the man on the bed would have been the word "lost cause" because what else would he be? His face was skeletal, arms barely had muscles, and Liberty could see the ridges of his spine on his throat!

  She didn't need to do a full-body check up to conclude that this is a lost cause.

  Help him?! This man is at death's door! The fact that he hasn't died yet is a miracle all on its own! Does Jorain think she's stupid enough to actually believe this person could be healed? As if!

  'Are they planning something? Definitely, right? But what could they be planning?' She thought about it and out of all the potential reasons why she was brought here, only one stood out: 'They want to use me as a scapegoat to save their name, right? If I cure him, then good, if I don't and he dies... Then I'm the one who's getting all the consequences.'

  She wasn't being treated amicably because Jorain knew her master, no, the man simply wanted to save his own position as well as the reputation of the Practitioner's Guild. And she would be the one to sit at the sacrificial altar, given to the city in order to appease the masses.

  "Sir, if I may be blunt, this is not something I can heal, not even magic is capable of healing this man." Denying his request and leaving the guild was her only option, she'd rather work somewhere else than here.

  "Then you're saying no?"

  "Yes, I am." Liberty laughed hysterically, it was a sound between complete insanity and lost hope. "I am not capable of healing someone who has been pushed this far, how is he not dead?!"

  "Hm, really? So he's going to die regardless, then?" Jorain's eyes turned cold, Liberty saw his fists clench as he stared at the breathing corpse in the bed. "There's no hope?"

  "Not as far as I'm aware, no." She's not psychic and could not reasonably figure out the thoughts of humans but if she were to throw out a guess on what Jorain is thinking at this very moment, it would be:

  Did I take in someone who's beyond saving?

  He's regretting his decision of offering the guild's services to whoever this is, which means that the next thing he will do is going to be damage control, right?

  'How would he do that? If I were in his position I would blame those under me, but the guild already looks like it's in a dire state, Jorain must be thinking he couldn't afford to lose anyone under him.' Liberty took a step back, she was scared now. 'The next best thing would be... Me.'

  Stolen story; please report.

  "I can still offer you our license—"

  "Thank you, Sir. But I'm afraid I will have to decline." Possessing a license is proof, she needs to get away from here. "I think I'm more than happy to simply get a more simple job, if that's okay with you?"

  "Are you denying my good graces?" Jorain scowled. "You are a Leech with no backing, without the license from my guild, you will not be able to operate!"

  "I can figure something out." Whatever it will be is gonna be better than what awaits her if she accepts this license. "Thank you for the opportunity, truly, but I would rather find another job."

  "You think you can run away?"

  Liberty's cloak lifted as she raised her hand, what emerged was a lump of iron with a nozzle jutting out of it, the mouth of her revolver was directly pointed at the director, she gulped. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

  "Fine then, I'll let you get away this—"

  Bang

  The words literally died in Jorain's throat as his chest was pierced by a bullet, he fell to his knees, blood flowing out of his mouth. How he stared at Liberty was completely shocked, he did not expect her to actually fire her weapon, didn't he?

  "I've killed people before, the gun just makes it easier." Pulling a trigger is far less mentally taxing than having to pummel the head of a man with a rock over and over again. "I'm not afraid to kill."

  She hides her gun under her cloak and heads out the door. Liberty doesn't rush, she calmly walks out of the Practitioners Guild and then to a nearby clothing store, she buys a shirt and wraps it around her face.

  Then she goes to the Hunter's Guild, and this one is far more crowded compared to that other building, people come and go and all of them are armed to the teeth, carrying spears, swords, rifles, crossbows, and revolvers like they are just regular tools.

  Heavy and light armor is a pretty common catch around here as well, with chainmail being the most popular. Masks weren't strange to see here, so no one found her suspicious as she fell in line.

  "Good morning! What brings you here today?" Her morning was not good, and what brought her here?

  "Can I report medical malpractice?" Liberty gulps, her voice was shaking, something the receptionist quickly caught onto because she nodded and then left her post.

  "Come with me." The receptionist led her to the basement of the guild, they stopped in front of a wooden door barred with iron, the receptionist opened it for Liberty. "Come in, and you can take off your mask now."

  The strip of cloth covering Liberty's face fell away and the receptionist took a good look at her face, then she nodded. "You're a Lampiy? Three lines? I've never seen someone as young as you with that kind of achievement before."

  "It's because I made my own kind of medicine, so my master decided that I am knowledgeable enough to get the third line." Liberty explained as she took a seat. "... Can I start?"

  "Yes, please tell us what's happening."

  Us? There was no one else here.

  "The Practitioners Guild has a half-dead noble in one of their priority rooms." She pauses when recognition colored the receptionist's eyes.

  "I've heard of that man before."

  "Y-yes?" So he was there on purpose? Now she can't use kidnapping as an alibi... She needs to be careful with her next words. Right? "I think they've been trying to cure him but have long since failed, by the time I got there, the man was already half-dead."

  "I see. And what happened next?"

  "T-the director told me to cure him, to use white magic—" Liberty's lie was cut when the receptionist asked her something.

  "You know white magic?" Liberty nods. "Proceed."

  "And when I didn't, he tried to coerce me, so I pulled out my revolver and shot him."

  "You killed the director of the Practitioners Guild?" Instead of the terrified expression Liberty expected, the receptionist turned curious. "He's dead?"

  "I think so?" Liberty tried not to let her confusion show.

  "And you said he forced you to use white magic?"

  "Yes."

  A smile that stretched far too wide for it to be fake appeared on the woman's face and she nodded. "I see, then may I ask you to write up an official report for this? The guild will handle it."

  Shaky hands reached for the pen and paper the receptionist offered, once they were taken, Liberty placed them on the table and started writing the events. She falsified everything that happened in that room, including writing a manuscript that contained words she and the director never exchanged.

  "How cruel." The receptionist said calmly after reading what Liberty wrote. "I cannot believe he would threaten you like this, and for him to be such a failure of a director that someone from a noble household is dying under his care..."

  What was this woman's game? She wasn't just calm, she was satisfied.

  "For now, I will do my best to help with your case, come with me again?" What other choice did Liberty have? Of course she'd follow. "We have hunters who get injured on the field every day, and usually, we would assign Leeches to tend to them, ones specifically sponsored by the guild. Do you know how to work with a dresser?"

  "Yes." She's worked as a Dresser even, helping her master tend to various patients had netted her a lot of experience when it comes to applying this world's medicine.

  "You won't have any." The receptionist laughed. She stops. "Was the joke not funny?"

  "No." Liberty decided to be blunt. "You don't say those kinds of things, what if I actually expect assistance?"

  "Ah, I see. Sorry then." Only a few seconds of silence passed before the receptionist tried initiating conversation. "So, how is it like? Being a Lampiy, I hear you people are commonly holed up in the mountain no? It must be strange living like that."

  'Strange?' Liberty never really lived in a mountain before so she didn't know how it felt.

  "Our lives are fairly normal." She decides to defend the Lampiy anyway. "The mountains aren't really that different from the city, villages may be small and we don't have the luxuries of gas powered systems but it's fine."

  "Mhmm, of course." The receptionist nods. "You're the kind that doesn't feel strange when entering a city then? You seem accustomed to this place. Usually, Lampiys in your position would have run away, not ask for help."

  "Yes. I am." Liberty would have gone to the Cleaners if it was possible, but the police in this city aren't exactly the kind that defends the weak from crimes. "Is it that strange for me to do? Ask for help?"

  "As a Lampiy? Yes. It is." Nods the receptionist. "Again, you people mostly run instead of... This."

  'So that's why Jorain thought he could frame me, because he believes I'd run out of the city the moment things get bad.' Doesn't that make him even worse? 'I feel slightly less guilty for what I did now.'