Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Fatty’s Home
“Why not ask a priest?”
As soon as Sivey asked this question, he realized how foolish it sounded.
Aubrey looked at him with a strange expression, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Lord, have you forgotten? You killed all the priests… And even if they were still alive, we couldn’t afford to hire them. It costs a hundred gold coins for a priest to perform healing magic.”
“They never considered healing us.”
Embarrassed, Sivey rubbed his nose.
He had thought those priests were useless at the time, and his approach had been blunt.
The priests had been unwilling to serve commoners, let alone treat Lori, and they had even disrespected him as their lord. It had seemed better to send them off.
“In that case, I’ll accompany you to buy the medicine now. After we get it, you can take me to your home,” Sivey said.
“As a lord, I must take responsibility if one of my knights made a mistake.”
Aubrey stared at Sivey in disbelief, his eyes nearly disappearing behind his plump face.
“Are you really going to help us?”
Sivey nodded firmly.
***
There was only one pharmacy in the whole of Winterfell. Almost anyone and everyone who fell ill or got injured came here to buy medicine.
The healing magic of priests was something only nobles could afford. Of course, even the nobles couldn’t afford it now.
The owner of the pharmacy was an old man with white hair. His face looked weather-beaten, dull, and rough, covered with deep wrinkles.
But in contrast, the old man’s eyes were very bright.
According to Aubrey, this old man, who made a living selling herbs, used to be an alchemical Warlock. It’s just that his source of magic power was shattered by someone, and he could no longer make magical potions.
Sivey had already noticed the calluses on the old man’s palms and wrists, silently speculating that his identity might be more intriguing than it appeared.
“Grandpa Parker, I want to buy some herbs for treating wounds,” Aubrey said nervously as he approached the old man’s pharmacy.
This wasn’t Aubrey’s first time buying medicine from Old Parker. He had been there several times before to get medicine for his father’s injuries.
Despite the familiarity, he always felt uneasy under the old man’s sharp gaze, which seemed to expose him completely.
Old Parker had seen them coming from a distance. He assessed Sivey with a keen eye and quickly recognized his identity.
“Good day, Lord,” Old Parker greeted Sivey with a nod.
Sivey returned the nod without speaking. Old Parker then turned his attention to Aubrey, who was still not as tall as the counter, and said with a smile, “Ah, Aubrey, it looks like you’ve gained a bit of weight again. What happened this time? Did your father get injured while hunting for you?”
Aubrey looked downcast at Old Parker’s words. Shaking his head, he spoke with a choked voice, “Grandpa Parker, my father can’t hunt for me anymore because he died in battle three days ago.”
Old Parker was taken aback by Aubrey’s announcement. His smile slowly faded, and a look of regret flashed in his eyes.
He quite liked the kid who would occasionally bring him a glass of sour beer. He hadn’t expected that after their last meeting, he would never see him again.
“I’m sorry, Aubrey, I…”
“Grandpa Parker, my father, was an honorable Warrior. I’m proud of him, and I’ll be like him in the future.”
Aubrey said, shaking his head and sniffling. “I came to get medicine for my mother. She was injured by some villains.”
Old Parker didn’t continue to ask why Aubrey’s mother was injured. He just silently turned around to find herbs that could treat external injuries.
For the injured, every meaningless inquiry was a cruel torture.
Unless you can help them solve the problem.
“Here, Aubrey, these are hemostatic grass and life star grass. I’ve already measured them for you. Bring them back and simmer them in a pot for an hour, then give them to your mother to drink.”
Old Parker quickly packed two bags of herbs and put them in Aubrey’s hands. Suddenly, he touched Aubrey’s round head and said with a complicated expression in his eyes, “You must grow up healthy and strong… for your father, and take care of your mother.”
Aubrey obediently nodded, then took out more than a dozen copper coins from his pocket.
He counted them carefully, took out two, and put the rest in the dustpan on the old man’s table.
Of course, his money was not enough to buy these herbs, but Old Parker didn’t say anything.
He took a copper coin from the dustpan with a smile, returned the rest to Aubrey, waved his hand, and said, “This is enough.”
After saying goodbye to Old Parker, Sivey followed Aubrey and wandered around for a while before finally arriving at a low thatched house outside the city.
This was Aubrey’s home.
Sivey was somewhat puzzled. Although the salary of the sword and shield soldiers was not as high as that of knights, it should not be so low as to live in such a crude place.
“Mother, I’m back.”
Aubrey knocked on the door, and a weak voice came from inside the house.
“Cough cough… Aubrey, you’re back? Please open the door yourself, Mom can’t walk properly now.”
Sivey didn’t immediately follow Aubrey into the house. When Aubrey came out again to invite him in, he followed.
As soon as he entered the house, he was hit by a strong smell of herbs mixed with the foul smell of infected wounds.
In the dim light, Sivey could see a frail woman lying on the bed, looking very haggard and tired.
Aubrey had already explained everything to the woman about Sivey’s arrival, but she still looked somewhat frightened and struggled to sit up from the bed.
“Lord, commoner…”
“Just lie down and talk, no need to be formal, it’s an order.”
Sivey gently pushed the woman back down, and his Qi probed her body.
Sivey couldn’t help but frown. Aubrey’s mother not only had external injuries but also suffered from a serious lung disease.
This explained why they lived in such poor conditions. It was estimated that Aubrey’s father’s salary was used to treat his wife’s illness.
This kind of disease couldn’t be cured by priests; it could only be baptized with holy water formed by faith.
But in Winterfell—such a remote place—holy water was a precious resource only available to be obtained in the capital.
However, there was still hope. Sivey had a feeling.
Yesterday, when Lori was awakening, the ability corresponding to the aura emanating from her body could definitely solve the current problem.
It seemed like he needed to hurry back and awaken the little maid.
Sivey didn’t waste time on useless chatter, he went straight to the point and asked:
“I heard that your compensation was robbed by a group of people, and there was a knight supporting them?”
The woman nodded sadly at the mention, tears immediately streaming down her face, crying bitterly:
“…Lord, can you help us? It’s Bolt and his gang, they’re ruffians from the outer city district, usually living on extortion.”
“The knight who handed the compensation had just left, and they came shortly after, robbed the compensation, and beat me to this condition, sob…”
“They also said we could come find them to take revenge anytime, they have a knight standing behind them, a lord…”
“Scoundrels!”
Sivey was already furious, his temples throbbing, and he clenched his fists.
Not only did these scoundrels commit crimes, but they also did so under his name?
He wanted to see who the knight behind these ruffians was. If there really was such a person, then the knight would receive the harshest punishment.
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