A Mythical Journey To Remember - Chapter 32

Chapter 32 - The Monster

A week passed, and everything seemed normal as I returned to my lodgings, where my team awaited me. Our rented room was spacious enough for Budas to train with his sword, swinging it around with remarkably above-average skill. He didn't have much talent for being a warrior.

Meanwhile, Auto was carefree, playing with Billy the goat. Surprisingly, Billy had grown accustomed to her playful antics, although he occasionally displayed a haughty demeanor.

"How was work?" Budas asked, pausing to wipe the sweat off his brow with a towel before resuming his training.

"Same as usual," I replied.

Despite the monster attacking someone every night, not much was happening. How did the thing know the guard locations? That was knowledge only Camella possessed, but it was a can of worms I wasn't ready to open yet. Or maybe ever.

Did I really have to take the long way to Athens? I had my reservations, as that would require nearly a year of travel and would undoubtedly expose me to the dangers of mythical Greece.

However, during this past week, I learned a few things that made my stay here worthwhile. It appeared that Heracles had been banished, although he still went by another name.

Furthermore, if my memory serves me right, after killing his teacher, Heracles spent some time working as a shepherd.

Perhaps I should investigate the sheep farms outside the city. One of them might be hiding Heracles. If my luck stat had any effect in the real world, locating him should be relatively easy. Unfortunately, I couldn't venture outside at the moment due to the city being on lockdown.

...

Another day, another dollar they say.  But as a volunteer, I wasn't really getting paid.

This time, when I entered the palace, no one stopped me. The guards judged me trustworthy enough not to take off on a murdering spree among the nobles.

Well, jokes on them. If I wanted to kill someone here, I would just poison their drink. Combat isn't my strong suit.

With the skills I gained from my Alchemist Class, I had a clear path to leveling up those abilities and it required effort and luck on my part. However, skills like Spearmanship were a different story. I would have to figure that out on my own. I wasn't sure if I wanted to invest time in a skill that wouldn't likely be useful for me in the late game.

In this world, I lacked any special lineage, which is why I became an Alchemist. My battles were going to be ones where I would preferably fight from a long distance.

When I entered the barracks, the first thing that caught my eye was how people were running around like headless chickens. I recognized one of the guards at the front door; we had played cards together a few nights ago.

"What happened?"

"Lady Camilla is injured," he replied, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow.

"Was it the monster?" I asked, worried about her well-being.

"Probably," he answered.

Well, that pretty much challenged my notion that it was actually Camilla who was working with the monster. It seemed like I wasn't really made for this detective stuff. In the future, I should try and learn how to make an item that could help with that.

No, Oracles were a thing here. Maybe I could learn some kind of divination thing? That would be kinda cool.

I made my way toward one of the private rooms where Camilla was resting. The healer in charge of the day shift, a man with a beak-like nose and a thick beard, was also present.

"Do not worry. I have studied the ancient arts of medicine, and you will recover in no time!" the healer reassured her.

The ancient art of medicine? What did he think this was? Some Xianxia story? Just because something was old didn't make it better; in fact, it was usually the opposite.

Camilla took ragged breaths and looked at me, her midsection covered in bloody bandages. Dark circles under her eyes accentuated her condition as she tremblingly raised her hand and pointed a finger at me.

The healer frowned. "You two-bit scammer, Lady Camilla wants you away from here."

What went and crawled up his ass? I had done nothing to earn his anger.

But before he could say anything else, Camilla's hand moved like a viper, and she punched the man in the throat. The doctor fell to the ground, clutching his throat, and passed out. Some guards quickly arrived, calmly picking him up.

Camilla's breathing was heavy, and she continued to gaze at me, her bandages soaked in even more blood.

"Do you want me to help with your injury?" I asked, feigning calm.

If Camilla had taught me anything it was the importance of appearing calm, even when I didn't feel that way.

She nodded and dry coughed. Without wasting any time, I sprang into action, grabbing two gloves and a potion with a distinct smell of alcohol. I coated the gloves with the potion, considering whether a healing potion would be necessary. However, her condition didn't seem critical enough for that.

Fuck, I had to play Doctor. But what did I really know about treating injuries like this? Almost nothing, and most of my knowledge came from medical dramas. Well, not even the actual shows themselves, but rather recaps on YouTube.

Come on, all that procrastination in my first life, I am counting on you!

I carefully removed her bandages, wincing at the sight of the injury. It wasn't a clean cut; it looked like it had been made with a dull axe. Hopefully, it wasn't a rusty one, because I had no idea how to handle that. Maybe antibiotics? But how could I even make them? Are antibiotics derived from moss? Could Transmutation create something like that?

But then again, I wasn't even sure if excessive antibiotic use could be harmful. I might unintentionally kill her. Besides, was her body even like that of a normal human? After all, she had super strength.

The first step was to remove her upper clothes, shooing away the guards who were initially hesitant to leave. A single death glare from Camilla quickly convinced them otherwise.

Despite having her chest within my view, I didn't dare let my gaze linger. It was hard for this scene to be anything erotic when I could see the bone peeking through the wound between her breasts.

"This is going to be painful," I warned her, offering a cloth to bite down on. "It'll prevent you from breaking your teeth if you clench down too hard."

With resolve, I began cleansing her wounds using a fresh cloth soaked in alcohol. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch, only maintaining eye contact.

Once the wounds were cleaned, I proceeded to stitch them up and apply bandages. I also checked for any broken bones or additional injuries. Her lungs seemed bruised, explaining her difficulty in speaking.

To aid her recovery, I soaked the bandages in some healing potions. Though I harbored suspicions about Camilla, I didn't want her to die. After all, my assumptions could be wrong, despite the troubling evidence that seemed to implicate her connection with the monster.

"I need to gather more supplies. I'm ill-equipped to handle a situation like this," I informed her, placing a cover over her chest.

Leaving the room, I notified the guards stationed outside her door. "Make sure nobody gets in here. Or Camilla will disembowel you."

Whether they took my orders seriously or were simply intimidated by me, I couldn't tell from their expressionless faces. However, I knew they feared Camilla, and unlike me, she would indeed follow through with the threats.

Instead of heading to the storage room as I had claimed, I descended on the prison cells to check on the former head guard. He appeared better than before, thanks to my insistence that the guards remember to feed him during my week here.

"You're still alive?" he raised a questioning brow. "I thought she would have killed you by now."

"Do you mean Camilla?" I asked.

He smirked. "Who else could I be talking about?"

"Okay, explain what's happening in this city. What is the monster? Is Camilla working with it? Did she imprison you here because of that?" I inquired.

"Brat, I told you to get the hell away from this city!" The ex-head guard got up and gripped the metal bars of his cell so hard they creaked.

"Camilla is injured," I frowned. "Just tell me what's happening. She can't do anything right now."

The guy's eyes widened at my words, and he sighed before returning to the corner of the room and sitting back down. "Camilla isn't working with the monster, even though she framed me for it. The truth is, Camilla is the monster!"

My heart dropped at his revelation, but he continued speaking. "And you just fell into her trap."

"He's right," a voice came from the door.

Fear gripped my heart as I turned towards the door where Camilla stood. She ripped off her bandages and pulled at the stitches as the flesh mended back together. A sad smile appeared on Camilla's face, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "What a shame. I thought I had finally found someone who wouldn't dig their nose where it didn't belong. Why do all the people I grow fond of turn out like this?"