Rules of Biomancy: A LitRPG Healer Fantasy

Elijah hadn't been sure she would be able to function normally for weeks, especially with the bleeding head he’d noticed as well, yet here she was looking none the worse for wear. It was either very good makeup or she had the means to pay for high-quality healing. Either option was concerning, and especially when Elijah had been sought out by them.

“Can I help you?” he asked, not letting either of the two women any of the thoughts in his head. “We’re closed today, so we’re not selling anything.”

“Oh, that’s fine, we’re not looking to buy,” the woman in the front assured him. Elijah noted how her voice matched the screaming she’d from the day before. Very serene. “Are you Elijah Caede, the licensed Herbalist and owner of the shop?”

Ties to the city administrators at the minimum.

It had been eight years since a single person had brought that license to him, and the last time had been when he visited for the renewal that was required once a decade. Nobody normal would even know of it.

“That’s me,” Elijah answered, narrowing his eyes. “Who’s asking?”

“Vera Newell, at your service.”

Elijah watched the first half of the small bow before he tried closing the door again. He didn’t get too far with it, as the other woman quickly slammed her foot in its path and stopped him.

“Please wait!” the alleged princess of the country said, as Elijah tried pushing the boot inside out of the way. He could hear Aleksi coming down the stairs behind him. “I just want to talk.”

“You’re talking already, and I’m not a fan,” Elijah replied, internally muttering about the amount of roots the other woman must’ve grown to not move from her spot in the slightest. Had he gotten so much weaker without noticing or was the woman simply that strong? “If you want to talk to somebody fitting your status, it’s a thirty-minute walk that way.”

“I’ll give you fifty gold for every minute you listen to me.”

…

Any person around here would probably take that offer outright, but Elijah had very little trust in the people who would make such a statement. It either required they were stupidly rich, which would make talking to him very weird from their perspective or they were lying about paying him, which would obviously make him ignore it.

“A hundred per minute,” he countered.

“Deal!” Vera exclaimed, stepping forward but finding the almost-closed door still in place.

“No deal,” Elijah said, knowing that the giant had found himself at the door with him. He opened it up to let the two outside see Aleksi as well. The flinching from the other woman was obvious, their left arm jerking to the side. A weapon almost drawn? Or was the Mana that Elijah felt emanating from them almost unleashed? “Anybody stupid enough to give out that offer is either wildly desperate and rich or they’re liars trying to fool others.”

“Well, count me in as being in the first group then,” the bright woman replied with a smile, repeating the small bow to Aleksi who just looked on without blinking. “And you would be Aleksi Grey, the helper here in the shop and down in the smithy, I believe?”

…

“That’s right,” the giant said, sharing Elijah’s thoughts about the two women. They knew too much, though the phrasing was clear as well. The ‘helper’ part was the official position that they’d listed the giant as while filing documents regarding his work. Whoever these two were, they did indeed have access to official documents regarding their activities.

“I’m going to give you five seconds to prove you’re who you say you are before I have you jailed for impersonating royalty,” Elijah warned. An empty threat, honestly, as that would require getting one of the guards out and about to help, something he’d rather not get saddled with.

“Prove my identity? Sure,” the princess replied, revealing an empty hand to them. Not the most impressive display, until Elijah noticed the unmoving woman behind them. They were eerily still before they suddenly jerked, and an emblem appeared in the princess’ hand. “Is this enough for you, or do you need to see it close-up?”

Elijah took the latter option, taking the emblem and looking it over. It fit snugly in his hand, had a surprising weight, and the metal shined as if it was recently polished. Not that it needed to be, as the magical enchantments allowed it to stay perfectly clean and shiny through all seasons, and the magic used on it also allowed the herd of animals on it to move around freely. He noted how many of the woodland critters stared up at him as if they could actually see him.

Handing it to Aleksi, the giant barely needed a second before nodding. It was real.

“So the true Princess Vera, daughter of the man who founded this country, visits us?” Elijah said, to which the woman did a small bow for a third time now. “I’d feel flattered if the situation didn’t fill me with dread. What do you want?”

“To talk, as I said before,” Vera stressed once more. “You might not remember me from yesterday, since the two of you apparently ran around and helped many, but I was among the list of people you saved. I want to thank you, though without the chance of people wandering by. I learned my lesson yesterday, and would prefer being in a more… closed-off area.”

She wanted inside.

Elijah looked to Aleksi to make sure the giant had stopped the two others from making any noise upstairs. Once he got subtle confirmation that was the case, he made a show of relenting and allowing them entry into the house.

“It’s a wonderful shop you have here, by the way,” Vera commented, looking around with wonder. Elijah just grunted in affirmation, leading them to the kitchen where they could sit. He didn’t offer them tea, and instead just placed some dried fruits on the table. “Did you make these yourself?”

“No, I bought them from a seller some weeks ago,” Elijah explained, sitting down at the half-an-hour-old cup that he still hadn’t had the chance to finish. “So? You wanted to thank us.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Vera agreed, signaling for the other woman to move. Aleksi was ready to stand as a hand disappeared under the table and into the satchel around the leg, rustling heard before a small bag was put onto the table. “Fifty gold coins, as the standard reward for saving the life of a royal family member. I’d offer more, but you don’t seem like the greedy type.”

“Taking rewards from others more often than not comes with expectations,” he said, looking inside and confirming the coins to indeed be there. He handed them over to Aleksi for safekeeping, who accepted them without comment. “If you wanted to offer the standard reward for saving your life, I would’ve expected to receive it in the post. What else are you here for?”

At another time, he might’ve tried to act more humble, but the attitude had been there from the moment he’d first opened the door so there was little explanation for why he would change it now.

“Oh… We really are skipping all the small talk, aren’t we?” Vera questioned, laughing while the three others just looked at the display with a blank face. Even her servant matched their expression, no emotion felt towards the princess other than impatience. “I respect the need for as little bullshit as possible. It will make this easier for me. Harper, please bring out the documents.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” the woman by the name of Harper said, speaking for the first time before opening up her satchel again and placing a small stack of well-made papers onto the table. They were pushed over to Elijah, who instantly picked them up.

He frowned as he skimmed the first page.

Don’t tell me they’re trying this.

“As I’m guessing you’ve already heard, with how quick rumors spread nowadays, our last Royal Healer slept in a few days ago,” Vera began, continuing as Elijah continued to skim through the contract. There were quite a few clauses, each detailing every possible scenario he could have to work with during his time employed as a physician in the castle. “It was sad to see him go, but his age caught up to him and we were left with no healers that could replace him.”

“No assistants?” Elijah questioned, already seeing the page about working with people under him. There were apparently two who had been hired while the previous healer had overseen their apprenticeship. Both would remain in employment for a year at minimum, but afterward, they could be either promoted or replaced if he so wished.

“There’s two, as you’ve read, but they rejected the offer to get the title,” she continued. “The duties of the Royal Healer are of utmost importance, and they understood that they wouldn’t be able to live up to the requirements. It was only fair that we didn’t force them, though that meant that we suddenly had a lack of experienced healers who could be brought into the role.”

“You talk like you expect me to have the necessary training,” he commented dryly. Elijah, a person who’d only made derisive commentary about the actions of the crown for the past many years, was being headhunted by the princess herself.

It was a strange world, but this was high above what should’ve been allowed to happen. There had been an explanation that made it fit together.

“You’ve worked with high-quality herbs and have made hundreds of different types of medicine through three decades of operating this shop, with not a single person saying anything negative about you,” Vera countered. “A very fine track record, if I’m being honest. Even the more expensive herbal shops in the upper districts have gotten complaints over the years.”

“People down here don’t complain as publicly. Why didn’t you find somebody with a more refined reputation before me?”

“Those that are well known rarely have the desire to work in the castle, and they just as rarely can be trusted with the lives of the royals.”

“As opposed to me?” Elijah questioned, shaking his head at the ludicrousy of it all. “Until yesterday, you had not heard of me.”

“And you hadn’t known who I was when you used undocumented magical abilities to enhance your already-incredible pastes to heal a wound that would’ve left me crippled or dead,” Vera shot back without hesitation, making Elijah grow silent. He’d known from the second the Mage she’d brought along had seen him, that she would comment on his abilities. Even a Royal Mage would’ve been better to get noticed by. “Don’t look at me like that. I haven’t told anybody.”

No chance of killing them to keep this quiet.

Maybe there was a chance in the short term since Aleksi was ready to strike, but he didn’t doubt they had other contingencies in place in the event that he and the giant turned aggressive. The question was just what they were meant to be.

“You wouldn’t do that to somebody who saved your life?” Elijah asked.

“Not really, though I was also hoping to extend a favor to you relating to this problem of yours,” Vera said, skipping a few pages in the contract he’d been given before pointing to a certain paragraph detailing the required documentation to fill out before he could be put into the position officially. “Working within the castle walls can be very stressful, so those that are employed full time are exempt from any and all license checks, including those for magical affinities and any experimentation that might not have been fully sanctioned by the proper department.”

Elijah read through the section pointed out to him. It was as she’d said, the position giving him effective immunity from any security checks. With the Princesse's letter of recommendation, he could also skip many of the initial background checks, along with most of the questioning from other parties. Not a terrible trade, though it was the last parts of the contract that surprised him.

“The immunity stays in place after six months of employment, and you are allowing me to step down after those six months with no consequences and a full stipend as pension?”

“We might not have been able to find a suitable replacement other than you in the past few days, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find somebody before the end of this year,” Vera explained with a smile. “If it turns out you enjoy the position, and you want to continue working in the castle, I will not stop you, but the position can be very short-lived if you’re only taking the role for the immunity.”

…

Honestly? The fact that Elijah was heavily considering the offer made him fear what kind of research they had conducted to make this spiel so personalized. It wouldn’t have worked on somebody who didn’t keep their abilities hidden, and it certainly wouldn’t have worked on him last week when it came to the experimentation he did in the laboratory. He had talked about it while out on the street, and a small bit with Grace and her mother, but how had the information traveled from there and into the ears of the princess?

It was a war of secrets and Elijah couldn’t help but feel like he was on the losing side.

“You don’t have to feel pressured to make a decision right now, of course,” Vera assured him as he mulled it over in his mind. “I’m guessing you and your partner would like to discuss this privately.”

“That would help immensely, yes,” Aleksi confirmed before he could.

“How long do I have before you want an answer?” Elijah asked.

“Well…” Vera started, taking a moment to consider it herself. “The normal time is a week or two, but we’re steadily getting more and more pressure to find a replacement. I know it’s very little time, but would you be able to visit the castle this afternoon and give your answer then?”

Barely five hours to consider his options. Elijah doubted they needed it within the day, but there was little he could do to delay it further than that with the restrictions put in place.

“I’ll walk to the castle sometime in the afternoon then,” he said, his words making a bright smile appear on the princess. He felt a wave of something hit him at the sight. A strange sensation, his magical senses trying and failing to find anything amiss yet still giving him a subtle warning. A feeling of wrong. “Is there anything else I should know about?”

“No, that should cover all the topics I needed to go over,” Vera assured him, as she put an emblem onto the table. While the one that she had carried to prove her identity had been made of pure gold and silver, this one was made of bronze exclusively. Enchantments could still be seen on it, to make the animals cast move around as if they were alive, but it still had signs of wear and tear. “Show this to the guards at the castle gate, say you’re meant to meet me, and they’ll escort you to the garden where we can talk. And, please, bring some tea leaves along. I’ve heard too many good things to miss out on trying them.”

A garden?

Elijah couldn’t say he remembered hearing about one located next to the castle. He didn’t comment on it, however, escorting the two out of the house at a quick pace before closing the door once more, locking it and keeping silent until Aleksi confirmed that they had walked some fifty meters down the street.

“Sasha had been right in her worrying, though I can’t imagine this is what she thought would happen,” Elijah commented, as the two ventured back into the kitchen. That feeling of wrong was still in the air, getting stronger while he picked up the emblem and glanced at it again. “The next time we see a group of people on the brink of death, we ignore it, understand?”

“We’re not giving them a second glance, I know,” Aleksi agreed, the giant needing no convincing as he settled on his chair yet again, wiping sweat away from his forehead. “The Princess of the entire damn country… luck has not been on our side recently.”

“It’s a balancing of what we’ve been given before that,” Elijah countered, freezing in place as he felt a mild wind on his skin. He didn’t react to it immediately, instead looking over at Aleksi who had also slowed down in his movements. “Do you think the hounds might howl tonight?”

A phrase they’d prepared many years before.

“With so little meat to go around, they might have had a hard time finding their voice,” Aleksi said tiredly, taking a towel and wiping his face before leaving to go check the windows once again. “Give me a moment.”

Little meat.

One person at the minimum.

Hard time finding their voice.

Aleksi could feel them here, just as Elijah could, but narrowing down where they were wasn’t possible. That meant somebody had either just left through the window upstairs without them noticing they’d been there at the start, or it was somebody able to hide in plain sight.

A Mage capable of invisibility. Elijah knew they existed, even if the Affinities required for such a thing were either incredibly rare or required a level of power that made hiding a strange option when overpowering the enemy was much easier.

That other woman, Harper, had seemed very strange.

Strong too, which had made him think they had an ability focused around reinforcement of the body somehow, but this made him change theories.

“I’m not hungry anymore If I'm being honest,” Aleksi commented as he went back down the stairs, signaling that the windows still had the traps they’d checked this morning. “Can’t find my appetite.”

But there was still that feeling of wrongness, even if the sensation was fading from Elijah’s senses. The enhanced hearing and smell that the giant possessed wasn’t too easily fooled.

“Do you think you can still go to the smithy?” he asked, personally unsure of how to proceed. If there truly was somebody hiding, they had no way of discovering them without somehow sweeping the area without their notice.

In other words, it was currently impossible.

“Can’t do much else, I guess,” Aleksi replied. “I’ll bring him along. You enjoy your tea.”

Wait for an extra ten minutes.

He just nodded, going back into the kitchen to look through the contract another time. He’d been left with it to read through, and he had ample time before he needed to get him and Sasha out of here.

He heard footsteps upstairs as the man was brought down and out of the door without much fanfare, and notably not a single word shared between them. Elijah did note that the last bits of warnings that his senses shot towards him seemed to fade entirely after just a minute more of being ‘alone.’

If there had been somebody around, he guessed they’d left with the other two. Not that he would leave it to chance just yet, enjoying his tea and reading through the contract for twenty minutes before he ventured up the stairs himself and brought Sasha with him.

Even without being briefed about the potential invisibility, she likewise kept silent and followed him without pause. A short minute was spent dirtying her outfit to make her seem less well-put-together, but they otherwise went out the back door in no time at all.