Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 165

True Kindness

The day after their return, Connie isolated herself in her room; unwilling to meet anyone else aside from Lihua. This made Illumca and, surprisingly, Akula, to become worried. But Lihua calmed them down and passed them Connie’s message that they were to rest and recuperate while she too, did the same. There would be many things for them to do very soon.

Although this gave them a bit of relief, what really persuaded them not to burst into Connie’s room was Lihua’s ability to talk. She was nice. So very nice. And she was friendly, supportive, and above all, extremely confident. This was a very foreign quality to Connie’s current entourage that it made Nick as happy as a calm.

“Finally! Someone with their heads screwed on right!” He said to Martell, who looked to be preoccupied with something to respond. The former then proceeded to throw up into the nearest bin.

Thus, everyone did as they were ordered and went on their ways while Lihua took care of Connie.

Illumca, who seemed to have gained something during her fated showdown with her stepmother, went out alone. Nick - who had been drinking until almost sunrise - chose to head to bed until his headache is gone. As for Akula, though she had drunk twice the amount of three adults, she looked to be just fine; she too, seemed to be restless as she went out with her bow in tow.

As for the Martell, he was feeling listless. He had nothing to do and did not feel like he wanted to do anything. So, he went to town.

An hour later, Martell found himself sitting on bench by the square, idly gazing at the disembodied skull that Connie took home as a trophy. A number of men were standing guard around it. It had become quite an attraction for the townspeople. Children dared each other to try and get close enough to the skull without the Guards scaring them with their stares.

“Can’t believe we fought that and survived,” he mumbled.

Ever since he witnessed firsthand the fierce battle between Connie and the Demon Bet-Zebek, he was at a loss. Especially because of his failure to use Fourth Art the Golden Lotus of Prajnaparamita in a crucial moment.

That failure played in his head again and again. The humiliation, the disappointment. His Mistress did not show it but he knew. He knew that she was disappointed.

And all of it happened because he did not understand what it means to be kind. For as long as he had lived, everyone who extended their hands to him always had ulterior motives. And he himself, having lost that which enabled him to feel how normal people feel, was uneasy.

As he felt sorry for himself, a familiar Elf called on him. “Morning, Martell. On your own today?”

“Yeah. We were told to rest by the Mistress.”

“I see. She’s right. Resting is also a Hunter’s job. Especially after what we went through in Untouchable Marshes.”

Martell noticed the bundle Caelin was holding under his armpit. “What’s that?”

“Oh, just some items Rhoddes told me to get. He’s helping the Daydreamers in the building near the gate right now.”

“He is? Wasn’t he hurt really bad? Is it okay for him to do that?”

“No, but trying to reason with him when he’s like that is like trying to keep a dragon from hoarding gold.” Caelin sighed. “But that’s exactly why we trust him. Dhani and I.”

“Hmm…” Martell furrowed his eyebrows. He then remembered about that strange offer that the mysterious priest had proffered him. “Do you think it’s okay if I come with you?”

“Sure,” he replied.

When they arrived at the old warehouse that had become the treatment center for the Daydreamers, they saw Hagen Sondt and a few of the Herbalists gathered around a large figure who towered above them even though he was crouching. Caelin approached them and handed Rhoddes the bundle. Martell saw that it was too full of people to see anything and hung back.

“What are they doing?” Martell asked a nearby Herbalist who was looking at the gathering with an obvious look of disgust.

“That…that thing told us that he could help heal the Daydreamers that had gone to the deep end.”

“As if that could happen,” Another Herbalist said in agreement. “This isn’t something you can just heal. Otherwise, we’d already have Healers use their Healing Skills on them.”

“He’s giving me the creeps. Are you sure he isn’t a monster?”

Just as he said so, as if to give the obnoxious Herbalist a slap, there was a light coming from their direction, followed by a loud cheer.

“The patient! He’s reacting to stimuli!”

Hagen grabbed the normal-sized hand of the Nankhudi and shook it fast. “Amazing! To think that we overlooked something like this! With your help, we can wake the Daydreamers that had reached the Late Stage of their addiction!!”

“It was not me. I am simply helping them to regain their willpower that had been sapped dry by the vile drug.”

Rhoddes slowly got up and wobbled. Caelin caught him just in time and patted his back. “Rhoddes. You work yourself too hard.”

“There is no working myself too hard in helping others,” he said.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You’re still recovering from your wounds. Please, get some rest. We will be monitoring the patient and make a more comprehensive treatment plan according to Lady Steelhearts’ notes. With your help in mind, of course.”

“That will do, Mister Sondt. Thank you,” Rhoddes said. He then spotted Martell, who had just kicked the ass of the two men mocking the Anukaran Nankhudi.

“Ah, Ungku Nadi. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Have you decided to take my offer to rid you of the curse?”

Martell blinked and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “…You’re correct. But can you really cure me of my curse?”

“As an Anukaran Nankhudi, I have the ability to heal, not just the body but also the spirit. Like what you’ve just seen me do to the Daydreamer. The Dark Mother had sent me to cleanse you of the dark curse, young one.”

“…and what do you want in return?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“You’re offering to free me of my curse. The one that my Mistress only managed to keep at bay by making me meditate and pray every single night? I’m sure you want something in return. What do you want? Money? Me?”

“Look, Martell. You’re my friend, but Rhoddes isn’t like that – “ Caelin, who had been listening to their conversation began, but Rhoddes put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Will you let me talk to him alone, old friend?”

The Elf looked at his friend strangely. He then sighed and shrugged his shoulder. “Sure.”

Once he left, Rhoddes looked at the young Beastfolk who seemed to be wary of him.

“I need nothing in return, Ungku Nadi,” he said calmly, without being offended.

“I…I don’t get it,” Martell’s expression changed. “You don’t want anything? Really?”

The hunchback Nankhudi smiled behind his veil when he saw the distrust in Martell’s eyes. He had seen those eyes many times in his years of service to the Dark Mother. Those were the eyes of the people who asked for help but did not receive it; whose eyes were clouded by the evils of that they had witnessed.

Rhoddes swept his eyes towards the town and spoke softly. “…walk with me.”

“…why?”

“I wish to have a conversation with you,” the Nankhudi walked a step towards the warehouse door. “Yes. A simple conversation, nothing more.”

The two of them ten walked through the town’s gate.

Martell noticed that though the malformed man beside him walked with a noticeable limp due to his left leg being larger than the right, there was purpose in his every step.

The two drew stares as they walked down the streets. It could not be helped. As one was a young boy with a face as beautiful as an angel, while the other was a misshapen giant with a hunchback.

“There are more eyes than usual looking upon me today,” the Anukaran Nankhudi said jokingly.

“The two of us do make a strange combination,” Martell commented. “Tell me, Mister. Why are you helping the Daydreamers? You’re not obligated to do so. And you don’t even charge them money.”

“Why not? I have the ability to help. So, I helped.”

“Even though there are people that speak ill of you?” Martell asked again. “Like the two men who ridiculed your form, even though you are helping them do their job? Are you not angry?”

“…” The man looked at the boy with a knowing smile. Though his expressions were hidden behind the religious cloth he wore, somehow Martell could sense that he was smiling. “And do you think so too, young one? That I am ugly? That I am…deformed?”

“Honestly?” Martell asked.

“Yes.”

“You are…ugly, Mister,” the boy said, with a slightly mean spirit. For some reason, the man in front of him irked him. Made him uncomfortable.

He was expecting a spiteful reply. However, Rhoddes simply chuckled. “You are correct. Ungku Nadi. I am ugly. And to someone as young and beautiful as you, I must look abhorrent.”

“…I am simply stating a fact,” Martell commented, slightly impressed at the patience the man had. “I don’t think you are abhorrent. I have seen men who are viler than even Demons. Those are the ones I find repugnant.”

“Haha, There’s truth in that, to be sure. I believe that a man should not be judged by their physical appearance alone,” he continued. “So, is that the reason why you are unable to believe that I am offering my help freely?”

“Yes. This is a world of give and take. I cannot believe that anyone could help others without obtaining something in return,” Martell said straightforwardly.

“Is it so hard to believe that a man could give without expecting anything in return? I for one, have been saved by such a man,” he began to reminisce. “My foster father, Adenaide – Anukara protects his soul - found me while he was on a pilgrimage. I was abandoned under a tree, as I was born deformed. He was not obligated to take me in, and yet he did. And despite his advanced age, he would humble himself to ask for goat milk to the villages he visited to feed me.”

“Though he passed before I took my oath and gotten my First Wounding. Ah, First Wounding is the first time a Nankhudi initiate used the Sacred Instrument to inflict wound upon oneself in honor of the Dark Mother,” Rhoddes paused. “And up to the day he passed, he never asked anything of me, other than me to become a good man. He did not even want me to follow his footsteps.”

“Thus, I believe, that though this world can be cold and cruel…at least one person should be kind. If so, why could it not be me?” Rhoddes said.

“…ugh,” As he listened to the man’s words, he became more and more nauseated. So much that he could feel chunks trying to climb up his throat.

“You also helped Lady Steelheart to protect the Daydreamers back in the Untouchable Marshes. Oh, in that case, you can treat it as me repaying you for that. If that makes you more comfortable.”

“Those were my Mistress’s orders. I wouldn’t risk if it wasn’t for that,” he said with a cynical tone. I think the Mistress does not have a purely altruistic intent either.

“Still, you helped save them. And that’s a deed worthy of praise.”

The boy stopped walking. His hands formed into fists, which trembled as he looked down at the ground. “That’s enough.”

Rhoddes, who had walked a few steps forward, turned his whole body around so that his stiff neck could look at Martell. “Ungku Nadi?”

“Those words! Those sickly feel-good words are annoying! There’s nothing good in me! This body, this soul of mine…they have all been tainted!! By what’ve been done to me! And what I’ve done!!” he shouted. Somehow everything that Rhoddes said irked him. Made him feel disturbed to his very core.

Martell ran away, his heart palpitating hard. He stumbled to a small alleyway and threw up.

While he was catching his breath, he realized it then; the reason why he did not feel at ease with him. For someone who had been exposed to the evils of the world, to experience a kindness of such purity was off-putting. In a world filled with cynicism, this man was an anomaly.

“Hah…hahaa…haaa!!”

Rhoddes did not do what he did out of obligation or religion. He did it so naturally that he did not think about it at all.

Yes. He was just…kind.

Kindness without any expectation of reward, for it was natural for him.

Though the man’s appearance was ugly and deformed, his heart was pure and kind. While he, though he was beautiful, his heart was wretched and vindictive.

Rhoddes had everything that he was lacking. And it scared him.