Plantorsomething

Heya again! Thank you all for the feedback, I love reading all of your guys’ comments so much! As for the wait, I had an explosion of inspiration lately on top of binge watching to catchup with some anime. I don’t personally regret it, but it does make me feel a bit anxious to make you guys wait so long.
This chapter is short, but I honestly couldn’t think of much I could add in that wouldn’t drag it out, and I thought the end was a nice end point. It was also a bit difficult to write.

Regardless, I hope we can all give a warm welcome to the best girl who was completely objectively, and without any bias at all, done dirty in the OG. Enbies, Ladies, and Gentlemen, our girl Lifaaa!! I hope I didn’t fuck it up and make her look dumb, and honestly I’m worried about the chapter length. I thought I worked hard, but maybe I just rushed to get a chapter out? 

            “Argh, just let me in dammit! I know how to create medicine for the illness, and in case you didn’t know, people are dropping like flies in there!”

            “Then where is this so-called medicine, little miss con artist?”

            The five-foot-one girl with orange-brownish hair glared up at the apathetic soldier fiercely and continually shifted her weight from foot to foot. The man was literally in her way of potentially saving tens of thousands of lives; even if it was not a guaranteed cure by any means, she still couldn’t stand the utter bullshit that was happening right now. Then again, this whole mess was technically all her fault. She had the money to enter, but completely forgot to consider the quarantine rules before she ran away from the church. And so, here she was arguing with the guards for half an hour.

            “I already told you, I just need the ingredients and I’ll prove it to everyone!”

            “Is that so? Or are you just going to ‘borrow’ the expensive ingredients and scamper off? Sure. Just tell me where your parents are already, kid. We are under quarantine and not letting anyone in or out. Especially not anyone as suspicious as you.”

            Did the guard have ears? She repeatedly told him that she turned sixteen two days ago. Having the height of a thirteen or fourteen year old was so damn annoying sometimes. As she opened her mouth to refute him, the guard spoke again before she could get a word in. 

            “Argh, you know what? Fine. I’ll take you to the holding cell, and when your parents come looking, I’ll just bring them to you, ok? Come with me.” 

            Fuck. She was not going back to the monastery. After all of her preparations to save up enough money and cross towns to create medicine for the mysterious illness, Lifa was not leaving until she accomplished her goal. Thinking so, Lifa's left hand moved to her inner coat pocket as the guard grabbed her right. But before she could do anything, a young voice suddenly rose from the other side of the city gates. 

           “Sis!? There you are, what the hell are you doing here? Mom's looking for you! We’re gonna try another gate!”

           “What!?”

            Lifa’s brain stalled as she processed the sudden interruption; a polite-looking young boy with red eyes wearing modest clothing, a hair bandana, and a face covering was suddenly mistaking her to be his sister. Even though she was south eastern looking, looked like she’d wrestled a beaver, wore the cheapest practical clothes she could find, and didn’t wear a burqa of any sort to cover herself. The only thing she could think of that could possibly look familiar between her and the boy was that she had a similar shade of skin and purple eyes that just might possibly be mistaken for reddish under the correct lighting. But apparently that was enough for the exhausted guard who let out a weary sigh.

            “Thank god. You’re someone else’s problem now. Just take her away already!”

            “Thank you, sir! I am so sorry for my sister’s stubborn entitlement, I’ll make sure that she won’t irritate you any longer!”

            The boy thanked the guard and handed him a large silver coin in compensation, making the guard’s tired eyes immediately light up as Lifa widened hers in shock and guilt. That one coin was enough for an entire soldiers’ meal of decent quality. How many days would it take for her to save up that much back at the church…?

            In her shock, the guard quickly fled the scene before Lifa could try to protest again. Despite the quarantined gate, information travels relatively slowly, and so there was a small line of carts and travelers behind Lifa waiting for their turn to bribe or argue with the guard to let them in after traveling all that way to get into the city. Lifa’s occurrence was nothing but a drop in the bucket to the tired soldiers working the gate, and they wanted nothing more than to get rid of the problem as soon as possible, even if policy said that she should be arrested for attempted illegal drug manufacturing and trafficking.  

            “I-I’m sorry, young man, but I believe you are mistaken!? My name is Lifa Goodridge, so please, could you let go of…!?”

            Life tried to extract her hand from the boy’s grasp but no matter how hard she struggled, the ten year old boy’s grip on her arm felt like an iron shackle, his arm as immovable as a statue. Startled, Lifa reassessed the boy’s Aura, and discovered a small, but suspicious fluctuation up and down. Even so, to any normal person not paying strict attention, he would only look like a normal ten year old boy trying to berate his older sister. A sharp chill ran down Lifa’s spine as she reached her free hand into her pocket containing the vial she kept as a last defense.

            The only thing keeping her from popping the cork was that the boy seemed to be a genuine ten year old, she didn’t understand what was happening, and she felt guilty about the coin. Seemingly realizing her fear, the boy held a paper out to Lifa with his free hand and leaned close to whisper so that no one could hear him.

            “My dad’s been working to make the medicine too, and he said he wants to talk to you. He also said to tell you that ‘you’re not getting through this gate without us, by the way.’”

            That was the single most sketchiest thing Lifa had ever heard in her entire life. In most likely any other circumstance, Lifa would have opened the bottle with zero hesitation. Only, when she looked at the back of the soldier who was already arguing with somebody else, she realized she didn’t have any other possible option. The guard had said this entire city, aside from a single trade route on the opposite side, was almost completely quarantined. In her desperation on top of travel fatigue, mental exhaustion from the argument, and sleep deprivation, she decided to just go along with it and see how it goes. She might not even be able to overpower the boy if she tried, Lifa thought with self derision.

            * * *

            -What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck!???

            -What in the actual hell is going on!?

            -How the fuck is she here already!??

            After returning from their search for the scientist unsuccessfully, Harold and Kishino sat waiting in the snails’ pace of a line to get back into the city, both filled with gut-wrenching anxiety that their attempts might not be finished in the time they were staying at the Summeragi territory, when they overheard something impossible. Lifa Goodridge, trademark loli genius scientist of Brave Hearts and future member of the Hero’s Party, was the very one holding up the line they were waiting in. And according to what he overheard, she had already put together a medicine, and was trying to publicize it, nearly eight entire years too early! Making a quick excuse that he had to stretch his legs, they got up from their wagon and declined a guard, saying it would make them look suspicious.

            Harold and Kishino knew that the world they lived in was different from Brave Hearts in multiple obvious ways to compensate for physics and realism, but due mostly in part to Clara’s situation being the exact same as the game, the two had never conceptualized that the characters might act differently without intervention. As hundreds of possibilities flooded their minds at once, they heard something that spiked their adrenaline.

              “Argh, you know what? Fine. I’ll take you to the holding cell, and when your parents come looking, I’ll just bring them to you, ok? Come with me.”

              With zero thought to his actions, or the potential consequences thereof, Harold and Kishino rushed forward with only the desperate, irrational feeling that they couldn’t lose this opportunity. And that led to this current situation, where Lifa and Harold stood off to the side of the traffic, with the girl’s face growing confused, surprised, then suspicious as she looked back and forth between the paper showing the possible recipe routes that could lead to the medicine, and the contract.

              “...Hmph, you just happened to overhear me, eh? How lucky.”

              “What? The hell are you talking about?”
              Lifa gave Harold a deadpan look with her tired eyes. In the game, the young prodigy’s height was only ever mentioned as the butt of a joke, but Harold nor Kishino had ever anticipated just how underweight Lifa would actually look. Was it just the effect of a game character being made to look realistic, or was this just a fact that was completely glossed over in the game? Her arms were terribly thin when Harold grabbed her wrist, to the point where he feared hurting her if he used too much force. And upon closer inspection Lifa’s face seemed somewhat lacking in vitality, her collarbone stuck out, and her hands were similarly thin. It was obvious why she hadn’t grown as tall as she should have.

              “Right, right, so you just happened to pull me aside after listening to me bitching to the guard, and now you want to give me this highly detailed contract since I claimed I recognized your watered down cooking recipes? No, you had me in mind from the start. How do you know about me!?”

              Harold cursed himself. The original plan was to temporarily open up a scientist’s merchant stall in Lifa’s somewhat small hometown and spread the word to hopefully draw her out, but now it was hopelessly obvious that he was targeting her. The contract held enough incentive for her to go along, but he had only had a few minutes to convince Lifa of his integrity before his cart reached the gate. He didn’t trust the soldiers to keep quiet about her appearance if they saw him talking to her...

             “I suppose there isn’t much point in lying with poor acting skills like mine. It is as you say, we have targeted you specifically. Though it was more on the lines of, we knew that there was a scientist working on the medicine in a town along this road, and based on my intuition, I assumed that that scientist is you. I’m sure you’ve assumed this by now, but my name is Hiroshi Yuki, and I’m here as a representative of the Summeragi family. Please forgive me for my deceit.”

             “Oh…”

             Lifa was shocked. Hiroshi took on a noticeably different tone of voice, and his posture shifted to one of practiced grace and dignity; he’d completely dropped his act, just like she’d wanted. He would be a shitty noble in the future if he was this quick to spill the beans. Then again, the chances that it was the whole truth were practically zero, but you can only expect so much. What Lifa didn’t know was that Kishino had forcibly taken control of the conversation from Harold.

            “Well, you didn’t fully answer my question. How do you know I’m legit, and how’d you hear about me at all for that matter?”

            “The Summeragi family has eyes and ears everywhere. In fact, even though we are well away from the crowd, I am unsure if they listened to my request for privacy and are listening in on us at this very moment. But that is not something I can control. As for your legitimacy… I do not know. Perhaps the Summeragi had more information on you than I have been told.”

            Kishino’d always found that being honest was exponentially easier in almost every situation in his life. Even when trying to lie, being honest about most or some of it is way easier than just making up some convoluted web of bullcrap. He even used his own last name as part of Harold’s cover name. But for things like this, sometimes you really have no choice but to give a bald faced lie. 

             Kishino had no idea about the elite shinobi, who were listening in on the conversation up in the tree with growing concern; a secret noble spy network was just the most logical place that his train of thought led to. 

             “Right…”

             “Lifa-sama, please. I beg that you accept my offer. As you’ve read in the contract, I have requested that you remain anonymous so that your monastery does not sell your brain, or even your medicine to the highest bidder. I am not well educated in the intricacies of magal medicine, but I promise you that I will give you the resources and security to safely create this drug!”

             “Sell me…? Are you trying to make me panic so I don’t think straight? How do I know you’re not some back-alley crime organization that wants to con people with a makeshift treatment?”

             Lifa was right; this whole thing was a mess. This whole thing screamed ‘scam,’ ‘attempted kidnapping,’ or something equally sketchy. Kishino cursed his lack of preparedness for unforeseen events. He couldn’t reveal his real identity and status, so Kishino could only resort to makeshift logic to convince her. 

             “If I was, then I apologize if this might frighten you, but I would have already kidnapped you by surprise by now, or put you in unpayable debt by instigating your aggression, or smashing your potion myself and claiming assault on a minor. I have the strength, money, and influence to do either option.”

             Lifa felt chills run down her spine as Kishino momentarily unveiled his aura, which might as well have belonged to an athletic teenage boy just under her age. Considering Lifa’s physique and health, that difference in strength was massive. Just what kind of training did nobles go through these days? And he was right, from the incident with the guard, it’s evident that he at least has a fair amount of wealth, whatever his background. 

            “This territory is estimated to be plagued with this disease for years, and there is an unpredictably massive amount of casualties. Without the contract, I cannot guarantee a free distribution of the medicine or even safety from the Summeragi family. So please! I beg that you accept my contract, Lifa-sama! If you wish, I can even add to it saying that you will be completely compensated to your liking should you find anything suspicious at any time. Just please, give me a chance!”

              “…”

              Hiroshi, a member of the nobility, got down on his knees and displayed a full dogeza. Even though Lifa’ hair stuck up and was riddled with dirt, she wore dirt cheap clothes, and was a random orphan child, one of the entitled nobles that the priestesses always criticized was kneeling in front of her. Seeing that, Lifa remembered the words of one of the only adults who had ever cared about her.

              Meeting a new person is like reading a new hypothesis. Sometimes you agree and become friends right away, but other times, it’s the opposite. If they ask for a chance to prove you wrong, or you see something incompatible with your view, a real scientist could never refuse the chance to consider something new. Only when you are able to set aside your initial biases and expectations are you able to truly listen.

             Lifa couldn’t help but give a wry smile imagining the overprotective librarian yelling at her for using his words as reasoning to do something so stupid. He would have never agreed to her little stunt of running off to the Summeragi capital; otherwise she’d have him come with her. Even so, running away was a risk that Lifa just had to take, and this sketchy contract was no different. Letting out a tired sigh, Lifa reluctantly gave the kid a shot.

             “Alright… , I’ll tag along with you through the gates, and you can tell me what you mean specifically by compensation later. I’m not signing that contract yet, but I’ll hear you out as long as I don’t see any funny business.”

             If that was discouraging to Hiroshi, he hid it well; he only raised his eyebrows as he said ‘Ah! That makes sense! You’re smart!’ Lifa supposed it could have been another act, but she didn’t have it in her heart to find that childishly innocent comment deceitful. She grew up in a largely safe and sheltered household despite her qualms with it, so she didn’t have a honed sense of skepticism like other peoples’ yet.

             “Thank you very much, Lifa-sama! We can talk about this contract some time later, I’ll just make a different one now regarding only how I will accommodate your living conditions. The only cost from you will be that you accompany me for about five days, which is a matter of course since you would have to follow me in order to receive the benefits in the first place. ”

             Kishino looked around before casting a spell to conjure a slab of magic rock and taking an ink bottle and some sheets of paper from his pockets, shifting his legs to brace the conjured slab against. Taking note of how rushed he looked, Lifa realized that in his earlier monologue the noble had said ‘my’ contract and to give ‘me’ a chance.

            It all clicked together in her head; Lifa’d been wondering why she was having what was practically a surprise business meeting with only a ten or eleven year old noble boy. He’d mentioned not knowing if even the Summeragi family might kidnap Lifa, and didn’t even bargain to lower the prices he listed at all. Was this noble kid acting on his own to secure the medicine and save the citizens, only possibly supported by his father that he’d mentioned? His dad didn’t even come up in the rest of the conversation, so that also might have just been a lie so that Lifa would take Hiroshi seriously despite being a ten year old.

              “Lifa-sama!-”

              “Wait a second, please. I suppose that our relationship is professional in nature, but we’ll be talking a lot for the next few days and -sama sounds way too stiff. Please call me Lifa-san.”

              “Of course! I just wanted to say I finished the new contract. Please, read it over as much as you’d like!”

              This contract was shorter and took less time to read; most of it was stuff carried over from the previous contract about accommodating for her living necessities anyways. Lifa read it over three times, searching for loopholes, but the ones she pointed out and had Hiroshi change were just small things that anyone would easily miss in a rush. As soon as she signed it, the noble kid slowed his fighting noticeably, which Lifa heavily related to. Throughout the whole negotiation, she’d been shifting from foot to foot.

              “Thank you so much for putting your trust in me. I will work hard to repay your patience! Now please, quickly put on this disguise! You don’t have to take anything off.”

              “Eh… !??”

              Hiroshi suddenly held up a hair bandana, a pair of glasses, and a hooded robe. Where on earth did those come from!? He didn’t look like he had a bag, so-

              “I hid it under my own clothes, come on already! We’re going to leave soon!”

              “Right…”

              Lifa knew she would have to remain as anonymous as possible, but she didn’t expect it would be so soon. The clothes were pretty warm from Hiroshi’s body heat and a bit bigger than her size, but they did their job. The glasses were even the expensive kind that had a slight tint to somewhat hide her eye color; the fact that Lifa was trusted with that much money made the contact feel more legitimate, but also put her on edge. 

             If the noble kid even had to hide Lifa from his own escort party, what kind of political conspiracy firing range had she gotten herself into...? She supposed, as soon as she decided to make that medicine, this sort of scheming aristocrat stuff was mostly inevitable. At least with this contract, Lifa had some form of protection. Even so, she couldn't help but pray.

             Oh, gods that watch over us from the world beyond the stars, please protect me in my quest to save these innocent citizens.