"Water Rune? Are you sure? You need to test your affinity first, you know?"

"Ah, I already know about my affinity and I have a compatibility with Water Rune."

"Truly?! Then why not attach it to your body?"

"Because of the price."

"Price? Well, I guess you are right. I get my rune from a ruin instead of buying them. I hear the price is down for now but still expensive."

Kyle nodded his head and then looked at me.

"Anything else? Water Rune is not that hard to get, you know?"

"Then can I also get Wind Rune?"

"Oh? Do you have a dual affinity? You have a good combination as well. Very well."

Kyle nods his head and takes out a piece of paper before saying.

"I will be back here tomorrow. Please don't go to the other city, okay? I will be back with a Rune Mistress to attach your rune to your body."

"You did not need to do that, you know?"

Kyle waves his hand and says.

"Bah. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I should be back and investigate the location of the guard placed in this place. If they die from fighting the monster, their family will be compensated by the Royal Family but if they are running away… There will be consequences."

Kyle releases a dangerous tone when he says the last part. Well, deserters are still punished severely even when we are in another world.

"Anyway, it is nice to meet you, Ryan. When you visit Sol-Falena, tell the people in the barracks that you want to meet me. I will inform them about you and we can have a drink together."

"Sure. That would be great!"

"Great! Then it was a promise."

I watch Kyle walk away from the inn and talk with the knight outside the inn. I look at the owner and say.

"Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure. You can use the private bath in the back. I will let you use it as long as you stay here for free."

"You don't need to do that, you know?"

"Nah. It was my thanks to you. If not for you this place will be trashed by the monster. Did you know that this place is the place where retired people lived? That is why there are not a lot of young people in this place. There are children here but not the people that can help us defend this place from a monster. Because of you, not only we are safe from the monster but also the corruption of the guard placed in this place is starting to be exposed. They have been extorting us in exchange for their so-called protection and we cannot do anything because of our frail body."

"I see."

That is rather fuck up, huh? So they extort them for money, and when the danger comes, they decide to run away from their position.

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, boy. I'm the one who should be thanking you because I hear from Sir Kyle that your body is filled with wounds that can be fatal if not treated immediately. You put your life in danger to help a stranger like us. That is something I cannot thank you enough."

When I see her bowing at me, I quickly say.

"You don't need to bow at me. It was a pleasure to help the people in need."

She looked at me for a second and smiled gently.

"People like you are rare in this day and age. I hope whatever you are doing is successful, dear."

"Thank you. Anyway, I probably should go to the bathroom and take a bath."

"Ah, of course. Follow this corridor and your bathroom is at the end of it. Here is the key."

I take the key and walk toward the bathroom. I open the door and see it is not really a bathroom but rather a hot spring. I didn't know that this place had a hot spring. Well, I can enjoy it. The last time I visited a hot spring was when I went to Japan and boy, did I enjoy soaking in the hot spring.

I take out my clothes and put them inside the basket near me. Then, I cleaned my body using cold water and kept my body soaked inside the hot spring.

"Ohhhh… This is life."

=||=

As I open my eyes, I feel my entire body energize. I get up from the bed and go downstairs. When I arrive downstairs, I can already see Kyle and a woman sitting in the booth eating some kind of stew.

I take a seat next to him and say.

"Good morning, Kyle."

"Oh, Ryan! Good morning."

"You are here early."

"Hahahahaha. I like finishing my job as fast as possible. When your reward is done, I can focus on searching for the guard and give them the proper punishment."

"It looks like you already know the reason why they are gone."

"Aye. They have been doing some shady stuff and the Queen wants them to be punished for their crime. A new guard will be placed in this place in two days."

"Good."

I take the spoon and scoop the stew that the inn owner made for me. Hmmm, this is delicious. Kyle and I had a conversation while eating our food, and I said after I finished eating.

"Kyle is she….?"

"Ah, that's right! This is Maria, a friend of mine and a Rune Mistress that lived in Sol-Falena. Maria, this is Ryan."

I smile at Maria and say.

"It is nice to meet you, Maria."

"Nice to meet you too, Ryan."

Kyle grinned at me and said.

"Anyway, she will be the one attaching the rune to you."

"Of course. Where should we do it?"

"Here, you can sit on my chair."

Kyle and I exchange our seats. Maria takes my left arm when I sit on the chair, and I can see her hand shine a little. Then, after another few seconds, she nods her head and says.

"He is compatible with Water and Wind Rune. High compatibility at that."

On the side, Kyle nods his head and says.

"Truly? That means he has a high talent as a healer, huh?"

"Yes. With the right training, he can be a formidable healer."

I look at both of them in confusion and say.

"Kyle? What is happening? What do you want from me?"

Kyle looked at me for a second with a serious expression before saying.

"Ryan, we need a healer in the capital. With the Sacred Games coming, we need as many healers as we can and her highness Queen Arshtat is willing to recruit you into the Royal Healer if you have a high talent as a healer. Maria over here can determine if someone has a high talent as a healer by seeing if you have a high compatibility to either Water or Wind rune and you blow your expectation away. You have both affinity to water and wind, the support element of the rune."

Kyle then takes a deep breath and says.

"Ryan, will you accept the invitation as an apprentice of a healer for the royal family?"

After he says that, a blue panel appears at the edge of my vision.

|Quest!|

|Royal Healer of Falena|

|Kyle, one of the Queen's Knights, wants to recruit you into the Royal Healer of Falena. By accepting this quest, your path as a healer will be ten times easier, and you will have a massive resource given to you by the royal family. Depending on your performance, your resource can increase by three to seven times the original.|

{If you accept: You will become an apprentice of a Grandmaster Healer of the Royal Family of Falena. You will get a lot of resources from the Royal Family and can get closer to the Royal Family. However, if you accept this, you have a high chance that the others will know your presence, your movement will be monitored, and a longer Questline.}

|Accept?| |Y/N|