Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 677: Lazy Healer

But before Asher could say anything in reply, he heard the door open behind him, his eyes turning towards the one who had entered, his expression returning to indifference as he prepared to acknowledge the newcomer.

A man walked in, his hair green in colour, his eyes half-closed as he yawned while making his way into the healing chamber, his steps unhurried, his presence carrying a lazy indifference. His red eyes fell on Asher; the moment he saw him, his drowsiness vanished as all he saw at that moment was Academy points, his interest immediately piqued.

"Ahhh... it’s the healer," one of the villagers spoke as they immediately recognised the man as the one who had healed them all, their tone carrying familiarity and quiet gratitude.

The healer simply ignored the villagers; he got a lot of patients every single day to waste time over conversations with any of them, best to just heal them, collect his payment, then return back to sleep without unnecessary delays.

The healer stopped before Asher as he asked, "Are you the student who brought the villagers to the Star Academy?" his words flat, devoid of any sort of emotion or care, as all he wanted was Academy points.

"I am," Asher replied as he met the man’s red eyes with his purple ones, his expression calm, his tone steady.

"Then pay up for my services," the healer spoke as he yawned yet again, his lack of subtlety evident.

His words left Asher speechless. Yes, he was aware that students paid for their healing sessions whenever they came here, but these villagers weren’t students; wasn’t the Star Academy supposed to foot the bill for such cases?

The healer didn’t speak anymore; he simply stared at Asher as though waiting for him to ask a particular question, his gaze unmoving, patient in a calculating manner.

"How much?" Asher finally asked, as he didn’t want any sort of trouble with the Healing Department.

"Twenty-five thousand Academy points," the healer replied without missing a beat, as though that was the exact question he had been waiting to hear.

Asher’s calm face immediately shifted into a faint frown. "Isn’t that way too expensive?" he asked, his brows narrowing slightly.

He had just finished his mission and had just been paid; if he gave this sleepy healer twenty-five thousand points, he would lose over half his earnings in less than an hour after receiving it, which was far from ideal.

Hearing Asher’s question, the healer spoke, "No, it’s cheap by a healer’s rate. Psychological traumas are the hardest part of healing; one wrong move and the patient’s brain will become fried, they will become less than an idiot, unable to talk, think, or even breathe as the brain will forget it all. Let’s not even get started on the negative impact on the mind, so no, it’s not expensive," he spoke immediately, as though he simply wanted to justify the price, take his points, and leave.

The villagers at the back didn’t dare speak; they simply watched as they knew and understood their place, aware that they had no power to interfere or help in any meaningful way.

Asher sighed, his mind racing for solutions as he couldn’t part with such an amount of points. If it were even five thousand points, he might have been willing to pay, but not this amount, not under these circumstances.

’Here goes nothing then,’ Asher thought to himself as he arrived at a solution. With a thought, he created an Astra energy barrier, encasing him and the healer to block all sound from leaving; with that, Asher spoke.

"I’m Asher Wargrave, the Tenth Sun of the Wargrave Ducal family," he stated flatly as he met the healer’s red gaze with his purple ones, and just as quickly as it had formed, he removed the Astra energy barrier, leaving no trace behind.

Hearing Asher’s name, the healer’s eyes narrowed to slits; he stared at Asher for a moment, a flicker of calculation passing through his gaze, then spoke, "According to the rules of the Star Academy, in the case when students are unable to make payment for whatever victims they rescued and brought to the Star Academy, the cost shall be covered by the Principal herself." With those words, the healer spun on his heel and left the healing room without another word, his departure as abrupt as his arrival.

What the healer had said was indeed true, but how many people were willing to confront Cindralis, the Sovereign of the Separate Dimension, for Academy points? That would seem like an insult to her name and time. So, the healer didn’t bother her and always tried to extract the points from the students instead, exploiting convenience over protocol.

As for Asher, his plan had been simple; he had already deduced that the information of the Wargrave family attacking the Imperial family had reached the Star Academy. Using the reputation of fear that was being generated around the Wargrave family name at that moment, he simply avoided having to pay, leveraging perception as a weapon.

If Asher had tried this particular tactic at any time before now, it wouldn’t have worked; after all, this was the Separate Dimension, which had nothing to do with the Empire. But now, circumstances had shifted in his favour.

Also, the reason why he had put up the Astra energy barrier was simple: he didn’t want the villagers to hear that he was part of the Wargrave family. Although the villagers probably hadn’t heard of the recent news, surely they knew the reputation of the Wargraves.

If they found out Asher was part of the Wargrave family, they would stop smiling and laughing; they would choose every word carefully before they spoke, that’s if they would even speak at all, their gratitude replaced with fear and restraint.

"I guess that solves itself," one of the men spoke as he wiped an imaginary sweat off his forehead as he heard the healer’s words, relief evident in his expression.

"For a moment there, I thought something was going to happen between the benefactor and the healer; I’m glad nothing happened," a woman spoke as she heaved a sigh of relief, her tension easing.

Asher smiled as he spoke, "This is the Star Academy; there are rules here. Students and teachers can’t fight," he shook his head as he intoned, his tone calm and reassuring.

"Also, since you are all healed and fine, I guess it’s time to return; your various families are waiting for you," he added, his voice carrying a gentle finality.

At his words, the villagers smiled and thanked Asher once more, their voices filled with sincere gratitude. Asher simply nodded and left the Healing Department as he returned to the Logistics and Missions Operation Hall, where he went to meet with the Facilitator to ask how these villagers would be returned to their respective villages.

"Leave them at the Healing Department. Since they want to return, someone will escort them back to their villages within a few minutes," the Facilitator told Asher, his tone casual.

Asher returned to the Healing Department, informed the villagers, bade them one final goodbye, then left, his departure quiet, leaving behind only the lingering impression of the man who had saved them.