Supreme Magus

"Supreme Magus Verhen!" A plump middle-aged man with a receding hairline jumped from his seat and ran to Lith. "The gods have answered our prayers. Thank you for coming here after receiving our plea for help."

"What plea?" Lith replied in confusion.

"You didn't receive it?" The village head was even more confused. "That's why that whoreson of Tarkith has yet to return! I bet he's spending the communication fee on beer and whores!"

"Village head, I'm Supreme Magus Lith Verhen and these are my friends." Lith waved at his companions and gave the man a slight nod. "Also, sending a message costs nothing unless you bribe one of the Mage Association's clerks.

"Yet no matter how much you pay, no one would disturb me or any powerful mage unless the Association is directly involved."

"That lying bastard!" The expression of the man went from confused to livid and then to ashamed as he finally remembered who he was talking to. "I mean, I'm Bor from Gabash. At your and your friends' service."

He bowed so deeply that his head would have touched the ground if not for his bulging belly stopping him.

"I had tasked a man I considered trustworthy to ask the Kingdom for help against the invasion." He pointed at the Awakened crowding the village plaza. "Tarkith always said he needed money for the communication fee and I trusted him because officials always answered our calls when we sent him."

"The officials answered because it's their job." Lith sighed. "There is no communication fee. The Kingdom always intervenes during a crisis. That's why you pay taxes."

The more Lith talked, the more Bor felt like a gullible idiot.

"Can you please send them away?" He pointed at the crowd again.

"Why? Have they interfered with your business or harmed your citizens?" Lith asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." The village head stared at the ground. "They always pay their bills and mind their own business. We had a couple of accidents but-"

"We were the victims and have proof of it." A tall wiry man with a bright blue aura showed the recording of five burly men attacking him with the flimsiest of excuses. "We record all our interactions with these ignorant fools exactly to avoid false allegations.

"We want no trouble, Magus Verhen."

"Your actions beg to differ." Lith replied with a stern gaze.

"Are you claiming that I tampered with the images?" The tall man asked with ill-concealed anger.

Yet as a bright blue core, he knew he could do nothing against someone as powerful as a Council Elder, no matter their age difference.

"No, I'm claiming you have spent too much time on books and too little in the real world." Lith shook his head. "You are a guest here and have just insulted these people. Rule number one: never mess with those who make your food.

"In your shoes, I wouldn't eat anything I haven't seen prepared with my own eyes."

The tall man swallowed hard, reading the hostility in the eyes of the villagers and the hilarity in those of his fellow Awakened.

"I apologize for my rudeness." He gave a small bow that received snorts and scoffs in reply.

"As for you, Bor, I'm sorry, but your guests have broken no law. The Kingdom is a free country and these people stand on public ground." Lith said. "If there's anything else I can do for you, feel free to ask."

"I know Jik and the others were in the wrong, but they got messed up real bad." The village head scratched his head in embarrassment. "We need their help for the harvest and the healer said it might take them months to recover."

"Say no more." Lith raised his hand. "I'll heal everyone."

"Thank you, Supreme-" Bor bit his tongue as the realization dawned on his brain. "Everyone?"

"Everyone." Lith confirmed. "If you'll have me, of course."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The man shook Lith's hand with so much enthusiasm that his belly trembled like jelly. "I'll spread the word."

"Take your time." Lith's amiable smile gave the other members of his group the creeps.

"Since when you are so kind?" Friya looked at him with suspicion.

"I thought you still upheld Nana's three laws of magic." Protector was flabbergasted. "Payment up front, no discounts, no refunds."

"I do." Lith Hushed his friends. "This is an investment. Why waste our time chasing after every villager in search of potential witnesses when we can just sit down and wait for them to come to us?"

"That's brilliant." Protector nodded. "I've lived in Lutia long enough to know that no one turns down free healing. Even wanted criminals would take the risk to leave their hideouts, confiding in the patient-Healer confidentiality."

"Ryman, you sniff for Rezars. Nalrond, you look for anyone you consider trustworthy enough to reveal your identity and ask about your missing friend." Lith said. "Everyone, wear your simplest clothes and try to look reassuring. We need these people to open up to us."

"What about you?" Friya pointed at his white and golden robe.

"What about the Eyes?" Nalrond asked.

"I'm the Supreme Magus." Lith shrugged. "Fancy clothes make you guys look intimidating whereas mine inspire their trust. People have heard the stories and songs about me.

"They expect someone who looks like a hero, not their neighbor. When the villagers look at you, they see a bunch of silver-spooned strangers. When they look at me, they see what one of them can achieve."

"Damn if I hate it when you're right." Friya shapeshifted her armor into a baggy, fluffy day dress, drawing countless terrified gasps.

"I meant once we get in the Healer's office." Lith sighed. "Normal people put their pants on one leg at a time, you know?"

"I'm sorry." Friya blushed a little and walked away in embarrassment.

"Where are you going?" Nalrond asked.

"To the Healer- I forgot I don't know where it is." She blushed harder.

Asking for directions and reaching their destination took them a couple of minutes. Gabash was small and the Healer's house was one of the stone buildings at the center of the village.

Lith compared the place with Nana's office and noticed a few interesting details he shared with a mind link.

'Guys, this place is too big for a village Healer.' His eyes took in the sitting area for the patients as well as the stone walls of the house. 'Also, it has been expanded in recent years.'

'What do you mean, too big?' Protector too had worked in Lutia as a Healer and found nothing strange. 'Gabash is twice the size of old Lutia and has thrice the population if not more. The local Healer is bound to make more money than Nana.'

'Which would explain the stone house but not its expansion or that.' Lith telepathically pointed at the four patient booths.

Everyone but Friya widened their eyes in understanding. She had practiced the healing arts only at the White Griffon academy and at prestigious hospitals for the Code of Practice course.

'I don't follow.' She shrugged.

'A single Healer can at best treat two patients at a time.' Solus explained.