Chapter 140: One Week Later
Choosing not to think about Narin any longer, Gara turned to the villagers. "I’ll check on those who were poisoned," he said calmly then added, "And I won’t ask for a single coin."
"You won’t charge us?" one of the villagers asked.
Gara gave a small nod.
"That’s true," Hari quickly added. "Sir Healer never asked for payment when he treated Rima. He refused the coins I tried to give him."
"Really?" the same villager looked at Gara, guilt flickering in his eyes.
Gara didn’t say anything, but Hari, with his old body, nodded aggressively.
At once, the villagers began apologizing. The Liners, too, lowered their heads and admitted their mistake.
Before following the villagers to see the sick, Gara’s gaze met Kian’s across the crowd. Gara gave him a slight nod, and Kian returned it. At least Kian—and even Mohan—had been honest enough not to shield Narin.
That day, Gara busied himself treating the poisoned villagers using his Vena Pills. Luckily, none of the cases were critical. After a day of rest, everyone recovered and could stand on their own again.
But once again, Gara failed to bring up his plan to join the exploration team with Mohan. The investigation leader had gone to town with the guards, escorting Narin.
Whatever the outcome, he still bore responsibility for his team members, especially since this was the second time the investigation team’s member had caused trouble.
Then, Gara’s plan was delayed for an entire week. Mohan remained in town during that time.
Meanwhile, within that same week, Gara and Fian completed their third initial mission.
Fian had taken a commission from Raksa County: filling a hundred crates with ice to be sent to the frontlines for the Liners stationed there. In this scorching dry season, heatstroke spread easily among those on duty.
The mission was carried out in Falopo Town, at the guards’ barracks. It took him one full day, while other Liners usually needed a whole week to finish the same job.
Normally, Talents couldn’t be used endlessly, as every Liner had a limit on their energy. Recharging it could take hours, sometimes a full day.
But Fian, who had trained himself relentlessly by practicing to make ice cubes day after day, had unknowingly expanded his energy capacity.
Then by pushing himself, he managed to complete the week-long task in a single day without collapsing.
Meanwhile, Gara’s own mission was to help catch wild boars that had invaded the villagers’ herb fields.
A mountain fire during the dry season had driven wild beasts out of the forest. Thankfully, that mountain wasn’t home to too many dangerous creatures, mostly wild boars. Still, those boars had started raiding the herbs field.
Gara took the job because the site was close to Bota Village, and there was no strict deadline, just a quota. Ten boars per Liner. Gara was confident he could reach that in a single day.
It was partly because of this that Fian had pushed himself so hard to finish his ice mission in one day. He wanted to join Gara in hunting the boars the next morning.
Originally, Fian had wanted the boar mission too, but Kala had insisted he take the ice mission instead. There weren’t many ice-based Liners around Falopo Town, and fewer still willing to take on that task.
Even though Gara tried to stop him—worried Fian hadn’t slept enough—Fian refused to back down. He was determined to help.
The same thing happened with Madha. Instead of resting at midday like he should have, he joined Gara’s mission as well.
In the end, Gara could only brew the two young men some Niskara tea.
Together, the three of them brought down ten wild boars in just half a day. Their teamwork was almost too efficient.
For their fourth initial mission, Gara didn’t pick one right away. He wanted to wait for something better suited for both him and Fian.
When Mohan finally returned from town, news of Narin spread quickly among the Liners. Her rank had been stripped, and she was sentenced to three months in the Falopo Town prison.
After that, she would be bound to five years of service in Raksa County, forced to work as a healer on the borderlands, unpaid, and forbidden to leave without official permission.
"How did Narin take it? Did she admit everything?" Kian asked, shutting the investigation team’s room’s door tight.
"Not at first," Mohan replied, his face hard. "But after some... persuasion, she confessed. I told her not to act out, but she never listened."
"The crimes were serious," Kian said coldly. "She nearly killed people. Mercy doesn’t apply here."
"Yeah. We’re lucky no one died. If even one person had, she would’ve been executed on the spot. Gara’s backing isn’t a joke. He can dig up every mistake and demand the harshest punishment. Not even the noble family her foster father serves could save her."
"Good thing you told the truth that day." Kian’s gaze softened as he looked at Mohan.
He knew this man carried too much pride. Of course Mohan had wanted to defend Narin. After all, she was his team member, his personal pick. But in the end, he hadn’t taken the wrong step.
"That’s only because... he didn’t expose our relationship."
In truth, Mohan wasn’t siding with Gara out of virtue. He simply didn’t want to feel indebted.
"In that way, he’s still better than Narin. If it were her, she would’ve used our relationship for blackmail, don’t you think?" Kian moved closer, looping his arms around Mohan’s neck.
Mohan gave a small nod, slipped his hand around Kian’s slim waist, and kissed the emerald-eyed man.
For a moment, all the exhaustion caused by Narin vanished.
Knock. Knock.
They separated instantly. This village gave them no time to relax together.
"Come in," Kian called, settling onto the sofa.
Mohan shifted into his seat behind the desk, expression cooling.
The one who had interrupted them was none other than Gara.
"What is it?" Mohan asked flatly, unwilling to fake politeness.
Gara didn’t bother with pleasantries. He had only come to voice the plan he’d been forced to postpone for a week.
"I can help you talk with the vice-captain about getting support to explore the mountain. In exchange, I want to come along."
...