Blades of The Fallen Realm

CHPT 8

The noise inside the medical clinic was deafening. Dozens of poor people sat on the floor, holding their stomachs or coughing.

The air smelled like sweat and spoiled herbs. Nobody smiled, and nobody looked happy.

Every single person in the room was waiting for help that was never going to come.

Earlier that morning, the Vance family had raised the price of all medical supplies across the city. A small bottle of basic fever medicine now costs more than a normal worker earned in two months.

A man sitting held his young daughter close to his chest.

"Please, nurse, My daughter has been sweating for three days. Her head is burning hot."

The clinic nurse did not even look at his money. She pushed his hand away with a cold expression on her face.

"That amount is not enough," the nurse said flatly. "Master Vance bought all the supply centers yesterday. If you do not have silver, you cannot get medicine."

"Where am I supposed to get silver?" the man cried out. "We are starving! My family has not eaten a full meal in three days!"

"Then take her home," the nurse replied. "Do not block the hallway for people who can actually pay."

The crowd murmured in anger, but no one dared to raise their voice too loudly. Everyone knew that the Vance family controlled the guards in this part of town.

Leo stood quietly near the corner of the building. He wore worn-out clothes that made him look like poor citizen in the city.

Nobody paid any attention to him. To the doctors and guards, he was just another young man who could not afford treatment.

Leo watched the suffering people with a calm face, but his eyes were sharp and steady. He was waiting for his assistant Ethan to return with news about Julian’s business moves.

Suddenly, the front doors of the clinic were kicked open.

A woman rushed into the room, screaming. She looked very poor.

She was carrying a small boy in her arms. The child was completely limp, his arms dangling toward the floor like wet rope.

"Help my son!" the mother shrieked, falling to her knees right in the middle of the hallway. "Please, someone help my baby! He stopped talking ten minutes ago!"

Two doctors standing by the front desk walked over slowly. They looked at the mother’s clothes and immediately lost interest.

"Keep your voice down," the head doctor said. "This is a medical facility, not a street market. What is wrong with him?"

"He collapsed at home," the mother sobbed, He was playing outside, and then he suddenly fell down. He cannot open his eyes!"

The head doctor reached down and touched the boy's forehead. He pulled his hand back after just one second.

"He is sick," the doctor said. "If you want us to examine him properly, you need to pay fifty silver pieces upfront."

The mother froze. Her eyes went wide with terror.

"Fifty silver pieces?" she whispered, her voice shaking violently. "I do not have fifty silver pieces! My husband died last year in the mines! I only have four copper coins!"

"Then leave," the doctor said, turning his back on her. "We do not run a charity here. Medicine costs money."

"Please!" the mother screamed, grabbing the doctor's leg. "He is my only child! Look at him! He is barely breathing! I will work for you for free for five years! Just save him!"

The doctor kicked his leg back to break her grip.

"Let go of me," he barked. "If you do not get out right now, I will have the guards throw you into the street!"

The mother collapsed onto the floor, pulling her young son tight against her chest. She began to cry so hard.

"Is there no doctor here with a heart?" she wept to the room. "Is my son going to die just because we are poor?"

The patients in the clinic looked away in shame. Many of them had tears in their eyes, but none of them had the money to help her.

Leo stepped forward from the back of the room. His footsteps were light and silent.

"Let me see him," Leo said softly.

The mother looked up through her tears. She saw Leo's simple clothes and hesitated for a moment.

"Are you a doctor?" she asked, her voice filled with desperation.

"I know a few things about illness," Leo replied."Lift his head slightly."

The head doctor turned around and laughed out loud when he saw Leo kneeling on the floor.

"Look at this fool," the head doctor sneered at his assistant. "A beggar trying to play doctor in my clinic. Hey! Get away from that child before you make things worse!"

Leo completely ignored the head doctor's harsh voice. He placed two fingers gently on the boy's neck.

The pulse was extremely slow. It felt like a dying candle flame in a cold wind.

Leo moved his eyes up to the boy's face. He looked at his mouth and noticed something very strange.

The boy's lips were not pale like a normal sick child. They had a dark tint along the edges.

It looked almost like blue ink had been spread underneath his skin.

Leo's eyes narrowed slightly. He recognized that color instantly.

This was not a common fever. It was not a heat stroke, and it was not a lung infection.

This was the result of a highly concentrated toxin. It was a poison designed to slow the heart down until the victim quietly stopped breathing in their sleep.

"Has he eaten anything unusual today?" Leo asked the mother in a steady voice.

"No," the mother shook her head rapidly. "He only ate the porridge I made this morning. But... but he took a small drop of medicine three hours ago."

"What medicine?" Leo asked immediately.

"The tonic from the corner shop," she sobbed. "The shopkeeper said it would keep him healthy during the cold season. I spent my last copper on it."

Before Leo could ask another question, the doors of the clinic were open again.

Four bodyguards walked in first, clearing a wide path through the room.

Behind them walked Julian Vance. He wore a heavy silk coat with gold thread along the cuffs, and a gold ring sparkled on his finger.

Julian looked around the clinic with deep disgust on his face. He held a handkerchief over his nose.

"What a filthy place," Julian said loudly. "Why are there so many dirty peasants blocking the hallway?"

The head doctor immediately bowed low, running toward Julian with a fake smile.

"Master Vance!" the head doctor said in a cool voice. "Welcome! We did not expect you to inspect the clinic today!"

"I am here to check on the sales of our new family formula," Julian said, stepping past the bowing doctor. "My father wants to make sure every clinic in this district buys exclusively from the Vance family."

Julian's eyes swept across the room until they landed on the mother crying on the floor.

He also spotted Leo kneeling right next to her.

Julian's eyes widened for a second, and then a mean, cruel smile spread across his face.

"Well, well," Julian mocked, taking two slow steps closer. "Look who we have here. Is this not Leo? The useless live-in husband of the Sterling family?"

The people in the clinic began to whisper among themselves.

"That is Leo?" a man whispered. "The guy who married Miss Clara?"

"Yes! I heard he does not even have a job. He just sweeps the floors at home!" another person said.

Julian chuckled loudly, enjoying the whispers from the crowd. He looked down at Leo like he was looking at trash on the street.

"What are you doing on your knees, Leo?" Julian asked. "Are you begging for scraps here too? Did Clara finally kick you out of her house?"

Leo did not look up at Julian. He kept his fingers on the young boy's wrist, monitoring the weak heartbeat.

"This child is dying," Leo said in a flat, even voice.

Julian waved his hand dismissively.

"He just has a common winter fever," Julian declared without even looking at the boy's face. "These poor peasants do not know how to take care of their children."

Julian reached inside his expensive silk coat and pulled out a glass bottle filled with a red liquid.

"This is the Vance Miracle Elixir," Julian said, holding the bottle up high so everyone in the room could see it clearly. "It cures all fevers in less than one hour."

The poor mother looked at the red bottle with hopeful eyes.

"Is that true?" she gasped, scrambling forward on her knees. "Will that save my son?"

"Of course it will," Julian said with an arrogant smirk. "Normally, this bottle costs one hundred silver pieces. But since I am feeling generous today, I will give it to you for fifty silver pieces. You can sign a debt contract with my family."

"Fifty silver?" the mother wept, looking down at her sick child. "I... I will sign it! I will sign anything! Just give him the medicine!"

Julian unstoppered the glass bottle and stepped toward the boy.

"Hold his mouth open," Julian instructed the mother. "I will pour it in right now."

"Stop," Leo said.

His voice was not loud, but it carried a strange weight that made the entire room suddenly go silent.

Julian stopped his hand. He glared at Leo with sudden anger in his eyes.

"What did you just say to me?" Julian asked, his voice dropping low.

"Do not give him that medicine," Leo said, standing up slowly. He looked directly into Julian's eyes. "If you pour that heat-based liquid down his throat, his heart will stop in less than three minutes."

The head doctor immediately stepped forward and pointed finger at Leo's face.

"Shut your mouth!" the doctor yelled. "How dare a servant like you challenge Master Vance? Master Vance's family has been selling medicine in this city for thirty years!"

"He does not know what he is talking about," Julian sneered, his face turning with embarrassment. "He is just a beggar who sweeps floors!"

Julian turned back to the mother and raised the bottle again.

"Ignore this fool," Julian told the mother strictly. "Pour this down your son's throat right now if you want him to live!"

The mother was terrified and confused. She looked at Julian's expensive bottle, and then she looked at Leo's calm, steady face.

In her desperation, she reached out her shaking hand to take the bottle from Julian.

Leo moved his hand.

He gently grabbed the mother's wrist, stopping her from touching the bottle.

"Trust me," Leo said to the mother in a quiet tone. "He is suffering from a toxin. Julian's medicine contains high amounts of fire-root. Putting fire-root into a body filled with toxins will burst his heart valves."

Julian exploded with rage. He shoved the head doctor out of his way and stepped right up to Leo's chest.

"You dare to question my family's medicine?" Julian shouted, his face twisting with anger. "Who do you think you are? You are a nobody! A worthless piece of trash who got lucky by marrying into the Sterling family!"

"Master Vance is right!" the head doctor shouted. "Guards! Throw this idiot out into the street! He is trying to kill this woman's child!"

Two large guards stepped forward, reaching out their arms to grab Leo by the shoulders.

Leo did not even look at the guards. He simply shifted his footing by two inches and turned his body slightly.

The two guards grabbed empty air, stumbled forward from their own weight, and crashed heavily into a wooden bench on the side of the room.

The crowd gasped in surprise. Nobody saw how Leo moved so fast.

Julian's face flushed deep red with intense embarrassment. He felt like a clown standing in front of dozens of poor citizens.

"You are dead, Leo!" Julian barked. "I will make sure Clara divorces you tonight! You will be sleeping in the gutter where you belong!"

Leo paid no attention to Julian's threats. Time was running out for the small boy on the floor.

The boy's breathing was getting shallower. His chest was barely moving at all now. Leo bent down again next to the mother.

"Do you want your son to live?" Leo asked her directly.

"Yes! Please!" the mother cried, holding her hands together in prayer.

"Then do not let anyone touch him for two minutes," Leo said.

Leo reached out his hand toward a shelf nearby. The shelf contained basic items used for cleaning the clinic floor.

He picked up a cup of plain salt water, a small piece of charcoal, and a tiny piece of common dry ginger root.

Julian laughed mockingly when he saw what Leo picked up.

"Is that your cure?" Julian burst out laughing, pointing his finger at Leo. "Salt water and charcoal? Are you completely insane? You think dirty coal can cure a dying child?"

The doctors in the clinic began to laugh along with Julian.

"What an idiot!" the head doctor sneered. "He thinks he is an alchemist! This is complete madness!"

Leo ignored their laughter completely. He did not use his medical techniques, nor did he pull out golden needles.

He knew that if he revealed his medical skills in a room like this, news would spread across the city instantly.

Instead, he used basic combinations that looked like ordinary home remedies.

He crushed the charcoal into a fine powder with his fingers, mixed it into the salt water, and added a few drops of squeezed ginger juice.

The charcoal would absorb the surface toxin in the stomach, the salt water would induce a reflex, and the ginger would stimulate the blood vessels.

Leo held the boy's jaw open gently and poured the dark liquid slowly down his throat.

"He is killing the boy!" Julian shouted, turning to the crowd. "Everyone see this! When this kid dies, it is entirely Leo's fault!"

The room became quiet. Everyone held their breath, watching the small boy lying on the dirty floor.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds passed.

Nothing happened. The boy remained still, his eyes closed tight.

Julian's smile grew wider.

"See?" Julian sneered triumphantly. "The child is dead! You killed him, Leo! Guards, seize him right now for murder!"

Just as the guards prepared to move forward again, the \boy's body suddenly jerked violently.

"Cough!"

The boy opened his mouth and coughed up a black fluid onto the floor.

The black fluid smelled like eggs

Immediately after throwing up the liquid, the boy gasped, drawing a breath of air into his lungs.

The dark tint on his lips began to fade away at a visible speed, returning to a pink color.

The boy opened his eyes, looking around the room in confusion.

"Mommy?" the boy whispered in a weak voice. "My chest doesn't hurt anymore..."

The entire clinic went dead silent.

Every doctor stood frozen in place, their mouths hanging open in shock.

The head doctor stared at the black fluid on the floor, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"Impossible..." the head doctor stuttered, his voice trembling. "That... that mixture actually worked? How is that possible?!"

The mother burst into tears, but this time they were tears of joy and relief.

She pulled her son into a tight hug, kissing his cheeks over.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she cried out, turning to Leo and bowing her head to the floor repeatedly. "You saved my baby! You saved my only child!"

Leo reached out and gently supported her shoulder, stopping her from bowing.

"He will be fine now," Leo said softly. "Give him plenty of warm water when you get home."

The patients broke into loud cheers and applause.

"He actually saved the kid!" a man shouted happily.

"The young man was right! Vance's medicine would have killed him!" another woman shouted.

Julian stood in the center of the room, his face burning with humiliation.

He had just been proven wrong in front of dozens of  people. His family's medicine was called useless, while a beggar saved a life with salt water and charcoal.

Julian clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"You trickster!" Julian roared, stepping forward and pointing his finger at Leo's face. "You used some trick! You must have given the child poison beforehand just so you could pretend to save him here today!"

"Master Vance is right!" the head doctor said, trying to regain Julian's favor. "This beggar must have tampered with the child earlier! It was a setup!"

Leo stood up slowly, turning his head to look at Julian.

His face was completely calm, but his eyes were as cold as ocean water.

"If you continue to talk," Leo said quietly, "you might not like what comes out of my mouth next."

Julian felt a sudden, inexplicable chill run down his spine when he met Leo's gaze. He involuntarily took a step backward.

Leo turned back around to check the boy one last time before leaving.

He reached out his fingers and turned the boy's head to the left to inspect his neck pulse.

As he moved the boy's hair away. Leo's eyes suddenly caught something behind the child's ear.

There was a tiny, faint black mark under the skin, right behind the earlobe.

The moment Leo saw that mark, his calm expression vanished completely.

This mark was not an ordinary birthmark. It was the permanent mark left behind by an ancient royal poison the "Imperial Shadow Toxin."

Twenty years ago, when Leo was just a young child during the night of the great palace massacre...

His father, Thomas, had been struck by this exact same toxin while carrying Leo.

That poison was the very thing that had destroyed Thomas's eyesight, blinding him forever.

For twenty long years, Leo believed that the poison used against his father was a unique formula controlled only by the highest elite houses in the Imperial Capital.

So why was a trace of that exact same royal toxin appearing on a poor miner's child in this city?

For the first time since returning to the city, Leo felt a surge of terrifying anger rising within his chest.

He carefully let go of the child and stood up.

He turned around and walked straight out of the clinic doors without saying another word to Julian or the doctors.

Julian yelled insults at his back, but Leo did not hear a single word. His mind was focused on that small black mark.

Leo stepped out into the side alley next to the medical building.

The cold wind blew through the street, lifting his coat.

A tall figure stepped out from the shadows of the alley wall.

It was Ethan.

Ethan bowed his head, speaking.

"Young Master," Ethan reported quickly. "I have just completed the background check on the Vance family's recent medical shipments."

Leo stood with his back to Ethan. "Speak," Leo commanded. His voice was deep.

Ethan sensed the change in Leo's mood and straightened his posture.

"Master Julian's family imported three crates of herbal powder from a supplier two weeks ago," Ethan explained. "They mixed that powder into their medicines to save production costs."

"Where did the powder come from?" Leo asked coldly.

"It came from an underground supplier operating under a Vance subsidiary," Ethan answered. "Julian thinks he is just using low-grade herbs to make a quick profit on the poor. He has no idea what is actually inside those crates."

Leo remained silent.

Julian was very greedy, but he was far too small and stupid to possess an ancient royal poison formula.

Julian was unknowingly acting as a distribution channel for someone much larger someone hiding far deeper in the shadows.

Someone was spreading this poison through the city's medical market on purpose.

And that meant the people who had destroyed Leo's family twenty years ago, the people who had blinded his father Thomas...

We're already here in this city.

Leo turned his face slightly toward Ethan. His eyes held a light that made even Ethan feel a wave of fear.

"Young Master?" Ethan asked. "Should I proceed with the financial plan to destroy Julian's company?"

Leo's expression did not change at all. He spoke each word clearly and coldly.

"Forget Julian's business. Find everyone who has ever manufactured this poison."