"Then can I ask you to check my leg too? It hurts from a while, and the pain is not getting any better over time."
"Is that how the little Lukah managed to slip away?" Lith asked.
"Yes. A few weeks ago, I took a bad fall while repairing a hole in the roof. At first it didn't hurt much, and with a baby we could not afford a visit for every small thing."
Lith used Invigoration again, using the injury detection spell as a cover.
"Holy cr*ap, her leg is badly cracked. It's a miracle she was still able to walk without a limp."
After healing her, Lith was conflicted about taking the rest of the money. He could see Elina in her, all the sacrifices his family had made just for keeping Tista alive were always vivid in his memory.
Lith couldn't avoid empathizing with the daily struggles his neighbours had to face every day, perceiving them as real persons, like him, instead of dismissing them as trash, like he always did with those he killed in the past.
Luckily Lisa took the choice for him, handing the money and opening the curtain before he could say a word.
"What a proud woman, truly deserving my respect. Next time she comes, I'll perform the healing while checking up the wound, so she won't get to pay."
Those four copper coins were the heaviest Lith's hand had ever held. Lisa's family would have to skip a meal or two to cover for that expense.
From that day onward, Lith would do the same thing for all the farmers, always prompting them to silence. Soon his reputation grew wildly outside the village's borders.
Inside those same borders, though, things were quite different.
On another occasion, when Nana had been called away, another kind of patient walked in. It was Renkin, merchant and richest man in the village, barging in while carrying his son on a makeshift stretcher, with the help of one of his assistants.
"Nana! Where in the nine hells is that wretched healer when you really need her?!"
"She is away at the moment." Lith moved forward, making way for the stretcher. The boy was around fifteen years old, his black hair stood out on his pale face. He was bleeding from his leg, despite the wound was tightly wrapped up.
"Where is she?" Renkin yelled.
"The men repairing the Colen bridge had an accident, she will be back on the afternoon at best."
"You idiot, can't you see my son is dying? I do not have that much time!"
Lith snorted in annoyance.
"If you have to yell and be rude, that's the door. If you want me to take care of him…" Lith extended his right hand, while pointing with the left at a sign on the wall that said: "Payment up front. No refunds."
"Paying you?! What are you, four?"
"Almost six and a half. Again, if you aren't going to pay, make space for real clients. If you want miracles, feel free to pray. But do it outside." Lith's tone was stone cold.
"Okay, okay!" Renkin gave up. "Here is you goddamned four copper coins."
"Eight." Lith stopped him before he could take the money out of his pouch.
"That's clearly a deep wound, requiring two tier two spells, if not even a tier three. Either way the price is set to eight copper coins." Lith pointed to another sign, stating the prices:
"Check-up: 1 copper coin. Tier one spells: +1 cc. Tier two spells: +3 cc. Tier three spells: +7 cc"
"But those are Nana's prices! You are not Nana!"
"Really?" Lith mimicked his Master's snarky tone. "What gave me away? The age? The height? The gender? You are really perceptive, worthy of a merchant."
Renkin was choking on his own anger. Such an arrogant little brat!
"I meant that you shouldn't ask so much! Didn't your Master tell you about our agreement?"
Lith just pointed to the end of the second sign, where "No discounts, ever" was written in big bright red words.
"Don't you have a heart? How can you ask so much? You are so young and inexperienced, after all!" In all his years as a merchant, Renkin was proud to have never overpaid any product. He was determined to get a discount at all costs.
"I could argue that I don't think you ever gave a discount to someone just for pointing out your age or likeability.
Also, which one of us his bargaining on his son's life? I doubt all healing magic in the world would do him any good once he bleeds out."
Finally remembering about his beloved Garth, Renkin finally paid the fee, letting Lith do his job.
"What happened?" Lith asked after using Vinire Rad Tu coupled with Invigoration, sensing a deep cut wound that missed the femoral artery by an ich.
"This blockhead and his idiotic best friend had the brilliant idea of practicing their swordsmanship with real swords, that's what happened."
"He lost a lot of blood." Lith said after completely healing the leg. "Keep him at rest and make him eat rare meat."
Later, that day, when Renkin returned to complain to Nana about her disciple, she laughed hard in his face for a whole minute, before shutting her door in his face.