The Demon Lord And His Hero

The next day, Syryn stepped out of their home bright and early with Lucien and Akida. Riaku had left it to the surly avian to act as Syryn's bodyguard and tour guide.

"Syryn, when do we get to visit the inverse waterfall?" Lucien asked him. The little boy had been asking the same question to the avian guard when Syryn had been away lecturing.

"We can go this evening," the alchemist answered. He didn't think it would take too long for them to treat the patient. If the disease was one that Syryn could not deal with, he would cut his losses and move on to the next one.

"And why are the trees called sun trees?" Luci pointed to the yellow-leaved branches that spread out like a fan above them. "Is it because the leaves are yellow in colour?"

This time, Akida answered. "It's because the fruits of the sun tree grow vertically. They grow on branches that face the sun at all times."

"Can we taste some?" Luci asked.

"It's not the season for sweet suns, Luci," Syryn replied.

"We can buy some preserved sweet suns. They're available everywhere," the guard told the redhead.

"Oh! Let's buy lots of sweet suns. We'll take them back to Elysium and have the others taste it." Luci had especially thought of Magnus but the fire mage was not waiting for him at home. Nevertheless, he missed the others and wanted to take back souvenirs from Nua.

"Sure, sure."

Luci's chatter filled their ears as Akida led them through Helios. When they arrived at a place that was less prosperous than the neighbourhood they were staying at, Akida stopped in front of a simple home that looked just as ordinary as every other wooden construction in that area. The avian then rapped on the door three times with his knuckles and waited.

"Who?" A woman opened the door and looked at them cautiously.

"We're here to take a look at your husband," the avian told her. "This man is a famous healer that the prince invited to Nua. So, are you letting us in?" His method was direct and blunt but it worked.

"A healer? Please come in." The door was opened wider. "We've tried everything suggested by the healers but nothing has proved to be a cure." The woman led them to a room where sunlight was scarce. Since the house was at the edge of Helios, the open window in the room gave the occupants a wide view of the clouds drifting by.

A man in his forties was seated at a table, smoking a pipe that gave out a strong smell of rusma leaves. Syryn noticed the discolouration on the man's skin and guessed that he was the patient.

"My husband-" the woman began to speak but was interrupted by another knock on the door. She looked towards the door in the other room and then apologised to Syryn before leaving them to attend to the new guest.

"Are you sick?" Syryn asked the smoking man.

"Are you a healer?" The man replied. He had a gravelly voice that was oddly comforting.

"Yes, I am." Syryn pulled out a chair and sat down facing the patient. "How long have you had this discolouration?"

A puff of smoke came out of the man's pipe and he inhaled more rusma. "Give it up. I've seen all kinds of healers and shamans. Even Nua's best hasn't had any luck with me. You best get moving, son."

"Nua's best isn't the world's best," Syryn answered as he noticed the newcomer. It was Utsui. How the young avian had found him so quickly, Syryn couldn't tell. Just like yesterday, Utsui was dressed simply in a refined white robe. He carried with him a bag but his quill and parchment were already out and ready in his hands. The elegant young man looked like the embodiment of a breath of clean fresh air.

"Am I late?" He asked as soon as his eyes landed on Syryn. Neatly parted black hair was tied in a half-up braid that went down the middle of his loose black hair. Sticking out from his hair was an ebony stick pin decorated at the end with a jade leaf.

"How did you find me so fast?" Syryn asked him.

"I asked his highness," the honest young man answered very seriously.

"And he just told you?" Syryn had never felt so betrayed.

Utsui nodded while maintaining his stoic expression. "Yes."

Syryn was now outraged. "What did you bribe him with?"

"Why would I bribe him?" Utsui asked, frowning because he didn't understand what was going on in the teen's mind.

"Nevermind. I suppose you've earned it, so take a seat. We're going to figure out what's wrong with him."

Utsui arranged himself next to Syryn and they faced the smoking patient whose expression indicated a lack of interest in what was happening.

"Have you ever met him?" Syryn asked the young avian.

"No. But I have heard about this case. I had been extremely busy with my studies two years ago when he became a popular topic of discussion amongst the senior healers. I don't remember much of it though because I had a lot going on at that time."

"Okay, we'll approach it as if you've never heard of his case. Take a good look at his skin and describe to me what you see."

Utsui sat with his back straight and stared at the skin on the man's face. "Cutaneous examination shows thickening and tightening of skin particularly involving the fingers, and face."

Syryn silently listened to him speak. Utsui was methodical and accurate in his grasp of the man's symptoms. He described the condition of the man's hyperpigmentation, crusted lesions, and the small vesicles filled with clear fluid. And without Syryn prompting him, Utsui did a thorough job of exploring the man's medical history. Even the alchemist was impressed by the young man's painstaking meticulousness.

"Two years of sensitivity to sunlight? What did the healers give you for it?" Utsui asked the man.

"Lots of strange medicines. In the end, none of it helped my skin sensitivity, not even the pain in my legs, and the weakness I keep feeling. Your grandfather prescribed pain killers but they take the pain away only for it to come back again."

"Muscle pain and weakness?" Syryn interrupted.

"Yes. My bowels are also always constipated," the man replied while puffing like a chimney.

Both healers were now confused by the multilevel symptoms that the man was complaining of. "His symptoms are all over the place," Utsui remarked.

Syryn on the other hand was thinking. There had been a case like this in his past life. A farmer who presented with something similar.

"Should we start symptomatic treatment and tackle them one by one?" Utsui asked the alchemist.

"Give me a moment," Syryn replied.

Utsui took out his ink well and began to make notes while Syryn squeezed his brain for information. What had happened to that farmer who eventually ended up dead on his operating table? The sound of scratching quill on paper and the smell of rusma triggered something in Syryn's brain.

"When did you start smoking rusma?" He asked the man. Rusma was a benign drug that had little to no effects on smokers save for ruining the lungs when smoked too excessively.

"A year and a half ago," the man answered as he looked at the pipe in his hand.

"And before you began smoking rusma, what were your symptoms?"

Utsui was paying rapt attention now. Syryn found this habit of his very endearing.

"I had the skin problems.." The older avian answered.

"And what about your muscles aches and constipation?"

"They came later."

Syryn was losing his patience with the man's vague answers. "Was it after or before you began smoking?"

"Ah- I dont remember."

Syryn wanted to flip the table. He was close to the answer and he knew it. If only the man could give him clearer answers.

"Utsui, I'll leave it to you to get a list of every single herb, potion or drug he has taken since the beginning of his treatment. Can you do that?"

"Yes. I'll speak to the healers that have seen him since the sickness began."

"I think we're done here for today," Syryn told the man. He had a suspicion about what was wrong but he needed proof of it first. And to find that proof, Syryn was relying on the meticulousness of Utsui.

"I'm leaving," the alchemist stood up. He was antsy and needed some distraction.

Utsui caught the end of Syryn's sleeve as the teen was turning away. The young genius then immediately let go realising what he had done. "I'm sorry," he apologised, looking a little nervous. "I haven't asked you any questions from yesterday's lecture. You said I could ask today if I found you." He was so serious and so very eager - Syryn felt like an ass when he thought about refusing the teen.

"Fine. I'm heading to the waterfall now so you can come with us and ask your questions."

Utsui made a shallow bow and it had the alchemist smiling. Elder Toka was a fool but his grandson was very cute.

-----

"But if-"

"Enough, Utsui!" Syryn complained loudly. "You've asked me more questions than the number of students that attended yesterday's lecture."

Akida and Luci were quietly listening to their back and forth.

"Then can I ask a few questions about yourself?"

"What? Make it fast," Syryn grumbled.

"How old are you?"

"Why do you and your grandfather need to know my age?"

"It's- well, I've never had a peer to look up to," Utsui answered. "I think you're very special." The teen said it in a heavy tone and without sounding like he was fawning over the alchemist.

Syryn stopped in his tracks and peered up at Utsui's face. "Do you have a crush on me, Utsui?"

"What?" Utsui's eyes went wide. "I don't have a crush on you!"

Akida and Lucien were drinking juice from a kursa fruit. They both looked at the two healers whose gazes were locked. One was smiling like he had unearthed a big secret, and the other one was beginning to turn pink around the tips of his ears.

"Come on, a little honesty won't hurt you," Syryn teased the avian. This was more fun than answering medical queries.

"I don't have a crush on you," Utsui repeated as if it could erase the signs of embarrassment written all over his stoic self.

"I would ask your grandfather for your hand in marriage just to fuck with him. Come on, let's pretend you're in love with me. It's not very hard to cause you're already halfway there." The alchemist casually said some very arrogant things that earned him an eye roll from Akida.

"I am not ready to be married," Utsui answered. "My heart feather is not complete, Syryn."

"Eh? Utsui, I was joking. We're not getting married," Syryn told him with a bit of caution. He wasn't intending on breaking the teen's heart. The alchemist realised that he had to stop being so irresponsible around impressionable young men.

"I know," Utsui replied. "But my heart feather will be ready this year."

"Do you have someone in mind?" Akida asked.

"No. It's too early to decide."

Syryn kept his mouth shut after that till they reached the reverse waterfall.