Penitent

A soldier was directed to take Michael to the infirmary. He was young, around Michael's physical age, with dark hair and tan skin.

"How've things been at this front?" asked Michael.

"Um, bad? I think. I haven't been a soldier for long. I know I heard the sergeant mention that we were getting slaughtered when we fought in the open, but have the advantage in the swamps. The enemy soldiers are strong though. They seem way harder to fight than anyone expected."

Michael nodded along as the young man spoke and then they reached the infirmary. It was one of the only fully walled and covered tents and when Michael walked inside he found it to be about two thirds full. There were a number of men in beds, but there wasn't the usual pained screaming and groans. It also seemed very clean, with no piles of bloody bandages or loose saws.

Michael moved further inside and looked closer at a man sleeping near the entrance. He had a deep cut across his chest, but it looked to have been cleaned and bandaged, and Michael guessed that he had been given some kind of painkiller as well. He saw a man emerge from deeper in the tent and take a small clay cup which he pressed to the lips of an injured soldier that seemed to be in a daze.

The man was older, perhaps in his late thirties or early forties, and had dark brown hair with streaks of gray. He was wearing a simple tan tunic and pants, was covered in leather pouches, and flasks, and had an odd assortment of tools chained to his waist. The man looked up when he noticed Michael and approached.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Michael. I'm a mercenary with Gemini, and a healer. I just wanted to help."

"Ah, well I would certainly appreciate it if you could help a few of the minor injuries. If that wouldn't be too tiring for you."

"Actually, I can heal everyone. Though there doesn't seem to be a rush. Your patients seem very well cared for. I don't see anyone here that seems close to death either."

"I appreciate your kind words, but we offer all those we cannot heal the choice of drinking Essence of Bliss."

"Essence of Bliss?"

"It's a tincture that grants one a peaceful, painless death. We use it on those in too much pain to live, takers, and to execute criminals."

Michael must've winced or shifted when the man mentioned takers because he looked at him reappraisingly.

"Gray military pants, dense musculature… are you a Stent taker?" asked the man, a bit of excitement in his voice.

"Yes."

"So you aged rapidly with their potions? How did they do it? Is it a local herb, or a fungus? Was it something you drank or an injection or was there another method? What did it smell like? Taste like? I've heard they have some restorative potions that help with exhaustion. We have similar, but do you know what they're made of? Did you travel through their forests a lot? Would you be able to describe some of the plants you saw there?"

Michael held up his hands. "I'm happy to answer your questions, but can I heal some people first? I also would like to ask a few questions myself."

"Oh, of course of course. Please, if you can heal them all, that would give me more time to ask you questions."

Michael nodded and started going person to person and healing them. He could've healed all of them with a single burst of energy, but he wanted to preserve his stamina and none of them were in any immediate pain or danger.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Wow, you really could heal all of them. Do you have increased stamina? Is it the result of the treatments they gave you or titles and deeds?"

"Titles and Deeds mostly," replied Michael, his answer seeming to disappoint the curious alchemist. "My turn, what's your name?"

"I am Tallant. What was the active ingredient in the aging potion?"

"Well water that was cursed by a witch to cause rapid aging."

"Fascinating. Curses are uncommon, and one that can be turned into a benefit? Unheard of. How was it administered?"

"As an injection. That was two questions. What does Cantalia do with takers?"
"As I said, takers are given the Essence of Bliss. After that their bodies are returned to the ground. They do not belong here and so are removed. Adult takers from other countries aren't considered our responsibility, but are only allowed to take dangerous jobs that may kill them if they are here."

Michael frowned. A painless death certainly seemed better than some other possibilities, as did their treatment of non-native takers. It was a brutal world when what he was hearing was what he considered one of the better options. This did seem easier on the parents at least. They didn't need to see the body of the child that would have been killed and tossed aside, nor would they wonder what someone was doing in it. The taker themselves would likely not even be aware of what had happened either. A painless death was something that hadn't been accomplished in Michael's world as far as he knew, so he was impressed that they'd managed something like that here.

After that Michael didn't have many questions and so spent more than an hour satisfying Tallant's curiosity up until the point where the man requested to be able to examine him more closely.

"I want to report back to the rest of Gemini, but I'll be back tomorrow to do more healing and we can talk about it then."

"Are there any other Stent takers among you?"

Michael nodded, "Four others. Anything regarding examining them will need to be taken up with them I'm afraid."

"Fair enough. I hope you don't get killed too soon taker. You may not belong here, but the knowledge you can give might."

"I mean, if it's knowledge you're after I can also teach you a lot about the divine."

"Not interested," the man walked back to the back of the tent and pulled back the flap into another room.

Michael laughed as he walked out. That must be what the Mormons he'd slam his door on back on Earth felt like.

It took him a bit of wandering through camp, but he eventually found the rest of Gemini along with a number of others camping on one of the more sturdy patches of ground. He heard sounds of a scuffle and came upon almost everyone standing in a circle watching Finn wrestle with a large red-haired man in a shallow pool of mud. As he arrived Finn dodged around a grab by the larger man and leapt on his back wrapping him in a headlock.

Michael found the others cheering on their stoic leader.

"What's going on?"

"There are two other mercenary companies here with us. Jeb, the redhead there, insulted Finn's mother and challenged him to a wrestling match. He was complaining a lot of boredom," answered Clara.

Michael raised an eyebrow as the redhead leapt high in the air and landed on his back in the mud, trying to dislodge Finn from it. Finn took the hit without so much as a grunt and tightened his grip. He was like a snake, clenching his arms and legs more tightly whenever Jeb let out more breath.

Jeb was clearly aware of this, and tilted himself so that Finn's face was completely submerged in mud. In spite of that, Finn held on, tightening his grip more.

Just when the mercenary commander seemed close to tapping out, there was a sudden burst of flame from all across his skin. The flash of heat caused the mud around him to bubble and explode outward, and Finn was forced off of him by it.

When Finn moved to get back up and catch his breath, Jeb tackled him to the ground and pinned him quickly, barely holding his head out of the mud.

"Do you concede, little man?" he asked.

Finn gritted his muddy teeth and nodded.

The redheaded man laughed and stood. "It was a good fight, but Gemini clearly needs two leaders because just one of you would not be up to the job."

"Where is Tai?" asked Michael, not seeing the other half of their leadership.

"He knew a local lieutenant and went to talk to him to get a better rundown on things."

"You wouldn't have won if you hadn't resorted to using that spell," yelled Davi.

Jeb looked toward him. "What was that?"

"The truth," responded Davi.

Jeb laughed heartily. "In The Breakers, strength is truth. Do you wish to prove your truth?"

Davi looked over to Michael as he began stripping off his armor and weapons.

"Heal him. I don't want there to be any doubts when I drive him into the mud."

Michael smiled at him and obliged with a raised golden hand, causing Jeb to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Alright then," said the Mercenary captain, rolling his neck. "I'm happy to prove Gemini's weakness twice."

Ollie gave a tsk, drawing Michael's attention to him. "Ginger on ginger violence. Crime here in Cantalia is wild."