My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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What was this child going on about? As I tried to rein in Cesare, I heard Anais’s laughter.
“That’s enough. I only treat handsome men. If your red-haired friend wants an examination, let him come find me.”
She left. Despite her light manner, her footsteps were resolute. Watching her receding figure, Bella grumbled.
“I thought Master would treat him……. I didn’t expect her to turn him away like that.”
Cesare spoke with clear displeasure—as if she’d sent him away for being ugly, which hardly mattered.
“Is that woman really so skilled? She looks like a complete charlatan to me.”
“I saw her treating people during the Northern War. She even saved a man whose lower half had been severed.”
“How is that even possible?”
“That’s why she’s a genius.”
To revive someone who might as well have been dead—the term “skilled physician” hardly did her justice.
Divine Healer. That was the more accurate expression.
So Bella had gone all the way to the Northern War. She truly had endured every hardship to save us.
And even now she was worrying about me. I rested my hand on Bella’s shoulder.
“Let’s find a way to persuade Anais. Do you know why she stopped being a healer?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t talk to me because I’m a woman.”
So heaven bestows talent and character separately, then. Cesare let out a heavy groan.
“Should I try using my good looks?”
“Never mind. I’d rather go fetch Arkel.”
“So I’m uglier than my brother?”
“Do I really have to spell it out?”
Just then, raindrops began to fall from above. The sky had been growing dark all afternoon—a storm was coming.
I led my disciples back to the inn. Since it was late, only one room remained available. The clerk glanced at Bella.
“Do you have any children? I thought I heard you were pregnant with your second?”
He must have witnessed that chaos. Bella nodded calmly.
“That’s right. I’m currently pregnant.”
“Is this the eldest, then?”
The clerk looked at me. That made no sense.
“I’m her sibling. You can’t have missed the age difference.”
“He could be adopted. You don’t have children of your own, I assume? The Kid Eater has been appearing this season.”
His anxious probing revealed his worry. I accepted the inn key and asked.
“Have you had trouble with the Kid Eater before?”
“Several children died years ago. It was serious. After that, we hired people to kill the Kid Eaters, but…….”
Raindrops began to bead against the window. The rain was growing heavier than before.
“Even so, it appears now and then. Festive seasons when children are most excited are the most dangerous times.”
Excited children tend to forget their elders’ warnings easily enough. The clerk sighed.
“That woman your guest was fighting with earlier—her daughter was devoured by the Kid Eater.”
Anais?
That remark cast her behavior in a different light. A parent who has lost a child always bears some damage.
“Is that when she stopped being a healer?”
“That woman was a healer? I didn’t know…….”
That was when a strange sound drifted down from the mountains. I turned to look beyond the window.
Beneath the faint drumming of rain, something alien was woven—a sound like a human voice, yet also like a beast’s cry. It was mournful, somehow, in a way I couldn’t quite place.
* * *
The rain continued through dawn, but by morning the sky had cleared. Sunlight glinted off the mirror. Cesare stood before it.
He was twisting his head back and forth, examining his own face.
“Ugh, this part looks dull. Maybe I’ll flip it the other way.”
Cesare picked up a comb and arranged his hair. This was the same man who could barely manage to wash his face most days. I watched my vain disciple and asked.
“Where did you slip off to this morning? You were gone from your room for quite a while.”
“Buying hair oil. I need to use my good looks as a tactic.”
He unfastened another shirt button and turned up his collar. When he rolled his sleeves, firm forearms came into view.
Was he genuinely intent on seducing Anais? How much resolve did he have in him?
“Do I look sexy?”
“Yes. Very sexy. But you don’t need to seduce her.”
“No. I’m going to win her over. By any means necessary.”
He had a grim expression. My disciple was prepared to stake himself for my sake. Bella, watching from the side, spoke.
“You’re starting to look like Guy.”
“How can you say that?”
“Now that you’re ready, let’s go find Anais.”
There was no point in trying to stop him any longer. In the end, I set out with my disciples from the inn.
The ground was still damp beneath their feet, and the sky threatened another downpour at any moment.
Cesare walked faster than usual. Was he nervous?
As they wound through the town, they entered a quiet residential street. In the distance, Anais came into view.
She stood outside, locked in a kiss with some man. Bella murmured, half to herself, “Shouldn’t my young disciples be seeing this?”
“He’s handsome, though. She has good taste.”
“Do I look all right? Can you fix my hair one more time?”
While Bella tidied Cesare’s hair, the man departed. We approached Anais.
“Good morning, Anais.”
I offered the greeting, but Anais looked at Cesare instead. A low whistle escaped her lips.
“A married man, no less? Trying to seduce someone this early in the morning?”
“I’m not married. He’s actually my brother.”
“A forbidden love?”
“Insane…!”
Cesare began to shout, then caught himself with a quiet cough. His voice emerged lower than usual.
“Why, uh—why aren’t you working as a healer? If something’s wrong, I can fix it for you.”
Only now did it strike me: Cesare had no talent for deception.
His appearance was convincing enough, but his delivery was wooden, mechanical—like reading from a book. Anais laughed, toying with him.
“What? You’re just a kid too? I don’t deal with children.”
She turned to leave, shopping basket in hand. Cesare hurried after her in a panic.
“Anais—Miss, Sister, older sister, ma’am!”
Anais didn’t turn back once. As I followed silently in her wake, I added my own words.
“Anais, we need you.”
“There are plenty of other healers. If you’re really desperate, I can introduce you to people from the Royal Medical Institute.”
“It has to be you.”
“Why?”
“I prefer to entrust such work to someone my disciples already trust.”
At that, Anais turned to look at me. Her expression was peculiar—almost bemused.
“Who is this disciple of yours?”
“These two people here. This is Bella, and this is Cesare.”
“You’re the youngest-looking one here, and you’re their master? That’s strange.”
Anais’s gaze drifted from Cesare to Bella. Nearby, children at play raised their voices. A frivolous smile crossed Anais’s face.
“I don’t know what that woman thinks she’s doing, but she’s mistaken. If this were a date instead of healing work, I might consider it…”
Thud!
One of the running children crashed into Anais. It was a boy in tattered clothes.
The impact sent Anais stumbling. The child bolted away. She frowned, drawing her brows together.
“These kids these days—can’t even apologize…”
Her words died mid-sentence. Anais hurriedly touched her neck.
The Locket Necklace was gone. The boy had been a pickpocket. Seeing this, Cesare took off running at once.
“You there, stop!”
Anais dashed after him in urgency. Figures vanished into the crowd ahead.
Thanks to Cesare’s height, we could barely keep him in sight. Bella and I followed him into the fray.
He disappeared into a maze of narrow back alleys. Few people lingered there, but the child was nowhere to be seen.
“Which way did the pickpocket go?”
Listening carefully, I heard light footsteps from above—and also from the alley ahead.
“I’ll check the roofs.”
“Yes. I’ll search the ground level.”
I gripped the railing and scaled the building. I could feel my arm strength was weaker than it used to be.
As I reached the rooftop, a small silhouette appeared in the distance. A child.
I closed the gap in seconds. The alert child leaped over an obstacle and fled, swift as a sparrow.
Clearly, this was routine for him. It was routine for me as well—at least forty years’ worth.
Crash!
“Agh!”
I seized the back of his neck and slammed him to the ground. The Locket Necklace gleamed in his grip.
“Damn it, let go!”
I’d seen plenty of children driven to theft. Alone in the world, it was sometimes the only way they survived.
Still, I couldn’t simply release him. There were suspicious details. I pressed his neck firmly, speaking low.
“You’ve got sticky fingers. Aren’t you afraid of the town guard?”
“Afraid of them? Why would I be?”
“Then how about losing a hand?”
I spoke quietly, and I felt the child shudder beneath my grip.
“You know as well as I do what happens when a thief gets caught doing the same crime over and over.”
“…….”
“Why did you steal it? Tell me the reason, and I’ll let you go.”
That Locket Necklace wasn’t expensive, really. A child practiced in theft couldn’t possibly mistake its value.
The boy hesitated, then spoke with difficulty.
“……Someone told me to.”
“Who?”
“I can’t say. And they said it wasn’t a bad thing. That the necklace would be returned to its owner…….”
His voice came out cowed. I watched the tension drain from his grip on the necklace.
Once I’d taken the necklace, I released him.
“Go on.”
The boy bolted. He vaulted over a chimney and vanished from sight in moments.
“Master! Did you find it?”
While I was checking the necklace’s contents, Bella’s voice called out. Looking down, I saw Anais was with her.
“Yes. I found it.”
Her face brightened at once. I descended and handed her the Locket Necklace. Anais seized it like a beggar snatching bread.
“……I’m in your debt. It was important, and you found it for me.”
She cradled the necklace protectively in both hands. Her fingertips trembled faintly.
Bella watched her intently before speaking.
“If that’s the case, would you examine him, Master? You said it was important.”
“……I can examine him. But I won’t treat him.”
As we talked, Cesare came rushing up breathlessly. Hearing the situation explained, he smiled with relief.
“Thank goodness you’ll examine him. Should we head to your place now?”
“Mm. Come to my house?”
Anais smiled knowingly. The sorrowful expression she’d worn until moments ago seemed like a lie.
“No. Go to your inn. I don’t bring women and children to my house.”
Bella’s brow furrowed at that.
“That’s some pretty blatant discrimination.”
“What? Want me to make an exception for you too?”
“Never mind.”
After arriving at the inn, Anais sent the disciples out, saying she needed to conduct the examination one on one. Bella shot Anais a hard look.
“If this woman does anything strange, you scream.”
The door closed shortly after. The room held only Anais and me. She smiled gently.
“Take everything off first. I need to examine you thoroughly.”
“Should I scream?”
“Just remove your top for now.”
After I’d taken off my upper garment entirely, Anais began Palpation. Her touch as she examined my body was unexpectedly clinical.
The mana flowing through her fingertips was delicate yet steady. Her control of mana suggested considerable skill.
The longer she examined me, the more her expression hardened. After probing for some time, Anais lifted her head.
“……Your condition is worse than I thought. The treatment cost will be substantial, won’t it?”
I fell silent for a moment. I was grateful my disciples weren’t nearby. I managed to speak.
“How bad is it?”
“At this rate, six…….”
“Six million Batz in treatment costs?”
Anais shook her head.
“Sixty million Batz?”
She shook her head again. So not six hundred thousand Batz—did that mean six hundred million? That was when Anais spoke.
“Six months.”
Suddenly a timeframe emerged. Anais looked at me gravely.
“At best, you have six months left. You.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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