It had been three days since Zig’s hospitalization. The days had gone by peacefully without any trouble. In fact, Glow and Urbas had dropped by to visit the other day. They left after Zig promised to fill them in once he got better. He was therefore able to focus on his recovery.
With his strength returning, his injuries healed and most of his large wounds knitted back together. His appetite grew to compensate. His diet was such that it made you rethink the definition of food.
“This is a hospital, you know,” Dorea said through a strained smile, but there was no getting through to him. Zig’s hunger was so intense that he ate like he was perpetually starving, consuming all the food laid before him. He seemed to be digesting whatever he ate indefinitely.
He ripped into a whole slab of bacon and tore into a loaf of bread without breaking it into bite-sized pieces. He gobbled things up so fast that it was unlikely he was chewing any of it, then moved on to his next prey: a bowl of soup to wash everything down.
“You really need to chew your food…” Dorea’s shoulders slumped as he watched his patient exhibit a never-before-seen degree of culinary violence.
Zig paused for a moment, feeling bad that he was ignoring the person who had been taking care of him for the past few days. “Don’t worry,” he said, grabbing another head of leafy greens and sticking his carving knife—which the Bazartas had recovered for him the other day—in it. Although the knife had previously cut into human and monstrosity flesh, Zig didn’t seem to mind. “I’m eating my vegetables.” He ran his knife through it, slicing it in half, and scarfed it down without a grain of seasoning.
“I…see.” Dorea decided to let it go since Zig was at least taking some of his advice.
Zig continued to eat, with a defeated Dorea at his side, when the door to the room opened.
“I’m back… Whoa!” Siasha stumbled from the weight of the bags of food in her hands. “Your extra orders.” She laid out the food in front of him. Zig put down his empty bowl and gave her a satisfied nod.
“Thanks.”
Siasha refilled his bowl of soup and offered him an awkward smile. “There goes all the food in the neighborhood…”
This injury was the biggest one Zig had ever suffered. He needed more healing magic channeled into him, and because of those treatments, his hunger increased. He had already devoured all the food from the nearby stalls, causing stores to stop operations by lunchtime. In fact, Zig wasn’t even eating finished products; he was gobbling down ingredients.
He wanted to get every bit of nutrients in his body, and cooking took too much time. However, Dorea insisted on having at least a little bit of seasoning, and so Zig had some salt, pepper, and mustard on the side.
Siasha’s soup was the main staple while he was undergoing treatment, and they bought whatever bread, bacon, and other foodstuffs the stores had in stock.
“You’ve been eating so much food that the military police came over to investigate,” Dorea said. “They suspected me of harboring a monstrosity…”
“A ha ha… Sorry for the trouble.”
“Oh, it’s all right. It’s for the patient, after all. I’m just not used to this kind of progress.”
It was all worth it because Zig was taking extraordinary steps into his recovery. Injuries that would normally take half a year to mend were almost fully healed. Food expenses were a small price to pay for treating damage that would normally take medical experts and specialized equipment.
It did bear repeating: Healing magic is not all powerful. The bigger the injury was, the more energy it would take to mend it. The inability to withstand healing magic would create an endless loop of trying to fix a wound that wouldn’t close. Not a rare occurrence. Things would go differently if highly nutritious foods and specialized medicines were available, but those cost a lot of money and were not available to the public. Zig’s circumstance was unique because of his zero reliance on magical healing and incredibly robust body.
This is good. Zig never stopped chewing, but his thoughts had shifted from satisfying his hunger to enjoying his food. He was feeling that much better.
Eat rats and drink sewage if you have to. Such was his motto, but he absolutely could enjoy delicious food if the situation allowed. Sure, he was eating ingredients instead of actual meals, but they were enough for him. Currently, he was very much satisfied with the saltiness of the bacon he had in his mouth. The stale bread he was eating had the texture of a hardened rock, but he was content with every bite he took. The raw vegetables were freshly picked, leaving a crisp and moist aftertaste as he swallowed.
It is said that hunger is the best seasoning, and that saying was being put to the test today. He kept eating for an hour.
“Well, I’m full.” His hunger was finally satisfied after several rounds of food and a full pot of soup. While he rubbed his stomach, Siasha poured him a cup of tea for him to drink.
“I was getting nervous,” she said. “I thought your stomach might burst.”
“Me too, actually.”
The food he ate felt like it was instantly used by his body, and it scared him somewhat. “I know this is helping me get better, but blowing the budget on this every time I get hurt…” He was afraid to even think about the food expenses he had racked up over the past three days.
Because of his brand-new weapon, Zig’s wallet was on its last legs. He probably would be down to pennies after paying Dorea for his treatment and hospitalization. They had several gems they could trade for money, but those were for emergency purposes only.
“I have to get right back to work once I’m out.”
“You really don’t have to… I can lend you some money if you need it.”
“What kind of a bodyguard borrows from his client? But I appreciate the sentiment.”
As they talked, Zig sensed a presence approaching his room. Judging by the footfalls, it wasn’t Dorea. A knock came, and the door opened before Zig could turn whoever it was away.
“Hey there. You’re looking better than I thought.” Inside stepped a man wearing a beat-up trench coat and a grimy smile, and a woman with a dagger at her waist. Vanno and Katia, both Bazarta officials, entered his room. They looked at Zig, eyebrows furrowed.
“The boys said you were incredibly messed up.” Vanno looked up and down at Zig since it sure didn’t seem that way to him, but got nothing out of the inspection. All Zig did was eat and sleep.
Katia seemed worried but also exasperated. “You sure you’re okay?” she asked. “You just got beat up the other day.”
“You’re exaggerating. As you can see, I’ll be out soon. What do you want?” He doubted that the Bazartas were making a social visit. So, he urged them to get to the point.
Vanno took out a cigar but pocketed it again when Katia reminded him they were at a hospital. “The remitter Yaesar Baron is dead. Most of the congregation is wiped out, little to no survivors… Can’t believe you actually did it.”
“They came after me, so I killed them. That’s all.”
The fact that Claritists attacked Zig in broad daylight was pretty well-known. Zig and Siasha went to put in a complaint, and they were attacked again, at which point they defended themselves. They just happened to wipe out the local Claritists in the process.
That was the gist of the whole incident. Nothing more, nothing less.
“‘That’s all,’ after all those folks you killed—well, whatever. Thanks to that we have free reign over the place now. All we had to do was talk to the military police and ‘convince’ them that it was all self-defense. Not a bad deal.”
Vanno chuckled at the killing he had just made. Katia smiled wryly.
“Our younger guys will take care of that church. We’ll keep the facade but use it for our own purposes.”
With the religious nutjobs out of the way, the Bazarta was swimming in profit. The church was located in an area that was very strategic for business. The split of the city’s territories had already been set in stone, so chances like this were few and far between. Each faction eyed each other’s regions, waiting for an opening to engulf their enemies. The opportunity to take a whole chunk of real estate was too good to be ignored.
“Probably wrecked the power balance a bit, though.”
“The Cantarella will start bitching at us if we’re too flagrant about it.” Vanno smiled as he thought about profits and how panicked his enemies would look.
“As promised, we’ve made sure that your line of work will not be disrupted.”
“Good. Is that all?”
Vanno’s gaze wandered, landing on Siasha who sat next to Zig, innocently sipping her tea. “By the way, aren’t you going to introduce us to this lovely lady?” Vanno said as he inspected Siasha with his slimy gaze.
The lady in question only tilted her head and set her cup down. “My name is Siasha and I’m an adventurer. Zig is my bodyguard and assistant.”
“Oh, and so polite! The name’s Vanno. I’ve had a few business transactions with that guy in the bed.”
“Katia. Zig took care of me once.”
Pleasantries exchanged, Vanno turned an interested eye toward Zig. “Bodyguard… You don’t say?”
Zig knew exactly what he was getting at.