Damned Healer-Chapter 551: Partner In Everything
As soon as Darian finished reading what he wanted and left, Clanne approached him with a complicated expression. ππ£πππ ππππ¨π―ππ.ππ¨π
"Sir Darian, the Twilight Owls are vengeful and bloodthirsty. Theyβll definitely send countless assassins after you, since they can sense the mark on your flying boat. Unfortunately... we donβt have enough resources to remove it for you, forgive us."
Darian kept an indifferent expression about it. Truth was, that race had no idea that, very soon, he was going to knock on their door himself.
"There are people way more dangerous out there who want to kill me. A pathetic race like them wonβt make any difference," Darian said with a faint smile.
Clanne didnβt know how to respond. He couldnβt tell if Darian was being arrogant or insanely arrogant. But seeing how calm he was, he didnβt say anything, since heβd only embarrass himself more. After all, the Rainbow Cranes couldnβt help him at all.
Darian noticed this and sighed. The Rainbow Cranes, after the death of their Divinity in that war long ago, had started declining really fast.
Nowadays, they were absurdly weaker than the other two races, so much so that they were constantly suppressed and had their planets destroyed by the Twilight Owls.
They barely managed to survive. Possibly, if they didnβt do well in this Convention, they wouldnβt survive even another century.
Darian wanted to see his allies, so Clanne first took him to a large hall full of tables and chairs.
When he stepped inside, at the center, Darian saw a huge table full of dirty plates, and heard the sound of two Dragonesses side by side, chewing and eating fiercely. Several figures rushed in and out nonstop, bringing more and more plates. It was quite the scene, and the two of them seemed to be eating enough for an entire gigantic army.
Darian gave a slight smile. Niara had found a partner in everything she did. Alear, even though she didnβt have that much hunger or feel the same pleasure Niara felt when eating, kept her company, turning it into a motherβdaughter event.
The two enjoyed every kind of edible delicacy that existed. Since food was basically worthless in this universe, the Rainbow Cranes could give them whatever they wanted happily.
Suddenly...
...Alear felt Darianβs gaze behind them and abruptly stopped eating. She nudged Niara with her shoulder, who was completely immersed in her food, holding two drumsticks in her hands.
She didnβt react, so Alear made an even sharper shove with her shoulder, making her wobble in her chair.
Niara narrowed her eyes, but quickly noticed in shock that Darian was nearby; she froze. Then... both of them started eating slowly, more calmly and politely, side by side, as if nothing had happened.
Darian could only laugh internally. Since they were alone, they acted like starving beasts, not caring about anything. If Lucy or Velye saw that, theyβd roar furiously at Niara for influencing Alear to do the same.
Niara knew perfectly well that Darian didnβt care, and even encouraged her to act however she wanted. He would never try to shape her or make her be someone she wasnβt. But, by her own choice, she preferred to keep up appearances a bit in front of him. Sometimes she failed miserably...
"All the others are in the training grounds, outside the castle." Clanne, unaware of everything, said to Darian.
He nodded, asking him to lead the way. The two turned around and entered the corridor again; a few steps later, Darian heard the two of them start eating fiercely again.
"The three races shouldβve finished the main war with equal losses. But it seems youβre having a lot of difficulties. Is there a reason for that, something that isnβt a secret?" Darian asked suddenly.
Clanne heard and sighed. That wasnβt exactly a secret. On the way, Darian talked with him, and he explained that, in truth, there were two main reasons.
The first and the second were directly connected. Simply put, the Rainbow Cranes had a problem with their bodies: they couldnβt hold impurities, or their power would drop a lot.
Every race in the universe, from the moment they were born, accumulated impurities, whether from the air, food, etc. In other words, it was impossible not to have at least some of it.
In the past, the Rainbow Crane Goddess had the power to purify everyoneβs bodies. But when she died, they were left with a huge disadvantage. Because of that, they tried their best to perfect the universeβs alchemy to fix the problem. But nothing worked.
Humanoids werenβt known for nothing as the creators and best producers in things like alchemy and forging. They could slowly adapt to anything, studying multiple areas to combine everything into a single craft. Because of that, in every universe, they were the ones who developed these arts. Other races had extreme difficulty repeating that.
Once they realized that, the Rainbow Cranes tried partnering with the universeβs humanoids to develop those areas. Since humans were 90% of the humanoids, they focused on that specific race, but... they turned out to be greedy and extremely troublesome.
The Rainbow Cranes invested a lot in them for many years, believing theyβd repay kindness and support with loyalty. But after a long time, they found out the most talented ones were traitors infiltrated by the other two races. They sold their knowledge and their best creations to them.
The Rainbow Cranes tried to reverse the situation but failed. In the end, they lost all their investment, their alchemists, and the knowledge they helped create. All humans ended up being recruited by the Twilight Owls. They even announced that all humans were under their "protection," and the other two races werenβt allowed to approach them anymore.
Of course, the Rainbow Cranes didnβt accept that, so bloody battles like the one before were a direct result of that situation.
Darian snorted. Humans were the same in any universe. Heavenly Beasts were completely different in how they thought, since they had a connection between themselves and wouldnβt betray their own people easily. Humans didnβt have anything like that, and some had no scruples at all.
Each human is very unique and should be judged individually, without any kind of previous pattern. In other words, you couldnβt trust all of them as easily as the Rainbow Cranes had.
At that moment, the two reached the training field behind the castle. Everyone else was there, along with a large group of Rainbow Cranes.
They were training together, since that would help them get used to the energies of this universe. Besides that, Czaza was running tests on them with her power.
They slowly approached. Until Clanne suddenly froze mid-step.
Darian turned around, then saw his gaze fixed on a woman, Rainbow Crane, standing beside Czaza.
"This... her Bloodline... how is that possible?!" he muttered, stunned.
Darian focused on that woman, noticing she was faintly releasing a slight Bloodline power. Something he hadnβt felt from the Rainbow Cranes before. Soon, he nodded in satisfaction; Czaza was matching expectations perfectly.
When Clanne snapped out of his stupor, he moved quickly. When the two arrived, the woman turned toward him with a trembling look.
"G-general... I feel... my power is circulating way easier."
Clanne swallowed hard. Their Bloodline had pretty much stopped being usable many generations ago because of the amount of impurities in their bodies. Without removing those things, they couldnβt use even a bit.
Now, even if the Bloodline use was minimal, it would already boost that womanβs combat power several times.
Darian stared at Czaza. Her blue eyes trembled, and a proud smile appeared on her face. "Good job. Can you do this for all of them?"
She nodded quickly. "Yes, Sir. I can do a lot better, but itβll be temporary, because thereβs a big problem with their bodies."
Darian nodded, then turned to Clanne, who was still catatonic. "You guys got lucky. Also, turns out my alchemist came to this universe. Veyle is pretty far, but you can still get her in time."
Clanne stayed silent, not knowing how to react for a moment.
"Humans helped in the downfall of your race; now weβll help rebuild it. Seems fair, right? Please request a new meeting with the Emperor; we need to discuss this properly."
Only after that did Clanne swallow hard and look Darian in the eyes. Then he nodded and ran as fast as he could back to the castle.
---
Hours later, Darian was finishing his conversation with the Emperor.
Everyone in that meeting hall was excited and, at the same time, in disbelief. Darian was straightforward, just as he should be with beast races.
Czaza would stay in the empire and help prepare all the Rainbow Cranes for the Convention. At the same time, Darian gave them the coordinates to go fetch Veyle. She would be brought back and help create some pills, as well as teach them a bit of Alchemy.
It wouldnβt completely solve their problem that fast. But those two things would, within a year, change the entire race drastically. As for Darian, he only asked for one thing: unconditional support in the Convention.
They could barely believe what they were hearing. Once everything was done, he would leave, and all the benefits would remain with the race. There was no downside for them, so the Emperor was in disbelief.
"Sir Darian... we can give you part of our treasury in exchange, how about that?" The Emperor tried to offer something to feel better.
Darian snorted. "I donβt need it. Iβll get resources from those who donβt deserve them. As for you all, donβt feel uneasy. This Convention obviously wonβt be like the others; even the Spiritual Guardian were sent. Meaning it must be extremely dangerous and possibly all of the strongest of your race will be at huge risk of dying. Thatβs why your support will already be a great payment."
Hearing that, the Emperor took a long, relieved breath. He hadnβt thought about that yet because of all the surprises. After a few seconds, he stared Darian in the eyes. Then his voice echoed loudly, full of resolve:
"In the name of the entire Rainbow Crane race, I promise that weβll fight at your side and support you unconditionally in this Convention. Your orders on the battlefield will be equivalent to my own."
