Chapter 3793: Old and New Problems (Part 2)

’On top of that, I can’t risk people sticking on the Train for the movie. It would defeat the purpose of the maiden voyage. The passengers must appreciate this new means of public transportation, not my magical skills.’

At the next station, a man took advantage of the stop to change cars and visit Lith.

"Supreme Magus Verhen?" He knocked on the wall of the open compartment.

"Yes? Is there any problem?"

"No!" The man raised his hands in apology. "Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to thank you for your service and ask for your autograph."

"Sure." Lith took a small piece of paper out of his pocket dimension and signed it twice.

Once with water magic, so that it could be read by human eyes, and the second time by hand. The latter was an irregular, smudged sequence of words worthy of a medical practitioner from Earth.

The man squinted his eyes and turned the paper for a while before he could recognize the words that comprised Lith’s full name.

"Thank you for sharing your secret code with me." The man gave Lith a deep bow. "I won’t betray your trust and treasure it deeply."

"What secret code?" Lith asked in confusion.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." The man winked and walked away, holding the paper as if it were a priceless treasure.

The moment he left, Tista, Kamila, and Solus burst into laughter.

"I know my penmanship isn’t great, but calling it a code is ridiculous." Lith grunted.

"I’m sure it’s none of your fault. Literacy is a weak point in the rural community." Brinja sighed. "I need to invest more in education."

"Here. Tell me if it’s that hard to read." Lith handed her another signed paper.

Brinja admired the calligraphy of the water magic and furrowed her brows while looking at the handwritten signature.

"Is this something I have to reflect in a mirror or hold upside down to read?" She tried doing both things, but she failed to crack the mystery.

"It’s a curse in the ancient runes of the Sorlon Empire." Ainz said. "I recognize them from-"

The deafening laughs from the other side of the compartment cut him short.

"It’s not a code, let alone runes!" Lith snarled. "It’s how I write my name!"

"Really?" Brinja stared at the piece of paper in amazement. "I mean, sure. It’s perfectly clear. Silly me for not noticing it immediately."

Another man came for an autograph, but this time Lith noticed a burn on his right hand.

"It’s nothing. It was an accident while I was working in the kitchen." He explained. "It’s a professional hazard for a cook."

"I see." When Lith handed the man the piece of paper, he felt a slight jolt passing through his fingers.

The burn disappeared, his headache faded, and his knees didn’t hurt anymore.

"Thank you very much." The man bowed so deeply that his head almost touched the ground.

"That was generous of you." Brinja said. "And unexpected."

"If someone with a stable job avoided seeing a Healer for so long, he must be saving his money for a really good reason." Lith replied. "Also, it gives me something to do. I’m bored."

"What do you mean..."

"Magus Verhen?" A pale, young girl asked amid coughs. "Can you please check my throat?"

Lith looked around for her parents, noticing a woman who was keeping herself away, but in a point from which she could keep an eye on the situation in case something went wrong.

"Of course." He said.

’I wonder if the mother is afraid of me, or if she just wants to avoid paying a Healer’s fare.’ He inwardly added.

Lith gently touched her forehead, and the coughing stopped.

"Tell your mother that bringing you out today was a mistake." He said. "You needed rest and plenty of water."

"No, it wasn’t a mistake." She shook her head while color returned to her cheeks. "I wasn’t getting better, and now I feel fine."

The young girl turned around and ran back to the woman, who fell to her knees and cried with joy while hugging her now healthy daughter.

"Great. I have to invest more in healthcare too." Brinja grunted. "I can’t believe a mother had to carry her ill child all the way here in the hope you would treat her for free."

"It’s not your fault." Ainz held Brinja’s hand. "Gold doesn’t grow on trees, and Healers need to be paid. The issue-"

"What can I do for you?" Lith asked a young man who had just knocked on the compartment’s wall.

From that moment onward, the flow of people never stopped. The first wagon quickly turned into a traveling Healer office with people making space for the ill and leaving the car at the next stop after being treated.

Everyone but Brinja and the babies worked together to visit and heal the patients quickly but thoroughly.

"My dad!" Valeron pointed at Lith puffing his chest out with pride.

"Sure, that’s your dad." Brinja nodded. "And that’s yours, Milla."

She pointed at her husband working hard and keeping a streak of swear words to himself. Those who chose to enroll at the Black Griffon Academy loved to destroy things and had no care for the sick.

They learned the Healing arts only to save their own lives in case something went wrong with their experiments or to fight other mages.

***

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jerth of Asi asked.

"The best." Arkas of Tarin replied. "The Train is full of people. If we are lucky, we can get enough money to retire. If we lose this chance, someone else will take it, and when our turn comes, the security will be much worse.

"Let’s be honest. Now it’s just one Train, but soon there will be more, and bandits like us will have no one to rob anymore. Our profession is dying."

The band of highway robbers lowered their eyes, knowing it was true. Warp Gates and now Trains carried the most valuable goods. Once the merchants stopped carrying their merchandise by carriage, robbing travelers and farmers would be no longer worth the trouble.

Nobody left their house with a bag full of gold, and the few coins most of the bandits’ victims carried were barely enough for the gang to get by.

"It’s only a matter of time before Tablets spread too, and when that happens, we’ll go out of business." Arkas said. "My cousin went to Distar for a big hit. He got in and out of a jewelry store in three minutes.

"He did a clean job, but he was caught before he could reach the city walls.

"Did he stumble into a guard on his way out?" Zef from Famni asked.

"It was no bad luck." Arkas grunted. "Someone took pictures of my cousin and his gang with those gods-damn Tablets, and everyone in Distar knew their faces before they stepped out of the jewelry.

"After that, people recognized them and kept reporting their passage. A mage arrested them so fast that it was embarrassing. For now, only the regional capitals have Tablets, but one day they’ll be everywhere."

"What if they had covered their faces before the robbery?" Zef asked.

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