Organ rental company in another world

The abandoned windmill, like a giant skull, stands silently at the edge of the grassland. Its blades are long gone, leaving only the bare shaft creaking and groaning in the wind.

Cezar pulled on the reins, sniffing the air with his nose.

"After the windmills comes Valhiri, but no one lives there anymore." It turned back and shouted into the carriage, "Brother, let's spend the night there, and tomorrow we can reach the nearest settlement after another half-day's journey."

Norn lifted the curtain and peeked out. The setting sun bathed the entire grassland in golden light, and the shadows cast by the windmills stretched long, like black arrows pointing into the distance. Not far behind the windmills, the outlines of a cluster of low-lying buildings could be vaguely seen.

"How was it abandoned?"

"War," Caesar replied briefly. "It happened more than a decade ago. At that time, relations between the two sides were tense, and villages on the border were either relocated or burned down."

The carriage swayed and rattled past the windmills, entering the area of ​​the abandoned village. Only then could Norn make out the appearance of the buildings—most of the houses had collapsed, with only a few crumbling walls stubbornly standing. Wavy grass, half a person's height, grew among the rubble, and a few crows perched on the broken walls, scrutinizing the uninvited guests with their beady black eyes.

Xize chose a relatively intact stone house. Although half of the roof was gone, at least three walls could still block the wind. He tied the carriage to a dead tree stump in front of the door and unloaded blankets and dry rations from the carriage.

"I'm going to find some firewood," Xize said, then disappeared into the twilight.

Norn sat in the stone house, spread a silk cushion on the floor, and took out a few pieces of dried meat and the remaining half-flavored mead from the carriage. A short while later, Caesar returned carrying a bundle of dry shrub branches and quickly started a fire.

The firelight danced among the crumbling walls, dispelling the chill of the night. The two men huddled around the fire, chewing on dried meat and discussing tomorrow's itinerary, when suddenly Xize's ears perked up.

"There's a sound." It lowered its voice and reached for the short knife at its waist.

Norn heard it too—the sound of wheels rolling over gravel, and the low neighing of horses. He stood up and looked in the direction the sound came from, using the firelight.

A carriage was slowly making its way into the village. It was even more dilapidated than Norn's, with patches all over the canopy. The horse pulling the carriage was a skinny old man. The driver was a middle-aged man with a full beard. He hesitated for a moment when he saw the firelight in the stone house, but he continued to drive the carriage closer.

"Stop." Norn stepped out of the stone house, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Caesar followed behind him, letting out a low growl, a habit he had when nervous.

The carriage stopped ten paces away. The bearded man raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm; his eyes were tired and wary as he repeatedly sized up Norn and Caesar.

"We're just travelers passing through, looking for a place to rest for the night," the man said in a hoarse voice. "We mean no harm."

At that moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, revealing a woman's face. She looked younger than the man, and her face was equally weary. Norn noticed that her gaze kept drifting into the carriage, as if there were other people inside.

"Who else is in the car?" Norn asked.

The man hesitated for a moment, then finally lifted the entire curtain. By the light of the oil lamp hanging at the front of the carriage, Norn could see the scene inside—an old man lay there, his left leg hastily bandaged with tattered cloth, the seeping blood staining the cloth a dark red. Besides the old man, there were two children, a boy and a girl, huddled together, staring out in terror.

"We were on our way from Eaton to the Demi-human Federation to do business," the man explained. "We originally intended to buy some Demi-human herbs and furs, but we encountered a group of Demi-human bandits on the way. They... they were hostile to humans and attacked without saying a word. My father was slashed in the leg, and most of our goods were stolen. We barely managed to escape here."

Norn looked at the injured old man, whose face was frighteningly pale and whose breathing was shallow and rapid. If the bleeding wasn't stopped soon, he probably wouldn't make it through the night.

Without thinking twice, he turned and went into the stone house, rummaging through his luggage for a bottle of healing potion. He had bought it casually at the equipment shop before leaving Rose Town; although it was only a low-grade item, it was more than enough to treat this kind of superficial wound.

"Here you go." Norn handed the potion to the man.

The man froze, his rough hands cradling the small glass bottle as if it were a piece of gold. His lips trembled slightly, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

"This...this is too precious..." The man's voice choked with emotion.

"Stop talking nonsense and give him the drink right away."

The woman quickly took the medicine and carefully fed it to the old man. As soon as the medicine entered his throat, the gruesome wound on his leg began to heal and scab over at a visible speed. Soon, some color returned to his pale face, and his breathing became much more steady.

"My benefactor!" The bearded man suddenly knelt down, startling Norn. "My name is Batel, this is my wife Julia, my father, and my two children. Our whole family will never forget your immense kindness!"

"Get up, get up." Norn quickly pulled Batel up. "It's just a bottle of medicine, it's not that serious."

But Bartel didn't see it that way. Healing potions weren't rare in Rose Town, but in this desolate place, they were impossible to buy even with money. Norn's willingness to give such a precious item to complete strangers was like a spring of water in the desert for the family who had just experienced a calamity.

Batel directed his family to move into the stone house, and the small space suddenly became cramped yet warm. Julia took a large earthenware pot from the carriage, placed it over the fire, and cooked a steaming stew with potatoes and smoked meat. The aroma immediately filled the entire house. The two children slurped down the soup from their wooden bowls, and smiles finally appeared on their faces.

Bartel then brought out his treasured spirits and insisted on having a few drinks with Norn. After a few rounds of drinks, he really opened up.

"Brother Norn, you don't know, I wasn't like this when I was doing business in the Demi-human Federation." Bartel wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth. "Most Demi-humans are actually very friendly. As long as you respect their customs, they are easier to get along with than humans. I know a lizardman leather craftsman, his craftsmanship, wow, the leather boots he makes can last for ten years without breaking. There's also a catman herbalist, every time I go to collect herbs he always gives me a few extra handfuls."

"But in recent years, the situation has gotten worse and worse." Batel sighed. "I heard there's an organization in the north called the 'Pureblood Alliance,' which specializes in inciting demi-humans to hate humans. They say that humans will destroy the demi-human federation sooner or later, and that all demi-humans who do business with humans are traitors. At first, nobody paid attention to them, but as time went on, some people actually started to believe their nonsense."

"It was the band of robbers who attacked us," Julia replied, her voice still trembling with fear. "They not only stole our things, but they also tried to take us back. It was Father who risked his life to drive us away."

Norn listened, recalling Duke William's warning—there were indeed extreme forces hostile to humans within the Demi-Human Federation, and now it seemed that this was absolutely true.

As night deepened, the strong liquor from Batel left everyone slightly tipsy. The two children slept against Julia, and the old man snored evenly. Caesar added some firewood to the fire and leaned against the wall for a nap. Norn, wrapped in a blanket, was just drifting off to sleep when he was suddenly awakened by a noise.

The sound of horses' hooves.

It wasn't just one horse, but many, coming from afar, growing closer, like a muffled thunder rumbling across the grassland.

"It's them!" Batel sat bolt upright, completely sobered up. "It's that group of demi-humans! They're after us!"

Norn peered through the crack in the wall and saw seven or eight torches swaying in the night sky, moving rapidly toward them.

"Put out the fire," he said in a low voice, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword once more.