The Butterfly Trap

Part 2

I passed a few shortcuts to the horse carriage rental, the road was quite quiet and narrow but flanked by two high-rise shops that gave the impression of horror and silence, up at the fork when I was about to step out of the street, three black-robed men intercepted me.

I stopped, "Who are you!?" I was alert while taking a few steps back.

" I'm sorry for our stupidity, we need your help, Gold Butterfly" one of them said.

"I don't understand what you're talking about!" I answered while turning around to leave but was confronted by one of them.

From his aura he looked like a knight yet in appearance he was just like an ordinary mercenary warrior.

" I'm sorry miss, but we really need your help, we need the expertise of the famous Gold Butterfly".

" What did you say? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!" I replied pretending to be stupid while glancing left and right.

I am not unwilling to help, only if my identity is discovered, my life will be threatened, even the people around me will be threatened, I do not want to take risks, in view of the way they block me, he said, I'm sure they've been looking into my background and lingering here would only harm me.

I barked at my pocket, fortunately I always carried an anesthetic powder and a few small knives that I had already laced with a paralytic.

" If you insist, don't blame us for taking you by force" he said, joining his group.

I took a few steps back from them, and they took a few steps forward in case I would escape.

Without a second thought I threw the anesthetic powder at them, then ran away with all my might. I'm sure that a little bit of that powder can distract them for a while.

But beyond my expectations, none of them were hit by my attack, they chased me quickly from behind, I took my small throwing knife and threw it at them.

One person fell.

I went back to running, but the difference in our stamina was indeed very far, I was unable to run any further. I checked around to find a place to hide but suddenly my eyes felt heavy and I was unconscious.

I opened my heavy eyes, my shoulders ached and my legs hurt too. I looked at the attic that was so foreign to me, I got up to sit down, my hands twitching my sore neck while watching the room around me.

' this where? What the hell happened to me? Did those people manage to take me? Is this a prison? Ah, but there's no way a prison is this comfortable' I wonder in my heart, considering I'm lying in a clean room with a pretty padded mattress.

" You're conscious ?" A cold voice came from the corner of the room.

" Who!?" I was surprised to look at the sound.

There was a handsome young man, with blond hair and a tall nose, his line was firm and classy giving the impression of a high-class noble yet the clothes he wore were like a mercenary, clearly in my eyes he is no ordinary person.

He stood up and walked towards me. His body was tall and sturdy with perfect proportions, he looked at me with his sparkling blue eyes, his eyes straight parallel to mine.

My cheeks are heating up and my heart is beating fast.

' Oh my God, is this heaven? Is he an angel? Well, then I'm fine being here for a long time, what a sight, wow wow, wow'

" Come with me! " Said as she stepped towards the door and her hand hinted for me to follow her.

I was still silent, only my eyes were following him towards the door. Realizing that I hadn't gotten out of bed yet, he turned around and scrunched his forehead, his eyes like saying whether I was playing with him, his calm eyes now turned cold and unfriendly.

" What are you waiting for!? would you like to be thrown in jail on charges of illegal medical practice? not bad either" he said while out.

" Ap...what!?"

I rushed after the handsome man who had walked away.

" What does illegal medical practice mean?" ask me while adjusting my breath as it reaches near him.

" Stop pretending, you think I don't know your background ?"

I'm petrifying.

" Do I need to mention what offences you've committed?" he added.

He glanced at me who was petrified then stepped to the end of the corridor. I just followed him up the stairs without speaking a word, my head raging a thousand questions, cold sweat falling from my temple.

' I should have listened to Miranda's warning, what does this man mean? but I have never loosened my guard all this time, what offences in question include my family matters?'

walk straight to the end of the corridor then turn right and stop in front of the door of a room.

" Come on "

He opened the door of the room, I followed him in, and there a young man lay on a bed that was big and strong. Around the room looks filled with some luxury furniture and equipped with a room heater that I have never seen before.

The man looked weak and pale, he was grimacing in pain, a few grains of sweat came out from his temple, it was obvious that he was struggling with the pain that was running through his body.

" That's your patient, try to check on him!" His orders were with pogah, then he sat on a chair beside the bed.

Honestly, I felt like I wanted to leave the room, close my eyes and ears to what I witnessed, but my human spirit rebelled so I undo my intentions.

I approached the lying man, checking his pulse, mouth and eyes.

" What happened before he did this?" ask me before ascertaining the disease of the man who lay it.

" I have no obligation to explain it to you, your only duty is to heal him!"

'what-what the fuck? You know, he thinks I'm a god who knows everything, crazy people, I pull my thoughts about him', I'm inward.

I was about to return his words when a long silver-haired man walked into the room, his stature quite friendly, a small smile on his lips then he came up to me and politely answered my question.

" I'll explain his condition to you, before I'll introduce myself first, I'm Claude, he's Z and lay there Red."

" We're sorry for the disrespect of our people who brought you here, but we really need your help, Red's been like that for a week, he looks weak every day, that's why we took this shameful action, I hope you understand", the man who calls himself Claude explained in a friendly tone.

" No need to talk, just get to the topic!" Order Z firmly but responded Claude with a head bobble.

I looked towards Z with an annoyed look, obviously the cold man was not friendly at all.

" When we were on a mission, he was hit by the poisonous arrow of one of the humanoid monsters, we had never seen such a condition, our doctors have tried to examine him but they put their hands up and can only reduce his pain" Claude said.

I approached Red, his face was already yellowing and his lips were slowly starting to darken.

' the situation is really bad' I thought.

" Do you still have the arrow?"

" Wait a minute" Claude replied leaving us, moments later he came back with an arrow, then gave it to me.

" Are you sure this dart made him that way?".

" What does that mean?", asked Claude in wonder.

" I didn't find any dangerous poison in this arrow, there's only a crippling poison and in two days you'll be back to normal".

They looked at each other and looked at me with a face of disbelief.

" Well if you doubt my word whatever, I can go anyway, I'm not here because of my will"

" What does that mean? Are you playing with me? Obviously he was like that after being hit by that arrow" Z looked angry at me.

" Call you think? What if this arrow is just a distraction from something big?"

They still look at me in wonder.

" That is, if one poison encounters another, what will it be?"

" So you think Red was poisoned before he was harvested?"

" It could be "I answered.

Z seemed to think so with Claude.

" Can you cure him?" Finally Z broke the silence.

" Hmm I have to know the other poison first, I need his blood to determine the type of poison that is in his body so I can make an antidote"

Z looked at me again but not this time with an arrogant look.

" I'll get it for you"

Z injured Red's index finger and dripped a few drops of blood onto a small bottle, then handed it to me.

I put the blood in the liquid I always carry. His blood turned into a purplish color. I was shocked.

" Why ?" Claude approached me and looked into the bowl filled with purplish-colored liquid.

" It's...."

" Right Garaga Q, this is a rare poison that is very difficult to get and it seems that this poison has been compiled with the poison in the arrow. I think Red has been consuming this poison for a long time, I mean about 4 to 5 months".

" I've heard of Garaga Q, a tasteless and colorless poison and a person who is exposed to the poison will never know he's exposed to the poison, there are no signs of poisoning but they will lose their sense of taste so they will have difficulty eating and slowly they will lose weight and even if checked by a doctor will not find the disease, is that Garaga you mean?"

" right!"

" If he had consumed the poison long enough before the mission took place?"

" Is he someone who is important?"

Claude just nodded his head and glanced at Red and Z alternately.

I let out a long sigh, racking my brain thinking of a solution that could be done quickly and precisely, it also had to do with my freedom from the eye of the Z eagle watching over like a predator . I gulped several times, anxious feelings and was haunting me, there was something unusual about Red's state.

" What are you guys.." I stopped my question, afraid of the consequences that would arise because of my question that could invite controversy.

" What?" z replied after a long time because I did not continue my words, his eyes still sharp looking at me.

I gulped, I was sure that my question was not a good thing to say, from Z's gaze alone I was goosebumps, sharp and cold. If the gaze of the eyes could kill someone maybe I would have been repeatedly torn to death by his gaze.

I looked at Claude doubtfully, I'm sure he wouldn't judge me with my question, given his friendly and friendly nature.

" Can I ask you a question? but this is just speculation, no other intention in my question" I said carefully.

" What does this question have to do with Red?" claude asked in a friendly tone.

" uhm anyhow, I think this question can be a positive thing or a negative thing"

" Don't beat around the bush, just say it!" said Z with a high tone from the corner of the room. I shudder.

" That.ehm Z, if you speak like that, he will be afraid, speak slowly, for the moment we need him the most" Claude reminded Z firmly. " Don't mind him, please ask a question!"

" Given that Red has been poisoned for a long time, it seems that the intention of the perpetrator is to kill him slowly, so that when the poison has accumulated in the body, Red will die by itself, according to my estimate he targeted Red dead in two years, but it didn't seem to go as planned"

" That means there's someone in our group who wants Red dead?" claude asked in disbelief, Z was no less shocked, the two of them looked at each other in disbelief.

" It's just my assumption, have you guys been acting weird lately?"

" Wait a minute, our expedition is only four months, if he has been planned before the expedition starts, then they intend to make this expedition a grave for Red" Claude looked at Red and Z alternately.

" Isn't curing Red our top priority?" debunk Z seemed to want to close the discussion. " We need to know what is a priority". This time his voice was no longer cold but not friendly.

" Garaga Q needs Linus leaves and wrought flowers for the antidote, if we can get those two plants, Red's life can be saved"

" Linus Leaf? isn't that a plant that only exists in the Tar-Tar plain, near the Baloki river?"

I nodded, it seems that Z has quite extensive knowledge, considering that not many people know about Linus leaves, let alone where they grew up.

" But the area is very dangerous" Claude said

" I have a dry wrought blossom plant, but in order to completely remove the poison Garaga Q, we need those two herbs, if it's just a wrought flower, it's no different from her drinking the herbs"

" I'm leaving" Z rushed to the door but was intercepted by Claude.

" You're crazy, how could you go to such a dangerous place"

" What choice do we have, if what he says is true, at the moment no one can be trusted except you and me, he said, because we still don't know who our enemy is!"

" But.."

" Look down Claude, who do you think I am?" he asked proudly, there was a faint smile on his lips.

" Alright, remember you have to be careful, it's not just about Red's safety"

He nodded then disappeared behind the door, I heaved a sigh of relief as Z was gone, no more sharp gazes that were like punching holes in my back.