88 The Phoebe Effec

Phoebe had her hand on Remian's chest. He was seated on a dining bench with his back to the entrance and they were talking in low voices. There were a lot of strangers in the hall, but nobody even gave them a second glance, as if such intimacy between them was a common occurrence. "It's a bit low… one hundred fifteen over eighty…"

Mandy saw them, and her face turned red, almost purple. Still in screaming-mode, her voice was so loud, Aren could probably hear her over at Kara-Goth. "Now I see! You had a girl on the side all along! What marriage? What queen? A pretty face comes along and you throw your old flame aside like rubbish!"

"Wha… Mandy?" Remian blinked, seeing her there.

"How dare you? It hasn't even been a month since you walked away from me, and already you're being intimate with the new girl in public?! After everything you said to me, you didn't even chase after me back at Ashdale! After the bond was removed, you completely ignored me! You ignored me even before that, while I was recovering, it was as if I didn't exist! You didn't write, didn't come visit until that last day… were you already chasing her? Were you already stealing kisses from her behind my back?!"

"What are you talking about?" Remian was thoroughly confused. "Which 'her'? Do you mean Phoebe?"

"Which 'her'? Which 'HER'?!!" Mandy's screams actually went up in volume. "There's more than one?!"

"There are hundreds of girls in the clans, how do I know…"

"Hundreds?! So you've been thinking about that all along! I knew it! What a great boss, looking at all the girls under your employ, obeying your orders, like slaves… like me!"

"You two seem to have a history." Phoebe remarked dryly.

"You think?" Remian sighed.

"Listen, I think there's some sort of misunderstanding. I'm just here to free the slaves…" Phoebe said to Mandy.

"Free slaves? Did you know that this guy here actually kept slaves?!" Mandy flared. "I was his slave!"

At that, Phoebe shot Remian a weird look.

"I was actually trying to rescue her. I had the slave-bond removed when I went to Ashdale. That's when I met Lydia." Remian summarized.

"Hah! As if you didn't take advantage of me while I was under the slave-bond! As if you didn't enjoy it!"

Remian stared. "As I recall, that was more your idea than mine."

"How could I resist? The slave-bond had the power of life and death over me! Knowing that, who wouldn't take steps to ensure their own safety? I had to fear for my life every day!"

"But not from me. From the Beast Waves, perhaps, but never from me!" Remian's mood had turned dark.

Max, who happened to be sitting at a table in the corner of the same hall, glanced at Tim. "Is it just me or are they being especially dramatic today?"

"It's the Phoebe effect." Tim said mysteriously. His face was pale, even after supposedly making a full recovery from his captivity. Life magic had rushed his healing, but it still took a toll on his body. "She has a way of making people react strongly just by being around."

"I think Mandy's jealous." Max squinted. "She's just trying to ruin any chances of Remian getting close to Phoebe."

"That, too." Tim did not disagree.

In response to that, Phoebe finally made a move.

She placed a hand on Mandy's head. "Huh. Slightly feverish."

She placed a hand on her back. "Blood pressure is high."

She pulled Mandy's blouse up. Mandy shrieked and tried to cover, but Phoebe only raised it above her belly, and then started tapping Mandy's tummy, listening intently. "Hmm. I don't hear a blockage. Wait! There's some density in the lower abdomen. Maybe a kidney stone?"

"W-w-w-what are you doing?!" Mandy gasped.

"Oh, dear, you are clearly unwell. Fever, plus a blockage in the lower abdomen… if it is a kidney stone, we might be looking at imminent kidney failure. Without treatment, your life expectancy might be only a few weeks from now." Phoebe said, in concern. "We should get you to a hospital right away. You should have fistula surgery to prepare for dialysis."

"W-what's dialysis?!" Mandy's face was white.

"It's when you stick two needles about THIS big in your arm for four hours a day, three times a week to clean your blood out." Phoebe explained. "Also, you'll have to give up eating a lot of things, and you won't be able to drink as much as you want, even when you're thirsty, you'll often have trouble breathing, and most of the week you'll be weak and tired, but you'll live at least five to ten more years. Otherwise, you'll just die in a few weeks."

"What?! WHY?!" Mandy wailed. "It can't be! How can it be?!"

"Well, you're clearly already delusional. The fever is a big warning sign." Phoebe began.

"I'm NOT DELUSIONAL!"

"Or… maybe you're pregnant?" Phoebe pressed her ear against Mandy's tummy. "I don't hear a heartbeat, but perhaps it's just too young…"

"I'm NOT PREGNANT!" Mandy shrieked. Then, she stopped, suddenly. "A-am I?"

Remian's face, previously red, turned white. "Please, don't talk nonsense. Please, please, don't talk nonsense."

"But, the symptoms!" Phoebe protested in a innocent voice.

Mandy almost fainted.

"Then again, it could be malaria…" Phoebe said, as if to herself. "You never know what kind of powers these Wilds would develop. Even the insects can evolve to acquire incredible new abilities. If there's been some form of evolved malaria, this could be bad…"

"What's malaria?!" Mandy was already having trouble breathing.

"Or even…" Phoebe's voice faded into a whisper. "Something worse."

Mandy couldn't take it any more. She fainted outright and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Or… it could just be over-excitement." Phoebe tapped her lips thoughtfully, shrugged, and walked out of the Guild Hall without a glance back.

"One, two, three! Mandy is down for the count!" Max exclaimed. "Without a single punch thrown!"

"See?" Tim shrugged. "Phoebe Effect."

***

Mandy was bundled back onto the Wind Voyager while the other Raven kids made their visits to town. They left an hour later, while the other airships were still taking turns to unload cargo in the single-dock airport.

"We're going to need more docks." Mindy observed to Remian as they waved farewell.

"We're going to need more everything." Remian agreed. "But I think our next construction priority should be the road. At least for a week. We owe Markus that much."

"But what happens when we connect with Fal'Herim?" Mindy asked, worriedly. "I mean… if the Desert King uses the road to send his armies here…"

"We'll set DD on them." Remian shrugged. "And his whole clan."

"That is, if they're still willing to work for us." Mindy muttered.

"What do you mean?" Remian asked. "Is there a problem?"

"Well… they're greedy. They keep wanting more and more food. But George has a bottom line as to how much he's willing to offer them. They're already pushing the limits. At this rate, they're going to reach a point where they're not willing to work for what he offers and he won't be willing to offer more."

"The boars are going to go on strike?" Remian frowned. "Are we offering too little?"

"No, I think we're offering too much. We're talking about kilograms of barbecued meat for a day's work. That's Tier 5 Burning Bull meat, worth thousands of Lir. George could hire a professional human construction team from Fal'Herim for that kind of money. But he's using it to hire the boars because they're our friends and allies."

"That's not necessary. Tell George he may as well sell the meat and hire humans. Any Wild can dig and pull, but not everyone can do mechanical work. We need humans more than boars. If they have friends who can work in basic industries like carpentry and pottery, so much the better. Only hire the boars if it's cheaper than human labor."

"They're not going to accept that." Mindy warned.

"If they want to be lazy pigs, that's entirely up to them." Remian shook his head. "We only really need them in battles. For regular labor, if they don't want to, we don't need them to work."

"And if they decide to quit following DD and turn against us?"

"Then we have pork for dinner."