Seeing the way they talked, Klaus could see the strong friendship between them. He approached the bed, seeing Michael's condition firsthand. The man looked emaciated, and the black streaks of the poison running through his veins were visible on the surface.
He touched Michael's arm with his forefinger. Opening his eyes wide, Klaus felt the life force from him almost disappear.
"Laplace, do you think this is the poison of the wendigo?" Klaus muttered.
<I cannot be sure, my liege. But if you look at the poison spreading in his body, it seems to be an artificial poison.>
"Exactly. I've never heard of a wendigo having poison before. All my men should have experienced the same thing if Michael had been poisoned. It looks like someone is intentionally harming him."
<I think so, my liege. He doesn't have much time left. It will be at least two days before he dies.>
Klaus turned to Akio and Olivia. Those two had a hopeful look in their eyes.
"I hate to break it to you, but in his current condition, your friend cannot be helped even if I pay for the hospital treatment."
Olivia gasped as she heard Klaus' words. But the person who reacted the most was Akio. The man was angry, his face red as if blood was gathering on his face.
"How did you know that? Don't tell me you intend to cancel our agreement!"
"I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows this fact. The doctor will also say the same thing."
Akio ground his teeth. The words that came out of Klaus' mouth were true. Nevertheless, the man still hoped to save his best friend. "So what, we're just going to let us die? Do I have to buy [Elixir] to save him?"
"If you have 200 million dollars, go ahead. I don't even have that much money."
Instantly, Akio went limp, and his face turned pale. Olivia could only hold his shoulder to comfort him. It wasn't just those two who were sad; Justin and Sylvia also felt the same way. Although they had only known each other for a few days, they had fought death together.
However, Klaus wasn't done yet.
"You grieve too soon. I'm just saying that the poison extraction treatment can't save him, but there are other ways."
Instantly, they were stirred from their sadness. Their eyes sparkled with hope again.
"Tell me! How are we going to save him?" asked Akio enthusiastically.
Klaus snapped his fingers. "By rewinding time."
Everyone in the room opened their eyes wide and looked at Sylvia simultaneously. The red-haired woman was surprised as she pointed at herself.
"Ugh, Klaus. I've never rewound time on a living being other than to return them to their previous position. I'm not sure I can." Sylvia panicked.
"Come on, don't say that. I saw how you used your talent when you defeated those Wendigos. You can definitely do it!" Akio gave Sylvia a push.
"That's right. Your power is amazing. You have to believe in yourself." Olivia also motivated Sylvia to try to help Michael.
However, the red-haired woman was still hesitant. Klaus finally intervened.
"It's the same time as you recovering the pendant. You don't need to worry."
Sylvia bit her lip. "But that was an inanimate object, while he is a human. It's different, Klaus."
Seeing the doubt in her eyes, Klaus held her shoulders, looking deeply into her. Sylvia was slightly surprised but felt tenderness from how Klaus looked at her.
"Believe in yourself, Sylvia. You are blessed with extraordinary talents. You must use it." Klaus said gently.
"What if I fail?"
"You won't. You are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met."
Those two stared at each other for a moment. The longer Sylvia looked into his eyes, her chest, which was initially filled with doubts, vanished and was replaced by courage. Her confidence increased dramatically.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot," said Sylvia.
Klaus smiled with satisfaction, and the people around him breathed a sigh of relief.
Sylvia walked over to the side of the bed and touched Michael on the chest. As she closed her eyes, green light emanated from his body, filling the entire room with a magical aura.
Not long after, the walls and floor undulated, her power distorting the space inside the hospital room. Everything was affected, not least the humans inside. Akio gritted his teeth as his head felt dizzy, while Olivia experienced nausea. Justin lost his balance and fell to his knees on the floor.
Only Klaus seemed to be okay. He kept his eyes on Sylvia even as time and space became chaotic.
Meanwhile, the black streaks on Michael's body slowly disappeared, and his skin regained color. Sylvia kept recovering his condition as it was when he had not been poisoned.
Not long after, the room stopped distorting. Sylvia restored Michael's condition to normal but ran out of mana. She fell, and Klaus quickly caught her before she hit the floor.
"Good job," Klaus praised.
The red-haired woman smiled weakly as her face broke out in a cold sweat. Then, she fainted.
At the same time, the patient who had lost consciousness opened his eyes.
"Mike!" Akio exclaimed spontaneously and ran over to his best friend. Olivia followed suit.
"Uggg, where am I? Wendigo..." Michael rambled, still semi-conscious.
Olivia and Akio laughed. "Don't worry, we're in the hospital now. We managed to conquer the dungeon."
Then, an atmosphere of joy enveloped them. The sound of laughter and happiness filled the room.
Carrying the unconscious Sylvia, Klaus stood in the corner of the room with Justin, watching those happy that their friend had been saved.
"Amazing and full of surprises as always, Klaus." Justin covered his mouth and whispered, "You planned this, right? You could have helped them without tying them to a contract."
Klaus chuckled.
"I knew it!" Justin punched the air.
Since the beginning, Klaus had no intention of spending 400,000 per week to help Michael and an extra 5 million to recruit two undisciplined A-Class. It was only costing him money.
Instead of accepting their deal, Klaus pushed the two to their limits. He pulled the strings on this situation using Sylvia's talent, [Time Rewind].
Now, he had two low-paid A-Class crew members. One was willing to be paid the equivalent of a B-Class, and the other was paid the equivalent of a janitor's salary.
It was a profitable deal.
Justin whispered, "Olivia and Akio have joined our guild. Looks like that burly guy is coming, too. We'll have three A-Class people. This is awesome."
"Don't speculate. We don't know what will happen in the future," Klaus replied.
"Gezz, Michael is definitely joining us. You see the relationship between the three of them. They're an inseparable package."
Klaus chuckled.
"Anyway, what comes after this?" asked Justin.
"Nothing. Just focus on the guild. But I'll be busy for the next couple of months."
Justin raised his eyebrows.
With the addition of Olivia and Akio to Rays of Hope, his guild grew stronger. Now, Klaus could relax and devote his focus to the Golden Hammer Expo.
