Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 36

Joshua and Marvin, well past middle age, fell into heavy silence after broaching such a somber topic. Finally, Marvin sighed and urged, “Alright, our old bones can still hold up.

“Let’s give youngsters more time. When the moment comes, they’ll definitely do better than we did back in the day. Go on in, don’t keep Briar

waiting.”

Joshua nodded, waving Marvin off. “Go on, scram before our close contact draws attention.” With that, he shut the lab door,

Bored of waiting in Joshua’s office, Briar got up to check out the space. The room was simply furnished–just a desk and bookshelves lining

the wall.

Alongside traditional medicine texts, the shelves held countless specimens of rare herbs, some of which Briar had only seen in Tristan’s private vault.

But what truly caught her eye was an old picture frame nestled amongst the specimens. The photo showed five young men. The one in the center was clearly a younger Joshua.

A

To his left stood Marvin, whom she’d just met. To the right, she recognized Griffin in his youth. The man next to Griffin was unfamiliar to her.

But the real shock came from the long–haired, black–rimmed man on the far right–he was the spitting image of a young Tristan.

‘Whoa, she thought, ‘didn’t know Tristan was such a trendsetter back then.‘

photo frame. “Briar,” he chuckled, “bet you

smile. “Obviously you, Mr.

taste! For that alone, I’ll make sure you get

to be

and introduce you to your seniors. In our traditional medicine program, we don’t stick

behind, nodding along, his warm demeanor sparked a flicker of genuine anticipation for

thought, ‘Who would’ve thought I’d ever look forward to

With Dasmieca cracking down on traditional practices recently, most aspiring doctors opted for

universities had a brutal 8:2 male–female ratio, Shoneport’s ratio was

so, enrollment in Shoneport’s Traditional Medicine department rarely topped a

join his lab was rare.

students.

these eleven students, there are ten males and only one female. So

led in the pretty, doll–faced Briar, every guy in the lab stopped

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Chapter 36

in first year. She’s 18, but don’t let her age fool you–she can already see patients on

applaud enthusiastically. “Hey there, I’m James,

fourth year.”

Briar. I’m Karl, also a fourth–year in