—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Once I was sure Guinness was asleep, I laid out everything I had on the ground to assess our situation.
My pack mainly contained scouting tools and rations.
It was small to allow for easy movement, so it couldn’t hold much more than that.
Looking at the other items, I had my bow and arrows, a dagger, a longsword, and a leather water skin at my waist.
The rations were enough for about two days for one person.
If I rationed it carefully for Guinness, it might last for four days.
The real problem was the water.
“……”
I shook the leather water skin gently.
It felt about half-full.
It would be difficult to ration the water.
Guinness was sweating profusely from the high fever.
If she didn’t drink water with that much moisture loss, her condition would only worsen.
Just as I thought, I’d have to find a separate water source.
I’d have to ask the cave about it later.
“Alright, then…”
Now for the most important part.
I untied the sack I had around my waist and looked inside.
There were paralyzing agents for arrowheads, along with the first-aid supplies I always carried.
The bad news was that, being first-aid supplies meant for one person, the quantity wasn’t that large.
Let’s see…
There were some herbs with pain-relieving properties… ah, no need for wound ointments. The bandages could be used for splints.
As I slowly went through each of the herbs, I couldn’t help but scratch my head.
The two medicines I needed most right now were pain relievers and antipyretics.
Fortunately, I had a decent amount of the pain-relieving herbs I favored, but I didn’t have much that would help with fever.
“…Ah, this has some antipyretic properties.”
I set aside a few of the detoxification agents that also helped with fever, then put the rest of the medicines back into the sack.
Since they were mostly detoxification agents, they were very potent, so I couldn’t give them to her whenever I wanted to.
I had to save them for when her fever got really bad.
“Alright, then…”
After checking all the supplies, I reorganized them and stood up.
I thought I should look for a water source while Guinness was still asleep.
It was best to be by her side as much as possible when she was awake.
When people were in pain, they naturally looked for someone to rely on.
If she felt left alone, she would also become weaker mentally.
That’s why I decided to move only when she was sleeping.
I lit up the area with a light source that I usually used as a guide and set off to find water, taking the leather water skin with me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Knock knock
“Cave, is there a place nearby with standing water?”
I knocked on the cave wall and asked.
I felt a vibration from the wall, a negative feeling.
It seemed there was no place nearby with standing water.
That meant I would have to collect the dew dripping from above, little by little.
For now, I would have to give her the water in the leather skin while collecting dew.
“Oh, right. How’s Wagner doing? Are they headed towards where Ronchevich and Pichoni are?”
Uuung
“Good. We have to rescue them too.”
It had already been some time since the two had been separated from Wagner during the first search.
Even for skilled adventurers, being separated for this long would be dangerous.
While I looked for and rescued the two of them, I’d be able to watch over Guinness.
It shouldn’t take too long.
But… something felt different.
To be precise, the cave felt a little different.
The will and emotions I felt from it were definitely stronger.
Why would that be?
Uuung
It vibrated once more, but the simple signals of emotions weren’t enough for communication.
Why had it become stronger?
I tilted my head at the still-unanswered question and started making preparations to collect dew.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Whip! Whip!
Looking back on my childhood, I remembered mostly being beaten by that bastard, the ‘owner’.
His face was something I could never forget.
The man who’d whipped me relentlessly under the pretext of ‘education’.
He had given me a lot of training since I was little, and if I didn’t understand or failed to do as he had instructed, he would signal his servants to tie me up immediately.
With my shirt removed and both hands tied above my head, I’d be whipped until my back was flayed raw.
One thing that was bad about being a Dragonewt was that my natural healing was so fast that my back would quickly heal, no matter how much my skin was peeled.
Of course, the reason he always gave for ‘education’ was just nonsense.
In reality, it was just to break my spirit and force me to obey him.
Or it could’ve been just because of his perverted tendencies.
A five-pyeong underground cell.
I had spent almost 10 years there.
The only people I saw were private tutors that had come to teach me, or servants that delivered meals.
Aside from the bastard who was the ‘owner’, I couldn’t meet anyone.
It wasn’t just that I couldn’t meet people.
While locked up, I never saw the sunlight, or rather, I didn’t even know what it was.
The only way I could learn about those things were through books.
I received training.
If I was wrong, I’d be whipped.
The 10 years I spent in that five-pyeong cell could be summarized in those two sentences.
I sometimes recalled those memories.
They were an unforgettable part of my childhood.
But I never hated recalling them.
The more I remembered, the deeper my hatred for humanity grew, and the more I was reminded of what I needed to do.
Humans weren’t a trustworthy species, and I would leave the human world once I had enough money.
I’d get out of that filthy place and live peacefully alone.
That was the only goal I had in life.
Even though I had grown up with humans, lived among humans, and earned money from humans.
More than anything, I wanted to escape the human world.
I did dangerous work every day as I waited for that time to come.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“……”
Even after opening my eyes, I stared at the ceiling for a long time, dazed.
Maybe I was getting used to the pain, since it wasn’t as bad as it was before, but there was still a dull pain that lingered throughout my body.
After staring at the ceiling for a while, I noticed that it was slightly brighter.
It had definitely been pitch black a little while ago?
I looked around, moving only my eyes, and I could see a number of light sources around me.
“Are you awake?”
“……”
I turned my gaze towards the voice.
A young man with a black cloth over his eyes approached me, holding a leather water skin.
The young man, Iyerpol, who had greeted me with a friendly wave, knelt down by my head.
“You’ve been sweating a lot. Drink some water.”
“…I don’t want to.”
“I know you don’t want to, but you have to. You can’t stay dehydrated after sweating this much.”
Iyerpol raised my head slightly and put it on his lap.
He opened the leather water skin and held it to my lips.
But I kept my mouth tightly shut.
Iyerpol looked at me for a moment as I stared back at him with my lips sealed.
Soon after, he brought his index finger and thumb to my nose.
“Come on, if you don’t open your mouth, you won’t be able to breathe.”
“You bastard…!”
I cursed at Iyerpol, who was laughing while blocking my nose.
He was right, I had no choice but to open my mouth.
Taking the opportunity, Iyerpol quickly put the mouth of the water skin into my mouth.
Warm water flowed into my throat as Iyerpol squeezed the bottom of the water skin.
Even though I had said I didn’t want to, my mouth and throat were very dry.
Each time water flowed in, it softened my throat like water soaking parched earth.
After forcing me to drink water, Iyerpol rummaged through the sack he had at his waist and pulled out a small package of herbs.
“These are pain-relieving herbs. They won’t completely get rid of the pain, but they should make it a little easier.”
“I said… I didn’t want any…”
Even though my body was clearly in pain, I glared at Iyerpol with my teeth clenched.
Iyerpol could force me to drink water, but he couldn’t force me to eat the herbs.
I’d have to chew and swallow them myself.
All of this was for my own good.
Giving me water.
Giving me pain-relieving herbs.
But I was the one refusing that kindness.
Iyerpol stared at me quietly, even though I was struggling and glaring at him.
“Is it because you don’t want to receive kindness from a human?”
“……”
“Even in this situation? You could die if you don’t receive proper treatment.”
“It’s none of your business.”
I was extremely hostile, glaring back at him with widened eyes.
More so than usual.
I wasn’t relying on him despite the situation; it was more that I was being even more hostile because of the situation.
Rather than looking for someone to rely on when things were difficult, it was like I was pushing myself further away.
That was truly like Guinness.
“But you want to live, right?”
“Who…!”
“Before we fell, you reached out your hand to me because you wanted to live.”
“……!”
“Isn’t it because you wanted to live that you yelled out to me when I was looking for you?”
Even though I was being very hostile, Iyerpol’s voice was very gentle.
Iyerpol, who had my unmoving head in his lap, wiped the dust from my face with a handkerchief.
I was speechless at his question.
His touch while he wiped my face was very tender.
“…I don’t want to owe it to humans.”
“……”
“I can’t accept receiving kindness from a human.”
“So that’s why you agreed to Wagner’s request. Because you didn’t want to keep the favor you owed Wagner.”
“……”
I didn’t answer, but he was right.
I had been indebted to Wagner in a situation I couldn’t help, and I had joined this request because I didn’t want to keep that debt in my heart.
That way, I could ease the burden of owing kindness to a human.
Silence was agreement.
Iyerpol, who had been wiping my face carefully, put the handkerchief in his pocket once he had confirmed that I was somewhat clean.
“Then let’s just do this for now.”
“……?”
“Just like with Wagner, let’s say it was unavoidable, that you ended up being indebted to me. Instead, do me a favor.”
Guinness kept her lips sealed at Iyerpol, who smiled and raised his index finger.
Just as he had said, there was no way I could survive now without his help.
It was hard enough just to move a finger, let alone escape from here on my own.
“……Do as you want.”
That was the smallest form of resistance I could offer.
With that said, I closed my eyes completely.
Iyerpol just smiled down at me.
When Iyerpol held the herbs in his hand to my lips, I finally ate them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Bitch just eat thedamn leaves]
Iyerpol is a saint.