Saving the Freckled Boy

The freckled boy struggled to fend them off several times, but the goblins before him only grew more excited.

Looking at the two surviving goblins, he felt that things had gone terribly wrong. He wanted to find a chance to flee, but the goblins had blocked his path.

A day of searching had severely drained his stamina. If he wanted to escape, he had to deal with one goblin first.

Green skin, small bodies, pointed ears, clawed limbs, and sharp laughter that never ceased—it was as if they were mocking the boy's weakness.

Bad intelligence was fatal. The boy had not prepared enough, nor had he brought teammates with him. He had thought he could claim this reward on his own.

Gripping his sword tightly, he charged at the goblin again and slashed with all his strength. The blade struck the goblin's neck, but got stuck.

The other goblin swung its blade at him. His sword was knocked away, and since he could not pull it free in time, he chose to abandon it.

In the midst of the danger, he stumbled and fell to the ground. A goblin's blade slashed across his right arm. He hurriedly crawled forward, unwilling to die here. "Help! Someone save me! I don't want to die!"

Just then, a dagger flew in from afar and struck the goblin squarely in the back. The goblin hurriedly fled into the forest.

The boy, who had closed his eyes to await death, slowly opened them. He recognized the child before him—the newcomer who had accepted the slime quest that morning.

The boy showed no intention of helping him up and merely looked at him quietly. "What? I thought you would at least be a beautiful maiden. Looks like my luck isn't that good."

"Hey, I threw away a dagger to save you. What are you going to do about it?" Mel Carlo finally focused his gaze on him. There was a slash on his right arm. If the bleeding was not stopped in time, he could easily die.

[YunX Baiyao], [Bandage]. No matter what, stop the bleeding first.

Ever since he had used medicine that did not belong to this world on Kate, Mel no longer had to constantly consider whether he should take out and use such medicine. After all, using those things always carried the risk of exposure.

The freckled boy stared blankly at Mel, a wave of shame rising in his heart. He had mocked this child that morning, yet now Mel had saved his life.

After the bleeding stopped, the freckled boy endured the pain and cut off the goblin's left ear. It was proof needed to collect the reward.

The two of them returned to the road back together.

If Mel had not heard the cry for help and decided to lend a hand, this freckled boy would probably already be dead.

"Thank you, thank you so much. My name is Ravi. May I ask your name? I'll repay you for the medicine and dagger later."

"My name is Mel. I don't feel like talking much right now. I'm soaked all over and want to go back for a hot bath. If you really want to help me, can you lend me a set of clothes?" Mel was naturally not going to be so polite. He was in a terrible mood; today's losses had far exceeded the reward.

He had no money now, and this was his only set of clothes. If he had not washed himself often, he probably would have started to stink long ago. That month spent traveling had been the hardest to endure.

"Alright. I have some clothes, though they're ones I used to wear. I hope you don't mind." Seeing Mel act so coldly, Ravi actually felt more at ease. Mel had not explicitly refused him and had even made a request.

That sort of request was no big deal to him.

"Um, Mel, where are you staying?"

"At the inn on Adventurer Street."

"Once I get back, I'll bring the clothes over right away."

"Fine." Mel continued quickening his pace.

When he heard the cry for help, he had thought it would turn into some miraculous encounter with a beautiful maiden. Instead, it was a boy covered in freckles.

That was a serious loss. The only consolation was that he had saved another life in this other world.

By sunset, the two returned to Oak City, and Mel immediately went back to the inn.

The innkeeper greeted Mel enthusiastically. "Great Adventurer, how was your first day of adventuring?"

"I finished the slime quest, but I'm soaked to the bone. It was absolutely awful."

"Then take a hot bath first and wash away the day's fatigue. There's still hot water in the inn."

"Thanks." Mel headed toward the inn's bathhouse.

The inn's bathhouse was a modest private room with a wooden bathtub large enough to lie down in. But could they really recoup the cost of heating so much water?

Then again, perhaps people in this other world did not love bathing as much as he did. At the very least, this country did not regard water as evil.

After adding hot water, Mel stripped and climbed directly into the bath. In an instant, the exhaustion of the day was eased. Lying in the tub, he could practically float on his back.

The distance had been somewhat far at the time, so he had acted immediately. The dagger had hit the goblin in the back, yet he still had not managed to kill it. Even with the passive bonus from [Dagger Attack], his strength was simply too low.

A seven-year-old's body could hardly have much strength. It was like a game account: the base attribute panel was too weak. Even if a skill provided an extremely powerful boost, it could not add much if the base attributes could not be raised.

Did attribute points even exist? He would have to see after leveling up. If he could not level up at all, this system really would not be very useful.

ID: Mel Carlo

Level: LV1

"Why does it feel like my mana bar has gotten a little longer? Is that just my imagination?"

He closed the system menu, shut his eyes again, and enjoyed this brief moment of peace.

When the water temperature began to drop slightly, he stood up and looked at the clothes beside him. They were all soaked through and could not be worn at all.

Ravi had also brought the clothes as promised. The innkeeper studied him with some confusion. She remembered every guest, and this person seemed to be an adventurer, though he likely had a place in the city and had never stayed at the inn.

"Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Mel. Is he staying here? I brought him some clothes."

"Oh, he's taking a bath. Go on in and find him." The innkeeper glanced at the freckled boy's bandaged arm, where blood was still seeping through.

No wonder that Mel boy had said today was awful. It seemed quite a lot had happened. Slimes could not inflict wounds like that.

Ravi quickly arrived outside the bathroom and knocked lightly on the door. "Mel, I brought the clothes."

"Thanks. Just bring them in. I've been waiting."

The clothes were delivered into the bathroom, and Ravi stepped outside to wait. He cared greatly about appearances, but when facing Mel, he always felt as though he had been drawn into a state of "sincerity." Mel's "sincerity" was influencing him.

Because Mel did not care much about whatever he said, Ravi did not deliberately say those arrogant things as he usually did.

After changing into the clothes, Mel immediately walked out. He glanced at Ravi's injured arm. It seemed to have stopped bleeding. The medicine's hemostatic effect was excellent, but did this world not have game-like health and mana potions?