Gray Dwarves

Dragon Tooth Village.

A room adorned with greenery.

People with anxious expressions crowded around the outside of the room.

An old woman's voice came from inside:

"Slowly, slowly."

"Don't let her blood flow too fast. Who knows whether the arrows were coated with neurotoxins."

She was an old woman with over a hundred tiny braids woven across her head.

Roger noticed that the end of every braid was decorated with a different kind of leaf.

Under her direction,

several young people clumsily placed the wounded woman on a wooden bed.

"Hold her here. I need to treat the wound first... Damn it, that's not how you do it!"

"Can't we get someone with more capable hands?"

When she saw one of the young people pressing the wound so hard that blood splattered everywhere, the old woman trembled with anger.

"Let me do it."

A gentle voice rang out from the crowd.

Roger took the opportunity to push aside the bewildered young man whose face was covered in blood. Then he picked up a roll of bandages and quickly gave the wounded woman's injuries some preliminary treatment.

"You look unfamiliar, young man. How come I've never seen you in the village?"

The old woman's expression softened slightly.

"I'm a traveler. I've been waiting outside the village these past few days for news from Master Rachel."

Roger answered honestly.

"Oh, you're the outsider who single-handedly wiped out that Jackal Beast settlement."

The old woman staggered over with an armful of foul-smelling jars. "Do you know medicine?"

Roger shook his head.

"I only know a little about herbs."

The old woman nodded. "That's still better than these useless fools."

"Hold down the wound for me. I'll remove the arrowheads first."

"All of you, get out!"

"This isn't a place for you to watch the excitement!"

The others exchanged glances and could only file out of the herb-scented room one after another.

Before long,

with Roger's help, the old woman successfully removed all the arrowheads from Rachel's body.

The process caused Rachel to lose quite a bit more blood.

She was currently unconscious.

The one piece of good news was that the four arrowheads embedded in her body were in her shoulder, waist, hip, and arm respectively. None had struck a vital area.

The arrowheads themselves had not been poisoned, either.

After obtaining the old woman's consent, Roger applied several doses of Basic Hemostatic Ointment to Rachel.

Based on Roger's limited experience, this stuff was astonishingly effective on arrow wounds.

Since he needed a favor from them, he had to do something in return.

After treating the wounds, he also chatted with the old woman for a while.

Only when the old woman began yawning from exhaustion did he take his leave.

Because of this little incident, Roger temporarily abandoned his hunt for the Lei Ze Whale.

He wandered around Dragon Tooth Village for a while and discovered that the atmosphere had changed.

Rachel's ambush had thrown everyone into a panic.

The tranquil, peaceful air that had once filled Dragon Tooth Village was gradually being replaced by anxiety and unrest.

That sort of emotion could not infect Roger.

He simply instinctively hated risks and trouble.

"Judging from Rachel's condition, even if she wakes up, she probably won't be able to ride the Flying Dragon Beast for some time."

"I wonder whether there's another way to cross the southern part of the swamp."

Bored, Roger rested his hands behind his head and began considering his next move.

After several days of exploring Yellowstone Island, he had already gathered enough information.

The southern part of the Great Wetland was the most dangerous area! Lakes and swamps crisscrossed it, with hidden currents and monsters lying in wait. It was a true forbidden land for outsiders.

Entering rashly meant certain death.

At present, the only known way to cross that region relatively safely was Rachel's Flying Dragon Beast.

That was what worried Roger the most.

Even Rachel, who had been protected by a Flying Dragon Beast, had suffered such serious injuries.

The ones who had attacked her were probably a fully organized army!

"Eric said Dragon Tooth Village had been peaceful for more than a decade. Don't tell me a war's going to start just because I arrived?"

"No way, right? No way?"

The more Roger thought about it, the more miserable he felt.

At sunset,

Cindy found Roger and brought him the good news that Rachel had regained consciousness.

Roger hurried after her to the medical hut.

Inside the room,

the old woman was nowhere to be seen.

Rachel, lying on the sickbed, had clearly regained some color.

Her recovery ability secretly amazed Roger.

Back when she had been unconscious, he had already inspected her.

The short girl before him was truly a Wetland Druid, not a Beast Tamer.

It was an uncommon profession, and no one else in the village had it.

That meant she had probably experienced some extraordinary encounter.

"Angelina told me that you saved me."

The girl on the sickbed spoke seriously.

Like her stature, Rachel's face was also very small.

Perhaps because she had lived in seclusion for so long, her delicate features were arranged together in a way that gave her face an oddly expressionless look.

Roger gently shook his head. "I only did a few insignificant things."

"This ointment works very well. I can feel its effects. Thank you."

Even while expressing her thanks, her stiff little face remained unchanged.

If he had not been certain that his hearing was fine,

Roger felt that even if her line had been changed to "When are you going to pay back the money you owe me?" it would not have sounded out of place at all.

As expected of a Beast Tamer who lived in seclusion.

Roger knew that all he needed to do at a time like this was keep smiling.

"I heard you're heading south?"

Rachel asked.

"Yes."

Roger nodded.

"I can't ride a Flying Dragon right now, but Misha knows the way. She's the leader of the Flying Dragon Beasts. I'll have her take you to Paramount Manor. Then you only need to prepare a little food for her, and she'll fly back on her own."

Rachel spoke very smoothly.

Roger could not help but freeze.

That simple? I thought Rachel's request would be more troublesome...

Roger's eyelid twitched. He realized that Cindy had deceived him after all.

Every sentence that woman had spoken was true, yet she had deliberately hidden this one lie among them.

Sure enough, the Dragonkin Priest beside the bed could not help complaining:

"Couldn't you lie for once?"

Rachel still wore the same stiff expression, but her tone was clearly timid. "I can't deceive people."

"My Flying Dragon Express has always been free."

"And he helped me, too."

Cindy helplessly glared at Rachel.

The two of them seemed to have a good relationship. Rarely, an embarrassed expression actually appeared on Rachel's face.

Roger felt that something was off about the atmosphere.

He hurriedly said, "Thank you very much."

"If there's anything I can help with, I definitely will..."

Cindy cut in, "Help kill Hanfulan!"

Roger coughed. "Next time, definitely."

The Dragonkin Priest flew into another furious tirade, her chest heaving repeatedly, creating a stunning sight.

"By the way, what happened to your injury?"

Having booked someone's leader dragon, Roger felt he ought to show some concern about how Rachel had been injured.

"It was the Gray Dwarves."

Rachel said, "Hanfulan joined forces with the Swamp Gray Dwarves. These are the Gray Dwarves' crossbow bolts. Hanfulan's men used them to attack me and my Flying Dragon Beast."

"I saw the route they were marching along. They're already very close to Yellowstone Island."

"They're coming for Dragon Tooth Village."

"It's wise for you to leave now. Soon, this place will become a new battlefield."

"How about this? Tomorrow I'll... Forget it. Help me up. I'm going to find Misha now and have her take you away."

Rachel struggled to stand.