I Am Gret, Backed by a Big Shot, Nordmark

Chapter 32: I Am Gret, Nordmark, Who Has Big Shots Backing Me Up

The Roman Knight was agitated.

Agitated and terrified.

Last night, after the city guard boy was taken inside by the Necromancer, he discovered something was wrong with his hand. His right thumb couldn't straighten or bend normally.

It was bad enough that he couldn't straighten it, but the inability to bend it with force meant a devastating blow!

He couldn't grip his sword!

The Roman Knight clenched his right hand repeatedly, only to let go in despair each time. He had held onto a sliver of hope that after regaining his freedom this morning, Priest Donald would immediately heal him—

It was useless.

Completely useless.

Holy white light fell again and again. Blood surged, and warm power flowed from his arm to his wrist. When he clenched his fist, his right thumb still couldn't exert any force.

In his moment of greatest fear, the Roman Knight remembered the boy's words as he was about to pour the healing potion:

"You can't treat this wound like this... just treating the outside isn't enough, you have to fix the inside first..."

Why did he say that? What did he know? Did he... did he do it on purpose?

It was all that *******'s fault!

It was him!

The Roman Knight roared in a low voice. He turned to the novice Knight standing by, his eyes already red as if about to bleed:

"Have you brought the person here yet!"

"N-no, I don't know..."

"Then go look!"

The novice Knight scrambled out.

How many times had he been sent out since the Temple dispatched people? How many times had he run? He was just a soldier, could the Temple not capture someone! They kept sending him out to check, his legs were getting thinner—

The young novice Knight skirted the edge and peeked out from the side door. No one. Halfway back, a familiar guard saw him running, sweating profusely, and grabbed him:

"Still asking about that? -- He's coming through the front gate!"

"Huh?"

The novice Knight was stunned.

When the Temple captured people, especially commoners without connections, they never came through the front gate. They'd be dragged in through a side door, thrown into the dungeon, and whether they'd see daylight again depended on how quickly their family ransomed them, or when some important official remembered them.

But this time, Gret was accompanied by the Captain of the City Guard and the Bishop of the Temple of the God of War. Should these two go through the side door?

The Temple envoy indicated that he hadn't lived long enough and didn't want to court death like that...

Besides, it wasn't his place to decide. The bald Bishop strode forward, leading the way, with Knight Nolan following without hesitation. Gret leisurely walked behind the two, feeling like the fox borrowing the tiger's might.

Pah, more like a resident doctor following the chief physician on rounds!

The Temple of the Spring Goddess was not large. Compared to the Temple of the God of War, and the now-empty Church of the Lord of Radiance, it was merely a small establishment. It was early summer, and vines climbed the temple's outer walls, shrouding it in a sea of emerald green, making it appear even more exquisite and serene.

In front of the temple's main entrance, on a small plaza, stood a pure white stone sculpture: a graceful woman holding a stone bottle with both hands, standing elegantly in a spring, with clear water constantly pouring from the bottle's mouth. A white stone pool surrounded the sculpture, and commoners constantly came to worship the statue, then scooped a bowl of water from the pool to carefully carry back.

...Is this an artificial fountain?

What was driving it? A water tower, a pump, or a magic array?

It couldn't possibly be Divine Grace, could it?

Gret observed with curiosity. Even if it were a water tower and pump, it was quite good; at least it could provide an unlimited water supply. He just wondered if the water had been coagulated, filtered, settled, and disinfected after filtration... Tsk, they probably didn't have bleach, maybe shining it with holy light would work?

After all, in this godforsaken place, even the streets were dusty in the sun and muddy in the rain. There were no sewers, and the quality of daily drinking water was highly questionable. If an epidemic of cholera or something broke out...

Mass deaths would happen in minutes.

--As a former emergency surgeon, just thinking about it made Gret feel like his emergency internal medicine colleagues would go crazy.

His rambling thoughts stopped there. Two rows of guards rushed out from the temple entrance, parted to the sides, and stood in formation. Immediately after, the priests of the Spring Goddess emerged in an orderly fashion.

Gret's eyes lit up. The leader wore a silver crown and a light blue silk robe. Two narcissus flowers embroidered with silver thread on his belt indicated his status as a Level 7 Priest. He wore a pair of round-rimmed glasses on his nose, which gleamed in the firelight—glasses! Glasses!

The craftsmanship of this era could already produce glasses!

With glasses, there were lenses, and with lenses, there was a foundation for medical observation!

Microscopes, here I come!

E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotics, here I come!

He stared at them, but no one stared back at him. The High Priest of the Spring Goddess hurried down the steps, took two quick paces, and stopped calmly. He raised his hands in a prayer gesture and smiled at the Bishop of the God of War, who was ten paces away:

"May the Spring Goddess bless you."

The welcoming, descending the steps, stopping, and bowing—a series of actions flowed smoothly, both warm and elegant. This process had clearly been refined through countless trials, with no flaws in any detail. In Gret's eyes, it was exactly like how their dean greeted visiting superiors...

"May the God of War bless you."

The bald Bishop returned the smile.

The two clergy members finished their greetings. The Priest's gaze shifted to the Knight Nolan beside him. Gret clearly saw the Priest's eyes sweep over him, then glance at the Temple envoys and two guards who had come to apprehend him. Yet, the Priest acted as if he knew nothing, smiling and bowing ceremoniously again:

"May the Spring Goddess bless you."

"Thanks to the Goddess's grace!"

In front, to the left, and behind, the Warriors responded in unison.

Gret lowered his head along with them, clasping his hands and murmuring a reply. He pretended to be just an ordinary soldier, completely unremarkable.

However, he failed. Half the people in the group were God of War Priests, all wearing robes;

From Captain Nolan downwards, the Knights, though not wearing robes, had armor and clothing of a quality far beyond Gret's league;

Even the Temple guards of the Spring Goddess, when coming to apprehend someone, would at least wear decent uniforms to maintain appearances outside...

At a glance, his attire—a rough linen vest and knee-length shorts—was the most out of place.

Not only that, but after entering the Temple, Captain Nolan pulled him over and pushed him in front of the High Priest:

"This child is a recruit in our City Guard. He recently awakened Healing Spell, and I have high hopes for him. I heard your Temple summoned him for a few questions, so I've accompanied him to listen in. You don't mind, do you?"

Gret: ...I'm not a child!

My ranking has dropped to 25th on the new light novel chart. Yesterday's recommendation votes were only 98, falling below 100 for the first time...

Do you all not love me anymore, sob sob...

Please collect, recommend, invest, and leave reviews... Lately, the feedback has been dwindling, it feels like I'm playing a single-player game