Inexplicably Rescued

The priest of the Church of Light unleashed a seventh-level spell directly, sending two fire dragons spiraling toward the charging warriors.

The mages of the Divine Beast Sect naturally could not watch their comrades be attacked, so they immediately cast a seventh-level spell, Wall of Ice.

Taking advantage of the moment the wall provided cover, a youth from the Divine Beast Sect leaped onto the ship. He charged straight toward the priest, but the priest's contracted beast, a Saber-toothed Tiger, blocked the youth's path.

"Go and retrieve the target."

After the leader of the Divine Beast Sect gave the order, several youths bypassed the front line of battle and rushed directly into the interior of the ship!

Matthews felt that something was wrong the moment the ship began to sway. It seemed someone had come to rescue the mage opposite him. Having arrived in this world only recently and possessing no background, it appeared his escape would depend on this youth who was imprisoned alongside him.

"Save—me."

When Matthews spoke these words, the imprisoned mage looked at him, confused by his strange and stuttering speech, yet assumed his friends had come to rescue him. He replied to Matthews, "Ah—alright."

A young warrior charged directly toward the cage holding Matthews and severed the bars and chains with a few slashes of his blade.

"Ah, aren't you here to save me?"

Seeing the warrior enter, the young mage was stunned. Watching them take Matthews away, it was now the mage's turn to cry for help: "Take me with you!"

The young warrior from the Divine Beast Sect saw this and casually slashed through the Magic-suppressing Stone shackling the mage.

"Hahaha, thanks."

Matthews had already experienced betrayal and being sold at auction. Now, he trusted no one. The moment he was free, he began observing his surroundings to prepare for his escape.

The youth who had rescued Matthews said with a cold expression, "Follow if you don't want to die."

"Boom—"

Another explosion rang out; the ship could not withstand the battle between the seventh-level warriors and mages for even a moment longer and began to break apart.

Seeing this, Matthews jumped directly into the river and swam downstream.

The Church of Light had not brought many men, and before long, they were wiped out by the members of the Divine Beast Sect.

"Where is the target?"

"My lord, the target fell into the river when the ship broke apart."

"Hmm? Go find him, quickly."

Although the young leader of the Divine Beast Sect had killed a seventh-level priest of the Church of Light, the body that could allow a ninth-level angel of the Church of Light to descend was the top priority.

While the others began searching along the riverbank for Matthews, the rescued mage walked up to the young leader of the Divine Beast Sect and said, "Thank you all for saving my life. My name is Zorn."

The leader of the Divine Beast Sect knew that this youth was a sixth-level mage, which counted as talent, so he said, "You have offended the Church of Light now. How about joining me?"

Zorn pondered for a moment before agreeing. The search continued for about half an hour.

"My lord, we still haven't found him."

"Withdraw. This is still territory controlled by the Church of Light, after all."

They had engaged in battle with the Church of Light here, and although it was a remote river channel, staying too long carried the risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Matthews was drifting downstream with the current.

"Heh heh heh, it's a good thing I learned to swim from my buddy last year."

Having only learned to swim a year ago, Matthews was not yet the kind of expert who could frolic freely in rivers and seas; drifting with the current for half an hour was already his limit.

"Half an hour should be safe enough; they probably can't catch up. This looks like a place where river tributaries converge; I need to get to the shore quickly."

Just as Matthews was thinking about reaching the shore, a flash flood surged out from a tributary, carrying with it a large amount of timber and dead trees.

"Hey—"

Matthews was not a strong swimmer, and with the interference of the tree branches, he immediately choked on a few mouthfuls of water and lost consciousness.

A day later, a seven-year-old girl in rags came to the riverbank to collect firewood. She discovered a person caught on some dead branches by the water, and upon approaching, she found Matthews in a coma.

Her own life was very difficult, and she hesitated over whether to save this injured big brother.

In the end, she dragged Matthews back to her small tent on the river cliff and tore a strip from her tattered dress to bandage the wounds Matthews had sustained during the earlier battle.

The morning sun filtered through the gaps in the small trees between the cliffs, shining into the makeshift shelter built of branches.

"Ugh—"

A sound of stretching came from inside.

Matthews shifted his waist, which was aching from the stones beneath him, and immediately realized something was wrong. He had been knocked unconscious in the river; how could he feel the stones beneath him now?

Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on a pile of hay in a crude, thatched hut.

He touched his injured areas and discovered that someone had already bandaged them for him.

Just as Matthews sat up, he saw a little girl in rags run over happily, speaking a string of words to him.

"Big brother, you're awake."

"I saved you from the river yesterday. I am your savior, so you aren't allowed to bully Mia later."

Matthews had only spent a short time with the mercenary group that betrayed him, from whom he had learned a limited number of words in this world. He could only understand a small portion of what she said, but seeing that the little girl appeared to pose no threat, he said, "Thanks."

The little girl understood the strangely accented "thanks" from Matthews and immediately became happy.

"Big brother, your head is hurt. I used my dress to bandage it for you; this is the first time Mia has ever bandaged a wound for someone. Mia is very capable."

Matthews saw this chattering little girl but ignored her. Instead, he went to the riverside, intending to clean his face, which felt uncomfortable from being soaked.

He saw in the reflection of the river that the wound on his head had been bandaged by the little girl into a cute bow.

"Pfft—"

Matthews was immediately amused by this bow; who bandages a wound by tying a bow?

This kind of cute bow is something only a kind-hearted little girl would subconsciously tie, yet the one who saved him was just a ragged, dirty little girl.

Sigh, it seems she is also a pitiful little girl.

"Big brother, you look really good when you smile."

Seeing Matthews smile, the little girl handed over the small fish she had caught today.

"Big brother, I'll treat you to fish."

Matthews asked, "You eat it."

The little girl didn't understand what Matthews was saying and thought this big brother didn't know how to eat the fish. She directly picked up the fish, took a raw bite, and handed it back to Matthews.

"Big brother, eat it like this."