Aftereffects 1

After toying with the emerald ring for a while, Anglie carefully put it away again, hiding it beneath the clothes over his chest.

The rumbling of carriage wheels kept drifting in through the window. The carriage swayed rhythmically along with the sound.

The Baron sat opposite him, holding a black wineskin and taking a cherished sip from it now and then. "Good thing we came across a small river a few days ago, and everyone got to wash themselves and their clothes. Otherwise, the whole convoy would probably stink to high heaven by now," he said with a smile.

Anglie smiled as well. "But our drinking water is limited. Being able to bathe once every ten-odd days is already pretty good. Now whenever anyone gets close to someone else, they can smell the sweat on them."

The Baron was somewhat helpless. "There's nothing to be done about it. According to the map, this route has the shortest distance between water sources."

Anglie looked at the faint wrinkles on his father's face. That once proud and forceful expression was increasingly tinged with weariness. His serious injuries and their aftereffects had begun to slowly shake even his formerly powerful will. Perhaps the betrayal of friends and brothers was part of it as well.

Anglie sighed inwardly. He knew how great a blow Knight Audis's betrayal had dealt his father. But only time could slowly wash such things away.

"Then, Father, I'll go to the carriage in the back first," Anglie said softly.

The Baron nodded. "Go. Just don't do anything strenuous. Do whatever else you like."

Anglie nodded, looking at the Baron's somewhat aged face. He sighed inwardly, bent down, pulled open the carriage curtain, and jumped straight down.

The instant the curtain fell, the Baron's flaxen hair seemed far dimmer beneath the sunlight. He stared blankly out the window into the distance, as though recalling something.

A faint ache rose in Anglie's heart. He did not look any longer and strode quickly toward the second carriage.

"Good day, Young Master Anglie."

"Young Master Anglie is getting down?"

The soldiers marching alongside the carriage warmly greeted Anglie. Compared to those Apprentice Knights, these soldiers were the ones he found more dependable.

Anglie smiled and nodded, then leaped directly onto the second carriage.

Driving it was Maggie's mother, Lady Jielin. This middle-aged woman in her forties no longer possessed the charm of youth; wrinkles had long since crept across her skin. She looked like nothing more than an ordinary middle-aged woman. Seeing Anglie climb aboard, Lady Jielin smiled respectfully. "Young Master Anglie, you're here."

"Mhm. Are Maggie and the others ready?" Anglie asked as he pulled aside the curtain.

"They said they're more or less ready," Lady Jielin hurriedly answered.

"Good." Anglie nodded and entered the carriage.

The carriage was very large, roughly the size of a large RV from Earth in his previous life. Inside was practically the size of a large bedroom. Maggie, Cilier, and several others—nine people in all—along with Lady Jielin, who drove the carriage, made ten people. One carriage held them all, and it was only slightly crowded.

Anglie had been surprised at first. But when he later saw that the horses pulling the carriage were fully twice the size of horses on Earth, he accepted it. In this world, it was not only humans whose physical qualities were strong; animals were exceptionally robust as well.

Inside the carriage, Maggie and Cilier were leaning in a corner, carefully sorting through a mess of flowers, grasses, insects, fruits, and the like. Plants and insects in every color—red, green, yellow, blue, and more—were piled in the corner, taking up an entire section of the carriage.

Everyone else was scattered in the other corners. Anglie swept his gaze over the carriage.

Aside from Maggie and Cilier, there were Maggie's father and Cilier's mother. The other three youths were the Baron's two sons and one daughter, gathered together and teasing several tiny ants. Another person was Henry, the apothecary, his face full of exhaustion as he leaned against the carriage with his eyes closed, asleep. Little Cecilia was curled up alone in a corner, covered by a thin blanket and sleeping soundly.

Those three siblings of Anglie's from different mothers hurriedly lowered their heads respectfully when they saw him board. What had happened over the past few days had made them thoroughly recognize Anglie's status and strength.

"Brother Anglie." Cilier and Maggie put down the purple grass root in their hands and came over to greet him quietly.

"How is it going?" Anglie glanced at the miscellaneous flowers, grasses, and other things in the corner.

"Following your instructions, we gathered several hundred more different kinds of plants and insects over these past few days. Apart from some that were extremely poisonous and weren't collected, everything else is here," Maggie rushed to answer. She even shot Cilier a provocative look.

"You've really worked hard." Anglie did not mind. He pulled Maggie into his arms and gave her firm, shapely butt a casual squeeze. Then he lightly kissed Cilier on the lips. "All right, get some good rest." He took a cloth bag filled with plants and insects from the corner, jumped down from the carriage again, walked a few steps, and climbed onto the last carriage.

This carriage was driven by Captain Mark. It carried no passengers, only supplies, clothing, food, drinking water, and other miscellaneous items.

"Has Father come by these past few days? Together with Lady Katyusha," Anglie asked casually.

Mark shook his head. "The Baron has seemed very depressed recently. Young Master, you should try to talk him through it when you have time."

Anglie nodded. Lady Katyusha was Cilier's mother, a bewitching and wise woman. In the past, the Baron might not necessarily have favored her, since there had been no shortage of beautiful women in the castle. But this time, when he asked who would remain behind, among all the Baron's women, only Lady Katyusha had chosen to stay. That made the Baron shower her with affection instead. For a period after they set out, he had even been quite interested in coming to the third carriage with Katyusha every day. But ever since Anglie had been injured last time, the Baron had rarely come with her.

"Father's condition really hasn't been very good lately. Don't worry, he'll get better after some time," Anglie said helplessly.

"Ah..." Mark sighed and said no more.

Anglie lifted the carriage curtain and entered. Aside from the vast pile of heavy miscellaneous goods, there was still enough space left inside for a bed's worth of movement.

Anglie leaned against a wooden crate and sat down on the spot. He set down the bag in his hand, opened it, pulled out a small piece of purplish-red leaf, and put it into his mouth to chew lightly.

As he chewed the purplish-red leaf, Anglie's face tightened into a frown. Its taste was clearly not very good. A moment later, disappointment flashed across his face. He took out a prepared scrap of cloth and spat out the leaf residue in his mouth. His hand went into the bag again, pulling out a plump green caterpillar. It resembled a caterpillar from Earth, except it had two heads growing from its body like tree branches. Held in Anglie's hand, both of the caterpillar's heads kept twisting. Layer after layer of wrinkles formed across its skin, making it look thoroughly disgusting.

Anglie's expression was not much better. He squeezed hard, instantly crushing the Bug. Greenish-blue body fluid slowly ran down his hand. He extended his other hand, dipped his index finger into some of the fluid, and put it into his mouth.

"Ugh!" His brows knitted tightly. A moment later, disappointment flashed through his eyes. Anglie reached out and took out the next plant or insect.

He continued repeating this until the bag in his hand was completely empty, then finally let out a heavy breath.

"Two found," he murmured softly, placing a string of black raspberries back into the bag. The other was a triangular green leaf.

Over these days, he had successively discovered more than twenty things capable of enhancing his physical qualities. He had found them by testing hundreds, even thousands, of plants and insects. Of those twenty-odd kinds, only four had no side effects. The rest all had side effects, large or small, and Anglie had discarded them.

Naturally, Chip's storage capacity had recorded all the information on these plants and insects. Some plants and insects without enhancement effects were also analyzed and recorded one by one, enriching Chip's database for future reference and use.

On the floor of the carriage to his right, the spread-out cloth was already covered in a heap of messy scraps. Anglie carefully wrapped up the cloth, jumped down from the carriage, and dumped it straight onto the grass before returning to the carriage.

"Zero, how much data has been recorded in total?" Anglie asked silently.

"A total of 2,341 plant species, 49 insect species, and 21 animal tissue samples," Zero returned with precise data.

"That many already..." Anglie took a deep breath and fell into thought.

"Brother Anglie?" "Are you there, Brother Anglie?" Maggie's voice came through the carriage curtain.

Anglie came back to himself. "Come in."

A youthful, lively figure slipped through the curtain.

Maggie was the sort of girl whose curves developed very early. Though only thirteen, she had the same figure as a fifteen-year-old girl from Earth. Full breasts, plump and pert buttocks, and a slender waist. Despite wearing only a gray skirt suit and boots, this beauty-loving girl could still display her most enviable features. She was still wearing that skirt suit resembling an office lady's attire, exposing most of her round thighs above the knees. Her fair, smooth young skin swayed before Anglie's eyes, reflecting a faint white sheen.

"Brother Anglie, I came over to change clothes." Maggie's voice was as soft as a mosquito's as she stood before him.

A faint heat rose in Anglie's heart. He pulled Maggie over and had her sit in front of him. "What clothes did you come to change?" he whispered into her ear.

"I came to change... change my underwear..." Maggie's cheeks flushed crimson. She had clearly not truly come to change clothes.

Anglie's expression shifted. He gently stroked Maggie's shoulder-length hair, breathing in the girl's fragrance. "Then I'll go outside first," he said with a quiet smile.

Maggie gently shook her head, her face full of shyness. "I... I want you to help me change..."