Healing (Part 1)

The three of them had not been fully clear-headed earlier. Since the other side had attacked them, they had naturally assumed the enemy's overall fighting strength was greater. Only now could they think it through carefully. Though they still had not figured out the basic situation, they already felt rather frustrated.

On one hand, they did not want to be robbed by this band of Goblins and lose today's prey along with the supplies they carried. On the other, they wanted to vent their anger. After only a few words, the three of them turned back.

A while later, they took a detour back near the town where they had made camp.

Ordinarily, if they were raiding a Goblin gathering place, they would have to watch out for traps. Probing the way with long weapons was the best approach, but since they had only left a few minutes ago, there was no need for that now.

In that short time, the campfire at their crude campsite had already gone out.

"Good. Some of them are still here." Fafier had sharp eyes and did not mind the lack of firelight. He gestured to his companions.

The three secretly breathed a sigh of relief. They had been somewhat afraid that the enemy would loot everything and withdraw quickly. If that happened, they would have had to choose between returning home or attacking the Goblin nest.

The three adventurers slowly approached. They exchanged a glance, then Romon began counting down with his fingers.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Kill!" Nick growled, sword in hand, and charged out first. The Goblins in the distance, who were sorting through their things, were startled and began shouting in confusion. When they saw Nick clearly, terror immediately appeared on their faces.

Clearly, although it was still night, Goblin eyesight was unlike human eyesight. They could still see clearly in the dark. Thus, the Goblin meat shield tied to Nick's hand truly frightened them.

Romon and Fafier followed with their weapons in hand.

Not long after they clashed at close quarters, not a single Goblin remained standing within sight.

"So weak." Nick complained. The enemy's weakness only made their earlier retreat feel even more like a stain on his life.

Romon was busy finishing them off and cutting off scalps, ignoring him.

"Hehe." Fafier chuckled. He picked up several throwing spears from the ground and asked Romon, "How many are lying there?"

"Not bad. The numbers are about right. There are more than ten altogether, though a few probably escaped." After finishing off every Goblin he could find on the ground, Romon weighed the small cloth bag in his hand. Eight bloody scalps lay inside. He sighed. "Let's count what we have left. After the Goblins went through everything, it's a horrible mess."

"My bow's still here, but I can't find any of the arrows." Fafier searched through the collapsed tent for a while, frowning. His bow was only a shortbow, but it was still too large for a Goblin's build. The arrowheads, however, were sharp iron tools. Who knew what those disgusting little thieves had done to them with their filthy hands?

"What bad luck. Maybe they've already ruined all our meat." Nick squatted on the ground, his burly body curled into a ball as he complained gloomily.

"That's fine. At worst, we can wash it clean and sell it to Aunt Heather's inn." Fafier spoke, then sighed. "It's a shame we didn't get to eat more of it."

"With the way you eat?" Romon searched the Goblin corpses. "And you still want to eat more?" He found a cloth bag and opened it. It was filled with iron arrowheads. "Found them!" He called to Fafier. "Your arrowheads."

Fafier took them and frowned. "Why have they all been snapped off?"

"Maybe they planned to attach them to wooden sticks and make throwing spears." Romon shrugged. "Who knows what those little things are thinking?"

"Mm, let's pack up our things." Fafier began gathering their belongings as well, then asked Romon, "If we set out now, about when will we get back to town?"

"It wouldn't be good to leave now. It'll be especially dark before dawn." Romon calculated the time. "We should arrive just as the town opens in the morning!"

"It's fine even if it's dark." Fafier packed their things. "I still want to get back to town quickly and sleep properly." Not long after, he suddenly found something strange. "Nick! Don't just sit there. Come help pack up too!"

"He hasn't fallen asleep from exhaustion, has he?" Romon also found it strange.

Fafier walked over and reached out to push him. "Nick? Nick?"

Then Nick's squatting body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Originally... everything had been going quite well.

Romon had invited his friends Fafier and Nick out on an adventure. Since the three had prepared thoroughly, they soon hunted two elk. Though they encountered a nighttime Goblin ambush and robbery attempt, they had worked together to kill them all. Once they returned to town, they would earn a bounty of more than fifty silver coins. That was already quite good.

But very soon, in the space of only a few sentences, the originally favorable situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

After Nick collapsed for the second time that day, even if Fafier and Romon had been blind, they would have known something was seriously wrong with him.

"What's going on?" Fafier was extremely anxious at the sight of his friend's suffering. "What should we do?"

"We'll go back to town and find a priest." Romon rubbed his forehead. He had a headache too. Just thinking about carrying Nick back to town left him deeply frustrated.

The town only had seven or eight hundred residents. If anything even slightly noteworthy happened, everyone would know within half an hour. Yesterday, three lively young men had set out together on an adventure. A day later, two of them would be carrying back an injured man. It would be hard to persuade anyone else to join them on adventures in the future.

No, they should not return to town for a priest. Romon weighed it over and over, then changed his mind. "We're in the forest now. Let's find a Druid."

He searched for reasons. "Nick's condition is terrible. The sooner he receives treatment, the better."

"Right! Romon, you know Master Jefa." Fafier strongly agreed. A Druid's healing was good too. "Let's go find Master Jefa."

The two made a stretcher and, under Romon's guidance, headed toward the Druid's cottage in the forest.

Although the Druid Jefa also had a residence in town, he preferred to live in the forest among the plants. However, he might also stay near the goddess's altar to teach new Druids.

Because the cottage was located in the outer reaches of the forest and quite close to town, if they failed to find the Druid there, the three of them could continue back to town without taking much of a detour.

Fortunately, Romon's luck was fairly good.

Before long, they arrived near Master Jefa's cottage. It was a fine place. The surroundings carried a Nature's Aura that made Romon feel comfortable.

"Dake!" Near the cottage, Romon encountered Master Jefa's pet dire wolf. Romon turned to Fafier and said, "Dake is my teacher's beloved dog. Since he's here, my teacher must be here too!"

"Mm! Mm!" Fafier answered reluctantly. Looking at Dake made him a little afraid. Though he had a name that sounded rather gentle, his appearance was anything but gentle.

He was a huge dog, an enormous black dog, practically as large as a calf. His short black fur gleamed with oil-like luster, while the muscles beneath it bulged in distinct masses, showing that he had been well cared for. Most remarkable of all were his dark, bright eyes, lively and spirited, as though they could speak.

"Fafier, put the stretcher down first." Romon spoke as he crouched down. Fafier had no choice but to crouch as well, or the injured man on the stretcher would fall off.

"Dake." Romon crouched and said, "I need to see my teacher now. Can you let me pass?"

Romon's tone was as steady as usual, but to Fafier, it sounded almost solemn. He suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"Druids spend so much time with animals and plants. They really are... well, definitely strange." Fafier frowned, finding it difficult to understand a situation like this.

Fafier patiently watched Romon communicate with the large black dog called Dake for some time. He was growing faintly impatient, so he could only try to tend to his old companion on the stretcher and ease some of his anxiety.

"We can go now." After waiting for quite a while, Romon finally turned and told him.

At someone else's place, it was normal enough to announce one's arrival first. But doing so through a large dog... Fafier curled his lip, feeling strangely awkward and unable to help sweating inwardly.

The two carried the stretcher after the big dog. They had not gone more than a few steps before Fafier could no longer resist his curiosity. He leaned slightly forward and lowered his voice, intending to ask something, but after reconsidering, he swallowed the words.

They traveled in silence. After a while, Fafier saw a clearing in the dense forest. How beautiful!

"We're almost there!" Romon said. At last, he felt at ease. If they encountered another attack along the way, they would be in real trouble.

Within the dense forest, the trees stood sparse and scattered. Between them was a small wooden cottage. A stream rushed past, flowing over the riverbed before the house. Dawn light filtered through the dense leaves overhead, casting mottled patches of light across the ground.

Fafier thought he could vaguely make out a figure in front of the cottage, though it was difficult to distinguish against the mottled green backdrop.

Dake's small steps gradually quickened. He ran faster and faster, leaped over the stream, and crouched directly at the Druid's feet.

After approaching, the two carefully set down the stretcher.

"Teacher!" Romon bowed nervously, looking utterly respectful. This was the first time he had truly met this middle-aged Druid. Before this, apart from some simple impressions from his memories, he had no other source of information. No... it seemed he had seen him in an illusory dream as well.

Romon still vaguely remembered that it had not seemed to be a good dream. It might even have been a nightmare.

But it was only a dream, a fantasy within his heart.

!!