Chapter 770

Chapter Thirty-One: A Reunion in the Room

Only—

This strike I easily dodged by sidestepping; the candle hit the wooden rack beside me, making a loud noise. The rack fell over, and the candlestick flew out of my hand. In the dim light, someone lunged at me, but their movements were somewhat stiff. I easily grabbed their right arm and twisted it!

“Ahh!”

He cried out in pain as his arm was twisted behind him, lifting his toes off the ground. He was then swept off his feet and thrown to the floor with a ‘thud,’ face down. I quickly pressed on top of him, scanning the room while kicking the door shut.

There was no one else in the room; the bed was empty.

The hand he had twisted behind me faced me, palm exposed, showing a severe sword wound. The wound had reopened due to our struggle, seeping blood from under the bandage.

“Barry.”

I called his name softly and took off my hood. “Let go—”

The boy pinned beneath me struggled again but froze abruptly upon hearing my voice, as if frozen in place.

Smack.

Feeling him suddenly become still, I slowly released my grip on his arm, patting his broad back twice before standing up and stepping back.

“It’s me,” I said looking at him.

The young knight named Barry remained where he was, even though I had let go of him. His body was rigid, breathing heavily, not speaking or daring to turn around.

I shrugged, picked up the two dropped bags from the fight, and walked to the bed, placing the larger bag on the cabinet and opening the smaller one. I took out some dried herbs, placed them in my palm, and fetched the cup used last night, pouring out the remaining tea. I tossed a few herbs into it, and blue light flashed in my eyes as the sound of ice compressing crackled, and a small, exquisite ice hammer appeared in my hand.

“The one called Lilith brought you some ginseng, remember? When we lived in the village, Alya and I often went into the forest to pick these and sell them to merchants for extra income.”

Thump thump thump thump thump

In the silent room, apart from the boy’s heavy breathing, the sound of crushing herbs was exceptionally clear. “Your hand is bleeding again.”

A moment later, I turned around with the cup in hand. The ice hammer shattered with a ‘snap,’ sending shards of ice flying, some landing in the cup, mixing with the crushed herbs.

In the next instant, the hand holding the cup suddenly glowed with a warm red hue, which vanished instantly, but the ice in the cup melted visibly. As I approached Barry, I shook the cup slightly to mix the herb residue with the melted ice water into a paste.

Then, I squatted in front of him.

“It’s not a serious injury. With proper care, it won’t cause any long-term problems, nor will it affect your swordplay speed. It’s just that we can’t find a monk or nun who can perform divine miracles to help us. Neither you nor I can do it, so we’ll have to manage this way for now.”

As I spoke, I took his hand, unwrapped the blood-stained bandage, and wiped away the blood with a relatively clean cloak. I dipped my fingers in the herb paste and evenly smeared it on the wound.

“Though it heals slower, there isn’t much difference. For at least a month, you can’t hold a sword or use your right hand for big movements. You must be careful not to reopen the wound or risk infection.”

The duration wasn’t long. The boy remained in a prone position, his body trembling occasionally. He didn’t speak or move again, as quiet as if he were asleep.

But upon closer listening, one could hear the stifled sobs he was trying to suppress. “Hah…”

I sighed softly.

“How have you become such a crybaby after all this time? Hmm?”

The medicinal paste in the cup was quickly applied, and the boy’s wounds stopped bleeding. I tore off another piece of my cloak to re-bandage him, shaking off the remaining residue on my hands before picking up the empty cup to stand up.

In the next moment, Barry suddenly turned around, grabbing my wrist tightly as he sat up abruptly. Ouch!

The cup fell to the ground, rolling away. I felt somewhat helpless as I looked at the boy’s face, wanting to tease him with more words, but no sound came out when I opened my mouth.

The young knight named Barry was already in tears.

He opened his mouth, his suppressed sobs sounding like they were being squeezed from his throat, akin to a person suffering from thirst in the desert gasping for air, drooling, his eyes red and swollen from tears, blinking in disbelief as he stared at me from head to toe, then back again, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He extended his trembling hands, pulling me into a tight embrace.

“Huh”

That strength was so great that it made me groan involuntarily. “Barry…”

He hugged me so tightly it was uncomfortable.

His legs were awkwardly curled under his buttocks, his head tilted high, as if his waist might break and he couldn’t breathe.

“Woof”

But Barry didn’t care about any of this.

He pressed his face close to mine, his arms still squeezing my waist tightly. I heard his tearful voice by my ear: “Am I dreaming?”

“You’re choking me” “How can you still be alive?” “Let go”

“Why are you still alive?” “Be careful of your wounds”

Sis Hill “I bit you”

“Aiya!”

I really bit him.

I opened my mouth wide and bit down hard on his shoulder. Of course, I didn’t use too much force, not knowing if I might accidentally take a chunk of flesh with my teeth, but even so, it nearly made the boy jump up from the ground, loosening his grip on me.

“Huff”

I breathed a sigh of relief, twisting my waist to step back to prevent him from lunging at me again. “If you ever hug me like that again, don’t blame me for not being nice.”

As I spoke, I raised my fist threateningly at him. I patted my clothes, stood up from the ground, and walked a few steps to the bedside. Bending down, I picked up the cup and placed it back on the bedside cabinet. Turning again, I put my finger to my lips, signaling Barry to be silent: “Don’t do anything rash, and don’t shout. This is a tavern on Jasmine Lane. I brought you back to the city; otherwise, it would be difficult to deal with your injuries. Who knew you’d wake up so quickly? Come on, stop looking at me like that. You’re starting to creep me out.”

The boy sat on the floor, one hand covering his shoulder, tears still on his face, his eyes unblinking, staring at me like a lovesick fool.

If someone dared to look at me with such an expression on a deserted street at night, they wouldn’t live to tell the tale. “Get up.”

I rolled my eyes and said irritably, “I’m not dead, and neither are you. We’re both alive and well. So we should eat. Your pretty girlfriend brought plenty of food for you. Here.”

I nodded towards the large package of parchment paper on the cabinet and then picked it up casually. “Do you mind if I try a taste first?” Crunch, crunch—

Suddenly, I heard stealthy footsteps outside the closed door, coming slowly from downstairs.

End of Translation.