------ Chapter 7: War and Distractions ------

Update came later than I planned; technically it only took me a week, but I can write up a chapter in 3 days.

Of course, that doesn't usually happen, main reason being:

The internet...

Such distractions, much wow.

Ideally, if I really wanted to be productive, I would work on a computer/laptop without internet. Lock that away until done!

Maybe one day I will try the hermit life. =P

I do not clearly recall what happened when I returned to the Willhin manor aside from spending the night wrapped in furs. Every time a horn blew to signal a koblin encounter I would wake, recalling the encounter I had. The dark outline of the koblin’s face, scowling with an open mouth of sharp teeth, remained in my mind. I restlessly thought over how I ran, how close it must have been, the sound of its breath told me that if I was any slower I would have been caught.

I am very lucky I had a little more endurance to run the Calbin hill, had I not, the Koblin would not have tiered enough to give me the opening I needed. That drop kick itself was very risky, it took the koblin by surprise and the hill was steep enough that it fell far enough to become injured.

My restless mind was not able to recover completely overnight, before the morning sun would even rise I pull off the silk and fur covers to find the manor’s bathroom. Normally I would not want to throw my covers off, keeping the warmth inside; however, the restless sleep was followed by hot sweat.

The cold winter night is a relaxing sensation against my body. Even during the night, the manor’s main hallways are well light with candles. Wax is not very common, the inn I stay at has no candles and most homes do not either. I know about wax from its use to write on at Darren’s herbalist workshop.

In the temple, wax is extracted by drying and crushing pine needles. It does not provide much wax which is why the temple buys wax from traders and mixes the two together to create a pine scented wax. When an oiled string is placed in the wax and burnt, the pine scent spreads. THis helps keep the temple from smelling too foul.

Wax is sometimes produced like soap, through animal tallow; however, much of it comes from the south where merchants tell a lot of wax comes from.

“Umm, excuse me?” A light voice speaks to me from behind.

I was distracted in thought about the candle I forgot that i was going to find a toilet. This distraction sure helped me shift my mind off of the koblin who attacked me. I turn around to see a young servant woman holding a lamp. Since I was thinking about tallow used for candles, a lot of it is made into oil for lamps instead of candle wax.

“Do you require any assistance?” she continued

“I was looking for the toilet.” I reply.

“This way please.” She gestured for me to follow.

For a servant she wore well made clothing, a green woolen apron tied over a silk dress. The silk itself is about the quality that the temple provided me, it is a common quality. The smooth glossy silks are sold so, it is not uncommon to see people in Calbin wearing silks.

However, her dress is embroidered with patterns and symbols which are most likely done by herself. The silk textiles produced in Calbin means there are a lot of talented weavers and embroiders who compete over making pretty and elaborate designs to raise the value of their work and social status.

The servant leads me downstairs to the toiletry, there are actually two of them side by side in separate rooms. She gestures me to the right door after opening it and lighting a candle inside with a snap of fire magic.

“This one please, afterwards, early breakfast is being prepared in the dining room if you wish.”

The toilet room is much nicer than the others I have used. It is not simply a hole in the floor, there is a bucket of water to flush with, plenty of space, and a seat around the hole. I nervously sit to do my business here.

Unfortunately, my mind begins to drift back to the koblin attack. It was too difficult to see any details in the dark which haunts me. A shadow howling after me in the night as I raced through the snow to escape. If I was on open ground the Koblin’s speed may have been faster than my own.

To stop myself from repeating the scene in my head I finish up, wash my hands with a spare water bucket and cloth before leaving the toilet room. I will head to the dining room for the best chance to distract myself more, if there are others there I may be able to listen into conversations.

I have been in the receiving room of this manor before, the dining room is on the same floor nearby. After opening the door I can clearly smell a morning meal prepared, the dining room is well light with a long table polished to reflect the light. I have never seen polished wood this size before, polished bows were the largest I know.

The words “You’re here.” come from the head of the table.

The man sitting there is Farl Willhin, the Calbin Mayor. His eyes stare at me from his seat before a hearty morning meal. He is dressed in a brown wool surcoat, likely with silk clothing underneath. Armour will go over the thick bulim wool to act as cushion and insulate warmth.

“Sit.” He continues, “We will soon leave to continue our defense.”

I pull a wooden chair out from under the table and climb up onto the seat. My feet just being unable to touch the floor. At the table sit some Ordumirts I do not know and Esken, Varrel is not present at the table.

“I am curious to know why you were at the north gate.” Farl questioned.

I feel a little dread at the reminder, maybe I should have gone back to bed until they left.

I reply anyway, “I was at the temple doors when someone said that gate needs a healer.”

“And then he ran off.” One of the Ordumirt men folds his arms and grumbles.

“Barkel, leave that militia man be, he may not have only hid after sending a healer escorted to the front lines but we cannot start punishing such behaviour yet.” Farl replies.

“You also saved the injured gate guard Kordi by distracting the Koblin.” Farl continued, he spoke with his chin resting against his hands woven together. The strong look he gives is highlighted by the dark bags under his eyes. He must not be getting much sleep.

“I heard tale from that guard about you wrestling a koblin unarmed, then kicking from the hill’s cliff!” Barkel added, pounding his fist onto his chest.

I did not feel any pride from the statement, I can only recall being terrified when it happened.

“Courage comes to most of us out of desperation.” Speaks Farl, he turns to Esken, “It is a skilled knight who trains themselves to draw courage whenever it is needed.”

Esken continues to heat her breakfast in a calm manner, unresponsive to Farl’s statement. With a wry smile Farl looks back at the others at the table who exchange looks as if to appreciate Esken’s manners.

“Either way, Kordi, you will have an escort now, I called my nephew here to fill that role. He will guard you at all times, eat with you, sleep in the same room at the manor here. Even shit with you if needed.”

“Come on uncle, you needn’t say it like that.” The youngest Ordumirt at the table jokes back.

“Certainly I am joking; however, without Kordi our wounded would pile up and we will run out of healthy bodies to keep the siege back. We are lucky the koblins were mostly scouting out defenses.” Farl says.

“The north gate attack was done by at least six koblins who probably got impatient and decided to charge. If more came we would have had more damage done to us.” Barkel replies.

“Yes, they are still uncoordinated, once they realize that all they need is a united attack of a few hundred to break our defenses we will lose fast.” Farl adds.

“And they have over a thousand goblins and koblins.” Barkel sighs.

From behind a servant slides a plate of bread and a warm stew bowl in front of me. It seems more similar to the kind Laro’s wife made.

Farl continues to speak, “This is why you are important Kordi, Patyr tells me your healing talent is excellent at healing the critical wounds, stabilizing the injury. That means our wounded are back on their feet fast, allowing us to make ourselves appear greater in strength.”

Esken raises her head towards Farl, “it is that strength which has roused their actions.”

Farl gives a concerned look.

“What do you mean by that?” Barkel asks.

“Varrel killed a powerful goblin warrior not long ago, this may break their leadership but that also means the impatient underlings will act recklessly.” Esken answers.

“Then we bait them out and kill off as many as we can.” exclaims Farl.

“We will risk baiting the full force of their army.” advises Esken.

Farl’s face cringes as her words, “Then… what?” he asks.

“I am not the leader of this defense, I am advising you of the risks.”

“So, what would you do then?”

“We cannot win with the goblin army out there, we must delay. I would recommend tightening the defenses and avoid angering the goblin army, if…” Esken looks towards me with her usual glare, “If we did not have Kordi. With him here, our defenders can gain experience in combat before the main army attacks without worry about their wounds.”

“So, you do agree we should keep attacking.” Farl sighs.

“Yes.”

“Do you enjoy pressuring me?” Farl says as he sinks back into his chair, staring at the ceiling.

“It is good experience for you.”

Farl continues to stare up as he is lost on words. I suppose what Esken is doing keeps the Farl thinking about the consequences of his decisions and sharpen his mind for tactics. It must be exhausting for him.

“So, we will rely on you more now, Kordi. You are going to be busy for a while.” Farl says as he goes back to finishing his breakfast.

The stew has cooled enough for me that I spend the rest of the time quietly eating. Some of the servants sat down to eat after they confirmed if the people at the table had their fill. Farl, Esken, and the others left the table together once they finished.

“Remember Pakt, even if you have to take an arrow to protect Kordi, he can just heal you back up.” Farl says before leaving.

“Really… that’s pretty grim.” Pakt replies with a wry smile.

Pakt remained at the table while he waits for me to finish. I feel a little awkward making him wait, even though I started eating later than they did. My appetite has recovered a little so, I had little issue stuffing stew down my throat.

The food itself is pretty standard for rations, dry meat soaked into the stew, tubers, lentils, roots, all boiled together. The bread is fresh though, its texture is fluffy and elastic, a noticeable improvement from the slightly stale bread I have had before. I can eat it without needing to dip it into the stew’s juices, this is the kind of quality I can expect from the manor.

Pakt stands from his seat as I finish my breakfast and makes his way around the table. I take a closer look at him, his young face gives the impression he is in his mid teens. Unshaven whiskers grow from his chin, the foundation for a thin beard is there, maybe it will thicken as he ages.

His brown eyes match his hair that runs down to his brows from the front; the back of his hair is tied together almost reaching the length of his shoulders. His chin is pretty sharp while his jaw widens closer to his neck, the facial hair stands out against his smooth cheeks.

Pakt wears a similar set-up as the others, a bulim wool surcoat under silk and leather clothing. When I finished cleaning my bowl I follow Pakt out the door, he has not really said anything else. I had the feeling he was going to be more talkative.

One of the servants followed us to the door where she helped to take parts of Pakt’s armour from a cupboard. His armour is pretty simple compared to Varrel or Esken, even Arga has more than Pakt. The best piece Pakt has is his full breast plate that covers from the shoulders down to his hips.

A front and back piece, much like what I helped make at the forge. His helmet is also similar to what Laro’s forge produces. Around his forearms he wraps leather on before wearing a pair of leather gloves. Pakt does not have any metal armour aside from what covers his torso and head, the rest is leather and thick wool.

I get the feeling that he is not a high priority for extra armour, Laro only produces the two types, body and head armour. The wool and leather will have to be enough to hold back arrow penetration.

Still, Pakt is far more armoured than I am, with a fur robe I do not have much else going for me. When we finish wearing our boots Pakt leads the way outside.

“We’re going to the temple.” He says.

I figured as much, overnight there is no doubt that we have wounded patients at the temple. Part of me feels nervous that I have been absent for the night, I hope the priests are not overburdened.

The morning is still dark and as I work up my resolve, I notice along the side of the dark road near the temple a pile of corpses. I shudder to think they may be our own; however, there are people hauling the corpses away with bloody aprons and skinning knives.

“That is not something I want to see happening in Calbin.” Pakt comments.

“Are those koblin bodies?” I ask.

“Yea… we need the meat. As awful as it is, I have a harder time stomaching it when I know what one looks like.”

The thought of it does unsettle my stomach, I really did not have a good idea about what a koblin looks like. I’ve heard they were partially furry, stood on two legs, and looked like a beast. However, seeing the dark figure of one is more nightmarish than I had thought.

“A little squeamish huh? Here, I’ll show you one.”

Pakt places his hand on my shoulder and guides me over to the pile. I can begin to see there are around a dozen of koblin corpses here, behind the nearby building the bodies are hung and butchered.

With a simple fire spell, Pakt creates some light over one of the corpses.

“Lots of things are scarier in the dark, shadows play tricks on your mind. The most unsettling thing for me is their body proportions are similar. But at least they don’t look as pale as the goblins.” Pakt says as he kneels down.

The koblin had most of its clothing stripped off to reveal that the front half of its body has no fur. From the head down to the lower back most of its fur grows, the forearms and leg shins also have patches of fur.

The koblin’s face stretches forward much more than a mirt’s, the nose is flat and the brow is thick without any hair. The long wide ears are not like a mirt’s short but pointed ears, the koblin ear is rounded at the end insead.

I wanted the koblins to appear more like wild/beast goblins.

From the light Pakt’s fire provides, the koblin’s skin is a dark pink, different from the light brown of the mirts. I can also tell the skin’s texture is thick from the wide folds around its joints. The hands are surprisingly similar in shape, only thicker. The feet; however, are much different with sharp and hard toes with thick bones along the foot’s arch.

Compared with an average adult mirt, the koblin wound stand one or two feet shorter but its muscular torso tells of its compact strength and endurance. Certainly unsettling to skin and eat something so similar to ourselves.

“Good leather though, koblins must hate us for skinning them and using it for shields. Good thing mirts don’t make good leather.” Pakt says with some dark humour.

We are almost to the temple so, I decide to turn towards that direction. Pakt stands and follows me along in a leisurely way, this guard job may be a nice break for him.

By opening the temple doors I can already smell that there will need to be some work for me. The warm stale air traps in the odor of blood and medicine as what dim light from the fires and lanterns illuminates the scene inside the temple.

There are at least ten patients on this first floor who seem to have all been bandaged, I will need to inspect what kind of injuries they have and what treatment has been done so far. Pakt enters behind me and shows an expression that he does not feel comfortable here. It may be an easy job for him to linger around to watch over me; however, he is going to be stuck in a dim temple with wounded people.

The temple is not as morbid as it was when I first arrived, wounds appear mostly healed. At the very least, the wounds are shut; however, some internal damage remains. My own healing skills are good at dealing with that kind of deep damage.

First, I begin by washing my hands, I will want to avoid contaminating the wounds with the koblin corpse miasma I was near. Then I find the closest patient to work on. By massaging their wound I can feel through my mana’s reaction how the wound’s condition is.

Aera Lumwright, Lara’s younger sister had noticed me earlier. Now that she finished checking on a bandage she came to greet me.

“Kordi, thank the goddess you are alright. We have been at work all night.”

“Sorry, I’ve been sleeping while this all happened.”

“No no, do not worry, I heard you were attacked. Also, now that you are here we get some rest. Patyr decided to have shifts. My sister will be joining by sunrise, she used her mana first before sleeping.”

“Alright, I will take care here then.”

Aera nods before a long yawn.

This wound is another arrow wound to the thigh, with the arrow removed and the cut sealed, the bandage is there to keep leg’s movement restricted.

By the feeling I visualize the trauma along the thigh muscle and where the fibers have been broken. The fibers can be reattached through focused healing magic and blood vessels shall be repaired and rebuilt.

The sensation of using healing magic inside someone is completely different from the lack of sensation I felt trying to use magic inside the koblin last night. What Varrel said is true, the body probably has some kind of immunity that prevents the activation of mana inside the body.

I think on this for a while as I work from one patient to another. What is the criteria for the immunity? If there is some kind of identifier for healing magic, what is it. One possibility could be intention. If my intention is to heal with the magic, then it is allowed. I do not plan to try healing with the intention of harm, that is not only awkward to get my head around but experimenting on people here feels wrong.

Though it will clear up one possibility. The other possibility is related to what I read in the magic theory text where magic spells have structure. Complex spells are difficult to materialize because the structure of the spell is carefully designed and balanced in order to reach its desired result.

From observing Patyr casting more complex spells I can tell there are certain patterns and stages he goes through; however, their purpose eludes me for now. The words themselves call to the spirits and the god or goddess that rules over them, asking for the mana to take shape.

I feel that that kind of magic is over my head, my family never devoted much faith to gods. They respected spirits and the regional gods yet they only settled into the valley before building a home to raise a family.

This appears to be common among most ordumirts, we lived estranged and nomadic lives, passing through different deity's lands. Without attaching very strongly to specific areas until kingdoms began claiming and dividing rule over the lands. These claims forced many of the nomadic groups to settle down.

The settlement worked out well when productive crop seed was traded around. I read about much of this from my time in the herbalist workshop. Nomadic life needs a lot of free space for wild foods to grow; however, a farm only needs to move every few years to rest the soil. The river lands are able to recover the quickest, becoming the first places mirts settled around.

With that settlement came devotion to specific gods, which is said to have resulted in the development of more complex magic as a reward. At least, that is what I picked up when I read the texts in the temple’s small book shelves.

Faelin is a goddess of purity and healing attributes; therefore, the priests believe that through service the goddess guides and teaches them a way to cast better spells. These apostles may then teach others, which is how Patyr learned his healing spells.

Compared with myself, I do not consider the spirits while I heal. I do not ask them to mend the wound, instead I feel for myself what the wound is and command my own mana to heal the specific damage.

I suppose this is one reason why my spell size is small, I have a narrow approach and I do not consider the wider possibilities. Which, for now, I am alright with. The other priests can cover for what I lack. I do feel guilt for not being here earlier but whenever I begin to think about this I recall that unpleasant night.

With patients in this temple I can keep my mind on other topics.

Fortunately… Well, I should not say it like that. Unfortunately another wounded militia is brought through the temple doors. It is fortunate that I will not run out of distractions so suddenly. I was running out of patients, as grim as it now sounds to myself.

“Looks like uncle’s offensive patrols are doing their work.” Pakt comments.

He has been watching me work for a while now, mostly bored by my guess, he had not spoken since entering. He just found a place to sit for a while, then paced around before sitting again.

After the wounded man is delivered to me for wound treatment Pakt takes the other militia who brought the wounded in aside to talk. I am too far to listen in, either way it is not my business. My business involves this militia man’s arrow wound that entered just under his body’s leather armour.

It entered above the hip and exits through the back, impaling a kidney and a little bit of intestine. With clippers I can remove the arrow head and easily remove the arrow shaft before stopping the bleeding, cleaning the wound with salty water, and mending together the various kinds of flesh.

“Kordi! It is good to see you are here now.” spoke the familiar voice of Patyr.

I look over my shoulder as I made the finishing touches on the arrow wound. Patyr and Lara have just come down from the upper floor. Patyr’s eyes look sunken from exhaustion but he shows a clear smile. Lara is more rested and her hair is unkempt suggesting she spent no time tidying herself after waking.

“It is good to see you have recovered.” He continued.

“I was not injured.” I reply.

I would rather move this conversation on, their faces are becoming concerned and they may start probing for more.

“All of the major wounds have been tended too here, there are a few cuts and bruises left.” I add.

“As productive as ever, I shall leave everything for Lara and you then. I must rest along with Baken.” Patyr says before he yawns.

“Aera, you should sleep as well.” Lara speaks to her sister.

Pakt finishes his talk with the militia and walks close attracting Lara’s attention.

“Greetings Pakt Willhin, what brings you here?” she asks.

“Lara,” He nods, “My uncle has assigned me to guard the place, make sure Kordi is guarded when he’s outside.”

“There are a lot more attacks happening now, is it alright they send you?”

“Without our healers things would get bad fast.” Pakt replies, “Besides, this is a change of pace for me. How have you been doing?”

I did not listen in on their conversation at this point, there are patients with shallow cuts to tend to. Their bandages are removed to be boiled and dried while I clean and seal the cuts. It is pretty easy work compared to healing critical damage so, I do not mind doing this work by myself.

Lara and Pakt have some history between each other, similar age, grown up in the same city. Because of the siege they probably had little time to chat. Without listening in on their words I can tell from the mood that they are friendly, Pakt even teases Lara’s bed hair. Which she tries to comb with her fingers.

With the simple cuts and bruises mended I can send the patients out. Most can probably go into a fight right away; however, I recommend they get something to eat as the healing raises a person’s appetite.

By the time I clear them out another limps in with a fresh leg wound.

“Come and lay down.” I say to him.

“I’m fine, just heal it, it is not that deep.” He replies with a stern look.

The man appears more like a mercenary than a militia, his attitude expresses that he is used to injuries like this. After a quick look, it is not caused by an arrow penetrating and has properties of a cut.

“Is it a spear wound?” I ask.

“Yea.”

“At least sit and rest your leg along the bend, relaxing the leg will help me heal it.”

“hmm.” the mercenary replies with a short nod.

A quick feel of the wound confirms that it has not cut deep into his thigh, mostly muscle and small blood vessels are severed. It will take a little time to reconnect everything but I am becoming quicker about it. Before that, I grab a hot bronze kettle full of water to pour into a clay mug with Faelin fungus.

“As I seal this up, I need you to drink some Faelin. If the spear was dirty even after I close the wound an infection can occur.” I tell him while handing the mug over.

“Yea,” He replies, “wouldn’t put it past a ‘lin to smear shit on his spear.”

I would prefer to use hollip to help clean the wound itself but I have not had time to prepare more this morning. By the time I close the cut up, the mercenary finished his mug. He looks down at the look, a little surprised, probably at the speed I worked at. I am a little used to that kind of look now, normal healing magic does not seal up such wounds so quickly.

“Have something to eat before you go back out and keep an eye on it. If it is sore or discolours do not hesitate to come for a check up. You would rather not want the leg cut off”

The mercenary nods with a “yea,” before he hands the empty mug over. He stands on his legs, flexing his wounded leg a few times before heading out the door.

While I go to wash my hands I now notice that the temple’s first flood is empty and quiet outside of the low cracking of the fireplaces. Lara and Pakt are both absent, the only other place that would have patients is on the second floor where critical injuries are. I would say that is where Lara has gone.

Before I check there I should prepare some hollip, the stockpile in the basement will have a little left along with the work bench I have been using. I can also check on my brewed potions, some of these will be ready or close to ready.

I will have to keep my ears open for the temple door opening, it makes a low groaning sound that often gives me chills when I think about the kind of injuries that may come through. I take my steps lightly down the stairs, paranoid that I will not catch the door. If it is just me on the first floor I need to be more vigilant.

That is when I hear the sound of soft flesh slapping against soft flesh. I stop to catch it coming from further in the basement. Then a muffled moan timed to the pap pap noise. I think I know what it is and I would rather not dig any further. With that I turn around and walk up to the second floor. I will check for wounded patients there, the hollip can wait.

On the second floor where the main care rooms are there is no sign of others. It would seem that the major injuries had been treated and left to recover on the first floor. While checking the rooms I hear the noise of temple doors opening, in a hurry I run to the stairs and leap down to the first floor. Landing hard on my feet.

I feel a little rush of adrenaline as if I am excited to be doing something. The militia woman who is supporting a wounded militia man is surprised by my appearance. The man’s injury is another leg one, the arrow entered through his left leg’s shin.

“Are the priests around?” She asks.

“I’ll be able to take care of this.” I reply, “Let’s rest him along the bench here and you can head back.”

We walk the injured man to a close bench for him to rest his leg along, again I clip the arrow head off and remove the shaft, clean the wound, seal it up and mend the damage inside. I finish moments after the militia woman leaves the temple doors.

“You’re good, keep an eye on the wound and let me know if it gets worse, I will pour you some Faelin tea before you go.”

“Ah, thanks.” He replies in bewilderment.

While pouring the faelin tea into a mug for him footsteps come up from the basement. Lara and Pakt step up the stairs from the basement. What is with their refreshed aura?

“Sorry for leaving you Kordi, I was getting some hollip from the basement.” Lara says.

I do not need raw hollip, I grind it into a paste in the mortar down in the workshop. With the time they were gone I would have been able to have done that. Well, I decided to not dig my nose in further.

“Which group were you with?” Pakt asks the militia man who I finished healing.

“Oh, I was hit just at the southern woods, not too far from the field.”

“Doesn’t take as long to find them anymore huh?”

“Ever since the sun rose we’ve been hearin’em howl to each other. Must be trying to coordinate.”

“Your wound is good?”

“Ah- Yea, the boy fixed it up quick. Just drinking this faelin.”

The militia man gestured to me while he held the warm mug close. Pakt walked closer to me.

“Was the wound bad?” He asks.

I pick up the arrow head I clipped off to show him.

“It entered his left shin.”

Pakt held it and inspected the bronze tip. The arrow head is crudely made, the metal has not been smoothed and retains the shape of the finishing hammer strikes. However, the point of the arrow is sharp as it has been clearly ground against stone. The etched lines along the arrow’s blade and point show deep serrated teeth-like edges.

It resulted in a nasty wound, the serrated blade makes a mess of the flesh it tears unlike a clean cut. Most wounds share that kind of trauma here, few koblin and goblin weapons retain their sharpness after striking armour.

In fact, most arrowheads I remove are either broken or dull from hitting the armour. The stone and poorly forged arrowheads tend to crack. Those shards can be a pain to remove if they penetrate the skin. Boiled leather usually does a good job protecting against this. Exposed skin or thin clothing does not.

The copper or bronze arrowheads can penetrate hard leather at close ranges but the arrowhead becomes so blunt that it may only break the skin. I would say that most injuries here are from these kind of cuts.

The real injuries come when a koblin or goblin hits an unprotected part of the body, something that I find impressive. They actually aim for joints or seams in armour, driving their arrow through two pieces of hard leather. Accuracy at that level is scary, from the little archery I practiced with my father I could barely hit a tree twenty feet away.

“Most of the serious wounds hit places not covered by thick wool or hard leather.” I inform Pakt.

“Yea, I have softer leather strips that are stitched under my armour joints to help catch those kind of shots.” He replies.

“Does it work?” Lara buds in to ask.

“Maybe. I havn’t been hit there yet.” Pakt says as he displays his armpit, the extra stitches underneath suggest he does have an extra layer covering the joint.

The day continues like this past lunch with another dozen wounded militia, adventurers, and mercenaries stopping by. Most of these wounds continue to be arrows with two stab wounds.

Pakt explained a little about the koblin dagger to me while we had a break, it is a bronze blade similar to the kinds Mirts used. Likely stolen or copied, the dagger has a sharp point, the bronze is too weak to hold a cutting edge for long so it is mostly used to thrust.

The same kind of dagger head is also attached onto wooden poles to make a spear. Most of these weapons are actually provided by goblins trading with koblins, the mirts being a common enemy.

“How much do you know about the old history between the ‘lins and mirts?” I ask Pakt while we talk and eat lunch.

“Well, I know the old mirts came from the north as nomads, that much is what most know.” He replies, “Beyond that are old rumours and stories. When the old mirts came into Valdera over the frozen mountain ranges of the north they found the Koblins of the woods and the Goblins of the mountains.”

“The spirits and gods of the land were weakened by these monsters so, our ancestors fought to free them.” Lara adds.

“By clearing out the ‘lins the gods would bless the land for us to live.” Pakt continued, “Through many battles we scattered the koblin tribes and drove the goblins into their deep mountain caves.”

“That is it?” I ask, there seems to be more in order for us to get here.

“Well, the ‘lins began copying our weapons and tactics, kept them from being wiped out.” Pakt answers while scratching his head.

“I have heard very little about the Ordumar valley that many of these ‘lins are coming from.”

“Oh, Ordumar the first King of the Ordumirts. The eastern ridge of the Kainran mountains to one side, the Heilow Barrier on the other. Both sides infested with goblins. Word has it, it was the Orclins who broke the old kingdom ruled by Ordumar’s grandson.”

“What do you know about the Orclins?”

“I know they are tough, but they live far to the north east. I hear they occasionally bump into them farther north. The Orclins are bigger and smarter but usually keep to themselves, outside of a few attacks we’ve seen no sign of anything bug goblins and koblins.”

Pakt continued to say, “The goblins have been our biggest problem here, not too long ago they tried an invasion. They sort of gather surrounding koblin tribes and march down the mountains.”

“But this time there are more?”

“Many more, I was not yet born when they last attacked. Now it is likely the goblins gathered armies from surrounding goblin caves all along the lower Kainran mountains.”

“They were fought off the same way we are doing right now?”

“Sort of, they took longer to rally the koblins so the Corrin king was able to rally an army to Calbin and chased them off. Back then we had barely any steel from what I hear, it was a debut for the king and a small few knights wealthy enough to buy steel.”

“Is that going to be our advantage this time as well?”

“Hopefully it will. However, the goblins have been working on forging their gobite better which is very effective against hard steel.”

Lara chips in again asking, “I’ve seen the steel armour, but what about your sword?”

Pakt puffs a little and draws his steel sword. In length it is short, Varrel and Esken both have longer swords while even Arga’s short steel sword is a little longer. However, the silver shine from the blade reflects the light, captivating Lara.

As the two gossip I notice Patyr and the other priest come down stairs.

Yawning, Patyr says, “lunch time already?”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to sleep some more?” Lara asks.

“It is hard to sleep with the sun out, maybe if I was younger I could.” he replies with a wry smile.

He comes closer to pick out some lunch, today we have bread sliced into pieces holding a mix of different foods. In some, scrambled eggs are filled inside, the other kind has dry meat with pickled vegetables inside.

“Hmm, are you here to guard us?” Patyr asks Pakt.

“Well, my uncle ordered me to prioritize keeping an eye on Kordi.”

“Ah, that could work for something else.” Patyr says as he bites his sandwich.

While we wait for him to chew I get the impression he has some kind of idea.

“We lost a few last night before they could arrive at the temple. I have been thinking about having one of us be outside the temple to respond to injuries and head to them instead of them coming to us. Of course, without getting into the fight.”

“Who are you sending?” Lara asks, but as she says this her eyes turn to me.

I get that I am probably the best for responding first to injuries, it would be better that way. It is why I ran off last night instead of waiting for the wounded to come to me; however, there is a deep feeling of tension inside my chest. That kind of position will be risky.

“You will not need to fight Kordi,” Patyr says kneeling down to me, “All you have to do is get closer, heal the critical damage, and send them to us.”

I can see Lara sending an expression of “you do not have to do that.” in concern for me. I turn to Pakt and ask him first.

“Would this be alright, giving you more work?”

“Hmm?” his reply is a little off guard, “Won’t be a bother to me, probably keep the others from saying rude things about me getting too easy of a job.”

“I will gather what tools I will need.”

“Ah- I’ll get you a bag for them.” Patyr adds.

Personally, this is the kind of job that does come with danger; however, I have been feeling restless inside the temple. Stuffed away in a shelter where I can only become afraid of what dwells outside. This will give me a chance to move around and do other things, reducing my idle time.

The tools I need are simply clippers for cutting arrows, narrow forceps for removing bits from a wound, and a small knife to help cut if I need to. Other things I bring is a jar of distilled liquor, mostly for cleaning the tools. Salty water in a waterskin for cleaning wounds, normal water can be used if I magically filter it. I do take some ground salt in case I also need it.

To top things off, I bring three bandage rolls, a little bit of hollip paste, Faelin, and I ground up some Rain Weed to mix into a potion solution. I may need to boost my mana recovery, so rain weed boiled in water makes a simple mana recovery tea.

When I head back up to the temple doors Pakt stands waiting with his armour back on. He opens the door for us to depart outside. The bright sun is still in the sky, hanging lower to the horizon. As we leave Pakt begins to tell me what the plan will be.

“First, we’re getting you some protection. A fur robe won’t protect you from an arrow. I also need a shield, heck I’ll get you a shield too.”

We make our way to the small stone tower near the western road into Calbin close to the Inn I slept in before. Inside the building attached to the tower I can already see piles of shields and other kinds of armour.

Pakt looks through them before picking out a piece of armour.

“Here, a leather cuirass. Covers the same amount as my steel one, the boiled leather will stop most arrows. The close range bronze tipped once can punch through; however, there is a layer of bulim wool under it to catch the dull arrowhead.”

It is a common piece of armour, I never knew they were called cuirasses. After I take off my fur robe Pakt slides the leather and wool cuirass over my head, I raise my arms to go through the open shoulders. Once it covers my body he takes the leather straps on the sides and tightens them, hugging the armour close to my body.

“There, a little big but it molds well to most shapes.”

I lean and twist my body around to get a feel of it. The thick armour does add weight to my body; however, it also limits a little of my movement. For example, while I can twist my body, leaning back or forward is harder. The stiff leather does give but combined with the thick bulim wool it is more difficult.

Pakt picks up two round shields before passing one to me.

“Shields are mostly made of the same stuff, thin planks of wood with boiled leather and wool on the outside to absorb arrows. They have a leather strap to sling it over your back, when you go to heal someone try to face your back against the position of the enemy. The round shield will cover you and the other guy.”

Pakt looks around a little more while I work on sliding the shield strap around my head. He picks out another piece of leather from a pile, unfolding it to hand over.

“Aside from those, a leather and wool cap will keep your skull a little safe.”

I pull the cap down onto my head, the thick wool layer wraps around my head well enough, the cap covers down to my jaw. When the cap was made, the face section would be covered up, so it is cut and folded to add an extra layer over the forehead. I throw on my fur robe over top to keep me warm.

“The good thing is your silk clothes under that leather will also catch arrows, spider silk is pretty strong. Though, if an arrow hits an unarmoured part it will still penetrate the skin.”

“But the silk wraps around the arrow?”

“You’ve probably seen the results for yourself then. Lets go and find out where we should go.”

Pakt turns to open a door leading into the stone tower. I peek inside to find a small area with a staircase. This base room has a rough map of terrain carved from wood laying across a table. Centered on the table map is a familiar hill, the city of Calbin and its surroundings have been laid out.

Pakt approaches the table where a man is scribbling things on a wax board while referring to worn out wood. Pakt pays him little attention and inspects the coloured pieces on the table, each a wood carving with a coloured symbol on top.

Pakt looks over the ones that would be south of Calbin, there are many of these, opposing each other. Most likely representing the current conflict.

“Alright, we’ll go to the southern front then.” He says turning to me.

I back out of the doorway and follow along while Pakt heads out of the building, turning left to do south. We pass the forge on our right and the mercenary building on the left. Laro and his workers are hammering another steel ingot into shape. We continue past the market area on the left and follow a path leading down the slope to the southern field.

The area is buzzing with activity, the snow has been entirely packed down throughout the field and small leather tents are posted up in areas. The defenders here are using that cover for rest. Without covers on either side, the tents will not hold heat; however, they keep the snow from building up on the straw patches underneath.

Most of the defenders here are tending to their equipment, stitching tears back up, sharpening bronze blades and spears, fletching arrows, replacing bow strings, eating, napping, etc.

First, we head to the one watch tower in the middle of the field with an elaborate red flag hung from the top. Like I observed earlier while doing my running training, these wooden towers have a simple palisade of spiked logs surrounding the perimeter to create small defensive spots.

This tower in particular has openings in the tower covered in boiled leather, small gaps open around the tower’s staircase. At the base, a large tent is set up next to the tower’s entrance. We make our way towards it following a very well walked path. The snow beneath our feet is packed hard enough to be ice. The cold weather is not so bad anymore, with the extra wool and leather I have on I am more insulated.

Pakt open the leather covers to enter the tent, while following behind I find Pakt’s uncle, Farl Willhin sitting on a simple stool while drinking from a water skin. With him are Varrel and Esken, Varrel in particular has dark bags under his eyes.

“Uncle.” Pakt says to announce his presence.

“What brings you here Pakt?”

“The head priest Patyr has requested we bring Kordi closer to the fight to heal serious injuries faster.”

Considering Farl was specific about me being closely protected I imagined he would be frustrated; however, Farl only takes a moment to consider before replying.

“Alright, we will attach both of you to a support group in the center of the spread. Sound good?” Farl turned towards Varrel.

Varrel glances over at me as I look in from outside the tent.

“Should be fine.” He replies with a nod.

“Now, get some sleep then, Knight Varrel.” Farl adds, “We will handle the rest of the day’s defense.”

Varrel rises to his feet from the stool and makes his way past Pakt who moves out of Varrel’s way. When Varrel passes through the tent he gives me another look before saying.

“Take care.”

Maybe it was from the exhaustion but he was not very clear about that. I will appreciate the concern though.

“The spring bird group will be positioned near the wood’s edge, they are supporting the spread’s center if needed. You can set Kordi up near there, let them pull wounded mirts from the fighting back to Kordi.” Farl instructs.

“Right, we’ll do that then.” Pakt replies.

With that we head out from the outpost to reach the southern edge of the field. I feel a little apprehensive coming this close to the woods, knowing there are enemies lurking in them has always made me avoid getting too close to the tree line.

I know the defense aims to push the ‘lins from reaching the edge of Calbin so the woods this close should be safe; however, I would rather avoid the risk. I do feel a little more safe with the leather and wool armour strapped on with a shield on my back. I do not really have a weapon though.

Arga and Esken had taught me some sword use but I doubt a few days of practice would make me competent in a real fight.

While walking through the packed snow both Pakt and I notice a pair of defenders walking towards the city, one is supporting the other walk. I can see the tail of an arrow sticking from one of their thighs. Pakt waves his hand and shouts, “Over here.”

We approach them and I begin to dig for my tools.

“We will help mend the wound here.” Pakt says, helping to rest the wounded man down.

After the usual work I remove the arrow and mend the wound, the lack of faelin tea does bother me.

“Since an infection may still occur, I would recommend chewing on this faelin I have and keep an eye on the colour of the wound. If it becomes discoloured go to the temple.”

I would hate to run out of faelin out here, I guess I could get them to go to the temple themselves for tea if I run out.

“So, he’s good?” Pakt asks.

“Yup,” I reply, “he should not have any problem walking on his own at least. May want to rest for the day.”

The wounded man stands and walks away, waving in appreciation when he realized there was little pain.

“That was quick.” Pakt says.

“I have healed a lot of arrow wounds. They are easy now.”

“Never would have thought that kind of wound was an easy one to heal.”

“If you focus on healing the fiber patterns of the muscles and the blood vessels the right way the flesh heals quickly.”

“What ever happened to ‘asking the spirits’ to do that.” Pakt responds with his eyes rolling.

While I tried to keep the explanation simple, it still went over his head.

Closer to the wood’s edge we see a cluster of tents with a pole stuck in the ground. At the top of this pole a fabric banner gently waves. Embroidered on this is a small bird. Pakt approaches it leading me to believe this is the spring bird group.

The group’s members are either relaxing under tents or pacing around. The restless ones notice the two of us and come closer, Pakt’s steel armour cuirass caught their eye that he is important.

“Spring Bird group?” asks Pakt.

“Yes.” one replies.

“With me is Kordi, a talented healer. Your group will direct wounded to him before they continue on to the temple.”

“Right!” they replied, looking between each other and whispering while gesturing to me.

One of the group’s members comes close to face Pakt.

“I am Barrin, this group’s leader. I was in Calbin with two other adventurers from our company who are also part of this group. One is an apprentice healer, we will appreciate more. Especially if it is the Kordi I we have heard about.”

The adventurer Barrin wears a thick wool coat with small iron plates riveted onto the outside. It would be very flexible compared to solid plate or a leather cuirass. The plates are very dull for steel suggesting the plates are lower quality. It would be easy to fix though even if the gaps between plates could let an arrow through.

Barrin then heads to rally some of his group, there are at least two dozen of them making it one of the larger groups I have seen. They split off a few pairs from the group to go into the woods where faint howls occasionally are heard.

It does not take long before one pair finds a wounded adventurer. He had bandaged the wound himself since it was shallow but since I am near by I wash and heal the wound quickly. To make sure i have enough clean water I spent what spare time I had on gathering snow to melt in a pot.

The action picks up for me as the sun draws near the mountains to set, groups are rotating with the reserves stationed in the southern field here. With them are minor and major wounds. Most of these people still feel that it is a waste of mana to heal the minor wounds but those wounds can reduce their ability to fight.

I am also able to keep up with this without running out of mana. This draws quite a lot of compliments because I can tend to a lot in a short period of time. I still do not heal the entire wound; however, through healing the deep trauma the wound will recover the rest easily and the wound will even become less painful.

Unlike before, the defenders have changed their tactics. Instead of most groups being deployed at one time, around one third are sent out, one third acts as reserve, and the last third rests. This does mean that my afternoons are not longer free, the afternoon groups move out and will return after the middle of the night has past.

This is one reason why the spring bird group is so large, they actually have three shifts within the group, two on hand while one returns to Calbin. I managed to find out that the group has around half of its number as adventurers and half militia. The adventurers support other groups as reserve reinforcements, needed especially for covering retreats.

That was needed once as the sun began to set. From what I heard, the goblins mounted an attack to try and break through our screen. They even had a few tamed spiders they brought to fight. I asked Pakt about this, he replied.

“Goblins breed ‘em in their mountains. They dig complex and narrow caves the spiders like to live in providing homes for many. Once the spiders settle in the goblins are able to harvest the webs for silk. Probably the goblin’s smell keeps them safe from being attacked.”

“Their smell does that?”

“Yea, some crazy adventurers will harvest goblin skin, boil it, and use the grease to mask their scent so they can go into spider caves. If not then we can’t clear out their nests.”

Well, that is certainly one way of getting inside to run out the spiders. I know very little about them from my father, he had killed a few of them that wander down the mountain. Once their nests become too full, some venture out for new shelter. Then they become a problem.

The size of these spiders would be close to my own size so, they pose a very large threat. They search for caves and holes or abandoned buildings to nest in before traveling out at night to find prey. Going deep into the woods was always something my parents warned me about, mostly for that reason.

From the goblin encounter there is one major wound that involved a blunt gobite arrow striking a man’s shield. The magic impact force shattered his arm bones. I am intimidated to work on it at first; however, the amount of mana stored in the small arrowhead reduced the effect.

The bone is broken into larger pieces and the muscles are intact, albeit damaged from the bone shards. I used my focused healing magic to rearrange the bone pieces before sending him to the temple. That much will help Patyr heal the wound faster.

By nightfall, activity begins to slow. The groups sent into the woods are more cautious, prioritizing defense over offense, they scout and hide while baiting anything into an ambush. Initially, there was a lot of fighting when the sun set behind the mountains. After the fights were resolved, most of the mirt defenders pulled back to focus on defense.

This resulted in the goblins taking caution, their koblin allies had suffered too much damage earlier in the day and the goblins are not as experienced in woods combat. So, the goblins take to using their spiders to harass the mirt defenses.

Fortunately for us, the spiders fall for ambushes easily where the adventurers familiar with fighting spiders have produced an alluring bait to attract spiders to traps. The other fortunate part about these spiders is that they are not venomous. At least, not very venomous. Their saliva can be injected to soften flesh; however, these spiders primarily use jaws to bite and tear.

If we were dealing with poison I would be unable to effectively treat it, the goblins would also be able to harvest the poison for coating their arrows. These spiders are still dangerous, their stealthy movements allow them to close very quickly without prey noticing.

These spiders are known as Daeders, or Daemon Spyder.

I accumulated a small waiting line of wounded people who mostly had minor wounds. I prioritized the critical wounds before the minor ones, in some cases I would leave the minor wounds if the person had a major wound until I could clear out the other critical wounds.

By now I work to fix up the cuts and bruises, which is only made more difficult by the cold dark night. A fire is light nearby that I use for a light source; however, these fires are not contained in a building or shelter. The warmth escapes the flames quickly, the only way to catch the heat is to stand close.

To compensate for my hands lacking gloves I wrap them up lightly in bandages. The feeling is a little strange but until I get some proper gloves the wrappings will have to do for holding my warmth in.

I can use heat magic to warm the air around my hands; however, I cannot actually activate the heat magic inside my hands. It seems to be related to heat magic being a type of harmful activation, I never tried it on myself before out of worry I would cause harm.

So, I spend this time mostly chilled. There is no raging forge fire or intense training to keep my body warm out here. Just the occasional visit to a nearby fire. Pakt has been spending his time socializing near campfires within sight of me.

Thinking about the hot forges, I recall the sithril experiment I had worked on is on hold now. The sithril billets I made should still be inside crucibles, after finishing with the last patient’s small cuts I head to Pakt. Ne notices me approach.

“All done?”

“For now,” I reply, “I was thinking about heading to the forge to pick up a sithril experiment I was working on.”

Pakt raises an eyebrow at my statement.

“Well, guess its a good time to head back to the city, koblins seem to have run off and the goblins are just lurking.”

We make our way across the cold frozen field to the warm lights of Calbin. The stars are partially visible as the moon peeks from the edge of a cloud. After walking up the shallow slope I find the market area, we can follow the road to the forge.

There is no sign of Laro, just the night workers who man the furnace bellows all night. I even yawn thinking what time it would be by now. Near one of the tables I find the six crucibles I made yesterday, still marked and unbroken.

I placed them on a table and use a hammer to crack the crucible open. Inside each is a billet, I took note of the crucible each came from and carved a mark into each. The marks were simply two numbers representing the ratio of mineral to sithril.

Pakt approached a little closer.

“You made billets?” he asks.

“Easier to mark than rings, I made them with different concentrations of material found in gobite. Some of it ends up making sithril, I want to find out what the best composition ratio is.”

“Huh...”

I decide to pick up the billet I made with just the black powder. I know this has something to do with silver and it looks just like a silver billet. I remove my bracelet and try to use magic with just the billet. The magic that comes out feels normal.

“Does this feel like it does anything?” I ask Pakt, handing the billet to him.

He holds it in his hand and create a small fire above his palm.

“Nope.”

“So, that means it is pure silver, so there is probably nothing special about the gobite silver.”

“Really? Just from that?”

“I separated the different metals and minerals from gobite, the others mix in a magic sensitive mineral which seems to react well with silver. Making what we call sithril.”

I point to the others laid in a line.

“Starting from here I made this billet with one part mineral and five parts silver. Then two and four, three and three, four and two, and five to one. The minerals on their own were sensitive to mana but did not really do much outside of the small crystals inside.”

“So, what’s most sithril made with?”

“About two to four.”

We began sampling the effect of each sithril billet to see what kind of effect they had. Since the two to four ratio was about normal we used it as a base to compare the others. One thing I noticed was that the three to three has a similar feeling to my bracelet which leads me to believe it was made with higher than average mineral content.

The tests did not take long, we actually found that the two to four ratio is the best for amplifying the power of mana activation. Pakt even commented that my billet has a cleaner feel to use. Most likely from the way I separated the slag, the crystals inside each also improved the overall effect.

Pakt himself has a sithril ring we also used for reference and my sithril is more pure, though his ring was not high end.

The interesting result I discovered was with the higher mineral concentration tests. The mana became more sharp and easier to focus with the best results from the four to two ratio of minerals to silver. Even Pakt felt interested in that finding, though he has little idea about what he would use its effect for.

“I should melt the ones we don’t have a use for, any you fancy?” I ask.

“What, you mean you’ll just give me any?” Pakt replies in casual disbelief.

“Well, I took the materials from the pile over there, then I broke down some of the slag pile to extract anything remaining minerals so, I do not own any of it.”

Hearing that, Pakt picks up the two to four ratio billet.

“I guess I’ll get a new ring made out of this some day.”

I decide to take the four to two billet as reference, the feel of mana through this was the result I aimed for. The rest I will give to the smiths to just melt down. With this reference in mind I can start planning what I will do with Varrel’s sithril. I pick up and inspect the hammer again. Pakt comes over to comment.

“Woah, gobite hammer. That the one Varrel took?”

“He wants me to melt it down the best way possible.”

“Seems like it could be a waste, I did not see that hammer in action though I heard plenty about it. Gobite like that is hard for goblins to make and powerful enough to stand on its own.”

“That is why I wanted to test different refining ratios. I have ground down the rest of the armour Varrel had, now I just need to grind down the hammer.”

“Grind down, that seems like a lot of work?”

“Want to help?”

“No.”

I did not expect help with that, only one person can really be working on this at one time anyway. As I set the hammer down Pakt continues to speak.

“Let’s get some food and drink, sleep for the night if we can.”

“I usually go to the Pine’s dining hall.” I add.

“Mmmh, I’d rather not, too many mercs. No harlots.”

“Harlots?”

“Ahh, guess you wouldn’t get it. Well, this place will do.”

We did not have to walk far, near the market and in sight of the Willhin manor is a large Inn, one of the biggest in Calbin. On its signboard is a mountain and a moon, the name is moonlight mountain inn.

Entering inside I find the entire first floor is almost entirely a tavern with a kitchen tucked away. The store room may be underneath judging by the slightly hollow sound of our steps. Inside is nearly full as around four of the twenty or more tables are occupied. Each table is either a square or round table with stools seated at each.

It does not take long before the crowd inside begins to fall silent, they are not eying Pakt, who wears noticeable steel armour. The crowd makes glances at me while whispering among each other. I do recognize some of the faces here, either passing by today as I worked on healing or someone I had healed at some point in time.

The attention makes me feel nervous as I sit upon a stool at an unoccupied table Pakt found for us. I try to avoid looking around focusing my attention on the table instead. Maybe I will inspect how it was made to take my mind off of the crowd.

“Well, looks like you have caught a lot of attention.” Pakt says to me.

He is resting his elbow against the table to hold his head as his back leans in. His lips smirk as he lets the weight of attention around me sink in.

“Is it bad?” I ask.

Raising his eyebrows, Pakt replies, “Certainly not, unless you don’t like praise and free girls.”

“Free girls?”

After I said that, Pakt gestures to his right with his eyes. There I quickly notice that most of the patrons here are men, most of the women are serving orders or sitting close to other men.

“This inn houses a few harlots to tend to their patron’s… adult needs for a price.” Pakt replies back, “Guess you’ll figure that out when you're older.”

I find that I can understand a lot about adults and relate well with them, except for this. I do not get what needs are fulfilled by doing ‘that’ without intention of having children. Though being told I will not understand something irks me.

“Havn’t seen you around in a while Pakt.” A woman says approaching with a plate of cooked ration food and mugs.

“Stell, I see you’ve been getting a few new girls working here.” Pakt turns to face her as she slides the plate on the table, his eyes glance at the exposed area above her chest.

“Times are hard for some girls, gotta earn something for later, if we make it out of this.” Stell replies, straightening herself up and resting her left arm on her hip.

“Been busy work following uncle around, recently got a bit of a break guarding Kordi here.” Pakt says, gesturing to me.

Stell looks over her shoulder, her brown eyes look over me as I sit on the stool. Like the other Ordumirts, her skin is a light brown and her hair is a brown base with light blonde highlights. A similar colour to my own mother’s; however, Stell has different feeling around her.

Most of the waitresses I have met are friendly and curious to listen in to conversations, they readily smile when looked at. Stell does not smile much yet, she continues to give off an approachable feeling, more reliable in a way.

“No wonder the room’s been eying you.” She says to me, “word has it you’ve helped out a lot of people around here with some very high healing skill for a child.”

I nod in response before I dig out a meal token.

“That won’t do, for you the meal is free.” she cuts in, holding her hand out to reject my token.

“Umm, stell?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“I think I have enough of these to eat for a year, they weigh my bag down.” I tell her as I show the number of tokens I have in a bag exceed twenty.

I tend to be provided five to ten of these a day, at most I have been able to use five, almost two per meal. It is also not uncommon for the server to add more to my plate or not take my tokens for the meal. As such, I have stockpiled many of these tokens which will likely be worthless after the siege.

Stell gently smiles as she takes the token.

“Alright, I’d offer another kind of service if you were interested.”

“Wha- I thought you didn’t take that kind of work!” Pakt explaimes.

“I do what I want with who I want.” Stell replies back.

“Well, she hasn’t said what services, she could just be offering a foot massage for all we know.” I naively comment.

“Hmhm~ Certainly true.” She chuckles, taking a seat on a stool between Pakt and I.

I notice some clamour around the tavern as the surrounding patrons converse between themselves about our talk.

“If you ask for a massage I will give you one, no charge.” Stell teases, emitting a dangerous feeling.

“Sorry,” I answer, bowing my head, “However, I do not believe you are able to massage as well as I can.”

“Its probably true,” a voice says from a near by table, “After he pulled an arrow from my leg his massage fixed the hole up as if it never happened. No pain or soreness, leg felt new.”

The man is someone I healed about four days or so ago. He had spun on his stool to face us, patting his left thigh.

“So I should be asking you for massages then?” Stell says to me with a wry smile, her confidence a little hurt.

I deal the finishing blow by holding my hand out, “two silver billets.”

I hear laughter around the room.

“That’s the spirit!” One shouts out.

Stell replies, “Isn’t that a high price for a massage?”

“I have healed enough skin and muscle wounds to be confident that I can use my magic massage to improve the smoothness and colour of your skin to that of a newborn.”

There is some truth to this, not just me imitating some merchants I have bargained with. Within the skin are different layers with different properties. The skin is very elastic and smooth at a young age and through focusing on regenerating that I have been able to make newly healed parts actually look younger than the rest of the body.

“Two silver would be cheap, I’d wager there are plenty of rich noble women who’d pay gold for that.” Pakt chipped in.

I do hope I am not being too rude to Stell, I get an urge to play mean to people sometimes. I was originally nervous inside but my bold actions helped build some confidence.

“If that is the case, I will have to take you up on that challenge.” Stell says, rising from her stool.

She crosses her arms under her breasts, propping them up. I look around to find the male patrons gazes are all locked onto her voluptuous chest.

“Well I think you’ve lost, Kordi.” Pakt says while leaning in.

Sometimes, I do not get adults.

The atmosphere is broken when the door is opened and someone comes through the door announcing, “Goblin attack, southern field. Anyone able is requested to come!”

I grab some of the bread and dry meat on the table to stuff in my bag before following Pakt outside. Those who remained are wishing us luck. I feel like it will be a long night.

Author's notes:

I was planning on having more action here but decided to focus on more personal stuff, how do people cope with the threat of their demise.

Either way, the Goblins are starting to arrive in force; thus, you can say the skirmish phase is starting to end at this point.

I did want to explore some themes/topics in this chapter. Anyone familiar with reincarnation plots is certainly familiar with the Pervert MC trope. Which makes little sense when you know that children do not have the sexual maturity to react like that. Plus, I just find it creepy. =

I do feel that I have missed out on some good childhood development plot because I made Kordi pretty mature. Whenever I feel it fits I do give Kordi opportunities to act more childish. But on average he demonstrates a lot more empathy than normal.