Chapter 8

‘That was an interesting experience…’ I thought as I sat down on a nearby barrel. I mean, I got what I wanted, but the guy was too damn scary. Why is he the store room guard? Shouldn't he be something like, I don’t know, the berserker squad captain or something?

In any case, I was glad to finally have a proper place to hold my sword. Now I actually feel like an adventurer, instead of a mentally unstable amnesiac walking along with a sharp weapon in his hands. So hey, progress!

The barrel I was on was surprisingly comfortable and I ate undisturbed. Inwardly, I was bemoaning the fact that I would have to meet Jim everyday for my rations. That, and the fact that this is all I get for today. No lunch or dinner. Apparently the situation is a lot worse than I expected here if they can only afford to feed us once per day. At least it was better than nothing.

Anyway, I finished my meal off with the surprisingly sweet banana and knocked on the infirmary’s door. I heard a female voice telling me to come in and I did so.

I entered a small hallway with a door on each side and a desk right in front of me. At it sat a middle aged woman sorting through some papers. “Hello, how can I help you? Are you injured?”

The words I wanted to say died in my throat as a voice filled with anger sounded from one of the adjacent rooms.

“Patricia!? Did another one of those idiots get stabbed!?”

“*sigh* No sir, he doesn’t look like he’s bleeding!” she yelled back

“Oh gods! Did they find a new way to stab themselves? Are they eating the swords now? That’s still internal bleeding Patricia!!” He sounded almost impressed.

“I’m not injured. The captain sent me here.” I quickly interrupted before the screaming could continue.

“*Gasp* Oh, no! Did the captain get stabbed?” she asked in horror.

“Ha? No! He didn’t -”

“What!? How the hell did he get stabbed too!? The guy basically never leaves that storeroom of his! Patricia, go get the stretcher!”

“Yes sir!”

“Oh my good lord...Wait, stop! Nothing happened to him! NOBODY GOT STABBED!!” I stopped her from running after the stretcher.

“...really?”

“Why the hell is that so hard to believe!?”

“Well, I mean, it happens pretty often actually…”

“Yeah, I noticed. But not this time. The captain assigned me as the doctor’s escort for the foreseeable future.” I told her now that she seemed to have calmed down.

The nurse gave a sigh in relief and sat back down at the desk just in time for another man to enter the hallway.

“Damn it Patricia! Where’s the stretcher?” said what I was now pretty sure was the angry voice from earlier. He had a long face and a sunken expression, almost sickly, that, combined with his dark red hair made him look like some kind of destitute scientist.

“It was a misunderstanding sir. This young man was actually sent by the captain to be your escort.”

That gave him pause and, thankfully, calmed him down, but not by much. He gave off the impression that he was always more or less angry. With a critical eye, he examined me from top to bottom and nodded.

“Well, at least you’re better than nothing.” That was anything, but a confidence boost.

“I’m Reginald, a newly hired adventurer. Captain Gaul said I’ll be escorting you while gathering medical ingredients from the forest.”

“Hmph, at least you’re somewhat professional, but where are my manners. My name is Lucian and I serve as doctor of Pinereach keep. Now, I don’t want to waste anymore time. I’ll go get my equipment and we’ll leave shortly.”

With a flick of his pristine white coat he turned around and marched back through the door he came in. The nurse looked unbothered by his eccentric behaviour and just kept looking at the files on her desk.

Since I figured she was busy I kept myself occupied by looking around the room. There was a random assortment of things everywhere including, barrels, boxes, stacks of paper, a few chairs, and even a few potted plants.

What drew my attention the most was the mirror. I didn’t know why it was here, though there must have been some practical reason for it. It was hung on the wall and was big enough to show the entire body if you stood far enough.

Looking at it I realised I still didn’t know how I looked or, rather, remembered how. With anticipation and some anxiety I walked in front of it and examined myself.

The first thing I noticed were my eyes. I didn't expect them to be purple. I mean, the color was pretty muted, almost black, but I couldn’t deny it was purple. Or does violet sound more fancy?

In any case, I already saw someone with purple eyes so I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal in this world. It was still strange though…

Thankfully, everything else about me was normal. My face was average, maybe a bit handsome if you squinted. My hair was dark brown and wavy, not long enough to get in my eyes, but enough that I didn’t look fresh out of bootcamp.

The other thing that struck me was my age. I was young, possibly barley and adult. If I had to guess I’d probably be around eighteen to twenty years old.

“Are you done admiring yourself princess?” Lucian’s voice interrupted me.

Startled, I turn around and see him looking at me with clear impatience. He was out of his coat and was now wearing some light armour, a mix between fur and chainmail. To his side was a simple shortsword.

“If so, then grab a bag and let’s get going. Hopefully we can gather at least half of what’s on my list today.”

He threw me a simple bag, almost a pouch really. It had a leather lace going through its mouth that I used to tie it to my waist. He had four of them on him and a huge rucksack on his back. I asked him if he didn’t want me to carry more, but his response was negative.

“You’re the muscle of this operation, we can’t burden you too much. I have military training, but I’m a healer not a fighter. I’ll focus on gathering what we need and you focus on keeping us alive. Sounds good?”

Unfortunately no, it didn’t sound good at all. The guy was relying on me to be some sort of professional bodyguard, but the only experience I had was stabbing that Gorillasaurus a few times. I came alive out of that ordeal mostly because Lily was there to control the fight.

But I was already too deep to pull out now. I’d make a total ass of myself and I really didn’t want to do that. Well, not anymore then I already did at least…

With that thought in mind I nodded at him and prayed I wouldn’t screw up too bad. Lucian gave some instructions to Patricia and from them I realized that we would be gone for three days at the minimum. This was apparently not a simple outing, but an entire expedition.

After he was done talking to the nurse and made to leave I verbalised a few worries I had.

“Sir? Aren’t going to get some supplies like food and water? Maybe a spare weapon?”

He scoffed. “I know these woods like the back of my hand. There’s enough to eat in them, either plant or animal and there are two rivers with fresh water not even half an hour apart.”

“I guess that’s fine then?” I said uncertainty.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course it is, it’s not the first time I do this. Also, we have to move around a lot, we can’t bother to carry more then we need to. Still, here, I forgot to give you this.”

It was a waterskin. Thankful for it, I tied it next to the pouch. At least I felt a bit more prepared now.