Chapter 22 (J) - Cooling Water

With a barely restrained shout, I fall from the tree in which I had been climbing through. Thankfully I have enough power left to slow my fall and refrain from breaking anything, but the impact still sends streaks of pain shooting up my leg. Blinking tears out of my eyes, I drag myself to the base of a tree and prop myself up against it.

“Jay? You okay?”

“...No… I’m not…”

“...It’s that bad, huh?”

I shift my jacket so as to have a better view of my leg, and brush aside some singed scraps of cloth. I cringe, and Calypso lets out a gasp. The sight… isn’t exactly pleasant.

“Y-yeah, that’s… That doesn’t look good…”

“That fire burned straight through my clothes and protection in almost an instant. I’m lucky to still have a leg…”

“Y-yeah, sounds like it… You need to get that treated.”

“I can’t. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s too dangerous NOT to get it treated!”

“No. We’d be in too much danger of being identified, which would place whoever treats it in peril as well. I can’t risk that. We’ll just lay low and let the serum deal with it.”

“Jay… You’re out of the serum. The injector already used up the last of it getting you this far. You need to get that looked at.” I feel around my waist for the serum injector. Calypso’s right, the bottles are all empty. Looking at my hands, I realize my palm is still bleeding slowly where I cut it in our escape. Besides that, even the smallest of scratches from falling out of the tree aren’t healing now. I’ll have to rely on the body’s natural healing process and actual medical treatment until we can get more of the serum.

“...Dammit. Of course we’d be out… Fine, I’ll get it looked at. But we won’t be going into any towns or cities for it.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because of those knights outside the laboratory. With how long we spent inside, it’s highly improbable that the Knights’ investigation team wouldn’t have arrived. Despite this, that Daedalus operative showed up and attacked us, which could only mean one of two things.”

Calypso ponders this for a moment, before voicing her conclusion in a hushed voice “...They’re so powerful they can afford to be that brazen…”

“...Or their operative is part of the investigation team itself,” I conclude. “Either way, it’s far too dangerous to let ourselves be found, let alone identified. We’ll have to settle for obtaining medical supplies, so I can do my best to treat it myself.”

“According to this medical guide thing that was in the files we took, you should really rinse it off in cool water for a while. There’s a river really close to here, so you should probably go there. We can figure out where to get supplies later.” With no meaningful objections to voice, I drag myself to my feet, and follow her guidance. A few minutes later, we find the crystal-clear water. I don’t want the sword hanging at my side to get drenched, so I wrap it in my cloak, leaving it on the shore before striding into the water. I fail to stifle a sigh of relief as I ease myself in, finally getting a degree of relief from the pain I’ve been enduring.

“Jay, your pants are soaked.” I look down. In my haste to ease the pain, I completely forgot to remove any clothing but my cloak.

“...Oh. …I suppose this isn’t one of my brightest moments.

“You don’t say.”

“So what should I do next?”

“Well… I don’t really know. There’s a bunch of degrees of severity a burn can be. I’m not a doctor, so I’ve got no clue how to tell. And even if I did, who knows how the serum’s healing might’ve changed its appearance?”

I sigh. “Then what do we do?”

“You get treated by an actual doctor. Duh.”

“Not happening. It’s too dangerous, both for us and them.”

“Okay! In that case, I’ll start searching for some new partner, so I’m not left high and dry when your leg gets infected, stops working, and gets you killed, then.”

“Calypso, you’re being dramatic.”

“No, you’re being a stubborn idiot! You’re right! Going to a doctor and getting treated is dangerous! But it’s a hell of a lot better than what you’re risking! So stop acting like a dumbass!”

I open my mouth to respond, but a faint rustling catches my attention. Turning to the side, I see three men emerge from the forest, apparently none of which being chimeras. The three men are rather tall with musculature clearly visible beneath their shoddy armor. Their armor doesn’t appear very well put-together, like it’s made from a mess of ill-fitted parts, but it clearly has the capacity of stopping a blade. Their weapons- a sword, an axe, six daggers, and a crossbow- have also clearly seen better days, but would still prove lethal in a fight. None of the men are wearing helmets, and significant portions of their faces bear scars, likely left by blades.

I sigh. “If you three are bandits, I will fight to the death to defend what little I have, but none of it is worth your effort.”

The men stumble back in surprise. “Wha- Huh? The hell’d this guy come from?”

“...Did you not see me?”

“Nope, didn’t see ‘ya at all, ‘till ya spoke up.” …Of course. If I’d just stayed quiet, they wouldn’t have noticed me. But no, I had to draw attention to myself. …Clearly I’m not making the brightest of judgements today.

One of the men steps forward. “Well, we ain’t bandits, so you don’t gotta worry about that.”

Another of them steps closer as well. “Dear Solaris, what happened to that leg?

“A monster attacked and burned my leg, before going off towards the town.”

The third man steps right up to the edge of the water. “Nice try, but we ain’t fallin’ for that. Yer some kinda outlaw, ain’t you? You got into a scuffle with one of them knights? I’d bet that’s how that leg got burned like that, huh?”

Calypso speaks in my ear. “This guy’s smarter than his face would make you think.”

“I’m gonna take that silence as a yes. But don’t worry, pal, we’re not about to turn ya’ in. An enemy of them knights is a friend of ours, y’know?”

“...I thought you said you weren’t bandits…?”

“Hey, now! We’re faithful servants of the goddess! Not some uncivilized thugs!”

So, these men are remnants of the Holy Order of Solaris… They’re our enemy’s allies, then. …Unfortunately, I’m in no shape to fight. I don’t even have a weapon in arm’s reach save for some wet rocks. Their retribution will have to wait, at least until my leg is better.

The man with the axe speaks again. “Hey, I got an idea. How ‘bout you come with us? We’ll get that leg looked at by a real pro for ‘ya, and those knights don’t gotta know a damn thing.”

It takes a moment for the man’s offer to sink in. I’m being offered treatment… by an enemy. He’s obviously offering treatment just to recruit me into their diminishing ranks, and not out of any sense of decency, but still… I can get my leg treated, without the knights being made aware. If I’m not identified, the Order won’t have any reason to tell our enemy about me, either. …Of course, if I’m found out, it could be the end of everything…

“Jay… Unless there’s some random doctor wandering this forest, this is gonna be your best bet.” She’s right. I don’t really have another option. …But maybe I should play up how bad my leg is. It never hurts to be underestimated by an enemy.

“I’d be honored to accept, not to mention grateful. …I’m having a bit of difficulty getting back up, though. I’m afraid I can’t really put much weight on my leg. I’m good with a blade, but I don’t really have the best pain tolerance…” Calypso snickers in my ear as one of them helps me up. I pick up my sword and cloak, making sure to put as much weight on my good leg as I can visibly do, and fasten them back in their proper place.

“Damn, where’d ya get the sword? Thing looks pretty fancy,” one of the men says. For a moment, the memories flash past in my mind.

“...I took it from the body of a knight,” I reply.

“Niiice! Way to stick it to ‘em!” Suddenly, my hands start trembling. What I wouldn’t give to cut these monsters to ribbons where they stand…

“Anyway, I hope I don’t slow you down too much, with my leg and all. Lead the way, friends!”