𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: 𝐍𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫
In the middle of the meal, Stephan turned his palm towards me, signaling me to be quiet, and then stood up. Seeing him concentrate on his hearing, I also tried to sense the presence.
Around the cabin, shells were thickly laid on top of lined stones, making a sound when stepped on. Mixed with the sound of the wind, I heard slow footsteps, crunching, crunching.
Smoothly, Stephan drew his sword and braced himself by the door. Hanna and I headed to the back room so as not to get in the way. As I peeked out from the door of the back room, just enough to see, there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
Stephan asked. I couldn’t hear the other person’s voice.
“Step away from the door.”
Stephan climbed onto a chair by the door and checked outside through the high window. He then checked outside from the high windows in three directions. The lower windows are blocked with thick boards at night. Apparently judging that there were no companions, Stephan opened the door.
The large young man who staggered in had his clothes soaked with dark blood from his right shoulder to his chest. Even while Stephan quickly checked his entire body for weapons, he was staggering.
“It’s okay.”
He called out to me, so I hurried over.
“Stephan, lay him on that daybed. Hanna, boil some water. Stephan, once he’s laid down, please check the surroundings again.”
I gave instructions to the two of them and opened the man’s shirt to check his wound. Judging from the shape of the wound, it was an arrow wound. I touched his neck to check his pulse. He had a fever and his pulse was fast. There was greasy sweat on his forehead.
Stephan returned and reported, “There’s no one.”
“Thank you. Can you hold him down? I’m going to probe inside the wound.”
I asked. The man faintly opened his eyes, so I spoke near his ear.
“I’m going to check if there’s anything left in the wound. Don’t move, even if it hurts.”
Seeing the man nod with unfocused eyes, I disinfected my fingers and tweezers. When I inserted the tweezers into the wound and probed inside, he groaned “Ugh,” but didn’t thrash about. I brought my face close to the wound and sniffed. There was a faint smell I recognized.
I spoke to the man again.
“There’s no arrowhead left. But it seems like it was coated with poison. I’m going to make a medicine now, so don’t fall asleep until you drink it. Hanna, disinfect the wound.”
I left the man to Hanna and Stephan and hurried to make the medicine. The medicine chest brought in by the carriage is about a quarter the size of the one at home, and it contains all the necessary medicines. I took out four kinds of medicine from it and ground them into powder.
“The disinfection is done.”
“Thank you.”
I kneaded half of the powdered herbs with sugar syrup. I need to make him drink it quickly.
I lifted the man’s head, which was starting to doze off from blood loss and poison, supported it with a cushion, inserted a teaspoon into his mouth, and smeared the kneaded powdered medicine on his upper jaw.
The man swallowed the sweet and bitter kneaded medicine, grimacing. I then made him drink plenty of water.
I hurried back to the kitchen, added the root of a tonic herb to the remaining medicine, and decocted it. Slowly simmer it. In the meantime, I have to undress the man. His clothes are damp and smell of the sea. Did he come up from the sea? It’s amazing that he could climb up here with this much bleeding. Maybe it’s thanks to his youth.
“Now, what should we do next?”
“We don’t know his identity, so let’s tie him up before he regains consciousness.”
“No, if he seems likely to thrash about, I’ll put him to sleep with medicine.”
Eventually, the herbs were decocted, and I woke the man up again and made him drink. Somehow, the man drank it all and finally fell asleep.
“Ellen-sama, let’s report to the security team. There’s no need for Ojou-sama to take care of him.”
“But, Stephan, corossan’s poison was used. It’s a rare poison, so I want to observe the effect of the antidote.”
Knowing that I won’t give in when it comes to poison, Stephan looks troubled. All I can do is apologize, saying I’m sorry.
Corossan poison is made from the sap of the corossan tree. It interferes with the healing of wounds, causing the wound to start rotting while still throbbing, and the rot spreads throughout the body, leading to death. It’s a poison that prolongs suffering.
However, there are no Corossan trees around here. They only grow in warmer countries. So it’s a poison that is hardly ever used around here. Is the man from a southern country? His skin is slightly dark. What could be the reason for being shot with a poisoned arrow?
・・・
『”𝐀𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦” – 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 “𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 “𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬”.』
・・・
The man woke up after sleeping for a full day. The first voice to thank him was hoarse.
“I’m saved. I would have died if I had stayed like that. I will definitely thank you. I’m Cain. And you?”
“I’m Ellen. We help each other when we’re in trouble.”
The man who calls himself Cain doesn’t seem to be twenty years old yet. His hair is a bright brown, close to gold, and his eyes are ice blue like the winter sky. His face is as beautiful as a sculpture, but still has a youthful air. The clothes he was wearing were of high quality.
“Well, first, let’s have some food and medicine. Please wait a bit.”
He finished eating the chicken soup with soft boiled vegetables and mashed potatoes cooked in a light flavor.
“You might not be full, but you have to endure it for now. If you eat until you’re full, your recovery will be delayed.”
“I understand.”
Cain, who obediently agreed, gulped down the decoction served after the meal. He doesn’t show it on his face, even though it must be bitter.
“I will check your wound.”
Saying that, I removed the cloth wrapped around his shoulder. The bleeding had stopped and the wound seemed to be closing, probably due to the medicine.
I gently wipes off the medicine that is currently applied, applies the ointment again, and wraps the cloth.
“Is Ellen a doctor?”
“No. I’m a pharmacist.”
“I see. I was lucky to meet someone like you. I’m truly grateful.”
“I just did what I could. I used an antidote according to the corossan poison that was used.”
“Corossan… I see.”
“Who used the poisoned arrow?”
“…No, I don’t know. I was attacked suddenly.”
There was a slight hesitation in his eyes, but he couldn’t say it. That’s understandable. It can’t be helped. I wanted to know who used corossan.
“It will take a while until there is no worry of the wound becoming infected. Please focus on recovery until then.”
“I’m really sorry. Here, take this.”
Cain said that and tried to hand over the pendant he had taken off from his neck. It was a round ruby embedded in an oval gold base. She gently pushed it back.
“No. I don’t need payment for the treatment. But if you insist, I will lend you this place. Please help me when I’m in trouble. That’s enough.”
I probably won’t see this person again, but let’s end it with that. I can keep a record of the recovery process, and I hesitate to accept an accessory that seems to have a history.
The arrow wound was healing steadily, but if it doesn’t close from the deep part of the wound, it can easily rot from the inside. So, I checked every day while applying ointment to make sure that the skin of the wound wasn’t closing before the deep part.
Cain, perhaps being cautious, didn’t talk about anything that would reveal his identity. I didn’t ask either. Still, I could tell he was well-bred. There must have been some incident, but the person who shot the arrow must have been trying to kill this person.
“You don’t have to worry, I’ll hire a carriage to take me home.”
Cain, who insisted on saying that, only had the pendant that seemed to be worth money. I don’t know how far his home is, but that would be too inconvenient.
(Well, I’m already on board.)
About ten days later, I decided to send Cain, who had recovered considerably, to the village by carriage. When I asked Stephan for a favor,
“I thought you would do that.”
He said with a bitter smile.
Cain, who was an exemplary patient, thanked me over and over again and left the cabin.
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