Chapter 16: The Wound That Touched Everyone’s Heart

George left the campfire and headed straight for the main exit of the camp. He remembered that when he returned to the camp before, Sir Bart had not come in directly but had just stood there. The entrance to the camp was not really an entrance; it was just a gap left in a camp surrounded by cargo wagons used as walls, a gap that made it easy to go in and out.

It was a pity that things did not go as planned. Sir Val was not at the exit. George felt as if bad luck had hit him so hard that even drinking cold water made his teeth hurt.

“Sinda, do you know where Mr. Val went?” George asked the guard beside him.

“Captain Anson just sent a message using short-range communication magic. It seems they have run into big trouble. So Lord Val rushed off to help,” the guard with squinting eyes reported what he knew.

“Big trouble?” Hearing this, George was stunned for a moment and then started to think. “According to logic, the town should have been mostly cleared out. The Bear Goblin Priest we met earlier was clearly the leader. Unless… unless there are Ogres. But if it was just a few Ogres, they would not be a big problem for Anson and the others. However, if there were so many Ogres, they would have fought with the Goblins long ago. How could they form an alliance?”

“Let’s try thinking about it another way. What could force so many Ogres to work with the Goblins? A powerful Mage? No, most Mages would not hang out with those dirty Goblins directly. They usually communicate and command through agents. If the Mage himself is not there, it is not really a big trouble. Could it be a Shadow Beast? But Priests are very dangerous to Shadow Beasts. Given their nature, the Shadow Beast and the Bear Goblin Priest would not tolerate each other in the same group. Oh, right, the most likely possibility is an Ogre Wizard. But not only inside the Duchy, but even in the surrounding countries and regions, there is no sign of an Ogre Wizard.” George thought he had sorted out the connections. “If it really is an Ogre Wizard, then this is not just a bandit raid supported by someone. Forget it. When Sir Val comes back, everything will be clear. I will just wait here for him.”

With no other options, George leaned against a cargo wagon at the entrance and waited for Sir Val to return.

“George—what happened to Craig?” Sir Bart’s voice came from far away.

George looked up toward the direction of the sound outside the camp. He saw Sir Bart running toward them quickly, carrying Thomas under his right arm. At the same time, he could vaguely hear Thomas cursing.

As they got closer, George saw Thomas struggling in Sir Bart’s arms. He waved his short arms and punched Sir Bart’s breastplate, making a loud “thump, thump, thump” sound.

Just as Sir Bart was about to reach George, Thomas’s words stopped George from saying what he was about to say.

“You rotten Kobudo, put me down now! How can you hold me like this? At least let me sit on your back. Look, this ride has nearly shaken me to death.” Thomas’s rapid-fire speech was really hard to handle.

Suddenly, there was a “bang.” It turned out that Sir Bart had let go without thinking. Unprepared, Thomas fell straight to the ground.

Thomas pushed himself up with his hands and rolled over to get on his feet. He widened his watery eyes and pointed a finger at Sir Bart while cursing: “You rotten Kobudo! I told you to put me down, not to just drop me! Look how hard I got hit.” Then he pulled his hand back and pointed to his forehead, which was as red as a monkey’s butt after touching the ground.

George suddenly realized. So Craig was acting silly and cute because he learned it from Thomas. George had never seen Thomas like this before. Was this a unique way for Thomas and Sir Bart to interact? There must be some special trigger for it. Otherwise, George would not have just learned about this after knowing them for so long. Of course, Thomas, as a Retainer, lived in the Bart Manor. Craig interacted with Thomas much more than others did. He could say Craig watched their interactions with Sir Val all day long, so it was normal for him to know about this. George seemed to have solved a mystery in his heart.

“Stop it, Thomas! I am worried. I still do not know what kind of wound Craig has,” Sir Bart said with a bitter face.

Thomas said angrily, “Should I say you were born without a brain, or that your concern for Craig made your intelligence drop? If Craig was really badly hurt, George or Hiren would have come to call you themselves. Why would they just send a Guard to report?”

Sir Bart turned to look at George: “Is Thomas telling the truth? Craig’s injury is not serious?”

George felt a bit awkward because he did not know Craig’s exact injury either. He had no choice but to tell Sir Bart what he knew and his guesses: “Craig was probably hurt on his left leg. When he was first hurt, he could still endure the pain and use the terrain to fight with the Bear Goblin. Even if the pain got worse later, it was more likely just a flesh wound. Or at least his bones were not badly hurt. But now his horse boots are deformed and cannot be taken off, so we do not know the exact situation.”

“The horse boots cannot be taken off? Then we need to find a Blacksmith,” Sir Bart answered directly.

Thomas rolled his eyes: “You are so anxious you have lost your brain. How can we find a Blacksmith in this town now? Even if they were not killed by the Goblins, we do not know where they are hiding.”

George stopped their argument: “I originally thought Mr. Val could use his sword to split the horse boots. But when I went to find him, I heard that Sergeant Major Anson had big trouble, so he left first to help. Sir Bart, do you have a way to remove the horse boots without hurting Craig?”

Sir Bart hesitated: “We will have to see the situation first. Your idea before was correct. Isolde’s sword skills are much better than mine. If he comes, the chance of success will be higher.”

“Sinda! When Sir Val comes back, tell him to come find me as soon as possible.” George turned back to tell the Guard, then he took Sir Bart and Thomas to the campfire where Craig was lying.

Thomas’s full name was Thomas Garick. He claimed to be a Gnome Illusionist. Of course, for the people around him, his Alchemy and gathering skills were much more valuable than his illusions, which were less than three circles. At thirty-six years old, he was still considered a minor according to Gnome customs, which gave him an excuse to act silly. Also, he used his minor status as an excuse to stop close friends from calling him by his surname. Sometimes George thought, “When he becomes an adult and asks us to call him by his surname, few of us who are used to calling him Thomas will be able to switch quickly.”

It was said that in the beginning, he was saved by Sir Bart from the mouth of a Feral Wolf during a mission. Since then, he had followed Sir Bart. However, he officially became a Retainer only after they arrived at Bolerum Territory and saw the prosperity of the land. From some angles, he seemed more like a Halfling than a Gnome.

Sir Bart gently lifted Craig’s injured leg to look at it and then touched and tapped the steel horse boots. Throughout the whole process, Craig’s face twitched slightly in pain. Then he sighed and said, “Let’s wait for Isolde to come back. I am not sure I can open these horse boots without hurting Craig at all.”

Mr. Coke was whispering with Thomas nearby. It looked like both of them had bad expressions on their faces.

“My Lord, the platform you requested has been built,” the Guard who was assigned to modify the cargo wagon returned.

George quickly ordered: “Good. Come, two of you, carry Craig up there quickly. Also, bring a few Bull’s Eye Lamps.”

The so-called Bull’s Eye Lamp was an oil lamp that had been carefully polished inside to direct the light to a single opening. It could provide a conical light range with a radius of about 60 feet.

Seeing the Guards lift Craig on the stretcher, George turned back to Sir Bart, Thomas, and Mr. Coke and said: “Let’s go together too. At least Craig will be more comfortable lying there. By the way, is Craig asleep? Why has he been closing his eyes and not speaking since just now?”

Mr. Coke was about to answer when suddenly a bright light appeared in the west of the town and shot straight into the sky. After a while, the light faded, and a winged humanoid creature with silver wings appeared. He flew forward quickly, and a curved light flashed. Then a deafening scream echoed from the sky.

Sir Val said confidently: “Do not worry. That is Isolde. It seems the enemy has been dealt with. But what kind of enemy made Isolde open his Heavenly Realm form? This matter is getting more and more interesting.”

After knowing there was no problem, Mr. Coke answered George’s earlier question: “I just gave Craig some sleeping potion. It should make him sleep and feel less pain.”

That meant Craig had hurt so much during Sir Bart’s check that he twitched even in his sleep. Thinking of this, George suddenly felt like he was cursing in his heart.

Suddenly, George felt something getting closer and closer. Everyone looked up and saw that it was Sir Val flying back. Flying was fast. In a flash, Sir Val was already above George and the others. He flapped his silver-white wings and slowly landed. When he was two inches off the ground, he snapped his fingers, and the wings turned into light and disappeared.

Mr. Val turned and smiled at the group: “What are you all doing here? Did you come just to wait for me to return?”

Sir Bart spoke first: “Of course, we are waiting for you. The horse boot on Craig’s injured leg is deformed and cannot be taken off. Only you in our group have the ability to open that boot without hurting him. By the way, what kind of enemy made you use your Heavenly Realm form?”

Sir Val shook his head: “It was just an Ogre Wizard. The annoying thing is that it was smart. As soon as it saw me, it turned into gas and flew away. To catch it, I had to transform into my Heavenly form. This is not a big deal. Let’s deal with Craig’s foot injury quickly.”

After finishing his words, the group hurriedly carried Craig toward the cargo wagon. During this process, George was also thinking about the Ogre Wizard.

Ogre Wizard. This did not refer to an Ogre who served as a Wizard, but to a subspecies of Ogres who had innate abilities. They could shapeshift, turn invisible, turn into gas and fly, etc. These abilities were equivalent to spells cast by high-level Mages. Usually, they were stronger and smarter than ordinary Ogres, and they had self-healing abilities not worse than Trolls. Think about it: if you cut off his arm, he can reattach it right there and punch you. What a terrifying enemy! Fortunately, the number of this subspecies is extremely rare. Their appearance was somewhat similar to the Yaks in Chinese legends: pale blue or pale green skin, horns, and hair color different from their skin color. Those with green skin had blue hair, and those with blue skin had green hair. Their claws were black, but their teeth were unnaturally white. If you looked closely at their eyes, their dark eyes had white pupils just like ordinary Ogres.

Around the wagon, everyone formed a circle, with some holding Bull’s Eye Lamps. George directed the light from the lamps to create a shadowless effect as much as possible.

Sir Val swung his sword and cut at Craig’s leg, which was sticking out on the platform. After three slashes, Mr. Coke quickly stepped forward to remove the cut horse boots.

Everyone saw Craig’s leg injury and could not help but take a sharp breath.