Chapter 254: The Ignored Injury.

Having finished his thoughts, George noticed that the condition of his forearms seemed to be worsening.

“It looks like this injury isn’t too serious, but with my own recovery ability, it still needs some proper care. I was indeed too careless before.” George looked at his arms and shook his head with a bitter smile.

However, since he had already dismissed his attendants, he certainly wouldn’t call anyone back in now. After all, although he wasn’t the backbone of this army, he was the highest-ranking general. If news of his injury spread, it would more or less affect morale.

Moreover, the enemies encountered were likely just the vanguard of the Dark Elves. At a time like this, he needed to be careful with everything around him. Although the battle situation in the Kingdom of Lucia had been desperately covered up, it couldn’t be hidden from the eyes of those who paid attention.

Over 2,000 Champion Knights had met their doom. This was the elite of an entire military district of the Kingdom of Lucia. Adding in the supporting Heavy Cavalry, light cavalry, and other auxiliary units, the losses exceeded 6,000 men based on known intelligence.

It could be said that the Northern Military District, one of the five major military districts of the Kingdom of Lucia, was essentially in a state of ruin. Decades of accumulated elite forces were scattered in a single day. The plundering by the Dark Elves had also severely struck the foundation of production and daily life there. Even if they could recover slowly, the time spent would far exceed the past.

The destruction of material means of production could be restored within a few years with external aid, but the massive loss of population after the burning, killing, and looting would take much longer to bridge the gap. It could be said that for at least the next 20 years, the Northern Military District of the Kingdom of Lucia would not be able to send out a single soldier capable of fighting.

It didn’t stop there. Even after paying such a price, the Kingdom of Lucia failed to wipe out the Dark Elves committing atrocities within their borders. These evil spirits from the Underground were still rampaging through the northern frontier of the Kingdom of Lucia.

For these guys who carried Magic Items for supplies and moved like the wind, the vast territory of the Kingdom of Lucia had instead become a burden. There was a time when the Winter General at the end of the year, combined with the vast and sparsely populated land, was the nightmare of every monarch invading the Kingdom of Lucia. Long supply lines and an environment where one could not live off the land were their best means against enemies.

However, now when they wanted to encircle and suppress these elite Dark Elves, whose numbers weren’t exactly huge, on their own land, even with the help of Divination Magic and hawks in the sky, it was quite difficult to intercept this group of light cavalry on the plains.

In comparison, the situation in the Duchy of Nohan was much better. They had blocked the only exit. Although defending here also meant facing the army of Dark Elves, as long as they could hold out, they could effectively prevent the enemy from spreading. Besides, defense was generally easier than offense. Unfortunately, the intelligence came too late, and the Duchy of Nohan didn’t have time to build permanent fortifications here. Otherwise, the situation that followed might have been much easier.

George expertly opened the medical kit placed underground. He took out a roll of medical bandages from inside. These sterilized Linen products were wrapped around his forearms in a spiral bandaging method. This was to use pressure to stop the seepage of tissue fluid from his body.

However, wrapping the injured area with an elastic bandage was quite particular: it couldn’t be too loose or too tight. If it was too loose, it would be ineffective and fall off easily; if it was too tight, the area would swell and go numb, hindering blood circulation. To master the balance, an ordinary person would need at least a week of practice. But in most cases, as a soldier, one would undergo this kind of training. Because on the battlefield, no one could guarantee that medical personnel would be available for treatment at any time. These most basic self-rescue methods could very well determine whether you lived or died.

If Hiren were still here, George could have completely let him help. Although he mostly seemed rough and unreliable, his training in this area, under the stick education of Knight Val, had yielded decent results.

Unfortunately, the rampant killing last night made Hiren unusually excited. He was now like a lion in heat, venting his endless energy outside! So George could only rely on himself now.

After tying the knot of the bandage, George undid a silver metal ball from his belt. On the thin shell made of Mithril, patterns of waves and snowflakes were engraved. At the heavy part of the snowflake, a blue crystal was inlaid.

George casually threw it into a water flask beside him. Before long, the outside of the summer water flask was covered with crystal-clear water droplets. This was the phenomenon of moisture in the air condensing due to cold. This showed that the temperature inside that water flask was far lower than the current room temperature.

The prepared cowhide water bag was soft and tough. After pouring the ice water from the flask into the bag, George placed them on his forearms. At the same time, he took out the Mithril ball.

George had never discovered what the exact limit of uses per day for this Mithril ball was. However, the cooling effect it released seemed inferior to the zero-ring freezing ray used by Spellcasters.

The freezing ray shot a ray composed of cold air and ice shards from the caster’s fingertips. The damage that spell could cause to a target was pitifully small. Even if an ordinary Commoner took a hit, they would mostly still be alive and kicking. It was evident how poor its lethality was.

Cantrips! Cantrips! This kind of thing wasn’t even considered a spell; it was more of a means for Mages to select apprentices. If one couldn’t even use a cantrip after studying for a while, persuasion to quit was probably the best outcome. Most Mages were always lacking materials for experiments, especially intelligent humanoid creatures.

However, at certain times, even a cantrip like the freezing ray could be useful. Using it to finish off an enemy or stop bleeding might save one’s life. In fact, the most used cantrip, Magic Trick, was said to be for making dry rations taste better.

And this Mithril ball, whose power couldn’t even compare to the freezing ray, was indeed a failed work of an Alchemist. George no longer knew what the original creator’s idea was. But after getting it, George had always used it as a convenient tool for iced drinks in the summer. After all, for such harmless enjoyments, George wouldn’t treat himself poorly.

Speaking of which, whether it was the Belt of Energy from before or the current Iced Marble, they all seemed like useless failed products to most people. But although they had no major use, they could bring small conveniences to daily life. Coupled with the low price, George seemed to have developed a habit of finding treasures in piles of scrap.

The icy sensation from the water bag made George’s arms feel much better: “Sure enough, for soft tissue injuries in the early stage, the best method is bandaging and ice application! I didn’t expect that using such a hard gun shaft would cause so much damage to my arms. It seems I must use it less, at least until I get a suitable gun shaft. Otherwise, if I leave some hidden injuries, I’ll have to spend a lot of Gold Coins to get treatment at a Temple.”

The ice application George was performing now could cause local blood vessels to contract, reduce blood circulation, thereby lowering the tissue metabolism rate and inhibiting inflammatory reactions. Its basic principle of effectiveness in the world he was in before crossing over was: constrict the capillaries at the injury site to reduce tissue bleeding and inflammatory response, reduce local swelling, and slow down the release of histamine. It reduced the tissue’s sensitivity to pain; reduced exudation and swelling of the microcirculation and surrounding tissues; reduced the effect of vascular endothelial cells and thrombosis; reduced the release of oxygen free radicals, and so on.

Although he didn’t know if these basic biological principles were exactly the same in both worlds, judging by the effect, it was very close. Of course, George also paid attention to all the precautions: the first choice for ice application should be done in sessions, with intervals of at least thirty minutes or more, and importantly, each session should not exceed fifteen to twenty minutes. Because icing for too long would cause excessive constriction of local blood vessels, resulting in frostbite, or even necrosis for those with peripheral vascular diseases, and in severe cases, amputation. And the ice application on the injured area must be done with a soft bag containing crushed ice mixed with water, gently covering it to ensure even cooling; one must never take out a rock-hard ice bag from the freezer, as it would not only fail to apply ice effectively but might also cause frostbite.

So George was using a traditional water bag of excellent quality. They were mostly made from the stomachs or bladders of animals. As long as they were inflated, tanned, and air-dried until soft, then wrapped with a layer of cowhide or horsehide for abrasion resistance, they were ready. But saying it was simple didn’t mean it was easy to do! Otherwise, every water bag wouldn’t sell for one Gold Coin each.

Besides that, George had also seen another type of sheepskin water bag. Due to its ancient craftsmanship, it couldn’t completely meet sealing requirements during use, and there would always be some leakage when laid flat.

The stopper of the water bag was made of wood, working on a principle similar to a thermos stopper, tightening when wet. However, because the water in the sheepskin bag constantly seeped out and then evaporated, and evaporation absorbed heat to cool it down, the water temperature in the bag was relatively low. So even in summer when the temperature was high, the water tasted cool and refreshing.

It could be said to be an essential item for every soldier in the camp, after all, they couldn’t use Magic Items like George to drink iced beverages in the middle of summer.

However, for his current needs, George certainly wouldn’t choose that kind of wet thing. He didn’t want his arms to get inflamed!

“Next, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to do a hot compress. It improves blood and lymph circulation, which is beneficial for absorbing the remaining blood stasis and exudate at the affected area. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll try using my own Spiritual Qi to heal myself. Although that feels a bit wasteful, with enemies in front of us, there’s no other choice.” George muttered to himself before going to sleep.

The glow of dawn gradually began to spread. The sun hid behind the horizon, casting a hazy light around them. The light slowly infected the pale blue sky around it, and the golden Morning Glow slowly appeared in the sky.

Against the backdrop of the red sun in the east, the crimson peaks in the west looked like they were holding a mass of clouds and mist, appearing dreamlike. The reflection from the mountain ravine flashed like red gems, making one feel as if they had entered a mythical realm. However, everyone who experienced last night’s battle would have a different view of this. That was the glory left by the warriors who defended their country last night.

Although he slept very late last night, getting up early had become a habit ingrained in George. Waving his hand, he found that his injury seemed to have mostly healed, so he began his daily morning training: “I didn’t expect it to be mostly healed without even needing a hot compress. I don’t know if I overestimated the injury because I was nervous for a moment, or if my recovery ability has reached…”

Next was the inventory of the wounded and the distribution of the Loot. In the large tent in the center of the camp, several influential figures present were bargaining without any manners. This, of course, included George himself.

Facing the Knights in front of him, the eloquent George immediately gained the upper hand in the conversation. However, no matter how flowery George’s words were, the other side kept insisting on the initial decision and wouldn’t budge. It seemed that they had been severely scammed by someone before, and now, perhaps due to the shadow left by the past, they had made preparations early on.

In the end, George used his rich language skills to gain the right to choose part of the Loot. In fact, during last night’s battle, the cavalry of Bolerum Territory had only one person fall from a horse and get injured. However, thanks to the three Knights and the numerous Squires, the results were not small.

It could be said that taking the high-end route in this regard was quite advantageous. However, it was also human nature for the other side to request compensation. As the saying goes, there are no father and son in the marketplace; when fighting for benefits for oneself and one’s subordinates, any previous friendship was thrown aside early on. Moreover, this was money earned by risking their lives on the battlefield.

Seeing the other side’s determination, George gave up the opportunity to press his advantage, thinking that one should always leave a line so they could meet again in the future. However, when they saw the Adamantine Longsword enchanted with sharpness in George’s hand, one Knight still showed a look of reluctance.

This Magic Weapon could be said to be the Loot with the highest unit price from last night’s battle. Judging from the craftsmanship, it was clearly the work of Dwarves. The Enchantment of sharpness allowed it to easily cut through enemy armor and even flesh and blood, and the Adamantine material ensured its durability.

Waving the weapon, which was much heavier than before, George smiled: “I finally have a decent weapon now.”

“Sir Bart and Sir Chris, part of the Loot shares exchanged for your merits has been spent on this Greatsword of mine. I will send the compensation for the losses to your homes later.” George put the Greatsword back into its scabbard and spoke to the two Knights beside him.

Sir Bart was quite satisfied with George’s actions, but he had some complaints about his old friends: “It’s all because Goth and the others are too stingy, otherwise it wouldn’t have come to this. They said most of our military achievements would have to wait for the Duke to decide after reporting. The things that can be paid out now are so little. You know, that was a full two thousand Dark Elf troops, just the weapons alone are a huge number.”

“There’s no way around it, after all, their casualties last night were not small. Besides, many of the Dark Elves’ weapons might turn into powder in the sunlight in a few days. It’s not easy to distinguish these things even with the help of those Dwarves!” Sir Chris explained for those few, apparently not wanting this to affect the cooperation between both sides.

But right after this first contact battle, the Adventurer conscription order previously issued by the Duchy of Nohan was slowly fermenting.

In the southern independent city of Saxony, inside a Tavern called the Fierce Boar, several people sat there, listening to an Adventurer from a faraway place talk about the various dangers he experienced during the war and his travels.

This Adventurer had a big beard, but he wasn’t very old; he had broad shoulders, was tall, but very thin. He wore a small cowhide hood on his head, a leather coat with traces of a Breastplate on his body, and a belt strung with copper buckles. A row of short-handled flying knives was tied to the belt, with uniform horn scabbards outside the knives, and a Longsword common among Adventurers hung at his waist.

Sitting beside him at the same table was a young man with long hair and a cheerful expression, apparently his partner, or perhaps an apprentice who hadn’t graduated yet. Because he also wore a similar leather coat for traveling. In the Tavern, there were also two so-called gentlemen from the outskirts of Saxony, and three Freemen wearing red folded hats, with long tassels hanging down to their elbows.

The shop owner was of Northern Lands descent with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a faded coat with a hood and a large white collar. He was holding a bucket of Ale, filling an earthenware cup, while listening with great curiosity to the dangers he experienced in the army.

“Have you heard! The Duchy of Nohan to the north has discovered a passage leading to the Underdark. His Grace the Duke is recruiting brave warriors to crusade against those Black Skins from the Underground. Gentlemen, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you make a contribution, you might even get the title of Lord!” The boss handing out the drinks spoke out the news he had heard from who knows where.

The older Adventurer put down his wine glass: “Dark Elves? Those are not guys to be trifled with. I once saw a good Dark Elf on the Continent and heard him talk about things in the Underground…”