Chapter 39: The Misunderstanding

“Pu—” A huge rock was flipped over.

“Pa! Pa! Pa!” Sir Stark patted his hands that had just moved the stone. He walked around the rock a few times, then stepped forward to blow the loose dust off one corner of the stone. Looking at the missing corner, he reached out to touch the cross-section, turned around, and said to Sir Bart, “Come take a look at this.”

Sir Bart, hearing the news, put away the wooden block in his hand, walked over to Sir Stark, and also touched the cross-section on the stone with his hand. Then, with a questioning tone, he said, “It looks like it was hit by a blunt weapon , like a hammer?”

“The person who made this dent had strength about the same as ours. Of course, without using Knight Techniques.” Sir Stark said this with a tone that showed he was quite confident.

After all, the obsidian in front of them was famous for its hardness. Unlike the natural glass on Earth that shares the same name but is used as a black gemstone, the obsidian here was much stronger overall. It was excellent building material for fortress walls. If there was an obsidian mine, it would be a good source of income. But large chunks of obsidian scattered like this had basically no economic value due to transportation costs.

The two knights, based on their own thoughts, believed it was smashed by a heavy weapon. In that case, the required strength would only need to be at the general level of the Black Lead Rank.

“Looking at it this way, if the Lord used a Knight Technique himself, he could cause such a result too,” Sir Bart still had some doubts.

Sir Stark patted Sir Bart’s shoulder and said, “I have already asked the two subordinates who took over the watch. When your Lord came back this morning, he didn’t bring any heavy weapons.”

“Damn it, could it be those Bear Goblins up to their tricks again? Those guys love using Flails,” Sir Bart started imagining things on his own.

Sir Stark shrugged his shoulders: “Just go back and ask directly. I think if that Lord could walk back by himself, he wouldn’t be so confused that he forgot what happened.”

“This place looks obviously tidied up? Do people have time to do this after a battle?” Sir Bart, feeling something was still off, seemed to want to check other places too.

Sir Stark grabbed Sir Bart and said, “It should be that your Lord tidied it up himself after driving away the Bear Goblins. I think I heard you say he gets along quite well with some Druids. It would be normal for him to do these things under their influence.”

Among the Nobles in this world, Druids were not a very popular profession, just like extreme nature protectors on Earth.

Sir Bart quickly refuted: “Don’t you look at it? After those Druids came, our Territory’s harvest improved by more than three layers, not counting the newly added special products. It must be that you are jealous just looking at it yourself.”

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s hurry back to see what’s going on with your Lord,” Sir Stark immediately dragged Sir Bart back, looking somewhat angry and embarrassed.

“Speak nicely, if we leave, we leave together. Do you have to pull me like this? Let go quickly!” Throughout this journey, Sir Bart kept muttering curses.

At the same time, inside the camp’s carriage, Sir Val looked at George with a complicated expression as George was adjusting his Qi and blood to nourish his Divine Soul. Of course, in his understanding, that was not called a Divine Soul. Then he turned and left the carriage.

Seeing Sir Val come out, Hiren, who had been standing aside silently for a long time, quickly asked, “Dad, is George okay?”

“Pa!” Another sharp rap on the head greeted Hiren. Sir Val seemed to have gotten addicted to hitting. However, his control of force was very good, making the sound crisp and short, while causing pain to the victim without injury.

The injured Hiren kept rubbing his head. Meanwhile, Daniel looked back and forth at the father and son with a strange gaze.

Noticing Daniel’s gaze from the side, Sir Val, feeling a bit embarrassed, touched his nose and spoke: “I felt some pressure and just needed to vent a little. Okay, let’s get to business! George’s Soul has suffered very serious damage. Of course, it might not be damage but huge consumption. But the latter is unlikely. I think George doesn’t have this type of Secret Art. Apart from those rumors and gossip, I have personally witnessed similar situations. There was a Knight who forcibly removed a curse from his own body. For a long time after removing it, he was just like this.”

Daniel asked uncertainly: “Are you saying that George was likely attacked and became like this?”

“Two nights ago, George had a problem during his meditation, causing fluctuations in his mind. Plus, if he encountered some malicious attacks on his Soul today, he might end up in this condition,” Mr. Val’s tone was not very certain.

Hiren shouted: “Attacked? Are you saying George was attacked near the town!”

“Be quiet and don’t be so excited, okay?” Sir Val grabbed Hiren’s shoulders with both hands and shook him to make him calm down.

Daniel asked the key question now: “Let’s not worry about how it happened for now. What should we do about this current situation? Is there any good way to help George recover quickly?”

“For this, the main approach should be rest and recovery. Let George stay inside the carriage for this period,” Sir Val said face-to-face to Hiren: “From now on, you watch over George closely. Don’t let him run outside alone. Also, pull him out of this state in a while. This Secret Art consumes the user’s physical energy too much. Using it for a long time is not good for him.”

“Okay, guaranteed to complete the mission!” Hiren punched his chest with his right hand.

Mr. Val turned to Daniel and began to discuss: “Okay, Daniel, let’s talk about what herbs to use next…”

“I think we can use essential oil extracted from lavender. That should help his recovery. And a moderate amount of mint seems to work too…” As they talked, they walked further away, leaving Hiren alone by the carriage.

George inside the carriage quickly realized that his Spirit Light and Qi and blood were being consumed rapidly. Compared to the generation speed, it was clearly a deficit. Just as the former was about to run out, George, instinctively feeling something was wrong, canceled this state.

After checking himself, George was relieved that he canceled it at the right time. Otherwise, if he continued, both his Qi and blood and his Spirit Light would suffer very serious damage. That was not something that could be recovered by resting for a few days and eating some supplements.

As soon as George opened his eyes, Hiren immediately pounced on him: “Luckily you woke up on your own. If you hadn’t stopped, I would have had to use violence to break it. My dad said this state lasting too long is bad for the body. Your complexion really is very bad right now.”

“Okay, okay, I’m fine now, aren’t I?” George joked.

Hiren quickly asked: “George, how do you feel now? Is it better than when you first came back?”

After Hiren asked this, George indeed found that the fatigue from his spirit had lessened greatly, but a new sense of weakness had appeared in his body. Fortunately, the latter problem was much easier to solve than the former.

“I feel much better now. This is thanks to Sir Val guiding me into that state just now. But is that a Secret Art of your family? If I learned it like this, won’t there be any problems?” George still had some concerns about what happened before.

Hiren scratched his head and thought for a while before answering: “You mean that state before? I have seen it on my father. But he never wanted to teach me. Yes, when I asked him, he always said it wasn’t the right time. Since he taught this to you, he must have his own reasons.”

George could hear some resentment in Hiren’s words just now.

‘However, as Val’s Heir, Hiren has no reason to deliberately hide anything from him. Combining Hiren’s words with my own feelings, the only possibility is that this Secret Art is not suitable for a Squire to use. That is why Hiren has not learned this Secret Art for now. And Mr. Val probably didn’t plan to teach me this Secret Art just now either. He just wanted to guide me into this state to recover from my injury. I didn’t expect to be able to master the basics of it on my own without a teacher. It seems I need to find a way to solve the problem of learning this Secret Art. After all, this is a very big deal among Knights.’ After some thought, George finally sorted out the cause and effect.

George thought for a moment and said to Hiren: “Hiren, I think Mr. Val didn’t teach you this for your own good for now! I just experienced it. I can only say that using this Secret Art too much might drag down the speed of promoting to Knight.”

“Is that so? But my dad trusts me too little. It’s like I can’t control myself and use this Secret Art,” Hiren scratched his head embarrassedly, then asked cautiously: “By the way! This won’t have any bad effects on you, right?”

George waved his hand and said: “For now, it seems to help my situation. In the future, I will try to use it as little as possible.”

Hiren patted his chest and said: “As long as it’s fine. By the way, George, you have to stay in the carriage obediently for the next few days. My dad specifically asked me to watch over you.”

George waved his hand helplessly: “Look at me now. Do I look like someone who can go out?”

At the same time, on the other side of the camp, Sir Val met with Sir Bart and Sir Stark, who had just returned.

After learning about the clues the two brought back, Sir Val confirmed his judgment: “You mean there are marks of blunt force impact? It seems my thought was right. George might have been attacked.”