Chapter 106: The Wrath of a King, The Wrath of a Lover

Another three days passed.

Millia’s condition had become very bad. The black spots on her body kept spreading and had already crawled up to her neck. Every moment, she spent in extreme danger with a high fever. This deadly plague struck her especially quickly. This was related to the fact that she had contracted the disease through eating and drinking rather than physical contact, but the main reason was that her physical condition was originally far weaker than that of the strong native residents who had long lived on this land.

The worst part was that even though she was seriously ill, she still forced her weak body to treat the unconscious High Priest. The double drain on her body and energy caused her to collapse rapidly. In just three days, she had reached the point where she could not walk without our support.

Regarding this, Millia actually felt deeply gratified:

“This… this is… very good. I can… in the shortest time… learn as much as possible… learn more about the illness. If I can prepare the medicine one day earlier, I can… save more people’s lives…”

“Do you know what you’re doing!” Fred couldn’t help shouting at her. “You can clearly cast magic on yourself. I’m begging you, use it for yourself just once, help yourself ease the pain a little. I beg you! If you keep going on like this, you’ll die!”

“I… I can’t.” Millia slumped on the cushion, mixing various herbs and potions together, carefully observing them. Even such a small action as picking up a blade of grass was extremely difficult for her. Many times she almost dropped the small medicine bottle in her hand. If I hadn’t been looking after her nearby, there probably wouldn’t be many bottles left in front of her now.

“I can’t use divine arts to ease the pain. This… this is useless. I must… understand all the… true conditions when the illness strikes. Besides trying medicines, I… I can’t use any other methods to treat…”

During these three days, Millia had tried dozens of medicines made from various formulas, but it seemed there were no signs of improvement. Now, Millia was visibly wasting away at a rate that could be seen with the naked eye. Her cheekbones jutted out high, her eye sockets were sunken – it was heartbreaking to see. The monk’s robe that was originally a bit loose now draped over her like a blanket. The skin exposed beneath the robe was dull and dry, showing no trace of life’s luster.

“Sister Millia…” The tent curtain was pushed open, and Evlinna rushed into the tent anxiously, calling loudly, “Grandfather… Grandfather has fallen ill again. Please come right away.”

In the past few days, Millia’s miraculous magic had further strengthened Evlinna’s confidence. After witnessing the remarkable effects of Millia’s magic with her own eyes, Evlinna had gradually come to depend on the devout believer. Whenever the High Priest had an episode, she would always run to find Millia first. This young girl seemed to have never considered that Millia’s magic could only temporarily relieve her grandfather’s pain.

“I understand. Let me prepare for a moment. I’ll be right there.” Millia kept her head down, focusing on mixing the medicine, speaking calmly. She kept forcing her body up, not letting the local residents see that she was also infected. Every time she went out, she wrapped herself tightly in her wide robe to prevent others from seeing the deadly black spots on her body. We could only let her do this. After this period of effort, Millia had maximized the trust and goodwill of the local residents. If they found out that their doctor was also infected with the same disease, they would definitely feel deceived. When that happened, anything could happen.

“Help me wrap my robe tightly!” After sending Evlinna off, Millia ordered us.

“You can’t do this. You’re already very weak. You must rest first!” Fred said irritably.

“My… my patient is in danger. I must go.” Millia struggled to stand up.

“It won’t take long. Just rest for a little while first.” I persuaded softly, but obviously, our advice had no effect.

“Remember what you promised me, Jeff – to completely follow my orders.” Millia said resolutely.

What else could we do? You can’t resist such a devotion that risks her own life, especially when it appears before you carrying a heavy mission. We obeyed with heavy hearts. We helped Millia wrap the robe tightly around her body, not exposing any skin except her hands and face. When I helped her fix the sleeves to her wrists, I touched her arm. It felt like touching a bone through a layer of gauze.

Fred supported her to the front of the tent, and I opened the tent curtain. Millia released Fred’s arm and struggled to walk on her own. The moment she lost the support, the weak Millia felt dizzy, staggered and stumbled a few steps. But she finally steadied herself and walked outward steadily with an elegant and calm bearing.

“Sister Millia, my grandfather has a fever again. It’s worse than last time. What should we do?” Entering the High Priest’s tent, Evlinna suddenly scurried over, took Millia’s hand, and pulled her toward the High Priest’s bed. She walked too fast, so fast that Millia could barely keep up. I was really worried that Millia would be dragged down in these few short steps and never get up again. But Millia struggled to keep up with Evlinna’s pace. What was especially rare was that her face maintained a kind and gentle smile the whole time. This smile was as calm as a clear autumn pool, making people feel warm and at ease. I couldn’t imagine what gave her such strength when she was this sick, allowing people to trust her and depend on her at first glance, making them feel reassured.

“Don’t worry. This is normal. Your grandfather will be fine.” Millia gently stroked Evlinna’s face and comforted her softly, then turned to begin her treatment.

It was strange. Evlinna had very frequent and intimate contact with these patients. Not only did she often take care of these patients, she always ate and lived with them, yet she showed no signs of getting sick at all. Not just her – Eckdin and a few others had also been in contact with patients, but they were all perfectly healthy. Some of them had become volunteers caring for the sick. Fortunately for them, otherwise most of the patients here would have died miserably from lack of proper care. At first, we tried hard to stop Evlinna from having too much contact with her people, but when we learned that Evlinna had been caring for the High Priest since he first fell ill, we found it incomprehensible. Millia explained this strange phenomenon as “immunity.” I didn’t understand this strange word, but it sounded more acceptable than the “divine blessing” the local natives spoke of.

Millia’s magic was still effective. After she finished casting, the High Priest’s breathing became smooth again.

“He’s fine now. After a while, when he wakes up, give him some light liquid food. After all, he’s old, and his body is a bit weak.” Millia raised her head and spoke in a very relaxed tone.

“We’ll continue preparing medicine. If he gets a fever again, come find me anytime.”

Having said that, Millia stood up and walked out. Her gait looked a bit strange – so light that it seemed like she was gliding. I could tell she was trying hard to walk faster, and in fact she did walk much faster than before. Not far from her tent, Millia suddenly stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.

“Millia!” Fred and I both shouted and rushed over at the same time. Fred held Millia in his arms and saw that her eyes were tightly closed, unconscious.

“Ah, God’s wrath!” At this moment, Millia’s sleeve was pulled open, and a native woman carrying a food basin happened to pass by. She saw the black spots on Millia’s arm. That woman screamed and ran away. A moment later, her hoarse voice spread throughout the entire camp.

“That outsider woman – she has suffered God’s wrath! She has been punished by God Lumburi! She deceived us! Someone come…”

“What do we do, Fred?” I asked my friend.

“First get Millia into the tent. She needs rest.” Fred’s eyes were red. At this moment, he couldn’t think anymore. No matter what happened, the first thing he cared about was Millia’s health.

We settled Millia down and sat quietly by her bed, looking at her sleeping face, feeling sad. It was very noisy outside the tent. I guessed that news of Millia’s illness had spread throughout the entire camp. I didn’t know what they planned to do to us. In fact, I no longer cared. Fred cared even less.

“Outsiders, come out!” After who knows how long, loud shouting came from outside the tent. It sounded like thousands of people were making a huge racket, and their voices were not friendly.

We didn’t answer.

“If you don’t come out, we’ll burn down your tent!” A rough voice came. From the voice alone, you could tell the speaker was a rude and strong man.

His words drew loud agreement from the crowd around him. Those reckless men shouted loudly, their voices sounding like a pack of angry beasts.

Fred and I walked out of the tent side by side.

The voice came again from a burly man. His face was full of thick black beard and long hair, and on his face was a fierce angular pattern painted with dye.

“I am Hakhtu, the strongest warrior of the Running Wolf Tribe. You outsiders have deceived us. Your witch used despicable sorcery to deceive our sick tribesmen and caused our tribesmen to die. I will kill her, then kill you, and use your heads to appease the anger of the great God Lumburi…”

He held a spear with a wooden shaft and iron tip, walking forward barefoot, continuing his insults as he walked. His words were directed more and more at Millia, and many filthy words flowed from his mouth. He didn’t know how much this stirred up our anger.

“Tell me, Jeff, what did he call Millia?” Fred’s pupils contracted, his facial muscles twisted with anger, both arms trembling slightly, and his voice shook with his heavy breathing.

“He said…” I suppressed the surge of anger in my chest and lowered my voice as much as possible. “He said Millia is… a witch…”

“You bastard!” Suddenly, Fred dashed forward like lightning. His bright hair burned recklessly like a black flame. In the blink of an eye, the flame had reached Hakhtu’s face. The burly foreign warrior raised his spear to thrust at Fred, but Fred had already closed in to a distance where the spear couldn’t function. His right fist crashed into the opponent’s nose like a meteor. In an instant, a spray of blood burst from the foreign warrior’s face.

“You people have no idea what she did for you! You have no idea what a price she paid for you!” This was the wrath of a king, the wrath of a warrior, and above all, the wrath of a lover. After watching Millia nearly sacrifice her life for these ignorant savages who understood nothing, every word of insult from this crude man was like dry firewood added to my friend’s fury. Perhaps he had reasons to say those words, perhaps he had the standing to say those words, but those were words he absolutely must not let us hear. That kind of insult – that kind of insult that threw away all conscience.

“It was you who harmed her! It was you!” The “strongest warrior” had no chance to fight back against the unarmed Fred. His face covered in blood, his spear dropped from his hand, he could only weakly raise both arms, trying to block the fists and feet that fell on him like rain. I had never seen Fred fight like this before. He looked like a wild wolf, not fighting his opponent, but using his fists to vent his anger.

“Kill him, Fred, kill him! Make him pay for what he said!” I shouted from the tent entrance. I truly wanted that man dead – that crude savage. I wished I was the one beating him up right now, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t deprive my friend of his right to take revenge.

After seeing their warrior beaten without any ability to fight back, after a brief moment of shock and disbelief, the rest of the native men began shouting restlessly.

“Kill these outsiders!”

“For the dignity of God Lumburi!”

“Kill that despicable witch!”

“Avenge our dead tribesmen!”

…

Voices like these gradually came from the crowd. Their loyal faith caused the natives to rush forward one after another. They weren’t so much brave as they were insane.

The first person rushed at me. I knocked him to the ground and added another kick.

“Kill that witch!” Another person shouted and rushed at me. His words ignited my anger to the maximum. I took a punch to my chest, but mercilessly kicked him in the crotch. He screamed and fell to the ground. I kicked him hard in the face, and he lost consciousness. If I had a knife, even the dullest knife with a chipped edge, I could have easily slit his throat right then, never giving him the chance to say those words again. I swear, if I had the chance, I would have killed him without hesitation. He had insulted Millia. I didn’t care how they would treat us because of it.

“You have no right to insult her!” I shouted. Yes, how could he insult such a noble woman? She was one of the most holy and noble people they had ever seen – perhaps even the most noble of them all. Even a complete stranger who knew about these things wouldn’t stay silent at such insults, let alone me – her friend, the most loyal friend of her lover.

More than ten people pressed Fred to the ground, trying to subdue him that way. Fred could no longer fight with skill in a normal way, but he never stopped resisting for a moment. Lying on the ground, he kicked and punched at the people around him. Finally, he got back up, blood around his lips, his face swollen and bruised, his gaze unfocused. He fought wildly with the people around him like a madman. Whenever he heard someone use a word like “witch” to insult Millia, no matter how far away that person was, he would struggle through the wall of people, grab that person, press him to the ground, and beat him with all his might. At that moment, his eyes saw only the person who had insulted Millia, completely ignoring the attacks from others.

“Thud!” A heavy punch landed on my lower abdomen, making me feel like my stomach was being ripped out. I felt a sweetness in my throat and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. The man who attacked me laughed loudly and tried to step past me to get into the tent.

“You… don’t even think about it!” Bent over, I forced myself to grab his arm with both hands, then suddenly lifted my head and slammed it hard into his chin. Instantly I felt dizzy, as if my skull had hit a rock, in unbearable pain. It felt like a handful of chili peppers had been shoved up my nose, making even breathing harsh. A slippery sensation ran quietly from the top of my head, past my neck, and slid into my collar.

In a daze, I heard ringing in my ears. A muffled groan came softly, as if from the distant horizon, or as if it had always been in my mind. With that muffled groan, the big man in front of me went stiff and fell to the ground. Blood bubbles kept rising from his nose, and it seemed like a few teeth had fallen out.

I swung my fists aimlessly, panting heavily as I blocked the tent entrance. More people rushed at me. I could no longer resist. I took several heavy punches and was stomped to the ground by several strong feet. Three spears pressed tightly against my throat, cutting into my neck, ready to pierce through at any moment, keeping me from moving.

By this time, Fred had also been tied up. Those ignorant people kept venting their anger on my friend, especially the ones who had gotten the worst of the fight earlier. My friend fearlessly faced their fists, his eyes not even blinking, memorizing the faces of these bastards who never stopped slandering his beloved.

“You can’t go in!” We struggled and shouted. “You can’t go in! Don’t you dare hurt her!”

Naturally, no one listened to us. A big hand reached toward the door curtain. Just as he was about to pull the curtain open –

“Stop!” A clear voice carrying authority came from not far away.