The Goliath had fallen, yet the one who was dead can't be resurrected. Igor closed the eye of the civilian firmly, even the best doctor in the world can't let his fractured chest go back together.
"How could I save him, Vati. Should I just not throw the axe?" Asked by Igor, he closed his eyes and thought about what he did.
"You made the right choice, at least you let him die in a way his family could recognize him. His fate was already sealed at the moment he was being held in that monster's hand." Vaterian looking at the other victim, his body was completely dried out and lost its shape.
"Ergh" they heard the sound of someone growling, they immediately pulled out their sword and held their stance. Soon they realized the growl came from the civilian instead of the monster.
"Igor, you take care of them until they wake up and then gain contact with the Montferrats, I go to check if any more creatures are hiding in the dark." Vaterian lit up the torch, it somehow remained dry after such a lot of action happened in this watery cave.
Looking at Vaterian walking into the deeper part of the cave, Igor sighs, "you never change, even after Heiligen."
Igor shook his head and laid the body gently on the ground, he turned away from the boy and walked toward the citizens.
He looked at the various injuries on those citizens, and he took out a bottle. Suddenly, he remembered something that made his face turn black.
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"Agh…that ignoble bastard." Vaterian loosen his cloth after making sure that Igor wasn't able to see him. The huge injuries at his back showed that the previous fight wasn't easy at all.
He took out a bottle and tore a piece of cloth from his cloak. He cleaned the cloth in the running stream and heated the cloth with the torch.
"Who invented this method should go to hell," Vaterian poured the mixture in the bottle on the cloth, it was a mixture of honey, mint and various spices. It was a common medicine used in this country, also famous for its amazing flavour. Vaterian doubted its effectiveness but it was better than other methods.
"Ergh.." a small cry could be heard when Vaterian wrapped the 'bandage' around his body, he carefully avoided his broken rib. It was a thing you never wish to pressurize.
After finishing the first-aid, if you could even call that as first-aid. Vaterian continued his walk, he feel the pain disappear from his back, not because the treatment actually worked but he just lost his sense of pain thanks to the heat.
As the pain started to fly away from him, another thing caught his attention, a body being pinned on the wall by a sword. Dressed in a military costume, his shirt was soaked with blood and an awful smell spreading around from it.
Vaterian walked up to the body and inspect it, the body was completely rotten, if it stayed here for a bit longer the flesh will not be able to hold it as a whole and fall apart. Vaterian picked up the hat on the ground, it was the headgear being worn by soldiers when they are not in service.
The blue ribbon showed this man was serving as an administrator. The rope that held his cloak together was tied in a specific way, a way to show a person's rank in the army. The 2 knots showed he was in charge of a company of soldiers, long story short he was the missing mayor of the margrave of Silvester.
"Killed by the monster, but still rotten. Somehow the beast refused to suck his blood." The scene he saw reminded Vaterian about what happened in Heiligen, It was never a good memory for him.
"Thank god I let Igor out of this thing, the truth might be too horrible for him." Vaterian set the body on the fire. If those citizens found this body, no doubt it would be vandalised by the crowd.
Vaterian walked into a tunnel connected to another room, it was smaller than where they fought but it was also more lively. The ground was covered in straws, water was blocked by rocks and furniture was placed all around but its owner was missing.
A candle was almost completely burned out, but the tiny spark on the tip of it gave Vaterian a different message from the dusty furniture.
Vaterian walked in front of the desk, a book was placed on it. The cover of it was surprisingly clean and a broken pencil was right beside it, the name written on the cover gave a piece of clear information about who living here, Kaspar.
Vaterian quickly ran through the pages, it was written in Vintelium script, a writing system popular among the Talismanian and the people who lived further north to it. However, most of the people of Helland still wrote in their own script. The difference in writing was the main conflict between the Talismanian and the rest of the kingdom, but that only impacted the commoner, for those who held the power it didn't matter.
Thanks to the years-long educations to become a true nobleman, Vaterian could read those texts fluently, despite some of the text being rubbed before it dried. He gazed through those pages, from months ago till weeks before, this book recorded what happened to its owner after being exiled to the forest.
His father exiled him to the forest, but a place to live was being secretly prepared by the kind parent and daily rations were sent to his hand by his faithful brother, Rolf. Until one day, he didn't receive anything from his family, his brother threw all those rations in the river and abandoned him.
The script started to turn more like a scribble and harder to read, the last only a handprint left on the page, boney hand indeed.
Looking at the spark on the candle, Vaterian opened his lips. "How was the feeling of being betrayed by both of your children, maybe you shouldn't keep the murderer alive and let a lawful person serve him."
The spark on the candle suddenly turned into a flame, blazing Vaterian's eyes with its remaining time.
"Your child was a monster from the beginning, so as you. A father with twisted love, you should just leave it to die for his sins and never visit him, then maybe you can survive until your younger son tell the citizens the truth." Vaterian put out the flame, the room fell silent and dark.
Although he never was a father, but he have a good father, and his father never tolerate the crime he committed.