"It's burn wounds! Hurry! Find some herbs that lessen ones pain!"
Weiss gritted his teeth ordered the people around seeing this. He walked towards the familiar man who was always been with him since young.
"Damn monster!"
Looking at the charred skins and other parts of his best friend Bal. Weiss and the other hunters couldn't help but looked on the side with gritted teeth and closed eyes.
It's just too ugly and terrifying to look at. Judging from Bal's injuries, they were afraid he might not make it. Even if he did, his hunter's path has already come to an end.
"What are you waiting there for! Hurry and boil some water! The women are to find some clean clothes that aren't that too rough."
Garu stopped forward and bend down to see another person lying on the ground. It was a familiar face he had grown to known and been with this few days.
"Juan...thank goodness your alive. If you left my daughter just like that, no matter what, I would surely not forgive you."
Looking at the burn skin, gashes, and some charred parts of Juan's body and face. Garu felt his heart ache a bit at this moment.
"I didn't expect just accompanying me for a few days, you can already affect me. Even I unconsciously already accepted you into the family. Don't you die, son!"
Soon, people brought boiled water, clean clothes, crushed herbs that numb ones pain.
The hunters immediately used this tools and herbs to cleaned up the wounded. A while later, the wounded parts were bandage up by clean clothes.
Still, the wounded people were covered almost from head to toe. With their noses, eyes, and mouth the only place where the clothes were freed from covering them.
"Alright, everyone are safe now. I need more people here, help each family in taking their injured ones back to their home."
"Those with houses destroyed by the rainstorm can use the other intact empty house for now. If you have relatives, you can also help yourself there."
Hearing Garu's instructions, everyone immediately made way for the men. One by one, each family took their family members away using a makeshift stretcher.
As for Juan, Garu took him away with the help of his brother who had been silent all this time with a stretcher.
"Brother...what happened?"
Along the way, Jura finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to asked after some thought.
Garu shook his head and answer.
"Nobody knows. We can only understand everything after one of them woke up."
Hearing this, Jura said no more and just helped Juan get rested unto Garu's house into Ceth's room.
"I'll go first brother."
"Hmm, thank you. Help the others in the village too along the way."
After putting him into the bed, Jura left to helped the village. While Garu stayed and waited for his wife and daughter Ceth to come back.
A few minutes later, Ceth, and her mother came back sweating from running. Ceth's eyes were hopeful and expectant.
Her palms clenching the edges of her clothes due to sheer nervousness.
Looking at the two hopeful eyes, Garu serious face finally let out a soft and gentle smile. However, there are some worry in his eyes.
"He's inside."
After hearing that, Ceth wasted no more time and immediately dashed forth to her room.
When the door opened, what reflects her eyes were a person wrapped in bandages. Looking almost no different from a mummy from Egypt pharaoh.
"Juan!"
...
Looking at their daughter's distraught appearance besides the bed, once again with reddened eyes seeing the appearance of her beloved.
Garu with his wife standing at the opened door couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Even his wife was shocked and saddened by Juan's appearance. Naturally, questions would followed.
Ceth who's tears were flowing down her cheeks, staining the bed wet while touching Juan's wrapped hands, gently turn around to her father.
"...father....tell me what happened to my husband."
The madam immediately stepped forward and hugged Ceth by her side and comforted her within her embraced yet Ceth's eyes never left her father.
Clearly, she's waiting for the answer.
"...that...no one knows aside from them. We can only wait and ask after one of them woke up."
Garu answered with a sigh.
After hearing her father's answer, Ceth was clearly unwilling and not satisfied with such answer however she knows that what her father said was true.
Facing Juan back, Ceth's tears continue to falls down from her eyes filled with love, worry, and sadness while accompanying Juan by the bedside.
"..Juan....husband...wake up."
...
Two days later.
In the middle of the night, Juan woked up and find himself wrapped in bandages, when he was about to move.
An excruciating pain of his skin being skin suddenly registered to his brain making him cleched his teeth and groaned.
'Ugh...ow..ow...ouch...it hurts...what happened to me? Why is my whole body aching and my skin itchy and too painful?'
Juan stopped moving despite the torturous feeling he was having. Instead, he surveyed his surroundings as his mind slowly recovered from his initial daze.
'I'm in.... Ceth's room? This is not a dream. That means I really came back alive....but with a price....I remember...I was finding a way to escape that place.'
'Unfortunately, I got caught up while running around searching for embers. Aye, now that I thought about it. I was too preoccupied with something else in mt mind back to then.'
'Anyway, after I got caught off. I was drowned by countless shadows as boundless as the sea. When I was about to give up and just die into oblivion, I hear someone helped me.'
'Hmm, a voice in the head. I forgot what those words he had just said. Ugh, this is very confusing. Is it an unknown entity? Did it control my body?'
'Yep, that seems to be the case. I kind of heared that voice taking over my body back then and I agreed to be saved. Hmmm, I shouldn't bother with that for now.'
'If I can't understand it immediately, I shouldn't bother more into it deeply. Time will wash everything ashore and I will naturally understand everything.'
Looking around, Juan's eyes spotted a figure on his bedside holding his bandage palm.
It was Ceth, covered by a quilt and was lying with her upper body on the bed while her lower body sitting on the ground.
Looking at her sleeping like this, Juan heart couldn't help but warm a bit. This is the sweetness of having someone by ones side.
Juan didn't move nor did he voice out a word. Not just because he can't, but because its in the middle of the night.
'I better continue sleeping for now. Although I'm really hungry and feeling itchy and painful all over, I can't bother them at this time.'
'Too many things happened that night. I don't know if I was really acting like myself back then. If I had to say, I was too reckless despite acting all that calmed.'
'I'm just an old soul with a youthful body after all. A modern old man who survive in greenhouse. Although I had the knowledge, my experience is still lacking in this aspect.'
'Ah huh~ It's really exhausting to think too much right now. I'll continue this tomorrow instead. For now, let me continue to rest and forget all this problems.'
Closing his eyes, Juan felt drowsiness once again pulled him back to blankness. It didn't take long for the night to passed and morning came.
...
The next day, the morning came. Juan woked up once again.
This time, he noticed the pain all over him and the torturous itchiness in his body greatly lessen.
Which made him want to move a bit and change into another position.
'Looks like I can now move a bit. Youth sure is full of vitality, different from my previous old body.'
'Hmm! This is too much, I feel weak I can't lift my body sideways. Ugh, looks like I got some muscle cramps somewhere from staying asleep without moving all this time.'
While Juan was moving around slowly, this little action of his actually made Ceth who was sleeping beside him sitting with her butt on the ground to slowly awaken.
Dazed, Ceth cleared some hardened tears on her eyes with her left hand first. When her sight cleared up, she saw Juan's eyes were opened and staring at her.
When their eyes met, one pair further reddened and started gushing out tears of joy while the other pair was blinking blankly.
"Husband, your awake!"
Without caring much, Ceth forcefully stood up and jump into Juan's embrace happily. She seems to have forgotten why Juan was bandage into such way.
"Ugh— ugh!??"
'Honey! What the?! Do you want to shock me to death?!! Ahhh! My skin! Not my skin! It feels like I'm being peeled off! Honey! Honey! Get off me! Ahhhh!'
Juan feeling the pain came registering into his peaceful mind naturally couldn't help but instinctively move chaotically in response wanting to throw his wife off him.
Ceth seems to have realized this too and couldn't help but looked sorry, worriedly, and guilty. Hurriedly, left Juan's embrace with reluctance.
Juan could finally recover a bit and looked at Ceth with disbelief while sweating vehemently underneath the cover of bandages.
'Honey?! Where's my reserved, quiet, and intelligent honey!! You were not like this before!'