After John placed the medical supplies down, he left the room. Raymond came by once, asking if Fjeld needed a doctor, but Fjeld declined.
Now, the room only had Fjeld, Keiki, and Hilda.
Keiki was covered in blood, but mostly from the bloody creatures.
Her body felt weak, likely due to the adrenaline rush from the thrilling experience. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she felt a bit fatigued, but nothing serious. A little rest would do the trick.
Fjeld wanted to lay her on the sofa, but she kept her arms around his neck.
"How am I supposed to treat my wounds if you're holding onto me like this?" Fjeld gently remarked.
Upon hearing this, Keiki finally loosened her grip on Fjeld.
Instead of immediately tending to his own wounds, Fjeld had Hilda use water magic to rinse off Keiki and check for any injuries.
After confirming that Keiki was completely fine, Fjeld nodded and started to tend to his own wounds.
His injuries were indeed quite severe this time, especially on his chest where several deep scratches overlapped, revealing bone.
Fortunately, his robust self-healing abilities had stopped the bleeding, and now he needed to clean the wounds, disinfect them, and then stitch up the larger ones.
Stitching would accelerate the healing process. Without it, he'd have to wait for new flesh to grow, which would take five or six days.
"Do you need any help?" Hilda asked.
"Help me rinse off, and then let Keiki do the rest," Fjeld said, looking at Keiki.
Keiki eagerly approached, her eyes filled with hope, wanting to assist Fjeld in any way she could.
"Do you know how to stitch wounds?" Fjeld asked her.
Keiki shook her head, looking at Fjeld with anticipation.
"I'll teach you," Fjeld said.
First, he had Hilda give him a quick rinse, then he poured disinfectant on his wounds, causing them to bubble slightly.
The disinfectant in this world was quite potent, similar to alcohol, but it could directly act on wounds and suppress various toxins, including blood poison.
It stung, but Fjeld barely flinched, which impressed Hilda.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Hilda asked.
"Of course, it hurts. I'm practically dying from the pain," Fjeld joked, grinning.
"Why don't you show any expression then?" Hilda was surprised.
"Because I'm a tough guy!" Fjeld said earnestly.
Hilda chuckled, realizing that if he could joke like this, he was probably fine.
Fjeld had many wounds, eight of which needed major stitching, each requiring forty to fifty stitches, and the remaining twelve needed ten to twenty stitches each.
Keiki tried her best to keep her hands steady, carefully stitching Fjeld's wounds.
But as she stitched, tears started to fall from her eyes.
Fjeld rested his head on his arm, looking up at her, then gently brushed her cheek with his hand, saying, "Why are you crying? If anyone should be in pain, it's me, not you."
"I'm sorry, I'm just... I feel useless... I don't think I can adventure with you anymore..." Keiki choked out between sobs.
"That's not happening," Fjeld said firmly.
"But I'm weak..."
"So what? You'll train and get stronger. If you think you're dragging me down, you'll train even harder."
"If you leave at the first setback, then what was the point of me getting all these wounds?"
"And that dagger, I'm going to make three for you. One at cost, two hundred thousand. Three, six hundred thousand. You'll owe me six hundred thousand."
"And I saved you twice, so you owe me two lives."
"You're stuck with me for this life and the next. Got it?"
Fjeld grinned arrogantly, his words making Hilda sweat a little.
But hearing Fjeld speak like this, Keiki nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Yes!"
Keiki didn't need comfort. If she had been weak all along, no amount of comfort would help.
She didn't really want to leave. She enjoyed being with Fjeld, but she feared she would drag him down and be resented by him.
Fjeld's words were telling her not to think about those things and to stay.
This way, her thoughts of leaving would dissipate, and she would focus on how to help Fjeld and make herself useful to him.
It was a kind of indirect motivation and support.
Fjeld's domineering attitude was exactly what she needed.
As long as Fjeld didn't reject her, she wouldn't leave.
The stitching operation lasted for two hours, during which Fjeld endured hundreds of stitches. Finally, all the wounds were stitched up.
Although Keiki wasn't very professional, Fjeld didn't need that level of expertise. Just closing the wounds was enough, and in a couple of days, he would be back to normal.
The catgut would gradually dissolve with his metabolism, and he wouldn't even need to remove the stitches.
"Not bad, I'm sure I'll have some nice scars to show off!" Fjeld grinned, nodding satisfactorily.
"Having scars is a good thing?" Hilda leaned over to Fjeld and whispered, fearing her words would upset Keiki.
But Fjeld chuckled, "You don't understand. Scars are a mercenary's badge of honor!"
"See these scars of mine? I intentionally kept them!" Fjeld proudly stretched out his arms, revealing his scars.
Hilda was surprised to see that while Fjeld had many scars, they were all on his front, and his back was almost clear!
Scars were a mercenary's badge of honor.
And scars on the front were a man's glory.
At that moment, she looked at Fjeld with a hint of admiration and respect in her eyes.
Chapter 83 Healing
After finishing the stitching, Feld walked out of the private room. He found Raymond smoking in the corridor, playing with the lighter Feld gave him.
"Everything okay?" Raymond asked, seeing the mess and blood in the room.
"I'm fine, but the situation in Bloodland is quite serious," Feld replied.
"What exactly happened?" Raymond inquired.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Bloodland is located in the Novalcrasson Forest Great Rift area. I encountered a large group of creatures in the nearby small rift, at least over four thousand, including Blood Fish, Wolf Demons, and Savage Wolf Demons."
"I managed to kill half of them, but unfortunately, many bodies couldn't be recovered..." Feld said with a pained expression.
The battle was too intense, and he only had time to use the spatial ring to collect some Wolf Demon and Savage Wolf Demon corpses. The bodies of the Blood Fish were submerged in blood, making it impossible for him to collect them directly.
So, in the end, he only managed to collect the bodies of a dozen or so Wolf Demons and four Savage Wolf Demons. At most, it would fetch a small fortune, maybe around a hundred thousand gold.
He had hoped to cash in on the official rewards as well. Hearing Feld's account, Raymond chuckled.
"It's good that you made it back alive. Regular Platinum-rank adventurers wouldn't be able to handle so many bloodthirsty creatures."
Feld winced at the touch on his shoulder, realizing Raymond had touched his wound. Raymond quickly apologized, and Feld waved it off. He then pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Raymond.
Qiqi immediately raised the lighter she held to light Feld's cigarette. This time, she seemed even more proactive.
After taking a couple of puffs, Feld slowly explained, "A boss has appeared in Bloodland. It possesses long-range attack capabilities similar to an archer. If it weren't for Hilda blocking it for me, I would have been more severely injured."
"Something like an archer... Have you been able to see what it looks like? Is it humanoid?" Raymond furrowed his brows, asking for more details.
"I couldn't see clearly, only blood-formed arrows. They could melt platinum-grade swords and still maintain incredible speed at such a distance. At least Mithril-grade," Feld elaborated.
"I'm not sure why it didn't pursue us. Maybe it can't leave Bloodland, or maybe it's not interested in us. Either way, it's a formidable opponent," Feld continued.
"Got it. I'll report to the Guild. If it's humanoid, the danger level of Bloodland would be at least five stars or above," Raymond concluded.
"What does that mean?" Feld inquired.
"It would require over fifty thousand regular troops and at least ten Mithril-rank adventurers to clear it out," Raymond explained.
Feld nodded in understanding and then asked, "Can we directly recover the corpses of the bloodthirsty creatures here?"
"Of course," Raymond replied.
"Then let's make the transaction."
When Feld took out the Wolf Demon corpses, everyone present was shocked. They could see how brutal the Wolf Demons' deaths were, all frontal injuries, indicating that Feld had killed them head-on.
This gave everyone a new understanding of Feld's strength.
A Wolf Demon corpse was priced at three thousand five hundred gold coins, and considering some of the bodies were incomplete, the price was quite fair.
A Savage Wolf Demon corpse was priced at twenty-five thousand gold coins.
In the end, the settlement came to a total of one hundred and forty-nine thousand gold coins, rounded up by Raymond to one hundred and fifty thousand.
Additionally, there was the reward for the Platinum-tier task of hunting the Giant Green Crest Lizard, which amounted to twenty thousand gold coins, and the evaluation of the Bloodland investigation task.
Feld had provided valuable firsthand intelligence, which could fetch a reward of thirty thousand gold coins, with a further hundred thousand gold coins reward from the Guild once the intelligence was confirmed.
In total, Feld earned two hundred thousand gold coins, with another hundred thousand pending confirmation and issuance from the Guild.
With a substantial amount of gold coins added to his purse, Feld's mood improved significantly. As they left the Steel and Iron Tavern, he even began humming a tune.
Hilda blinked in surprise, then couldn't help but ask, "Is this how mercenaries make money?"
"Yep, pretty fast, right?" Feld replied smugly.
"It's indeed quick. I'm already thinking about earning money like this..." Hilda said, her tone thoughtful.
Feld's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "But you're already wealthy. Why do you want to earn more?"
"I may come from a wealthy family, but that's not my money. I still want to earn my own," Hilda explained.
Feld nodded in agreement and then asked, "So, are you planning to become a mercenary with me?"
"I've thought about it..." Hilda's eyes twinkled, then she smiled mischievously. "But I think I'll pass for now."
"Why?" Feld asked, disappointment evident in his voice.
"It's not the right time yet. Don't forget, I'm still a student at the Hafiz Academy," Hilda chuckled, then added to console Feld, "Once I graduate, I'll consider becoming a mercenary. After all, it's a way to fight, train, admire beautiful scenery, and make money!"
"When that time comes, as a veteran in the mercenary world, you have to mentor me," she teased.
Feld's disappointment vanished instantly, and he chuckled, nodding vigorously. "Of course! We'll embark on adventures together!"
"Great!" Hilda beamed with anticipation.
It would be four more years before she graduated, but considering her circumstances, she might finish in just two years without completing the full four.
"Alright, it's time to return to the academy. I need to report to the academy about the situation in the Novalcrasson Forest. Feedback from the academy will be faster and more apparent," Hilda said.
"Do you want to go together?" Hilda asked with anticipation.
Feld certainly wanted to, but after a moment's thought, he shook his head. "Next time. I'll come find you in a few days."
Hilda understood that Feld needed to take care of Qiqi, who still seemed downcast. She hadn't spoken much and was clinging to Feld's fingers, not saying a word.
Nodding, Hilda said, "That's okay. I'll be stronger when we meet next time. Maybe you won't be able to beat me then."
"Heh, are you getting overconfident?" Feld teased.
"Maybe~" Hilda giggled.
"Let's wait and see," Feld said with a smile.
"Deal!" Hilda agreed.
As the teleportation array lit up, Hilda emitted a faint golden light, softening Feld's expression.
"Take care of Qiqi, you big goof," Hilda said sweetly.
"I know, silly goose," Feld replied with a smile and a nod.
"I'm not silly, and I saved you!" Hilda puffed out her cheeks.
"I also saved you once, so we're even," Feld retorted, lifting his chin slightly.
"True," Hilda nodded, and as the light from
the teleportation array reached its brightest, she waved her hand gently. "See you next time."
"Until next time."
With that, the beautiful Hilda disappeared into the teleportation array.
Feld exhaled slowly and then turned to look at Qiqi.
"Let's go. Let's head back to the Hyphae Inn and rest well."