Chapter 17 - Florida Man Rescues Dying Maiden and Demands Her Body as Compensation
Strangely, the green dot stopped moving, which raised Felix's concerns. He wondered if she had suffered a serious injury during the fight.
Was she alright?
Was she injured?
Was she just resting?
Felix felt bad leaving her alone. He rushed toward Jane's location.
Upon arrival, Felix's expression turned dark as what he feared became reality - Jane was lying in a pool of blood with two arrows in her chest. Her maid uniform was painted in red.
Two men that Felix had missed earlier were archers. One had a long needle in his eye, which didn't seem fatal. However, his purple skin and bulging black blood vessels were the clues of the dying cause - Poison. As for another archer, he had a throwing dagger stuck in his neck.
Felix rushed to her side and fetched his two lesser healing potions from his inventory. Checking her pulse, he touched her neck with two fingers.
There were pulses, and she was still breathing.
As it was an emergency, Felix ripped her clothes, revealing the wound in her chest. Blood still leaked out nonstop even though the arrowheads were still stuck inside.
Treating the wound, Felix opened the lid of a healing potion's vial and poured the contents into the chest wound. After emptying the container, he opened another one and pried open Jane's mouth.
Jane slightly opened her eyes when Felix grabbed her face. She expected a romantic kiss-feeding. However, as Felix was not in the mood, he shoved the glass vial into her mouth and let the liquid pour down her throat.
The rough method made Jane choke. She coughed as some of the liquid got into her respiratory system. However, the liquid was quickly absorbed into the body, and a miracle occurred.
The wounds stopped bleeding. Some small cuts were instantly healed, and small scars vanished. Two arrowheads were ejected from her chest.
Unfortunately, the wounds were still there, and they could potentially reopen.
As Felix was not a doctor, he relied on vague knowledge he learned from random YouTube videos. Fetching the first aid kit from his supply crate, he unpacked a bottle of alcohol and a piece of clean cloth. Soaking the cloth with alcohol, he roughly dressed the wound.
Tossing the cloth away, Felix took the sature kit next and began sewing the detached fleshes.
…
Minutes later, Felix wiped the sweat off Jane's face and wiped his face. Being inexperienced in this field, the knots looked messy.
Finishing the job, Felix bandaged Jane's chest. Then, he sat next to her, letting out a long sigh.
"What a mess."
Putting his tools back in the used supply crate, he stored everything back in his inventory.
Jane weakly smiled at Felix and touched his arms, expressing her gratitude.
"Thank you… my lord."
"Rest, you fool," Felix swiped her wet hair away from her face. Frustrated, irritated, relieved, and mentally exhausted, he uttered without thinking, "I'll claim the compensation when you recover. Prepare yourself."
Jane lightly snickered. She wanted to laugh, but it hurt her chest, "I'm looking forward to it."
After ensuring that Jane's condition was stable, he thought about moving the patient to the carriage.
Being helpless, Felix looked at Jessica, asking her advice.
'What's next? How do I transport her? Is there anything I can do?'
Jessica dully stared at Jane, scanning her condition.
Felix regained some hope. He tried negotiating, "Can a minor-grade or something better than a lesser potion save her?"
Not having enough mana, Felix thought of the stalagmite crystals that he had gotten from the cave.
Should he bother sacrificing the rare crystals and spending 500 mana to completely heal her?
The Karen side of Felix screamed "No" without hesitation. On the other hand, his angelic side already raised a banner in his mind realm, wavering a Chad meme image with a caption - "Saving lives is never too expensive!"
After a deep contemplation, Felix made a decision.
The answer was "No."
She was not in danger. Why the hell should he spend his precious mana to completely heal a stranger? Furthermore, those precious stalagmite crystals were for upgrades, not for mana conversion!
"Can you walk?" Distracting himself from random thoughts, Felix initiated a conversation with Jane.
"Probably… not. I can't move my knees."
"…"
Felix looked at her legs. They looked fine.
'Trauma? Maybe.'
He shrugged and scooped her from below, princess-carrying her. She was slightly on the heavy side because of her firm muscles, but Felix didn't complain. His max deadlift weight was 260lb, so carrying a slightly muscular woman was not an issue.
Jane blushed, but she smiled, enjoying the rare privilege.
…
Carrying Jane back to the carriage, Felix walked straight to Adam and Roland. Adam, abandoning the disguise and facade, was the first to rush to his aid, helping Felix bring Jane to the carriage.
Adam panicked when he saw the bandages, worrying about her daughter, "What happened to her?!"
"She was shot. I gave her some potions, but she still needs treatment."
"Shot?!" Adam gasped and cried, "By whom?!"
"I don't know. They wear red uniforms and chainmail. Ring a bell?" Felix shrugged as he didn't care.
Hearing the vague description, Adam shed a tear, "I told her not to overdo it! She always returned home with some wounds when the young master was alive. Now, you've done it again!"
Hearing Adam's complaints, Felix felt like this was not her first time getting injured. He brought her to the carriage and laid her down inside.
Valley, who had been silent for the whole trip, noticed the injured woman and started crying, "Jane! Jane! What happened to you?!"
The lord sat there, gazing at his subordinates in silence. As for Mary, she seemed to be used to it.
"I'll take it from here. Adam, could you help me bring some hot water?" Mary calmly ordered Adam, who brought a pot full of drinking to start boiling it.
Mary inspected Jane's condition and realized that the wounds had been healed. She let out a sigh of relief. Still, she removed the bandages to inspect the wounds, but they were already stitched.
"Never mind. Adam, bring me some clean water. She must have lost a lot of blood."
Adam looked perplexed. He staggered with a cripple leg to the campsite and boil a pot of water anyway.
Mary reapplied the bandages and nodded at Felix, who nodded back. She closed the carriage door and proceeded to change Jane's torn clothes, inspecting her body and checking other wounds.
As the real butler and the women got busy, Felix and Roland were idle. The latter deeply sighed and gazed at Felix.
"Sir, you've helped us a lot. You even addressed her wounds."
Felix shrugged, "It's my job. I'm your escort."
"…Thank you."
"Anyway," Felix changed the topic, "How about we stop with this little facade and be honest with each other. What the hell is going on with you and your family?"
Roland deeply inhaled and faced Felix properly. He placed his hand on his chest and bowed.
"We're deeply sorry. We did it for self-protection."
"…I know."
Roland raised his head and reintroduced himself, "I am Roland Lundop, the Baron of Terra City. I… am also a 2-circle mage specialized in appraisal and detection spells."