Nila's home, or rather poorly constructed hut made out of twigs and whatnot, was not too far away from the place we met. On top of it, a weird ball of blue light was shining, which did not look unsettling. However, I tensed up since there was no way for me to run in case this was something dangerous. Nila noticed my reaction to the light and explained its purpose.
"Do not worry about it. This is 'Polaris,' which scares off darewolves and other monsters that are terrified of magic. It also… actually, never mind, lie here for a moment, I will collect some medicinal herbs if I find any. Do not pull out that arrow yet."
I raised a brow at her abrupt change of subject, but before I was able to ask anything, she flung me into the hut and cancelled the levitation magic. Then all I could hear were her receding footsteps on top of the grass. If I remembered correctly, Polaris was the name of the North Star, the beacon of the night and sailors' best friend. I was not sure if I was told about it by any of the gang members or by orphanage kids, but for some reason, this information was stuck in my head. Perhaps, finding the North Star was my dream? Or rather, I felt jealous of whoever had something to live for? Right now, it did not matter. I had a goal in life, the escape from this godforsaken place called Schöltum with the desirable reward being freedom. I would live for this reward until the very end, even taking the helping hand of a weird woman whom I nearly killed.
Yet, as I stared at the ugly ceiling of the hut, which seemed like it could shatter at the slightest whim of nature, I couldn't help but wonder why she would help someone like me. Well, she did not know about my deeds yet, but there was another oddball who showed total disregard for common sense and honour. Heindrich, no matter what I did, continued yapping about his wish to save me. Even the judging gazes of his own comrades did not shut his lousy mouth. Even my own words and actions had but a futile effort to change his mind. What kind of motive might be behind it? Could he be an enemy, an agent, or even a friend of Solitaire? At least, this connection was the only explanation that I saw.
And right after I reached some flimsy conclusions, I heard the sound of footsteps getting closer. I immediately panicked and took out a twig from the hut to protect myself, regretting the abandonment of my dagger. But as soon as I saw Nila's hair slipping into the tent, I relaxed a bit and looked at her hands. They were full of some plants I did not recognize, a paste in a small bowl, and a weird green rope.
"Very well, now brace yourself, since it will hurt," she explained casually. I did not bat an eye, but as soon as she pulled out the arrow from my thigh, I yelled in pain, "WHAT THE FUCK?"
She narrowed her brows at me, then grabbed the paste from the bowl with her fingers and applied it to the wound from the arrow. The intensity of pain increased, and I screamed once again, but this time, Nila took the twig out of my hand and stuck it into my mouth as if I were some kind of dog. "Just bite on something, no need to be this noisy."
Her words made me huff in annoyance, but I did not say anything, mostly because my teeth were clenching the twig. It did not taste of moisture, which indicated that this shelter was good enough to protect the inhabitant from the rain. It seemed like I judged her building skills too harshly; I doubted I would be able to achieve the same result.
After the paste was applied onto my wound, she covered it with some leaves and tied them together with that rope as a cherry on top.
"Well, then, let it stay for a day, and then I will use another healing spell, which should put you back on your two. As for your shoulder, I guess you should just walk it off."
"And what kind of suggestion is that?" I asked through the twig in my mouth, to which Nila shrugged and replied, "I only know how to treat something before applying healing spells. If it does not fix up your arm as well, then I am not sure what else you should do about it. I am not a doctor, after all."
She sat beside me, but not too close, still keeping her distance. She took the book out of her suitcase that I did not notice once we arrived here, and started flipping its pages in silence. I kept silent, assuming she had something to say about magic or medicine, but after a while, she sighed and nonchalantly said, "You should take a bath tomorrow; this is rather hard to read with you around."
Even though I crossed my hands, I could clearly feel that there was no malice or attempt to hurt my feelings in her words. It seemed like she was straightforward like that, which was not a bad thing since I could expect fewer lies from her. Thus, after further consideration, I only sighed at her words and continued observing this elf.
Despite her displeasure, she continued skimming through the book, clearly showing that there was not any goal to show me something. Nila read because she felt like it, and my presence did not interest her in the slightest. What a strange woman. Not only did she help a man lying in the dirt in the middle of nowhere out of a simple plea, but she also showed a lack of interest in why I happened to be here in the first place. However, most concerning was the fact that she helped someone who attacked her. From her explanation, elves were far more accepting of the concept of death, but would any elf be fine with spending time with someone who nearly took their lives? In the end, she was about to abandon me at first, but something made Nila change her mind.
"Nila, why did you choose to help me?"
"Because you asked me to," she said while still buried in her book.
"But it just does not make any sense! I attacked you, yet you still accept and help me. And I did not hear any of your demands. Do you mean that you do not expect anything in return? Anyone would be suspicious of that!"
She raised her eyes from the book but did not face me, instead directing them at the ceiling. Her listless expression did not change, which confused me even further. How could anyone be this calm all the time?
"I guess this is a natural way of doing things in the Schöltum region, huh?" She lowered her chin, now facing me. For the first time, I saw her smile. "Very well, if you are so eager to make this a fair deal, then how about you escort me out of the Schöltum region? Preferably to Dlayla."
"Dlayla? Why?" I tilted my head. The Dlayla region, as I remembered, neighboured Schöltum.
"I do not like it here. The money I collected throughout the region is worthless. That's why I do not see the point in staying here any further."
So she yearned for refuge in another place due to the lack of use for money? Perhaps, we were not so different after all. After hearing her reasoning, I smiled back at her and nodded in approval.
"Sounds good to me. As I heard, these regions are divided by a narrow strip through the monster realm. I guess you need protection?"
"No, no, I just need assistance in traversing these lands… I am not very good with directions," she murmured and turned away while her ears dropped. But then she added, "I do not think you will be much help in the monster realm anyway."
"Not much help?" I narrowed my brows and cleared my throat, trying to sound as stern as possible. "I already killed the darewolf that wandered into this region, so you know." With Solitaire's assistance, but my point still stood: I could fight. I also killed the mage, Michael Crawley, but preferred to keep it to myself for the time being.
Nila squinted at me, carefully observing my whole body. After a few seconds, she spoke up, "I can hardly believe it, considering your body build. But if that's true, then that would be helpful."
"How do you think I ended up here in the first place!? I was fighting the darewolf, but then was stabbed in the back by my comrades once I took its life."
It was a lie, but I couldn't let her underestimate my abilities. I was way better than she thought! And judging by the thoughtfulness in her expression, my little made-up story worked, so I should not tell her any more about it. Then, she stood up and came up close to extend her hand.
"Then let it be a deal. For helping you recover, you will navigate me into the Dlayla region."
I extended my right hand and firmly grasped hers. But after a second, my grip weakened, feeling the slight shiver in her touch from my strenght. It was rare to see anyone whose hand was smaller than mine, which made this exchange slightly uncomfortable. Yet Nila's gaze was brazen with pride, as if she struck a good deal here and now. She did not realize that her goal was the same as mine for the time being, thus this deal fell in my favour.