It was quite a wait. Then something grabbed onto one of the trees—a hand, but it was more like it was made of wood. Then comes peeking at whoever this thing may be. This was a surprise for me. Considering they are pretty rare in this part.
Treant? There are at least three of them. What are they doing here?
It is cautious of me. I look at them, and they look back. Assessing whether I am a threat or not. I then notice their body. Slash marks and broken branches on their body. Could it be these treants were fighting those insects just now? Before the insects change, a new target, which is me? I wonder what makes them change towards me.
"I mean no harm. I just took out the insects if that's what you want to hear."
I said to these treants, raising my hands, assuring them I would come in peace. Then again, do they understand what I am saying? With that said, they emerged out among the trees, unveiling their whole body, which was relatively big—bigger and a bit taller than most of the trees. One of them is carrying something on its hands. I focus more on it, and then I notice a person. Lying on its wooden hands, unconscious. The treant says nothing, but somehow, it urges me to do something to the girl. I proceed cautiously, still towards them. Once I am by its hand, I am taken by surprise who this girl is. An elf. She may look young, but this is an elf. They may be way older than I am. I examined her right away. From the look of it, she has a cut on her right leg and left arm. She had a swollen bruise on her forehead. Probably, she got attacked by those insects, and these trees protected her. I should have mastered my healing magic.
Nevertheless, I performed my essential healing magic, stopping bleeding and relieving her from the pain. Afterwards, I went to my medical pouches to fix her for good. I applied medical ointment and bandaged the wound area nicely and comfortably.
Thank goodness. Her facial expression is at ease. It's better than earlier.
The treants looked at me, bowing slightly, which surprised me. I bow back, hoping the elf girl will do fine from now on, trusting the treants to look after her. Putting that thought aside, I continue my investigation. Perhaps the threat level rose because of those insects. Though I must say the scouts that survey this forest were pretty lucky to be alive. After spending a couple of hours, I can affirm that there are no dangers or abnormalities. I would not want to head over to the Northern Mountain for now. I must return home before my family and the servants find it amiss, even though I did some magic to make it believable that I am still in my bedroom and whatnot. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Once I am out of this forest, I set my bearing to the south. Applying the same magic I did when I headed to the forest before sprinting out of there. Eventually, I catch the sight of the northern gate. Heading over to it as normal as I can, like usual. The guards saw me and greeted me for welcoming me back safe and sound.
"Look who's here? Rainier the masked adventurer. So mysterious and suspicious as usual."
"Hello, Derrick. I see you are in charge of this gate tonight."
This is Derrick. Simply said. He can be quite a jerk. No. A pain in the butt. Not a second will he ever let this pass. Insulting. Jeering. Swear at me at one point. Just because I am close to Miss Holly, the guild receptionist. He outright said he deserved a better and great man rather than someone like me. I mean, dude. Please check on your personality first before spouting this nonsense. Just let me through. It has been a long night for me.
But he is too prideful. Nothing will get into this guy anyway.
"But whatever. Just hand over your pendant for identification!"
I hand it over to him in a good manner. He looks at it before clicking his tongue in frustration. He calls me a showoff before throwing it back at me, which I easily catch. The gate opens from within, and I am granted entry. Hurriedly back to my house, I went through the same way as before. Perhaps tomorrow, I will head over to the guild to report on my findings. From there, I shall see what quest I shall partake or I could do my research and read some books to pass the day.
But that girl—who is she, honestly? I should have stayed with her until she woke up.
I feel a bit of guilt, but whatever. I put my worry aside and focused on getting a good night's rest. Besides, she is safe and sound from those treants. She will be Leo.