Chapter 21: Back To The City Part 1
Natalia led Joshua to a clearing full of flowering plants. So far, they hadn't run into any trouble since Joshua killed the bear. Joshua kept his ears and eyes open while they were both deep in the brush as he learned the hard way what being outside the protective walls of the city was like. Natalia on the other hand glanced around tensely at times. She knew all too well what all these flowers would attract. There were more than just alraunes and werewolves prowling around in the forest thicket, for "Honeybees" and "Hornets" were stretching their wings after their wintertime nap. A few regular bees buzzed from flower to flower as they filled their pollen baskets before heading back to their hives hidden deep inside tree trunks or nestled up high in the rich, green branches. Natalia swallowed hard as she glanced around nervously. She didn't doubt Joshua's strength, but "Honeybees" often swooped down from above to take humans back to their "hives" and present them to their queen.
"I know I saw some wild carrots here….Just please stay close." She said to Joshua in a tense voice.
Joshua turned to see the look on her face but couldn't blame her for being scared. After everything he'd been through, he'd be scared, too, if he didn't have any fighting skills to speak of. Both scanned the flowers before Natalia pointed out some only a few yards from them. They approached the wild carrots, with Joshua setting down the fish he caught next to him, and the two began uprooting them until they managed to scrounge up fourteen carrots. Luckily for them the carrots hadn't turned all woody and inedible yet.
"Thank you for helping me. I promise I'll get you back to Lescatie safe and sound." Joshua said with a grateful smile on his face as he took off his backpack.
"Oh, you're welcome! I'm just glad someone found me after I ran into the bear. I know grandpa will be eternally grateful once I get home." Natalia replied, her frightened face shifting to a happy grin before a deep question crossed her mind.
"Can I ask you something?" She said as she placed her handful of carrots into Joshua's bag. "When you said you beat Richter Noscrim…. Were you in the area where that blue beam of light magic rained down or what caused it? That's where I saw him heading earlier, so I thought maybe you know what caused that…"
Natalia's question caught him off guard slightly. Her question caused him to hope she hadn't been extremely close to the mines when he cast that spell. He didn't initially want to; he just was left with no choice if he wanted to survive the fight with the automaton. Had he accidentally gotten Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana killed with that spell he'd never forgive himself. His only relief came from seeing them unharmed on the other side of the portal before jumping through it.
"I was there and I….am the one who cast the spell that created that beam. I'm sorry if it spooked you. I was in the middle of a bad situation and had no choice but to use the spell. You see, I had been travelling with three others, Eristia Vitral, her companion Yuriy, and a girl named Luciana as well as a monster prisoner. I got separated from them after our prisoner pushed me down into a deep pit in the old mines," Joshua explained. "While down there, I acquired this signet and ended up fighting an ancient automaton. I emerged victorious but ended up having to fight against Richter and his wife, who was the one we took prisoner, shortly after making it back to the surface through a portal. I didn't want to use that spell as I had no clue if my companions made it out of the mine during my fight with the automaton. I just ended up in a situation where I had no choice but to cast it or I'd be dead."
Natalia gave him a sympathetic look as he explained his story. She could see it in his eyes, the regret he would've had if he truly, and accidentally, had killed his companions. She knew how dangerous it could be outside the walls, whereas he was just dipping his toes in the water. The mercenary Natalia had been with earlier panicked after robbing her and seeing the blue beam. He ran off, thinking It was Richter who cast the spell, and so far, she had not seen a trace of the mercenary. Joshua on the other hand had fought an ancient automaton that almost killed him and even fought Richter. There wasn't a doubt in Natalia's mind that Joshua was worn out after everything he'd been through. Joshua put his remaining carrots into his bag before slinging it over his back and grabbing his fish as he stood up. Natalia stood up and looked around with nervous eyes before she noticed another type of flower bush whose blue bulbs pointed down and were shaped like bells. She pointed to it, catching Joshua's attention.
"Those are Blue Lady Bells. The seeds from those can be ground up and sprinkled on food and taste like processed garlic. They might help with the fish meat. The seeds tend to grow on the base of the flower bulbs for a total of three on each bulb." She explained to him as they approached the flowers.
Just as she said, the flowers had seeds all around the bulbs. The two of them began picking the seeds until they had thirty in total. A smile spread across Joshua's face at the thought of making Yuriy, Eristia, and Luciana a decent meal to eat. He felt they deserved it after everything that had happened so far and how they stood up to Minna for him. It felt nice to have people willing to side with him again, seeing as how back home he had no one left.
"On top of the seeds being a substitute spice option, the flower bulbs can be used to make an herbal tea of sorts. It can help with fever, upset stomach, and help ease joint pain. I need at least forty of these, so just wait a moment, please." Natalia said as she began picking the flower bulbs and placing them in a neat pile at the base of the flower bush.
"Hmmm…maybe tea would be a nice drink to compliment the meal? I'll grab twenty for myself, ten for everyone, and another ten for later." Joshua thought to himself before kneeling next to the bush.
Joshua began picking some for himself. He carefully placed all twenty bulbs, along with the seeds, in his backpack. Joshua was satisfied he had everything he needed to make a decent meal for all of them once he was back at the cabin.
"With this I have everything I need to make a decent meal. Do you need anything else while we're right here? I don't mind waiting while you grab whatever else you need." Joshua said with a smile.
"I'm all set on what I need. I'm teaching a potion class tomorrow at Magitec and needed some blue lady bell bulbs to teach some fresh students how to make an easy healing potion." Natalia replied as she placed her bulbs in her knapsack.
Joshua nodded before pulling out his compass and thinking carefully. Eventually he pointed in a direction he thought the cabin would be after mentally retracing his steps. Natalia gave him a confused look before realizing why he was pointing. The two of them set off towards the cabin through the brush as birds chirped overhead.
"Can I ask you something?" Natalia asked as they made their way through the woods.
"Sure, I got time." Joshua replied calmly as he scanned the forest thicket for threats as he walked.
"That mark on your left hand….what is it?" She asked him curiously.
"That's a bit of a funny story…." Joshua said as he felt the signet absorb some more mana from the air.
He began telling Natalia everything that had happened since his group ran into Quickdraw Annie up to his fight with the ancient robot. Natalia carefully listened and was surprised to hear he had his own gun, but that he also stuck his left hand somewhere he shouldn't. She was curious as to how the immediate injection of mana into his body hadn't torn it apart, seeing as he had none to begin with. She watched his signet flash again as it kept absorbing more and more mana from the air as they walked.
"That automaton had me in a nasty life and death situation. I had no way of knowing whether Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana had made it out of the cave, but I had no other choice but to use the spell to destroy that automaton. I still don't even know where that portal that got me outside came from, but that's not as important as still being alive." Joshua said to Natalia.
Natalia thought about his words. It wasn't the first time someone with little or no mana at all gained significantly more, but it could have nasty effects on those who never had any to begin with. She recalled how just three months ago A few researchers, including the most experienced professor in this field, tried imbuing mana into a person who had been born without mana such power only for the poor soul's body to reject it and die. This led to the board of directors banning the practice afterwards. Despite that, Joshua was proof it could be done.
"You might want to speak with Professor Carlyle when you get back to Lescatie. He has more knowledge than anyone regarding binding manga to objects or people who never had any mana to start with. The reason I say this is the bodies of those who never had mana to begin with tend to reject it. One person had died before from being imbued with mana and their body couldn't handle the change."
"I'll….look into it." Joshua replied, a little nervous about his new power.
The cabin finally came into view through the trees after a bit more walking and discussion. Eristia stood on the roof keeping watch for any signs of danger. She called out to Joshua when she saw him but was puzzled by the purple-haired woman with him. She jumped off the roof and landed next to the front door with a raised eyebrow. Luciana came around from the back of the cabin holding a bucket full of water in one hand and a length of tree branch as thick as her arm in the other. She quickly carried both inside before coming back out to greet Joshua after spotting him from around the corner.
"Thank goodness you made it back!" She greeted him with a warm smile.
"Good to be back. Nothing bad happened while I was gone?" He replied.
Both Eristia and Luciana both glanced at each other with a nervous stare. Joshua felt his stomach churn as he began thinking that maybe Yuriy had been kidnapped or the werewolves' pack leader had stopped by. If it was the former, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he left Yuriy to his fate, the latter was just as concerning as Joshua wanted no further trouble.
"Yuriy….had a bit of an accident earlier while gathering wood." Erista said as she hung her head slightly.
Joshua's look of worry only deepened. He was the group's "medic" but that only stretched so far. Extreme lacerations and multiple broken bones needed someone more equipped and trained than him. He could use fishing line as an improvised suture, but he also couldn't waste valuable resources the way he had used some of his ammo despite telling himself to conserve it as much as possible. Natalia was just as concerned as Joshua. She couldn't afford to use any of the plants she gathered with Joshua earlier as they were important teaching materials. The four of them heard a pained cry from around the back of the cabin followed by some fierce grunts.
"The Itching and Burning just won't STOP!" They heard Yuriy yell in pain.
Joshua didn't like the sound of "itching" and "burning". It made him think of only a few things—poison ivy, sumac, or oak and stinging nettles—and he could only treat one of them with what he had on hand.
"I'll go look at Yuriy and see if there's anything I can do for him. In the meantime, can one of you find some small sticks no bigger than your pinky finger? I'll make us some fish ka-bobs to eat once I'm done checking on Yuriy and prepping the fish." Joshua said as he looked in Yuri's direction.
"I'll find some sticks if you let me know if you can treat Yuriy." Eristia replied with an anxious look in her eyes.
Joshua nodded before handing his fish over to her and heading around the back of the cabin. Joshua scanned the backyard and found Yuriy over by the well scrubbing the back of his right hand with water he pulled from the well. He had a pained expression painted on his face as he scrubbed but it didn't appear to be helping him.
"Get stung by something?" Joshua asked as he approached him, slightly startling him in the process.
"All I did was brush the bottom of a large plant leaf with the back of my right hand and now I can't get the itching and burning to stop!" He cried as he went back to scrubbing.
The back of his right hand had a large spot of skin that was red and irritated. Joshua quickly reached to stop him as he knew Yuriy was only making it worse. Joshua could see what looked like several small, thin white needles embedded in his skin. An idea immediately formed in Joshua's head. He knew what those small needles were, and how to remove them all at once.
"Looks like you encountered a Stinging Nettles plant. I can tell you right now that the more you scrub at the needles, you'll just end up pushing 'em deeper into your skin. Eristia wanted to know if I can treat this, and I can, so let's go see her. She's probably inside still." Joshua said as he examined Yuriy's hand.
Joshua stood up and motioned for Yuriy to follow him, who only did so because Joshua said he could treat his hand. They both trudged around the side of the cabin and came across Eristia as she opened the cabin door. Luciana and Natalia could be briefly heard from inside as she opened the door before their voices were abruptly cut off when it closed behind Eristia.
"Is it bad?" She asked Joshua as she stared down at Yuriy's hand.
"It's just stinging nettles. I can treat it with what I got in my backpack. At the very least he isn't having an allergic reaction to it nor is it infected." Joshua replied with a smile.
Eristia let out a sigh of relief. The last thing any of them wanted was to get a severe injury that even their main medic couldn't treat until they got back to Lescatie. She wasn't too sure as to what Joshua meant when he said "allergic reaction", but it still sounded like something neither she or Yuriy wanted.
"That's a load off! Alright, I'll go get some sticks. Luciana is building the cook fire as we speak," Eristia said, "Luciana and Natalia have been talking….did you really kill a bear with just your baton and knife just to save her life after the mercenary she hired abandoned her?" she added curiously.
Yuriy gave Joshua a look of surprise. Both Luciana and Eristia had been just as surprised to hear that story from Natalia as well.
"Yeah. Despite the environment we're in, the second I heard her scream I still investigated the ruckus. I'm glad I did, not simply because she's Gali's granddaughter, but because it means that he gets to see her again. She also helped me find some wild carrots for the horses. We managed to scrounge up fourteen total, so we got plenty for them and one for each of us." Joshua replied in an honest tone.
A big smile spread across Eristia's face. He was proving himself to be an invaluable asset if he kept up the hard work even if he was on his own at times. This was the kind of support a fair few of the heroes from Lescatie had been looking for. They had even gone to the Orders' upper echelon before with requests to train some of the soldiers to fulfil specialized roles, but each request was always turned down. Mersé had been the one to make the most requests, and now it looked like she was truly going to get her wish one way or the other.
"Yuriy, I want you to help him with the fish once he's done treating your hand. Luciana might also need your help getting extra wood. I'll be back in five minutes." Eristia said before she left to search for small sticks.
Yuriy complied with a salute before he and Joshua headed inside. Luciana was busy with snapping the tree branch into short pieces next to the fireplace as they entered, and Natalia was busy digging through her knapsack next to her for something. The fish were sitting on two chairs by the fireplace as Luciana worked. Both girls looked up at them as they entered the cabin with curious stares.
"I'll grab the other two chairs, then I'll place some tape over the spot. It should pull the nettles right out. Once that's done, I'll put some anti-itch medicine from my trauma kit on it." Joshua said as he walked over to the other chairs.
"…Tape?..." Yuriy said with confusion as Joshua was walking back with the chairs in hand.
The two of them sat down with Natalia watching them closely. Luciana had told her how Joshua had helped her after she fell into the hole beneath the bedroom. Joshua set his backpack down next to him and dug around inside it for his roll of vinyl tape. Once he dug it out, he fumbled around in his pants pockets for his Workchamp. After finding it and flipping out the scissors, he began placing strips of tape he cut with the scissors across the irritated spot on Yuriy's right hand. He was careful not to cause any further discomfort. Once he had three strips laid across, he quickly peeled them off. Several little, white needles were stuck to the bottom side of the tape, but Yuriy found himself surprised that his hand didn't itch as much anymore. He watched as Joshua quickly rolled the strips into a ball before placing the ball into his upper right coat pocket.
"That takes care of the spicules….I have some anti-itch medicine in my trauma pack. I'll apply some so your case of contact urticaria doesn't get any worse." Joshua said as he put his tape back in his backpack.
A confused look spread across Yuriy's face as he watched Joshua root through his backpack. He'd never heard of "contact urticaria" or "spicules". He doubted anyone save for the best medicine men and women in the world, like Gali and his granddaughter, knew anything about them. Natalia was paying close attention from her seat as Joshua pulled out a small, strange white thing from his backpack—a tube of anti-itch cream.
"Hold still while I apply this cream to the rash." Joshua said as he unscrewed the cap.
Natalia's eyes were fixated on the tube Joshua held as he applied the cream to Yuriy's hand. She was surprised to see someone so well prepared in comparison to numerous knights she had seen before they went out on crusades or partake in the escort groups for nobles. Some of them ended up paying her grandfather a visit afterwards to get wounds looked at after having boasted about being untouchable an hour or two earlier. Her grandfather always criticized them for being unprepared or doing a horrible job wrapping their own wounds. She had spoken with Luciana while Joshua had been outside checking on Yuriy and couldn't believe that someone as "common" as Joshua knew of advanced first aid treatment. After Luciana had spoken about how he had sutured Mina's leg, and now watching him treat Yuriy, she was more grateful than she was when he saved her from the bear.
Eristia returned Just as Joshua finished and put the cream back in his backpack. In her left hand she had five sticks as thick as her pinky, and in her right, she had a small bundle of twigs for the fireplace. She closed the door behind her before approaching Joshua and handing him the sticks in her left hand.
"All finished?" she asked both Yuri and Johua, who nodded in reply.
"Good….so how are we going to go about cooking the fish?" Eristia said before looking at the pile of fish next to the fireplace.
"I can handle de-scaling them and removing the internal organs." Joshua replied with a smile.
"I can handle peeling the carrots." Yuriy added.
"I'll keep an eye on the fireplace, so we don't burn down the cabin." Luciana chimed in happily.
"Joshua and I found some Blue Lady Bell and gathered their seeds while we were gathering the carrots. I have a pestle and mortar I can use to grind the seeds into a spice." Natalia said, not wanting to feel left out.
Eristia nodded happily. The cooking was going to take a while, but they would still have plenty of time to make it back to Lescatie afterwards.
"Perfect! I'll resume my watch and keep an eye out for any more monsters." Eristia said with a confident grin.
They all set about their tasks. Joshua set to work on the fish with a smile on his face before whittling the sticks Eristia brought him into skewers. Yuriy focused on the carrots, peeling them with the large folding knife Joshua had lent him from his backpack. Luciana and Natalia remained in the cabin while Eristia kept watch. Once Joshua and Yuriy were finished, Joshua brought the skewers in and roasted them over the fire while Yuriy fed the horses. Once the fish were done, they all ate and asked Joshua about the world he came from. Joshua told them of some of the things he did with some of his friends when he was a teenager and of his life before he met his grandfather. The other four were surprised to hear his world really didn't have monsters, elves, dwarves, or magic like theirs did. Once they finished their meal, they set out for Lescatie unaware of how different the world was about to become, and it would all be because of Joshua.
A/N: I'm fully back! Work got really crazy with how many people called off since my last post meaning i had to fill in a lot more than anticipated. We're back on schedule now so no need to worry! This one is going to be a two-part chapter as it would be too big otherwise.