Everything was silent, only the sound of burning wood and crackling fire interrupted the overwhelming silence.
It had been hours since nightfall but I still hadn't been able to sleep a wink, unfortunately these bastards put me in an advanced range barrier which is why I am completely trapped.
Desperation was eating away at me and being without my hands was already uncomfortable enough.
"Maybe if I fall asleep, Hitogami will tell me something useful, right?" I muttered to myself as I looked around.
Yes...I should do that.
And with this decision made, I rolled onto my side, curled into the fetal position, and closed my eyes, trying to sleep, but the cold of the forest prevented me from doing so.
Ironically, this is the first time I want that bastard Hitogami to appear in my dreams...that's how desperate I am.
"..." But unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sleep...was that it?!, was this how my life would end?!
I don't want this! I still have to see my mom and my little brother!!!
"nngh...it's cold" my voice came out as a whisper as I shivered.
The bastards left me away from the fire on purpose...
But...well, what does it matter, tomorrow I'll try to do something...
(swosh!!)
The sound of wood falling to the ground made me open my eyes quickly and look towards the forest.
As always the place was totally dark and there was nothing to help me.
But still I crawled as best I could and looked towards the forest and from there an elf with blond hair with a bow and arrows revealed himself and a smile formed on my face.
I even let out an involuntary sigh of relief but then regained my composure.
As expected from Laws, he was very stealthy until he approached me.
When he saw the state he was in, his nose wrinkled and his face formed into one of regret.
"P-Paul...what was-
"Shhh...Don't talk or you'll wake them up. The magic stone to break this spell is near the largest tent, Destroy it carefully please..." I murmured in a low voice, interrupting him.
Laws nodded and started walking towards the camp while I looked at him anxiously, he was no match for any of the three Swordsmen so both of their lives were at risk here...
The arrow on Laws' bow was drawn to its peak and about to break, fully ready to be launched and kill whoever aimed at it, But even with all that, I doubt I could take a hit from a Emperor level warrior.
He quickly made his way to the campfire area, luckily Mauricio was either naive or stupid enough to leave the activating circle outside his tent.
Laws took it and quickly returned to me.
"Now what? What do I do?" He muttered.
"Just destroy it" I replied and Laws broke the circle in half and the barrier immediately dissipated.
"Okay... now get me out of here" I murmured with a smile and to my embarrassment Laws took me in his arms and so we began to walk slowly through the forest.
"We'll never tell anyone about this, okay?" I muttered coldly.
"Y-yes, I understand, I don't blame you for not being able to take another position" he murmured and so we continued walking.
"Huh? The circle was activated?...That bastard escaped!! Donald!, Pablo!!, Wake up! The fucking kid escaped!!" Mauricio's voice echoed through the forest and sent shivers down my spine.
"Oh shit!!" Laws shouted and so we started running through the dark forest, unfortunately our speed wasn't too great due to visibility and also...
"To the right!! They're over here!!" Mauricio shouted and I could feel the swordsmen's footsteps getting closer and closer to me.
Shit!! How the hell do they know our location?!...
"Is it possible?" The murmur left my lips and I immediately looked at the handcuffs I still had on.
"Laws...I see you brought my Sakka sword with you right? Use it and break these handcuffs and throw them away! That way we'll lose them!!" I shouted and the guy without hesitation stopped immediately and pulled out my sword, I helped him by putting the chains between the tips and so we were able to break them easily.
"Now throw them far away!!' I shouted and so we continued running through the forest but I realized that Laws had no idea how to continue.
"we are lost..." l Laws's desperate voice reached my ears but I remained calm.
My first priority here was to regenerate my body and I couldn't do it because there is no other healing holy mage that I know, who would be willing to help me.
And the only place that might have the slightest chance of having knowledge of this kind would be Millis's own soldiers... but even if we captured them, they wouldn't help us at all either....
"This way!! They're not far!!" Mauricio's distant voice could barely be heard before a loud "What the fuck?!!!" was heard.
"So our plan worked..." I muttered with a smile.
"Yes...but now what will we do?" Laws asked, clearly anxious.
"You might think I'm stupid or something, but we have to get back to those guys' camp. I have a hunch," I declared with determination, and Laws shuddered.
"A-are you sure this will be a good idea? Those guys could come back there and attack us at any second." Fear could be heard completely in his voice.
"I know, but I have a feeling those bastards will keep looking for me in the woods for a long time!" I declared and so we started running quickly back to our steps.
...
It took us about ten minutes to get back to the camp and luckily for us it was completely abandoned.
"And now what do we do?!" Laws asked anxiously.
"Let's look in the biggest tent, that must be Mauricio's and that bastard must keep magic healing circles or something like that." I replied and Laws started rummaging around the sleeping tent.
It was a little bigger than the sleeping tents in my previous world and only had a sleeping bag and a wooden box...full of magic scrolls...
"Shit!!" Laws exclaimed excitedly "You were right about that Paul!!" He continued.
"Yes, now please put me down and show me the magic circles one by one, we don't have much time!" I announced and so Laws took all the magic circles he could take and began to show me them all.
Healing Magic Beginner Level 15 Circles
Healing magic intermediate level 8 circles
Healing Magic Advanced Level 4 Circles
Saint level healing magic...1 circle
I almost screamed with excitement when I recognized the runes on the circle. Laws noticed this and packed it in his luggage, and so we left the tent.
But just as we left...two of Millis's guards were already there, they looked tired and apparently also annoyed, the four of us froze in place when we saw each other.
"Laws!!!" I screamed and came back to my senses.
"y-yes!!"
"Lord Mauricio!, they're here!!
"Oh God Almighty...
The four of us shouted in unison, all giving instructions but the ones threatening us were those two.
One of them warned Mauricio of our location and the other began to cast intermediate level fire magic.
"Oh no, you won't!!" Laws dropped me to the ground and in less than a second two arrows shot out, both penetrating the soldiers' skulls and they died instantly.
I didn't even have time to complain when Laws picked me up again and Laws started running into the woods again, this time without stopping.
Maybe I'd never seen him perform like that before, or it was just the adrenaline, but Laws was running at almost the same speed as a car...that Touki thing isn't a joke, huh?...
But unfortunately, Laws' speed was nothing to the swordsmen who closed the gap between us in less than ten seconds.
The sword of the guy named Donal moved at an imperceptible speed towards Laws's head and I closed my eyes instantly.
Am I going to die here?...I don't want to...
But while I waited for eternal peace, I never felt the metal cutting my skin, instead I felt like I was falling!!!
"What the fuck?! Nobody told me there was a fucking cliff here!!' Donal's voice became more and more distant as he fell.
A cliff?! Where the hell did it come from and how?...
And more importantly...how deep is it!!
"aaagh!!, hold tea Paul!!, Laws' desperate voice reached my ears, surprisingly the guy was still clinging to me, so we continued falling together until...
(crack!!)
My fall stopped momentarily but the sound of an egg breaking was emitted in my spine and I immediately stopped feeling my legs.
"yeaaagh!!" Laws' scream was heard in the distance but it didn't last long because we both started falling again.
A gorge? Or a rock? What does it matter?
I continued falling for another twenty seconds and felt my remaining foot and the knee of the other crush until they reached my hips and I began to roll on the ground, I began to roll violently on the floor and thank goodness I was paralyzed because this shit would have literally made me shit myself in pain.
I rolled for another ten seconds until I fell into the water apparently.
(Splooosh!!!)
Oh...there's Laws too...
Shit...Shit...shit...
Now we're really screwed, aren't we?.
I couldn't feel the pain in my legs but I could feel that they had become very badly damaged and I also felt like I was bleeding out because of the dizziness I felt.
Is this all? Is this how I'll die?.
I don't want this...
But what's the point of fighting, what's the point of shouting!!
Life is never fair, right? There are always ups and downs, you'll never have a happily ever after...things will always happen...
I just hope Hilda and Lilia make it back to Ars safely...
With this simple thought in mind, my consciousness faded away...
"Talhand! Come quickly I heard a scream near here!!' A woman's scream reached my ears and I opened my eyes slightly.
My vision was blurry and I could only see the lights of two torches coming towards me.
"Oh god... they must have fallen down the cliff..." A man's raspy, shocked voice also reached me.
I screamed slowly my head and I could see two figures faintly.
"o-oh my god...it's it's..." The woman started to murmur in fear and I could see that she approached Laws' body slowly.
"My God... there's another one here, and it's a kid too, "Oh my god, he's so hurt!! I don't think he'll survive..." The man's raspy voice made me turn my head slightly while the woman continued with all her attention on Laws.
"Elinalise?... did you hear what I said?..." The man muttered and the woman turned to look at him.
"Y-yes...the man is more intact than the child, but we must help both of them" the woman declared in a commanding voice and the man just sighed.
"If you say so...although I've never seen you care about a man more than his semen," the man muttered with a hint of mockery.
What the fuck?!...
"Oh shut up you damn sausage eater! This is not the time!" The woman complained loudly.
"Hah...yeah, sorry, you're right," the man muttered and gently picked me up from the ground.
"Boy, boy, are you still alive? Do you know your name?"
"Paul.." I murmured weakly.
"...okay Paul, calm down, we're going to help you and your friend" the man's tone slowly softened and so they both began to walk quickly towards an unknown place.
I was surprised to see that the woman could have endured Laws, she must be a warrior with a mother's heart to command a man then...
The next few minutes were a total blur. I didn't even know how I was still awake, and all I could see was the light from a nearby campfire.
"God... this poor boy is about to die... we have to amputate his legs," the woman said, and so they laid me under a blanket. Shit, now I'm worse than before.
I don't know what happened next, the voices of the people became much weaker and tiredness took over my body while they treated my wounds, Even though I fought with all my strength to fall asleep, I couldn't, and so my consciousness went out.
...
I don't know how much time passed, but when I woke up it was already morning and the smell of grilled fish reached me.
"nngh..." I tried to move but quickly remembered I had no hands...but wait! At least I had my stumps to lean on, now I can't feel a thing!
"Elinalise, the child is waking up," a raspy voice said from my side and a woman approached me.
I couldn't see her well because her face cast a shadow over me.
"Hey kid? Can you hear me? Do you know your name?" The woman murmured as she stroked my head.
She was an elven woman with beautiful golden hair that reached past her waist and red eyes.
"As I recall, he told me his name was Paul before he fainted," a very short man said as he stood next to the woman.
A dwarf?...
"Paul huh? Is that your name kid?" The woman continued asking softly and I nodded weakly and tried to get up.
"t-calm down kid! It's a miracle you're alive, you fell off a hundred meter cliff, I can't even explain how you're here right now!" the woman said while she held me by the chest so I lay back down.
"B-but wait! Where's the man I fell with!" I demanded while looking around. "Where's Laws?!" I demanded while looking everywhere and the woman's expression visibly soured.
"He...is very bad...not as bad as you but he hasn't woken up yet..." She murmured and I could see tears forming on her face.
Huh? What's with that reaction?
He worries so much because they're both elves, but they both look quite alike...
I tried to move slightly but I couldn't, I couldn't feel any limb of my body and it hurt even to breathe...
"Tell me the truth, did you amputate me?" I said and stared at the woman who looked away slightly.
"Your legs were completely destroyed, they were beyond saving, and when you fell you no longer had your hands, your arms are the least affected parts" the dwarf declared in a low voice while looking at me.
"And Laws? How is he?" I asked.
"Fortunately, we only had to amputate his right arm, which was completely destroyed, but even so, he is in very bad condition," the woman said.
Shit...this is bad...No! If I want to save him, I have to act fast!
"You checked their clothes, right? Did you find some kind of magic circle?!" I demanded while looking at them.
"e-eh?...y-yes, we found a magic circle, I have it, what is it for?" The woman asked as she took it out of her backpack and quickly unwrapped it, My heart and breath stopped the moment I saw it.
"p-please I need you to do a favor for me..." I murmured softly "it will sound crazy but it will work" I said.
They both looked at me confused but agreed.
"What's wrong, kid? Is this some kind of healing magic?" The dwarf asked.
"Yes, but it can only regenerate lost limbs and I still have both arms, so...I want you to amputate one of my arms," I declared as I looked at them.
The woman blinked in confusion and tried to refute, but the dwarf just scratched his chin and pulled a dagger from his waist.
"So a Saint level healing magic circle huh? I see why you guys were running away" the dwarf said the cold metal hit my shattered shoulder.
"Elinalise, bring the magic circle the boy wants" the dwarf said and the woman approached me slowly while fully opening the circle.
"Well...I have no experience with this, so it's going to hurt," he mumbled and...
"nnngh!!" It was much more painful than when the swordsmen cut off my arm.
Those are clean cuts, at the speed of light, and the pain comes even seconds later.
"yeaaagh!!" I screamed in pain as the knife severed a thick tendon which sounded like a guitar string and so my arm fell away.
The woman immediately attached the magic circle to my arm and a golden light emitted from it until it compressed and formed a new, completely intact arm.
I wasted no time and placed my hand on my chest and a golden light enveloped my entire body.
"Incredible..." The woman's voice reached me and in a few moments my whole body was like new, my arms and my legs and even my shattered spine.
Everything was like new...
Again and without wasting time I jumped up and ran to Laws and quickly healed him.
So quickly his amputated arm and his whole body returned to normal and he began to breathe normally.
"Finally..." I muttered and threw myself on the floor completely relieved.