episode_0032

“Place a water-soaked towel on their forehead… and a bottle of water above the wound, wetting the end of the bandage wrapped around the injury.”

I took out all the household items and performed all the emergency first aid I could, as described in the book.

It was uncertain if this would be enough help.

Still, I felt as if Killua’s labored breathing had stabilized a little.

“When is Rai coming back…”

Rai, who had left to find a treatment method for Killua, showed no signs of returning.

Feeling increasingly anxious, I approached the window and looked out at the plaza where the merchant from the capital had arrived.

Various ingredients, daily necessities, and luxury goods were displayed from the eight large carriages the merchant had brought, and the villagers surveyed the items with curious eyes.

If Killua hadn’t been sick, I would have used the money from selling the jar with the black liquid to enjoy a fun shopping trip with the villagers.

“Ugh…”

Imagining a scene that could now never come to pass as I gazed at the plaza, I was startled by Killua’s groan from behind me.

“Killua-nim?!”

Clinging to a faint thread of consciousness, she thrashed her arms, trying somehow to get off the bed.

Every time she thrashed her arms, the items I had used for the emergency first aid, following the book, fell to the ground.

“Is something bothering you?!”

As the water jars and plates, knocked down by her thrashing hands, shattered noisily on the floor, I rushed to Killua and grabbed her flailing hands.

“My… my stomach… feels nauseous… ugh…”

“You feel nauseous?!”

Her face pale, she was dry heaving. It must have been the after-effects of drinking too much yesterday.

Killua was trying to get to the bathroom somehow to vomit the nausea rising in her throat.

But in her current condition, moving to the bathroom was almost impossible.

“Oh no…”

I frantically searched for a bowl or water jar, but the water jars and bowls I had brought had already been knocked to the floor by her flailing arms and shattered noisily.

“…”

Gazing at Killua, who was clinging to me and letting out rough, suffocating breaths, I firmed my resolve and cupped my hands like a bowl, bringing them to her mouth.

“Vomit.”

“No… no… I can hold it… just… ugh…”

She tried to lift her head and look at me, as if to prove she was okay.

But the moment she moved her head, an unbearable dizziness must have overcome her, and she only groaned, taking a deep breath, and let her head fall onto my hands.

“It’s okay, Killua-nim. It’s okay, just let it all out.”

Seeing her shoulders trembling, it was clear she was desperately trying to hold back the nausea rising in her throat, holding her breath and clamping her mouth shut.

I simply kept repeating “it’s okay” into Killua’s ear, as if to comfort her.

“U… Ugh…”

Eventually, reaching the limits of her physical and mental endurance, she shed tears of apology and embarrassment towards me and began to vomit the nausea that had risen to her mouth into my hands.

“You did well. You’ll be okay now.”

Her vomit collected in my cupped hands.

After vomiting all the nausea from her throat, Killua, who had somewhat regained her senses, simply stared blankly at the scene she had created, her eyes a mess of tears and snot.

“Please rest.”

I stood up, keeping my hands tightly cupped so that the vomit wouldn’t spill out.

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…”

Behind me, Killua’s tear-filled apology echoed.

But contrary to her worries, her vomit didn’t feel disgusting or repulsive to me.

I only felt pity and sorrow for her, suffering so much that she couldn’t even go to the bathroom herself.

Coming out into the living room, I discarded the vomit outside and cleaned my hands thoroughly with scented candles and water to remove any smell.

Then I gathered a clean towel and warm water to wipe Killua’s tear- and snot-stained face, and made my way back to her room.

“Killua-nim?”

Hoping that her condition had improved at least a little from the recent vomiting, I called her name and cautiously opened the door.

“I’m sorry… Jazel. I’m really sorry…”

She was still slumped on the bed, repeating the same words weakly, just as she had apologized to me earlier.

“Killua-nim!!”

Now, as if her consciousness had almost faded, she couldn’t respond to my call, only mouthing words with pale, dry lips.

“Snap out of it!!”

I rushed to her, where she lay precariously, as if about to slide off the bed, hugged her tightly, and, wetting the handkerchief I had brought with warm water, wiped her tear-streaked face.

As the warmth of the damp handkerchief touched her face, she let out a low groan.

But her vitality, which had faded so much, could not possibly be restored by merely wiping her face with a warm handkerchief.

“Damn it… When is Rai coming back…”

Even as I watched Killua dying right before my eyes, all I could do was helplessly resent Rai, who still hadn’t returned.

“Killua!!”

Bang!

Just then, her door was violently flung open, revealing Rai, whom I had been anxiously awaiting.

As if he had run without stopping, he gasped for breath, his chest heaving, and handed me the item he had brought, his hands trembling.

“Please… take this…”

I took the item from him as he sank to the floor, clutching his chest, his heart pounding to its limit, having run so relentlessly.

“This is…”

What he handed me was a beautiful teardrop-shaped glass bottle, seemingly modeled after a droplet of water, containing a blood-red liquid.

I instantly recognized the identity of the glass bottle, sealed with a glass stopper intricately adorned with small jewels and gold leaf centered around a large gem.

“World Tree Sap!?”

The liquid in the lavishly decorated bottle was a vivid blood-red, too distinct to be merely tree sap.

World Tree Sap was a miraculous liquid with the power to heal even severed body parts if reattached and then sprinkled with the potion.

“Open your mouth, Killua-nim!!”

How he had obtained such a precious item didn’t matter.

With Killua’s immediate condition being paramount, I unhesitatingly twisted open the glass stopper adorned with the large jewel.

Under my rough handling, the masterfully crafted jewels and gold leaf crumbled like useless debris, scattering across the floor.

But more than such treasures, I only wished that the red liquid inside the glass bottle would truly be effective.

“Swallow slowly. You’ll get better soon!”

Still holding Killua, I carefully tilted the glass bottle, letting its contents flow little by little into her mouth.

Fortunately, Killua, who still had a faint thread of consciousness, began to laboriously swallow the liquid that flowed into her mouth.

“Good. It’s working!!”

As she swallowed the red liquid called World Tree Sap, vitality rapidly returned to her pale face.

I didn’t know how he had obtained it, but the World Tree Sap he brought seemed to be genuine.

“Thank goodness it’s not too late.”

Rai, clutching his left chest and taking a deep, labored breath, let out a great sigh of relief as he lay down on the floor once Killua’s face began to regain its color.

“How did you get this?”

After pouring all the remaining sap from the glass bottle into Killua’s mouth, I looked between the empty bottle and Rai, asking about the source of the World Tree Sap.

“I bought it from a merchant. Luckily, he said he had one left as a ‘bad stock’ item, so I got it cheap.”

He flashed a bright smile, giving a thumbs-up, as if to say, “Trust my negotiation skills.”

But my hardened expression didn’t soften as I looked at him.

“This isn’t something you simply get for cheap…”

Anyone else might have admired Rai’s shrewdness and nodded along to his answer.

But I, who had once wandered the entire continent as a merchant, knew the true value of this World Tree Sap very well.

Even if it were a quick sale at a low price, it would still be at least 3 gold. Furthermore, the value of a top-grade sap that could heal even critically wounded people in a special situation like war couldn’t simply be converted into a monetary amount.

“What did you give in exchange for this?”

“…”

Obtaining such a precious item required a fitting price.

Merchants could sometimes be so cunning that even devils could learn a thing or two from them.

Someone like Rai, who couldn’t hide their desperation and urgency to save another’s life.

Such people were essentially prey, walking straight into the merchants’ wicked snares.

The merchants I knew had so skillfully manipulated those consumed by desperation that they would willingly tear out their own hearts with joy and gratitude.

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything major. The merchant who comes to our village is a really good person, you see.”

Rai swallowed a bitter smile, hiding the truth about what he had given the merchant in exchange.

“Rai. Catch your breath by Killua’s side.”

I carefully laid Killua, whose breathing and complexion had improved from the sap’s effects, back on the bed, then stood up.

Then Rai followed me, bewildered, as I walked towards the door, asking,

“What are you going to do?!”

“I’ve only ever received help from you, haven’t I? This time, I’ll return the favor a little.”

Gazing at the merchant’s lavish carriage standing prominently in the middle of the plaza through the window, I cleared my throat lightly and began to walk, intending to reclaim the price Rai had been swindled out of at its rightful value.