Chapter 184: On the Side

The centaur knight named Parna was seriously injured; the maids changed the water for cleaning her wounds twice.

But fortunately, from the examination, it was still just flesh and blood wounds; the bones and nerves were basically intact, but self-healing in the short term was impossible. Without a priest's treatment, she would need to recover for at least three months, and might even be left with old scars.

This also meant this small group would likely have to sit idle and consume their resources for a while.

"Damn thieves, let me know who did it."

With this small group now idle, they tended to their own wounds while recounting their experiences.

This five-person squad was not weak; even with the monster riot, they could have retreated in time. But a thief blew up the passage leading to the upper levels, forcing them to take a detour.

It might have been to hinder the pursuing beasts, or it might have been simply to trap and kill them. There was no need for enmity; the equipment on a whole adventurer squad was quite valuable.

Hearing them say this, Li En relaxed a bit; it seemed that aside from some unlucky ones, the exploration teams in the underground ruins were doing okay.

Li En also saw that this squad had good character; otherwise, the centaur knight would have been left behind, and they wouldn't be pooling money to find a way to treat her now.

"Next month is the Harvest Festival. By then, the Church of the God of Wine and Rice Ears should hold the Wine Offering Banquet as usual. At that time, the 'donation' quota will be a bit lower; maybe sixty percent will be enough."

"That's still at least a dozen gold coins. Damn thieves." They only complained about that unknown thief, not daring to complain about the Church's greed.

Li En noticed that this squad had knights, rangers, and warriors, plus a lizardman who appeared to be a Wu Seng and a gnome spellcaster; their professions were quite complete, yet they had no priest.

Actually, this was normal. Except for some relatively special deities, most priests, as clergy, were essentially "civil servants." Unless it was a special situation, they generally had no need to participate in the life of an adventurer.

Because of this, the occasional priest adventurer was fought over, and healers and apothecaries were also quite popular.

A priest's healing also had limits, especially for high-level practitioners who already possessed vigorous vitality.

For the knight's injuries right here, if they wanted to heal quickly, it would probably require a fourth-tier or higher high-level divine spell. That "donation" of gold coins was a lot for young adventurers. A face-saving Church generally wouldn't directly say "medical fees"; they would only present a minimum donation slip and a donation box. If you donated enough, they would "treat you for free."

After all, divine spells consumed divine power, which was naturally noble.

Because of this, for many adventurers, working hard for half a year might not even be enough for one healing session.

Seeing this scene, Li En hesitated for a moment; he subconsciously reached for the Deer Heart Amulet at his chest. If it was that thing, it might heal her in a few days.

"If you wanted to kill her, you totally could. Oh, and she's of the Horned Hoof Clan (cattle, horse, sheep, deer category); it's a perfect match, and she'll beastify faster."

The snake, at this moment, crawled out.

He looked at the little ones before him with interest, feeling somewhat intrigued.

"That noble little girl treats you very well." Suddenly, he said something out of nowhere.

"Uh, indeed."

At this moment, looking at the squad that was obviously carefully selected, Li En also thought of Miss Shaliman, who was not here.

Looking back now, the other party's arrangement was quite proper. If Li En had fallen into despair, guarding this manor and living off the rent would have been enough to survive.

If he intended to do something, this squad introduced to him would become a bridge to adapt to the new environment.

Re-entering the local supernatural world with a relatively stable and reliable starting point of connections, even if he didn't intend to enter this line of work, he could buy supernatural materials at a cheaper price.

This squad looked quite good; at least, it felt that if they could run fast, they could survive.

A male lizardman Wu Seng, looking very refined, was also the least injured. He glanced at Li En from time to time, seeming somewhat uneasy.

This kind of keen observation ability and perception ability was quite valuable.

The female ranger-type practitioner's dual blades and bow on her back both vaguely emitted magical fluctuations; this should be a veteran ranger with very good equipment.

Rare was her race; she was a White Winged Human, quite uncommon locally. She must be an outsider who had traveled thousands of miles. Judging by her equipment, she was clearly the strongest in the squad.

The shield dwarf warrior needed no introduction; he was highly praised in various aspects. Not only was his reputation generally good, but he also basically worked as a craftsman, making him an expert at maintaining weapons in the wild.

The spellcaster was a male gnome; they were generally skilled in illusions and flexible, good at escaping. Their dislike of offensive spells was also famous.

This was a meat-and-potatoes squad with a spellcaster for support, and except for the dwarf, everyone seemed to have high mobility, giving them a very high survival rate.

There were indeed a bit too many physical damage-dealing professions in the squad; this was the norm for most adventurer squads. Low-threshold, low-cost meat-and-potatoes squads were always mainstream. Having a short-range flying ranger, heavy-armored centaur, and a precious spellcaster already proved this squad's level and potential.

"Snake, help out." Li En thought for a moment; for this kind of injury, a Paladin squad would basically be useless, but Snake definitely had a way.

If the price is too high, don't treat her; it's just a matter of doing it on the side.

"I quite wanted to blackmail you, but there's no need. Tsk, it's too late."

Immediately, Li En understood the meaning of those words.

"Clap, clap, clap." The already open door of the living room was deliberately knocked upon; the outsider actively attracted the master's attention to avoid the misunderstanding of an uninvited arrival.

"My lord Li En, long time no see. Seeing that you are all well truly puts us at ease." These were skilled diplomatic phrases, yet they came from one of Kukuna's already soaring apprentices.

Arlekne Tarabal, accompanied by two dark elf maids, slowly walked in.

The rings on her fingers and the necklace on her chest were emitting a faint glow, further illuminating the room which only had candlelight.

"Please forgive me for not knocking, because the main door does not seem to be in its proper position."

For Li En's small manor, there were no servants to answer the door. Arlekne had originally planned to wait for the maids to go in and announce her, but seeing that the house's door was missing, curiosity led her to enter on her own.

"Oh, there is a patient." On the dismantled doorboards in the hall lay the centaur.

This was a "Great Horse" standing two meters tall and three meters long; the heavy armor had already been removed to the side.

Her face was flushed and covered in sweat; her condition was very poor.

With her size, entering and exiting vertically was no problem if one was careful, but entering and exiting horizontally was a major issue.

The cheap wooden door had been dismantled to serve as a temporary stretcher; the plan was to put the doorboards back up when she was a bit better and moved to a bed.

Seeing the chaotic scene in the hall and smelling the pungent scent of blood, the dark elf maids subconsciously covered their noses. The scolding words were already at their lips but were glared back by Arlekne.

This was not the Mordorika of the Underworld, and the master of this local manor was not an ordinary person who could be bullied at will.

"We thank My Lord Li En for your care in the Underworld, and even more for your timely intervention the day before yesterday. If the Princess had indeed encountered problems due to our suggestion, we truly could not bear such a loss."

The noble lady had come to express gratitude. The story of the High Knight was a fun tale to others, but it had scared her half to death.

This expedition was her suggestion.

Originally, she thought it was just a bunch of petty thieves; the Princess could lead the knights to easily handle them, gaining some fame while also using this opportunity to bring the two cities closer. Under normal circumstances, this group of thieves would be "coincidentally" surrounded and annihilated by both cities simultaneously, and the "Princesses" of both races would "happen to meet" because of it.

Thus, although the diplomatic meeting originally had immature conditions (insufficient mutual trust between both sides), it was brought forward and performed early in the wild outside the jurisdiction of both sides due to the "chance encounter."

But now that it was known that it was actually a Lich of the Ninth Ring, all who knew were scared half to death. Traces of Meteor Swarm (a Ninth-Ring spell) had already been confirmed; the identity of the opponent as a top-tier spellcaster was established.

"Fortunately, fortunately, your timely intervention prevented two cities from reigniting war." This was no empty words; if Dai Niya had died in the Underworld, Mosodilka would be unable to explain.

And above, even if the Radiant City knew this was an accident, they would likely still send troops to demand justice for the kingdom's future ruler.

While speaking flattering words, at Arachne's silent gesture, an unwilling maid held a tray with both hands and presented a carefully selected "small gift."

This was both gratitude and an attempt to draw closer; the more noble ladies of the Dark Elf society understood the Soul-Bearers and the apprentices, the more they grasped the importance of Li En as this "Soul-Bearer Overseer."

Li En, of course, had to reach out to accept the other's goodwill, but in the middle of the hall lay a patient who groaned constantly, burning with fever.

This was somewhat ridiculous.

"The Silver Vase Maid's Ring of Mercy." Faint silver light descended directly, and the goddess holding the vase within the phantom image flashed by.

With a single five-ring healing divine art from Arachne, the female knight's shoulder wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

She was not merely a high priestess, but also a "Child of Divine Favor," one whose divine power and unique divine arts were inexhaustible.

A top-tier problem for low-level adventurers that would take months or even half a year was resolved with a mere wave of her hand, as she did Li En this favor.

(End of this chapter)