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Chapter 217: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (6)

After stopping at their footsteps to take a quick rest by the trees of the forest, the group silently sat by at their luggage whilst Nicole was curled up in a ball. Beside her, Sanke had an annoyed expression on his face.

"Hey..." Sanke frowned. "Can't you just show your wounds from last time? I want to replace the bandages now that we're resting."

"No... It's fine," Nicole muttered out. "It's still clean... You don't have to waste resources on me..."

"Whether it's clean or not, bandages should be replaced every day," Sanke clicked his tongue. "otherwise, your wounds would be more likely to be infected. It's already bad as it is with them all over your body... If you leave them as it is..."

"I..."

"..." Sanke turned towards Lier. "Do you mind?"

"Yeah... Sanke's right!" she nodded her head. "We've got to replace your bandages. If you leave it like that... You'll be more or less visiting the church! It costs money and well... We're um... Slightly broke..."

"...Lier," he sighed. "Is that all the reasons you can come up with? If anything, that seems like an excuse for"

"ahem. Maybe it's because you're uncomfortable with Sanke or Renryth being here? Do you want me to replace them for you instead?" Lier pointed over towards the tree as she interrupted Sanke. "Come over there and I'll help"

"I'm good..." Nicole bit her lips. "My wounds are fine. Mama, papa! If anything, I've recovered! You don't need to worry! I just... Need a little break..."

"..." Lier helplessly turned towards Sanke with a dumfounded expression. "What do we do...?"

"Hah... What can we do?" Sanke furrowed his brow whilst soon whispering over to Lier. "Do you want to use force or something? I mean... That's an option I guess if it the end justify the means," he shrugged. "Not wanting to change bandages, perhaps out of fear of being hurt, just harms her in the long run. So we best do it now if you want."

"Using force when she's in this state..." Lier sighed. "Let's not, alright? Well... Give it a day before we decide that. Leaving the bandages on for one day should be fine..."

"Lier..." Sanke helplessly blinked at the woman in front of him. "If it were normal wounds... I would have agreed... But, those wounds aren't those you'd find from someone barely getting out of a battlefield. It's far worse. I know because I was the one who bandaged her up."

"Still, using force cannot be an option," Lier shook her head.

"It was just one of the possibilities," he continued to sigh. "This wouldn't be a problem if I could just change her bandages... But, why is she so reluctant on showing her them all of a sudden? Wounds like that don't recover overnight."

"Then, let's give it half a day, shall we?" she suggested. "She's maybe just scared from just remembering something... So, she'll probably open up later down during the day," nodding her head, she stood up from the ground. "Ahem... In any case, let's continue with the journey."

"Already?" Sanke raised his brow as he sighed. In the next moment, he turned his head over to the child, who was silently fiddling with her fingers. "...sigh. If you say so."

...

Bareth's Plain, Pinewood Forest??? [ Day / Hazy ].

"...location. Check," hidden deep within the forest, a young child stood ever so lonely from the distance to the group who were beginning to continue down the dirt paths. "...stupid wolf, when can we start?"

"You dare call me stupid wolf?!" An angered growl could be heard in reply.

"If you're not 'stupid wolf', then explain," he frowned. "Why did you sent an entire pack of your kind over to me? White with fur, uncorrupted by twilight and that stupid scent you always give, are you lying to me? Should I tell mom that you've been a bad dog?"

With his small hands moving over to the back of him, a pack of struggling wolves desperately cried out with small howls. Their limbs were all pinned to the ground by ice.

"Is this your idea on keeping me entertained?" his expression continued to sour. "Don't treat me like some happy child! I'm big enough for mom to send me out to missions!"

"Grr... You dare place me into the same group as those creatures? Those wolves would never be like me!" the deep voice angrily resounded through his ear. "If you wearn't so preciously kept by the witch's side, I would've given you a stern disciplined!"

"Do you think care? That's no fun," he scoffed. "You should stop it really. It might bite you at your tail if you're not careful. Not that you're already keeping your tail between your leg for letting the child go."

"Hah, you brat..."

"Hmph. Mom's a kind person, she let you off with a day of surviving the blizzard in your human form," he stated. "If you were like those hopeless other servants, then you'd be stone-cold ice. Very fun toys to play with, to be honest."

"Crazy brat..." the voice mumbled.

"Some mutt wishes to continue speaking like that?" he smirked. "Why don't you save your energy for when she gets back?"

"Ugh. Just get on with the stupid plan already," the voice scoffed. "They're getting pretty hungry to get out to start hunting. You're only just delaying the inevitable."

"Mommy said to be kind to those who helped Nicole," the child uttered out with an innocent smile. "Of course, I must follow her wishes! So, small dogs, bad. Stupid big dog should only be the one coming"

"Grr... Just one day I'll..."

"Stupid big dog should now keep their mouth shut," the child stated. "We shall continue pursuing them."

...

Bareth's Plain, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Evening / Slight Hail ].

As the evening sunset slowly fell by the horizon, the clouds darkened as a short hail befell upon the lands. However, with the help of Renryth's barrier around the campsite which they had set up for the night, the small hail was nothing.

"...well, that's some pretty good luck that we're only getting a small hail, huh?" Lier stated as she turned to look up towards the protective barrier casted out by Renryth.

"...good luck?" Renryth whose been tightly holding onto his staff the entire time blinked slightly. "...if this hail becomes any stronger or lasts the entire night, I won't be getting any shut-eye."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about for tonight," Sanke stated whilst scrutinizing the surrounding area. "The hail should stop pretty soon, so you can still get a good night's rest."

"Well... If you say so," Renryth sighed. "Anyway, how's the kid?"

"The kid? Well... She's still refusing to show her wounds," Sanke sighed. "I'm considering to use force at this point if it means to keep her at a healthy state. But... Lier's not budging at all. So she's handling the matter."

"Well just trust her for now," Renryth stated. "Anyhow, do you mind giving me a bit of your magic to lessen the burden on this barrier? The more energy I save up for the long-running night, then I won't be as tired."

"Seriously? I literally just said..."

"Can never be too sure, right?" Renryth chuckled.

"Sigh..." Helpless, Sanke walked up towards Renryth.

...

Whilst Renryth and Sanke were busying with the barrier, Lier on the other hand had been attempting to convince the child to allow for her to change her bandages.

"Come on, Nicole! Pretty please?" Lier begged.

"I told you... It's fine..." Nicole stated. "My bandages are clean and..."

"Then at least show me that your bandages are clean," she stated as she interrupted Nicole. "If you do that, then I won't bother you anymore about this."

"Mm..." Hesitant, Nicole shook her head. "No... I'm telling you, it's fine... I don't need for it to be replaced... Really!"

"...d-do it for mummy...?" Lier muttered out in an embarrassed tone. "Please...?"

Nicole was slightly shocked at the words that were uttered out by Lier. In the next moment, the child pulled up her shirt as she showed it towards the woman in front of her. "Okay... if mama says so..." with a dejected voice, the bandages were now revealed for Lier to see. "...I told you... The bandages are clean... So..."

"..." Lier calmly turned to look at the girl's body that was filled with bandages. "I guess it's clean... But..." moving her hands over to the child's body, she slightly touched the bandaged area. "It's a little loose. Let me just adjust it and..." as she was about to tighten the bandage, Lier's eyes opened wide in shock. "Nicole...?"

"...!!" Upon noticing what Lier had seen on her body, Nicole desperately moved away from Lier. "No... It's not what you think...!"

"Nicole..." she stood up as she walked over towards the shivering child. "Your wounds... Where are they? From what Sanke had described earlier... You should have marks everywhere beneath your bandages... But..."

"M-Mama..." Slight tears began appearing in her eyes, slowly clouding her vision. "I-It's not what you think... These wounds aren't... I-I..."

"Nicole?" Lier questioned.

"Don't... I don't want... To be called a monster... No..." Nicole began shaking her head in fear as she soon pushed Lier's hand away. In the next moment, she began curling up into a ball. "...mama... please..."

"N-Nicole...?" Confused at the child's sudden behaviour, Lier was stumped.

"Lier?" In a rushed voice, Sanke hurriedly ran over towards the two. "What's going on here?!"