Edgar, Belle, and Garren quickly finished off the last remaining demon that Garren had been holding off. When the creature’s lifeless body finally collapsed to the ground, Edgar walked over tiredly and took a seat on a large stone nearby, ordering the troop to take this time to rest and recover as he lowered himself onto the rock.
By now Pom’s slimy pink form had shifted back into that of a human, revealing a series of ugly red burns that could be seen running up the young girl's left leg and stomach. After examining her injuries with a pained expression, Pom quickly dug through her heavy pack, eventually withdrawing a sealed container. She pried off the cap to expose a muddy, goo-like black substance, which she began to carefully spread over the burns.
At this time, Anthony finally managed to rip his sword free from the demon’s corpse after a great deal of effort. The magically enhanced blade had cut deep into the center of a thick bone, but once its magical power faded, it became trapped so badly that Anthony had to break the bone with a rock to get it out. Hastily wiping away the blood from the freed blade, he returned the dark-colored sword to its sheath and approached Pom, guilt and concern written across his face as he looked down at her injuries.
“How is it? I guess now we know your ability has some limitations.”
A look of relief spread over Pom’s face as she covered the last inch of burns with the black substance.
“I’ll be fine. It’s… not as bad as it looks.” Glancing up at Anthony as she spoke, she noticed the purple bruises already visible around his neck in the shape of a large demonic hand. Pom’s head tilted toward the ground in front of her as she slowly returned the remainder of her medicine to her pack, before glancing back up shyly as she spoke.
“T-Thank you, Anthony. Things could have gotten much worse if you hadn’t rushed over to save me.”
Anthony scratched the back of his head, his eyes lingering on Pom’s burns for a few moments as he let out a soft sigh.
“You’re welcome. I just wish I hadn’t screwed up so badly in the first place. If I hadn’t thrown that potion, giving the demon the flames he used to hurt you, you wouldn’t have been injured at all.”
Pom reached out her hand for Anthony to help her stand up. As she rose to her feet, she looked back at him with a small smile as she closed her eyes and gently shook her head.
“You can’t think like that. There was no way you could have known how things would turn out. We were all in over our heads fighting that demon. Plus, now I know that I still need to avoid fire—that’s valuable information!”
With the burns covered and the sword retrieved, Pom and Anthony walked over to their remaining companion. Elara had removed her leather chest piece and was carefully wrapping her chest with a large bandage. Anthony began to blush as he caught sight of the smooth, red cleavage bursting out over the top of the tight bandages
He quickly turned away as Elara looked up at him with a frustrated expression.
“Anthony!”, a wince of pain spread over Elara’s face as she shouted the name.
“S-Sorry! I didn’t m—”
“Don’t just stand there! Come and help me. One of my ribs is broken—I’m having trouble wrapping it tightly enough. I need your strength.”
“R-Right! Of course!”
Anthony proceeded to kneel down beside Elara. She quickly pushed the bandages into his hands as she spoke, the pain in her chest causing her to urge him to move swiftly.
“You probably need to just unwrap it and start over. The whole thing is too loose.”, Elara explained.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Nodding firmly, Anthony cleared his throat and began unwrapping the bandages around Elara’s chest. The compressed red mounds gradually relaxed as they were slowly released from the final layers of fabric.
“Oh!”
Anthony’s face turned so crimson it almost matched Elara’s when he finally realized the girl in front of him hadn’t been wearing anything beneath her leather armor. Meaning there was nothing under the bandages that just fell to the floor.
Two full breasts—much larger than they had seemed beneath the tight bandage—were exposed to the forest breeze. Anthony’s hands froze in place as his eyes instantly locked onto the inky black ovals at the center of each that perfectly matched the half-demon girl's lips.
Elara pressed both hands against her ribs just below her left breast as she waited for Anthony to begin, her pained grimace growing more intense by the moment.
Pom’s eyes opened wide as she glanced between Elara and Anthony, her lips pursing slightly as she saw the way that Anthony was staring. But her expression soon turned to aggravation from the exaggerated delay.
“Come on Anthony! Can’t you see she’s in pain?” Pom shouted, her frustration showing clearly across her face.
Snapping out of his daze, Anthony coughed in embarrassment as he silently cursed himself for getting distracted while his companion was suffering. Forcing his focus back on the task at hand, he began wrapping the bandage tightly around Elara’s chest. Even while he fought to keep the distracting thoughts out of his mind, however, the soft warm flesh pressing against his hands each time he added another loop to the wrapping was impossible to ignore.
A few minutes later, he pulled the two ends snug and tied them off behind her back. That seemed to do the trick, as Elara finally began to breathe normally as she wiped away the beads of sweat that had collected on her forehead.
“Here, chew on this. It’ll help with the pain a bit.”
Pom handed Elara a small bundle of green leaves, about the size of a grape, then stuffed a similar bundle into her own mouth to demonstrate. She gently chewed on the leaves, occasionally holding them in her cheek as she sucked the juice from the plant.
Elara accepted the pain-relieving herb gratefully, then let Pom help her pull her leather armor back over her head and adjust the straps to secure it in place. Once their first aid was complete, Elara, Pom, and Anthony walked over to join the older members of the troop, settling in beside them to listen to the conversation.
Edgar nodded toward the three as they took their seats, gesturing toward Anthony as he continued speaking his thoughts aloud to Belle and Garren.
“This wasn’t an accident. That demoness was hunting us specifically. She said I deserved death for traveling with a demon traitor and ‘the scourge.’ Obviously, Elara is the so-called traitor, but what could she have meant by ‘the scourge’? I doubt she was talking about the apothecary who has no interest in growing her martial prowess—no offense, young lady—so that leaves you, Anthony.”
A stern expression settled over the grizzled veteran’s face as he continued, his voice lowering slightly.
“I knew I was taking a risk by giving you such a cultivation method, but to think it would actually trigger an assassination attempt from a demonic tribe… This has become more serious than I ever imagined.”
His gaze swept over each member of the group, meeting their eyes one by one as he spoke.
“You all already know this, but I’ll repeat it given the severity of the situation—Anthony’s cultivation method must be kept absolutely secret from this day forward. I originally created that rule because I didn’t want our rivals cynically targeting him as a way to slander and weaken the Iron Fangs, but now it seems that was the least of the dangers that was waiting for us.”
Edgar’s eyes finally locked onto Anthony as he spoke his final commands.
“As for you, Anthony… I’m sorry. I have set you on a path of danger much greater than what I intended, if I had known I would have done things differently. When we arrive in Highwarden, we’ll redouble your training efforts. You must quickly gain control over this power and learn to wield it properly if you want to survive the trials ahead. The most pressing issue is the need to find you a sword art that suits your cultivation method. That combination will become the foundation of your power.”
Anthony listened quietly, a serious expression settling on his young face as he nodded firmly to Edgar’s words before speaking.
“I gave up on the idea of living a normal life of safety and security the day my mother was murdered. You don’t need to be sorry for anything, Edgar. In fact, I’m grateful for what you’ve done.”
A grin tugged at the corner of Edgar’s lips as he listened to Anthony’s response, but a moment later, the familiar sound of skittering legs caught the group’s attention, breaking them out of their pondering.
As everyone rose to their feet, Edgar drew his sword while stepping to the front of the group, brows furrowed as his gaze locked onto the path leading up the mountain—the same direction the demons had come from earlier.