Old Georg naturally noticed the finely dressed man who suddenly appeared. Under normal circumstances he would bow deeply and try to make himself invisible in this lord’s presence.

At this point in time Georg couldn’t care less though. He was only out to gather some firewood with his daughter when a landslide suddenly happened.

They both ran away in panic. Fortunately, they weren’t somewhere on the hill, or else they would have never had a chance to escape the forces of nature.

Still, the situation quickly turned dangerous. Georg wasn’t as fit as a young man anymore. It would have only been a matter of seconds until the rapidly advancing dirt would have caught up with him.

Who would have thought that his precious daughter would turn out to be so filial at this time?

Seeing her father falling behind, Sophia suddenly grabbed his wrist, pulling Georg towards her and shoving him a few meters away.

Georg could have been moved to tears if her actions wouldn’t have put Sophia into immediate danger. Now his tears uncontrollably spilled from his eyes as he looked at his daughter half buried under dirt.

As he frantically tried to free his daughter with his bare hands, the finely dressed man slowly approached him.

“Do you need help, old man?”

As a normal peasant, Georg couldn’t even process this sentence. How could a lord offer any help to him? His confused face turned towards his right.

Josef however quickly got annoyed by the old man’s lack of understanding. Here he was offering help towards this lowly being, but he didn’t even get an answer.

Judging from this human’s bewildered face, Josef knew the old man was completely overwhelmed right now.

Luckily a feeble voice came from the side:

“Quickly father… thank this Lord!”

“Ah! If your Lordship would be willing to lend a helping hand, this old man will be in your debt forever!”

His daughter’s voice finally helped Georg do the right thing, as he bowed deeply.

“You? What can you owe me? Just take it as me being in a good mood.”

With his nose held high, Josef answered half acting, half showing his real feelings. He turned his eyes towards the hill, where the captain was finally arriving with a handful of soldiers.

“Captain! Let’s help this poor man!”

Before the captain could think about how he descended so much slower than Josef, he was already issued a new task. Slightly out of breath he still reminded the young scribe:

“Sir. What about our enemies? Shouldn’t we search for a safe place?”

“It has been such a long time. If our enemies wanted to make a move, they would have shown themselves already. Now that we are here let’s help those people before searching for a place to spend the night.”

“Well. I hope you are right. Men! You heard what the scribe said!”

Naturally the soldiers were just as exhausted as their captain. However, what could they do now?

Soon Josef stood to the side as he watched the captain and his soldiers unsheathing their swords and digging through the dirt.

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Half an hour later their efforts bore fruit as Georg carefully took the last piece of dirt from Sophia’s legs.

Everyone inhaled sharply as they looked at the bone protruding from the young woman’s knee.

Georg promptly broke out in tears as weirdly enough it was Sophia who had to console him.

Once again Josef was reminded how fragile some beings could be. Here, a broken bone meant that this young woman could never have a normal life again.

She wouldn’t be able to do much work and might never find a husband.

If Sophia were a warrior of his clan, this wouldn’t even be considered an injury. Someone would have yelled at her to get up and fight on.

Josef watched those humans consoling each other for a bit, before coughing twice.

With a strained smile on her face, Sophia lightly pushed her father away and looked towards the generous lord.

“Thank you for your help, my lord. We don’t have much to give you. However, if you need a place for the night, we will warmly welcome you.”

Contrary to her father, Sophia kept a strong and calm mind despite her injury. Even Josef had to nod his head in appreciation before answering her:

“Well, we do indeed need a place to stay. If you can move, we should hurry. The earlier someone can take a look at your injuries, the better.”

When Georg heard those last words, he finally stabilized his mind. The old man quicky tried to help his daughter up.

Luckily the few soldiers were faster and carefully supported Sophia with their combined strength. Who knows if the old man would have even been able to carry his daughter? In the end her injuries would have only gotten worse.

Happy to get out of his carriage, Josef was pleased with how this situation had developed. On the other hand, the captain felt a headache thinking about the erratic behavior his protégé showed today.

The seasoned veteran had a resigned look on his face as he asked the young scribe:

“Sir. Is this really alright? What should we do with our carriage?”

“Hmm you’re right. Well, it’s damaged anyways and needs some repairs. Let one of our soldiers go back and tell them to drive ahead towards Regensburg.”

“And how should we reach there later without our carriage?”

“Well, by foot of course.”

Listening to their conversation, Sophia had to hold back her laughter. It seemed obvious how naive this young lord before her was.

How could it be so simple to reach Regensburg from here? They would be on the road for multiple days, constantly at risk of being robbed.

The captain had similar thoughts in his head as he opened his mouth to talk some sense into the scribe’s mind.

However, how could a warrior of the Zrathras Clan understand their concerns. Josef never had any worry about their journey.

He would even welcome some bandits to rob him. This little bit of excitement would surely brighten his day.

Therefore, the young man didn’t continue to argue. He promptly turned around and shouted:

“It’s decided then. Come on, old man. Lead the way.”

Seeing Josef simply ignoring him, the captain grumbled a few words before ordering one of his soldiers to go back. He even had to take this soldier’s place in supporting Sophia, causing the young woman no small amount of embarrassment.

Like this their unlikely troop set out towards a small village, which has mostly been ignored by the world.

They left the forest after a short while but still had to walk a surprising distance. All around them laid grassy planes without any road in sight. No human hand appeared to have touched this idyllic environment.

A few minutes later they reached a small stream of water, even startling some dear. As the sun began to set, nature really showed off its beauty. The sound of insects danced through the air while their group rested for a while.

Observing Sophia, the soldiers had obvious respect for this tough woman in their eyes. The captain even personally washed the blood from Sophia’s legs.

Although everyone was happy to enjoy this peaceful scene, they didn’t waste much time under Josef’s urgings. Hiding his disdain, the proud warrior once again had to remind those primitive beings that every second counted.

Sophia, seeing everyone’s concern, smiled contently. However, she knew her situation and thus didn’t hold any extravagant hopes. Relaxing at this place was better than facing reality at home.

Slowly standing up with some soldier’s support, Sophia coincidently looked straight in her old father’s face. Seeing the light in his eyes, however, suddenly confused the young woman.

After a few seconds she guessed her father’s thoughts and could only smile wryly. It seemed like Georg placed his faith in their miracle healer at home.

Lilly, their neighbor, was only a young girl, but she was already a talented healer. Once, a plague spread amongst their village and it was Lilly who stopped it and saved many people. Since then, everyone called her a miracle doctor.

Sophia loved Lilly like a younger sister. Therefore, the latter once admitted that it was all a misunderstanding. Lilly didn’t know why the plague stopped spreading one day.

Their village was probably blessed by god.

Thinking about her strongminded friend, Sophia’s mood became conflicted. Lilly would surely try to help her. But afterwards the young healer might even blame herself as she couldn’t cure Sophia.

The gentle young woman didn’t want to drag her friend down, but she had to return home someday. Therefore a bleak feeling nestled in Sophia’s stomach as they continued their travels.