Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Maxi grew anxious. If there were no clerics capable of performing divine magic in all of Anatol, that meant Ruth was the sole person who could use healing magic. If a bigger crisis were to arise, what then? Seeing the worry on her face, Ruth gently flicked a finger to distract her.

“Now is not the time to worry, my lady. Please summon the servants. I will go get the herbs ready.”

“I-I understand.”

Ruth spun around and left the room. Maxi threw on a thick robe and set about ringing the bell to summon the servants. Since she could not neglect the castle by bringing all of them with her, she chose ten burly young men and five maidservants. After giving them instructions, she proceeded to exit the great hall.

Maxi pulled her hood over her head to block the wind and rushed to the training grounds. There, servants were loading baggage onto three large wagons. She checked to see that they had not missed anything before climbing into a carriage with them.

Moments later, Ruth appeared with a weighty sack of herbs slung over his shoulder and stacked the bag on top of the other luggage. Maxi shifted to the edge of the seat to make room. It was only then that Ruth, who had clambered onto the carriage, noticed her presence. He looked surprised.

“Are you joining us, my lady?”

Maxi’s eyes went round. She had assumed that it was her duty to accompany them.

“W-Would I be g-getting in the way?”

“Not at all. It was just unexpected. Your presence would most certainly be helpful.”

The sorcerer gave her a genial smile and sat down across from her. One by one, the three horse-drawn vehicles passed through the castle gates. When they crossed the drawbridge, the coach suddenly started to shake violently, and Maxi gripped the handle in fear. They were making their way down a steep hill, and the carriage was tipping forward precariously. Maxi feared it would topple over.

“No need to worry, my lady,” Ruth said, slowly shaking his head. “The wheels are equipped with a device that prevents the carriage from flipping over.”

Realizing that she had made her ignorance obvious, Maxi blushed and released the handle. They continued to ride in that precarious state until they were safely down the hill, at which point they turned eastward. Through the window, Maxi could see that they were rolling along a secluded forest path surrounded by naked trees.

Spiderweb-like shadows of thin branches were spread across the ground, which was covered in a thin sheet of ice. Maxi looked away from the bleak landscape. She tried to control her breathing to calm her pounding heart. Eventually, the carriage came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived.”

Ruth jumped out of the carriage the moment a servant opened the door. Maxi climbed out after him, then froze at the sight that met her eyes. Among the tree stumps in a wide-open clearing, there were piles of carcasses of enormous black beasts.

Ruth looked down at a werewolf head on the ground. “So they were werewolves. That explains why the sentries were caught unaware. I’ll have to devise measures to prevent this from happening again.”

Maxi averted her eyes and suppressed the urge to vomit, reluctant to show the others that unseemly sight again.

“Mage Ruth!”

Maxi turned to see where the yell had come from. A group of knights was setting up tents by a few dilapidated shacks nestled in dense forest. One of the knights strode toward Ruth.

“Sir Ursuline injured his shoulder during the scuffle. Could you tend to him?”

“Sir Ursuline was wounded?” Ruth asked in surprise.

The young knight sighed. “There was heavy fog, so we didn’t see his distress signal right away. He had to hold the beasts at bay on his own before the rest of us arrived.”

“Heavens! Where is he now?”

“This way.” The knight led Ruth away.

Maxi, who had been listening silently, found herself at a loss. After instructing the servants to unload the baggage, she hurried after Ruth.

When she arrived at the dark cottage that she had seen Ruth enter, she found rows of injured men on the floor. As she scanned the dingy room, her eyes landed on the sentry lying closest to her. She gasped when she saw his gruesome injuries.

The man’s arm was at an unnatural angle, his burned face contorted with pain. His tunic was covered in dirt and blood, and his whole body emitted a foul smell.

Maxi recoiled and took a few steps back. She had come along to help, but she knew nothing about how to tend to the wounded. Panicking, she broke into a cold sweat. Then, she heard Ruth’s voice coming from deep inside the cottage.

“My lady! Please tell the servants to start boiling water. We’ll need a lot of it!”

Maxi pulled herself together and hurried back to give instructions to the servants The servants hastened to light a fire in front of the cottage and carry a large cauldron to the spring to collect water. Meanwhile, Ruth finished treating Sir Ursuline and came out to unload the sack of herbs.

“Do you have any experience tending to the wounded?”

Maxi shook her head. She knew better than to lie at a time like this. Ruth nodded as if he had expected as much and pulled out several smaller pouches from the sack.

“These contain coagulants. The powder should stop the bleeding. But first, you must carefully cut off any pieces of clothing covering the injury and wash the wound with clean water. After sprinkling this powder, use a cloth to compress the wound until the bleeding stops.”

“W-Wouldn’t it be f-faster to use magic?”

“My magic won’t be sufficient to heal all these men. I can heal ten of the most critically injured, but the rest will have to be treated without magic.”

“I-I understand.”

Hiding her apprehension, Maxi took the pouches from Ruth. She had no time to hesitate. After repeating his instructions in her head, she opened the pouches with shaking hands to check their contents. Suddenly, Ruth handed her another pouch.

“These dried leaves are detoxicants. If you notice any wounds with purple swelling or patients with fever, have them swallow one of these. If the patient is unconscious, please call me over.”

“I-I understand.”

“You need not be so nervous, my lady. Many of the servants have experience tending to the wounded, and they’ll know what to do once they’re given instructions.”

Ruth took the remaining herbs and returned to the cottage. Maxi said a silent prayer before approaching the servants boiling water by the fire. She delivered Ruth’s instructions with some difficulty. The servants then swiftly divided the herbs among themselves to take along to the cottages with the linens and bowls.

Maxi hesitated before following the maidservants in. The women were already attending to the wounded with practiced hands. Maxi surveyed the injured men. Some had escaped with only light injuries, but most were in serious condition.

She could see seven sentries, and a dozen men who looked to be lumberjacks by the looks of their humble garb. Combined with the men in the other cottages, the casualties must have numbered at least forty in total.

Their sheer number filled her with dread. Repressing the urge to flee, she leaned over the sentry nearest to her. He was barely conscious.

After a brief pause, she peeled off the blanket covering the man’s body. He looked to be one of the older ones. His right thigh was covered in thick, dark blood as if it had been torn apart by a werewolf. Fighting nausea, Maxi used a pair of scissors to cut open his tattered trousers. A faint groan escaped his lips. Afraid that she had caused him greater pain, she quickly withdrew her hands. After calming her nerves, she resumed cutting the sentry’s trousers.

The wound beneath was stomach-churning. Lumps of dark, sticky blood surrounded a gaping wound where his flesh had been torn off. Stifling a scream, Maxi soaked a piece of linen in water and cleaned the gash as Ruth had instructed.

The sentry writhed every time the cloth made contact with his flesh, and it took a long while before Maxi could wipe his wound clean of blood. After tossing the blood-soaked linen aside, she sprinkled powder on him with shaking hands and clumsily wrapped a strip of cloth around the wound. Her shoulders were stiff with tension and her back slick with sweat after treating just one patient.

Is this enough?

Maxi anxiously gazed down at the sentry for several moments before standing up. She comforted herself with the thought that she had followed Ruth’s instructions. The sentry would be all right for now. With faltering steps, she walked over to the next patient, treating one gruesome wound after another.

One man had a bone sticking out of his arm, while another man’s face was covered in blood from a head injury. Maxi went to the latter first and inspected his wound. Her stomach turned when she felt slippery blood on her hands, but she willed herself to endure. She had come to help, not to hinder.

Once again, she cleaned the wound and sprinkled some coagulant before dressing it with shaking hands. The powder soon seemed to stop the bleeding. With a sigh of relief, she turned to see how the servants were faring. They were using the same method to treat the patients. Relaxing slightly, she began to approach the next patient, but a dry hand stopped her from behind.

“It’s best not to touch him, my lady. We’ll have to realign his bones first.”