Chapter 90: The Battle Is Over (2)
A few moments later, Maeve returned to the hut carrying a wooden bucket with both hands.
Although the Azuryn Tribe considered it a small bucket, it was still a standard-sized—maybe even bigger—bucket for Maeve, so she had a bit of trouble carrying it, especially since it didn’t have a handle on top.
"We should move the rainwater storage closer to the huts," Maeve muttered as she carefully set the bucket on the floor.
It would have been much easier to get water from the sacred pond, but the battle had stained the entire pond red with blood.
"I only brought a little water, so I’ll clean the worst wounds first," Maeve said. "After that, I’ll go get more."
Under normal circumstances, she could have asked another tribe member for help. But the settlement had been badly damaged, so most of the people who weren’t injured were busy clearing away the broken wood and rebuilding the huts.
The others were taking care of the injured warriors and tribe members.
Everyone already had their hands full. Therefore, Maeve didn’t want to give them more work. Besides, Ikarus and Cerus had insisted that the doctors focus on the more seriously wounded tribe members first, so they had no choice but to handle their injuries on their own.
"We might need something stronger than the healing stapler," Maeve murmured. Even though she had spoken quietly, Ikarus and Cerus still heard her.
"Something even more painful than that?!" Cerus exclaimed without thinking.
Maeve shrugged. "I don’t know if it’ll hurt more or not, but it doesn’t seem strong enough to heal all these wounds."
As she spoke, her eyes slowly traveled over the countless cuts covering their bodies, from their chests all the way to their backs.
"I saw the way you fought," Maeve said after a long silence. "It was like you weren’t afraid to die."
Cerus puffed out his chest proudly. "Wasn’t it amazing? We wiped out the Pyrax Tribe much faster that way."
"I don’t like it," Maeve replied softly.
Her hands, which had been gently wiping the wound on Cerus’s stomach, slowed to almost a stop.
"It felt like... you didn’t even think about staying alive." She lowered her eyes before softly finishing her sentence. "And it felt like you didn’t think about coming home to me."
"What?!" Cerus leaned back, looking completely offended. "That’s not true! We want to come home to you, and we want to stay alive so we can protect you!"
Maeve finally looked up at him. "Then why did you fight like that?" she asked. "You kept throwing yourselves into danger without caring how badly you were getting hurt."
Cerus opened his mouth, but no words came out. Beside him, Ikarus lowered his gaze. He knew exactly what Maeve was talking about.
"For us..." Ikarus said after a long silence, "that’s how we’ve always fought."
"If we hesitate, we die," Cerus added. "If we only think about protecting ourselves, our enemies will find an opening."
Maeve slowly shook her head. "I understand that."
She dipped the cloth into the bucket again before gently wiping another cut on Cerus’s side.
"But things are different now," Maeve said. "Now you have a wife and a child. If something happens to you, that means I’ll be left here alone... or maybe just with Axan."
The moment she suggested that there was a chance she might end up living with only Axan, both brothers immediately spoke at the same time. "We won’t die that soon!"
Ikarus cleared his throat before speaking more calmly. "We’re sorry for making you worry."
He looked down at the wounds on his arms. "But this is how we’ve always fought. We thought that as long as we won the battle, a few more wounds didn’t matter."
Cerus nodded in agreement. "We didn’t think that much about it. We just wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible so we could come back to you."
He quickly corrected himself. "But we’ll do our best not to fight like we don’t want to live anymore."
Maeve let out a sigh before giving him a small nod. "Good."
She knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to change overnight. After all, that reckless fighting style had probably kept them alive for years. Still, if they were willing to try, that was enough for her.
As she continued cleaning their wounds, she quietly called out in her mind. ’Pinky.’
[Yes, Host?]
’Search the Black Market. I need something that can heal deep wounds much better than the Healing Stapler.’
Pinky immediately opened the Black Market interface.
[Searching...]
Rows of healing items quickly appeared before Maeve’s eyes.
[Displaying products related to severe injuries.]
Maeve quickly looked through them one by one.
’Show me the most effective one,’ Maeve said.
[Searching for the best match based on your current balance...]
A few seconds later, the list disappeared, leaving only a single item floating in front of her.
[High-Grade Regeneration Gel: Price: 6,500 Coins]
[A military-grade medical gel that rapidly restores damaged flesh, muscles, and blood vessels.]
[Effects:
• Stops heavy bleeding almost instantly.
• Repairs deep cuts within several minutes.
• Greatly reduces the chance of infection.
• Speeds up the body’s natural healing.]
[Side Effects:
• Consumes a large amount of the patient’s energy.
• The user will feel extremely hungry after treatment.
• May cause dizziness or exhaustion for several hours.
• Cannot regrow missing limbs or organs.]
There were so many side effects, tetapi efek yang diberikan sangatlah efektif.
’I will buy it,’ Maeve said in her mind.
[Ding! Ding!]
[Purchased 1x High-Grade Regeneration Gel: Price: 6,500 Coins]
[Remaining Coins: 36,950]
’Oh, wait... will this hurt?’ Maeve asked.
[That depends on the person’s pain tolerance, Host,] Pinky explained. [For the Azuryn Tribe, it will be painful, but they’ll be able to endure it.]
[However, there’s a chance it will hurt twice as much as the Healing Stapler.]
The moment the tube of gel appeared in Maeve’s hand, she turned to Ikarus and Cerus and held up the tube for them to see.
"Should you put a clean cloth in your mouths first?" she asked. "Just in case it hurts so much that you end up biting your tongues."