Chapter 72: The Start of a new Request.

Chapter 72: The Start of a new Request.

Hieee! Hurgh, hurg-ACK! the woman cried out in pain as she attempted to stand up.

The moment she woke up and was alerted about our presence, she immediately tried to get up but that didnt lead to anything as her dislocated ankle gave in. I actually noticed it, but I intentionally decided against healing that one as I was a bit worried that she would run away from us.

Paranoid, I know, but I was worried due to Tasiannas description of the relationship between beastmen and humans and thought that she would run away from us. Also, by leaving the injury there, I gave myself a chance to heal it, enabling me to show off that we were friendly.

A bit devious, I know, but wellthere wasnt any excuses besides me being cautious.

Oh, hello! You woke up, I said as I approached her with a smile, doing my best to pronounce everything correctly in Common tongue.

Stay back! she called out, stretching her hand forward to separate me from her. Wh-Who are you? A-Are you one of them?

One of them? Is she talking about the people that did that to her?

I dont believe I know who you are talking about but we three are simply passing through this forest, that is all, I answered, waving my hands with a wry smile to show my sincerity. Oh, right, where are my manners. My name is Hestia, it is a pleasure to meet you. I introduced myself with a curtsy.

I actually have no idea why I just did that, honestly. Was it due to Tasiannas influence or was it cause I wanted to give her a proper impression of me? Whatever, whats done is done. I can only hope now that she doesnt think that were some random brigands or something.

Noticing that she was still confused, I continued with introducing my companions, These are my friends. The wolfkin is Saori and the wind elfuhh, is Tasianna. We found you when you fell unconscious and chased those wolves away for you.

I should be happy that Tasianna hadn't pounced on her yet but the literal cold eyes that she was giving the young woman weren't any better. I was trying to show to her that we were friendly, that we had no intention of hurting her, but Tasianna really isnt helping towards that cause.

Thankfully, after I told her through [Telepathy] to stop, she listened to me and just went back to sorting out the dresses that Saori made for her. I feel like she was still on-guard but that was better than her bone-chilling glare.

I turned my attetnion back to our injured guest and continued speaking with her, I am sorry about that. If it would be acceptable for you, may I take a look at your ankle? It seems I missed it when I healed you, he he.

Huh!? W-What are you planning!? she asked, still wary.

Nothing, nothing! Please, this is all I am planning, with a smile, I conjured up a white magic circle atop my palm. It is a simple spell to heal your wounds, nothing else.

H-Holy MagicAre you a shrine maiden or priestess? the woman said with widened eyes, glued to my spell.

Uhm, Im more like a wandering entertainer that wishes to help, I stated. So, will you allow me to help you?

Blinking her eyes at my answer, the woman stayed mute for a few seconds, thinking over her options and choices, eventually coming to the conclusion that she might as well allow me to heal her leg.

Confirming her answer with a nod, I walked to her and kneeled. Taking her injured ankle in my hands once more, I conjured up another white magic circle, this time for the spell [Moderate Heal].

Alright, I actually do want to do a proper check-up this time. Guess I should use them, Mana Eyes, on!

Exactly as I activated my newest skill [Mana Eyes], I was quickly assaulted by a screen of blue, penetrating my brain with a huge influx of information. I was straining my eyes to keep them open as they were exposed to an experience similar to looking at the sun, only that everything before me were blue mana particles swimming around in the air.

Compared to when I was first introduced to this new view, I was sorta prepared for it this time. I made sure to have my parallel minds ready to intercept everything so they could process all of it.

However, despite all my preparations, my brain couldnt handle all this stress for too long, but it was enough for me to see what I needed. I could see mana particles exiting the womans body through her mana paths, I could see the concentration of my mana inside the magic circle quickly transforming the mana into odd forms and shapes as it entered the womans body, attaching themselves to her body and performing what they had to, to heal her body.

If I wasnt getting the greatest migraine of my life right now, I probably would continue watching this scene, but I just couldnt. It was physically impossible, and it exhausted every single of my parallel minds, as they had to work in overtime to keep up with the amount of information that I was receiving. Honestly, this might be the closest you could describe overclocking your brain, similar to how you would do it for your computer.

Thankfully, I wasnt an emotionless machine, but that also meant that I couldnt handle the pain. Besides for skills like [Mental Stability] or [Mind Protection], nothing in the System actually helped me keep this up. My stats were useless against this mental stress and my skills werent being too helpful.

Yeah, even with my parallel minds helping me out, I cant process all of this perfectly. Maybe itll get better when the skill levels up, but Ill get an information overload if I keep this on for too long.

After getting a proper taste of how much of a strain it put on my mind, I deactivated the skill. My eyes felt hot and my brain seemed like it could explode any second now. My breathing was laborious, and I could hear my heart beating faster than usual.

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Mental Stability Lv. 6] [Mental Corruption Resistance Lv. 3] [Mind Protection Lv. 3] [Mana Eyes Lv. 2] [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 9] gained

Multiple acquisition requirements fulfilled. [High-Speed Calculation Lv. 1] [Multi-Thought Processing Lv. 1] acquired

He, I deserved that after that torture

With a resounding crack, I brought her ankle back to its proper position and then healed it with the [Moderate Heal] spell, in case, anything was broken.

My footthank you very much, Miss Priestess. Andsorry for being rude, and thank you for saving me from those wolves! May the blessing of the Goddess of Light be with you, the woman said with a small smile, but quickly turned it into a frown. However,I-Im sorry but I dont have the money to repay you for this service. I apologize, sincerely! Please, I ask for forgiveness!

A piece of information did stick with me when I traveled with the lizardmen and that was their fear of holy magic. More specifically, holy magic practitioners and the race that they belonged to. According to Apsala, she associated holy magic with human priests who occasionally came to her home's swamps and attacked many scale-kins, therefore, making her cautious of anybody who practiced it as she didn't have a good impression of the goddess of light, Aurena.

Knowing this, I used this information against this woman, which proved to be a success as she just thanked me in a blessing-like way. However, what was this talk about money?

Money? Im sorry but what do you mean by that? I asked to resolve my confusion.

Miss Priestess, the money for your miraculous service. Didnt you summon a miracle from our Goddess to protect me? My prayers have come true and you have come to help me, but without repaying you, how can I call myself a faithful servant of our Goddess, the woman said, fidgeting with her fingers as she kept her head down.

This is problematic. Why do I always meet these religious people, jeez. I need to ask Tasianna for more information. I cant do anything now, I mulled to myself.

After thinking for a bit, I asked her a question, May I have your name?

Yes, of course, Miss Priestess! It is Lorena, she responded firmly.

Hmm, now that I look at her face without all the dirt and grime, she doesnt look as old as I thought. Not around my age, maybe around Saoris?

Alright, then, Miss Lorena. We can speak about all of this later on, but I think you require some food, no? I said with a smile, pointing at her growling stomach, causing her to hide her blushing face.

Saori! Tasianna! I called out, now finished with my talks, interrupting them as they tested out different dresses as if they in a clothing store on Earth. If you havent heard, this is Lorena. Now that its getting late, how about we start dinner preparations?

"Lorena, you have my word that we will not tell anybody what you are about to tell us," Saori responded with a focused gaze.

The only one who didnt say anything was Tasianna as she was more pre-occupied with enjoying her meal. She should be able to guess what happened to the poor girl, which makes her indifference a bit callous. It seems she really isnt interested in anything Lorena has to say.

Lorena swept away some tears as she started to speak, T-Thank you, huckIt happened about a month ago. HarvestFest just ended and we just came back to our village after enjoying the festivities at Firwood. We were so exhausted, and we thought it wouldve been a peaceful night, huck!

Lorena explained that a raid happened that night. A group of humans and beastmen invaded the village, robbing everybody from their belongings and killing a few of the guards. In the aftermath of the attack, the group of bandits kidnapped any woman and man who couldn't escape, taking them as prisoners.

Lorena and her parents were among the few villagers who were unlucky to have been captured. They were stripped of all their valuables and then placed into prison wagons as the bandit transported them away from the camp. It seems they got lucky as they were able to keep their clothes, especially important as winter was coming.

They were brought to the bandits camp and kept there, waiting for somebody. Lorena thought that it must have been a slave trader or somebody who wanted to buy the villagers, as the bandits kept speaking about money when they taunted them.

Lorena and the villagers hoped that some help would come as not everybody from the village was enslaved, trusting them that they would call the mercenary guild for help. And, as they wished for it, some help eventually did come but those mercenaries were hopelessly outmatched and dispatched. Most man was killed during the attack while any surviving women were spare from the worse ending.

At this point, Lorena's floodgates opened up once again and wailing of pain and sadness resounded from her. It took her a near minute to calm down again, continuing her story.

Nobody came anymore after that. The bandits also kept moving and moving around, never staying in one place for too long after those mercenaries attacked, Lorena said with a trembling voice, ready to break into tears once again. A-And then, about a week ago, a couple of men appeared at the camp. I dont know who they were, but they began talking to the bandits leader. After that, he told one of his men to bring a girl forward, and I was the one they chose.

No matter how much she resisted, the lack of good food and the tiring environment she lived in made it impossible for her to break free. She was sent into a tent with an obese man dressed in fine clothing and jewels aplenty.

He told Lorena to enjoy the fruit and wine that was placed on the table. Lorena, who was starving at this point, couldnt help herself but jump into it just like she did just now. She ate everything in a mad frenzy, so unbecoming of a person that it resembled more like that of an animal.

After she was full, she suddenly felt extremely drowsy and was unable to hold herself on her feet, instantly falling on the ground and losing consciousness. The next moment she woke up, she found herself on the ground feeling extreme pain and blood around her bottom.

She wanted to reject the very truth at that moment, wanting to believe that she was merely on her period, but nothing could change that she was feeling a pain that she never felt in her life before. She wanted to cry but she also noticed something else that made her stop her tears.

And that was the noise that came from outside the tent.

Peeking through it, she could see the fat man and the bandit leader arguing with each other as some of the slaves were put into cages. The argument was so heated that most of the bandits and the fat mans bodyguard were concentrated around that area, leaving everything else without a guard.

Lorena knew at this point that she had to go. This was her moment to escape. She wanted to free her parents and villagers but at that very moment, she was overwhelmed by an incredible fear of staying in the camp.

She was just raped. She was bleeding so heavily from her bottom, not because of natural causes, but because of wounds that probably occurred during that despicable moment. And all of that after she spent nearly a month in captivity.

Her natural instincts took her over and forced her body to sneak out of the camp and run as fast as she could away from it. She didnt look back, despite knowing that her parents were there. She didnt watch where she was heading, as she just wanted to get away as far as possible, running completely on adrenaline at that point.

I fell unconscious then and woke up when the light of the sun shined into my eyes. I-I remember everything, hieeeeeee, Lorena began weeping again. I left everybody there! I dont even know if theyre still there or not.

She was determined to get back to her village. She didn't know where she was nor in which direction she had to go. All she knew was that her village was located right next to a river as the crops that they farmed needed an immense amount of water to keep alive.

Lorena wasn't used to the woods but she knew the basics on how to survive and forage for food. This was a result of her father bringing her out on trips with the other villagers. This was usually a father-son event but she didn't have an siblings, so her father took her instead.

She managed to create simple fires to stave off the cold night while being able to gather a few berries and fruits to keep herself from starving. Her attempts were small and meager, but it kept her alive.

Eventually, she was attacked by those wolves that we saw today. She didnt know how to hunt, and her body was not in any condition to do so in the first place. She couldnt do anything but run, run as fast as she coulduntil her stamina failed her.

Once again, thank you so very much for rescuing me. If you hadntI prayed so earnestly for our Goddess protection, Lorena said with tearful eyes.

As she cried, Saori, Tasianna, and I used [Telepathy] to talk about the situation, [So, what do you guys think? I say we help her.]

[I also think we should at least help her back to her village. We do not know where we are and this might be a good chance for us to get some directions while doing some good,] Saori remarked. [However, just to make sure, Hestia. You are not intending to hunt down those bandits, right?]

I would lie if I didnt think about it. As a fellow girl, I cant exactly let this go unpunished. If there is one thing that I learned from watching random history documentaries, was that women during these ages valued their virginity quite a lot. You couldnt get married easily if somebody knew that you already lost it, and the general social stigma was pretty harsh on them.

If anybody knew about this, then I dont know what will happen with Lorena. I honestly want to go to those bandits and turn them into ash. Let them feel the consequences of being absolute scum and igniting the wrath of a female.

However,

[No, of course not. I heard the stuff about the mercenaries,] I responded. [Im pretty sure that Im stronger than your average person, but Ive already experienced once what it feels like to run into something recklessly without proper information. Im not gonna do it, again.]

During the rescue mission to find and save the lost lizardmen, I accidentally stumbled on one of the snake heads of the [Vellestra Leviathan] and nearly died in the process. It was the first A rank monster that Ive ever met, and the power difference was too clear. I had no chance of winning, zero.

This isnt paranoia here; it was being careful. Maybe the bandits have an ace in their sleeves? There is also the fact that I dont know what the standards were for strength. How strong are human bandits in general?

Yes, I have the lizardmen as references, but that is such a small sample size. I promised Saori that I would give her an Idol concert here. That promise is more important to me than to go on a vigilante mission just to avenge Lorenas lost purity. I sympathized with her but I had to look out for my friends, foremost.

[Thank goodness, you are learning,] Saori said with relief. [You should know about the whole concept of villeins, right? Her village should have a lord or a knight that should be responsible for her villages protection. Leave it to the professionals, Hestia.]

[Yeah, yeah, I know. I wont jump into something without a plan, I promise,] I said while scratching my neck. [Anyways, what is your answer, Tasianna?]

Tasianna turned towards me and gave me a small bow, [I will do as you command. Your wish is my duty, Lady Hestia.]

Oh goodness

Yep, Tasianna was zero interested in Lorenas problem. At least, she was willing to help just cause I said so. She was so hot-headed and impulsive before Saoris speech but now shes ice-cold, brrrr.

With that decided, Saori told Lorena that we would accept her request to bring her back to the village. She was elated to hear that, promising to repay us when she gets to speak with her village chief.

After that was done, Saori kinda forced Lorena to wear one of her new clothes, as she found the rags that she wore, dreadful. This little dressing event lasted until both Saori and Tasianna finally finished choosing out their new outfits.

We then went to sleep and woke up the next morning. Knowing that Lorena was in a hurry, Saori carried her piggyback style as she was too slow to keep up with our speed. It only took our party a few hours to finally find a river and then the village after Lorena gave us directions.

While I wanted to comment about the beautiful blue, sparkling river that was different from Belzac forests deep murky swamps, my attention was directed at something else.

Is that a rice plant?