Chapter 10: Honesty
The black-haired young man frowned unappreciatively. "I know there's a kind of pathological psychology that likes to force others to rely on oneself, to accept one's efforts and care, in order to control them. This is often seen in mothers who are overly controlling of their children. I'm just reminding you, if you have a problem, get treatment."
Don't take it out on me. Those grey eyes stared coldly at the other person and said so.
"...Sometimes, you are really, really good at making people angry." The God-Favored One said softly.
He held the bony, thin ankle in his hand. The fragile, thin flesh was hot due to swelling, and the blood vessels were throbbing in his palm, as if trembling slightly unconsciously.
The other man, as if sensing danger, struggled uneasily. A small whimper suddenly escaped his throat, and cold sweat trickled down his raised neck. The black-haired young man suddenly grasped the bed sheet beneath him, but because he was wearing gloves, he was unable to hold on. He only wrinkled the fabric a little before it slipped from his palm.
"Does it hurt?"
The God-Favored One gently gripped the man's shin, which was struggling unconsciously. He gently massaged the wound with his fingers to help the ointment absorb, and patiently and gently consoled him, "Please be patient. It will heal soon."
His old enemy ignored him, closing his eyes and looking away. From his perspective, the pale, tense neck, the Adam's apple throbbing with swallowing, and the bulging veins were clearly visible. Aside from the initial, unexpected sound, the other party remained silent throughout the application of the medicine. His fingers tightly gripped his other hand, the fine hair on the gloves, whitened by washing, ruffled and tangled, revealing the pain he felt.
The God's Favored One continued his work slowly and calmly: "It's simple. I saved your life and provided you with shelter. What can you bring to me?"
His voice was as soft and clear as ever, making people fall into the seemingly warm water light unconsciously... But it was not until it touched the cold and hard bottom of the reef that the prey discovered in panic that it had been trapped in an airtight cage in the deep sea.
"I greatly admire your abilities and intelligence, but I dislike your self-destructive tendencies... If I allow you to continue this way, I'll be very troubled and might even do something impolite—as you said, this isn't in the spirit of 'achieving efficiency.'"
He enunciated the last word with a vengeance.
In a sense, the Savior is an extremely evil bastard. If you really believe his bright, gentle, and noble appearance, you will definitely be betrayed to the point of being completely destroyed.
After wrapping his ankle securely and then applying a thick bandage, Azuka stood up and carefully washed his fingers with water. Once he was done, he turned around and saw his nemesis struggling to get out of bed without a word. He sighed helplessly, stepped forward to hold onto his shoulders, and leaned down to carefully discern the emotion in his gray eyes. "Professor, are you still mad at me?"
"...Thank you for your kindness," the black-haired young man looked at him expressionlessly, "but please let go, I can stand on my own."
"Oh, you're still angry." The God-favored One nodded calmly, tightened his fingers, and helped the man up regardless of the resistance.
Someone else lifted the door curtain and came in.
"God's favored one?"
Lamina looked at the two people standing in the room with a somewhat subtle expression - why was the hand of the God-favored One on the shoulder of the annoying guy?
The person who had been called looked over. That face, dazzling in the sunlight, was so dazzling that even Lamina, who had long been accustomed to his appearance, was stunned. The Natalin people were all good-looking, but the God's Chosen One had always been the most beautiful. At least as far as Lamina knew, the children, both boys and girls, had fought behind the scenes to decide who could play with the "little bird" who was not yet a God's Chosen One.
"Come to see Barcelona?" The God-favored One, completely unaware of the fact that he had been forced to bear the nickname "The Bane of Beauty," nodded slightly at the red-haired girl. "The new medicine is working. Granny Naka said he should wake up tonight."
"Oh my God of Wind, this is wonderful!" Lamina immediately threw the strange feeling in her mind to the back of her mind. She rushed to the injured person's bed, looked at his face which had turned slightly red, her lips trembling a few times, and when she wanted to tuck the corner of the quilt in, she realized that she was still holding something in her hand.
The red-haired girl coughed and handed the large lump of meat wrapped in leaves and hemp rope to Nova: "Here, the meat of the thunder python, your share."
She muttered awkwardly, "Although you deserve a beating, you're actually quite smart. I shouldn't have questioned you today, and my attitude wasn't good. I apologize."
Azuka suddenly felt his nemesis's body flinch slightly, his muscles tensing slightly as if in response to stress. If they hadn't been so close, he wouldn't have even noticed this strange resistance.
The other person seems nervous about the other person's apology.
"...It's normal for you to doubt me, and you contributed to the killing of the Thunder Python, so there's no need to apologize." The professor raised his eyelids, not accepting the Thunder Python meat, and spoke coldly. The inexplicable hint in his words made Lamina roll her eyes uncomfortably.
"What do you mean, you people? God of the Wind, can't you just talk properly?"
"I don't understand. What I mean is that you don't have to apologize to me. With your experience and intelligence, it's normal that you didn't think of what I thought. If you understand it from other meanings, that's yours..."
"Let me take it. Your foot's injured," Azuka interrupted the tense atmosphere. He calmly accepted the still-bleeding piece of Thunder Python meat, weighing it under the strange looks of his tribesmen. "It's quite a large portion—Thunder Python meat needs to be processed quickly. Marinate it, grill it, or stew it directly in soup."
"Ah? Oh, that's right. If you can't finish it, you can dry it in the air." Lamina opened her mouth, and very politely gave up and stepped down. She thought to herself, doesn't the God's favorite dislike the faint fishy smell of Thunder Python meat?
Then, she looked at the God-Favored One, slightly tilted her head, and said gently to the person beside her, "Sorry, I have something else to do—does your foot still hurt? I'll ask someone to take you home to rest."
"No need, I'm much better now. Someone will come to find me." The other party answered coldly, raised his chin and nodded at the little kid who rushed over in a hurry. It seemed to be a boy named Baru.
Azuka looked at the boy calmly, and the other party immediately blushed foolishly at him, stood there in a daze, muttered a few words, and didn't say a word.
He simply smiled and gave a few instructions in the common language, then handed the ointment and thunder python meat to the other party, and watched the man support his nemesis and leave almost stumbling over his left foot.
"Professor," he suddenly switched to the Natalin language, raised his voice and said to the two men from behind, "I agree to the conditions you proposed earlier, but I also hope that you can take the initiative to fulfill your promise."
He was referring to the "deal" the other party had proposed before: as long as he applied the medicine on time, the God-favored One would send the four people out of Asachi Valley safely - now that the matter of leaving Asachi Valley had been settled, if the other party did not fulfill his duties on time, he would enforce it.
The enemy left without a pause and without looking back, but that figure looked like it was baring its teeth and standing on end.
After successfully bullying his still young enemy, the God-favored One withdrew his gaze with dignity and met the subtle gazes of his tribesmen.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"It's rare to see you so...happy?" Lamina chose her words carefully.
Delighted isn't a strong enough word, more like uh, elated, contented?
It's quite childish anyway.
The other person looked at her with a smile: "Don't you think it's fun to tease him?"
Lamina: “…”
I don’t think so at all. It’s a blessing not to be pissed off to death by that guy!
With her womanly intuition, she felt something was amiss. Despite saying so, the God-Favored One's attitude wasn't one of casually teasing a kitten or puppy, but rather of treating them with excessive respect.
The God's Favored One appeared mild-tempered, with a perpetual smile, and appeared very approachable and approachable. However, over time, those around him could sense his aloofness and indifference. Even Lamina, who had grown up with her, couldn't understand how the once spoiled, yet gentle, kind, cheerful, and beautiful child could have suddenly become like this.
Utoska, God of Storms, is this also your will?
…
"How did you end up like this after just one trip?" Captain Scarpo was horrified when he saw the professor's heavily bandaged foot. "Baloo said a barbarian kid asked him to go over, but that fool went without telling me—was it those barbarians who did this?"
"No, I was careless."
Nova's head ached from being scolded. He pinched his brow and was helped to sit in a chair. The old ship's doctor carefully unwrapped the bandages one by one. After discovering it was just a simple sprain, he muttered silently, saying that he had thought it was a fracture or a penetrating wound.
"I can't recognize them all, but they used good medicine and the swelling in the ankle has gone down now," the ship's doctor concluded.
"Professor, that golden-haired man was the Windrunner's Dragon Rider, right?" Baru, the apprentice beside him, asked him with longing eyes, "Are you familiar with him? What kind of person is he?"
In fact, he wanted to ask if the other person had a younger sister, or an older sister would be fine too.
But the professor did not answer yes or no immediately, nor did he stare at people with his stern and cold eyes and say that it had nothing to do with him.
The other party thought for a moment, then hesitated in a rare moment, "I can't say. He's a frank and dangerous man with many secrets, but he has no hostility towards us for now."
Since that person was seeking something, he was safe for the time being. Those cold and pure exchanges of interests made Nova feel calm, and he could even briefly tolerate the strange bad habits of the God-Favored One.
——That guy was probably used to winning people's hearts with this trick, but when he tried to force it on himself, he backfired.
The professor added slowly and bluntly, "But it's best to stay away from him. He's sick."
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