Chapter 40 [Grind is injured]
"It smells so good."
Mela bid farewell to Gwentil, lingering outside to fill her basket with herbs, making sure Silas and Lex wouldn't notice anything amiss before returning to the cabin with peace of mind.
It wasn't that she intentionally wanted to hide Gwentil and Grind's existence, but since they would be leaving the Dark Forest soon, if they saw Lex's signature blond hair and golden eyes, guessed his identity, and then spread the news—that would probably be a bad thing for Lex.
Because in everyone's eyes now, Lex is a poor guy who has unfortunately disappeared and is most likely dead.
Although Lex never revealed his plans after leaving the Dark Forest to Mela, it's easy to imagine how much he could secretly plan with that identity.
It's at least better than being a target in the public eye before.
Meanwhile, the so-called "poor little guy" Lex was busy serving up a plate of steaming hot apple pie.
The rich, sweet aroma awakened Mela's cravings, and she eagerly sat down at the table, picking up her knife and fork.
After Lex cut the apple pie into three pieces and placed them on their respective plates, Mela immediately cut off a small piece and put it in her mouth.
The apple pie was a little burnt at the edges, but it was still very crispy. Mela even thought about asking Lex to burn it a little more next time, as she loved that ring of crust.
Thinly sliced apples are nestled in the soft pie crust, releasing a delicate apple aroma as the temperature rises.
While Mela was enjoying her meal, Lex suddenly said, "Mela, I noticed that two apples seem to be missing from the box. Did you take them?"
"Is it less? Could it be that you've misremembered?" Mela replied without changing her expression.
"Did I remember wrong?" Lex seemed to have asked casually, but he was starting to question himself, echoing Mela's words.
"Probably." Mela's tone became increasingly innocent, but she didn't give a definitive answer. An overly assertive attitude would only make Lex suspicious.
Sure enough, Lex didn't press the matter further, as if he genuinely believed he had misremembered.
The next day, Mela dawdled for a while, then started rummaging through drawers and cabinets, making such a commotion that even Silas, who was lazily yawning, was startled.
Silas landed on the top of the cabinet, and from above, all he could see was a fiery red head.
It scratched its head with its wing and asked, "Mera, what are you looking for?"
"It's nothing, just a small jar of berries that I put away before. Do you remember where I put it?" Mela said casually.
Silas found it a bit strange. "Are you asking me? But hasn't Lex always been the one organizing your things?"
"I was thinking that since you're always in the cabin, you might have seen where he was placed there," Mela said, calmly offering a reason to Silas.
Silas thought about it and agreed, but he really couldn't remember ever seeing this berry fruit before.
“Why don’t I go ask Lex for you?” Silas volunteered.
"Never mind, never mind."
Mela quickly called out to Silas, who was eagerly flying away, wanting to pass on her message, "I'd better go out. What if I'm mistaken and I've already used up that jar of fruit?"
As she spoke, Mela seemed to believe it to be true. As she passed the door, she took down the basket hanging on the wall, ran out the door, and quickly disappeared from Silas's sight.
After all that dawdling, Mela met Gwentil much later than usual today, and to her surprise, she just happened to catch Grind returning with a few fish she had just caught.
Gwentil noticed his trousers rolled up to his knees and the mud that had gotten on his calves, and asked in surprise, "Grind, did you go fishing yourself?"
Even in the sparse sunlight of the forest, the air, which seemed to be in waves of heat, dried the damp mud off Grining's legs.
"Yes, the water in that little river is only up to my calves because of the drought. It's much easier to catch fish than usual, so I was thinking of catching a few fish to grill for lunch. It's just that the water is shallow, so the fish I catch aren't very big."
Grinning smiled, picked up the fish, and showed it to Gwentil.
It really was just a few small black fish, no bigger than the palm of your hand.
Even if it were just Gwentil and Grinkel, this amount would only barely fill them halfway up.
Gwentil was a little troubled; she couldn't bring herself to let Mela just watch the two of them eat grilled fish later.
"It's alright, you grill these fish first, and I'll go catch a wild rabbit." Grining had obviously considered this as well, and offered to leave again.
“Okay.” Gwentil took the fish, thinking that Grind was probably just wandering around nearby and wouldn’t go far, so she wasn’t too worried.
Having lived outside for so long, Gwentil is already quite skilled at gathering branches and starting a fire, and doesn't need Mela's help at all.
Once smoke began to rise from the pile of leaves, Gwentil placed the branch with the fish on it.
After a while, a delicious aroma began to waft out, and Gwentil quickly flipped the fish that was roasting until the side closest to the fire was golden brown.
“Although I’m not good at anything else, my grilled fish is delicious. Grundy has always raved about it,” Gwentil said proudly.
"Really? My companion has also caught this kind of small blackfish. You have to add a few drops of lemon juice when grilling it to remove the fishy smell so it tastes good."
But after watching for a while, Mela realized that Gwentil was just baking it dryly. Although it looked decent, it might not taste the way she wanted.
"Is that so?" This was Gwentil's first time handling this kind of fish, and she was at a loss for words after hearing Mela's words.
“It’s okay, if I don’t have lemons, I can just use some perilla leaves,” Gwentil said, forcing herself to speak.
She happened to remember a small clump of purple leaves growing nearby, so she quickly picked them, tore them into small pieces, and sprinkled them on the fish.
Mela didn't even have time to call out to her.
"...But this is not perilla leaf, it is croton leaf."
"What's the difference between the two?" Gwendy was bewildered; she knew absolutely nothing about herbs.
"The 'crow's tongue leaf' is named for its dark purple color, thick leaves, and tongue-like shape. Not only does it fail to remove the fishy smell, it also gives the fish a strange, foul odor."
As Mela spoke, she could already faintly smell an indescribable odor, which was drifting towards her along with the drifting smoke.
"Oh no, what do we do?" Gwentil also smelled the odor, and her face turned pale.
Even for the sake of her own tongue and nose, Mela couldn't bear to watch the fish get worse and worse. She quickly broke off a small piece of withered vine near where Gwentil had picked the croaking leaves, and squeezed out the few drops of juice by making a fresh cut on the fish.
"What is this?" Seeing that Mela had a solution, Gwentil curiously leaned over and asked.
"This is the vine of the 'false death flower,' which can neutralize the stench of the 'crow's tongue' leaves."
Gwentil took two deep sniffs. "Really! It doesn't smell anymore!"
"But what is a 'fake death flower'? I've never seen it before."
"Because it deliberately grows into a withered shape to disguise itself, so as to prevent it from being picked by humans," Mela explained.
Oh, I see. Gwendi understands now. No wonder it's called the "fake-death flower." A flower that pretends to be dead—how interesting!
"By the way, how do you know so much about herbs?" Gwentil finally asked, belatedly realizing what was going on.
If it were someone else standing here, they would probably have already become suspicious of Mela's identity.
However, Meera simply dismissed Gwentil's desire to ask further with a casual remark, "My father is a physician."
"Speaking of which, hasn't Grining been gone for too long?"
With Mela's reminder, Gwentil realized in a daze, "Oh right, where's Grind?"
Logically speaking, after so much time has passed, General Grinning should have returned by now.
However, Gwentil hasn't even seen a glimpse of him yet.
"Should we go look for him?" Mela suggested.
“Of course,” Gwentil replied without hesitation. If Grind was unable to return due to some accident, the two of them could be of help to him.
Without further ado, Gwentil extinguished the fire and, close to Mela, walked together in the direction Grind had left earlier.
"Is this the direction? I'm not mistaken, am I?"
After walking for a while, Gwentil still couldn't find Grindl. Feeling a little uneasy, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at Mela beside her.
Mela remained as leisurely as ever, as if strolling in her own backyard.
Noticing Gwentil's gaze, she smiled and said, "I guess so."
"What's with the way you're acting all confident? What if we get lost?" Gwentil couldn't stand Mela's relaxed demeanor and couldn't help but mutter.
"Then let's just go back the way we came. Don't worry, with me here, I guarantee we'll be able to get back," Mela joked.
"Meila! I already told you this is my first time entering the Dark Forest, isn't it normal to get lost?!" Gwentil was so amused by Mela that her cheeks puffed up.
If there were a mirror nearby, Mela would love to show it to Gwentil, so she could see if her puffed-up face looked just like a fluffy dandelion.
Mela laughed.
"Wait, is that Gwentil and Mela?"
Suddenly, a slightly hoarse male voice came from not far away.
It's Grinning's voice.
"It's us!" Gwentil's face lit up with joy. She didn't care about arguing with Mela anymore and ran eagerly toward the direction from which the voice came.
When Mela followed Gwentil and saw Grinker, he was sitting on the ground, clutching his right leg. The only thing visible under his full beard, his eyes, were clenched together in pain.
Mela glanced at the nearby grass and noticed some crimson liquid dripping from it.
If I'm not mistaken, it should be Grinningk's blood.
"What happened to you?" Gwendi rushed to Grind's side, wanting to check his wounds, but Grind shook his head and refused.
"The wound is too big, and I can only barely control the bleeding by covering it with my hand. Gwentil, go and find me some long and thin leaves. Remember, they have to be resilient and not break easily."
“Okay, I’ll go right away,” Gwentil readily agreed.
Gwentil quickly found the leaves that Grindlock wanted.
Grining then released his grip, revealing the horrific, bloody hole in his leg.
The wound looks like it was caused by a wild animal bite.
Mela stared intently as Grind crumpled the leaves together and wrapped them around his leg, again and again. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe, and blood continued to seep out, rendering the wrapping ineffective in stopping the bleeding.
Gwendi looked as if she could feel the pain in her own legs.
She turned to Mela for help. "Mela, don't you know a lot about herbs? Is there any way you can help Grind?"
“I do have a way to temporarily stop the bleeding, but without hemostatic powder, his wound will soon return to its original state,” Mela said.
"It's alright, it's good that the bleeding has stopped for a while, so I can walk again." It was Grinkel who spoke, his eyes still shining brightly despite being drenched in sweat.
This is also what Mela has always had doubts about.
The moment Mela saw Grinker, her intuition told her that this man was no ordinary person.
Although she didn't know his specific past, even after hearing Gwentil's explanation that she had saved Grind's life, Meera still couldn't shake off her suspicions about him.
Grind's escort could also be interpreted as taking advantage of the opportunity to leave the North unimpeded while traveling with Gwentil.
Gwentil said that their journey wasn't always smooth sailing; they occasionally encountered unexpected situations, and it was always Grind who used the jewelry she had brought to handle things, which saved them from disaster.
With such a practiced approach, Mela thought that Grinker must have done similar things many times before, but he didn't seem like a shrewd businessman at all.
At least a businessman would never possess such skills, nor the knowledge of how to survive safely in the wild.
However, after several days, Mela still couldn't figure out Grining's motives for doing so.
Could it really be as Gwentil said, that they originally only intended to stay on the outskirts for a while, but accidentally stumbled into the depths of the Dark Forest?
In any case, Mela managed to stop Grinker's bleeding for the time being, while Gwentil helped him to his feet, intending to go back first.
But when they were only halfway there, Grining's wound started bleeding again, much faster than Mela had anticipated.
"What should we do?" Gwentil was extremely anxious. "Mera, could you wrap it up with those herbs again to stop the bleeding?"
"I'm afraid that won't work." Mela shook her head. Even if she used the same method to stop the bleeding on Grind, it probably wouldn't last long.
"Does it really have to be hemostatic powder? But I can't even get out of the Dark Forest, where am I supposed to get this stuff?" Gwentil was so anxious that she almost cried.
Meanwhile, due to excessive blood loss, Grining's face was almost deathly pale.
Even so, he still comforted Gwentil, saying, "Don't panic, maybe this is just my fate to have this bad luck."
Then, Grinker looked at Mela and said, "I'm sorry, you can see how pathetic I am right now. I don't even know if I can make it through the night. If possible, I would like to ask you to take Gwentil to see your companions and persuade them to accept her. Otherwise, she won't be able to survive here alone."
Mela pursed her lips.
Gwentil's eyes lit up. "Mera, do your companions have any hemostatic powder? You've been traveling through the Dark Forest for years, so you must be prepared, right?"
In the end, Gwentil's words even carried a hint of pleading, as she placed all her hopes for saving Grind on Mela's companions.
If Mela refused, she could easily imagine Gwentil's utter disappointment.
never mind.
Mela nodded softly, "I do have some hemostatic powder. You two come with me later. Before that, let me help Grind change the herbs."
"Great! Grindlock, you're saved!" Upon hearing this, Gwentil was so happy she almost jumped for joy, completely ignoring the strangeness in Mela's words.
Grining couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
Meanwhile, Lex, who was far away in the cabin, watched as Mela disappeared again and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
Mela doesn't actually think she's fooled him, does she?
Lex never doubted his memory; there were just two apples missing from the box.
So there were two mysterious people that Mela secretly went to see?
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