The sacrifice of the chief was noble, but it did not mean it was totally selfless. The old man wanted to take the risk on his son first because he wanted his blood to recover first. A great leader can be free of desires and motives, unless they are a parent.

  Iquaral followed the chief’s order and made his way to an attached room where Lief, the older son of the chief, had been quarantined in-spite of Iquaral’s suggestion to place all of the patients in a single place.

  However, the chief did not even ask once of Iquaral to only take care of his son. Infact, the former asked for the mage to spend most of the time trying to find a way to control spreading of disease.

  Harwin woke up in the after-noon only to find Landel sitting beside him with his eyes closed as if he was medidating.

  “So you finally woke up. We were worried you might never open your eyes again. It was your first battle and you certainly overdid yourself; you went way past your limits. According to me, you should have taken a more defensive approach. Are you feeling better now?”

  Landel began to lecture Harwin with his eyes still close.

  “Yes….I….am….” He spoke with great pauses, as due to the blood-loss, he was left very weak.

  “No need to force yourself to speak, you have lost a lot of blood. I will be fetching Alisa for now as Iquaral is quite busy at the moment. You just stay put and do not overthink.” Landel reassured.

  After he had left, Harwin tried to move a little. He felt that his left arm was not there, but he had already known that this was the case as he had watched the axe coming down at him. The lad was lucky to be even alive right now. For now he was not in pain but certainly uncomfortable.

  ‘It will certainly be difficult to use a computer once I return home…..home…..at least I am allowed to think about it without getting in trouble. If mom was here, she would have been crying the entire time…..she would be crying even now….I wonder if she has overcome the grief of losing her eldest so—’

  He begun to sob uncontrollably when he thought about his mother. It was certainly the first time he had cried after coming to this world. Harwin was powerless in his current state; his hopes of returning to his world were very slim, and even if he returned now, he would be left disabled for the rest of his life.

  The poor lad felt the emotions welling up to surface which he had closed for such a long time, but then he noticed someone entering through the door—

  A beautiful girl for whom he had briefly changed his mind and delayed his quest. She rushed once she saw that he was crying.

  “Gor what is wrong? Are you in pain? I will cast a healing spell right away.”

  She was obviously very worried about him, Landel did not enter the room after witnessing them and just stood outside for the rest of the time.

  “No....I….feel…..alright.” Harwin tried to cover his face with his right arm, but he was not even able to move it either.

  ‘What a pathetic sight I have shown to her. I wonder if she will ever see me as a man after this.’ he thought.

  She reached towards his face with her hands and carefully brushed off the tears from Harwin's face. Her expressions were not of pity but concern which made him realize that she was not going to judge him. She then gently patted him on the head and said:

  “You can cry all you want. It is better to get rid of all those bottled up feeling so you will feel better in the end.”

  Her touch was almost motherly and full of affection which made Harwin not able to hold himself back anymore. He cried till he was able to clear out all his locked up emotions. It as as if each tear removed from him a burden — sadness and worries that he had been feeling before.

  Alisa softly brushed through his hair and occasionally cleaned his face with a soft cloth.

  Harwin again became unconscious, but this time his face had a expression of satisfaction and relief as if all his trouble had just been resolved.

  Alisa still casted a healing spell just in case and then held his hand for the while he was unconscious. She knew Harwin had risked his life for her, but that was not the only for her sympathy.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  In the chief’s house, Iquaral had already given the potion to the elder who after only a day was feeling much better now. The man even felt hungry so the village-mage made sure that the food was prepared under his supervision — making sure that there were not any difficult to digest ingredients used while using the ones that provided the most nutrition was in substantial amount.

  The chief was extremely glad, but he did not express his joy for the moment and immediately asked for Graftel who arrived without a moment of delay.

  “Graftel. My son, Lief, has recovered a bit, and it seems like the potion is highly effective. I want you to help Iquaral obtain as much of the materials needed to brew it as possible so we can cure all the other infected as well. I also want you to spread the word that Gor, the human on whom all of them frowned upon, has found them the cure for their worst fears. Lastly, on your way out, inform one of the guards that I would like to visit Gor as well.”

  “Very well, I will allocate a party specifically for this task after discussing the details with Iquaral. That human is certainly the best thing that has happened to us after a long time.”

  Graftel made his way to the other room where Lief was quarantined.

  “How is he now?”

  Graftel asked from Iquaral who had covered his face completely with a cloth and was much annoyed with Graftel for not doing the same, but he could not say anything except for warning him again and again.

  This problem was one of the reasons that the plague had spread throughout the village in the past as well. Surprisingly, Graftel was never ever affected by it even if he came in direct contact with the patients — further adding to his famous reputation.

  “He is quite alright. It is the first time in the last two weeks that he ate and then also slept without the need of any spells. I am almost sure that this potion will cure them.”

  “Very well, then tell me what sorts of materials are needed for it and I shall instruct the younglings to fetch them as soon as possible. If they are only found in towns and cities, I will form a small party of captains and have them ride to the nearest town as fast as lightening.”

  “Unfortunately the materials are quite rare, making them expensive as well. At-least the notes suggested so, but the composition of the potion has been written to the last detail, even suggesting of using different materials other than these which could work but of course not as effectively. There might be a few of these in the forest, but you will have to search for them thoroughly. I have written them on this paper. I will try my best to replicate the potion with the minimum quality of ingrediants. It will especially be easier now that I know how the disease works and what its cure is.”

  “Good job! You should start your research as soon as possible as it might spread further. I will assign ten men under each captain to search through the forest. If these materials are indeed there, then we will find them in a day.”

  Graftel consulted for few more time before going to the captains with the instructions. Iquaral, now sure that the elder was in a much better condition, started to brew something as an experiment to replace the potion’s contents without affecting its results. He had already set up all he needed in that room so he could also actively monitor the condition of his patient whilst working as well.

  It was in the late evening that Harwin opened his eyes again, this time feeling much refreshed than before.

  Soon he found a very soft and delicate hand was holding his with a strong grip as to not let him go....well, only to discover that it was of Alisa who was sleeping while sitting beside him. His face immediately began to redden. He tried to remove his hand but was interrupted.

  “Now, now it is not good manners to disturb a lady when she is resting. Why don’t you stay in that position a bit longer.” The chief spoke softly as to not wake up his grand-daughter.

  “Chief, I am sorry you have to see me in such a pathetic state. I certainly am a weakling to have to rely on Alisa so much.”

  He also spoke with a muffled voice partly due to the reason that he was weak right now. Although now he could at least speak more clearly without wheezing in between like before. The chief stated:

  “Do not be so hard on yourself. You have already done what you had promised. That giant, Farelen, told me all about your exploits and how you were able to secure a large of sum of silver for us while also filling our supplies of flour to the brim but most importantly—”

  The chief bowed a little:

  “I am grateful to you for saving our village, and my son from the plague.”

  “Please do not bow your head, it is difficult for me to see someone who has bestowed me with so much favours to lower his head infront of me. I have only did what I ought to have done, and I still have a few thing left until my promises to you are completed. Regardless of all that, you do not need to thank me.”

  “Gor….you are awake, finally.”

  Alisa said as she soon woke up from her slumber while the chief and Harwin discussed the events that had occurred so far after he had left the village.

  “Alisa, I am very grateful to you for saving me. If it was not for Farelen and you, I would have died back there. Also I want to apologize to you for worrying you so much, I have only relied on you ever since our first encounter—”

  “Do no be ridicuolous Gor. I will be actually mad at you if you keep on treating yourself as a burden on me. You saved me and the village more than we could have ever achieved on our own; the one who should should be grateful is myself.” She hardened her grip without realizing that she was holding Harwin’s hand.

  “Alisa—”

  “What is it?” she asked with a frown.

  Harwin looked towards his hand. Upon realizing, she immediately let go. Alisa was obviously embarrassed — her face was red from ear to ear. She did not even have the words to argue with Harwin anymore.

  “Now, now Alisa, you should not be so angry with Gor, he is just shy to admit his achievements. I am sure you can help him look things in a different light.”

  The chief tried to act as an intermediary party between them, though it only backfired. When Alisa realized that her grandfather was also present in the room, she immediately got up and ran through the front door — now even more bashful and embarrassed than before.