“Uh? I, what is this?” El awoke, now in Amelia’s ambulance. She looked around in confusion, then quickly remembered everything before falling asleep. She glared at Amelia, “You dare to ambush me!”
“It wasn’t an ambush, it was a necessary part of the treatment. Look at your leg, is it better?” Amelia said calmly.
“Huh? My leg, it really can move now!” El exclaimed, surprised. She moved her leg gently; the alien feeling was completely gone, and there were no longer any green root-like lines on her leg.
“Parul and I spent a long time removing these. You can see for yourself.” Amelia took out a tray, inside which were a whole bag of roots stacked like yams.
“Ah! These are the roots that were clinging to my leg? How, disgusting…” El said with a complex expression. Elves have always loved nature, especially plants, but Usum Child was something she found genuinely disgusting, loathsome, and instinctively disliked.
“We went to a lot of trouble to remove these roots for you, and you don’t even say thank you, yet you have such a bad attitude towards us.” Amelia said.
El’s face instantly flushed red, and she mumbled, “Th-thank you.”
Actually, she didn’t have much of a prejudice against me, she just didn’t trust Amelia. In reality, this unscrupulous female doctor wasn’t bad-hearted, but when interacting with her, one couldn’t help but feel a need for extreme caution, especially for delicate and sensitive beings like elves, whose reactions were even more pronounced.
“A thank you is enough for me, but Parul, how do you plan to thank her? She risked her life to save you, and even took you around seeking medical attention, incurring a debt of gratitude. One thank you isn’t enough.” Amelia added.
“I, I will definitely repay you!” El said awkwardly. She was in a very difficult situation. Elven pride wouldn’t allow her to be indebted to a Human, but she couldn’t repay it now.
Generally, elves rarely owed debts. They gave wholeheartedly to their friends and didn’t place much importance on wealth or lack it, especially High Elves.
But not being able to repay now was agonizing. El said to me earnestly, “Thank you for saving my life. I can do anything for you, but my legs are still inconvenient, so my usefulness might be limited. I’m truly ashamed.”
At first, she spoke with great solemnity, but as she went on, her conviction waned. This is what they call short-sightedness of poverty; even elves can have short-sightedness when poor. The more powerless she felt, the more ashamed El became.
“Alright, alright, no need to thank me. Amelia was just joking. I wasn’t looking for any debt when I saved you. Let’s just be friends,” I said with a smile, easily extricating El from her awkwardness.
“Okay! From now on, Parul will be my best Human friend! Of course, I won’t forget your kindness!” El said happily.
This was a high-EQ way of speaking. How elves treat friends, those who understand will understand. Is it any different from a debt of gratitude? There’s no need to emphasize “debt.”
Speaking of which, this is my second elf friend, and it’s only been a few days. Perhaps if I continue to make more elf friends, I might even earn the title “Friend of the Elves”?
“Let’s not talk about that. Your legs haven’t been used for a long time, and they were damaged by Usum Child. You won’t be able to walk properly for a while. Considering you’re not accustomed to Human society, I think I’ll send you back to elven society to recuperate,” I said.
“Didn’t you say you have a Wood Elf friend?” El asked. In the eyes of High Elves, Wood Elves are probably like Black people in the eyes of White people – inferior servants in a primitive state.
However, elves don’t have the same deep-seated hatred for their own kind as Humans do. Generally speaking, Wood Elves are still elves, so returning to their territory brought her some comfort and was acceptable.
“Yes, we’re going to find her now. Amelia, are you sure you can get into the Lord of the City’s manor?” I asked. Amelia had told me this while El was still unconscious.
To find Lair and the others, we needed to go to the Lord of the City’s manor; they were currently staying in the VIP guest rooms there. But I had never been inside the manor before. At this point, Amelia said she could handle it.
“No problem. I’ve been in there several times before, although it was always to treat courtiers. But I’ve met the Lord of the City. He’s just a Baron, not that difficult to see. You can even take your doctor’s certificate and offer your services, Parul,” Amelia said, patting her chest as she assured me, causing a noticeable swell.
I believed her and we went to the outside of the Lord of the City’s manor together. This was my first time here. It was a resplendent castle, and the surrounding residential houses were exquisite villas. However, compared to this castle with its garden and fountain, they paled in comparison.
This castle had a somewhat luxurious, palace-like style, prioritizing comfort over military use. However, it still retained some defensive functions, such as the city walls with gun emplacements, the towers equipped with cannons, and the heavy gate, all proving it was still a castle.
Then I understood what Amelia meant by it being easy to enter. The gates of the Lord of the City’s manor were open, allowing commoners to enter and petition the Lord of the City, making requests or filing reports.
This was similar to the Middle Ages, where local commoners could directly enter the city to voice their opinions to the lord. For example, if there were bandits in the vicinity and they requested the lord to drive them away, or if their goats were sick and needed a veterinarian, or if they needed some seeds for spring planting – trivial matters.
Unexpectedly, even in this era, the Lord of the City still retained this ancient system that was relatively focused on people’s livelihood. Of course, those who could enter the manor now were well-dressed individuals. The so-called commoners were, rather, at least citizens. Those in tattered clothes, the poor people, had no right to enter.
When we entered, no one even checked us. The two soldiers standing at the gate were yawning, only glancing at the clothes of those entering. Both Amelia and I were wearing white coats, so we walked in easily. It seemed that even poor people could get in if they put on decent clothes and cleaned themselves up a bit.
Elly was left inside the car. I instructed her to rest carefully, and if anything happened, the packhorse would wait outside the car and take her to escape directly.
But El looked at her surroundings, grabbed a scalpel, and said, “This is enough. Although my legs are still inconvenient, this is sufficient to send any ill-intentioned person fleeing in disarray.”
“What was your profession before?” I suddenly thought. High Elves had excellent talents and were basically all soldiers, their strength naturally much greater than ordinary people.
“Before I was captured, I was an assassin. My faith is Kaine,” El said, turning the scalpel. Black and yellow smoke curled around it.
