NotSoHero

The battle started badly, Lily was still out of action and injured, attending to the action while struggling to free herself. Moreover, if the troll’s were poorly coordinated at first, they rapidly started to put a decent fight together, one using a club, the other  simple punches.

Me? I was focused on the incoming blows, avoiding them as much as possible, winning time for Lily to free herself, as I had yet to know if her condition was stable. If she was OK, then let’s fight with a peaceful mind and finish this damn situation properly, an injured target wouldn’t attract the trolls’ attention and she would be able to take cover and start healing herself. Else, in the worst case scenario, if she was heavily wounded, I would try my best not to drag things and hasten my offensive, even if it means endangering myself.

I exhaust them faster than I lose my stamina anyway. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not that hard to manage. Trolls are sturdy and powerful likewise, yes. Quite fast for their size and having the capacity to recover from light injuries on the spot, they make strong enemies. But in fact they are so dense and overweight to themselves, that their muscles take a hit whenever they fight. Making lasting constant movements is very tiring for them, as if they were enduring and hurting themselves, needing to regenerate the flesh. Not to the point to wear them out easily, but to weaken them at least. Therefore an endurance battle was a wise choice as long as you knew how to manage your stamina.

Thus, I kept on avoiding the hit, maintaining some pressure and striking them slightly from time to time to weaken them further. Making short glances after Lily’ situation. Seems she had made an effort to extricate herself, she was currently sliding down the rubble.

Bang, woosh. “Bah then, fatty! Can’t get a hit on daddy?” I said to the struggling troll that had yet to land a proper hit. Well they may not understand human language, but I had to attract their attention as much as possible.

Lily was obviously not in shape for a fight… or even moving, I could see from her action that she had difficulties. I could notice that one thigh was hurt, bleeding abundantly, and yet, she was relying on it while crawling. Evidently something was wrong, presumably broken.

“Are you okay, hero? Give me a minute, I’ll help.” She said even though she was unable to stand properly… Hey! why the f*** are you even attempting, she was now trying her best to put all her weight on her valid leg and lift her body. 

Bang 

“I’m okay. Be a good girl, and just stay focused on recovering, don’t draw attention.” Woosh

“But…” she spoke with a trembling voice “It’s my fault if we are in this threatening situation and I got hurt all by myself. I can’t let you do all the work alone while doing nothing and hiding myself… I’ll just use some magic without them notici--.”

“Lily! I can see that you’re not in condition, don’t be stubborn. I won’t hold it against you, so don’t be silly and stay still.”

“… Understood…” Her answer was almost inaudible and I could only hear part of it. 

Oh man! She finally dropped it. Why persist. Want to use magic while in an already terrible state? What a joke. Do you want to collapse from mana depletion?  Magic is not something that easy, you can’t do whatever you want. When you’re hurt, it’ll greatly reduce your own capacity and using the ambient one is of course much harder. Furthermore, more attention is needed to control it,  making the whole thing dangerous when you feel pain. Not even speaking about using magic. I don’t think you could condense enough mana for a spell. 

“Sorry… Because of me…” Her voice was full of regret. 

Hey hey, you’re not gonna cry, are you? I could see sadness all over her face. Am I that unreliable? Untrustworthy, I agree, but to the extent you’ll try to harm yourself even more to help? I can at least take care of these foes. I defeated the demon’s army, you know. How can I let a girl in suffering, help me instead! I may be a scumbag, but I’m the defender of all women, even scary or evil ones. 

“Take that! You insolent creature. How dare you make a girl cry!” Cut

Now that I knew that Lily was out of harm's way, but could hardly move an inch, I should stop evading and take the fight to an end. It’s too late for safety anyway, at most I’ll end with a few light injuries, but I can’t take the risk of dragging her into the fight. 

“I’ll make you regret your last meal, fiend! En garde!!” Strike

“I’ll save the damsel in distress you blatantly kidnapped. I challenge you to a duel of honor and glory!” Strike BANG

Oops, I forgot there were two of them… Maybe I should stop with the chivalrous knight acting.

“Let’s see, which between the man and the beast, prevail! Haha!” JAB, RoooAR!!!!! BANG!

Or not… It’s clearly a better idea to lose my sword like an idiot while playing one. Ya know, a concern of realism. I like to perform until the end for the spectator's sake. Now, should I die tragically while cursing God? Waiting for the true hero to arrive just in time to take the spot.

But I AM, the hero. BANG!

I rolled on the ground, evading the hit. Okay, let’s focus, I had stabbed the sword deep into one’s knee. I had to let go of the hilt because of the other one’s upcoming blow, but that was a clear win. The first troll  was now crippled, bleeding profusely. Time to implement a strategy. 

I picked one of the bandit’s rusty swords from my magical storage pouch. Again! ROARRRRR!!! Another sword joined the troll’s body. Right in the middle of the wrist, making it lose his weapon at the same time. 

So far so good. Sustaining my pace, I took swords, knives and daggers out, steadily thrusting and sinking weapons on his body without removing them so the wound doesn’t close and preventing him from using his regeneration. That’ till he dropped on the ground after several tens of minutes of hard fight, unable to move anymore. Okay, this one was done for. 

I turned my attention to the remaining troll I had ignored until now and who had neither stopped or slowed down his harassment while I killed his companion. 

Mmmhh, how should I take care of you? I didn’t have enough weapons to use the same tactics again. At most 2… 

Okay, let’s do that! I ran toward him. Then jumped forward, when the blow came. Pushing a sword up to the hilt in the knee… yes, I know I said not to use the same tactics, but it’s very effective. ROARRRRRR! WHOOSH WHOOSH

While avoiding a rain of punches, and grabbing attempts, I put yet another sword out. My last one. 

And... stabbed it in the knee again? Am I an idiot? Wait for it! 

While the troll was falling due to the pain and the sudden limb dysfunction. I sprinted to my former victim, got my sword back. Mine, not the blunt ones. And went back to my opponent.

Thud! ROAR!!  I gave a powerful blow in the already weakened knee with two foreign objects inside. Not enough eh? One more time! THUD!

Finally, the knee gave in, the shank was gone. The troll falls brutally, unable to keep his balance. After that I easily killed him, abiding by the rule, cut, cut, and cut again, up to the point he can’t recover. And die. 

And yes, that’s actually the best way, they have hard bones that I couldn’t pierce with ease, with my crappy equipment that couldn’t even compare to an average adventurer’s gear. So making them die from exhaustion was really the easiest. 

Phew. All of this has not been a piece of cake and almost half an hour of blows’ exchange passed by from the moment Lily was discovered until the finishing blow, but it was finally over. 

“Are you alright Lily?… Lily!?” As I looked at her for the first time since I got serious, I discovered she had collapsed and was laying on the ground. Were her injuries worse than I thought?

Giggle “I’m okay.”Giggle. She responded, trying to maintain her composure by all means, while her whole body was unwillingly shaking against her will. Stay with me Lily! Was she having a seizure?

 “Bwahahahahah! I can’t take it anymore!” Laugh 

“Sigh… I know you hit your head, but... did you suffer brain injury?” At least she seemed particularly fine for a person who just had a serious accident, phew I almost thought I misjudged the gravity of her condition. I felt at ease

Chuckle “No no, ehehe, I just… I just couldn’t hold back. Hehe, Your  knight acting play, made me choke ya know! When your sword was stuck and you let it go. You were really making a face to die of laughter. I didn’t want to bother you so I stayed silent, but it’s too much! Now that the tension is gone... Bwahahaaaaaa!!!! My ribs!!!  GASP” 

“ At your service, glad you liked it. I could repay your cookies with fun at least. But calm down, your wound will worsen. How are you? Something’s broken?” I smiled back at her laughing face. Happy that my worries were all for naught.

“..Ahem... Yes, sorry…” She wiped away a tear. “Honestly, not so good. I already stopped all the open wounds from bleeding, and my head, although she received a shock, seems fine. But I think I got a broken ankle and leg plus some rib fractures… maybe more? It hurt a lot, I anesthetized myself lightly with magic, but I can still feel pain.”

“Let me see… tell me if you can’t stand the pain.” I got by her side on the knee, took her hurt limb on my lap and proceeded to take off her shoes. 

“Eeeeeyoutch!” 

“Don’t move, it’s very swollen. I will cut your boots and stockings, we will have to buy you a new pair of both when we return.”

Well, the sexy attires were already ruined anyway, long past any chance to save them, even for a role play. The whole lower leg was definitely in a bad state. Well, both wounds were located in the same place, so it’s coherent. The bulge was understandable, well, the stockings state too, but that’s irrelevant. 

“It’s not necessary, better not touch if it’s swallowed. I will walk with a crutch anyway and heal over time...”

“No!! If it’s completely broken, and given the extent of the fall, sure it is, I need to check the damage. If you have a displaced bone, or worth a sticking out one. We need to take care of it asap, and you know it. Even you can’t be sure if it is all covered and squeezed by your shoes. We won’t move again today and camp right there. if necessary, I’ll carry you tomorrow and then.” 

There is no way you will be walking, I wouldn’t let you, even if you could. Or I won’t be the hero anymore. I started cutting off the shoe and ripped off the garment fabric with a knife. 

“But...argh!!!!” 

“No speaking! I will get angry. Why are you so stubborn when it comes to yourself? Here! It's already over… what the… what is this...” Suddenly, something odd caught my attention, something that shouldn’t have been there, or at least, not as much.

“…” She stayed quiet, pretending not to notice my reaction.

“Lily, hold out the other leg to me.”

“Why? I only had a small flesh wound who's already close.”

“LILY!! Do I need to threaten to divorce so you so you listen to my words without making a fuss?”

“…” Again, she remained silent, tears got in her eyes, and nodding negatively she put her other limb at my disposal. Here too, the shoe was stuck. So without asking or losing time either, I severed the leather, and tore it off.  The loose fishnet wasn’t an issue yet, so I left it on.

“Lily… Why?…” Refusing to look me in the eyes she ended up facing the horizon.

“Looking away eh? Are you a child? Should I spank you? Why didn’t you tell me? I might stay unmoved and insensitive to you, but I’m not evil… you’re making my heart bleed.”

 What concerned me was not the ankles’ bad state, both inflated to an abnormal degree, meaning the second one was at least sprained too . The above broken part either not. But the feet… swallow, full of bruises, and blisters, covered in dried and fresh blood. 

“Spank you? I should beat myself hard instead” How could I call myself a hero, a protector of women? When I can’t even see that a girl is worn out. I didn’t pay attention to the signs, I should have.

“No!!… It’s all my fault...I’m useless! The forest was fine really, the pace suited me. But even then I...I got a sprain at the end! Tripping over a damned root! It hadn’t even been a few days! Already there I was in pain…sniff. I didn’t want to be seen as a weakling sniff. I was already a dead weight in the first fight…I…sob…didn’t want to hear you say I was a burden! Sob sob.” 

It was my turn to stay silent, I was stunned by what happened because of my negligence and the weight of my word. 

“I thought I could hold it...hic...that...hic...that it would teach me how to endure pain… So I didn’t magically cure it on purpose. I was a fool…hic...sob”

“I understand, and then?.”  How could you end up in this way? How? Oh Lily…

I wiped away those tears that came one by one, she was dying of embarrassment and regret. She spoke while crying, still not looking at me, avoiding my gaze so as to not show me her miserable face more than reason. At least I must’ve managed to comfort her a little as she continued with longer uninterrupted sentences. 

“Then, when you took me off on the mountain path, I had trouble following you and things only got worse. Eventually, I could barely stand properly, and the second ankle was about to give up too! Sniff  When I asked for a break, I actually wanted to heal myself in secret while you were eating. Or at least I intended to. But you didn’t give me enough time and you were so cheerful…”

Embarrassment became shame, her tears who had slowed down returned more numerous, changing whimper into lament.

“I didn’t want to break the mood. Sob sniff, at the end...hic...when you...hic...let...me-hic...off to climb, I got an opportunity… sniff. Perfect!...hic...guh...I said to myself!...hic... But I…hic tripped agaaaiiiinnnnn! Waaaaaaaahaaa!!!” “I was scared…hic, I thought you would abandon me!! Sob sob” 

I‘m a scumbag. Now I understand her troubled face when I abuptly interrupted our rest. Her complaints about the difficult terrain made sense so I didn’t take them into account. Nor did I care about her fatigue. She didn’t want to eat, not because  she was afraid of gaining weight, but seeing that she was already tired and didn’t want to exhaust further while digesting.

Now she was shedding tears in my arms, her legs in pieces, feeling bad about the situation and taking it all as she was the source of our problems, while I was the main accountable without a doubt.

“I won’t, okay?  I won’t, rest assured, I promise I won’t throw you for that. After all, at the moment, I’m your knight, am I not?” 

kiss, pat “mmmh?”

I slowly kissed her on the forehead, while gently stroking her head for a long time, until the cry slowed down and ceased. 

“Are you okay now? Did your fears fade away? I likely won’t treat you well as a wife, but at least, I will treat you as a party companion, sorry, seriously, I hadn’t taken you into consideration enough.”

Without speaking, the eyes all puffy and irritated that were yet to dry, she nodded

“So, no more secrets about your well being all right? When you are hurt, when you are tired,  no lies, no concealment. If I’m too fast, If the terrain doesn't suit you, even if you take it as a small inconvenience, let me know. Daccccccooord?”

Another nod

“Let’s continue the inspection then. Tell me if I’m wrong. The leg seems to be okay, no blood, bone sticking out, or hematoma in view. But you should check yourself when you have recovered a bit. I’m not a doctor. Other one’s fine, the ankles can be sorted with a bit of magic and good sleep, I think. Your head is fine, so you said. I’ll take your word for it. Now, for the libs… how many fractures?”

“A few...”

“I have trouble hearing?  What did we just agree on?”

“Sorry... five.”

“Yay! Better late than never. But that was the last time. If I catch you back again, I won’t let you travel with me, and make you a perfect housewife, who is waiting home alone for her husband to return, compelled to masturbate out of frustration.”

Maybe I should have done that straight away. Locking her In our base would have been safer. Allowing me to flee temptation and… that it. To be fair, she is not incapable, far from there. She is truly good in melee, matching easily average adventurers specialized in the front line. She seems to be a good healer, her flesh wounds were all taken care of even though she was nearly exhausted and seriously injured. She just needs some time to get used to her new life and mature.

 Gaining some field experience should suffice, stamina didn’t seem to be the problem here. Above all, she endured a greater pain and for longer than most I know of, without saying a word. If she wasn't that crazy in love, had I encountered her earlier, I would have taken her on my journey to push back the demon, no questions asked.

“Five, so be it, nothing worse? No broken one? Be careful, I have the means to keep you on a leash until the end of the trip, Literally!”

No. Let's not lie to ourselves, given she is this young and already as capable as an average adventurer, even more for some part. Even if she were to rape me beforehand, I wouldn’t mind teaming up with her in serious fight in the future. I wonder how well she will grow. 

“With the tail and ears? Dog or cat?” She eventually responded to my joke by herself, she seemed to have gotten back some confidence.

“Ah… yes, that could be taken as a reward for you… Thus, how about I bound you to a tree for a few days and let you alone? And why not a rabbit? Seems fine to me, a hurt naked starving rabbit, trembling in fear and cold. Leached to a tree without provisions. You would make good prey for wildlife if you don’t die from hypothermia.”

“Pffff, I would like to see that, but I don’t think the wildlife would be of any concern. The wild hero-sama on the other hand… That’s a predator I can’t ignore but wouldn’t that reverse the roles? -smile-   No cover up this time I swear. Only fractures, no broken one”

Seems I succeeded in lightening the mood.

“Fine, you come first, then I will make the camp, next comes the supper. Let’s eat well and rest nicely, as for what’s left, we will advise tomorrow morning. Okay?”

And we did just as I said. 

I took care of Lily's injury, a healer was not an excuse to let serious ones unattended, I put on bandages to compress and keep in place her broken and cracked parts. Then I made a splint of wood and some tights’ leftover for her legs. At the end, I proceeded to give her a massage where things were okay, to release some pain and relax some more. No more magic today allowed,  she was already quite weak.

We ate whatever we had on hand, so it was a bit too light to fill Lily's body needs, her blood and bones were far more hungry than she was herself after all. She’ll need to eat more than that to recuperate, we’re not gonna last with only dried meat and pottage rest from yesterday. But as it appeared she had difficulty eating in any case, that would do for now. 

Out of sight, I secretly used some of my life saving belongings… Well, it was not supposed to be one, but that’s all I could afford and saved from my past equipment and now it was. An elixir, although not of the highest quality, and not at all made for this situation, it was largely capable of helping. Even if it was a waste to use it as a simple tonic, I take my responsibilities seriously. A few drops in her drink, the effect should reduce pain and speed up her recovery process. 

If she knew I squandered it, she would blame it on herself beyond reason. Why? Simply because elixirs are NOT miracle potions that can instantly treat ailments, well the best could presumably. 

What they are, however, are costly, if not overpriced, general medicine with light effects on the long term, the effect power and lasting time vary and heavily depend on the price. And you tend to use them in absolute necessity before the need comes. Yes I know, that sounds inconsistent, but that is the paradox, you need to use them in advance to be effective, but they cost a lot so you generally falter. On the other hand, potions are for specific use, these are less pricey… although still too expensive considering my situation, but I usually don’t have use for them so I didn’t have any.

Anyway, mine tend to have similar effects than of a stamina recovery potion, with a detox counter for numerous poison, slow mana replenishment, modest adrenaline boost, and very light wound recovery that’s more for blood coagulant than wound treatment. And that in the long run.

See, told you, general medicine, that does nothing perfectly but is a must when forecasting long fights, with unplanned events. Fortuitously, It might be that he had unlikely but useful uses, and another purpose may have been to replenish and boost stamina through my overlong lingering nights, but that's another whole story.