331 Change 1 (1/2)
Chapter 331: Change 1
The wheels on the carriage turned round and round.
Garen turned sideways to look at the scenery outside the carriage window.
Up in the blue sky, a few enormous black dots were circling in the air slowly, making chirping noises in the distance.
The green grassy plains seemed limitless, and the continuous stretches of hills stood up high as a few black sheep the size of little cows lowered their heads and chomped on grass. They occasionally looked up in curiosity at the three carriages that passed by.
The early morning fresh air blew into the carriage window.
Garen lowered his head to look at the Resonance Stone in his hand, before playing with it gently.
The index finger on his left hand lit up suddenly with a black flame, and left a Tactic gesture in the air. His right hand continued to turn the Resonance Stone over in his palm.
Garen put his left hand down and picked up a pen on the table and dipped it in ink, before jotting all this down in his notebook.
Once he had finished his notes, he began to turn the Resonance Stone over again.
”How is it? Are they any results?” Reylan sat up from the opposite seat, which was also the bed area, and asked while yawning softly.
Garen nodded.
”Still alright for now. But it’s very difficult. This Detection Tactic that you gave me is quite good, it can be used to increase these kinds of frequencies within specific degrees, as well as detect them. The only downside is that it requires a lot of Silver Energy.”
”Silver Energy is used to sustain Totems, and is also the basis of operating Sustain Tactics. I did not expect that Brother would have such an abundance of Silver Energy to be used for Tactics,” Reylan shook her head. ”According to our research, this type of Silver Energy is probably determined by the state of mind of the Luminarist. The better their state of mind, the higher their Silver Energy.”
Garen nodded.
”My body has been healthy all along, and I’ve always been in a positive state of mind. We don’t have to worry about this aspect.”
He picked the pen up again and began to write down a new set of data in his notebook.
”It’s been two days since we left that fortress nearby Ferrochrome Town. We should almost be reaching Aisley City by now, right?”
Reylan grabbed the glass of plain water on the table and gulped it down in one mouth, exhaled, and began putting on her coat.
”Since we sped up we should almost there,” she moved to sit next to the window on the other side, and looked outside.
Cough cough…
The sound of Lala’s coughing echoed from the carriage in front again. She sounded as if she were about to cough out her internal organs.
”Stop the carriage! Stop the carriage!” A young man alighted from the front of the carriage. He was the totem user from the Hunting Group that had guarded Lala earlier. His had a grim expression on his face as he ran towards Garen’s carriage, waving his hands frantically.
The three carriages began to slow down to a stop.
Garen pulled the carriage door open and got off, before walking towards the man.
”What’s wrong? What happened?”
”Lala just coughed out blood! We need to think of a way to help her!” The man replied solemnly. ”I can’t bear to look at this anymore. She’s just a regular person. She doesn’t deserve this kind of punishment.”
”I’ll go and take a look,” said Garen, furrowing his brows.
He followed the man into the first carriage, and suddenly noticed the shockingly large pool of fresh blood on the floor of the carriage.
Lala lay on her side on the carriage floor, her face as white as a blank sheet of paper.
Garen’s expression darkened, and his eyes glanced past the others. Angel shrugged her shoulders immediately, showing that she was powerless.
Vicky furrowed her eyebrows and said softly: ”I’ve seen this type of illness in Sitcher County. It seems to be Miya tuberculosis, and may be contagious.”
At once, a forced expression appeared on the faces of everyone in the carriage.
”I’ll do it,” said Garen indifferently as he stepped forward and carried Lala in his arms. He turned around and walked towards the third carriage.
Lala’s weight had decreased severely. He estimated that she weighed less than eighty pounds, and was now skinnier than a person should be.
Garen took the opportunity to look at her face.
Both of her cheeks were sunken and her eyes were listless. All that was left of her were skin and bones.
”No medicine, no specialized doctors. I’m sorry, I caused all of this to happen to you,” said Garen softly, as he placed her on the seats of the third carriage, against a barrel of beef jerky.
”This was my own decision,” Lala’s voice was very weak now, and most people would have to place their ears right next to her before they were able to vaguely hear what she was saying. ”I… wanted to follow you…”
Garen looked at the girl who had taken such good care of him all this while, and felt a sense of uncertainty inside his heart. Without a suitable treatment method, Lala would surely die. Garen himself had unconsciously neglected her during this period of time, which resulted in her deteriorating to this degree.
He reached his hand outwards and touched Lala’ wrist to feel her pulse, before realising that it was extremely weak, almost non existent by now.
”Right now, there’s a way to save you, but I can’t assure you that it will be successful, because everything depends on luck. It is only a possibility.”
Lala’s eyes jolted open immediately. ”I could still… live?”
”But you’ll have to give up your freedom in exchange,” Garen nodded as he answered her question.
Frankly, both of them knew deep in their hearts that if it was really tuberculosis, it was only a matter of time before it became a death sentence.
There was not the slightest bit of hesitation in Lala’s eyes.
”Please, I’ll leave it up to you then. I’m just a regular person, and to be honest in a world and era like this, I don’t have much freedom to talk about.” She was someone who was well-versed in the law, and could see everything clearly. She understood that Garen’s treatment of her could already be considered excellent. If she had any other master, she would have been dead a long time ago.
Garen was in awe of her rationality and intelligence. The ability to put everything into perspective, and the knowledge on whether to advance or to step back were Lala’s greatest virtues. As for her pretty face, it was only secondary to everything else. In this world, those who were beautiful but shallow could be found anywhere. However, girls as gorgeous and wise as herself were truly rare.
”You should get ready then,” Garen turned to look at the Hunting Group members outside who were looking in their direction.
”All of you should wait outside first. I’m going to see if I can save Lala.”
Angel rushed towards him and nodded, as a playful smile appeared on her face.
”Up to you, as long as your ‘cute’ little sister doesn’t get jealous.”
Garen was too tired for her nonsense. He pulled the carriage door and shut it, before closing the curtains.
He looked at Lala in her white sleeping gown, and crouched down beside her.