Alessandro (4)

As they continued along the left path, the forest grew denser and denser.

It was so silent that, aside from the footsteps of Gregory and Alessandro, not a sound could be heard.

Alessandro whispered to Gregory.

"Gregory, do you think something might jump out at us?"

However, he spoke so softly that Gregory didn't hear him. Gregory asked back loudly.

"What? Speak up, I can't hear you."

Alessandro, visibly on edge, raised his index finger and pressed it to his lips. He was afraid there might be wild animals lurking nearby.

"It's fine. Just follow me."

Gregory dragged the thoroughly frightened Alessandro along. There was no time for coddling him. However, there was a reason for the overwhelming silence.

"Ugh... What do we do?"

Before long, Gregory and Alessandro were faced with a large cliff. Water thundered down in a waterfall below, filling the surrounding area with a thick mist.

Even for Gregory and Alessandro, it was obvious that climbing over this cliff, with all its moss and tangled vines, would take a long time.

"What do you mean, what do we do? We have to turn back. There's no way we're climbing up that waterfall."

Gregory decided that taking the right path back at the fork was the best option. So, he turned around to head that way.

But then, Alessandro grabbed Gregory's right arm.

"W-wait. Gregory, stop!"

Alessandro, who got scared over the smallest things and made a fuss over nothing.

Gregory shook off Alessandro's hand brusquely.

"Stop whining and let's go. We don't have time."

He tried to ignore Alessandro and go his own way. He figured Alessandro had just seen some cute, squirrel-like creature pass by and was making a big deal out of it.

"Th-that's not it!"

Despite Gregory's disregard, Alessandro hurriedly grabbed hold of him again. Only then did Gregory look at Alessandro.

He was pointing toward the cliff with his index finger.

"What, are you telling me to be quiet again?"

Alessandro stammered like he'd seen something dreadful.

"No, that's not it, I'm telling you to look over there!"

Gregory shifted his gaze to where Alessandro was pointing.

It looked like nothing but rocks—what was he supposed to be seeing? But then, among the rocks far away on the cliff, a single plant was poking out.

Alessandro had been meticulously searching through all the undergrowth and thus was able to spot even the smallest bit of plant life.

Gregory sensed something and immediately asked Alessandro,

"Don't tell me that's the herb we've been looking for."

Alessandro nodded confidently. As expected, you can't disregard someone with expertise in a field.

To be able to recognize a plant, even from that small glimpse, as the one he's searching for—that alone was impressive.

Meanwhile, Alessandro said proudly,

"With that, we can cure Walter!"

Gregory began climbing the cliff first. Saving Walter was ultimately the same as protecting their fellow Dawn Knight Order.

In the end, it would be a step toward leading them to victory in the war.

"I'll go ahead—be careful and follow me. If it seems too hard to climb up, wait for me down here."

"N-no, Gregory. You have to be careful when harvesting that plant. Otherwise, you'll end up poisoned. I'll—I'll go get it."

Alessandro warned Gregory. Hearing this, Gregory jumped down from the cliff.

"What? Was that it? Then you can go by yourself. Just in case there are monsters or bandits around, I'll stand guard."

This time, Gregory warned Alessandro.

"By the way, I noticed while I was up there for a second—be careful climbing up. It's slipperier than it looks because of the moss."

Alessandro barely paid attention to Gregory's advice. The sense of pride and excitement at actually being useful for once made his heart swell.

He began climbing the cliff cautiously. After a long struggle, moving step by careful step, Alessandro reached a slightly protruding rock.

"G-Gregory, I made it!"

"Good job. Now harvest the herb there and come down."

Alessandro carefully gathered the medicinal herb. He cut the base first, then meticulously split the leaf veins in half.

With that, a sinister energy and sap began to ooze from the severed veins.

Alessandro shook the plant vigorously to expose it to the air. This was the only way to harvest the herb without remaining poisonous.

It sounded easy enough when explained, but if you just tried it impulsively, you'd almost certainly end up poisoned. Alessandro could harvest it because he had some level of skill.

"B-but I don't know how to get down!"

Alessandro called out in a trembling voice. Gregory, confused, shouted up to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm afraid of heights—I can't look down!"

Hearing this, Gregory let out a dumbfounded sigh. After all that climbing, for him to say something so weak...

"Are you going to let a little fear stop you from becoming a great warrior? Stop whining and come down."

"I—I can't. Wh-what do I do?"

"Then throw the herb down first. I'll put leaves down here so it can land safely."

Gregory tried to offer a solution, but Alessandro wailed almost hysterically.

"What if it gets damaged?"

He had a point. If he threw the herb and it got caught on a branch or split, all that effort would be wasted.

Gregory found the situation extremely awkward. He decided he had no choice but to go get him.

'This is such a hassle... If I'd known it would be like this, I would've checked out the other path from the start.'

Gregory spread out a thick layer of leaves at the base to make a soft landing, just in case he might fall while climbing up.

He gave Alessandro a pitying look, then began climbing the cliff again. He left a few words of warning just in case something unexpected happened.

"Wait right there. I'll be there soon."

However, it seemed Alessandro was panicking so much that he didn't hear a thing. Despite Gregory's warning, he tried to take a step down, one foot at a time.

Suddenly, a loud sound rang out. Gregory, who was moving carefully, quickly looked toward the source—but he was already too late.

"Uwaaah!"

The sound of Alessandro tumbling down echoed everywhere.

It was a dangerous height—one wrong move and he could have been seriously hurt. To protect his head, Alessandro curled his body up like a grub, and he began plummeting rapidly.

Thunk—

Gregory tried to catch him and minimize the damage, even stabbing his sword into a tree as a brake.

For that reason, he hurled himself toward Alessandro.

However, Alessandro fell so fast that Gregory was unable to catch him. He ended up hitting the ground. Alessandro cried out, clutching his leg in agony.

"Argh! It hurts!"

Gregory rushed over to Alessandro.

"Are you okay?"

"Aah! N-no, I'm not okay!"

Gregory quickly looked around. From that height, even with the leaves cushioning him, he was certain Alessandro was badly hurt.

Surviving it was almost a miracle, so he quickly searched for materials for first aid.

Fortunately, there were plenty of trees nearby that could be cut and used for emergency care.

Gregory began assembling a splint from leaves, twigs, and branches.

As he watched Gregory build the splint, Alessandro said,

"I—I just wanted to be of some help, somehow."

Gregory took a deep breath and let it out. He remembered Adrian acting the same way, training day and night because he wanted to be helpful.

'Why are all my companions so hopelessly kind...'

Gregory told himself he couldn't go easy on him this time.

"Haaa, it's not like anyone's going to steal your achievement, is it?"

He couldn't help but sigh, but scolding was not important right now. Gregory felt responsible for Alessandro being hurt.

For now, he decided that returning to the Radiant Light Order was the right move. Above all, the health of his companion came first.

Even with a splint, it wasn't perfect first aid, so Alessandro wouldn't be able to use his leg. Gregory bent over and said,

"Let's get back quickly. Climb on my back."

Alessandro, seeing Gregory's back offered to him, blamed himself. Gregory's repeated warnings came to mind, and he felt terribly sorry.

He leaned onto Gregory and spoke in a small, apologetic voice:"Sorry..."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.