บท 12: - Return trip
My hellish days as a sequence 9 caretaker continued without much improvement.
A wise man once said, 'Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results' so, these villagers clucking like rabbid rabbits and expecting a better future are certifiably insane!
There's nothing good about children! They cry. They scream. They vomit. They poo everywhere! And I have to take care of so many of them!
This is a great injustice! I demand a mandatory neutering for all the male villagers! Cut off their balls!!
My lampooning was interrupted as another rascal tripped over a shelf and caused the contents to spill over and crash on the ground.
"Argh! Timmy! Don't run away! Let me spank you! What did I say about being careful?" As I rushed to clean the mess off the floor the little rascal actually laughed and ran away.
Grrrr. Unfortunately, I can't leave those broken shards alone, some kid might step ln them and cut himself!
I'll get him someday!
I could only shake my fist at the dissapearing tyke.
Such days were common and except for the first time I held the ritual in that forest clearing with the lavender furnace, the other times were quite eventless.
The next few times we held the 'night soil' ritual, there was only chanting and tossing fish bones and guts into the fire, then waiting for the flame to die down. This was followed by scooping the ashes formed into the pots and another chanting ritual accompanied by some tribal dance.
That's all.
No glowing runes. No violet flames. No tentacles. Nothing.
The villagers commented that the 'harvest' of ash increased significantly so besides an increase of fruits and vegetables in my diet, my life of taking care of little devils at noon and lessons at night continued.
Still skipped dinner.
Even the lessons did not teach me new information. There was simply lots of revisions to make sure my grasp of language and rituals did not diminish.
***
As I sat next to Bobo the scraggly mutt, under a palm tree, my fishing line out in the sea tugged. After pulling and spooling the line for a couple of minutes, I caught a fist sized fish. Unhooking it and deciding it would be too small for lunch, I fed it to Bobo.
As I stood up to throw my fishing line back into the sea, I could see something hazy in the horizon. I paused and squinted my eyes.
Oh! Looks like the traders are back from their trip! This time took quite a while. Almost a year, wonder what happened to stall their journey.
I packed my belongings and walked to the pier.
Hopefully this time they bring back more than just medicine and farming and cooking implements. Hopefully new spices. Maybe even dried jerky! The cuisine here is starting to get stale...
As I joined the other villagers who no doubt had also spotted the returning traders, I began to take my clothes off.
Already anticipating that I would be used as a pack mule and the native's superstition for being unclothed for males in the sea, I simply waited for the ships to dock on the shore.
As the ships got closer, I can see clearly the faces of the sailors on it. They seemed quite somber. The villagers started to chat, guessing what could have happened and worrying about any accidents or mishaps.
When they docked on the shore, there was a flurry of activity and after a while, the tall sailors could be seen carrying a stretcher down into land.
On the stretcher was a female wearing a soldier's uniform of some sort. With plenty of pockets on the chest and leg areas. Her brown hair was tied in a bun and she had round spectacles on. She seemed to be suffering from a fever of some sort as despite her closed eyelids, sweat formed on her brows and her body shook as if freezing despite the sunny weather.
"Emergency! She was stung by a stonefish! Someone call for the healer!" A sailor led the way and shouted to the waiting villagers.
The stretcher was placed on a relatively flat ground while they waited for help to arrive. Clothes were given to them and they began to get dressed as there wasn't much else they can do.
After a while, Rosa, who I recognized as a gatherer, hurriedly strode towards the ill lady. Rosa inspected the lady's legs and soon found a black spot under her feet.
"She accidentally stepped on a stone fish while inspecting our catch." A nearby sailer informed her of what had happened.
Rosa nodded, and took out a dagger from her waist. She cut the black and swelling area, causing black ichor to bleed out.
A rotting smell soon filled the area.
Rosa reeled back instinctively, covering her nose from the pungent smell. She looked at a child nearby and shouted to him. "Get a beyonder from the prison! Quick! Unwinged angel!"
The boy nodded and started running towards the village.
Rosa took a cloth and stuffed it with some paste before bandaging the wound. She then looked at me, and gestured for me to carry the unconscious lady. Both of us lifted the stetcher and she led the way into a nearby hut usually used for shading from the sun during rest times.
Some of the villagers carried ashes from a nearby shrine and sprayed them on the area where the unconscious lady had bled on.
Taking a flask from her hips, Rosa poured the contents into the unconscious lady's mouth. "Cleansed coconut water" she told me.
I shrugged.
Probably should take more lessons with her from now on. Seems like she knows quite a lot actually...
A human-pulled cart soon arrived, and a robed man jumped out when it stopped. His hands and feet were tied with rope but still loose enough to allow him to walk.
Rosa took off the bandage she recently tied and showed him the black, leaking wound.
The robed man tilted his head to think, then took out a silver dagger from a chest in the cart. From there, he also took some dried plants, candles and oils and began placing them around the unconscious lady.
He used his dagger to carve some symbols and lines and rearranged the candles on top of them. With a snap of his finger, the candle spontaneously lit up.
He then started chanting and the flames in the candle turned green.
He looked at the passerbys oogling at the ritual and my heart stopped for a beat when I noticed his pupils were yellow and his teeth sharp and serrated. Despite his scary look, he lectured to us in a monotone voice, "I'll try fighting poison with poison, hopefully mine wins out and all she will suffer is slight sensitivity to pain and an upset stomach."
He reached out his index finger towards the candle and the fire from the candle began to float. As he further gestured with the silver dagger from his other arm, the flame shot towards the poisoned leg.
A hissing sound was heard and soon, I could smell barbecued pork.
Huh. Is it problematic that I now feel kinda hungry...
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง