We were caught off guard by a surprise nighttime attack, and many of the troops suffered injuries as a result. The ensuing battle also severely damaged fortifications.
Andy looked grave, "It's Cavendish from the south. They have two high-level sorcerers, one of which is a fog-type mage who is an expert in concealment."
Two high-level sorcerers and two magic towers. In our small land, those were definitely a mark of power.
My heart felt a little heavy. Having already declared war and made the first strike, it surely wouldn't be long before my opponent would attack again.
I pondered over this for a while before I gave Andy's shoulder a pat. "Rally the troops and prepare to advance." A strong offense is always the best defense.
…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨¨*:·. 31 .·:*¨¨*:·.*¨¨*:·…
That same night, I went to Fruys's side and sat next to him. "Fruu, our opponent has two high-level sorcerers. High-level sorcerers! I've never even met one before. Are you afraid at all?"
I patted his shoulder, but he only brushed me away with a claw. He turned around and shot me a look of disdain. "Don't insult me. Humans are puny and weak—how could I ever fear them?"
I was slightly relieved.
Fruys always easily put me at ease.
…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨¨*:·. 32 .·:*¨¨*:·.*¨¨*:·…
However, he was still wounded by those "puny and weak" humans.
Nobody expected that the fog-type mage would be carrying a rare dragon-slaying blade.
The dragon-slaying blade referred to a sharp blade that was capable of cutting through a dragon's scales. It wasn't actually a specific one-of-a-kind blade. But in this world, swords that were capable of slicing dragon scales were few and far between. It was rare for a blade to even be able to reach the level of a dragon-slaying blade.
The one that the fog-type mage possessed was a dagger.
When Cavendish was skewed by Andy's sword and breathed his last, the two sorcerers who had a life-and-death contract with him knew that they did not have long to live.The fog mage transformed into a ball of fog and stabbed Fruys in an attempt to take him down in mutual destruction.
Of course, Fruys wouldn't be easily defeated like that, but he was still cut in the abdomen by the sharp blade. Ice-blue colored blood slowly oozed out of the wound.
Although I had seen Fruys injured before, I had never seen his blood.
Andy was left in-charge of cleaning up after the battle like usual while Fruys calmly followed me back to his room. Then, he collapsed as soon as we entered.
I kneeled next to his side, feeling extreme pain in my heart.
The human medicine I had were completely useless; this I knew now.
Fruys slowly swayed his tail as he spoke to me, "It's nothing. I'll be fine after I rest a bit. It's only because I was careless that I was injured by such a small knife."
I could not cover up my expression of guilt and self-blame when lifted my head and met his gaze.
Fruys blinked his huge ice-blue eyes: "Adam…I'm fine. Don't look at me like that."
Yet I was stubborn, and continued to look at him.
He grudgingly sighed, before closing his eyes: "Fine. I'll let you lick it then."
I stared at him with wide, confused eyes.
"I'm saying you can lick my wound." Fruys spoke.
I couldn't comprehend his words. Could it be that it would stop hurting if I licked it? Or would the wound heal even faster? I listened to what he said nonetheless and brought my lips close to his stomach and the ice-blue blood—Fruys wasn't close to anyone else. Regardless of what kind of benefits this brought, nobody else but me could do this for him.
Fruys's body shivered slightly when my tongue gently touched his wound.
Afterwards, I heard him say. "Mhm, my blood is very precious. Lick it so it won't go to waste."
…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨¨*:·. 33 .·:*¨¨*:·.*¨¨*:·…
This conceited dragon was so stingy he couldn't spare a drop of his own blood—it made me want to throw him off the balcony!
After I considered the difference in our sizes, I concluded that I would probably have trouble even budging his head. Thus I could only let the subject go with great reluctance, and continue licking his blood.
He seemed very comfortable lying there with his eyes closed.
…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨¨*:·. 34 .·:*¨¨*:·.*¨¨*:·…
I've never told Fruys this before, but I'm so very thankful that he appeared that day. I wished I could do more for him.