Chapter 47: Take Care of It

When Su You heard that Duoya had come back once, she paused in the middle of eating. Then she quickly finished the last bit of food, opened the wooden box, and began checking the supplies.

…Don’t get the wrong idea—she wasn’t worried that Duoya had stolen anything. Su You didn’t think she was that kind of person, and besides, Duoya didn’t have the authority to access the supplies. Su You just wanted to see if Duoya’s share of the supplies was still there.

Duoya was allowed to take her portion of food. If it was all gone, Su You could only feel regret—because that would most likely mean Duoya had changed her mind and left the territory early.

But if the supplies were still there, maybe Duoya had run into trouble and been delayed, or perhaps she was on her way back right now.

However, based on what Su You saw as she checked, she couldn’t figure out what had happened.

Because half of Duoya’s share of food was gone! But only half…

Ruling out the possibility that Doli had taken it, there were two options: either Duoya thought half the food was enough and left with it, or…

As Su You frowned in thought, she suddenly heard Doli gasp beside her.

“What happened?! Are you okay?” Before she’d even finished speaking, Doli jumped up, knocking over her cup and nearly tripping in her haste.

Su You steadied her and instinctively looked in the direction Doli was staring—

There stood Duoya, her hair a mess, a dried wound slashing across her once-smooth face. Her exposed skin was covered in cuts and bruises, red marks everywhere—she looked like she’d just crawled out of a pool of blood.

She was so badly injured that she could barely walk, swaying with every step. In fact, she looked even worse than Doli had before… No, this was much worse!

No wonder Doli was so shocked. Even Su You couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of Duoya’s injuries.

“Take her to a room—I’ll bring medicine over in a minute.” Su You was suddenly grateful she hadn’t turned all the red grass she’d collected that afternoon into seeds, but had kept some whole. Otherwise, with Duoya this badly hurt and no medicine, things would be much harder.

Doli didn’t even have time to respond. Once she regained her balance, she rushed to Duoya’s side.

Before she could say anything, she felt a small, furry bundle pressed into her hands. At the same time, Duoya’s weak voice sounded in her ear—

“Take care of it…” As she spoke, Duoya swayed, but managed to steady herself.

How could she still be thinking of taking care of something else at a time like this?!

Doli was frantic.

She’d meant to support Duoya, but now her hands were full with this unknown little creature. She couldn’t just drop it, since Duoya had asked her to take care of “it.”

Fortunately, Laike and Lyle saw what was happening and came over to help. Otherwise, Duoya would have collapsed right there.

“Need a hand?” Lyle knew it was a redundant question—obviously, they needed help—but Doli didn’t have time to care.

“Thank you—please help me get her into that house over there…” Doli said, leading the way.

Behind her, Lyle and Laike started off just supporting Duoya, but when they realized she couldn’t walk at all, one of them simply picked her up and carried her inside.

That way, they moved faster and avoided causing further injury.

They had just gotten Duoya into the room when Su You arrived with the healing potion.

“What’s this…” Su You’s attention was on Duoya at first, but as Doli approached, she noticed the trembling red-and-white furball in Doli’s arms—shaking, perhaps from fear.

“I don’t know what it is—Duoya gave it to me and told me to take care of it, and then…” Realizing now wasn’t the time to talk about this, Doli quickly changed the subject: “Is that healing potion? Do you want to treat her yourself, or should I help?”

Su You glanced at the little creature in Doli’s arms, then told her to go outside and look after it.

As for Lyle and Laike, after bringing Duoya in, they quietly left.

Looking at Duoya, unconscious on the bed, Su You first gave her some healing potion, then began to check her condition.

【Duoya】

Gender: Female

Age: Young Adult

…(other info omitted)

HP: 35/200 (Recovering)

Status: Blood loss, Fracture, Mild infection, Weak, Seriously injured

Blood loss: Loses a certain amount of HP over time; can be stopped by bandaging.

Fracture: The affected area loses mobility; can be stabilized with bandaging.

Mild infection: If the wound isn’t treated in time, it will worsen to a moderate infection. The more severe the infection, the higher the chance of aftereffects even after healing. Prolonged untreated infection increases the risk of death.

Weak: All abilities reduced, slower recovery.

Seriously injured: Severely wounded; will disappear after other conditions are resolved. While active, normal movement is impossible.

…

Looking at the long list of negative conditions, Su You was startled, even though she’d mentally prepared herself.

Luckily, she’d dealt with similar situations before, so while she wasn’t exactly skilled, at least she didn’t panic or freeze.

Thanks to the healing potion, Duoya’s HP had recovered to 35 points. Since the potion only restored 10 HP, that meant Duoya had only 25 HP left before.

25 HP wasn’t immediately fatal, but since she was still bleeding, she’d keep losing HP over time. If it kept up, she could die at any moment.

But after drinking the healing potion, even though the bleeding hadn’t stopped, the potion’s continuous healing effect could offset some of the HP loss. In a way, it was buying her time.

First stabilize her, then treat the other injuries—that was the right way to handle someone seriously hurt.

Besides the healing potion, Su You had brought cloth, branches, string, deer antler, berry juice, and clothes made from animal hide.

The cloth, made from string, was for bandaging wounds and stopping the bleeding.

The branches and string were for splinting the fracture, to prevent further injury and allow the bone to start healing."

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