Chapter 64: I’m the One Who’s Hurt

He thought Su You had misunderstood him, but before he could open his mouth to explain, Su You’s next words caught him off guard.

“Do you two remember the person who came back seriously injured yesterday?” Su You suddenly brought up Duoya, which neither of the other two had expected.

After all, they had no idea what Duoya had to do with any of this.

At that moment, Lake seemed to realize he’d just said something he shouldn’t have… He wanted to explain, but just like Lyle, he could only hold his tongue and let Su You finish.

“She’s Duoya. And she’s an archer.”

An archer?

Lyle still didn’t understand why Su You was suddenly introducing the woman from yesterday, but Lake, who had gone with Su You to dismantle the Black-striped Tiger, for once reacted quickly.

He remembered the strange round wound he’d seen on the tiger, and also recalled Su You’s earlier assessment of the injury.

“No wonder you said it was an arrow wound…” Connecting the dots with Duoya’s miserable state yesterday, Lake suddenly understood. “So Duoya was trying to take on the Black-striped Tiger alone yesterday?! And the reason the tiger was so badly injured was because of her!”

Su You: “……” The process isn’t quite right, but the conclusion is.

Who in their right mind would try to solo a tiger for no reason?

But it was true that Duoya was the one who seriously injured the Black-striped Tiger. That much was correct.

“I see… She probably attacked the tiger to save that white ermine. That would also explain why the ermine was covered in blood.”

If she’d run into the ermine before the fight, no one would bring such a troublesome creature into battle—especially against something as dangerous as a Black-striped Tiger. And the ermine wouldn’t have been covered in blood.

If she’d found the ermine after the fight, that didn’t make sense either. She was so badly hurt, there’s no way she’d notice an ermine.

Since neither of those explanations worked, this was the only possibility.

At this point, Lyle seemed to understand what Su You was getting at. He thought for a moment, then said, “When I get back, I’ll discuss with Miss Duoya how to divide things up.”

A discussion was definitely needed. Although Duoya had crippled the Black-striped Tiger, if it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have been able to claim it either. So splitting it between the two of them was the fairest solution.

As for why he didn’t suspect Su You of lying… there was simply no need.

If Su You were lying, it would only be to claim the spoils of the Black-striped Tiger. But yesterday, after bringing Duoya into the residence, Lyle had asked Dolly who she was.

Dolly said her name was Duoya, and also mentioned that Duoya wasn’t from the territory—just a temporary guest, like them.

Since Duoya wasn’t a resident, even if Su You said she killed the tiger, she wouldn’t get any of the loot.

After all, outsiders didn’t need to contribute to the territory the way they did.

“As long as you two work it out.” Seeing that he understood, Su You didn’t say anything more.

Because of the Black-striped Tiger, Su You’s plans had been thrown off a bit. All the tiger’s loot was in her backpack, so she couldn’t put any stones in it for now.

“I need to go back and drop some things off. Are you two coming with me, or staying here?” If they went back, they could rest for a bit. After all, today’s goal—opening a path to the mine—was already accomplished. If they needed to dig for stones, they could always come back in the afternoon.

“You two go ahead, I’ll check out the mine.” Lake didn’t want to go back; he was still thinking about that mine.

Originally, the plan was for him and Lyle to explore the mine together after Lyle returned. But since Lyle wasn’t in any shape for action, he’d just go alone.

“The mine?” Lyle finally remembered what Lake had said earlier about discovering a mine.

There could be dangers inside, so Lyle instinctively wanted to stop him.

But before he could say anything, Su You spoke up first.

“There’s no rush to explore the mine. You both should rest first and go together later. If you really don’t want to go back, then help dig some stones. Once you’re done, you can collect a reward from the bounty board.” As she spoke, Su You handed over a pickaxe and a few whetstones.

Lyle didn’t want Lake—who wasn’t exactly the sharpest—going off on his own, so he quickly chimed in to support Su You.

“The territory is still in its early stages. We don’t need ore just yet. Instead of going to the mine, why not dig more stones and help the lord gather materials for the basic buildings?” Lyle’s tone was calm and matter-of-fact, as if he wasn’t trying to subtly change Lake’s mind at all.

Lake didn’t insist on exploring the mine; he just didn’t want to go back so soon. Staying in the territory was boring, after all.

He might not be an adventurer anymore, but he still craved a bit of excitement… otherwise, he wouldn’t have become an adventurer in the first place.

“All right, I’ll stay and dig stones.” Lake nodded, taking the items from Su You.

Seeing that he really was going to stay, Su You left him not only the pickaxe and whetstones, but also some food and healing potions.

With everything settled and explained, Su You and Lyle headed back to the territory.

……

……

As soon as they returned, Su You saw that Duoya—who should have been in bed—was already up, sitting by the campfire with Dolly. It wasn’t clear what they were talking about or doing.

Hearing the gate open, the two by the fire turned to look.

Dolly was startled again at the sight of Lyle, covered in blood. She immediately rushed to Su You’s side, looking her up and down anxiously as she asked, “Miss Lord, are you hurt? What on earth happened?”

Su You shook her head to indicate she was fine, while Lyle could only tug at the corner of his mouth in exasperation.

Lyle: …Seriously, isn’t it obvious I’m the one who’s hurt here?

But grumbling aside, Lyle didn’t expect her to care about him anyway—they weren’t that close. If Dolly really did fuss over him, he’d probably feel awkward.

(End of chapter)"

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