Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Lambert - Chapter Nineteen

I was lost.

I had no recollection of what happened either, but my legs were sore, and I was full of bruises. My face hurt the most. I tried to inspect my surroundings, but it was all just bushes and trees, in the middle of nowhere. How did I even get here? What happened the day before?

"Lambert, just what were you doing?" I asked myself, hoping it would give me some clues. My face being swollen was an important one. I saw a fierce little goblin jumping at me by the campfire as I touched it. There was an ogre and a beastman too, and they took the Princess hostage while Cath gave them a chase, and I simply ran away.

I didn't feel better after remembering.

First I had to get rid of the pain and imagine my anatomy, tracing the neurons back from my brain. It was trivial to numb them just a bit, but then I rearranged some of my blood vessels to make sure I had no internal bleeding. Not that I was in any kind of serious combat...

My nose did not seem to be broken, so it was an easy fix. The bruises would have healed on their own in just a few days too, but didn't want to risk infections. I channeled my mana to close up every little cut and clear the coagulates. I felt much better now but was completely lost.

I decided to trace back my steps. It wasn't that hard since I bumped into every tree on my way here. I didn't get as far as I thought either and just an hour later found myself back at our campsite. They trampled on the tent and scattered the burned firewood around, but abandoned the place with our gear still untouched. I only took the Bags of Holdings and tried to find the other's traces. The ogre was easy to follow.

He left a trail of blood on the ground, and I remembered how Cath slashed him across his torso. He ran into the woods, and I found some torn pieces of cloth left behind by the Princess. The ogre must have struggled with her in the dense undergrowth because he soon made it for the road. They ended up heading in the same direction we aimed for.

Unsure of what to expect if, and when I caught up with someone, I felt reluctant to follow their path, but I couldn't just return to Sanctuary alone. I was sure to be executed for deserting so my best bet was to move forward.

Soon, I felt motivated to run for a bit and released some of my magic now that the annoying Princess wasn't here to distract me. My muscles were interlaced with the mana and the internal organs strengthened too, while my body became temporarily lighter. This allowed me to run longer without getting tired and only slowed down around noon to rummage in the magic bags for food.

I approached the actual pass by then, and the road got steeper. I lost their trace a while back, but there was only one way to go. My extra leg muscles were exchanged for improved hearing as I closed in to avoid a nasty ambush, but my magic only amplified the usual birdsongs and critters of the forest. As I neared the summit, the trees got shorter and less dense, but the road turned before reaching the top to thread through the pass. Here I finally picked up some interesting noises.

There were signs of a fight, but it shouldn't lasted long. I have seen blood splatters on the road and the shattered pieces of that goblin's buckler. I hoped Cath took care of them all once she caught up, but discovered her falchion stuck between rocks a moment later.

I still couldn't see anyone, but the noises came from nearby. It was almost like someone snoring but not as peaceful. I could hear the bubbling sounds a punctured lung would make as it slowly filled up with blood, but it didn't sound like it came from a human.

I reached the road's highest point and walked near the edge to scan the depts. About a hundred yards away I spotted the source which was the ogre who stole the Princess yesterday. He fell into a deep chasm, but by the sounds of it, he was still alive.