Burden

As an old saying goes, "Misfortune might be a blessing in disguise." Han Jin was now lying on the grass, aimlessly idling away his time while watching the busy Miss Keeley and Steelberg.

Miss Keeley had recovered from her grief. It could be said that she was already strong-minded in her bones, but she just lacked the courage and experience to confront danger and disaster.

She was, deep inside her heart, very grateful to Han Jin and the others for not having left her in these woods alone. Though these guys always talked about how beautiful the sights were in the woods and how they enjoyed themselves and didn't want to leave, Miss Keeley knew it was just to make her feel more comfortable. Thus, her hostility toward Han Jin gradually faded.

In fact, she was also a professional, a real soldier. It's just that her power was only enough to deal with an ordinary person like Steelberg; even the injured Han Jin was out of her defeating capability. She knew she couldn't do anything else for him, but could only cooperate with Steelberg while doing some trifles such as washing and cleaning.

However, both her efficiency and effectiveness were poor. Obviously, a lady from a big family in Holy Crown City would have never done these chores by herself before, as she must have had lots of helpers and maidservants. But, of course, Han Jin did not force her to do anything. On the contrary, he often ordered Steelberg to take over her job and let her rest. It was her that insisted on making some contribution.

Han Jin spit the grass-root in his mouth aside and stared at the wooden ceiling. A few days ago, Miss Keeley was a burden to them, and now he had become the trouble. Since four of the ribs in his chest were broken and the bone in his left lower leg fractured, he could go nowhere but stay here on the grass. And the most distracting thing for him was that he had to exert some of his energy to strengthen his body so as to avoid any sequelae.

After all, he lacked energy. If it was at his peak time, such injury would have been healed within 12 hours, but the energy spent on it was also directly proportional; Han Jin's current state couldn't afford it.

"You're back, Sunier." Outside the shed sounded the voice of Moxinke, "Wow! What a big creature!"

"Clean it up! I am a bit tired," Sunier replied.

"It's okay, leave it to me," Moxinke said. "It's too heavy for them to even move it, let alone clean."

"Is Raphael still in the shed?"

"Er." Moxinke made a weird smile. "You are quite caring of him these days, Sunier?"

"None of your business!" Before her voice had died away, she had already entered the shed.

 Han Jin raised his head and looked at Sunier. Her face was still calm, as though she didn't mind Moxinke's teasing at all. They had a secret between them. Han Jin's wound was her 'contribution'. In their minds, it was only natural for Sunier to take good care of Han Jin, otherwise one would feel aggrieved, and the other would feel apologetic. 

"Steelberg, leave us alone for a minute. I have something to tell him," Sunier said lightly.

Hearing this, Steelberg's eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at Han Jin, turned to Sunier, and then left grinning.

"What a wretched guy he is. I should teach him a lesson later!" Han Jin said with embarrassment.

"Wretched? You are no better than him." This said, Sunier went to his side and squatted down. Several magic crystals appeared beside him, some of them containing the element of fire, earth, and some water.

"These are..." Han Jin was stunned.

"These are for you," Sunier said, her voice still cold.

Han Jin found that all the magic crystals in Sunier's hand were second-grade. He immediately understood her good intentions. It must be that she had spent a lot of time hanging around in the forest and hunted lots of second-grade holy animals specially for him to get those magic crystals. He knew that the probability of a second-grade holy animal containing a magic crystal was very low. Even on that day when Cessacioun had burnt thousands of black ravens, he had only found two or three hundred magic crystals on the ground.

"Thank you," Han Jin whispered. "But..."

"But what?"

"I'm hurt now and the elements accumulated by me have gone through severe losses. I think you understand what I mean, Sunier."

"You mean you can't even absorb the elements from a second-grade magic crystal at present?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"But first grade magic crystals...They are too hard to be found." Sunier frowned. "Isn't there any other way?"

"Actually... if you hadn't burned those human-faced eagles, I wouldn't have to suffer like this." Han Jin gave a bitter smile, the resentment deep in his heart finally released.

"So… you can also absorb the elements from the bodies of holy animals?" Sunier showed a look of astonishment.

"Yes. Although not that much, it's safer."

"No wonder you always eat so much!" Sunier was suddenly enlightened.

"Do you think I enjoy eating like that? It's in fact very hard work."

Sunier thought for a while and suddenly said, "I've got an idea." After this, she turned around and left the wooden shed.

A few minutes later, Moxinke's scream came from outside, "What? The Bear of Earth?? Are you out of your mind, Sunier?!"

"Stop shouting!" she roared. "I can clearly see that it's a young Bear of Earth! We can definitely handle it!"

"Even so, I won't take such a risk with you! What should we do if there were adult Bears of Earth around it? They are eighth-grade holy animals, Sunier! Far beyond our capability!"

"We can hide ourselves in the jungle and observe first. If there really are other bears nearby, we can come back immediately. If not…"

"No!" Moxinke shouted resolutely.

"So you will not go with me, will you?" Sunier seemed raged.

"No!" Moxinke answered decisively.

Then, Sunier whispered something to Moxinke. The next moment, he jumped with astonishment. "You're not kidding?"

"Do I need to lie to you?"

Moxinke hesitated for a long time, and then said, "All right, we shall try."

"This is what a true man should do!"

"Ho ho… Are you cursing me? My teacher told me that a true man will die young."

"You..." Hearing this, Sunier almost choked.

"Cessacioun, you stay here. Sunier and I are going out for a while. We will be back soon," Moxinke exclaimed.

"Hey, you're not going to deal with the Bear of Earth, are you?" Cessacioun shouted worriedly.

But they had already gone too far, leaving with an echoing reply, "It's alright, just wait for our good news."

In the shed, Han Jin was lying on the ground blankly. He had heard the key words of the whispering. He clearly knew why Moxinke had suddenly changed his mind. His eyes became wet. He was a competitive person. In his former world, he had never accepted any favours except from his teacher and parents. He was still determined to rely on himself in this world, but sometimes, he had to lay down his self-esteem.

"Are you alright, Young Master?" Steelberg asked with surprise at the gate.

"I'm fine." Han Jin simply closed his eyes. "I am tired and want to sleep. Don't bother me."