Way of the Knights

Chapter 246: Comfort

Nana, Neman and the rest of the people of the Gentle Cradle Tribe had their mouths agape as they saw what happened.

They stared at the headless corpse of something they have been calling Lord in awe and shock. This enormous bird had been terrorizing their tribe for years now but it didn’t even live through a simple gesture from Raven. What happened to it was almost pitiful. Almost…

“H-how is that possible?” 

“It can’t be…”

“Am I dreaming?”

“It died…under a single wave of his hand. Is this real?”

Murmurs of disbelief echoed through the tribe members. They all looked at the corpse of the ‘Little Bird’ as Raven called it without really knowing what to do. Come to think of it, he just resolved the one of the biggest crises of the tribe in a single wave of his hand. He had helped them yet again without asking for anything in return.

“Waa! That’s amazing Big Brother! How did you do that?” Nana exclaimed in his arms as she looked at him with shining eyes.

“Haha, it’s nothing much. I just slapped it cause it’s noisy.” Raven said as he pinched her cheeks, he then looked back at the tent and saw that her parents are already wide awake and staring at the scene in a confused manner. 

Raven placed Nana down and said: “Look, your parents are awake. Go to them.” 

Nana swiftly turned around and exclaimed: “Mama! Papa! You’re awake!” She then ran towards them and gave them a hug. 

Raven allowed the family to have a little reunion while he disposed the corpse of the little bird. Out of nowhere, someone who was wearing a full black clothes appeared before Raven. 

Seeing him appear out of thin air scared the living daylights of the tribesmen, but when they saw that Raven seemed to know the newcomer, they decided to observe them instead.

The man gave him a salute and asked: “Is everything alright here, Sir Raven? We saw a beast flying down in this direction.”

“It’s all good.” Raven replied in the Kingdom’s language. “It’s just some stray bird bullying these people, I already took care of it. How’s everything on your side?”

“We are also doing fine, Sir. The Lair won’t pose us a great problem, by the Chief’s initial estimations, we should be able to wipe it off the map by sunrise.”

“Great.” Raven was glad to hear that, “You may return, I’ll keep you posted about my situation here. Convincing them shouldn’t take me long.”

“Affirmative, Sir.” The Lair Hunter then disappeared like he wasn’t even there in the first place, once again scaring the tribesmen with his act.

Raven turned around and explained himself to the tribe. “Pardon that everyone. That’s one of my comrades. He just came to tell me something important.”

Neman the Tribe Leader, stepped forward and asked: “Are you really sure that you aren’t God?” 

Raven shivered and hurriedly said: “Of course not, Tribe Leader. Like I said earlier, I am a human like you are.”

Suddenly, Nana and her parents walked forward and gave him a deep bow saying: “Thank you for taking care of our child and curing us.”

Raven helped them up and said: “It’s nothing. I just did what I could that’s all. Besides, I can’t simply walk away after seeing her and your state so there’s no need for this.”

“Still, we owe you our lives. If it weren’t for your timely help, my husband and I might have passed on already.” Nana’s mother said emotionally.

“It’s a shame but we don’t have anything to offer you as our token of gratitude, but if there’s anything you want us to do, we will try our best to fulfill it.” Nana’s father said in a determined voice.

“It’s fine.” Raven said, “Just with you being here for Nana is enough for the compensation.”

Nana’s parents were quite stumped when they heard him say that. In fact, even those who were listening to their conversation were also quite surprised with how he carried himself. 

Despite attacking him and thinking of him as a monster. This outsider not only spared their tribe but even fed them and cured some of its people. He also saved them from one of their crises and he did all of this without asking for anything in return. 

Raven then spent a little time with Nana and then proceed to heal some people while he’s at it. 

When he said that he’s be curing people, even the Tribe Leader himself attested to his abilities which made the tribe lower their remaining guard against him and gave him their unconditional trust, which Raven didn’t fail.

Raven prioritized those who were bedridden, there’s quite a few people in the tribe who were suffering the same fate as Nana’ parents. Thankfully, it wasn’t too late for them and Raven was able to give them cure just before they kick the bucket.

As for the rest, since they were more tenacious, it’s even easier curing them. And just like their Tribe Leader said, Raven’s abilities to cure people was the real deal. He also tended to their dirty well and cleaned it without any problems. He advised every single one of them to use the water in the well to clean themselves since drinking water will always be available from him, all they need to do was ask for it.

He attended to at least a hundred people in that afternoon. He noticed that it was night time when he finished and he started to see some people resisting the temperature just by their sheer will. 

Though this chill is something he could completely ignore, for the people here who were frail and basically not wearing anything, it’s different. So before their conditions worsen yet again, he started passing down clothes to keep them warm.

At first, they didn’t know what they were for, but once he demonstrated how to wear them with the help of Nana, they discarded their animal skins and changed into a more comfortable clothes and they immediately felt the overwhelming difference. The instant they wore their new clothes, they fell in love with them immediately. Nana herself couldn’t help but to gush over her clothes from time to time.

And if that wasn’t enough, Raven also set up a campfire large enough to warm everyone up. When they saw him start a fire that large and without the need of Sparking Stones, many people once again were awed by his powers. He also cooked food enough for everyone in the tribe to consume, to say that this night is memorable for them is a severe understatement. Raven’s simple actions like starting a fire, killing a large beast, healing, clothing and feeding them, all appeared as miracles to them. 

He also prevented them from returning to their ‘homes’ and instead, he erected multiple tents for them to stay the night. Inside each tents, there are pillows and blankets enough for everyone. He taught them how to open and close the tents so that they could have privacy and to say that they were pumped about sleeping in a soft surface for their first time in their lives is just an understatement. 

Some even felt guilty by stepping on the blankets and resting their heads on the pillows, but Raven’s warm approach and gentle convincing made them accept what’s being given to them. But no one slept just yet. For some reason, each people felt energized this night. The unspeakable comfort that Raven brought to them was simply overwhelming. They never felt so comfortable and so warm in their entire lives. 

Sitting in front of the campfire, Raven could be seen with Nana on his lap, her parents sitting beside him along with Neman as well as majority of the tribesmen. Most of the children were already sleeping in the tents with big smiles and drools on their faces, but for some reason Nana just have too much energy to sleep. 

“Say Big Brother?” Nana asked, “Is your home far from here?”

“Not really.” Raven replied, “If I follow a safe route, it will take me at least a week before I could return. If I’m in a rush I could do it in three days. But it also depends if I’m travelling with many people.”

“Benefactor.” Neman called out, which made Raven smile helplessly. At some point, everyone aside from Nana started calling him that even if he told them that they didn’t need to. “I just remembered that you came with someone right? Why not invite him here so that they could rest as well?”

“They’re still occupied with something so it’s fine. Once they’re done with their mission, they’ll arrive here.” Raven explained. 

He then looked at everyone around the campfire and thought to himself: ‘Might as well take advantage of this moment.’

“Tribe Leader Neman, I do have something to ask of you. This goes for the rest of the tribe as well.” 

“Just ask away, Benefactor. We will do our best to accomplish it.” Neman said with a determined voice.

“It’s nothing difficult, really.” Raven chuckled and then said: “I just want all of you to join me in my travel back home.”