After finishing their food, Kyran led the girl to a pool of water inside the cave.
He found this pool of water while he was gathering dried woods to make fire.
The place was nicely lit because of numerous glowing stalactites in the ceiling. These stalactites were reflected beautifully on the surface of the water, giving it a very magical view.
The girl’s grip on the back of Kyran’s coat was firm as she trod carefully beside him. On the other hand, Kyran matched his pace with her so she wouldn’t trip.
When they arrived at the edge of the pool, Kyran activated the Regis Body Tempering Technique to check if any beasts were lurking in the water. Fortunately, apart from small fishes and water plants, there were no beasts. He also confirmed that the water was nontoxic before he led the girl to the side, where a smaller pool of water surrounded by boulders was located.
The water in this area was warmer, perfect for the girl whose body was full of wounds.
Kyran found an even boulder before taking off his mask, coat, and shirt. He used the boulder to place his things. Then he faced the girl and was about to help her take off her clothes but then realized something and abruptly stopped.
He was a stranger, and this child was still a girl. She might be blind, but wouldn’t that make her feel uncomfortable if a stranger started taking off her clothes?
Kyran had no trouble stripping in front of others or even seeing a woman naked because part of their outdoor training in military school was to sleep and even bathe with different kinds of people.
Before Kyran could ponder more about it, the girl had already started to take off her clothes.
‘Oh, good. She’s not that bothered…’
Kyran’s thoughts trailed off after seeing the girl’s body.
The wounds on her body were in terrible condition than he thought. Some of it had started to fester, while some fresh ones looked nasty. Even an adult would have been in great pain if they were riddled in wounds like that.
However, the girl remained indifferent to the pain.
Kyran clenched his fists when he saw the wound he caused and felt guilty once again. He made a mental note to tend on her wounds properly, and hopefully, it would not leave any scars in the future.
The girl wearing only her underwear had modestly covered her chest with both arms before she took a cautious step into the water.
Kyran was surprised she did not ask his help before approaching the water. Then again, she probably hesitated because he was still a stranger.
Once the water reached the girl’s knees, she slowly went down on her knees and started to clean herself.
Kyran watched her in silence. It was his first time meeting a blind person, and he found it to be a humbling experience. He first thought she was very dependent on the people around her, but seeing her actions proved him wrong.
Taking a deep breath, Kyran took off the rest of his clothes and also entered the water. At the corner of his eye, he saw the girl flinch and become still while she strained her ears, intently listening if he would approach her.
Kyran’s brow twitched.
‘I’m not interested in kids. You don’t have to act so guarded,’ he thought, feeling wronged.
Besides, he had no time to think about those things.
Kyran was the first to leave the waters. He changed into new undergarments and dark pants. He did not put on a new shirt yet and instead went over to the girl, who also stood up and helped her out of the water.
Now that the girl was clean, Kyran actually found her pretty. Her short hair was light brown, and her eyes seemed to glow as they reflected the stalactites above. If she gained more weight and added five or six years to her age, she would definitely look prettier.
Kyran frowned slightly when the girl flinched again when he took her arm but chose to ignore it and said, “I’ll tend your wounds first before you change.”
‘And could you stop flinching? I’m not going to take advantage of you,’ he thought to himself.
“Hm,” the girl replied timidly.
While a pill or a potion could heal her wounds, Kyran did not give her one because she might end up bedridden after taking it. Besides, she might not be used to taking pills or potions and might experience side effects.
It was best to tend her wounds normally.
Since the girl had fewer wounds on her legs, Kyran took care of it first. After that, he took care of her arms. He noticed how she made sure to keep an arm across her chest while he worked on one arm.
Her action amused Kyran.
After he finished wrapping her arms with bandages, he finally worked on her torso. He particularly placed extra care in tending the wound on her ribcage.
When he was about to wrap a bandage around her torso, she became flustered and said, “I-I’ll do it myself.”
Amused by her reaction, Kyran did not object and gave her the bandages. Then he took out a set of his clothes for the girl to use.
After telling the girl where the clothes were, he left her and busied himself cleaning his coat. From time to time, he heard the girl groan in annoyance, and he chuckled to himself. If she were his relative, he would’ve teased her by now, but since she was not, he could only listen in amusement.
It took them half an hour before they went back to the small space to rest. Afterwhich, Kyran took out his sleeping bag and told the girl to take a nap. The girl did not protest and fell asleep immediately as soon as she lay down on the sleeping bag, proving how exhausted she was.
When Kyran was sure the girl was sleeping deeply, he finally took this chance to drink a healing potion and a stamina replenishing potion. Then he took out his mask to modify its array.
‘It will be dangerous using Tyr’s face when I go west. I better get this done so I can change into Nar’s face instead,’ Kyran thought.
Since he only needed to modify the mask’s skin and nose to match Nar’s face, it did not take too long for Kyran to complete it. He did tweak the eye color, though, because dark gray eyes were a trademark of the Regis. Few people saw Nar’s face anyway, and changing his eye color would not be a problem.
Finally, he checked his stash of potions and sighed. He consumed a lot of energy replenishing potions. He had to track how many times he should warp, or else he might end up using up all his stack because of it.
‘Is there a way to reduce my energy consumption when warping?’ Kyran wondered.
He still had a lot to learn about his magic, and it was a shame his predecessor could not tell him anything the first time they met.
‘I wonder what are the requirements I had to fulfill in order to meet him again.’
Shaking his head with a sigh, Kyran went over to the fire to add more woods. Then he took out a cloak from his pouch and spread it on the ground before lying down.
He contemplated for a moment whether to transport the three Theihorns now but decided to do that after he had rested. No one would drop by his room in the Tower of Conclave at this hour anyway.
With that in thought, Kyran closed his eyes.
===================
The girl woke up with a start.
At first, she was slightly confused at the warmth in the surroundings when she woke up from the cold for the past few days. Slowly, the event that transpired before she fell asleep flashed through her mind, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
While she lay in the sleeping bag, she strained her ears and listened to the sound around her.
There were so many noises around, but as she filtered those irrelevant and faraway sounds, she heard a soft crackling sound of fire burning woods to her right. And slightly above her head, she heard the sound of even breathing.
The sound came from the man who fed and tended her wounds.
‘My benefactor,’ she thought with a smile.
For a brief moment, she lay there and listened to the man’s breathing. After a while, she realized a very crucial point she forgot to make before falling asleep.
She forgot to ask her benefactor’s name!
Then she frowned after remembering he did not ask for her name either.
Sighing, the girl slowly got up and sat in silence.
If the man did not ask for her name, it meant he was not interested in getting to know her. This realization made her sad, but she immediately buried this emotion deep in her heart.
He had already shown so much kindness. She had no right to ask for more.
As she thought this, she heard the man move. It was a very small movement, but she heard it.
‘Is he about to wake up?’ She wondered.
Staying as motionless as a stone, she continued to listen to the sound around her.