Strangely enough, there wasn't a single undead creature in the tunnels dug out by the cave rodents.

  Normally, such burrows in the Misty Forest were crawling with undead beings.

  Perhaps they had all been hunted and eaten by the rodents, or maybe they were too intimidated by the creatures' dense earth-element energy to draw near.

  "Pick up the rodent's body. We're leaving!" the middle-aged captain shouted to the other villagers.

  A sturdy man immediately stepped forward, struggling to lift the creature onto his shoulder.

  The moment he did, he frowned—its foul stench, a mix of blood and filth, was still unbearable.

  Meanwhile, Ryan lay slumped against Evelyn's back, surrounded by her faint, clean fragrance.

  He silently rejoiced in his heart—taking that hit from the tree leopard had been completely worth it.

  But the next second, his entire body went rigid. Being carried so closely by Evelyn, feeling her warmth through the thin layer of fabric, stirred a reaction he could barely suppress.

  Ryan panicked inwardly, chanting in his mind to calm down. If she notices... I won't just get thrown off—she'll freeze me into an ice sculpture right here!

  He quickly forced his thoughts elsewhere—recalling the dry, tedious books in the academy library, the hideous image of a demonized toad, even the bitter taste of that awful mana potion he'd once drunk.

  Finally, he managed to suppress the inappropriate response just in time.

  "Are you awake?" Evelyn's voice broke the silence.

  She could clearly feel the faint movements from her back and assumed he was trembling from pain.

  Ryan's heart tightened. He hurried to speak weakly,"I still feel a little dizzy."

  "Can you walk on your own?" Evelyn stopped in her tracks.

  She had never been this close to a man before. The weight and warmth against her back made her uncomfortably aware of every movement.

  "My legs are weak. I'd probably fall if I tried," Ryan replied softly, even swaying a little as if about to collapse.

  Evelyn's brows furrowed tighter. For a brief moment, she truly considered dropping this shameless boy right there.

  But when her gaze fell on the wound across his back, still faintly bleeding, and she remembered how he'd been hurt protecting her, she swallowed her irritation.

  "Hold on tight," she said curtly.

  Evelyn suddenly quickened her pace. She gathered her inner mana and activated a basic wind-step technique. It increased her speed while keeping her movements smooth enough not to jostle Ryan's injury.

  The trees on both sides blurred into streaks of green as the wind roared past their ears.

  Ryan tried to stay awake, but the pain, exhaustion from his magic use, and the gentle rhythm of Evelyn's movements lulled him into drowsiness.

  He subconsciously tightened his arms around her shoulders and let his head rest lightly against her. Before long, he was sound asleep.

  Evelyn felt the added weight on her shoulder and heard his slow, steady breathing.

  Turning her head slightly, she glanced at him under the dim forest light.

  The boy's lashes were long, his nose straight, and though his face was smudged with dirt, he somehow still looked pure and unspoiled by the world.

  "So he fell asleep," Evelyn murmured, her tone softening slightly.

  Adjusting her hold, she slipped one arm under his legs to support him better, making sure he rested securely on her back as she continued forward through the darkening woods.

  Evelyn finally made it back to Shrouded Village before dusk completely swallowed the Misty Forest, carrying Ryan on her back.

  Coincidentally, the hunting party that had been carrying the cave rodent's corpse arrived at the same time. The two groups met right at the village entrance.

  Evelyn's gaze swept over the hunters, her eyes glinting with unmistakable coldness. That icy look was sharp as a blade, and when it fell upon them, it made their skin prickle.

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  The hunters stiffened under her stare, a shiver running down their spines. None of them dared meet her eyes; they all lowered their heads at once.

  Hearing the commotion, villagers came rushing out from their homes.

  When they saw the hunting party return safely, along with Ryan and Evelyn, a cheer of relief and joy rippled through the crowd.

  People hurried forward—some went to help the one-armed woman and bandage her wounds, while others gathered around Ryan, asking what had happened.

  But when the villagers caught sight of the woman's empty sleeve and the deep, bloody wound across Ryan's back, the cheers slowly faded away.

  What replaced them were expressions of concern and sorrow. One glance at those injuries was enough to know they had been through a brutal fight.

  "Bring me a soft pad, moonlight herb, and some frost crystal powder," Evelyn instructed the nearby villagers as she carried Ryan toward a wooden cabin.

  No one dared waste a second.

  An elderly woman familiar with magic herbs ran back home to fetch dried moonlight herbs and a jar of frost crystal powder, while a few young men hurried after Evelyn carrying a wool-padded mat.

  Evelyn carefully laid Ryan down on the mat and took the moonlight herb from the old woman.

  Focusing her mana, she infused it with a stream of gentle ice-element energy. The herb shimmered faintly as it absorbed the magic.

  It was a common spell known as Herbal Activation, used to draw out a plant's healing properties and make it adhere perfectly to a wound.

  "You two, come here and remove his shirt," Evelyn said, glancing at Ryan's back, where fresh blood still oozed from the gash.

  The two villagers hurried forward, carefully untying Ryan's robe and sliding off his torn shirt.

  The wound beneath was ghastly—deep enough to reveal bone, raw and inflamed.

  The fabric brushing against it startled Ryan awake. Still dazed, he barely opened his eyes before the sudden chill of the medicine hit his skin.

  "Cold! So cold—ah, that hurts!" he shouted, twisting violently as the icy sting tore through him.

  Evelyn was pressing the activated moonlight herb onto his wound, mixed with frost crystal powder.

  The combination burned and froze all at once, making Ryan snap fully awake, though the pain nearly drove him mad.

  "Hold him down! Don't let him move!" Evelyn ordered when the struggling made the herbs slide off the wound.

  Two villagers immediately pinned his arms to the ground, while another pressed down on his legs, locking him firmly in place.

  Evelyn glanced at his face, twisted with pain, and sighed inwardly as his muffled cries filled the cabin.

  After a brief hesitation, she grabbed a clean piece of linen from the bedside table, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his mouth."Enough noise."

  Ryan could only let out muffled groans, his words lost behind the cloth.

  The pain and freezing sensation on his back grew more intense with each passing second. He felt completely helpless, like a lamb pinned for slaughter—his limbs restrained, his mouth gagged, utterly powerless to resist.

  Inwardly, he wailed, All I did was fall asleep on her back… how did it come to this torture?!

  The surrounding villagers couldn't bear to watch.

  They turned their faces away, expressions full of pity as Ryan's muffled cries echoed through the small wooden house.

  Ryan became increasingly certain that Evelyn was taking this chance to get revenge.

  Those villagers must have been forced by her intimidation—otherwise, why would they obey her so readily and hold him down?

  He clenched his fists in secret, feeling his inner magic stir restlessly, ready to blast the villagers away.

  "Do not move."

  Evelyn's cold voice cut through the air.

  Ryan froze. That voice carried a strange magical resonance, instantly calming the turmoil in his mana.

  It struck him then that maybe he had been wrong. If Evelyn truly wanted revenge, she wouldn't need to go through all this trouble applying herbs to him.

  While he hesitated, another piece of activated Moonlight Herb pressed against his back. The freezing sting mixed with the burning pain of the wound, forcing a shout from his throat.

  He twisted his neck just enough to glimpse her out of the corner of his eye. Evelyn was carefully adjusting the position of the herbs with her fingertips.

  Faint magical light shimmered around her hands, and the herbs glowing pale green upon his back proved it—she really was treating him.

  Realizing this, Ryan tried his best to stay still, though his whole body trembled with pain.

  He did not want to be gagged by Evelyn again, nor did he want to worsen the misunderstanding that had only just eased.

  Outside the cabin, the hunters sat around recounting their time in the Misty Forest to the villagers.

  When they heard Ryan's constant groans from inside, a few exchanged glances and sighed softly.

  "That wound cut deep to the bone," the middle-aged captain murmured, rubbing his brow.

  Then he smirked, recalling Ryan insisting on being carried by Evelyn."Still, the boy got what he wanted. Risked his life just to get on that woman's back. Guess even heroes fall before a beauty."

  The others laughed quietly and nodded in agreement. The cries from the cabin lasted late into the night before finally fading.

  At last, Ryan lay limp on the soft pad, drenched in sweat, completely drained of strength.

  The villagers who had helped restrain him were long gone. Evelyn sat on a wooden chair beside him, sipping calmly from a cup of water.

  "You're ruthless," Ryan muttered weakly, lying face down on the mat. His upper body was bare, the wound covered in glowing green herbs, while a soft wool blanket draped over the rest of him.

  If someone were to walk in now, they might easily get the wrong idea about what had happened between them.

  Evelyn didn't reply. She set down her cup, walked to the corner, and sat down silently.

  Her original plan had been to venture deep into the Misty Forest in search of materials to enhance her magic, but Ryan had ruined everything.

  Not only had she failed to find what she needed, but she had also spent a large portion of her mana fighting and healing.

  Ryan suddenly remembered something, his voice still weak."I can't roast the meat for you today. I'll make it up to you when I'm better."

  Even on the brink of collapse, he still recalled the promise he'd made to her.

  "It does not matter," Evelyn said softly, closing her eyes to recover her energy.

  Yet, at his words, a flicker of surprise stirred in her heart. Even after all this pain, he still cared about roasting meat?

  She sighed inwardly. If this boy stays in a remote village like this, he might actually live a peaceful life.

  But if he ever enters the Magic Academy or steps into the wider world of sorcery, with that guileless nature and his tendency to fuss over trivial things...

  He'll be eaten alive by those who covet magical power—bones and all.