Chapter 74

Ajax was mindlessly petting Fluffy while Kate was finishing up on his wounds. Both the cut on his arm and shoulder were fully healed while the one on his shin was halfway there as well.

“This is as much as I can do for now.” Kate said as she bandaged his leg. “According to orders, we have to be focused on the most injured and just do a quick patch job on everyone else. I’ll finish healing this tonight for you.”

“I get it.” Ajax said dejectedly, knowing he will have to spend a few hours with a limp because of regulations and that he couldn’t heal it up himself. “By the way do you know what happened?”

As he asked the question he was also looking and pointed at the row of bunks that housed a dozen well equipped mages and knights that seemed to have been the first ones treated.

“Enemy assassin tried to ambush the leadership from the trees. He didn’t manage to get any of the nobles but took out enough of them and scared him enough to call for an early retreat.” She said.

Hearing the wording, the enemy assassin actually relaxed Ajax. He and Kate were among the few that knew there might be real assassins looking to kill the archduke’s daughter so news that this was just part of the ‘war’ helped ease his concerns.

“That explains the disorganised call to fall back” he mumbled and quickly looked away when he noticed a few of the layed up guards turn to glare at him, clearly having heard him. “At least with this leg I’ll be exempt from duties until it’s fixed.”

With that he picked up a crutch and headed out to make space for someone else as a line of injured was starting to form, though they were all superficial injuries.

“Make sure to eat well. Healing takes a toll on your body and you need the fuel.” She called out after him.

Fluffy had heard the word food and had volunteered to escort Ajax to the food tent without a second thought.

Ajax had gotten a hearty portion from the cooks once they saw his injured and treated leg. They knew that if an injury persisted after initial healing he needed to eat more to keep up with the healing. Fluffy had also gotten a supersized serving after a few indignant meows following the small portion placed for her.

Ajax didn’t have much of an appetite as he focused on reliving the combat and on where he could improve for next time. With food as only an afterthought he barely got through half before Tom came and took a seat next to him.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Me? Oh, yeah. Just trying to think where I messed up and why so I can fix it for next time.” Ajax said, pointing at his bandaged leg.

“How did that happen? I thought hunters were always supposed to watch their environment?” Tom asked.

“When the assassin hit I was distracted and moved in front of the rest of the line. I’m not used to working so closely with others.” he explained.

“Yeah, that would make sense.” Tom acknowledged. “That assassin of theirs is worth his weight in gold. Not only did he take out quite a few high level individuals he also made us retreat early by scaring one of the nobles. He’s sure to get quite the reward after all this is over.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“How about you? How come you are only getting here now? You don’t seem like you got wounded.” Ajax asked.

“I went to the leadership meeting.” Tom said then leaned in to whisper. “Now that I have a powerful growth type bond as well as a future adventurer brother and merchant sister to help make sure I can feed it well on top of my above average talents the commander is looking to train me for command.”

Ajax could understand. Tom had worked hard to join this unit and even made a bit of a name for himself before. With his wife being a talented healer and now also having a growth type bond he would be moved up the ranks faster.

“Anything interesting happen?” Ajax was curious what all the nobles were doing.

“Oh, yeah. It seems the enemy found your bug. And let me tell you boy were they pissed. Especially when one of their nobles let us know they found it so they couldn’t use it against us. What followed was a good two minutes of expletives before they killed the bug.” Tom said, shaking his head.

“Well, it was good while it lasted.” Ajax toasted with the mug of ale that seemed to have been passed out to everyone in the tent.

“It was.” Tom toasted with him. “Also all those that fought today and yesterday will have the rest of the day and tomorrow to rest. It was agreed that the enemy also can’t keep up the fighting so the troops get to rest.”

That was some of the best news Ajax heard so far and he was going to make full use out of tomorrow exploring the forest. Considering a shadowcat stuck around here there was bound to be something valuable.

“The war is also looking like it is going to slow down.” Tom followed up.

“What do you mean?” Ajax asked.

“I didn’t quite understand it when they were discussing it but the commander explained it to me.” Tom said. “Apparently with the latest engagement we now have a strong numbers advantage. Proportional to what they had before yesterday. But with the loss of the bug and the contrary strategies the enemy used it also means we have no idea what the enemy will be trying next.”

“This will usually just mean normal battle. But in our case the leadership is two baron heirs and one archduke heir. This changes things a bit.”

“Isn’t there a duke’s granddaughter as well?” Ajax interrupted.

“Technically yes, but she is part of the archduke's daughters retinue and not here independently so she doesn’t get a vote on the leadership direction.” Tom answered. “Now we have just flipped the odds from a low chance to win this to a low chance to lose. Sadly this also means that if we lose from this position after losing the bug it will reflect very poorly on the two baron heirs. They are very likely to be extremely reactive and risk averse so that they don’t leave a bad impression.”

“With the granddaughter of the dean of the academy here they are even more scared of making a bad impression since they both have access to magic and are hoping to enrol there.”

“They are still hoping to enrol? Aren’t they too old for that?” Ajax asked since it seemed that unlike the two noble girls who were still in their teens the other two nobles seemed close to their thirties.

“The limit to enrol in the Academy is actually level thirty-five, regardless of age and they are both in their low thirties and looking to enrol after making a good impression.”

This was an interesting opportunity. The reason Ajax avoided the Academy was because it would be like serving himself up to the nobility if he was to enrol. Even if they couldn’t touch him while he was enrolled it was known that your level didn’t increase much during your time there, instead you gained all sorts of useful skills. He decided to skip it since he could gain the skills on his own without the risk.

Knowing he could enter when he was close to level thirty-five was different. He would have no problem waiting until he was level thirty-four or thirty-five before enrolling, by that point not only would he be a member of the Adventurer's Guild but he should be able to take on level fiftie’s or maybe even fifty-fives.

“I know that look, what are you thinking?” Tom asked after Ajax sat in silence for more than ten seconds.

“I’m thinking that I might enrol in the academy once I reach level thirty-four.” Ajax answered.

“You have your work cut out for you then. The enrollment fee is one thousand gold coins. The only other way is to get a scholarship but I doubt you want to take part in that test with all the attention it will draw to you.” Tom smirked.

Ajax couldn’t deny that even with the protection of the guild and his higher levels Tom was right. He was too paranoid to try gaining a scholarship. They finished the rest of their meal in silence. Both thinking about how they would spend their day off as well as how they will make money in the future. One to afford the academy and the other to feed the little glutton that sat purring in his lap.

After dinner Tom gave Ajax a helping hand back to the tent where he waited for Kate. He didn’t have to wait much longer before she returned and finished healing up his leg before collapsing straight into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. The amount of magic she used to heal not only our own troops but also the enemy captured took a toll on her.

With everything taken care of Ajax tries to fall asleep himself while ignoring the itching he felt all over his leg from the fast healing. It turns out there are some side effects to speed healing some deeper wounds.