The Final Protectors

Chapter 2: “John Smith”

He was forced awake by a burn like his chest was set on fire, but he didn’t have the strength to open his eyes and could only barely feel the unusual softness of the bed under his body. Useing his brain that was about to be burnt into dryness, he doubted this.

Where was I… right now?

A man’s deeply lowered voice came to his ear. “Amy, come and take a look at him. Is he about to wake up? I saw his finger move a little.”

Who was that? Who was speaking?

Then, a pair of slightly cool hands felt around him. The air also seemed to have a certain fragrance that made one lazy to open his eyes.

Who was Amy? A new healer in the Temple?

The voices around him seemed both far but yet near. His consciousness also blurred for a moment but cleared up in the next.

It took a long time before he blearily remembered: he was still on the battlefield earlier. His chest had been pierced through by Satan’s black scepter. He had used his ribs to intercept the black scepter, forcefully dragging the other party into the forbidden magic circle. The magic circle was activated and the devil’s scream nearly made his head explode. Afterwards…

Afterwards, he remembered that while he was still awake, he turned his head around to glance at the Temple and found that the black mist above it had dissipated. A ray of light happened to penetrate its way through from the dark clouds, hitting on the snow-white rooftop.

There was also a certain person shouting his name until he was hoarse. Nevertheless… they probably won?

Right, they won and the war ended! This thought allowed his taut muscles to instantly relax subconsciously.

“He still has a fever. The purification water should have worked. Maybe his wounds were inflamed,” someone said beside him with a quiet voice. Then, something seemed to have been placed on his forehead. There was a patch of icy coolness, extremely comfortable. His consciousness finally once again returned to the darkness as he relaxed. So, when he woke up once again, the sunrise almost arrived.

He found that the wounds on his body have already been treated carefully. Someone put a blanket over him. The thickness and weight of the blanket were completely incomparable. He curiously pinched the corner of the blanket with his hand, thinking that even those high quality silk from the East didn’t have the lightness of such feathers. The most important thing was that it still retained so much warmth.

He guessed that probably, someone drew a magic array inside to preserve the warmth—it was clear that this hero with an unknown name who should had been long buried six feet under didn’t know what a quilt was.

When he raised his hand, he found in shock that something was attached to the back of his hand. When he took a closer look again, a tube was stuck in his vein. On the bed, a bottle was hung high above his head.

“A completely pure and transparent substance? A crystal?” He widened his eyes, emitting a moved gasp similar to a country bumpkin. Then, he instantly realized that this exquisite thingie was currently “pumping water” into his blood vessels, so he held zero hesitation as he pulled out the thing that was lodged in his vein. “Who did this? Inserting water in my blood vessels⁠—are they trying to skin me?”

“Water” was still emitting from the tip of the needle. He used his hand to retrieve a drop, carefully licking it with his tongue. “Hm? It’s purification water…. And something else too?”

It looked like no one was planning on making clothes out of his skin, after all. They were using purification water to heal the injuries formed by the black scepter. The man slightly relaxed⁠—the other party seemed to have no ill will.

He turned his head, beginning to survey his surroundings. He became even more confounded, because this room was so strange. Something was emitting a gentle light at the bedside.

“A mushroom!” He gasped in shock. “A light-emitting mushroom!”

“That is a lamp, honey. Did the fever burn your head or did you take drugs?” Right at this time, the room door opened. A… “girl” who seemed a little strange for some reason walked in. “She” was wearing pajamas in a strange style, barefooted. Yet, the make-up took up “her” entire face. The light blonde hair was a little frizzy.

“She” firstly yawn carelessly, then “she” instantly noticed the drip in his hand and yelled, “Hey, what are you doing!”

The man blinked, looking at the needle in his hand and looking at the person at the door again… Oh! “She” actually had an obvious Adam’s apple! Exactly what kind of living being have both an Adam’s apple and a big chest at the same time?!

But he hadn’t yet determined anything when this strange “lady” walked in with big steps, both hands on “her” waist as “she” gave him a sinister smile, “Handsome, do you have any dissatisfaction with my medicine?”

As “she” got closer, the man even found something else that was extremely terrible⁠—his clothes had been taken off by God knew who. Now, his entire body was completely naked, with only a blanket that was not much heavier than a sheet of paper, as he faced a… dude whom he didn’t know whether was male or female.

Even if he determined that it was probably this person who saved his life, his back still instinctively crouched his back in caution. “You’re…”

“If you don’t want the fever to turn you into an idiot who would kiss the moment you see someone, handsome, it’s best you listen to this healer in front of you who missed my beauty sleep for you.” The other party rolled up “her” sleeve and a gentle light flashed inside. There was a logo in the shape of a leaf on the bare skin. “I’m guessing that you know what this is, right, little hunter boy?”

It was the symbol of the Temple’s healer. The man was stunned. But he did not know this healer. Was “she” new?

The healer put a hand on his forehead. The man’s muscles once again instinctively tightened.

Uncaringly, the healer pulled up his hand, cleaning up the blood and taking a new cannula⁠—this time, the man, no longer rejected it in ignorance of what was good for himself⁠—the healer smoothly inserted the drip into his vein again. “The wound on your chest was caused by a certain Decay species and had traces of a curse. It’s very difficult to heal. The bottle has purification water and disinfectant water. It’s just some medicine injected into your veins. It won’t do anything to you. Listen, darling, if you drop the needle, I’ll jab you so much that you’ll into a sieve!”

He or she said it all in a single easy breath, asking with a wholehearted smile, “And also, handsome-⁠—do you want some water?”

The man hesitated for two seconds and nodded silently.

The healer took out a paper cup from under the table⁠—this butt naked, country bumpkin on the bed was once again dumbstruck. There was actually a cup in the world that was made of paper!

He widened his eyes, watching the healer walk to a square box with the paper cup, putting it on the drip tray and pressing a button. Water flowed into the cup. It was automatic!

And what was that? Was the owner of this house an alchemist?

The man had seen many, many alchemists, some of them also well-known. But there was not one among them who could create such strange and unbelievable items and not carry a single elemental trace from magical spells or arrays.

The paper cup filled to the brim with clear water was pushed under his nose. A pair of very unreserved hands stretched into his blankets, circling around his bare back, supporting his shoulders as “she” lifted his upper body with an extraordinary strength.

The man shuddered. His free hand grabbed onto the blanket covering his body tightly, and he said in a giant panic, “Hey! Miss, I still haven’t put on my clothes!”

“That’s very obvious. I’m currently taking advantage of you right now, little beauty.” The “woman” touched his exposed bare shoulders with beaming smiles. “I couldn’t tell before, but your body is rather muscular, huh. What are you hiding for? As long as you are good, mummy won’t beat your little butt⁠—I’ll just say this anyway, I like others calling me ‘miss’. I’m called Ames. Ames Berg. Also, I hate this name. If you don’t want to make me angry, please call me ‘Amy’.”

This man with a high fever still hadn’t had the time to use his brain juice that was nearly completely burnt off to conclude exactly what gender the other party was when “Miss” Amy held his chin without any hesitation, pouring water into his mouth without holding back.

“Gh… Cough cough, cough cough…”

Alright then⁠—this was a bizarre, rough man filled with strange strength, but what was going on with that chest? Were two huge apples stuffed there?

“Amy.” The door was opened the second time. Jel Shelton pushed open the door and entered. “How is he?”

Amy’s face showed a strange smile, a frightening light shining in his eyes. “Very good. His body is soft, his skin smooth. He has muscles at the right places.  And I could feel his bones at the right places too. He can be rated as a top quality product.”

Jel coughed dryly, rolling his eyes. Knowing that bad people won’t produce a good speech, he walked over to the man on the bed. “Hello, how do you feel?”

“…I’m still alive, I think.” The man wiped the spit at the corner of his mouth a little miserably, rapidly sweeping a look at Jel from head to toe. He felt that this golden-haired man had a particular familiarity to him, but he couldn’t remember where he saw him for the moment. “But, I still have to say this. I’m very grateful for both of your help.”

Jel was also surveying the man on the bed. When he picked him up and took him back from the forest yesterday, it was actually very difficult for him to determine exactly how his chest wound was made. It was a very frightful curse, carrying a very mighty dark power, and it had even rotted all the way into the bones.

He could only contact the Temple’s healer, Amy, that very night in an emergency. The two had labored away half the night before they could stabilize this person’s injuries.

This man with an unknown background was wearing a tattered flax robe at the time. The original white colour was hardly discernible. Yet after cleaning up the bloodstains and dirt, he actually had soft, long light brown hair and an exceptionally handsome and delicate face. His lips and skin were pale white, just like a foolish nobleman with insufficient nutrients.

But those big and small wounds on him and the tight muscles, which were not overly extreme and was bursting with strength, proved that his life was not that peaceful.

Even if it was a veteran hunter who have fought with Decays throughout their entire life, they never had as many wounds as he did.

“I’m called Jel Shelton, the owner of this place. Yesterday, you fainted outside my house. Do you still remember that?”

“…” Strictly speaking, he didn’t remember anything at all. The man was silent for two seconds before shaking his head. “It’s nice to meet you. John Smith.”

Amy curled his lips loudly. “Ah hah, another fanboy of Karlos Fraruitt.”

“John Smith”. No matter if it was the last name or the first name, it was very commonly seen. And because it was an alias that that famous hero once used, until now, there were always countless youths of the Temple who loved to follow the trend… Cough, for instance, the pen name of the well-known photographer, Mr. Jel Shelton, was this.

The man who self-proclaimed himself as “John” stilled for a moment, turning his head to look at Amy with some disbelief. “Just now, you said… Karlos Fraruitt?”

The man had a pair of dark green eyes. In the morning light, his abnormally thick eyebrows and rather straight nose casted shadows at the side of his face. Amy practically didn’t hear what he said clearly at all, defeated by his beauty right there on the spot. He looked like he was about to pounce on this handsome man with an unknown history and take advantage of him.

“You’re a freelance hunter, aren’t you?” Jel took over the conversation as he added some strength to Amy’s sexy big feet[1], fixing him to the spot. “The wounds on your body were caused by Decays, right?”

Freelance hunter? What the hell is that?

John thought for a moment, furrowing his brows. “Are you referring to… bounty hunters?”

“Ah, right, you guys normally call yourselves that.” It looked like Jel misunderstood. He said with a rather light voice. “This is a very dangerous work, Mr. Smith. People who have not gone through the system’s training⁠—even if they have talent⁠—it’s very difficult for them to deal with all kinds of Decays. I don’t know why you’re doing such a dangerous work, but you’re still so young. If you’re willing, when your wounds heal, I can give you a referral to the Temple.”

Dangerous? John blinked.

He thought that other than these orthodox hunters, the “Templar Hunters”, there were many bounty hunters amongst the people. They accepted jobs and were active in every corner of the land. There was no lack of masters among them, and the normal people were even more familiar with them than the high-ranking “Templar Hunters”.

Of course… The age that bounty hunters were active in was prior to the formation of the Barrier. In this age where Decays were no longer common knowledge to the people and even the hunters of the Temple were hidden among the ordinary people with a non-pressing job disguising their real identities, the bounty hunters was already basically extinct in the world.

The pitiful John still did not know that when he woke up again, it was already over a thousand years later.

“I am going to leave for a while right now. A rookie just graduated from the Temple and needs me to guide him. Rest well. If you have any problems, you can call Amy⁠—he’s the best healer in the Temple.”

Amy winked flirtatiously at him. “Aww, you’re mine now, little beauty.”

John, “…”

Oi, why wasn’t this healer who would harass patients kicked out by the Temple yet?

But very quickly, he had an even more pressing problem to worry about. Just as Jel got up to get ready to leave, the man on the bed suddenly called him, a little frantic. “Wait a second! Can someone tell me what happened to the war? Has the number of casualties been tallied yet? Who’s doing the clean-up of the remaining Decays?”

He hadn’t finished yet when Amy and Jel’s expressions turned odd at the same time.

John suddenly had a bad feeling. Only to see Amy scratch at his slightly dry hair in slight confusion, glancing at Jel. “What’s he talking about?”

Jel furrowed his brows, shooting a question back. “War? What war?”

Translator Note:

[1]:  The phrase is “大脚” (lit. big feet) has a few interpretations. It could be just literally Amy’s foot being big in size or a reference to an old Chinese custom women whose feet were not yet bound—as bound feet were seen as a symbol of beauty. Though unlikely, given the setting of this novel being western. Or it could be referring to the mythological creature, “Bigfoot”, but also seems unlikely given the context.