Chapter 89:Another assassin?
Chapter 89: 89:Another assassin?
"Silver?"
Ravenna approached carrying a first-aid case purchased from the station.
"The fuel’s done." She knelt beside him. "Come on its your turn, you don’t look too good. Your bruising seems to be swelling and I’m going to check that would. I’m sorry, but I don’t trust you to take care of yourself."
He looked at her injured shoulder.
"No."
"If we compare them, yours is the first thing we should fix first."
"It’s only dislocated."
"So? It’s still a vital part of your body. How will you treat me?" He looked at her injured arm, pointedly," with your one hand."
"Come on, stop being stubborn. It’s unfair to compare injuries. My hand isn’t going to fall off, but you almost fainted on me a few seconds ago," She was silent for a moment," I can actually feel your frustration."
Silver sighed.
"...You’re more stubborn than I gave you credit for."
"So are you," She was quiet for a moment, then added in a whisper, "Silver, the truth is, I’m kind of scared. It’s a bone."
"And if we don’t hurry, it’s going to be worse."
Neither moved. Then, they both laughed again. Finally... Ravenna gave in.
"Fine, I’ll sit."
Silver stood up and she took his place. His dizziness had reduced but he could still feel it. He had not treated his body yet and the pain had only slightly reduced.
Her right shoulder hung unnaturally low. Silver gently examined it. Even with all the blood on his hands, his movements remained surprisingly careful.
"You’ve reset one before?" She nervously asked.
"A few."
"When, I thought you have never left the Sanctuary, especially with how you were," she chuckled lightly," maybe you did it in another life?"
Silver froze for the briefest moment then smiled.
"...Something like that."
She didn’t understand and took it as one of many unfunny jokes. He slowly positioned her arm.
"This will hurt."
"I know."
"Ready?"
She nodded. Silver counted.
"One."
"Two."
Instead of waiting for three, he moved.
CLACK.
The shoulder slid cleanly back into place and pain exploded through Ravenna’s body. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but never screamed.
Ravenna slowly rotated her shoulder, the sharp pain was still there but the joint had settled back into place.
She let out a slow breath before looking at Silver.
"...Thank you."
Silver simply nodded.
"Give it a few hours. The muscles will still be sore."
She smiled faintly.
"I can live with sore."
He reached into the coat pocket, the side that was still clean. The familiar blue window appeared before him.
Ravenna had grown accustomed to Silver doing weird things suddenly so him rummaging through his coat didn’t catch her eye.
He pulled out a small crystal vial, the liquid inside shimmered with a pale blue glow. He extended it toward her.
"This is for you."
She looked up at him then at the unnatural vial.
"...Medicine?"
"Close enough but something even better."
She accepted it carefully, the glass felt cool in her palm.
"What does it do?"
"It restores mental exhaustion and stabilizes your soul."
She looked at him in surprise.
"There are medicines like this?"
"There are. They’re just incredibly difficult to obtain."
That wasn’t entirely a lie, even if the source was the System. Ravenna stared at the vial for several long seconds, then, she slowly pushed it back toward him.
"You should keep it."
Silver frowned.
"You used more energy than I did."
"But you also nearly died, I’ve heard that space Awakeners consume almost thrice the normal amount of Soul power which means you’re probably having a really bad headache at the moment, coupled with the injuries, haa..."
"Don’t worry too much about that, I’ll recover."
She shook her head stubbornly.
"No. You’ll recover because you’re pretending to be fine."
Silver laughed quietly.
"You’ve really figured me out, huh?"
"I watched you drive for almost an hour while bleeding." She folded her arms. "I know what pretending looks like, don’t try to take me for a fool."
For a moment, neither moved. Finally, Silver sighed in surrender.
"Don’t stress yourself too much, I already took one."
She looked up.
"...You did?"
He nodded.
"So this one is definitely yours."
Only then did she hesitate before carefully placing the crystal vial inside her backpack as though it were something priceless.
"...Thank you."
Silver smiled.
"Use it only when you really need it."
"I will."
Her eyes drifted toward the blood soaking through his shoulder again.
"...We still haven’t treated your wounds."
Silver instinctively looked down. The knife wound had bled through another layer of bandages he had casually slapped on before they drove off.
His ribs still ached every time he breathed and his left forearm had begun swelling from blocking the strength contractor’s attacks.
"...Those can wait a little longer."
Ravenna’s brows immediately furrowed.
"They shouldn’t, they might get infected."
"They’ll have to wait, we don’t really have a choice on this matter either."
Silver’s eyes drifted toward the rear-view mirror mounted beside the fueling platform. Something, caught his attention.
Far down the highway, almost invisible, a dark grey contractor vehicle approached at a slow pace while clearly maintaining distance.
Silver watched it for several seconds, but it never approached, turned, or overtook them. His expression slowly became serious.
’... What the hell, did they call for backup or something?’
His expression slowly hardened.
"...We have company."
Ravenna immediately followed his gaze.
"...Bandits?"
Silver watched the vehicle for several silent seconds.
"...No, they’re patient, which makes them much more dangerous."
At that exact moment, the system appeared once more.
[Notice]
{Unknown Vehicle Detected.
Observation Duration: 19 Minutes.
Probability of Active Surveillance: 94.8%
Recommendation: Counter-Surveillance Advised.}
Silver quietly opened his inventory, his eyes stopped on one item.
[Spatial Distortion Beacon.]
A slow smile spread across his face, it seems the system had already had the same thing in mind. Ravenna noticed immediately.
"...What’s that smile for?"
Silver closed the inventory then calmly rolled his uninjured shoulder lightly.
"Ravenna."
She looked up.
"...Yes?"
"Get in the car and fasten your seatbelt."
Her eyebrows knitted together then she nodded and walked around to her side. Silver looked once more toward the distant vehicle, before opening the driver’s door.
" I want to know... whether the person following us is as good as they think they are."
The gray contractor vehicle in the distance, did not slow down. It continued rolling steadily toward the service station.