Way of the Knights

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Nana didn't even notice his touch. 

She was too focused on gorging herself with delicious food that she threw all caution along with the wind so that she could savor this moment. 

*Cough* *Cough*

Nana suddenly choked due to how fast she was eating, Raven once again laughed and took out a leather jug. He opened the cap and gave it to her. 

"Drink this. You can take your time eating, no one will fight you over that." 

Nana carefully took the jug and drank from it. It only took her one sip and she became teary eyed again. He never thought that there will come a time when she will be able to drink clean water. She was used to drinking water from a dirty well. She never thought that water could taste this amazing.

She practically finished drinking the whole jug with water. In fact, she felt like drinking more but she just prevented herself from asking for more since this person already gave her so much. She even scolded herself inwardly since she forgot to leave some for her parents.

Raven could vaguely guess what she was thinking. He smiled and said: "Don't be sad, I have more food and water with me. If you want, I can give you some to bring home to your parents."

Nana's eyes brightened, but then she suddenly turned gloomy and asked: "W-what about you, Big Brother? If you give me all this, then y-you won't have anything to eat or drink anymore."

Raven patted her head and said: "Don't worry. Like I said, I have many food and water with me. In fact, I think I could even feed a whole tribe with how much I have." 

His bragging wasn't an empty talk. Raven is filthy rich, and before coming here, he bought 50 sacks of rice and 30 crates of processed meat. Luna even helped him cooked some just so that it would be ready whenever he needed it. 

Nana's eyes brightened when he heard him say that. She completely believed this person and even had the desire to bring him to the tribe, unfortunately she had no idea if their tribe would accept him.

Suddenly, she saw something appear in his hands. It was a pure white handkerchief. She then felt Raven wipe her face, cleaning it for her. She briefly saw how the white cloth became dirty so she immediately stopped him from wiping her face dirty face.

"D-don't! Look, it's dirty anymore." 

Raven smiled and showed her a trick. Under her dumbstruck gaze, his hands glowed with a gentle light and suddenly the handkerchief wasn't dirty anymore. He then showed a mysterious smile and said:

"Hm? I don't see dirt anywhere though?"

"Waa~." Nana's eyes shone like a brilliant star. She can't say anything else since she didn't really understand what just happened but her amazement was evident.

Raven then took her tiny hands and covered them using his own, her hands glowed with light again. Nana felt a comfortable feeling as he held her hands, and suddenly, Nana's injured fingers healed. The wounds she got from biting her nails were no longer present. Her nails grew back as well, and her hands even become prettier that she couldn't believe that it was her own hands.

"Waa~! H-how do you do that? Are you a miracle?"

Raven restrained his laugh and asked: "A miracle?"

"Yeah!" Nana asked with eyes shining, " We always hear Tribe Leader say that 'When miracle comes, we will be healed and saved.'."

Raven smiled and said: "Well, I don't know if I am the 'miracle' that your Tribe Leader spoke about but I can heal people so I am a Healer." 

"Say, Big Brother?" Nana asked, "C-can you heal my parents?"

"Well, I need to see them first to check if I could." Raven replied.

Nana bit her lips and asked him bravely, "Big Brother, can you please follow me back home? I don't want my Mama and Papa to die." She cried in desperation. 

How could Raven refuse her when she's looking like that? He smiled and pinched her head, saying: "Sure! Point me to the direction of your home then."

He then picked her up and carried her in her arms using one hand. He also picked up the sack of Sulfuric Stones that she was carrying while Nana herself held the plates of food he had given her like her life depended on it. 

Nana then pointed him towards the entrance of the tribe. When they arrived to the vicinity of the entrance, Raven could already see the gates along with the guards. He deliberately slowed down his steps and made sure to make no threatening gestures just so that the situation won't escalate into an uncontrollable degree.

Once the guards saw him appear, they practically snapped out of their daze and went on full guard while holding their wooden spears. They then saw him carrying Nana and their faces crumpled, thinking that he abducted her. 

"Be careful you lot! The monster had Nana! Think of a way to kill it without harming the child." One of the guards said to his comrades. 

As Raven heard this, he smiled wryly and thought to himself: 'It seems that they don't really understand the idea that other humans existed apart from them.'

"I meant you no harm." He said calmly.

The guards froze. Raven heard one of them said: "Blasphemy! It talked! This is going to be a problem!"

"D-don't be scared!" Nana yelled in Raven's arms, "He is not a monster! He didn't harm me!"

"Don't be fooled Nana!" One of the guards yelled back. "For all we know, he might've already harmed you!"

"But he didn't!" Nana yelled back, "I told you he's not a monster! Monsters don't give food! Monsters don't give water! Monsters don't wipe my face clean, heal my hands and bring me back home! He's no monster!"

Hearing her say that made the guards froze. No matter how much they hated to admit it, she was right. They never saw a monster bring back someone from their tribe like this.

One of the guards then looked at Raven and said: "Hey! Are you really not a monster?"

Raven chuckled and said: "Yes, I'm not. I am a human just like you."

The guards looked at each other in dismay, they were currently stumped in this situation. They never encountered anything like this before so they didn't know what to do. 

One of them suddenly stepped forward and said: "If you truly are a human, then you will let go of Nana right at this very instant."

Raven raised his brow and smiled, he then looked at Nana and smiled. 

Deliberately slowing down his actions, he lowered his body and placed her down. Nana looked at him worriedly but all he did was pat her head and said: "It's okay, don't be scared. I told you I'm going to see if I could heal your parents right?"

"Mn!" Nana nodded.

"I'll definitely keep my promise, so don't cry okay? Big girls don't cry." Raven said while wiping her tears with his hand. 

"Okay." Nana replied, she then turned around and walked towards the guards while clutching the plate of food that Raven gave to her. 

Raven stood up and remained in place, he just watched the scene unfold. Once Nana entered a safe distance away from him, one of the guards suddenly stepped forward and kneeled down to her level. After inspecting her state briefly, he told the other guards that she isn't harmed. 

That similar guard then picked her up and once he did, the other guards immediately charged forwards with their spears aimed at Raven. 

Nana's eyes widened, she then fiercely struggled in the guards embrace but she couldn't since she wasn't stronger than him. "What are you doing? Didn't I say he's not a monster?"

"Yes you did, Nana." The guard replied, "But we don't know what he wants with the tribe, we can't trust him so we could only do this."

"No! No! Don't hurt him! He could heal people! He told me he's going to heal my parents! Don't hurt him." Nana pleaded while crying, sadly the guard could only shake his head and ignore her pleas. 

"Tch. Look what you guys did, you made her cry." 

His words echoed like loud gongs in their ears. The guards were then shocked to find out that they couldn't even move a muscle. Even the charging guards practically froze on their spots, coldly sweating since they don't understand what's going on. Even the guard that was holding Nana visibly froze as well. 

"Some adults you are. Letting a little girl cry and witness blood." Raven merely shook his head and walked forward. The guards could only stare helplessly as he walked past them and approached Nana. 

The guard who was holding her was practically sweating buckets. He was horrified, thinking that he just pissed off a monster that he could never afford to.

"As I said before, I meant you no harm." Raven spoke as he picked up the crying Nana, comforting her with a smile. "I only wanted to help."

He gave them one last look and said: "Pardon my intrusion. I need to check if I could heal her parents. Don't worry, I won't harm a single soul. That's a promise."

He then looked at Nana and said: "Come, point me towards your home."