"Oh, yeah… You might be right."
Daisy agreed with him in her smooth and soothing voice.
"Anyways, I got to save this guy. He's still breathing, but he's not dead. I think that means the poison he ate wasn't lethal."
Lawrend said to her. He then dumped the pouch of sweet nectar that Humility prepared for him into the stream.
"What a waste."
Daisy said to him.
Lawrend ignored her. He washed the leather pouch and made sure it was free of any residue of Humility's nectar.
"This should be enough."
Lawrend lifted the filled leather pouch in his hand. He brought it towards Logan who was unconscious a little bit far away.
"Drink up."
Lawrend sat him up and poured water down his throat. Logan's gag reflex kicked in, and he drank a mouthful of water together with the ball of grass Lawrend placed in his mouth earlier.
"Wait, should I have ground that grass first?"
Lawrend realized that he made a mistake.
"It should still be effective."
Lawrend shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't a physician to worry about such details.
Lawrend waited for a while. He rested his back against a tree and looked up at the night sky. He observed the beautiful moon. He wondered if people could reach it similar to the people in his previous life.
"Cough!"
Logan suddenly coughed loudly. He sat up holding his chest in pain.
"You're awake."
Lawrend said to him with a faint smile on his face.
"W-What happened?"
Logan could barely see Lawrend's silhouette under the bits and pieces of moonlight that landed on his face.
"I came to find you. You were unconscious. Did you eat a berry from that bush over there?"
Lawrend explained to him before he pointed his hand behind Logan.
"Y-Yes…"
Logan looked at the berry bush and nodded his head slowly.
"Well, I already knew. I was just confirming. Let's go back to camp."
Lawrend replied to Logan and stood up. He headed back towards the camp without waiting for Logan to follow him.
They silently walked for a while. The sound of the rustling leaves was ear-deafening in their silence.
"Um… I'm sorry…"
Logan suddenly spoke up in a quiet voice.
"You know your mistakes, right?"
Lawrend asked him without turning back. They just continued walking.
"...I do."
Logan shook his head while he followed Lawrend.
"Why are you participating in this special mission?"
Lawrend asked him.
"I… I won a duel with the strongest mage in our class. That's when I received the invitation from Instructor Joseph."
Logan replied to him with a stutter. He was feeling shameful talking to Lawrend right now.
"Then? What's the reason you want to complete this special mission?"
Lawrend continued asking him.
"It may sound ridiculous if it came from me, but there's this girl that I've been wanting to impress."
Logan explained to Lawrend.
"... What?"
Lawrend was shocked inside. He didn't expect that this strict and unlikeable guy was doing all of this just to impress a girl.
"What a simp."
Lawrend scoffed at him.
"What did you say!?"
Logan walked up to Lawrend and pulled his shoulder, making Lawrend face him.
"Huh. Is this how you treat your benefactor?"
Lawrend asked him with a frown on his face.
"I don't give a sh*t. You're getting a punch from me!"
Logan shouted at Lawrend angrily. He thought that this was the best time for him to vent his anger on Lawrend.
"+Shock Arc+!"
Lawrend pointed his finger at Logan.
Boom!
A bright arc of lightning struck Logan directly on his chest. He stood there in shock. Lawrend controlled the power just enough so it wouldn't kill Logan, but paralyze him.
"A-Aghhh…"
Logan's muscles twitched from the excess lightning mana that was left inside his body. It generated several small arcs before fading away into nothing.
"You're just an Earth Mage. Did you really think that you could win against a Lightning Mage in a close-range fight?"
Lawrend looked at Logan mockingly. He had muscle for a brain.
"Ah…"
Logan wanted to fight back but his body gave up. He slowly tilted backwards.
Rustle
Logan fell to the ground. He stared at the moon in the sky bitterly. Just how many times was this guy gonna best him?
Lawrend walked towards him. He stopped just beside his face before he raised his foot and stomped on it.
"I find your attitude annoying. If you don't stop, I'll cook you alive even if it means failure of this special mission."
Lawrend squeezed Logan's nose and smeared onto his face the dirt under his soles.
"Grrr…"
Logan gritted his teeth in anger. This was the first time that he suffered such humiliation.
"I can endure a lot of things. Your attitude, I can endure, but you keep messing up and bringing the team down. I'll drag you to the camp and show them how pathetic you really are."
Lawrend said to him as he lifted Logan's leg.
He looked at Logan one last time before he started walking and pulling Logan's leg. Logan's back scraped the ground.
A few minutes later, Lawrend arrived back at the camp.
"Lawrend!"
Nuon ran to them in surprise. He looked at the helpless Logan and the angry-looking Lawrend. He instantly realized that something must have happened inside the forest.
What Lawrend and Nuon didn't notice was Joseph coming out of the forest and returning to the camp. He glanced at Lawrend's direction with a slight smirk.
"This guy ate a berry and poisoned himself. I had to save him."
Lawrend said to Nuon with a dreary sigh.
"That must've been hard. You're a really big help, Lawrend."
Nuon praised Lawrend with a smile.
"I don't need your praise. I'm more worried about how long we will last with him."
Lawrend shook his head.
"Me too. I'll try to convince him for you."
Nuon nodded his head solemnly.
"Thanks."
Lawrend smiled at him.
"Anytime. Just lead us to success."
Nuon replied.
"The three of you, prepare! There's a monster coming!"
Joseph suddenly shouted to the three of them.