Isolde lowered her eyes, running through everything that had just happened in her mind.
The roots that actively attacked the caravan, and the black roots wrapped around the cargo boxes that never launched an attack.
The rules were already very clear.
As long as they remained on the trade route, they could defend themselves and strike back against things that actively attacked the caravan.
But they could not cross the boundary of the road to attack entities that posed no threat to the caravan.
If they violated this, the damage dealt would be temporarily withheld, only to be returned in full to the attacker once they reached a road marker.
Isolde looked back at the path they had come from, which was shrouded in the white mist, still feeling that something was off.
If “accidental damage” resulted in a backlash, then where did the damage caused by Kolo and the others ultimately go?
She stared at the treant's full health bar on the panel. Before she could think any further, a sharp, suppressed gasp came from beside her.
Ryan clutched his shoulder, blood already soaking through his fingers and dripping continuously down his arm.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead in pain as he pulled open his bag with one hand and took out a low-grade healing potion.
Just as he pulled the cork, a hand pressed down on his wrist first.
Ryan snapped his head up. “Reece, what are you doing?”
“Don't drink it yourself.” Reece stared at the potion in his hand, his expression solemn. “We have a 【Caravan Physician】 in the party. Treating the wounded should be her duty.”
Ryan was practically laughing in anger. “I'm about to bleed to death, and you're talking to me about duties here?”
“Precisely because you are injured, you cannot act recklessly.”
Reece did not let go, staring into his eyes. “Just now, you merely shot an arrow outside the road, and the damage was returned to you exactly as it was. Who knows what will be triggered if you bypass the identity wooden badge and take it upon yourself to perform someone else's duty?”
The surroundings fell silent, and everyone's gaze unanimously fell upon Su Xiaoman.
Standing beside Xu Zhiheng, Su Xiaoman clutched the straps of her backpack tightly and took a step back.
She knew she held the 【Caravan Physician】 badge.
But these healing potions were things she had painstakingly saved up.
Some she had crafted using materials, some she had plundered, and there were also two high-grade potions that she was only willing to use when her life was truly on the line.
This was only the first segment of the road. No one knew how many dangers lay ahead.
If she used one on Ryan now, would she have to give another if the next person got injured?
If everyone on the road relied on her to save them, who would leave any potions for her when she got injured?
Su Xiaoman gritted her teeth and said, “It's just a shoulder injury. It's not like he's going to die immediately.”
Ryan's face darkened. “What did you say?”
Frightened by his glare, Su Xiaoman shrank back slightly, but she still clutched her backpack and did not let go.
“I mean, he has his own potions too. Why does he have to use mine?”
Damon was naturally hot-tempered. Hearing this, his voice rose:
“You're holding the 【Caravan Physician】 badge, and you have the nerve to ask why?!”
Su Xiaoman's eyes welled with tears, looking as if she had suffered a massive injustice:
“It's not like I chose this badge voluntarily! Why are you shouting at me?!”
As she spoke, she instinctively looked toward Xu Zhiheng.
“Zhiheng, say something. These are our things.”
Xu Zhiheng frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Rena beat him to it:
“She has a point.”
Just as a hint of joy surfaced in Su Xiaoman's eyes, she heard Rena continue:
“Provided that she is willing to test the consequences of failing to perform one's duty for us.”
The expression on Su Xiaoman's face froze as she watched Rena walk up to her, a cold gaze landing on her face.
“Ryan merely attacked a target that didn't actively threaten the caravan, and the road marker returned the damage to him.”
“If the Caravan Physician refuses to treat a party member, no one knows what will happen next.”
She looked at Su Xiaoman, her voice very calm.
“Perhaps nothing will happen, or perhaps when we reach the next road marker, the unfulfilled duty will be settled in another way.”
“If you want to clear up this rule for us, I have no objections.”
Su Xiaoman finally felt a trace of panic. Even Zhou Yi couldn't help but look at her, advising in a low voice:
“She has a point. In this damn place, everything can be settled like an account. It's best not to mess around.”
Su Xiaoman opened her mouth, wanting to explain further.
“Xiaoman.”
Xu Zhiheng suddenly spoke, cutting her off.
His voice was very cold, causing Su Xiaoman to startle slightly.
Xu Zhiheng glanced at her, the usual gentleness in his eyes completely gone. His deep voice sounded:
“Everyone is watching. Don't make me lose face.”
A sudden layer of cold sweat broke out on Su Xiaoman's back. She was all too familiar with this tone of Xu Zhiheng's.
He didn't care if Ryan bled, nor did he care if she was reluctant to use her potions.
He only cared whether his subordinate's public refusal to perform her duty would make others doubt his leadership ability.
Su Xiaoman's fingers clutching her backpack slowly loosened, and she ultimately bowed her head under that silent intimidation.
Without saying another word, she took out a bottle of murky, low-grade healing potion from her backpack, walked over to Ryan, and said reluctantly:
“Move your hand.”
Ryan sneered. “I thought the Caravan Physician was going to wait until I was dead before coming over.”
Su Xiaoman wanted to retort, but catching Xu Zhiheng's gaze, she didn't dare to talk back.
She uncorked the bottle and poured the potion onto the wound. The pale green liquid hissed softly as it came into contact with his flesh.
The wound on Ryan's shoulder slowly stopped bleeding, but the torn flesh only barely closed up a single layer.
A flash of pain over her loss crossed Su Xiaoman's eyes.
A low-grade potion was already enough. She wouldn't waste a high-grade potion that could actually save her life on an archer she had just met.
The moment the wound stopped bleeding, the wooden badge at Milo's waist suddenly grew slightly warm.
His body stiffened, and he immediately took the wooden badge off.
On the previously blank back of the badge, a line of tiny text was slowly emerging.
【First segment of the trade route awaiting witness.】
Milo stared at those words, his mind going blank.
“Awaiting witness...”
Kolo, who was closest to him, leaned over to take a look.
“What does this mean?”
Reece walked over to the two of them. Upon seeing the words on the badge clearly, his expression changed slightly.
“When a caravan arrives at a station, they check and verify what happened along the way.”
“Whether the cargo was damaged, who got injured, and what was encountered on the road—all of it must be recorded.”
Milo immediately asked, “How do we record it?”
Reece shook his head. “I don't know.”
“The old caravans used ledgers, and there were people specifically responsible for recording. I was only in charge of escorting; I've never done this kind of work.”
After saying this, he looked back at the wooden badge in Milo's hand.
“But since you got this badge, it should tell you what to do.”
The dark red patterns on the back of the wooden badge were still slowly lighting up.
The closer he got to the road marker, the hotter the badge became.
Milo hesitated for a moment and took a tentative step forward. Suddenly, a soft rustling sound came from the base of the road marker.
Years of accumulated dust trickled down, revealing a narrow groove.
Its size was a perfect fit for the wooden badge in his hand.
Milo stopped in his tracks, clutching the wooden badge tightly, feeling a bit nervous.
“What should I say?”
Kolo stood behind him. “Say what you saw.”
Milo turned his head. “What?”
Kolo first glanced at Ryan's shoulder, then pointed to the stone road they had just traversed.
“Say whatever you saw. Since it's called witnessing, what you say will be verified here.”
Milo's breathing suddenly quickened for a moment.
Verified.
In other words, he could record the things he had seen with his own eyes along the way.
As long as it was true, the road marker would acknowledge it.
Milo instinctively looked at Rena, who was not far away.
She was also looking at him.
That face was still exactly the same as the Rena in his memories, her expression calm, showing not the slightest anomaly.
Isolde caught his gaze.
It seemed that from this moment on, Milo would no longer just focus on what she said.
He would watch every step she took and every move she made.
Once she did something inconsistent with Rena's identity and he happened to witness it with his own eyes, it could be recorded in the road marker and become an acknowledged fact.
Even more troublesome was that this kind of witnessing did not seem to accept speculation, only observed facts.
From now on, if she wanted to use her Soul Threads under his gaze, the risk of being discovered would be significantly higher.
Milo gripped the wooden badge tightly, as if finally summoning his courage.
He walked to the road marker and pressed the wooden badge into the groove.
Click.
The wooden badge fitted in perfectly.
Milo recalled everything that had just happened, trying to keep his voice steady.
“First segment of the trade route, the party was attacked by roots.”
“Guard Captain Damon blocked the first attack.”
“Pathfinder Kolo severed the roots that crossed the stone road.”
“Lookout Ryan actively attacked a wooden burl outside the road and suffered the same damage after reaching the road marker.”
He paused here.
“Caravan Physician Su Xiaoman treated Ryan, and the wound has stopped bleeding.”
Milo did not mention the cut on Rena's fingertip.
Because he had not witnessed the process of the wound appearing.
If he hadn't seen it, it could not count as his witness.
As the last word fell, the wooden badge embedded in the road marker suddenly vibrated slightly.
Milo's heart clenched.
A dark red light traveled all the way up from the groove, crawling across the mottled stone surface, and finally merged into the rusted bronze bell at the top.
Clang—
The bronze bell chimed softly.
Four words slowly emerged on the surface of the stone monument.
【Witness established.】
Everyone's tense nerves relaxed a bit at the same time.
Milo, however, stared at those words, unable to tear his gaze away for a long time.
Established.
This road marker had acknowledged what he said.
As long as he saw the things that actually happened, the facts would not be easily changed just because someone had a louder voice or a higher status.
For the first time, Milo felt that this was not just an ordinary identity badge, but the first piece of evidence he truly held in his hands.
The wooden badge ejected from the groove on its own.
He quickly reached out to catch it.
The text on the badge had already disappeared, leaving only a dark red notch in the bottom right corner.
At the same time, the dense fog blocking the way slowly receded to both sides.
The damp, cold stone road continued to extend deeper into the forest.
The second segment of the trade route had appeared.
Rate on N.U.
