"..." The three of us quickly approached the clearing, and the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't natural. The trees, the rocks, the very environment had been shaped by a battle, as evidenced by the scorch marks and charred trees.

'They're really strong.' Creating a clearing just from the collateral damage of their fight was incredible. Of course, I think Eve could probably do this too.

Entering the clearing, I saw a man leaning against a rock. He was a strong, muscular man with well-defined muscles and a sharp expression, with short, messy black hair and cold, keen black eyes.

He was wearing brown clothes with a light set of silver plate armor protecting only his vital points.

He had several wounds all over his body, some serious, but nothing that would actually kill him—except for a wound on his thigh that seemed to prevent him from moving properly. Despite being bandaged, the wrappings were so poorly done that I could see the wound went right down to the bone.

"..." Hearing my footsteps, he looked at me, gripping his sword, but soon let go when he realized I wasn't a monster.

"Hello... need some help?" I said, approaching with Eve and Syl'Vyr behind me. I took careful steps, looking around.

"Who are you?" he asked, ignoring my question about whether he needed help or not. His tone was proud and arrogant in a really annoying way. Here he was, all fucked up, and still trying to act like an alpha male.

'What an asshole. What kind of person, all beat up and full of wounds, tries to be so bold?' I thought this, despite literally being that type of person myself, with the only difference being that I focus on beauty instead of pride.

"I'm Evelyn. Do you need help or not?" I said seriously to him. He rolled his eyes.

"Get lost, brat. Dungeons are no place for newbies," he spat on the ground near me with zero manners, telling me to go away.

"You...!!!" I was furious. I was all worried and went through the trouble of coming to rescue him, and yet he acts in this ridiculous way.

"Okay... I'll leave..." I said, looking at his body.

"Hand over all your money. And that storage ring on your finger." I started extorting him, my mind already imagining how much money I could squeeze out of this arrogant asshole.

"WHAT? Are you crazy, brat?" he spoke with irritation.

"I am Evelyn Ashcroft, a candidate for the throne. And you, you incompetent fool, put my life in danger. The tiger you fought came after me, and I could have died."

"That's a serious crime. I'm from the royal family, and you nearly caused my death. You need to compensate me adequately, since I had to do your job and kill that tiger," I stated the obvious.

"Unless... you want me to report to the castle and the guild that an adventurer allowed a dangerous monster to nearly kill a high-ranking noble."

If he didn't want my help and was so rude, fine. I'll take everything of value this ungrateful pig has.

"T-Tsk... greedy bitch. Take this crap and get out of here." He pulled the ring off his finger and threw it at me. With a big smile, I caught the ring.

"You should introduce yourself. After all, I will be queen in the future and should know the name of the rude man who refused help. By the way, how much weight can this ring hold?... And... do you need help with the bandage? That looks really bad. If it gets infected, you'll die," I said, still concerned.

"...Weird bitch." I heard him muttering under his breath as if I weren't standing right in front of him.

"4 tons. And I'm Darian, a Rank B adventurer, currently Top 5 in Rank B at the guild. Not that knowing that matters, since I'm gonna die here anyway," he spoke pessimistically.

"You're so dramatic." When I said that, a vein bulged on his forehead, and I heard his teeth grinding.

"You're lucky, brat. If I could get up from here, you'd be in trouble," he said as I looked at his leg. It looked even worse up close, but... it wasn't that gross. At least, no more gross than removing a wolf's organs.

"You won't die if you get treatment. That's why you're a dramatic, weak man!" He's a demon. Although this wound is serious and dangerous, unlike a human, he has a pretty good natural recovery.

As long as he gets treatment, he'll be fine. It's similar to when the original Evelyn, at a very young age, had her arm broken. The angle was so horrible that a human would have had permanent damage, but since Evelyn was a demon, she recovered without any visible scars afterward.

Demons naturally have more resilient bodies that are superior in many areas, so this man's wound, while severe, is still manageable.

"I... will help you," I said, ignoring his complaints. Even though he was rude and had a very vulgar vocabulary toward me, a beauty and future queen, I still wouldn't be able to sleep well at night knowing I left someone to die when I could have helped.

"Get lost! I don't need help... ghhhrr—" He was about to complain more when I pulled on the terribly managed bandage. He made a stifled sound of pain, biting down hard to keep from screaming.

"Evelyn-sama... we will keep the surrounding area secure while you tend to him. Call if you need help; we will be nearby..." Eve said, taking Syl'Vyr's hand and starting to lead her away.

"It's fine. I'm just going to help this asshole, and then we can make a campfire and rest in this clearing," I said to her as I started taking everything out of this guy's storage ring.

I put the ring on my finger, seeing it was a simple ring with a gold band and a small ruby embedded in it. It's good that it can hold a lot of weight. I was worried I'd have to buy one because they're way too expensive.

Lucky this guy gave me his, though I think he gave it to me more because he wanted to get rid of me, saying he was going to die anyway. Plus, I think this guy is delirious from pain, so he's not even thinking straight.

But even if he gave me this ring just out of delirium, I'm not giving it back. Besides the fact that he endangered me, I still came to save him. Me getting the storage ring is fair.

'I'm not a doctor, and I can't do anything great... but I guess I can wrap a bandage and make a splint.' It's not hard. If I wrap a bandage correctly and put on a splint, maybe he can walk.

"Hey, Darian. Can I call you Darian?" I asked, trying to distract him.

"No."

"Okay, Darian. I won't call you Darian. Why don't you want me to call you Darian? But if I don't call you Darian, what should I call you, since I only know your name is Darian? And Darian, why can't I call you Darian?" I teased him, repeating his name over and over.

"You are such an insistent brat... do whatever you want," he said. From inside the ring, I saw some gold coins come out, some basic kits, some extra weapons and clothes, as well as quite a bit of food and some climbing gear.

'So much stuff...' Storage rings are so convenient. I'm definitely not giving this ring back. It's mine now.

"I'm going to treat your leg... at least a little, so stay still," I said, shoving a piece of bread into his mouth. Quickly, I grabbed his medical kit and opened it, finding almost nothing useful.

'Dammit, what an idiot. Who the hell brings raw medicinal herbs instead of prepared materials?' I cursed this stupid guy who made his medical kit with raw herbs. Not having much choice, I crushed the herbs with my hands and started rubbing them to extract the oil.

I don't know much, but in the game, there were common plants that adventurers used to heal, reduce pain, and cure minor infections. This must be one of those game plants, so the oil should help prevent infection.

"HNMMMRGGFF" He let out a mix of a scream and a grunt, biting the bread with extreme force as I started applying the oil to the wound. Seeing the exposed bone up close like this was much grosser, giving me a slight nausea from touching it.

I felt the heat of the oil as I rubbed it into the wound. The smell of the herbs mixed with blood made me wrinkle my nose. Darian clenched his teeth, but I could see the tension in his leg lessen a bit.

Quickly, I took the bandages and started carefully wrapping his leg, listening to his grunts of pain. It wasn't a cure, but it would have to do for him.

After finishing the bandaging, I took a stick from among the stored items and tried to break it. I was too weak even for that, so Darian pulled the stick from my hand, broke it, and handed it back to me, more cooperative now.

I took the two pieces and placed them on opposite sides of his thigh, opposite his bone, wrapping them with the bandages so the wood would act as a splint to reduce strain, being careful not to cut off his blood circulation.

As soon as I tied the final knot on the splint, I moved back, seeing a slight relief on Darian's face. If he weren't a demon, he would have passed out from the pain.

'That... was so awful...' I felt strange from handling a wound like that and having to treat such a severe injury without knowing anything about medicine. I might have even messed up his leg more without knowing, but for now, he should be able to move with great effort and a crutch.

"..." He looked at me with the same coldness as before while spitting the bread onto the ground.

"...Thanks... for the help," he thanked me with a growl, surprising me.

"Why were you so hostile toward me before?" I crouched down near him and asked. I didn't know why he was so aggressive until I helped him.

"...They're trying to kill me... how could I be sure you weren't here to finish the job?" He made a logical point, confirming that someone had summoned the tiger to kill him.

"...You're right... you can't trust. Demons aren't trustworthy when they're two strangers. Thanks for the storage ring. I've been paid an equivalent price. With this splint, you should be able to walk with a crutch by tomorrow."

"Use that sword or staff on the ground and get out of the dungeon by yourself. I'll spend the night here with my companions, and we'll leave tomorrow..." I said, moving away, a little sad to be considered a potential assassin in his eyes.

I know... I know demons aren't good. The books and the game's story have shown me many times that the demon race is cruel, so one demon helping another out of the blue is suspicious.

But it still hurts. I loved this world so much when I was playing it. Seeing that the reality of this world is so dark that someone would suspect an offer of help is terrible.

"EVE! Come back, let's make a campfire... we have food," I said, picking up some things from the ground like bread, ham, cheese, and even some spices. He didn't say anything else, leaning back against the rock and closing his eyes.

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