222 The Wasteland
Selma Payne’s POV:
Some team members didn’t like me, opposed me, or looked down on me.
If I were still like my 18-year-old self, I would have started to doubt myself by now. Would I ask myself what I did wrong? How do I look delicate? Where did I cause any inconvenience to my team members? What should I do to win the love and respect of my players?
But now I didn’t. I still asked the first three questions but scoffed at the last one!
I was on a mission to find answers, not make friends. The acknowledgment of my team members was, of course, necessary, but it was definitely not my main problem right now.
Besides, so what if I could never gain the approval of some people? Even a god couldn’t get everyone’s approval, so what right did I have?
At the end of the day, their existences were of no importance to me.
What an arrogant way of thinking, but who could say I didn’t have the right to be arrogant?
So, facing the indignant Yuri and the team members behind him who were avoiding my gaze, I just calmly asked, “Are you done venting? If you’re done venting, please leave. The werewolf grandmasters and I will start operating on Captain Frank.”
Yuri glared at me. “How dare you touch Captain Frank’s soul! If it wasn’t for you-”
“I said, please leave!” I looked at him emotionlessly, as if I was looking at air. “As you were talking nonsense with me, Captain Frank’s condition worsened. Perhaps you want to vent your dissatisfaction with me for a few more hours so that you can pray for Captain Frank before he dies?”
“I didn’t mean that at all!” Yuri looked at me in disbelief. “You vicious woman who plays with words. You’re as disgusting as your strange power!”
“Think whatever you want.” I stopped looking at him and asked Master Kevin to draw a rune for me that could make contact with souls. “But you can’t deny that my disgusting ability is Captain Frank’s life savior, and your noble mouth has no use other than wasting time and making his condition worse, right?”
Yuri looked like he had completely lost his mind. He wanted to pull the dagger from his boots and stab my neck.
Fortunately, his companions were still rational, and they dragged him out of the cabin.
“Dorothy, stay,” I said as the people left.
Yuri found another reason to stomp his feet.”Why can she stay? With that laughable aristocratic privilege? No one here has more authority than her to stay and monitor your actions! No other team member would be more concerned about Captain Frank’s safety than you two little girls.”
I was getting impatient with this annoying fly. “I don’t mean to doubt anyone’s sincerity, Yuri. Even if you said you wanted to die with Captain Frank, I wouldn’t be surprised. But you still don’t have the right to stay because you know nothing about sorcery. Dorothy is the only sorcerer apprentice here and the only one who knows how to assist the werewolf grandmasters. Perhaps you can tell us what taboos are in the face of souls and curses?”
My words were merciless, and Dorothy did not even spare him a glance, completely ignoring him.
Yuri was dragged away by his teammates, fuming.
The door was closed. Although it was still not soundproof, it was much quieter.
While drawing the runes for me, Master Kevin asked in a low voice, “You know how much risk you’re taking, don’t you? You’re like Doctor Who’s about to perform surgery on a patient with terminal cancer, and the patient’s unreasonable family members are outside the ward. If you can’t cure the patient or the patient dies on the operating table, the family members who think with their muscles will rush up and tear you apart.”
“I’m confident,” I said. “Besides, this isn’t a hospital. I’m not a doctor. I won’t accept medical disputes. I promise that I will do my best to save Captain Frank. Anyone who dares to challenge my authority will pay the price they will never forget. I promise.”
Master Kevin didn’t say anything else. After he finished drawing the runes, he began to help me feel the existence of my soul.
Captain Frank’s soul was as fragile as a piece of butter, and any small mistake could cause irreparable consequences. I entered a meditative state and held my breath, using the most peaceful state to approach the broken soul.
I entered Captain Frank’s spiritual world without a hitch.
This place was barren. Perhaps it used to be a boundless green grassland, but now, only bare soil and rotten grassroots were left.
The culprit who caused all this was taking root in the wilderness. It was a sparse pine forest stretching as far as the eye could see. Like scorched wood, the black and rotten pine trees wandered on the yellow soil like ghosts.
This was the manifestation of the curse in the spiritual world. They had invaded the grassland like wild grass, and it would not be long before they would plunder all the vitality in this place.
I tried to call out his name, just like I did in Dorothy’s spiritual world, but I received no response.
This made me understand that Frank’s consciousness was already very weak. If this dragged on, there wouldn’t be any way to reverse the situation.
I tried to pull out the dead pine tree that was rooted in the wilderness, but any slight movement would cause the wilderness to tremble.fr𝗲𝚎w𝒆𝚋𝘯𝚘ѵel. c𝗼𝐦
