Lord of the Oasis

“This has nothing to do with you.” Gilbert could see that the snake-woman in front of him was the key to forcing the group to retreat. He locked his gaze on the other party.

Their gazes met in the air, and the atmosphere became tense.

“Alright.” Finally, the snake-woman leader waved her hand and said, “There is nothing on these soldiers that is worth risking our lives for. Besides, we’re still waiting for you to go back and continue watching the gnomes’ show. I heard that it’s a mess there now.”

“Humph.” Gilbert snorted. “It’s good that you know what’s good for you. Besides, the gnomes are only in a temporary civil war. No matter how chaotic it is, you outsiders won’t have a chance to interfere.”

Hearing that, the snake-woman leader narrowed her eyes angrily.

Gilbert didn’t care. He turned around and left.

Returning to the camp, Gilbert saw Austin, who was looking for him everywhere.

Austin was currently asking the passing soldiers if they had seen Gilbert. Halfway through his words, he noticed Gilbert standing in front of him.

“Where did you go?” Austin asked with concern.

Looking at the sweat on Austin’s forehead, Gilbert made an uncomfortable expression and whispered to him, “My stomach doesn’t feel well.”

“Stomach doesn’t feel well? Is it because of the porridge you just had?” Austin asked in surprise.

“I’m not sure.” Gilbert shook his head and continued, “It’s much better now.”

“Then…” Austin looked down at the steak in his lunchbox and hesitated.

“You can have it.” Gilbert said with a bright smile.

“No, I’ll leave it for you to eat when you’re hungry at night.” Austin shook his head, closed the lunchbox, and looked at Gilbert.

Gilbert saw that he couldn’t persuade Austin, so he didn’t say anything more. He let Austin take him back to the tent to rest.

After Gilbert laid down on the bed, Austin put a blanket on him.

“Are you going to sleep here today?” In the dark room, Gilbert’s eyes were indeed sparkling as he looked at Austin.

“Um…” Austin hesitantly pursed his lips, he recalled the words that Devitt said to him that afternoon, so he said, “This is not a place prepared for me to rest. Of course, I have to go back to my bed to sleep.”

“Okay.” Gilbert replied and then closed his eyes.

Austin stood by the bed and watched him fall asleep. When he heard Gilbert’s breathing become even, he extinguished the candlestick in the corner of the wall. He walked out of the tent quietly.

A comrade of his team saw him walk out and walked up to him, saying, “Austin, it’s our turn to work the night shift today.”

“Okay, I’ll go make some preparations.” Austin nodded immediately.

“Can you do it? You look tired,” his teammate asked.

“Do I look tired?” Austin looked up curiously and asked.

“Yeah, I feel a little tired,” his teammate teased. “It must be hard for you to take care of your ‘son’.”

“Son?” Austin raised his eyebrows.

“It’s that newly recruited kid,” the soldier explained with a smile. “Now everyone treats that kid as your son.”

“Is that so?” Austin lowered his head wearily and waved his hand. “You can think whatever you want.”

If this could make Gilbert happier in this group.

“I say, when you’re taking care of others, you should take care of yourself also.” the soldier shook his head. “We won’t be able to walk with that little guy for long. At this rate, we’ll probably break up after more than ten days.”

After saying this, the soldier was called away. Austin was left standing alone, wondering why everyone would say this to him. He clearly hadn’t thought of anything.

This question piled up on Austin’s chest, and he felt suffocated.

He did not intend to continue thinking. Austin put on his armor.

Then, he hastened his pace and walked to his own row, accepting the duty of patrolling with everyone.

In Claremont’s tent, Claremont was rummaging through the pile of documents in his luggage bag.

Sitting on the other side of the table was Abel. At this moment, he was leisurely eating the snacks on his plate.

“So, this is what you have in your luggage bag? No wonder it’s twice as big as the others,” Abel said as he dipped his hand in the remaining sugar on his plate.

“I can’t bear to throw these things away. There’s no one to clean them up for me in the military camp, so I can only bring them with me.” Claremont replied.

“You must have read every book here dozens of times.” Abel finished his snack and went over to squat on the ground. He was surprised by the number of books.

“Not really. Some books are bought by myself, so I didn’t bear to wear them out by reading them too much. Some books were given to me by the owner of a bookstore, but I’ve read them dozens of times.” Claremont explained.

Abel raised his head and gave him a look of disdain. “You are the elites selected from the Claremont soldiers. Why do you save so much money for yourself?”

“I’ve saved all the rewards,” Claremont said with a smile. “The money for these books was collected from the rewards given to us by the generals.”

Abel rolled his eyes at him and sat back down on his stool. After sitting for a while, he really couldn’t sit still. He asked Claremont, “Why did you ask me to accompany you to this military camp to find a book?”

“I have an illustrated handbook. I think I lost it.” Claremont said anxiously. His hands rummaged through the pile of books faster and faster.

“Is it a very valuable illustrated handbook?” Abel came over and asked with concern.

“Sort of. But now I remember that the illustrated handbook has a record of the history of the elf clan.” Claremont nodded and said, “Perhaps it can prove Gilbert’s identity.”

“Didn’t you and Commander Devitt both determine that Gilbert is the prince of the elf clan? Why do you still need to find something to confirm it?” Abel recalled the conversation outside the tent that night and asked.

“No, I think the tattoo on Gilbert’s body has another meaning. It’s not just the crown prince.” Claremont vaguely voiced his guess as the image of the caged bird appeared in his mind.

“I see.” After understanding the current situation, Abel also followed Claremont to search through the pile of books.

“What’s the name of that book?”

“The Encyclopedia of Nature.”

“What? Why would a book about other races on the continent have such a name?” Abel’s expression froze for a moment.

“Stop talking nonsense and help me find it.”