When the shockwave rolled over them, Eris nearly lost control of the horse as it bucked wildly in fear. Fortunately, thanks to her love of all things active, she already had a lot of riding experience so she somehow managed to not get thrown off.
Lucas, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
Although the young boy now had a wealth of knowledge spanning everything from cooking to spatial mechanics, he was still lacking when it came to some of the more practical life skills that were needed in a rural place like Redwood Town, like horse riding.
When the horse had bucked just now, instead grabbing hold of his Big Sister Eris, like he should have, Lucas' first instinct was to try to tighten his grip on the horse itself.
If there had been stirrups and a saddle on the horse, this might have worked, but there weren't, so he simply slipped off.
Fortunately, after many months of harsh beatings in the form of training, if there was one thing Lucas knew how to do, it was how to breakfall, so he managed to relax his muscles in time to avoid seriously injuring himself.
Still, he didn't get off scot-free.
"Lucas! Are you alright?!" Eris cried out anxiously after she somehow calmed the horse down.
"Ugh…" Lucas groaned as he instinctually rubbed his throbbing head.
Feeling something hot and sticky on his fingers, Lucas quickly realized he was bleeding. The instant before making contact with the dirt, he had spotted a rock and shifted his head, but it now seemed he hadn't managed to avoid it entirely.
When he tried to stand up, Lucas wasn't able to balance himself properly and stumbled. Fortunately, Eris had leapt off the horse by then, caught him before he could hurt himself again, and hurriedly made him sit back down.
Seeing the blood dripping down her precious little brother's forehead, Eris was beside herself with worry and completely lost as to what to do.
Her first thought was to try to stop the bleeding, ripping the sleeve from her shirt to use as a bandage, but she then hesitated to press the cloth against the wound as she recalled her father telling her that injuries to the head had to be treated carefully.
Several tense seconds passed before Lucas finally collected himself and called out, "Big Sister Eris, don't worry, I'm alright."
"B-But… your head…" Eris stuttered, not feeling very reassured.
"Really, I'm fine. It stings a bit, but I'm not feeling dizzy or dazed, just a little sore," Lucas comforted as he reached out and took the ripped sleeve from Eris' hand.
Doing his best to staunch the blood, Lucas quickly began questioning himself, checking his mental faculties.
This wasn't a surefire method to diagnose his condition, especially when Lucas was administering it to himself, but after a brief assessment, he felt that there was nothing wrong with his memory or his ability to focus.
For now, it seems like I don't have a concussion, Lucas thought to himself, though he couldn't be sure with such an ad-hoc testing method.
Looking up and seeing the nervous look on Eris' face, Lucas smiled lightly and comforted, "Don't worry, it's just a cut. It'll be fine after the bleeding stops."
Eris opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
This wasn't the first time she had seen Lucas hurt and bleeding, she and her wooden sword had even been responsible for some of his past injuries, but those had always been minor cuts and scrapes, nothing like the gash which now stretched across a good portion of her little brother's forehead.
Even the white sleeve, which Eris just handed Lucas, was now dyed completely red as more blood continued to drip down the latter's face. It was honestly quite gruesome to look at.
Realizing there was nothing he could do to alleviate his big sister's concerns in the short term, Lucas just sighed and picked himself up, out of the dirt, "We can't just sit here, we need to keep moving."
"En, we're almost home, so it shouldn't take long," Eris agreed without hesitation.
Leaping back onto the horse, Eris reached down and grabbed Lucas' free hand, using her Sixth Step Body Tempering strength to haul him up onto the mount before saying, "Hold onto me tight this time!"
Nodding Lucas wrapped one arm around his big sister's waist while using the other to keep the bandage in place.
After making sure Lucas was secured, Eris kicked the horse's flank and got it trotting towards the Town Lord's Manor again.
Neither of the children felt embarrassed clinging to each other so tightly under the circumstances. Both of them were completely focused on the task before them and had no time to care about such trivial things at the moment.
Eris wanted to get help for Lucas as soon as possible; nothing else mattered to her.
As for Lucas, the shockwave from just now only reinforced the urgency of the situation in his mind. If the blast was still that strong this far from the initial explosion, he could only imagine the kind of chaos that had been set off inside the Great Western Forest.
Danger was rapidly approaching, leaving Redwood Town precious little time to prepare.
…..
As Eris and Lucas approached the Town Lord's Manor, the two of them saw the crowd which had gathered, as well as a large number of Town Guardsmen who were trying to maintain order.
For the moment, it seemed that the situation was still just barely under control, but the tension in the air was palpable.
Under normal circumstances, the townsfolk would have made way for the little princess riding her horse, but amidst all the panic and anxiety, nobody was paying attention to the finer points of decorum.
As such, despite still being over 100 metres from the main gate, Lucas suggested, "It's too dangerous to try to ride through the crowd. We should get off and walk."
Eris wasn't pleased with this idea, as it would surely put more burden on her little brother, but she also didn't think it was right to try to force her way through. The crowd was obviously unsettled, with many shouting and pushing already; if someone accidentally startled the horse they were riding and it started to kick, it would be a disaster.
Dismounting, Eris gripped Lucas' hand tightly and was about to plunge into the throng of people when a voice called out from nearby, "Young Lady?"
Recognizing this voice, Eris immediately turned around to find an armoured middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face and short brown hair, "Uncle Carl!"
Carl, the Vice-Captain of the Town Guard, asked in a somewhat confused tone, "Young Lady Eris, where's your father?"
"Father is…" Eris began but suddenly stopped, unsure of how to explain what exactly it was Charles was doing at the moment.
Catching on quickly, Lucas hurriedly spoke up, "Uncle Charles is busy evacuating the townsfolk near the Great Western Forest."
"Lucas! Goodness, what happened to you!?" It wasn't until the young boy turned around that Carl, who was technically Anna's second-in-command, saw what kind of condition his boss' kid was in.
Waving his hand casually, Lucas tried to smooth over the situation, "It just looks bad."
"We're going to need your help to get through the crowd," Lucas swiftly changed the subject, "We need to speak to Aunt Sasha as soon as possible."
Carl frowned when he heard this. No matter how he looked at it, Lucas wasn't fine. Clearly, he had injured his head and the blood from the wound was still dripping down the boy's face despite a cloth being held to it.
Still, Lucas had always been a clever young boy, and over the past year and a half, he had shown a level of maturity and intelligence far beyond his years. If he said he was alright, Carl was willing to believe him temporarily.
What's more, Carl had no more idea about what was happening than the confused masses gathered in front of him, while Lucas and Eris seemed to have come with a message from his boss' boss, the Town Lord. So, Carl decided that whether it was for treating Lucas' wound, or fulfilling his duties to safeguard Redwood Town, it would be best to assist the kids for now.
Lifting his sword, which he kept sheathed of course, Carl called out to the other members of the Town Guard who had arrived together with him and they began opening up a path through the crowd to the front gate where he could vaguely see Sasha directing things.