If Garrett knew that the "Drowning Spell" used by the Court could potentially be used for lung washing, he would definitely rush to find a way to cozy up to a grand sorcerer of the curse magic system:

This spell is amazing! Can you teach me? With this spell, there’s no need to slowly fill the lungs with water! You can fill one lung lobe completely and then use a tube for direct negative pressure drainage!

If Garrett knew that the priests of the Radiant Lord directly used the "Drowning Spell" for lung washing, he would be astounded:

Oh, warriors!

Brave heroes!

To proceed without any prior examination, anesthesia, or blood oxygen monitoring, how daring!

Do you even know what the indications are? Do you know the contraindications? Do you know that you can’t perform lavage if there’s a lung bulla larger than 2cm under the pleura? Do you know that it’s not to be done in active pulmonary tuberculosis?

But Garrett knows none of these. Thus, he also lost the chance to confront the Radiant Church fiercely, to prevent a tragedy from happening. At this moment, he’s leisurely walking along the mountain path with the rest of the Roserga squad—

Or rather, Garrett stands by on the mountain path, watching the Roserga squad make preparations and try various methods to tame goats:

"Bernard! Pick a gentle one for me!"

He’s not standing alone. During the selection battle period, the defense work of the Dwarf Kingdom was significantly strengthened, from the royal court to the surrounding areas of the Holy Mountain, with knights patrolling incessantly. As soon as the squad dispersed to tame goats, a group of dwarf guards immediately gathered around Garrett, forming a circle—

Joking aside, this is a divine healer! A doctor who can perform thoracotomies, revive the dead, and wash lungs clean!

Bumps and bruises are no big deal for others, even for Prince Roserga; after all, he’s a formidable warrior who can take care of himself. But the little divine healer must be well protected! Without surrounding him to keep him safe, what if a wolf jumps out?

Or a snow leopard! This season, snow leopards descend the mountains to hunt goats!

Garrett watches from within the protective circle, at ease. The circle forms a wall of copper and iron around him, but they are all shorter than him, not blocking his view. Far down the hillside, Prince Roserga and his team spread out, lying down with rings of branches on their heads, bodies covered in leaves, and faces painted in various colors, waving a branch from afar:

Waving it horizontally means to stay put; vertically means to come closer; throwing the branch away signals everyone to charge!

The Black Gate Mountain Range is lush in summer, and the grass by the mountain streams, irrigated by streams and lakes, is particularly lush. Even the argalis, which usually move on high mountain rocks, are lured down to the grassland by the stream to graze and drink water leisurely.

Garrett counts roughly fourteen or fifteen in the flock, including this year’s lambs and about a dozen adult argalis. One with particularly huge curved horns stands on a rock, vigilantly observing its surroundings, seemingly alert for the group. With seven people in the squad, they take six goats, leaving how many to care for the ewes and lambs? Ꞧ

Not bad at all!

"The leader is good."

"Catching the leader means taking the whole flock."

"It’s better to take fewer, this flock has many lambs, they need the rams to protect them. You’re early, you can catch more flocks."

"It’s better to catch from one flock, too many leaders could cause fights..."

The dwarf warriors around Garrett discuss among themselves. The squad leader suddenly turns his head:

"Little divine healer, which god’s priest are you?"

"Uh... the God of Nature..."

"The God of Nature? A servant of the God of Nature should just go down and lead the goats away!"

"Don’t be absurd! It would be too bullying for the little divine healer to take the field. Taming mounts and such should be our job!"

Garrett silently looks to the sky, grateful for his height, which allows him to just tilt his head back, making his facial expression invisible to others.

To be honest, a priest of the God of Nature taming a mount—that’s not even considered capturing. Garrett has seen Elder Elwin catch wild goats: stepping onto the path and walking straight into the wilderness, approaching the center of the flock, touching here and there, and then, the flock just follows along.

Scattering in panic?

Stampeding?

Resisting?

Are you joking? Elder Elwin once told him, not to mention herbivores, even fierce beasts, a priest of the God of

Nature could touch if they wanted, hug if they desired, even check the beast’s teeth for decay, just pry open the mouth...

The look they give him while speaking, indescribable, as if speaking to a block of wood.

Garrett: "..." Can you blame me? I’m a clinician, not a veterinarian! Even if I were a vet, it doesn’t mean I’ve got the talent for communicating with wild beasts!

Fortunately, at the Dwarf Court, he could still pretend to be a divine healer without being criticized for not having the right skills...

Among the discussions of the dwarf warriors, the flock gradually moves into the encirclement, and the leading ram also jumps down from the rock, taking a few steps forward. In that moment, Bernard half-kneels and swiftly swings a lasso in his hand!

This is the first time Garrett sees such skill. The dark brown lasso’s end is tied to a fist-sized stone—or perhaps a metal block? Centered on Bernard’s right hand, it spins rapidly, swishing through the air. To Garrett, the afterimage of the lasso almost forms a disc.

As the wind howls, the ram cries out and dashes off. Once the ram runs, the whole flock follows in a panic, with several dwarves jumping up, waving branches, and shouting, trying to intercept them from all sides. Bernard, however, kneels in place, swinging the lasso faster and faster, then suddenly releases it!

"Don’t kill it!" Garrett can’t help but shout. The stone, dragging the lasso behind it like a shooting star, doesn’t hit the ram but passes directly between its legs. The lasso’s end trips over the ram’s leg, and the stone is yanked back sharply.

Just as the ram changes direction, the lasso snaps back, wrapping around its leg. Immediately, it wraps around one, two, three times...

The leading ram cries pitifully, falling to the ground. Bernard then dashes forward, stretching out a big hand and grabbing another ram by the horns. On the other side, Prince Roserga grabs the horns of another ram, flips over, and mounts its back!

Having secured the leader and two strong rams, the flock gradually calms down. The dwarf warriors check and touch each one, then, with three rams and three ewes, approach Garrett:

"These are the ones, no choice left! We need to leave two rams, and the ewes with lambs can’t be led. Fortunately, it’s enough..."

The dwarf warriors have their ways of taming goats. Riding on the goats, bouncing and jostling, after a round of turmoil, the two rams are already submissive. As for the three ewes, they are even more obedient than the rams, not needing special taming. Prince Roserga personally leads a snow-white ewe to Garrett:

"This one has the best temperament. Give it a try, if it doesn’t work, we’ll find another flock."

Garrett looks troubled. A goat without a saddle and bridle might be manageable for a dwarf, but he’s not so sure he can stay on. Ah, where did I put the saddle, stirrups, and bridle? I’m sure I had them in my spatial bag...

"Boss, you ride this one." Bernard drags the leading ram over, pushing Prince Roserga aside. Roserga pushes his thigh:

"Hey, Garrett said he wants the gentlest one!"

As they speak, the ram lowers its head, snorts, and scrapes its hooves. With a swift move, Bernard presses down with his arm. The leader’s legs buckle, and it kneels down.

Bernard then releases his arm. The leader slowly stands up, finally staying still and quiet.

"No, it has to be this one." Bernard is uncompromising. "This one has the largest horns. The ewes don’t have horns, the boss can’t hold on!"

"..."

"..."

Prince Roserga silently turns away. Faelmor, Hanna, and Gavin look up to the sky. Gina covers her mouth and giggles:

"What if it acts up?"

"I’ll be right here!"

Indeed, Bernard stands by the flock, even the strongest leader only reaching midway up his thigh. If he were to ride a goat, just standing up straight on its back would make the goat run away...

So, in the end, Garrett rides the leader, with Bernard walking beside him, holding the horns, ready to use force at any moment. The other dwarves form a line, riding their selected goats, waving to the patrol team:

"Goodbye!"

"Safe travels!" the patrol team’s dwarves shout back:

"Safe descent!"

"We’ll be waiting here for you!"

Led by Prince Roserga, each warrior on the back of a goat turns around, waves, and salutes. Only Garrett grips the horns tightly, his legs clamped around the goat

’s back, refusing to let go. Bernard looks at him helplessly:

"Boss, it’s okay, I’ll catch you before you fall!"

"But this mountain road is so steep!"

Garrett is terrified. The habitat of the argali is at the boundary between the forest and rocky areas, meaning, further up, there are bare rocks everywhere, small clusters of bushes, and grassy patches creeping on the ground...

The rocky cliffs are steep, and large areas are weathered. With every step the goats take, small stones roll and tumble.

The dwarves sit freely on the goats’ backs, even turning around to sing songs. Bernard steps steadily, but Garrett is completely stiff.

If I fall down, even with a Featherfall spell to save my life, I won’t be able to climb back up!

Sitting on the goat’s back with his heart in his throat, Garrett’s hands shimmer with light, casting various protective spells on himself. Meanwhile, at the entrance to the royal court, Archbishop Jeroni gazes at the mountains, squinting slightly, and asks softly:

"When can our people set off?"

"One more day, Your Grace. Two components of the armor are still not forged."

"Fools! Even with the digging demons at their disposal, they’re still a day behind the prince’s team!—Right, is it really impossible to take action on the mountain?"

"I’m afraid not. There are patrol teams all along the way, making it difficult to avoid detection. Moreover, not every member of the selection team is a devout believer, making it risky for them to take action and easy for the matter to leak."

"Then... we’ll have to activate the backup plan!"

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay