Chapter 163.
Bloody and the Black Water Buffalo Knights quickly rode to Warrant.
"Wow, it looks like they really went at it over here too," the leader of the Black Water Buffalo Knights said, laughing as Mac admired the bloodstains around him and the demon bodies that hadn’t been cleaned up yet. "They must have gone at it more than once at least. They must have fought at least four or five times."
"Iya, I should have just stayed here,” Mac said regretfully, thinking it would have been more fun to stay in Warrant and deal with the demons.
Hitting Mac hard on the back, Bloody said, "Don’t worry, we’ll have a good fight soon."
Mac held the spot that was being hit by Bloody and twisted his body away. "Keup, aren’t you hitting me too hard?”
"Oh, don’t be a wimp.”
"You’re just upset that you didn’t get a ride of your own.”
"I am not!" Bloody snorted and waved his hand.
In response, a rider waved a flag to signal the fortress gate, communicating that there were no enemies around. Upon receiving the signal, the Warrant fortress guard opened the gate immediately.
Without delay, they immediately rode straight into the stable.
"Wize, follow me, and the rest take a break. Mac and Lancelot, go see if Leisha is doing well,” Bloody commanded.
"Yes!" the others responded.
Bloody headed to the command room with only the leader of the Black Water Buffalo Knights following him.
William welcomed Bloody as he entered the command room. "You’re here! Are you done with the work I requested?” he asked.
Bloody nodded. "Of course. Roaming the demon territory, compared to wandering around in the forest back in my hometown, is a piece of cake."
"It’s a relief that it’s not too late.”
Sitting down opposite William, Bloody asked, "Where did Orphina and Glont0hyung go?"
"Orphina is on patrol to confirm the situation with each unit, and Mr. Glont has been in the infirmary since Mr. Dane Walker returned.”
"Mr. Dane Walker hyung is in the infirmary? Is he seriously hurt?” Bloody asked, surprised.
William sighed quietly. "His internal injuries are pretty serious. It’s not life-threatening, but it’ll be hard for him to move for a while.”
"What? Why?"
"He overexerted himself and used an incomplete domain proclamation against a great demon at a time when he had already run out of stamina and mana. It’s fortunate that he didn’t die."
Bloody frowned at William’s diagnosis. "I hope Glont hyung doesn’t feel guilty.”
"I hate to say it, but we’re only still alive thanks to Mr. Dane Walker. If he hadn’t bought us time from there, we would have had to give up on Warrant.”
If they had been pushed out of Warrant, they would have no choice but to use Asterium, the capital of the Duchy of Asteria, as a base. From the imperial family’s perspective, there would of course be the loss of property and wealth to consider; not only that, they would have taken a hit in terms of political power.
Of course, Bloody and William were uninterested in political damage. It was more due to the sheer loss of profit that they were trying to finish the job in Warrant.
If a monster like a great demon wreaked havoc in the empire, even a little bit of its wrath would be like hell on earth.
"I’d better go to the infirmary too,” William said.
Before they could go, though, they had to listen to battle strategies against the great demon they would face in a few hours.
* * *
I sighed as I looked at Dane Walker lying on the bed in the infirmary. "What did you do in the one day we were apart for your body to have ended up in tatters like this?” I muttered, as if I didn’t know what had happened.
There were few external injuries, but his internal injuries were too severe. I could see his whole body’s mana fluctuating wildly at a glance.
The internal injuries he’d received from using an incomplete domain proclamation must have relapsed and become worse because he’d overexerted himself afterwards.
"Hahaha, that’s....” Dane Walker avoided my gaze and changed the subject. "Anyway, don’t you have any visiting gifts?”
"Where could I even buy a visiting gift around here? The merchants from Asteria and Druval have all withdrawn from Warrant, except for those who handle demon byproducts."
"Ahaha, is that so?"
To be honest, I didn’t understand the thought process of the merchants who remained, wanting to buy demon byproducts. They definitely must have lost their minds. No matter how much one loved money, this was a perfect environment to become demon food if one were unlucky.
"Well, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. It’s probably a military secret anyways, so it’ll only be a headache to find out."
It’s not as if I didn’t know what he had been doing, and I managed to run away safely, so let’s pretend I don’t know anything and move on.
Dane Walker smiled as if he were troubled. "Thanks for understanding."
I put my specially manufactured medicine in Dane Walker’s mouth as he was thanking me.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It’s good for your body, so make sure to chew it properly."
In fact, this medicine was also supposed to be dissolved in water. However, if a person who was lying down and couldn’t move tried to drink it, it might go down the wrong pipe, so I just fed it to him.
"Really? Ook! Bitter!"
I quickly closed Dane Walker’s mouth when he tried to spit out the medicine I had shoved in. It was quite fun to see him suffer. "What’s good for your health is bitter in your mouth."
Please don’t misunderstand. I was just worried about Dane Walker and gave him medicine as a gift. I didn’t mean it as a punishment for bothering me or anything. I wasn’t cruel enough to punish someone who was injured.
I’d give him a real punishment when he got better. Huhuhu.
When Dane Walker swallowed all of the medicine, I let go of his mouth. He said, trembling with chills, "You! You’re smiling! No matter how I look at it, you’re enjoying my suffering!"
"Ahahaha, it’s a misunderstanding."
"Ugh, bitter. By the way, I don’t know if it’s okay to take this medicine without telling the doctor."
I gave the worried Dane Walker a candy that could neutralize the bitter taste and said, "I’m better than those quacks, so you don’t have to worry. Do you think I came to see you on behalf of the people at headquarters for no reason?"
The medicine I’d just given him already seemed to be making him more comfortable.
"What do you mean, quack? You know these military doctors are all capable alchemists, right?"
"Yes, yes, I’m sure they are.” I let Dane Walker’s words slip into one ear and out the other.
Dane Walker laughed pleasantly. "Hahaha, I’m telling you. The fact that the Guild Director-nim isn’t here right now is partly because he’s trying to invite some good alchemists."
"Yes, yes, I’m sure it is.” I let the words slide past again and got up.
"Huh? You’re going already?"
"Yes, I have a lot to do.”
"Really?"
I smiled and said to Dane Walker, who seemed slightly disappointed, "I can’t tell you the details because there’s a gag order, but I think there’s going to be a big operation in the evening."
It was a casual remark, but when he heard me, Dane Walker’s face hardened. "Come to think of it, was it the Pagan Priest in charge of guarding the civil servants?"
"Yes, he’s eccentric, but he’s a good guy."
Ruin was constantly moving about throughout the day, healing the wounded with divine power.
Dane Walker spoke to me as if he were giving advice. "Don’t stray far from Ruin today if possible. And tell the people at the headquarters too.”
The operation in the evening seemed as if it might be huge.
I nodded gently at his advice. "Yes. I’ll do that. Take good care of yourself,” I said.
I said goodbye to Dane Walker and left the infirmary tent.
* * *
Glont went into the tent that was being used as the infirmary. He asked, “How are you? Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m doing better than expected,” Dane Walker replied.
In response to Dane Walker, who couldn’t even keep himself steady on the bed, Glont introduced the person following behind him. "This is Leisha Blade, the talented alchemist I said I’d bring back."
"No, I’m not that good." At Glont’s introduction, Leisha shook her hand in embarrassment.
"There’s no need to be humble about being a disciple of the great madosa, Mirpa-nim,” Glont remarked.
Suddenly, Dane Walker looked at Leisha and said, "Iya, did you bring such a valuable person here just for me?"
"Ohohoho, I used some connections."
Glont and Dane Walker laughed and talked jokingly, but it was true that they were surprised.
Among magicians, Mirpa was one of the legends, and she’d raised alchemy from being considered miscellaneous knowledge to being mainstream in academia. There was no greater honor than for a magician to have a disciple with such legendary knowledge visit him in person for his treatment.
"If it’s a Blade..."
“It’s Bloody’s niece."
"Of course! I was indebted to General Bloody before.”
Dane Walker smiled pleasantly and tried to lift himself up. "Keup." He groaned at the pain he felt all over his body.
Leisha dissuaded him from getting up, saying, "Please don’t get up. I heard you overexerted yourself.”
"Ahaha, only a little bit."
It wasn’t just a little, but he’d overused his mana circuit to the point that it wouldn’t have been strange if an ordinary magician’s body exploded. He’d only survived purely due to having crossed the wall of the Magic Way.
"I’m sorry, but do you mind if I examine your body?"
"It would be an honor."
With Dane Walker’s consent, Leisha swept through Dane Walker’s entire body with mana. "Hmm? It seems you’ve already been treated?” she asked.
Dane Walker shook his head, flustered. "No, they didn’t even bother treating me, saying that they couldn’t do anything until I had recovered to some extent."
"What? No way. Your mana circuit is already beginning to stabilize." Leisha wrote out a prescription. "I think this should be enough to help you recover without much trouble. Are you sure you haven’t been treated?”
Dane Walker was shocked by Leisha’s diagnosis.
"I suppose... a friend I know fed me medicine saying it was good for me.”
Glont became curious at his answer. "A friend you know?"
As far as Glont knew, there was no alchemist or healer who was good enough for Leisha to admire amongst Dane Walker’s personal connections.
"You have that new guy, don’t you? He was here on behalf of the people at headquarters about ten minutes ago," said Dane Walker.
Glont recalled the comments on Den’s personnel information documents. "Oh, it said he was an alchemist. It seems he’s better than I thought."
Leisha shook her head at Glont’s murmur. "This isn’t just a good level of skill. I don’t know his magic level, but he’s at least a master of pharmacology. He might even be able to make medicine better than me."
Leisha’s affirmation surprised Glont and Dane Walker. If Leisha was admiring his ability, he could be considered one of the best alchemists.
"What’s the name of the medicine?”
"Well, I didn’t hear it, because he force fed me when I couldn’t move.”
In reality, Dane Walker had thought the reason his body had become lighter was because he’d become a madosa and his natural healing power was much higher. He stuck his tongue out at the fact that it hadn’t been a lie when Den declared that the military doctors were quacks.
Leisha asked with sparkling eyes, "If he is this talented, I’d like to see him once. Where can I go to meet him?"
"It’s a busy time right now, so you’d better set a later time to meet," said Glont.
Leisha was reminded of the current situation. At the moment, the demons could befall them at any time, and Gawain had also said there was a great demon headed their way.
"You’re right. I can’t disturb a busy person at a time like this." She made a sad face as she decided to give up on meeting him. If she didn’t meet the alchemist mentioned here, it was likely that she wouldn’t be able to see him in Warrant at all.
After all, she had seen Den’s alchemic life forms at Warrant, so she might have to search for Den in the vicinity for a while.
Leisha left her regrets behind and made Dane Walker’s medicine.
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