Ch.115Phyllis, Embarking on a Solo Adventure

With Will unconscious on her back, Phillis desperately drove Ancestor forward.

Using Night Vision, the special ability of the Elven race, she carefully examined the ground ahead, focusing all her attention on discerning the optimal path to prevent Ancestor from getting stuck in the swamp or falling.

Sometimes nocturnal swamp creatures gave chase, but none could match Ancestor’s speed and endurance.

Occasionally, creatures that jumped out to block their path were helplessly crushed under Ancestor’s massive charge. Without any interference, Phillis and Ancestor were able to reach the Fifth Western City of Atlier in just 25 minutes.

After explaining the situation to the guards at the entrance and committing the outrageous act of galloping on horseback down Main Street past midnight, she finally arrived at the municipal clinic nearest to the east gate.

Only after receiving help from the night shift staff to lay Will on a bed could Phillis finally catch her breath.

“What… did you say?”

Phillis collapsed to her knees upon hearing the devastating news from the on-duty healer that Will could not be treated.

“How… how can that be? I thought if we just reached the city quickly, we could purify the black mana and save Will…”

“The purification of black mana is proceeding normally. In fact, had you arrived just an hour or two later, his condition would have been irreversible, so your decision to hurry to the city was a good one.”

“Then why can’t you treat him?!”

“The problem is that the rapid erosion of black mana has severely damaged his bodily functions. Healing magic can only fix external wounds, so we need at least a high-grade regeneration potion…”

“I have money! When my companions arrive in this city tomorrow, I can prepare even more money, so please use that potion!”

Phillis took out her wallet from the pouch at her waist and emptied all the money onto the table, but the healer just shook his head with a gloomy expression.

“We would like nothing more than to help. However, we don’t have the potion needed for treatment, or more precisely, the main ingredient for the potion.”

“I heard this is a city of alchemy famous for potion production! Even if this clinic doesn’t have it, surely there must be a shop or workshop somewhere that keeps it in stock?!”

“Bloody Mandrake, the ingredient for high-grade regeneration potions, must be processed and consumed within a day of harvesting, or it becomes unusable. That’s why no store keeps it in stock.”

“Where can I find this Bloody Mandrake? What does it look like?”

“It’s a plant that grows in the ‘Red Swamp’ about 4-5 kilometers to the west. It’s not difficult to identify since everything from its flowers to stems, leaves, and roots are bright red…”

“A bright red plant that grows in the Red Swamp. Got it.”

“W-wait!”

As Phillis immediately tried to leave the clinic to obtain the Bloody Mandrake, the healer grabbed her arm.

“Why are you stopping me? If bringing that medicinal herb is the only way to save Will, shouldn’t I depart as quickly as possible?”

“There have been strange occurrences in the Red Swamp for the past few days, causing changes in the surrounding ecosystem. Please wait until your companions arrive tomorrow. Going alone at this hour is suicide.”

“My companions won’t arrive until noon tomorrow at the earliest. Can Will’s body hold out until then?”

“Well, that’s…”

The healer’s expression darkened dramatically as he reassessed Will’s condition.

By his estimation, the young man lying on the bed had less than a 30% chance of surviving until noon tomorrow.

On the other hand, if this elven lady could obtain the Bloody Mandrake within a few hours, the young man’s treatment would be almost 100% successful.

Without having to explain all this in detail, his facial expression alone was enough to convey the meaning to Phillis.

“How many Bloody Mandrakes do you need?”

“…Just one root will do. Unlike ordinary mandrakes, it doesn’t scream when pulled out, so the harvesting itself isn’t very dangerous.”

“I’ll return as quickly as possible. I’ll leave the money here, so please make preparations and wait.”

Phillis left her wallet on the table and unfastened Will’s holster from his body, securing it around her own slender waist.

This was her own way of preparing and committing to maintain combat capability with Will’s revolver, even if she needed to use Fireball or Lightning Bolt to complete her mission.

“Ancestor, I’m sorry, but I need you to stay with me a little longer. Hiyah!”

“Neeeigh~!”

As Phillis rode Ancestor out of the western city, her mind was filled with determination to save Will and self-reproach.

When the attacker was revealed to be a Dark Elf, she had been so overwhelmed by fear that she couldn’t even demonstrate a quarter of her true abilities.

As soon as the Dark Elf revealed himself, or even when he was knocked down by Will’s counterattack, if she had used Lightning Bolt, she might have ended the fight right there.

But in reality, all she did was hesitate and fire her rifle once or twice. She had been of no real help and had only put Will in mortal danger.

‘Jessica, Seti… I’m sorry. I’ll save Will even if it costs me my life…’

Though she used a strong, knight-like tone to avoid being looked down upon by others, she couldn’t disguise the voice in her heart.

Will was in mortal danger because he had tried to save her—not his beloved Jessica or Seti, but her.

This fact weighed even more heavily on Phillis’s heart.

If Will were to die now, how could she ever face Jessica and Seti again?

While racing forward lost in these thoughts, Phillis snapped to attention at the sound of flapping wings beside her.

Two bird-like creatures the size of humans with long beaks were flying on either side of Ancestor.

These birds were called Night Storks, nocturnal avian monsters known as dangerous predators among the residents of Atlier.

‘Clack! Clack!’

“Huh?!”

The Night Storks opened and closed their long beaks, making clacking sounds to intimidate their prey.

Moreover, they were famous for their team hunting strategy—when hunting in pairs, one would make clacking sounds to draw the prey’s attention and focus, while the other would attack from the opposite side.

But Phillis, with her limited knowledge of swamp creatures, had no way of knowing about the Night Storks’ hunting habits.

‘Thwack!’

“Ugh?!?”

The moment her attention was drawn to the left where the clacking sound came from, the Night Stork on the right jabbed its long, sharp beak at the side of Phillis’s face.

Thanks to the elves’ exceptional hearing, which allowed her to detect the change in wing-flapping sounds from the right, she suffered only a slight cut on her cheek. Had she allowed the attack without any awareness, she would have lost her right eye.

“I don’t have time to play with the likes of you!”

‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’

“Aaaack!”

The sound of revolver shots and terrible screams like those of a human echoed through the midnight swamp.

While it was advantageous that Will’s borrowed revolver allowed her to attack enemies without taking her hands off the reins, her accuracy wasn’t great due to her inexperience with shooting from horseback.

“Aaack!”

“Wut!”

Just as she shot down the enemy on the right, a stabbing attack came from the left.

Barely avoiding the Night Stork’s beak that persistently targeted her eyes, Phillis straightened her posture and aimed the revolver at the enemy on the opposite side.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Aaaack!!”

Once again, three gunshots were followed by the unpleasant cry of a Night Stork as it fell back into the distance.

While Night Storks were troublesome due to their teamwork and their sinister attack method of persistently targeting the eyes, they weren’t particularly formidable monsters in terms of physical abilities.

Yet even against such opponents, it took six shots to take down two of them.

If she had been standing still on the ground, she wouldn’t have missed such large birds, even if it wasn’t her own rifle.

‘…If I hadn’t borrowed Will’s gun, I would have been in serious trouble.’

Her horsemanship wasn’t skilled enough to hold and fire a rifle with both hands while riding Ancestor.

She knew this well, which is why she had borrowed Will’s revolver, but she hadn’t expected to need it so soon.

Breathing an inward sigh of relief, Phillis lowered her posture, leaning against Ancestor’s body, and barely managed to open the cylinder to reload the magical bullets.

Fireball and Lightning Bolt were her hidden cards, reserved for encounters with powerful monsters.

For all other combat situations, this revolver would be the partner that protected her life.

With that thought, she couldn’t help but smile, feeling as if Will was protecting her.

‘I can’t draw as quickly as you can, nor fire continuously… but please, Will. Lend me your strength.’

Phillis wiped the blood from her cheek, tucked the revolver into her waist, and gripped Ancestor’s reins with both hands.

She imagined the moment when she would see again the smile of the man who had somehow taken up such a large place in her heart…