Ch.149149. Your Spirit Was Sick

“Ugh!”

Ian, who had opened his eyes wide and attempted to get up, swallowed a groan of pain and lay back down as agony coursed through his entire body. It was as if he had been severely beaten by someone; even the slightest movement brought excruciating pain.

Where am I?

Instead of forcing himself to sit up, Ian looked around to figure out where he had awakened.

The khaki-colored tent and ceiling weren’t familiar, but they weren’t entirely strange either. However, compared to the personal tents he knew, this one was at least five times taller and ten times wider.

Enduring the pain, he slightly raised his upper body to look around and saw other cadets in the same condition, sleeping under blankets. Judging by the dizzying smell of antiseptic in the air, this seemed to be a place for treating the injured.

Once Ian realized this was a temporary medical tent, he began piecing together his fragmented memories. Though his mind wasn’t working smoothly after just waking up, he needed to recall what had brought him here.

The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was taking a direct hit from an ogre monster’s massive club. Rushing in without checking his physical condition at the thought of Gilbert facing the creature alone had been his mistake.

When his critical attack failed, the ogre monster’s attack came immediately.

Because he had put all his strength into that one strike, it was impossible to dodge the ogre’s counterattack.

As a result, Ian couldn’t avoid the attack and allowed it to hit…?

Wait a minute.

Ian’s face hardened at the memory that followed.

He hadn’t collapsed after taking that hit.

He had been knocked down by a club, but not by the ogre monster’s first attack.

In that brief moment when his attack failed and he was defenseless, Ian had received help.

And from the person he least wanted assistance from.

“Gilbert…”

Ian unconsciously muttered his rival’s name.

In that critical moment when he absolutely couldn’t dodge the attack, Ian had received help from Gilbert.

No matter what skills he had related to controlling God-Machines, his trait skill hadn’t fully developed yet. Even if it had, avoiding the ogre monster’s attack in that situation would have been impossible.

No matter how impressive his trait skill was, it couldn’t make the impossible possible. At that time, Ian hadn’t fully shaken off the effects of fear, and his posture was completely thrown off after putting all his strength into that one strike.

Ian’s control techniques were utterly useless in that situation.

Realizing this, Ian gritted his teeth in self-loathing. He should have been making a significant contribution, but instead, he was in the pathetic position of receiving help from his rival.

Wait, what about Fresia…?

As he writhed in feelings of powerlessness and self-contempt, Ian realized that Fresia’s artificial spirit core, which he always carried, was missing.

Forgetting his physical pain, he bolted upright and looked around.

The core wasn’t on the bedside table either.

The thought suddenly occurred to him that it might have been left inside the cockpit of the God-Machine he had been piloting.

Ian forced his stiff body to move and got up from the bed.

Anxiety washed over him as the symbol of his self-esteem, Fresia, was gone.

I need to find her quickly. Find Fresia now!

With his clouded eyes trembling severely, Ian put on his shoes and rose from the bed.

“Commander Ian.”

“Vice Commander Talisman…?”

Just as Ian was getting up to leave the medical tent, Talisman, who had been appointed as the vice commander of this subjugation force, entered. He was accompanied by several commanders, including Commander Courtney, who could be considered Ian’s nemesis.

“Where are you going?”

“I, I have something to find, sir.”

“I see. But put that aside for now. The Commander is looking for you.”

“The Commander?”

Ian began weighing which should take priority—finding Fresia or responding to Seraphina’s summons.

He wanted to find Fresia first and then go to Seraphina, but they were no longer academy cadets. They were a military force assigned to a subjugation mission, and it was their duty to prioritize the orders of Seraphina, who led the subjugation force.

The deliberation was brief, but the decision was quick.

“Understood. But may I ask why the Commander is looking for me?”

Talisman stared intently into Ian’s eyes before relaying the order he had received from Seraphina.

“Ian Tigris Linebarrel. You are being detained on charges of insubordination to a superior officer.”

“What is this all about…?!”

Ian looked at the subjugation force members restraining him with a bewildered expression.

He looked at Talisman and Courtney, trying to express his innocence, but they merely avoided his gaze.

Something was clearly going wrong.

Ian had never defied or failed to carry out Seraphina’s orders.

He was tempted to resist out of frustration, but fearing the situation might escalate, he suppressed the impulse and quietly followed them.

This was surely a misunderstanding.

Once he met Seraphina, clearing up the confusion would only be a matter of time, so there was no need to make things worse.

Fortunately, the unit members escorting him weren’t hostile toward Ian, so the atmosphere wasn’t oppressive. It seemed they might know that the charge of insubordination against him stemmed from a misunderstanding.

Thus, almost being dragged out of the medical tent, Ian was transported directly to the command tent.

The distance from the medical tent to the command tent wasn’t very far. After walking for about a minute after leaving the medical tent, they arrived at the command tent, which was familiar to Ian as well.

Talisman, who was leading at the front, cleared his throat in front of the command tent.

“Commander. I’ve brought Commander Ian.”

“Enter.”

With Seraphina’s permission, Talisman took Ian inside.

He didn’t release Ian from restraint, preparing for any unexpected situations.

Ian stood before Seraphina while still in restraints. He didn’t want to appear before her in such a shameful state, but once the misunderstanding was cleared up, everything would be resolved.

“Commander Ian Tigris Linebarrel.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Do you know why you’ve been brought here?”

“I was told it was for insubordination.”

“Yes, insubordination. That’s precisely why you’ve been summoned. Commander Ian, as you know, we are in a state of war. Even in a monster subjugation operation, it’s still a war where lives are at stake. In such a critical situation, you blatantly disobeyed my orders. How do you think I should interpret this?”

Seraphina’s cold, chilling gaze pierced Ian. Even for Ian, who believed he had done nothing wrong, her sharp eyes, devoid of emotion through extreme restraint, made him flinch.

“But Commander, I…!”

“Enough. I don’t want to hear it. Whatever you say, the fact remains that you disobeyed my orders. Do you acknowledge this?”

“Commander! That’s not what happened, I…!”

Ian was frustrated to the point of madness.

When had he, who had always faithfully carried out orders, ever disobeyed Seraphina’s commands?

No matter how much he racked his brain, he had strictly followed the chain of command.

Although he had aligned himself with the Imperial faction, he hadn’t committed the insanity of openly defying Seraphina’s orders in this situation.

If he had tried to do something so absurd, Fresia would have stopped him…

Wait. Fresia stopped me?

Ian was able to retrieve a few pieces of memory that he hadn’t been able to fit together.

Before he charged at the ogre monster, Fresia had tried to stop him. The reason was that his synchronization rate with the God-Machine was low because he hadn’t shaken off the effects of fear yet.

Nevertheless, Ian had piloted the God-Machine and launched an attack against the ogre monster, and now he realized there had been another voice trying to stop him.

‘Commander Ian, hold your position!’

It was the order from Commander Seraphina.

Finally recalling the insubordination Seraphina was referring to, Ian struggled to maintain his expression. If his face changed now, it would be tantamount to admitting he had disobeyed orders.

Of course, not changing his expression wouldn’t prevent others from knowing he had disobeyed orders. At the time, Seraphina had specifically addressed him through the public magic channel, so it was safe to assume that all members of the subjugation force knew about it.

He suddenly felt anxious and slightly averted his gaze from Seraphina, who was still giving him a cold look.

“Commander, please calm down. Although Commander Ian disobeyed your orders, didn’t he have a reason? I ask that you give him a chance to defend himself.”

“Vice Commander Talisman. Are you asking me to make an exception?”

“Yes, I am. Of course, I’m not defending Commander Ian’s actions. He did indeed disobey orders and rush out on his own. However, if you punish him while ignoring his overflowing camaraderie, it will have a negative impact on the morale of the subjugation force.”

Ian was listening carefully to the conversation between Seraphina and Talisman when his ears perked up at the mention of “camaraderie.” Come to think of it, the reason the other commanders’ gazes hadn’t been accusatory when he was being escorted here wasn’t because they thought he was falsely accused.

His sharp mind began to spin rapidly.

By connecting Talisman’s mention of “overflowing camaraderie” with the situation where he had disobeyed orders, he could form a hypothesis.

‘Ian couldn’t leave a comrade who was tasked with facing the ogre monster alone, so he charged in despite disobeying his superior’s orders.’

This was the hypothesis he could form from the fragmentary conversation he had heard.

“Camaraderie? Commander Ian, is this true?”

Ian snapped back to attention at Seraphina’s sudden question. What he needed to do now wasn’t leisurely form hypotheses. It was time to sprint through the opening that had just appeared.

“Yes, Commander. I couldn’t just stand by and watch Commander Gilbert face the ogre monster alone. I will accept the punishment for my insubordination, but I don’t regret my decision in the slightest.”

Nailed it. This is it.

Though it was an improvised response, Ian had no doubt that what he said was truly impressive. The sparkling eyes of the other commanders who heard his words confirmed that this was the best thing he could have said.

However, Seraphina’s eyes remained as cold as ice.

As if she could see through all his lies.

“Very well. Taking into account your overflowing camaraderie, I order you to be confined to quarters. However, be aware that if you disobey my orders again, I will have no choice but to judge you according to strict military law. You may go.”

“Understood. I am grateful for your ocean-like magnanimity, Commander.”

With Seraphina’s dismissal, the commanders who had been restraining Ian also exchanged salutes with Seraphina and left the command tent.

Once outside, Ian took a deep breath, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.

“Ian, you can hold your head high. You’ve done something honorable as a nobleman.”

Talisman laughed heartily and slapped Ian’s shoulder. Talisman, who valued honorable deeds, seemed to think highly of Ian for rushing to help a comrade, as evidenced by the smile that wouldn’t leave his face.

“Not at all. Disobeying a superior’s orders was still wrong.”

“Even so, your heroic actions have deeply impressed the other members. I look forward to working with you in the future, Commander Ian.”

Ian responded to Courtney’s praise with a faint smile, not forgetting to maintain his act until the end. Though he had been confused by the sudden turn of events after waking up, everything seemed to have worked out well in the end.

“By the way, what happened to Gilbert?”

Originally, he wanted to ask about Fresia’s whereabouts, but because of what he had said earlier, he inquired about Gilbert’s condition instead. To be honest, he thought that monster of a man would be fine, so he asked casually.

“About that…”

Talisman’s expression darkened slightly.

Is there some problem?

Ian turned his gaze to Courtney.

“We succeeded in subjugating the ogre monster, but it seems he pushed himself too hard in the process. His mana pathways are severely injured… Because of that, he still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“I see…”

Ian felt a small pang of guilt.

After all, Gilbert’s injury was caused by his impulsive action. And now he had lied about rushing in to help a comrade, so as a human being, he couldn’t help but feel some remorse.

“By the way, was there an artificial spirit in the God-Machine I was piloting?”

“If you’re talking about your artificial spirit, Ian, it’s in your tent, so you’ll find it when you go there. I don’t know when you acquired such a good artificial spirit, but someone like you should have one of that caliber.”

“Not at all. I just lost control due to my youthful vigor.”

“Modest to the end. You haven’t been awake for long, so go back and rest. I’ll tell you what happened while you were unconscious after you’ve recovered.”

Ian expressed his gratitude for Talisman’s consideration and immediately returned to his tent. There, he found Fresia’s artificial spirit core that he had been so desperately searching for.

“Fresia!”

[Ian?! Are you alright?]

“Yes, I’m not in peak condition, but I’m fine.”

[Thank goodness. I was so worried about what happened.]

“Who do you think I am? I’m Fresia’s contractor, aren’t I? This much is nothing. Besides, I handled the situation well!”

Relieved that the situation had been resolved and that Fresia had been safely recovered, Ian told her everything that had happened. He certainly didn’t forget to praise himself for his quick thinking in that situation.

[…So you’re saying it was framed as you rushing in to save that brute?]

“Yes. I’m just that good. To have such quick wit in that situation. Impressive, right?”

Laughing with a “ha-ha,” Ian lay down on the bed and tilted his head at Fresia’s unusually quiet demeanor.

Had today’s battle been too much for her as well?

The thought briefly crossed his mind that it might be because a monster suddenly appeared, corrupted by magical energy.

“It wasn’t too much for you, was it? Like being affected by the magical energy?”

[No, no, it’s not that. I just have some things to think about.]

“Oh, I see. Anyway, I’m going to rest a bit. My body isn’t back to normal yet, so I think I need some sleep.”

[Alright. Rest is important too. Should I wake you up in a few hours?]

“Yes, please. The subjugation operation isn’t over yet.”

[Okay. Sleep well, Ian.]

Ian briefly questioned Fresia’s strangely subdued mood, but as soon as he lay down on the bed, he couldn’t resist the wave of drowsiness that washed over him.

After yawning a few times, he blinked his eyes a couple of times before falling asleep.