Ch.250The Black Coast of Yenisei. Lorelei Federation (6)

“How are the wounded soldiers doing?”

“Various conditions—minor injuries, severe injuries. Some are on the verge of death, while others will be fine after just a day of rest.”

“Is there a shortage of artificial limbs or organs?”

“Fortunately, we’re not short, but we’re not exactly well-stocked either. Since some patients need multiple artificial organs, we should replenish our supplies if possible.”

“I see.”

I was conversing with the medical officer while looking around at the wounded soldiers groaning in the infirmary.

Strangely, tank crew members with higher defense ratings had more severe injuries than mechanized infantry. This was because emergency evacuation from tanks was extremely difficult, and the impact from shell explosions was greater, resulting in a high proportion of critical injuries such as total limb loss, spinal damage, and third-degree burns.

Burns in particular required removing the burned skin and covering it with artificial skin, but during that process, bacteria or viruses could infiltrate and cause the living skin to rot. The removal of skin also caused tremendous pain, necessitating narcotic painkillers like fentanyl for anesthesia, which created various difficulties.

“Only a few thousand out of 50,000 troops have landed, yet the devastation is this severe… I understand why triage was invented…” (Triage: patient classification system that categorizes patients as minor, severe, or hopeless cases, treating them in order from minor to hopeless.)

“We did our best, but some with extremely severe injuries had to be euthanized. Many also died during transport.”

“…”

I rubbed my temples for a moment, giving my tired eyes a rest from the red and white-stained infirmary.

We couldn’t save soldiers whose lower bodies were blown off or whose heads were shattered… Well, perhaps it would be possible, but not with the ship’s facilities and medical personnel.

“Continue treating the wounded. Do we have enough beds?”

“Fortunately, since our combat forces are small, that’s not an issue.”

“That’s good. Besides artificial organs, are we well-stocked on medications?”

“Everything is fine except that anesthetics and painkillers are being consumed faster than we anticipated.”

“Hmm… anesthetics and painkillers…”

I nodded, thinking that we should increase the storage facilities for anesthetics and painkillers.

With proper anesthesia and pain management, at least they wouldn’t feel the pain.

“Are the facilities adequate?”

“Better equipment could save more people, of course… but if we tried to bring all possible equipment, it would take up more space than the wards themselves. We already have X-ray, MRI, and CT machines. More equipment might be useful, but better equipment would be excessive.”

When the medical officer said this, I nodded.

In truth, an infirmary with such equipment would be rare across all 13 continents, so I decided to take pride in the medical facilities I had provided.

For soldiers, death itself is a reward, so even those who died in pain would have found their honor.

*

“We’ll withdraw to the rear and regroup. Call if you need support.”

[Understood, Luminator. After how well you’ve fought, we can’t complain.]

“Mm.”

I nodded slightly and then gestured to the helmsman to order a retreat.

“Change course! Sky Warden is heading to the Lorelei Federation capital as of now!”

-Prepare for takeoff! Maintenance crew, verify that weapons are properly secured in the hangers!-

The weapons officer’s transmission rang out, ordering verification that all armored weapons were properly secured in the hangar’s racks, as unsecured weapons could roll around and cause significant damage if they encountered turbulence. Ten minutes later, the Sky Warden took to the skies again.

With damaged armor plating, malfunctioning turrets, and depleted ammunition including missiles, it was no longer in fighting condition, but it could certainly make it to the capital under its own power.

Or we’d all die trying.

“The keel isn’t warped, so at least it won’t snap if we hit turbulence.”

“How strong could turbulence be compared to artillery shells, right?”

“I suppose… We can only hope.”

Somehow, the Sky Warden seemed to fall apart with every battle.

If we’re talking about actual combat where both sides are exchanging fire, rather than just one-sided firepower projection, it always took significant damage.

Perhaps the Sky Warden was a perfect representation of our Yangwol faith.

Just as we survive—battered from all sides among the followers of the overwhelmingly powerful Four Great Gods, pushed to the brink of death but never collapsing, stubbornly surviving—so too did our ship.

All this is the grace of the Sun; praise be to the Sun.

-Target altitude reached. Cease ascent. Current cruising speed: 110km/h. Accelerate to 300km/h.-

-Engine room requires additional personnel. Requesting reserves.-

-Request approved. Reserve team 2, proceed immediately to the engine room.-

As the Sky Warden moved, unlike when it was in perfect condition, even simple acceleration required more personnel.

With numerous turrets and gun emplacements gone, if we were attacked now, the Sky Warden probably wouldn’t survive.

With that thought, even the flock of migratory birds flying by seemed threatening.

Good grief… I’m 220cm tall but still childish at heart… What threat could those free-flying birds possibly pose…

BOOM!

“…? What was that!”

“Enemy attack?!”

While I was admiring the leisurely flight of those birds, a massive noise suddenly came from the stern of the Sky Warden, and the ship immediately began to tilt.

-Alert from the engine room! Bird strike! Bird strike! Emergency engine shutdown!-

“…”

So the birds really were a threat after all…

*

By the time we had patched up the damage from the bird strike, it was lunchtime.

We gathered again in the captain’s quarters to eat together, but the atmosphere was indescribable—right after what could be called a victory, our engine was damaged by mere birds.

“It seems like the Sky Warden has gotten complacent after one major battle. Taken down by a mere flock of birds.”

I grumbled while glumly cutting my steak.

Unfortunately, the wounded with digestive injuries would have to eat tasteless porridge, but as their lord and a victorious commander, I had the right to cut into some meat.

“Don’t underestimate birds. These are tough creatures that travel between continents at altitudes where the low pressure would kill most humans. They’re literally in a different dimension from pigeons or sparrows. We’re lucky that when such large birds collided with the propellers, we only lost speed.”

“I see…”

The propellers that had survived hours of intense combat with only minor fragment damage had now been wrecked by mere birds. At this point, anything anyone said sounded plausible to me.

Especially if it came from the sage.

“We should reach the capital in about three days. By then, don’t you think a ceasefire agreement will be reached?”

Lucia said while spreading butter on her bread, and after thinking for a moment, I shook my head.

“It would be nice if it ended that quickly, but they have their pride too, so they won’t surrender so easily. Once you’ve drawn the knife, you fight until your arm is cut off, right?”

“Didn’t we already cut off all their limbs?”

“…Did we?”

Come to think of it, we had sunk their fleet and destroyed their air force.

So we really did cut off their limbs?

“Then it should end quickly. No navy, no air force, and their army is devastated. They’ll probably come to the negotiating table just to maintain their regime.”

“Their ground forces could still fight for quite a while, but with our flagship in this state, we can’t return to the front lines. Our best option is to end the war quickly and collect our payment.”

An army without a command center is just an enormously large gang of thugs.

Even a mere mercenary company has a commander, deputy commander, and staff officers. If the command center—the Sky Warden—were to fall, the Sun’s forces would go supernova.

“Sigh… Do we have to talk about the military even at the dinner table? Everyone, please eat!”

As the military talk continued, my wife puffed her cheeks in anger.

Though she looked too adorable to be threatening, I knew well that my wife’s true terror manifested in bed.

“My wife speaks the truth. Let’s all eat and talk later. Speaking with bread in your mouth is also against proper etiquette.”

“Hmm…”

After I said this, the table fell silent again, with only the irregular sounds of utensils clinking and food being chewed and swallowed.

Huh… Is this what they mean when they say girls are weak but women are strong?

Or is it simply because she’s the wife of the Sun’s Apostle, legally able to exercise my authority?

All I knew for certain was that I would be getting an earful again today.