Ch.289289. Six Clock Hands (9)

*Gulp.*

“Ugh… bitter…”

Just one sip and it’s this bitter. My tongue instinctively tries to escape my mouth to taste the sweet air outside.

And there’s still so much left. Since I normally despise bitter things, I’ll probably need to close my eyes tightly to finish the rest.

“But… I have to drink it…!”

Still, I won’t throw it away.

“One, two… hup.”

After taking a shallow breath, the girl squeezed her eyes shut, poured the medicine into her mouth, and gulped it down.

Her mouth filled with the herbal medicine’s taste, almost bringing tears to her eyes, but she managed to drink it all.

“Ugh… I drank it all, so that’s enough, right?”

Though there were no longer any outsiders in this cave, Renias murmured while gently touching the bandage ribbon carefully tied around her leg.

That leg had been gushing bright red blood. The crudely tied rag had already burned away, and beneath the neatly tied ribbon, there would be red scabs.

Someone had personally stopped the bleeding and treated it with care.

“…”

-‘Unless you want scars on those pretty legs, don’t touch them carelessly and don’t skip the medicine. I’ve left the herbs here; just find the same ones and brew them according to the mixture. If anything’s unclear, ask me again. I’ll explain before I leave.’

He was truly kind. In her experience, people who showed such kindness to someone they just met usually had ulterior motives.

Typical examples included those wanting to borrow the Lantana family’s power, those seeking to gain authority through Arkab’s influence, or those trying to profit from her name.

But he simply saw her as an injured schoolgirl. Nothing more.

In that context, suddenly asking for his name was clearly a mistake.

Yet he didn’t question her in return.

-‘Junon.’

He simply answered with his name, not prying into her identity.

“Junon…”

That name, she had heard it before. Back when she was attending lectures at Levrant Academy, not fighting monsters like now.

Nasty rumors had followed him like a tail. He was often discriminated against for supposedly lacking talent, and all sorts of slander circulated about him.

But this person…

If someone asked whether the person who appeared and helped her when no one else could was really as bad as people said—

“That can’t be true.”

She could state with certainty that he was not someone who would commit acts deserving of such gossip.

Despite her mistake that could have revealed her identity, he showed such consideration that he didn’t ask questions in return. Someone with such thoughtfulness couldn’t possibly be the source of those rumors.

The answer was clear.

“The nobles must have been the problem.”

False accusations.

It was obviously a conspiracy born of jealousy and envy from those who were upset by Professor Muniher’s arrival at the academy.

Renias gently touched the carefully tied ribbon around her knees with her fingertips.

“When my personal matters are settled, I’ll definitely find you and repay your kindness.”

Ending with “Senior Junon,” she allowed herself a slight smile.

Not the superficial smile she usually showed others.

It was a genuine smile of gratitude, thinking of the black-haired boy who had shown her kindness without reason.

***

Unlike usual, luck had been on his side repeatedly.

Finding the medical kit that should have been broken or buried beyond recognition, then witnessing Ashpern, who had been confronting him head-on, suddenly show fear and flee.

Though his body was strained, somehow he hadn’t collapsed immediately but made it to a cave where he could hide and even managed to sleep. The brevity of that rest was another stroke of luck.

And as if that weren’t enough, another dramatic bit of fortune followed. The fact that his body hadn’t broken down after just a few hours of sleep. The Blushire Arc that Goden had given him had responded, and the small amount of remaining mana had supported his staggering body.

But despite all this luck, the final puzzle piece was still missing.

The mana injector in the medical kit was single-use. Even if he returned now, Michel’s condition wouldn’t improve.

Moreover, would the other members even believe him if he honestly told them that between Michel and the hooded person he saw in the cave, the latter was more dangerous?

Not likely.

The consequences of his choice would be his alone to bear.

Somehow, he needed to bring back something effective to improve Michel’s condition and prove himself to them.

But he hadn’t given up. Even without a medical kit to treat Michel, he kept thinking.

The time remaining was at most 6 hours—the time until Michel would die from dehydration or excessive bleeding. It was ridiculously insufficient time to bring another medical kit or take her to a doctor while avoiding monsters.

However… looking at it differently, it could also be considered enough time.

‘It wasn’t about constitution. It had nothing to do with being a fire mage. The woman I saw in the cave was of a completely different attribute than fire magic.’

He had successfully completed mana surgery on someone in an almost identical situation. He had injected mana into the artery and carefully untangled the circuits, returning them to their previous state before the symptoms appeared.

In other words, he had gained experience.

One might wonder what difference a single surgery could make. Would it really matter for Michel?

But it absolutely did. Though it was just one surgery, the knowledge gained from saving a life had built a different theory, which led to another theory, creating possibilities.

There were commonalities: overheated mana circuits, excessive bleeding from large lacerations, and dehydration. But the fever symptoms weren’t due to the fire mage’s constitution. That subtle condition had left Junon with another possibility.

‘If I can just find a way to inject mana into a visible artery to replace the mana injector…’

He recalled all the theories he had learned at Levrant Academy.

Fire mage. Overheated mana circuits. Excessive bleeding. Dehydration. Mana to be injected into the artery.

After complex calculations and multiple verifications, he reached a conclusion.

‘It’s possible. Definitely.’

There was a solution to this problem.

-Rustle.

An herb that would be considered poison by most doctors was uprooted by Junon’s hand.

.

.

.

Michel’s lips were becoming increasingly dry.

The large wound on her back had hardened somewhat, but the bleeding hadn’t noticeably decreased. They were applying pressure as Junon had instructed, but it wasn’t making an effective difference.

The sound of Michel’s voice, groaning in pain through parched lips that clearly showed approaching dehydration, was enough to make anyone’s brow furrow.

“Erika!”

“…!”

“He-he’s here! He just arrived!”

Just as Erika, having reached the limit of her patience, was about to take action—

Junon arrived.

In one hand, he carried fruits full of moisture.

“You made us wait just to bring this?”

“…No time to argue. Move aside.”

Honestly, she was displeased. Sure, those might help with dehydration, but after all his talk about mana circuits, she had expected him to come up with a more substantial solution.

“Is that all?”

“What?”

“Is that really all you’ve got? We could have gathered fruit ourselves.”

While squeezing fruit juice into Michel’s mouth, Junon calmly replied.

“Not all.”

As expected. He did have something prepared.

“So I need you to leave this cave.”

“…What?”

“From now on, I’m going to do my best to save Michel. So… I’m asking you to leave this cave.”

Of course, she never dreamed that his “preparation” meant asking them to leave.

***

When Junon said he needed to perform mana surgery, they were skeptical. Could he really do such a thing?

Mana surgery.

Erika had heard about it from Professor Dalia. For humans, mana circuits were like organs—similar to vital internal organs—making not just physical surgery but also mana surgery possible.

It seemed implausible, but there were already plenty of papers on it, and it had been performed numerous times.

However, it was beyond Erika’s capabilities. It required extremely delicate mana control and knowledge of mana circuit characteristics, circulation cycles, and variables based on type and form. Aris was even less qualified.

So they had no choice but to give him space.

“Will it be okay? I came out because even a tiny amount of mana could affect the procedure, but…”

Aris asked anxiously.

Erika was equally uneasy. Leaving Michel alone with Junon already made her uncomfortable, and blindly trusting his words was difficult.

He had been a commander who had repeatedly failed.

Since Goden’s death, he hadn’t successfully accomplished anything meaningful.

Erika suddenly realized she had been too complacent and turned back toward the cave.

“Erika? I-I’m coming too!”

Aris hurriedly followed, asking,

“Shouldn’t we stay away? He said we’d interfere with the surgery…”

“It’s taking too long! He should have finished by now! Even back surgery wouldn’t take this long!”

“What? Then…!”

“He might be up to something. I was too careless!”

The two rushed into the cave where Michel’s surgery was taking place, but Junon was nowhere to be seen.

They immediately checked Michel’s condition, only to find—

“That fucking bastard!!!”

Michel had already lost most of her physiological functions and lay with her eyes closed.