Ch.702Emergency Treatment

Aishan-Gioro Orhan.

Hersella’s biological father and, perhaps due to the story I changed, unlike in the original work, he was the indomitable Kagan who unified the great plains and marched toward the Empire.

He never reached the Empire and perished alongside the Empire’s shield who had blocked his path throughout his life.

Leaving behind only mountains of corpses and headless barbarian legions running wild.

I left Orhan’s burning body where it lay, and with his Crimson Blade slung over my shoulder, I staggered back to headquarters.

Whatever I did next, I needed medical treatment first to move properly.

—-

Due to Orhan’s attack and Ludwig Wilhelm von Landenburg’s death, the situation at headquarters was pure chaos.

“The Margrave has…! Elpinel have mercy, is this the end…?”

“Aaaagh… my arm, my aaaaarm…”

Critically wounded soldiers with missing limbs screamed for their mothers, while those who seemed relatively unharmed ran around frantically, not knowing what they were doing.

“How is Lord Blake’s condition? We must save him at all costs!”

“Orhan! Where is Orhan? He must be exhausted! Find his position and surround him…!”

What a mess, seriously.

“Where is Orhan—”

“He’s dead.”

I approached them, leaning the Crimson Blade against the wall.

“Lord Median!”

Only then did one of the adjutants notice me, startled with shock and rushing toward me like he was sprinting.

A gray-haired old knight. His name was… right, Sean. One of Ludwig’s close aides.

“You’re safe. Thank goodness, thank goodness!”

“Not exactly safe… but somehow alive.”

Sean’s gaze fell upon my left arm, blown apart from the inside, and the wounds covering my entire body.

His face instantly turned pale.

“Good heavens…! A priest, quickly call a healing priest!”

At Sean’s commotion, those who turned their heads in our direction jumped like startled sparrows upon seeing me and ran off somewhere.

I slumped down in the chair Sean provided, placed Frosting on the desk beside me, and lit a cigarette.

“These injuries… but more importantly. What you just said about him being dead… did you actually defeat Orhan?”

Along with Sean’s question, everyone around stared intently at my mouth.

They probably had some idea from seeing me return like this, but they needed to hear the truth from my own lips before they could feel at ease.

“Haaah…”

I inhaled the minty aroma deeply to soothe my dizzy head and pointed to one side of the wall.

“Yes. I killed him. Crushed his heart and burned his body. That sword over there is the proof.”

The blade that had spilled the blood and entrails of countless Imperial citizens still gleamed with a vivid red light. Orhan’s beloved weapon. Evidence of his death as certain as his severed head would have been.

“Is that the Crimson Blade…!”

“That sword being here means… truly, Orhan, that nightmarish monster has finally…?”

The faces of the adjutants and knights brightened somewhat. As if a lifeline had descended from heaven when they’d expected certain death.

“Oh… Elpinel, we thank you for your grace…!”

Some even knelt in prayer, despite not being priests or paladins.

…I’m the one who suffered, so why is Elpinel getting the thanks?

All that deity did was give me a sword. And one that didn’t even work against the Unyielding Flesh.

Well… in the end, since Orhan released his Unyielding Flesh and charged at me, Durandal’s sharpness did help.

“That’s enough celebrating… So, what’s the battle situation?”

I leaned deep into the backrest and questioned them.

With Ludwig dead, who should have been the commander-in-chief, it fell to me and those gathered here to assess and manage the situation.

“…It’s unclear.”

“Unclear?”

My voice grew sharper.

Don’t know? Is that something that should come from the mouths of headquarters staff? If you don’t know, who does?

“Yes. Because headquarters was paralyzed by Orhan’s assault…”

“Ah… right. Then it can’t be helped.”

I clicked my tongue and nodded.

Well, from their perspective, it was like being hit by a natural disaster, so they wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to assess the battle situation. Understandable.

“Then, were Joshua, Heinrich, and Frederick rescued safely?”

“Lord Joshua is being treated somehow. Lord Heinrich has returned to the front lines. But Lord Frederick…”

The adjutant who was answering shook his head and trailed off.

“…I see. He’s dead, then.”

The death of Frederick, commander of the Empire’s Third Corps. A truly massive loss.

Following in Joshua’s footsteps to reach the realm of heroes, that man was undoubtedly the Empire’s greatest military strength.

I pressed my throbbing temples while exhaling smoke mixed with sighs.

To lose one of only four heroes so early… the road ahead looks truly bleak.

“Um… Lord Median, if Orhan is dead, shouldn’t we announce that fact immediately? If they realize their king has fallen, their morale…”

“No, let’s wait on that. Treatment comes first.”

I rejected the suggestion of the young commander who carefully approached me.

The morale of the Aishan army would break upon hearing of Orhan’s death?

It was common sense, and I thought so too, but… it was still unpredictable.

It would be fortunate if those Ka’har decided to flee upon learning the truth, but conversely, they might go even more berserk, vowing to avenge their Kagan.

What those madmen would do couldn’t be predicted by common sense.

So, at the very least, I needed to treat my wounds first so I could handle any unexpected situations. Though the treatment would only be temporary at best.

—-

“…The condition is serious.”

The healing priest from the Church of Saulite who arrived shortly after examined my left arm with a grim expression.

“Bone fragments have penetrated the muscles and nerves at the cross-section, and a terrible curse is eroding the wounded area. This isn’t an injury that can be resolved simply by invoking a healing miracle.”

“Are you saying it can’t be treated?”

The healing priest’s face looked so serious that I couldn’t help but grow concerned.

Being one-armed would be quite troublesome. Extremely so.

“That’s not it. If we amputate about half a span above where the curse hasn’t penetrated yet… and alternate between purification and healing miracles with intensive treatment… it will take a long time, but eventually it should recover.”

So it will heal.

That’s a relief.

“Half a span above, you say.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Thanks to your mana resistance, it hasn’t been infected beyond that point—”

– Slash!

I immediately drew my dagger and cut off my forearm above the indicated point.

Due to Rotholandus’s blessing, only someone with strength like mine could cut through my arm.

“Wh-what?! No, you can’t just…!”

The healing priest jumped in shock and cried out.

Yes, she couldn’t help but be surprised.

Though I had tightened my muscles to suppress bleeding as much as possible, the moment I cut off my arm, blood splattered across half her face and dripped down.

“Ugh… is this good enough? Please stop the bleeding, purify, and heal it.”

Clicking my tongue at the pain like a hot iron searing my flesh, I thrust the severed end of my arm toward her.

“Ah, yes. Right away…”

The healing priest, who had been clutching the fallen piece of flesh without realizing it, nodded blankly.

She tightly wrapped my arm with bandages, poured holy water over it, and then held up the sacred symbol of the Church of Saulite and bowed her head in prayer.

“O Goddess of mercy and warmth, who burns herself to illuminate the heavenly light and embraces all creation with warmth…”

A crimson sacred light descended upon my body, glowed briefly, and then faded as if absorbed.

Seeing this, other sun priests also prayed to Saulite and cast healing miracles.

As seven miracles combined, my dizzy and drooping body recovered to a level where I could move reasonably well.

Even so, it merely stopped the bleeding and closed the wounds. I couldn’t even guess how long it would take for my forearm to regrow, and it would take at least ten minutes for the cut wounds to fully heal…

But this was enough for now.

There was no point in stacking more miracles as it wouldn’t dramatically speed up the healing, and this should be enough for me to fight.

“Thank you.”

I stubbed out my cigarette in the ashtray, picked up Durandal, and stood up.

As for Frosting… I’d have to leave it for now. With this arm, there would be no point in equipping it.

“I’m going back out there. Announce it throughout the city. That their Kagan, Aishan-Gioro Orhan, has fallen by my hand.”

So get off the plains right now.

“No, you intend to fight in that condition? It’s dangerous!”

“That’s right. Although we’ve invoked healing miracles, the wounds haven’t fully healed, so you should rest first…”

Sean and the healing priest urgently tried to stop me. Well, of course they would. It was the sight of a critically injured patient rushing to the front lines.

But…

“There’s no one else but me. No one else who can step up.”

I shook my head at them and sighed.

Yes. I’d like to rest too.

I feel like lying in bed and not moving for three days straight.

But what can I do?

In this damn Empire, there’s no one stronger than me, even in this condition.

So… I have to do it.

For now.