Chapter 118

〈 Episode 118 〉The Message of the Vanished

“…”

The once splendid and magnificent royal castle was now a ruin, ravaged by a fierce battle. Geraldine was speechless before the sight, which could now be considered a relic of a bygone era. She found it hard to believe that she had been living here just a week ago.

Bloodstains splattered across the walls, which were riddled with holes as if eaten away, were reminiscent of a haunted house. Geraldine’s heart ached as she thought of her comrades who had fought and fallen here until the very end.

Following the traces of the battle, Geraldine’s steps came to a halt in the grand hall. It was here that she had risen from the daughter of a fallen family to the vice-captain of the Royal Knights Order. Geraldine bit her lip.

“Your Majesty…”

The throne where the King once sat was shattered, its pieces scattered across the floor. The sight seemed to reflect the fallen royal family, and Geraldine felt a sense of despair. She unconsciously reached out to tidy up the throne, but then realized the futility of such an action and withdrew her hand.

The last place Geraldine headed to was King Phillip’s office. Opening the door, she found the office relatively intact, spared from the brunt of the battle, save for a thin layer of dust. On the desk, she discovered a letter, as if placed there just for her. Sensing an ominous aura emanating from the letter, Geraldine’s expression darkened as she carefully unfolded it. The content was just a single line.

I, Phillip Artua, hereby designate Maximillian Artois as the successor to the Artua Kingdom in my absence.

“Ah…”

Along with the royal seal imprinted on it, the concise sentence evoked a myriad of indescribable emotions in Geraldine. In truth, she wasn’t particularly fond of Maximillian. Whether he was the rightful heir to the throne or not was of no concern to Geraldine. She was only loyal to Phillip, who had recognized her abilities and made her the vice-captain.

Geraldine couldn’t tell whether Phillip had left this letter simply anticipating a situation that could cause conflict, or if he had other feelings for Maximillian. But one thing was certain. With Phillip Artua gone, Maximillian Artois was the only legitimate heir to the kingdom, encompassing both the Pro-Former King Faction and the Pro-Prince Faction.

The rescue operation in the capital continued for over three days. As the Tentacle stopped coming, people created temporary shelters on the outskirts of the capital and placed all the unconscious patients there. Asha, who had burned all the Tentacle lying on the streets on the first day, devoted herself to treating the comatose people from the second day.

“It’s not easy…”

Asha was not yet skilled in Spell that interfered with the mind. If Walter were here, it would have been a great help, but he was a week’s walk away. All Asha could do was heal the wounded bodies on the outside.

As a result, Asha looked worse than the patients lying in front of her. Asha, who was about to treat a laceration, suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion and vomited.

“Ugh, uweeck!”

With a sensation of blurred vision, Asha lost her balance and tumbled to the side. At the same time, lightning-like Mana spread across her face, and blood vessels burst. Combined with the feeling of her head being squeezed and the pain of her skin being cut, she trembled without even being able to groan.

“Mom?!”

Lucia, who had rushed over at once after hearing the loud noise, was horrified to see Asha convulsing with her face covered in blood, and hugged and supported her. Lucia bit her lip at her miserable appearance.

“Mom, what’s wrong!”

“Heok! Ugh… I guess I overdid it a little.”

Lucia turned Asha’s body over and saw that the skin on the left side of her face was torn and the blood vessels inside the skin had burst, turning it red. Lucia frowned as she realized that there were external wounds as well as internal bleeding.

“Mom, wait a minute. I’ll heal you.”

“Okay, please… Heuek!”

‘I didn’t even check how much Mana I had left and used Spell, so the backlash…’

Unlike Magic, which requires both will and incantation or Hand Seals, Spell is mostly performed with the caster’s will, so the activation is immediate. Instead, as a price for not having an intermediate medium, when Spell is not properly manifested, the will to do so returns to the caster’s body as a backlash.

Asha, who was trying to heal the torn wound, had her blood vessels on the left side of her face torn to shreds due to the failure of Spell. She gasped and groaned as if the skin on her face had been peeled off. Asha’s body, which had a brute durability that did not match her slender frame, was unexpectedly backlashed in a dazed mental state, making her own face tattered.

Lucia inserted Tentacle into Asha’s face and slowly extracted the blood that was turning her face red. Then, Lucia carefully covered the skin of her tattered face with a jelly-like Catalytic Fluid generated from her own skin. Lucia, who looked at Asha, who had taken a painkiller and had a slightly more comfortable face, injected a sleeping pill into her blood vessels and put her to sleep.

Lucia, who was looking at Asha with worried eyes, looked at the humans with murderous eyes.

‘I should have killed them all. I shouldn’t have saved them, and this happened…’

The humans who were mentally stimulated by Lucia’s Thought waves became Asha’s burden. There were Wizards among the refugees, but they were not good at healing, so Asha was the only one who could heal the people here in a short time.

If Lucia had been more careful and swept away the Tentacle, Asha would not have had to suffer, but Lucia, blinded by anger, did not think that far. Lucia, who was constantly looking at people with eerie eyes, gritted her teeth and secretly healed the people lying down.

“Tch…”

Lucia knew better than anyone that Asha would continue to heal when she woke up anyway. She really hated healing the humans in front of her, but she hated her mother overdoing it even more. Leaving Asha, who was sleeping like a dead person, behind, Lucia healed the people’s wounds.

Unlike Asha, who could only heal physical wounds, Lucia could even recover her own thoughts that remained in people’s heads and stirred up their minds. Ironically, Lucia was the only one who could completely heal the people who had gone crazy after seeing Lucia.

As time passed, Lucia’s thoughts became simpler and her personality became rougher without her knowing it, but neither Asha nor Lucia herself noticed it.

“This is His Majesty’s message.”

Count Avenue, who saw the letter left by King Phillip, sighed with mixed feelings.

“I don’t know what His Majesty was thinking.”

“What is certain now is that we must bring Prince as soon as possible.”

“His Highness is coming as a rearguard. I’m just worried that it’s taking longer than expected.”

Geraldine had never paid attention to Maximillian, but the message left by King Phillip was something she had to carry out.

“If His Highness does not arrive in time, I will go there.”

The Count, who was puzzled by Geraldine’s proactive attitude, nodded. As far as he had seen, Geraldine was not the kind of person who would play tricks on Maximillian, at least in the current situation.

“I can trust you if you’re a Baron. If the situation calls for it, I’ll ask you.”

Asha, who had fallen asleep in pain and fatigue, woke up to the noisy sounds outside.

“Ugh, ugh… Eh?”

She touched her face without realizing it and realized that something soft was stuck to her face. When Asha pulled it, it fell off with a crack, and it was covered with scabs.

“Ugh…”

Asha quickly threw the grotesque and unpleasant thing into the corner of the tent, and then remembered that she had been injured yesterday. She flinched and put her hand on her face, feeling that her skin was smooth. Asha immediately made a puddle on the dirt floor without a blanket and looked at her face.

“…It’s fine?”

Clearly, there were dark, dried bloodstains on her neck and stains on her clothes, but Asha’s face was without a single wound. She realized that the soft thing on her face had healed her.

“Lucy must have fixed it. Ugh~ I feel like I slept well for the first time in a while.”

Asha, who was in charge of battles, reconnaissance, and healing people, felt like she needed two more hands on her back. Whether she was injured or not, she felt refreshed after sleeping soundly for the first time in a long time. Asha scratched her head and went out of the tent, and was surprised by the sudden burst of cheers.

“Waaaaah!”

“She’s out!”

“Hiek!”

At least 10,000 people were gathered around Asha’s tent. Asha, who was horrified, reflexively flinched, and a woman grabbed her hand.

“Eh?”

“Thank you so much! It’s all thanks to the Wizard!”

“Long live the Wizard!”

“Ugh, ugh???”

Asha, who was bewildered, realized that the people gathered here were quite familiar. The people here were not refugees, but patients who had been treated by Asha at the camp.

“Everyone… is awake?”

“Yes!”

Asha was fully aware that she had done nothing great. If they suddenly woke up, there was only one reason.

‘Lucy, I’m sorry for making you suffer again because your mom is useless…’

Asha wanted to say that it wasn’t her who did it, but Lucy, but she vaguely knew that her daughter didn’t like people’s attention very much. Even if she couldn’t stand the pressure and told the truth here, Lucy wouldn’t like it at all.

“Did everyone have a meal?”

“”Yes!””

Asha smiled at the loud voice.

“Okay, don’t overdo it and go back.”

Perhaps realizing that Asha’s complexion was not very good, the people obediently dispersed at her words. Asha was a little dazed as to why they were so welcoming to her, but that was because she didn’t know the people’s situation exactly.

The people who had been exposed to Lucy’s huge Thought waves felt terrible pain when they saw her, but even after that, they were constantly tormented by the residual thoughts while losing consciousness. They unconsciously remembered those painful memories, so Asha had no choice but to be their benefactor.

Asha had just woken up, but nearly half of the people in the camp had regained consciousness. It was thanks to Lucy’s rampage that she didn’t have to worry about the gazes of the people who were unconscious.

“Umm… Oh? Are you awake?”

“Ugh, ugh… Where is this…”

Asha, who was treating the man with her hand on his chest, was slightly surprised when he regained consciousness.

‘Everyone is getting better quickly. That’s a relief.’

Some people even got up on their own without Asha treating them.

Originally, the treatment was supposed to continue indefinitely, but most of the patients in the camp regained consciousness in just two days.