Chapter 28: After the Storm

Lila’s sword didn’t kill the wyvern in one blow.

However, the strike precisely slashed through the wyvern’s left wing membrane.

The wing itself wasn’t completely severed, but it was essentially split in two, and the wyvern could no longer bear its own weight.

The first thing it did was release Lila from its grasp.

Though she seemed unconscious, falling helplessly through the air, her hand still clutched the sword tightly.

As divine power burst out in all directions, the wyvern was slashed several more times before spiraling away from Lila and crashing in a separate direction.

It probably wasn’t dead, but that wasn’t the urgent concern right now.

“LFOH!”

Sasha, who had been sprinting at full speed in the direction the wyvern flew, leapt upward with all her strength.

Climbing a tree quickly, she then launched herself toward Lila, who was plummeting headfirst from the sky.

Crash!

Sasha’s small body couldn’t completely absorb the force of Lila’s free fall, but thankfully, she had her shield.

With the shield strapped to one arm, she collided with Lila’s armor.

The impact jolted Sasha’s arm and knocked her to the side, but it slowed Lila’s fall momentarily.

The change in posture was enough to stop her from crashing headfirst into the ground.

Running on all fours, Narya leapt forward and caught both of them, arms stretched out.

Thud!

Unfortunately, the full impact couldn’t be absorbed.

“Lady Lila!”
Chloe, who had been riding on Narya’s back, quickly slid down and rushed to Lila.

The first thing she did was remove the dented armor.

Once Lila’s clothes were exposed, the smell of blood filled the air.

It was unclear whose blood it was, but Chloe immediately began healing Lila.

“Sasha!”

Siwoo called out, running toward Sasha, who had fallen in a different direction from Lila.

“I-I’m fine, nya.”

Holding her right arm, where the shield had been strapped, Sasha spoke through clenched teeth and cold sweat.

“No, you’re not fine.”

Siwoo said firmly, pulling out a potion bottle from his waist and handing it to her.

“Thanks, nya.”

Sasha drank the potion and her expression eased a little.

“Let’s go. That won’t be enough to fully heal you.”

At Siwoo’s words, Sasha nodded.

He supported her by one arm and approached Chloe, who was still healing Lila.

“Sasha!”

Chloe, infusing divine energy into Lila, looked up and shouted.

“Treat Lila first, nya. Isn’t she in a much more urgent state, nya?”

“I have holy water I prepared in advance at my waist.”

“Alright.”

Siwoo rummaged through the small pouch at Chloe’s waist and pulled out a colorless, transparent vial.

He carefully poured it over Sasha’s swollen arm.

“Does that feel better?”

“Much better, nya. As expected of the holy water made by the Saintess, nya.”

Sasha responded with a much brighter expression, then turned serious again as she looked at Lila.

“How is she doing, nya?”

“I don’t think it’s critical. Probably because Lila has a strong body, she was wearing armor, and… most importantly, you caught her properly from below. That made all the difference.”

Siwoo let out a small sigh.

“I’ve never seen a ‘Nucker’ before, but I know wyverns, nya. Dragons don’t usually appear in areas like this, do they? Monsters around here should mostly be low-tier, right, nya?”

Monsters become stronger when they are near other monsters.

The closer they are to the source of magical power, the more powerful and numerous they become.

Depending on the environment and geography, variations can also occur.

Even monsters have their own ecosystems and some form of reproduction, though it’s different from living beings.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s strange. Usually, there would be signs before something like that shows up.”

“Kuong.”

As Siwoo murmured seriously, Narya let out a low grunt.

“Haa…”

The divine energy from Chloe’s hands was fading.

She lifted her hands and placed her ear on Lila’s chest, then let out a soft sigh of relief.

“For now, I’ve done all I can.”

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Chloe’s face was pale.

“Thank you. You did well.”

Even with her stamina likely boosted from being near Siwoo, she was this exhausted—proof that Lila’s injuries weren’t to be taken lightly.

“Don’t worry too much, nya… We stopped it before it became truly dangerous, nya…”

“Yeah, that’s true, but still…”

Siwoo bit his lip.

Why?

Something like this wasn’t supposed to happen this early in the story.

Of course, Lila’s hardships had started back when she enrolled in the academy…

But incidents like this were supposed to happen later, once they were far from the capital.

Could it be?

Even the slightest chance…

Did the Goddess send that thing?

Siwoo briefly wondered.

But the Goddess didn’t answer.

Only after everything had ended did the adventurers finally arrive.

“What the hell is this…”

The adventurers were momentarily speechless when they saw the fallen Hero.

“What the hell were you all doing to show up now, nya!?”

Sasha snapped at the adventurers.

“What’s the point of coming after everything’s already over, nya!? Someone nearly died, you know!?”

“A-Ah, no, we didn’t realize it was going to be this serious…”

“You’re telling me you didn’t see that giant wyvern carrying something huge? And when a rescue request is sent out, isn’t it obvious you should rush over right away!? What the heck is the guild even doing, nya!?”

“W-Well, sometimes inexperienced newbies around here send out flares over minor incidents…”

“You call that an excuse, nya?”

Sasha now looked more dumbfounded than angry—her expression almost blank with disbelief.

“At the very least, the Church won’t let this slide. We’ve got a Hero and even a Saintess candidate here.”

Chloe added coldly, making not only the adventurers pale, but also the Imperial soldiers who had come along with them.

“Let’s talk about the details after we return,”

Siwoo said, placing a hand gently on Sasha’s shoulder.

“Right now, we need to focus on checking Lila’s condition first.”

“Got it, nya.”

Sasha’s ears drooped down.

“..I should’ve done more, nya…”

“No, there was nothing more you could’ve done in that situation.”

Siwoo said firmly.

“And you saved Lila’s life. If you hadn’t pulled her from behind, she would’ve been completely incapacitated back then. We all would’ve been in serious danger.”

Still, Sasha watched Lila being carried away, her expression downcast to the end.

Ah.

Right.

The wyvern.

I suddenly sat up.

Then I realized I wasn’t lying on bare ground—I was on a bed.

So it’s over?

Did I pass out or something?

“You’re awake?”

Siwoo’s voice came from beside me.

I let out a long breath and laid back into the soft bed again.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah.”

Siwoo placed his hand on my arm as he answered,

“That’s a relief.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

When I lowered my gaze slightly and looked out the window, I saw that it was already completely dark outside.

It looked like I had been unconscious for several hours.

“The others have all gone back. They said only one person is allowed to stay behind in the hospital room.”

“Because it’s a patient ward.”

It seemed like I was the only one still lying in bed.

Which, honestly, made sense.

Other students probably had sparring matches and the like, but if they were under a teacher’s supervision, they wouldn’t have gotten seriously hurt.

I was likely the only one hospitalized right after the first week of the semester.

“What about the wyvern?”

“The adventurers took care of it right after you were brought here.”

“What the hell took those guys so long?”

“Apparently, people who idolize adventurers often go out unprepared and send out rescue requests for nothing.”

I placed my hand over my forehead.

“Should we petition the Imperial Court or something?”

I said it half-jokingly, and—

“We already did.”

Siwoo replied calmly.

“Huh?”

“Technically, not us, but the headmaster absolutely exploded. He’s grilling the Adventurers’ Guild, the Imperial scouting knights, and even the border patrol one by one in detail.”

“All that in just a few hours?”

“In just those few hours.”

As I sat there speechless, Siwoo spoke again.

“So, what should we do about the reward?”

“Reward?”

“You clearly defeated the Nuker adult form, and while the adventurers finished off the wyvern together, most of the credit still goes to you. The guild recovered both monster corpses. They’re offering generous compensation as an apology.”

“Haha…”

Two dragons, no less.

Admitting my contribution meant that next to my name in the Adventurers’ Guild records, it would list those monsters as my kills.

“What about the others who were with us?”

“They all said it was basically your solo victory.”

So humble of them.

Siwoo was the one who shot an arrow right into the Nuker’s eye.

If Sasha hadn’t been there, I’d have been knocked out by the tail swipe.

Without Chloe, we wouldn’t have bought the time we needed.

And without Narya, Chloe might not have even stepped up like she did.

Landing the finishing blow doesn’t mean the whole credit belongs to me.

“Is it okay if we split the reward equally?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s do that.”

I let out a small grunt as I shifted my position in bed.

“…Aren’t you going back to your room?”

“How could I, with you here like this?”

“Are you planning to stay up all night sitting there? What, should I make room next to me?”

As I said that with a grin and shifted aside a bit, Siwoo’s face instantly turned bright red.

“T-There’s a foldable bed right over there!”

“Hey, hey, I’m kidding, just kidding.”

Maybe when we were kids, but at our age now, people would definitely get the wrong idea.

I mean, I can’t exactly let a rumor spread that we were having sex in the infirmary, right?

Not ideal.

Although, if it’s Siwoo, I would trust him enough to share the bedside space.

Siwoo let out a long sigh, then suddenly looked at me.

Except—his gaze wasn’t quite aimed at me, but just slightly above me.

“Hm? What is it, do I have something on me?”

“Oh? Oh—yeah, looks like some dust.”

He said that and reached out, gently brushing at the top of my head.

That was… kind of an embarrassing gesture.

But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything about it.

Not because I didn’t want to—but because I wasn’t quite sure why I didn’t want to.