Chapter 99: Healing (II)
The next day.
When Yalina, who was camped outside Frostfang Pass, received reports from the logistics personnel that the more than one hundred wounded soldiers had all shown clear signs of recovery and had regained their ability to fight, she was completely stunned.
It went against everything she knew.
So she summoned one of the soldiers who had recovered completely—a squad leader from the firearm corps who had originally been suffering from a persistent high fever. Now, however, he looked perfectly normal.
She carefully questioned him about what had happened the previous night.
After thinking back, the squad leader said that all he remembered was a warm light shining over his entire body. After that, he had felt much better, broken out in a heavy sweat, and fallen into a deep sleep. When he woke up this morning, he discovered that all of his wounds had healed.
The firearm corps squad leader wore an expression of deep devotion and declared that it must have been the Lord's light shining upon them.
Praise be to the Lord's glory!
Yalina's expression became somewhat strange. She looked as if she wanted to say something, yet stopped herself in the end. She merely waved her hand and ordered the firearm corps squad leader, along with all the soldiers whose injuries had fully healed, to return to their units.
As a result, the military force, which had originally been reduced to a little over eight hundred men, recovered to nine hundred strong.
Not to mention the tremendous boost to morale brought by their return.
Yalina turned her gaze toward the castle in the rear and whispered in a voice only she could hear, "It was you, wasn't it, Levi... my lord!!!"
...
While Levi's side was enjoying a surge in morale, the situation at Frostfang Pass was the complete opposite.
The forces of Viscount Silverclaw and the allied army of the Kingdom of Valeria were plagued by internal conflicts and sinking morale.
Even though they were the side with the numerical advantage in this war, they had somehow been forced into a defensive position.
As one of the parties involved, Viscount Silverclaw became increasingly irritable after learning of the campaign decree that the Duke of Silverbrook had issued throughout the entire duchy.
He stormed over to the commander sent by the Kingdom of Valeria and roared furiously, "Why aren't we continuing the offensive?"
"Why are we just sitting here wasting time?"
"As long as he is willing to act and keep those firearm troops occupied, your cavalry and the cavalry of Silverclaw Territory could crush them in a single charge. Those firearm soldiers are as fragile as straw huts—they'd all fall immediately. Hornreach would be laid open before us."
"Those alchemical firearms, that so-called cement technology—don't tell me you're not interested!"
"Did your king send you here just to be a turtle that only dares hide its head inside its shell?"
Viscount Silverclaw had completely lost all composure.
If things continued dragging on, he could already foresee the miserable fate awaiting him.
Had he known things would turn out this way, he would have been better off surrendering directly to the Duke of Silverbrook from the beginning. Even if the price had been enormous, it would still have been far better than his current situation.
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.
No matter how much Viscount Silverclaw regretted his decisions, it was already too late.
The commander dispatched by the King of Valeria was a pale-faced, hawk-eyed middle-aged nobleman.
He listened to Viscount Silverclaw's outburst without the slightest change in expression.
Did he not understand the importance of ending the war quickly?
Of course he did.
The person Viscount Silverclaw referred to as him was a secret operative sent by the king—a First-Ring Wizard.
That wizard could indeed secretly interfere with the enemy firearm troops.
Yet the First-Ring Wizard had chosen not to do so.
Because the last First-Ring Wizard—one even stronger than him—had vanished without a trace inside Hornreach.
Hornreach's true strength might be far greater than they had imagined.
Which meant that somewhere within Hornreach, there could be an existence comparable to an old Second-Ring Wizard.
Not merely a handful of alchemists.
That fact alone was enough to earn Hornreach's respect and required a complete reassessment of the situation.
What Viscount Silverclaw did not know was that the King of Valeria had already begun reevaluating the war.
If an agreement could be reached with Hornreach, the Kingdom of Valeria was prepared to withdraw its forces.
As for whether Viscount Silverclaw lived or died—
Well, that had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Valeria.
Thus, faced with the fury born from Viscount Silverclaw's fear, the commander remained perfectly calm.
He offered a few perfunctory words of reassurance in an indifferent tone and then dismissed him.
Although Viscount Silverclaw knew perfectly well that he was being brushed aside, there was nothing he could do about it.
He returned to his tent.
His face was as dark as storm clouds.
He sat in silence for a long time.
Then, suddenly, he drew the knight's sword at his waist and slammed it down onto the table before him.
"Since none of you want me to live, then don't blame me for what happens next!"
"Gray Crow!"
"My lord, I'm here."
The ever-loyal Gray Crow stepped out from the shadows and bowed his head in response.
"Find a way to contact someone in Hornreach. Tell them I can help them end this war."
"All I ask is that they give me the chance."
Viscount Silverclaw spoke through gritted teeth.
Gray Crow paused for a moment. His gaze drifted, almost imperceptibly, toward Viscount Silverclaw, who had been driven into a corner. A strange sense of sorrow rose in his heart.
"Understood, my lord."
"Go. The future of House Silverclaw rests in your hands!"
Viscount Silverclaw placed all his hopes on Gray Crow.
Neither of them noticed the rat hiding silently in a corner.
...
The next day.
Levi's Magic Power recovered even faster than before.
The reason was simple—his Sea of Souls now contained two additional spells.
He entered the room.
Miss Nightingale, Odelle, and Rapunzel were keeping watch beside Rune.
Rapunzel looked relatively fine.
Odelle, however, appeared utterly exhausted.
"You've worked hard, Odelle," Levi said softly.
The corners of Odelle's lips twitched slightly, and she shook her head.
Levi said nothing further. He simply cast Healing on her.
A radiance even warmer and more intense than the day before enveloped her entire body.
She felt all the fatigue drain away instantly. The lingering discomfort throughout her body vanished as well.
She stared at Levi in astonishment.
Even more astonished was Rapunzel.
She had never imagined that in the span of a single night, Levi's Healing could undergo such a dramatic transformation.
"This..."
Levi cast another Healing spell on Rapunzel.
Like Odelle, she wasn't injured, but the warm light of Healing swept through her body and erased every trace of exhaustion.
Its power far surpassed yesterday's version of Healing.
It was even stronger than the healing effect of her tears.
Only then did she truly understand why Levi had said he needed time.
At the same time, she was deeply shocked by the terrifying speed of his progress.
Rapunzel watched as Levi covered Rune's chest wound with a First-Ring Spell-level Healing.
A gentle glow settled over the injury.
There was no dramatic regeneration.
Instead, under the careful guidance of Magic Power, tiny pink buds of flesh slowly began to emerge along the edges of the wound.
They wriggled and stretched with agonizing slowness, like tender shoots breaking through the soil in early spring.
Awkwardly, they reached toward the center of the cavity, barely managing to reconnect the torn muscles and fascia and slightly draw together the grotesque wound.
The injury remained severe.
Sky Knight Rune still showed no signs of waking.
Yet along the edges of that bloody cavity, a tiny but genuine spark of life was quietly taking root.
"It's still not enough."
Levi slowly withdrew his hand and carefully examined Rune's wound.
He made the judgment silently to himself.
"Lord Levi, Sir Rune...?" Odelle asked hopefully.
Levi replied calmly, "He still needs a little more time."
"Mhm."
Odelle lowered her head and let out a sigh of relief.
If Levi said that, then Rune could be saved.
Over all this time, Levi had never disappointed them.
And this time would be no different.
That was wonderful.
Levi did not look at Odelle.
Instead, he used Gathering Technique and Wizard's Hand to gently lift Rune's body.
He carefully cleaned and treated the wound, then gently laid him back down.
After nodding to Rapunzel and Odelle, he left.
The power of Healing was still insufficient.
It needed to be improved further.
Levi's first destination was Frostfang Pass.
When the soldiers saw that their lord had personally come to the front lines despite the danger, they immediately became excited.
Many of them looked ready to lay down their lives for what they considered the finest lord imaginable.
Of course, now that Levi possessed Healing, dying was no longer quite so easy for them.
Unless they were exceptionally unlucky.
After nodding to the soldiers, Levi headed toward Yalina's private tent.
Yalina looked at him, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "Last night..."
"It was me."
Levi admitted it directly.
Yalina's eyes immediately brightened.
"Then in the future, the territory's—"
"For the short term, yes. But in the long term, we'll still need trained doctors. I've already tasked two merchant associations with searching for people skilled in that field," Levi said.
Yalina quickly understood and nodded.
Levi was ultimately a lord and a wizard, not a professional physician.
Providing aid during wartime was one thing.
But once the war ended, expecting him to continue doing this indefinitely was unrealistic.
Then again...
Levi, this mysterious wizard, seemed to possess an astonishing variety of abilities.
Far more than Yalina had ever expected.
But that was a good thing, wasn't it?
At that moment, Yalina thought of something else.
"How is Rune doing now?"
"The injury is under control for the time being, but fully healing him will still take some time," Levi replied calmly.
"That's good."
Yalina finally relaxed.
Then she brought up another matter.
"By the way, I don't know if you've heard, but the Duke of Silverbrook has issued a campaign decree against Viscount Silverclaw..."
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