The Defense Against the Orthoptera (Part 4)
The moment she received Muniherr's instructions, Dahlia rushed toward Lebrant Academy without a second's rest.
Arriving alongside her squad would have been far safer, but that was a luxury she couldn't afford.
—Dahlia, even if you have to go alone, you must get there as fast as possible. You understand what I mean, right?
Muniherr had explicitly urged her to reach the academy ahead of everyone else, even if her squad fell behind. And so, mobilizing every resource at her disposal, Dahlia pushed ahead on her own at breakneck speed.
"I see why you said that now."
Judging by the grim trails left behind by the beasts swarming over the Lilkran Mountains from western Schytz Province, Muniherr's urgency clearly stemmed from his foresight that the Orthoptera had already reached Revrant.
Countless tracks along the road evidenced the passage of a massive swarm. Even by a conservative estimate, their numbers hadn't diminished in the slightest; the horde was virtually indistinguishable from the swarm she had witnessed back in Lemtert Village. It meant the garrison forces hadn't engaged them at all.
"If they pulled out all the garrison troops... what about the students...?"
She tried to picture how the students left behind might fare, but she couldn't envision a single good outcome. Her husband, Muniherr, had put it bluntly: with such incompetent brats, it would be a miracle if they didn't end up as nothing more than monster feed.
Though she had already descended to the base of the Lilkran Mountains and shortened the distance, it would still take a few dozen minutes at best. It was the worst-case scenario.
"All I can do is pray the casualties are low."
Just then, the bracelet Muniherr had handed her back in Lemtert Village began to glow.
Whirrr—
"Wait... it's activating now?"
Muniherr had told her this artifact would send a signal if trouble arose at the academy. In an emergency, it pinpointed the bearer's location, transmitted their status, and allowed them to rapidly siphon mana stored across the paired set. Such was the power of the Belshuar Ark.
Its activation meant that whoever held the other bracelet had begun drawing on that reserve. While that testified to a dire emergency, looking at it another way, the fact that they were only using it now meant they might be able to hold out just a little longer.
"At least until the light goes out... Please hold on until then."
The coordinates pointed straight to the main entrance of Alkaid Hall at Lebrant Academy.
***
"Haa... pant..."
"Ju-Junon..."
"Are you really okay? Even a low-tier regeneration spell might—"
"I told you not to waste it, just wait!"
"B-But look at you..."
"You've been holding the line alone for minutes now... Asking us to just stand by and watch..."
"Sylvia!"
"...Please, just do as Junon says, everyone."
"..."
He knew he was at his absolute limit, but he couldn't stop. Forget defensive vanguards; even the offensive frontliners didn't have the strength left to lift their weapons. How could he possibly drop the spell?
The moment this barrier dissolved, the Orthoptera would flood into Alkaid Hall, butchering and devouring every helpless soul inside. Knowing full well what gruesome carnage awaited them, how could he release it? Under no circumstances could he deactivate his unique magic right now.
The mana within the Belshuar Ark had completely run dry. All that remained was to grit his teeth and endure purely on his own power until he broke.
And right at that moment, salvation arrived.
—Hold out for just one more minute like that!
She's finally here...!
Just as he had anticipated, the fastest possible reinforcements had reached them. It had to be Professor Dahlia.
"You heard that, right? One minute. Can I leave it to you?"
Panting heavily, Junon glanced back over his shoulder. His voice sounded as though he might collapse at any second, but relief was clearly written across his face.
Watching him, the final team rallied every ounce of remaining strength, resetting their formation to relieve the man who had held the line alone for agonizing minutes.
Junon rotated out with the remaining team. The brilliant white barrier blurred, then dissolved into nothingness. Though the students had only caught their breath for a scant few minutes, it was enough combat strength to buy the sixty seconds the woman outside had demanded.
As the minute ticked by, the swarm of Orthoptera crowding Alkaid Hall's main entrance began collapsing one by one, their nervous systems paralyzed.
"Is everyone all right?!"
With her arrival, the siege finally drew to a close. It was Professor Dahlia. Though the siege had lasted barely tens of minutes, to the students, it had felt like hours of relentless, bloody warfare.
The students were utterly drained. Having mounted a desperate defense against such overwhelming numbers, exhaustion was only natural.
"We're fine. But more importantly..."
"Inside, there's a critically injured patient who needs help immediately."
Even these students weren't in any condition to walk away unscathed after fighting with everything they had. Some trembled violently from their first encounter with demonic beasts, while others curled up, weeping as they clutched their aching limbs.
Looking at them broke one's heart, but at least a student who had kept their wits had mustered the courage to speak up. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Dahlia asked in the gentlest tone she could manage.
"How badly hurt are they?"
"Well, it's..."
Instead of answering, the students averted their gazes, some even squeezing their eyes shut. Clearly, the reality was too horrific to put into words.
"I'll... take you to them."
Following the student inside, she found two figures lying completely unconscious. The student who had guided her swallowed a dry heave, stammered an apology, and bolted back toward the entrance. Given the pool of blood spreading across the floor, the reaction was all too understandable.
"The blood... isn't this girl's."
One of them had pink hair drenched in crimson, yet she bore no wounds of her own. It was simply severe mana exhaustion. In that case, there was no question whom the blood belonged to. It was the female student lying right beside her.
Dahlia snipped away the makeshift cloth strips bound tightly to staunch the bleeding and examined the wound.
"..."
The abdomen had been completely pierced through. Something razor-sharp had skewered her midsection and had only been extracted later. Judging by the fact that they had waited to remove it—knowing that pulling it out in haste would only cause massive hemorrhaging and hasten death—the first aid had been remarkably astute.
I don't know who did this, but whoever it was, they're the only reason she's still breathing.
And conversely, having witnessed such a horrific sight explained why the students were reacting so viscerally. Compressing the relentless gush of blood around ruptured viscera and layering sustained regenerative magic over it had been the absolute best these young students could do.
But this wouldn't be enough.
The laceration is too deep. Potions and healing magic alone won't even scratch the surface.
She needed to perform surgery before the girl took her last breath. She checked the patient's vitals, but operating entirely alone was impossible. Put simply, she needed one more pair of hands.
Still... the kids here...
In this siege-battered hall, the only people available to assist were first- through third-year students. She knew it was an unfair burden, but there was no alternative. As a physician, she had no choice but to ask one of these students—who had just survived a blood-soaked melee—to assist in an operation.
"I need one person to assist me. We have to operate immediately."
"S-Surgery...?"
"Are you talking about... that wounded senior from earlier...?"
"...Yes. Exactly the kind of surgery you're thinking of. Cutting open flesh, exposing blood and organs."
"N-No... I can't do that..."
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me..."
"Guh-urk...!"
"..."
When she first stepped into Alkaid Hall, Dahlia had noticed the students deliberately averting their eyes from this spot. They knew someone was in agony, but the thought alone was too harrowing to voice. Some had even buried their heads against the wall, trying desperately to shut it out.
A human life was slipping away right before their eyes, but they possessed neither the mental fortitude nor the sanity to step forward. The student who had just retched at the sight of blood proved it. Every last one of them looked away, covering their ears in a frantic attempt to erase the memory.
She knew all too well what happened to soldiers confronting a comrade's mortality on the battlefield for the first time. Some clamped their mouths shut or closed their eyes; some fled from reality; others vomited, fainted, or were driven mad by grief and terror. Yet one could never simply condemn them. When life hangs in the balance, everyone must inevitably take their first stumbling steps across the thresholds of fear and trauma.
I understand. They're still just children unused to death. But...
Left alone like this, someone would undeniably die. She had to save a dying life right now.
It might be harsh, but even if she had to drag someone by force, she had to save her. If the student named Erika died here, an even greater trauma would inevitably crush these young souls. It would leave behind an agonizing, bone-deep scar—the horrific memory of watching a companion skewered through the gut by a beast and dying right before their eyes.
She needed only one person. Someone who could look upon blood and exposed organs during a laparotomy, keep their sanity intact, and hold back the flesh.
There must be someone among these children.
When they were too terrified to even look or remember, someone had still possessed the presence of mind to order that the foreign object impaling the abdomen not be pulled out.
Just then, a male student caught Dahlia's eye.
That boy...?
While every student averted their gaze from the two patients, one person stood apart. His pitch-black hair, strangely evocative of someone from the past, stood out prominently. The direction of his dark eyes was equally striking. Unlike the terrified gazes desperate to look away, his eyes were fixed on the space just behind Dahlia.
Neither terror nor disgust flickered within them. Curiously enough... he simply appeared troubled.
Thanks to that, Dahlia realized immediately.
It was you.
Junon. The boy Muniherr claimed as his student.
Dahlia approached Junon, who had been quietly gauging the room.
"Could you lend me a hand just once?"
"...Me?"
"You've been watching that spot this entire time. Where Erika is."
If someone pressed a blade to his throat and demanded the truth, he would have admitted it without hesitation. He knew Erika's condition was critical, and the fact that Professor Dahlia had stepped back out without finishing treatment meant an obstacle had arisen. Having deduced as much, he couldn't help but keep watch.
"If we don't operate immediately, she will die."
"..."
"Saving the patient is my duty and my desire, but unfortunately, I cannot perform this surgery alone. Attempting it by myself will almost certainly end in failure. However, if you assist me, our chances of success will be vastly higher."
"...Why are you asking me?"
"Because I'm the one making a plea. If you refuse... I'll have no choice but to resort to methods that could put her life in even greater jeopardy. Or perhaps force one of these children to do it."
Physicians were fundamentally those who preserved life. Clinging fast to reason, they never surrendered a shred of hope. They breathed light into firmly shut eyes, cleared blocked airways to let breath flow once more, and coaxed dying hearts back into rhythmic beating.
The Empire's foremost authority in healing and Western medicine stood right here in this hall. And she was asking for his help. Pleading that as a doctor wishing to save her patient, she needed him.
Looking around, barely any student exhibited a normal reaction. No, they were all paralyzed. A person was dying, yet they made excuses—that they couldn't bear to see it, that they didn't want to look—seeking only to flee from reality.
Only one person stood locked in contemplation.
If Erika dies like this...
What happens to the Tembris Party?
With that single question, Junon quickly shook off his hesitation.
A person might appear composed on the surface, but when confronted with grotesque brutality, human nature often betrayed them completely. Such breakdowns were far from rare. Taking that into account, Dahlia issued another warning.
"I'll ask you once more. You won't just see blood gushing; we will have to slice through human flesh and expose visceral organs. If you flee halfway through, this girl will undoubtedly die. Are you confident you won't run?"
"I am."
Without a trace of emotion, Junon lifted Erika into his arms and laid her onto the cot designated as the makeshift operating table. With an impassive expression, he washed his hands in disinfectant solution, slipped on surgical gloves, and finished his preparations.
What on earth... is this boy?
To a physician who had treated patients for decades, Junon's reaction was unnervingly detached. In a situation where any ordinary human would harbor dread or visceral repulsion, he showed not the slightest reaction.
It was bizarre. As if... he had witnessed this kind of horror countless times before...
"Aren't you going to begin the surgery?"
"...I'm making the incision. Hold the retractor."
Perhaps she had struck the truth dead-on.
For Junon, who had been forced to watch his comrades die before his eyes—and had been stabbed to death by a blade held in his own companion's hand—the gruesome spectacle of human blood and exposed viscera was nothing more than trivial.