Denial (1)
In that makeshift operating room, flesh had been cut open and severed tissues stitched back together for dozens of minutes under anesthesia.
Internal organs beyond the reach of healing magic alone had been cleanly restored through the convergence of Western surgical medicine and divine craft.
With the final suture tied, Professor Dahlia finally set down her bloodstained surgical tools.
"Good work."
"You too, Professor."
The surgery was over. The operation on my dying former comrade was finally finished.
"I can say this with absolute certainty—I couldn't have saved her on my own. The wounds that required healing magic were so deep that her abdomen had to be kept wide open for a prolonged period."
I had spent the entire operation holding open the incision in her abdomen, following Professor Dahlia's precise directions. If anyone asked whether that was all I did, I would answer that it was an immense responsibility requiring absolute concentration. If the angle shifted even slightly from the surgical site, it would have disrupted the recovery of her internal organs. Every nerve in my body had to remain taut and focused. In the end, because that duty was carried out without a hitch, the surgery was deemed a success.
"You're the one who saved this girl. Not me."
"...Why say something so absurd?"
If the physicians spread throughout the Ardellion Grand Duchy heard that, they would jump out of their skin. For me to claim I saved Erika was utterly preposterous.
Dahlia snorted, muttering that it was the plain truth, and peeled off her surgical gloves.
"You two weren't on good terms, were you?"
"...Pardon?"
"I can tell just by looking. It's hardly the first time I've seen it."
What was she getting at?
"A doctor can read the relationship between people just by the way a guardian looks at a patient. And from where I stand, you and this girl named Erika don't seem particularly fond of each other."
"Is that so."
She was probably right. How many lives had this green-haired, middle-aged woman saved in her career? Years of seasoned experience were not something one could dismiss.
"..."
I turned my head slightly to look at Erika.
Not on good terms. She wasn't wrong. I had only stepped in because I had an unavoidable justification to keep her alive. Even if she opened her eyes right this moment and glared at me with that contemptuous gaze of hers, it wouldn't matter.
The members of the Tembris party had to survive. Every single one of them, without exception.
That was the only reason I had intervened, for without them, the Principality would collapse. If they could resolve the crises erupting inside and outside the Grand Duchy of Ardellion, squandering a little of my own emotions was a small price to pay.
So guard the Principality with your own hands. I'll make sure to have zero point of contact with you until the very end.
Right now, there's something more important left to do.
It was time for me to speak my piece.
"I'd like to make a situational report."
"A report?"
I intended to summarize the sequence of events and deliver it to Professor Dahlia. And in doing so, I would subtly exert a bit of influence.
When I finished speaking, Professor Dahlia wore an inscrutable expression.
"May I ask this of you?"
"It's not difficult, but..."
Why go to such lengths? Her gaze seemed to ask.
"I assisted you, didn't I? Surely you can grant me this much."
"I never said I wouldn't. It's just... don't you feel something is odd about what you're asking?"
Of course it felt odd. But setting this up gave me an insurance policy.
"I have my reasons."
"...Very well. I'll arrange it that way."
Telling her I would take my leave, I stepped outside first.
The smell of blood lingered in the cold night air. It wasn't my own blood, nor had it stained my clothes. And since no one had died here, the metallic scent was simply clinging to my fabric.
Sniff.
"Ugh, disgusting."
The stench embedded in my uniform kept rising to my nose. Running into someone looking like this would be terribly awkward. Nearby students turned their heads away in a hurry as soon as they caught sight of me. Having seen me follow Professor Dahlia inside earlier, they couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Not that realizing it now changed anything.
Considering the countless obstacles I would have to navigate alone down the road, there was no need to fret over something so trivial.
Just as I let the thought go, a hand gently took hold of my sleeve, as if to dispute that very isolation.
"...Sylvia? You were waiting all this time?"
She nodded, confirming it.
"You must be exhausted. Why haven't you gone back?"
"You're not the only one who's tired. Ugh..."
As I turned to face her, she immediately scrunched her face. She had caught the scent too.
"You hate the smell of blood. Go on ahead."
Sylvia was the sort of person who gagged and looked away at mere chunks of raw meat bought in haste to feed magical beasts. The scent clinging to me now was human blood—something far worse. It was better to send her off on her own. I didn't want to subject her to the reek any longer, nor did I feel like pressing her to walk beside me.
"...Are you really all right?"
"Yeah."
Despite my attempts to persuade her, she merely shook her head, having no intention of leaving my side. Sylvia walked with me until we reached the fork in the path where the men's and women's dormitories separated.
Knowing how uneasy she felt around the smell, neither of us spoke a word along the way, but I felt a pang of guilt. Because of me, she had been dragged into this mess and forced to witness and smell things that were hardly good for her peace of mind. On top of that, I had practically shoved a massive responsibility into her hands. It was an enormous debt.
Thinking over this as we walked, we soon arrived at the split in the road.
"Thank you, Sylvia."
"Huh?"
"In the end, it was thanks to you that the others listened. If I had spoken up, they wouldn't have given me the time of day."
"That's... only because the others don't know any better..."
"My reputation is what it is, so leave it at that. More importantly, if there's anything you want, just say the word. I'll grant it next time."
Letting it pass without recompense weighed on my conscience. Sylvia hadn't just suffered on my behalf; she had been put through absolute hell.
"Anything... I want?"
"Yeah. As long as it isn't completely unreasonable, I'll do whatever you ask."
"Umm..."
With a faintly flushed face, Sylvia seemed to ponder something, parting her lips as if to speak before clutching her head in contemplation once more. Watching her agonize over what to ask for was rather endearing.
Telling her she could think it over and let me know later, I parted ways with Sylvia and headed toward my dormitory.
Now that the commotion was settled, it was time to return to my daily routine.
I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to wash away the sickening, metallic odor clinging to my body and collapse onto my bed.
Though there had been no fatalities during the defense against the Orthoptera, the injured were numerous. Damage to ordinary citizens and civilians was extremely minimal, meaning the brunt of the casualties fell upon the academy students.
Among them, one of the two most gravely wounded individuals fluttered her eyelids.
"Ngh...!"
Mana surged through her circuits with enough ferocity to scorch her flesh. Aris opened her eyes to that sharp agony.
"Breathe slowly. If you hold your breath, the mana won't circulate properly, and the pain will only drag on longer."
"Haa... whew..."
"There you go. Keep doing that."
"Professor... Dahlia...?"
"The others are so famous I thought my name would be buried. How kind of you to recognize me."
Looking up at the ceiling, Aris felt a profound sense of unfamiliarity. Having a female professor in a white coat standing right beside her only added to the dissonance. It was entirely surreal, like being carried into an infirmary after suffering catastrophic injury.
"How did I... end up..."
How did I get here? That was undoubtedly what Aris meant to ask. Dahlia took a sip of her coffee and spoke immediately.
"The Orthoptera have all been eliminated, and the students are safe. You and Erika, who both suffered from Mana Exhaustion, were treated and are currently recovering."
"Recovering...? Erika is...?"
"I arrived just in time to perform emergency surgery. To be frank, she was on the verge of death."
Dahlia brought the mug back to her lips.
"I... see."
The number of Orthoptera had seemed endless. Though they had retreated repeatedly, the tactical situation had never improved. Their forces were stretched thin, and amidst the chaos, the beasts that slipped past had struck Erika—the cornerstone of their sustained endurance—in a worst-case disaster.
So reinforcements arrived at the very end to turn the tide. That was the only conclusion Aris could draw.
"Um, Professor."
"Yes, I'm listening. Go ahead."
"I'm late in saying what should have been said first. Thank you so much."
Steadying her feverish breathing, Aris expressed her gratitude for saving both her and Erika. Yet despite hearing the most reassuring words a patient could offer a physician, Dahlia did not look pleased.
Those words were not meant for her.
I wasn't the one who saved you.
Going by the facts, the person who had rescued Erika and Aris was a certain male student. A black-haired third-year whom everyone in this academy treated as an enemy, whose reputation scraped the absolute bottom, and whom no one cared to welcome.
Junon—the so-called weakest vanguard, the good-for-nothing of Class E.
Thus, Dahlia brushed aside Aris's gratitude. Someday, those words ought to be spoken not to her, but to him. Though whether Junon would even welcome it when Aris and Erika finally realized that their benefactor was none other than him remained doubtful.
"Phew. First, Aris. Listen carefully to what I have to say."
Now it was time to fulfill Junon's request.
"You have been cited as the single greatest contributor to this defense against the Orthoptera. That is likely how the official report and the public announcement will record it."
"Excuse me? But that's..."
"Why? You don't like it?"
"No. It isn't that, but..."
She couldn't help but find it bizarre. While Aris had indeed rallied the students and mounted a resistance, it could hardly be called effective.
After explaining the contents that would be formally recorded and telling her to take note of it, Dahlia stepped out of Aris's hospital room.
Her heart felt far from light.
To be honest, I don't want to announce it like this either.
To Dahlia's eyes, having personally inspected the aftermath, the truth was evident.
The students remaining at the academy were not fourth- or fifth-years seasoned by real combat. They were merely third-years who had engaged in mock duels and gotten a brief taste of field experience during the Start-of-Semester Evaluation and the Joint Practical Training in Tbeshar, alongside first-years who knew nothing at all and second-years who were woefully deficient. Without someone skilled in command, organization, tactical deployment, and battlefield assessment, it would not have been surprising if they had all been slaughtered.
Though Aris had held the line for a brief spell, the trails of repeated retreat were glaringly obvious. Even if Aris had grasped the chain of command and directed the students, one could easily deduce that her orders had been far from correct.
The command structure had clearly shifted mid-retreat. If they had assumed the Hasirt 3 Formation from the beginning instead of the Kenique 6 Formation, Erika would never have been critically wounded in the first place.
What puzzled Dahlia most was who on earth could have conceived the idea of staging a siege defense inside Alkaid Hall. Undoubtedly, someone had intervened midway through, altered the formation, bought time, and guided them there.
Someone had deployed the Belshuar Ark to buy as much time as possible, organized rotation teams, and spearheaded the defense of Alkaid Hall.
Circumstantially, it could only be you. Junon.
Very few people knew that Junon was the mastermind behind it. And since the students in need of mental and physical healing would want nothing more than to forget this nightmare, Dahlia was practically the only one who saw the whole picture.
But why do you insist on hiding it?
'Today, I merely followed Aris's orders. Please make sure that's how it's reported.'
Junon had made that parting request to conceal his involvement. The sheer dissatisfaction with that arrangement made her crave coffee constantly.
"...When did I finish this?"
Before she knew it, the mug was empty. She had been sipping absentmindedly while dwelling on Junon's request, only to realize she was clutching an empty cup.
The male student's face during the surgery—completely devoid of agitation—drifted back into her mind. Disinfecting the tools without a flicker of emotion, staring calmly down at the patient's exposed abdomen through latex-gloved hands... that look in his eyes was almost chilling.
A person was dying, and an operation was underway. Yet he showed not an ounce of disturbance? Not a grimace, nor a word about wanting to flee?
Had he witnessed human blood and viscera more than once or twice before?
...Really? A mere youth who had barely crossed the threshold into adulthood?
Gulp.
She knew it made no sense, yet the lingering suspicion refused to fade.
"This won't do. I need another cup."
Normally, she would have brushed it off, thinking that such strange children occasionally existed. Why was she dwelling on this so deeply?
For some reason, today seemed like a day that called for bitter coffee.