The Ember Battle's Secret
Recently, one problem has been weighing on my mind.
“‘Breathe in… and out,’ slowly, while looking at this picture. Now then…”
“Breathe in… out… in… out… f… fire… fireball! Fireball…!”
“Berian, Berian!”
Berian’s condition was steadily worsening.
Berian was a fire mage.
That did not mean he could only use fire magic. Like most mages, he could cast ice, wind, and other elemental spells as well.
Yet there was a reason people called him “the fire mage.”
While his other elemental magic was merely average, his fire magic was so exceptional that it was considered the strongest in the entire kingdom.
“He’s famous among mages. If it’s fire magic, he’s probably better than me.”
“If even someone as proud as you says that… then Berian must have been truly remarkable.”
“My nose may be high and pretty, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“I never said it was pretty… Moving on.”
Berian, a mage skilled enough for Eris to acknowledge him, could no longer use the very fire magic he had once wielded with such mastery.
He had developed pyrophobia.
Phobias do not always require treatment. If the symptoms are not severe enough to disrupt daily life, one can simply live with them.
Someone with acrophobia can simply avoid high places.
Someone with pyrophobia can simply live while keeping as far from fire as possible.
But Berian’s symptoms were far more severe. Even the mere sight of anything resembling fire sent him into terror. More importantly, he was a fire mage.
For Berian, renowned as a powerful fire mage, pyrophobia was a devastating illness that shattered his daily life.
“…I’m sorry, Counselor Kain. I just… I can’t bear it anymore.”
“It’s all right. This isn’t your fault, Berian.”
“Does this mean I’ll never use magic again? Counselor… I…”
“It won’t come to that. Given time, you’ll surely recover.”
Yet today, too, the treatment showed no progress.
If anything, I only confirmed that Berian’s condition was gradually deteriorating.
After Berian left the counseling office, I sank into thought.
Berian’s pyrophobia was not a simple case.
Berian’s pyrophobia is intertwined with post-traumatic stress disorder—PTSD.
Berian had begun complaining of pyrophobia after participating in battles against other races as a mage in the kingdom’s army.
Typically, patients with pyrophobia break into cold sweats, tremble, or feel intense nausea at the sight of fire.
Sometimes they feel anxious even when no fire is present, simply fearing that a fire might break out.
Berian’s symptoms were worse.
“Berian, this isn’t real fire. It’s just a picture! Berian!”
“U-urgh… Fire… It’s fire! Fireball, fireball…!”
Even drawings or words related to fire—not actual flames—triggered panic attacks. Moreover, the sight of flames seemed to drag up memories of the battlefield, making him scream “fireball” or “it’s on fire” while hallucinating.
I had tried every method known to help with PTSD and phobias, including gradual exposure therapy and medication, but Berian’s symptoms showed no sign of improvement.
What else can I do? I feel like I’ve already tried everything possible.
Even I was starting to feel drained.
Days of effort had yielded nothing.
“…Counselor. Counselor?”
“Hm? Eris. What is it?”
While I was lost in thought, Eris called out to me.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
“You know Berian, right?”
“Of course. The fire mage. No progress with his treatment?”
“Right. That’s what I’ve been worrying about. Maybe I need to try a completely different approach…”
Eris stared at me, her expression faintly puzzled.
“Why?”
“Lately, it feels like you’re paying more attention to Berian than to the others.”
“…I try not to, but it can’t be helped. You’re right. I am more concerned about him than my other clients.”
“Why?”
A highly capable combat mage rendered unable to use magic because of pyrophobia was a tremendous loss for the kingdom. It was said that Berian’s absence had even stalled the kingdom’s previously active northern advance.
The kingdom had tried everything—exorcism, necromancy, shock therapy—to cure him, all to no avail.
Half-doubting, they had eventually come to me. While asking me to treat Berian, they had handed over a hefty advance payment.
“If it’s because of the advance, couldn’t you just return it even if you fail to cure him?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a matter of principle. Once I’ve taken on a client, I must take full responsibility for their treatment.”
Eris narrowed her eyes.
“Really?”
“…Actually, I already spent the entire advance.”
“What did you spend it on?”
“This and that. Fixing the office door that got broken last time, buying medicinal ingredients…”
During the incident with Naikle and Gwangrang, the counseling office door had been destroyed by members of the Castalnus group. I had also used concentrated potions while dealing with them.
Moreover, because Gwangrang was a werewolf, she had required far more of the Lullaby of the Mist sedative than an ordinary person. The resulting losses had been severe.
Although I later received a large sum for medical fees and ingredients from Chief Justin, it had not been enough to cover everything.
“I also used some for the office expansion.”
Chief Justin had purchased the neighboring building and given it to me as payment for Naikle’s counseling.
I had immediately begun expanding the counseling office.
“I expected construction to be expensive, but… I didn’t think it would cost this much. And once I started, I couldn’t just stop…”
In the end, I had been forced to dip into the advance the kingdom had given me.
“Anyway, I have to cure Berian no matter what. There’s too much riding on this treatment.”
“…You really spent it all quite thoroughly, didn’t you?”
Eris looked at me with her usual expressionless face, though today it seemed even colder than usual.
She let out a soft sigh.
“When did Berian start suffering from pyrophobia?”
“After he fought in the battle against the other races at the border. It was called the Ember Battle, wasn’t it?”
“Then perhaps we could find something if we look through the battle records. We might even hear testimony from other soldiers who fought in the Ember Battle.”
“I wonder if that would actually help…”
Because of his trauma, Berian remembered almost nothing about the Ember Battle. Even when I tried to draw out those memories, the trauma triggered panic attacks, making it difficult.
That was why the kingdom had provided me with records of the Ember Battle and information about Berian when they asked me to treat him.
I doubted that reviewing more records or soldier testimonies would change anything.
At that moment, something sparkled in Eris’s palm.
Mana. It was gathering in her hand—the precursor to magic.
I hurriedly added,
“…It might help. Thank you, Eris.”
“You said we have to cure him no matter what. We should at least try something.”
I nodded.
I had no choice but to do anything else.
I chose a day with no clients and headed to the Lumière Royal Library. I planned to search for records and documents about the Ember Battle.
The Ember Battle had been so famous that, despite occurring only a few months ago, there were already numerous texts about it. Through them, I could learn nearly everything that had happened.
The Ember Battle was fought between the kingdom and another race…
More precisely, it had been a small-scale territorial dispute between the Lumentea Kingdom and the Orc Empire, waged along the northern border.
Recently, the Lumentea Kingdom had been pursuing a rather aggressive northern expedition policy.
It was said that the northern mountains occupied by the Orc Empire contained abundant natural resources, including mana stones.
As part of this northern campaign, the kingdom’s army had been advancing northward.
During this advance, they discovered an abandoned orc encampment.
The kingdom’s forces occupied the camp and began replenishing their supplies.
But the encampment itself had been a trap.
The orc army launched a night raid on the kingdom’s forces while they were still organizing.
That was how the Ember Battle began.
During the battle, Berian was captured by the orc army.
The kingdom’s army failed to respond properly to the orc counterattack and retreated. Some soldiers, including Berian, were taken prisoner and isolated inside the encampment.
Many casualties occurred during the rescue of the prisoners. After fierce fighting, the rescue succeeded… but…
I read the records with a grim expression.
A fire mage from the kingdom’s army spread flames that consumed the entire encampment. That was how the battle came to be called the Ember Battle.
The “kingdom’s fire mage” referred to Berian.
Although the records did not mention his name directly, the kingdom had confirmed it when they briefed me.
The final line of the document stated that every orc soldier inside the encampment had perished when it burned.
“Hmm.”
I stared at the open records, lost in thought.
Several possibilities drifted through my mind.
Berian felt guilty for killing the orc soldiers.
That seemed unlikely.
Berian was a veteran mage who had fought in many battles besides the Ember Battle. Simply killing enemy soldiers would not have caused pyrophobia.
Berian was struck by fire magic during the battle.
That was also unlikely.
Berian bore no burn scars. There was no trace of him having been hit by fire magic.
Berian accidentally unleashed fire magic during the battle and harmed his own allies.
This seemed the most plausible.
If his own magic had harmed his allies instead of the enemy, it would have been more than enough to cause trauma.
But there was a problem.
There were indeed kingdom soldiers who died from fire magic. However, the records clearly state they were killed by enemy fire magic, not by friendly fire.
According to the records, Berian had not accidentally harmed his allies with his magic.
…There’s something I don’t know. Something that can’t be understood from the records alone.
That “something” might be the key to curing Berian.
More than anything, there was something strange about these records.
Mages could become incredibly powerful under the right conditions, but they were not good at adapting to sudden changes.
They were especially vulnerable to assassination and ambushes.
Knights, on the other hand, lacked a mage’s overwhelming firepower but could respond reliably to unexpected situations.
That was why the kingdom’s army assigned each mage a knight escort, forming two-person teams.
By pairing a mage’s explosive power with a knight’s stability, they maximized strengths and minimized weaknesses.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Dalmon.”
“So you’re Berian’s attending physician.”
“Physician… well, something like that.”
I met Sir Dalmon, Berian’s former knight escort.
Sir Dalmon had a bandage wrapped around his side from injuries sustained in the Ember Battle.
I had wanted to meet him alone, but unfortunately that had not been possible.
A kingdom army adjutant stood behind Sir Dalmon, watching me—more precisely, watching us.
This adjutant had also fought in the Ember Battle. His name was Sigrid, and his right arm was in a splint, apparently injured during the battle as well.
I’ll have to be satisfied with this much for now.
Normally, it would be unthinkable for a commoner to summon a knight in this country.
But Sir Dalmon was effectively a retired knight after the Ember Battle.
More importantly, this meeting was necessary for Berian’s treatment.
The kingdom had only permitted it on the condition that Adjutant Sigrid accompany us.
…He looks listless.
That was my first impression upon meeting Sir Dalmon.
It was not unusual for someone to seem listless.
But for Sir Dalmon to appear this way was somewhat strange.
According to rumors, Sir Dalmon was an exceptionally brave knight. The records said the same.
Not only had he displayed a fierce fighting spirit on the battlefield, but he was also known as a cheerful, generous man who was popular among his fellow knights even in private settings.
Yet the Sir Dalmon standing before me now seemed far removed from words like “brave,” “generous,” or “cheerful.”
His expression and eyes even hinted at symptoms of depression.
Did his personality change because of the wound in his side? It doesn’t look that severe.
Speculating would not help.
After a brief greeting, I moved straight to the main topic.
“I have some questions about the Ember Battle. According to the records, some kingdom soldiers were taken prisoner by the orc army. Was Berian among them?”
“Yes. We worked hard to rescue the prisoners.”
Sir Dalmon’s eyes grew distant, as if recalling the past.
I offered a friendly smile.
“Even just reading the records, I can feel how fierce the fighting was. You must have gone through a lot.”
“We did.”
“I have another question. The records state that a kingdom fire mage burned down the entire orc encampment. Was that mage Berian?”
“Yes, but isn’t all of this already in the records? I’m puzzled why you’re asking me again.”
There was a hint of irritation in Sir Dalmon’s voice.
It was as if he were scolding me for summoning him just to ask such trivial questions.
Of course, I had no intention of continuing with only such insignificant questions.
Now came the real part.
“According to the records, it seems there was also a fire mage on the enemy side.”
“What? Who said that?”
“It’s written in the official documents. Kingdom soldiers died from enemy fire magic. That means the orc army had a fire mage, doesn’t it?”
Sir Dalmon’s lips twitched.
“Yes. The orcs… the orc army had mages as well.”
“Then the encampment might have burned not only because of Berian, but also because of that orc mage.”
“That… well, it’s not… or rather, it could be, but…”
“If the records had vaguely stated that ‘the encampment burned during fierce fighting,’ I wouldn’t have found it strange. But the official documents state in definitive terms that Berian alone burned the entire encampment. That’s what puzzles me. Sir Dalmon, could you tell me exactly what happened at the time?”
Sir Dalmon suddenly turned around and glanced at the kingdom adjutant.
For some reason, he seemed to be watching the adjutant’s reaction.
“Sir Dalmon.”
I called his name.
He flinched and looked back at me.
“Were the records of the Ember Battle falsified?”
“You bastard!”
I never got to hear Sir Dalmon’s answer.
Adjutant Sigrid shouted furiously and immediately drew his sword, pressing it against my throat.
His movement was incredibly fast.
…I could have dodged it, but if I had, a fight would have broken out.
I looked at Adjutant Sigrid, whose sword was now at my neck.
His emotions were easy to read.
It’s closer to anxiety than anger. Why?
Adjutant Sigrid glared at me with fierce, upturned eyes.
“Who do you think you’re interrogating? This man is a noble knight. He is not someone to be questioned by the likes of you. And falsified records? Don’t you dare speak such blasphemous words.”
“…”
Then what kind of person are you, to make such a noble knight watch his every move?
I wanted to retort, but I swallowed my anger and stayed silent. Provoking the adjutant further in this situation would not be wise.
Still, one thing had become clear.
The kingdom is hiding something about the Ember Battle.