The Unexpected Reunion (1)
Absolute Defense
-124 HP
"Move the injured!"
"Bandages? Bring in any old cloth if you have to!! They're bleeding out and dying!"
The smell of blood hung thick in the air, vibrating through the canvas tent.
Inside the tent, it was a battlefield of screams and sobs that made your ears ring.
We had lost.
Countless defeats always cut deep, crushing a person's spirit.
Even though everything had been prepared based on countless sacrifices, we had still failed.
Countless lives had been lost without a trace.
Yet in exchange for those lives, we had gained nothing at all.
Soldiers, knights, mages—everyone had become cold corpses, their bodies drained of blood, scattered across the battlefield.
Countless injured who were moments from death were lost every single day.
This was war.
And the central academy's knight candidates had never seen the ugly truth of it.
At the southern front today, even though we had lost, the survivors should have felt relief and joy at having stayed alive.
Soldiers who had faced the horrors of battle now believed survival was a miracle.
Even facing just one of the Four Calamities had sent a chill through every soldier, knight, and mage.
They knew death was coming.
Lucky to be alive at all—lucky.
Even the soldiers were still shaking from the corrupting magi that had surrounded them, something they had never felt before.
At that moment, soldiers carrying stretchers dashed through the ranks to move someone, while dozens more escorted the wounded into the tent.
The once-quiet, clean tent instantly buzzed with activity.
A group of mages and alchemists arrived in a rush, panting heavily.
Commander Alltore wrapped bandages around himself despite the bleeding, staggering as he gave orders to the mages and alchemists.
"What do you think?! How is the Hero doing? Why has he lost consciousness?!"
He had barely been brought to the battlefield.
We had rushed the Hero to this operation, but before that, one of the Four Calamities had struck, leaving us no choice.
During the retreat, the Hero had said he would block the pursuit with his own body.
We had minimized damage and pulled back, but...
The Hero's consciousness had slipped away on the way back.
And there was still the question of why the demons and monsters hadn't continued the chase.
Those questions would have to wait.
With only two Heroes left in the world, and one unconscious...
"Why isn't he waking up?! What does the Saintess say?"
Hero Ivan's body had almost no remaining wounds.
Healing was the number-one priority for all medical and healing magic systems.
The Saintess's power had already mended the wounds.
"She says almost all the healing is complete. She says there's nothing more for her or the magic to do...
Every mage and alchemist in the room could already guess the real cause: deep internal injuries.
Healing magic was like medicine.
You could close wounds, but the rest depended on the person's own body.
Whatever it was, they had been helpless, and the situation had been unclear.
Then, outside the tent, the sound of soldiers saluting rang out.
"Oh, you're here!"
A different young man entered, parting the canvas that blocked the tent entrance.
One of the two remaining Heroes in the world.
Luke stared at Hero Ivan, who was lying unconscious on the cot with a blank expression.
Commander Alltore grabbed Luke's arm, his face full of despair, and spoke.
"Luke, let's talk outside."
Leave the immediate recovery to the mages and alchemists.
Luke and Alltore moved to an empty, sparsely populated tent.
"What happened during all this time? I haven't seen a trace of you near the battlefield."
"...
No words.
Countless battles had worn out the veteran Alltore.
He had fought alongside many Heroes.
Naturally, he had crossed the front lines with Luke and Ivan too.
He was one of the few people who could scold a Hero.
"You really think one sentence 'no words' lets you off the hook?"
"...
I know.
I abandoned my duties as a Hero, didn't I?"
Huff.
Alltore let out a deep sigh and pressed his fingers between his brows.
"If you hadn't been here, how much suffering do you think that young Ivan endured?"
"The front line is still held.
How many years have you been a Hero? You've been exhausted, haven't you?"
"What the hell...
At Luke's cynical words about being exhausted, Alltore lost his composure.
"Then what about Lucas?"
The name Lucas hit Luke like a lightning bolt.
He realized he had slipped up.
Alltore's eyes also wavered, realizing he had spoken a forbidden name.
For a moment, silence fell, heavy and suffocating.
"...
I'm sorry.
I wasn't serious.
It's too painful to see the battlefield and I just can't stand it."
"It's fine.
I slipped up too.
But Ivan is at his limit.
He has to be sent to the Royal Capital for recovery.
Come back now and hold the front line."
At those words, Luke's eyes trembled with fear.
But this was the moment humanity needed the Hero's power most.
We couldn't just abandon the only Hero with unmatched strength.
"Luke, you have to do it.
If not you, not only the front line, but who knows when the entire southern front might collapse."
"I know."
Luke clenched his fists.
He knew only he could do it, and no one else could take his place.
Even if his fists shook, his eyes wavered, and his face trembled as he bit down hard.
Ivan was just a little over twenty.
But that didn't make Luke not care about the kid.
At best, Luke was only a few years older than Ivan and had simply been a Hero for longer.
He had never tried to become a Hero since childhood.
Before becoming one, he had never even held a sword.
All he had was the blessing.
He had to carry the fate of all humanity on his back.
That future had terrified Luke.
***
"That's it.
Everyone, set your tools down and end the exam."
Professor Zereimi's voice echoed, signaling the end of the exam.
The students breathed out at the same time.
The breath carried different emotions.
Some held relief for the end.
Others, like those who had regained freedom, were filled with joy.
"It's finally over...
!!"
"I'm heading straight to the dorms to sleep.
No one can stop me!"
But there were also students who tugged at their hair in despair.
Wrapping their hands around their faces, they cried in small voices.
"The genealogy and past exam questions haven't changed for years...
!!"
"Why is this exam different?! Why?! Why?!"
Hearing those voices, I looked at them in disgust.
Cheating like this in a subject like this?
According to rumor, Professor Zereimi had never changed the exam questions since arriving.
Their own karma.
What could you do?
'Speaking of which, it's not too bad.'
Actually, I had thought it would be a memorization-heavy class, and no matter how focused Professor Zereimi was, creating exam questions would be hard.
It seemed he had made them by directly experiencing the monsters.
He had completely excluded confusing parts from the textbook and just made the questions.
He had really changed his ways.
His clothes weren't practical like a dress that ignored dignity.
He wore something tasteful and easy to move in.
'I don't know when I'll go again.'
Practice was periodic too.
It was good for the kids anyway.
The teaching assistants collected all the exam papers and, in the blink of an eye, the students perked up.
Regardless of the scores, the exam was over.
"Sir Lir, your complexion looks much better."
"After you all brought me home that day, I woke up and the sun was already high in the sky."
I had a vague memory of waking a few times from anxiety.
But since I only remembered waking up around noon, it meant my body had been extremely tired.
"How was the exam? Did you do well?"
"Fair enough?
The questions were different from what I expected, so I was surprised, but it seems okay."
"I found it a bit harder than expected.
Like Serpin said, the questions were different from what I thought...
"
Well, I knew all the content anyway.
Excluding one or two killer questions meant for judging judgment, I could confidently say I did well.
"...
Ahh...
Haa...
Now what?
There really isn't anything left to do."
"By the way, today...
There is one important piece of news."
Stretching and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, Serpin whispered so quietly only Luke and I could hear.
"It was said that the Hero and the Saintess will come to the Royal Capital tonight."
"Those people...
Why are they coming?
And the Hero—who is he?"
Didn't we have to protect the front line?
No, thinking about Luke, he only hangs around the battlefield, not even showing his face in the front.
"Hero Ivan."
"Eh."
Ivan?
Why is he coming to the Royal Capital?
Well...
It's not strange for him to come to the Royal Capital.
Who would protect the front line if the dog goes to the Royal Capital?
p>Did Luke come back?
For a moment my head spun in confusion.
But I quickly stopped.
'I don't know, they'll figure it out.
There's no way they're going to pull all the Heroes from the front just because they want to die.'
Some of the people still fighting on the front would probably stay there.
It wasn't the whole group giving up.
There must be a reason.
Since there's a good reason, it's probably Ivan and the Saintess coming.
"According to the news, they should arrive in the late afternoon.
Would you like to go see them?
I have plans with my mother, so I'm sorry, but I can't go."
"I want to go see them, but I also have things I need to do at home."
So I'm going alone.
...
Well, it's not bad.
They had been coming to the front line frequently, but...
For their public image, they must have worked hard.
I thought it would be fun to see their ridiculous true side, which was completely different.