Blanc's Power
The carriage jolted to a halt with a loud creak.
“Kya-uuung~…”
Oh, every muscle in my body aches… No matter how much I love riding in a carriage, it gets tiring after a while.
I stretched my arms on Kailian’s lap and then jumped down through the open door.
“Kya-ung~…”
Is that the fresh air out here?
The moment I inhaled deeply, expecting crisp and cool air, the stench of blood and decay slammed straight into my nose.
“…Kya?”
What kind of smell is this…?
I blinked my eyes wide open and stared blankly around me.
The courtyard in front of the lord’s castle where the carriage had stopped looked like a literal hell on earth.
Because there weren’t enough beds, hundreds of soldiers lay sprawled on thin rags over the ground.
Sobs of pain echoed from every corner, and the air was thick with the stench of flesh rotting because they hadn’t received proper treatment in time.
The faces of the townsfolk who were wiping wounds and treating the injured showed no hope left at all.
They were just mechanically wiping away blood, their eyes already indistinguishable from those who had given up on life.
I was seeing a scene I had never witnessed in my entire life.
What on earth had happened…?
“Kya.”
…Guess I should’ve left Lumia at home.
I looked up at the worried Kailian who had followed me down, still kneeling on the ground.
“Crazy…”
Kailian scanned the area, furrowed her brows, and spewed out rough curses.
Her hands were trembling, and I could tell she was just as shaken up as I was.
“I heard the reports, but this… this is way beyond what I imagined.”
“I only left a few days ago… how did the damage spread this far in such a short time…?”
Rosalia covered her mouth and couldn’t hide her shock.
“Salia, don’t look. Close your eyes.”
Gumiho, who had come down right after, quickly covered Lumia’s eyes and pulled her tightly into her arms.
The scene was far too cruel for a little one like Lumia to see.
“Kya.”
I carefully stepped forward and approached one of the soldiers who had collapsed nearby.
“……”
The soldier’s left hand had been ripped off at the wrist.
The bandages were already soaked dark red with blood, yet he didn’t even complain about the pain.
He just lay there with unfocused eyes, staring blankly into the void as if he had already given up on life.
“Kya-ung~…? Are you okay? Snap out of it.”
I carefully extended my front paw and gently poked his shoulder.
But he showed no reaction to my call.
A sharp ache bloomed in my chest.
Up until now, I had spent almost all my time at the imperial palace.
I had never had the chance to see something this tragic.
That was probably why I didn’t quite understand what emotions I was feeling right now.
Was I angry?
Was I sad?
A complicated mix of feelings I didn’t even know myself was churning inside me.
I gently placed my front paw on the soldier’s head and slowly channeled my divine power into him.
Only then did the soldier’s eyes close and he let out a peaceful breath.
“Kya.”
Let’s go.
I looked up at Kailian and urged her to hurry.
“…Yeah, let’s go, Blanc.”
Kailian scooped me up and immediately headed toward the inside of the lord’s castle.
“Your Highness, I’ll stay and treat the wounded. Please meet the lord with the others.”
“Okay. Lina, you’ve worked hard… I’ll be counting on you.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Please don’t worry.”
Lina immediately dropped to her knees and began spreading her dazzling divine power across the ground.
I nestled deeper into Kailian’s arms, watching the retreating soldiers as I sank into her embrace.
We followed the guide and arrived at the lord’s castle’s reception room.
The moment we stepped in front of the door, a thick herbal stench hit us.
“……”
In the center of the room sat an old man with completely white hair, slumped weakly in a chair.
It was Marquis Valder, the lord who governed the southern territory.
Yet his noble title meant nothing now—his condition was beyond pitiful.
Blood-soaked bandages were wrapped around the parts of his body that showed, and his sunken eyes were filled with the same deep exhaustion and despair I had seen in the soldiers.
…He must have suffered alone for so long.
“Your Highness… you’ve come.”
Marquis Valder spotted us entering and tried to rise from the chair, his body trembling.
“No need. Sit down, patient. Don’t strain yourself.”
“Kya.”
That’s right. Don’t push yourself or you’ll die.
I and Kailian stopped him from getting up.
Valder collapsed back into the chair with a heavy thud and panted heavily.
“Kya-ung~.”
Uncle, you really worked hard.
I jumped down from Kailian’s arms to the floor and gave a small wave of my front paw in greeting to the marquis.
“…No way… hah.”
Valder finally looked at me properly and his eyes widened in shock.
How much suffering had he endured that even I in front of him was too blurry to see clearly?
“T-this tiger…? Could it be… the divine beast Your Highness mentioned?”
“Yeah. That’s Blanc.”
Kailian crossed her arms and nodded.
“No time for formalities. With Rosalia gone, what happened to turn the territory into this mess?”
Valder wiped his sweat and answered with a hollow voice.
“After the Tower Master left, their offensive changed.”
“Changed?”
“Yes. We used all the territory’s funds to hire mercenaries and adventurers from the surrounding areas to hold the defensive lines. We also formed alliances with other lords.”
Valder’s shoulders shook violently.
“But… no matter how many times we killed them, the insects kept multiplying. The situation became the worst possible.”
“Why…? Were our forces insufficient?”
“No, Your Highness… those bugs started eating the bodies of our fallen soldiers as food and began breeding right on the spot.”
“What…?”
Kailian’s eyes widened and dark killing intent erupted from her.
“They eat the corpses of soldiers and lay eggs right there, multiplying. The more you kill them, the more their numbers grow. We had no chance against such monsters…!”
It was an unsolvable situation.
“Kya.”
Amazing we’re still alive after facing such monsters.
“Still, thanks to the elite mages Rosalia left behind, their barriers allowed us to barely prevent the townsfolk from being massacred inside the walls.”
Valder covered his face with both hands.
“But… even that’s at its limit now. Because I was useless… I couldn’t sense the danger in time… I couldn’t protect my people.”
His tears told me how long he must have endured this nightmare.
“Kya-ung~.”
You suffered alone.
“Lord.”
Kailian quietly approached and lightly tapped Valder’s shoulder.
I also carefully tapped his paws with my front paws.
I hoped this would ease his guilt even a little.
“It’s not your fault. You did everything you could.”
Kailian bit her lip tightly, her eyes flashing with rage.
“Enough self-reproach. Now rest. We’ll handle the rest from here.”
After gathering the situation, we left the reception room and returned to the courtyard turned into a makeshift field hospital.
There, Lina was sweating profusely as she poured all her divine power into the healing.
Even as a saintess, her single divine power looked completely insufficient compared to the endless stream of injured people pushing in.
…I bet she’s pushing herself too hard already.
Lina kept comforting the townsfolk with her shaking hands while treating them.
“Saintess Lina, let me help too!”
Rosalia urgently gathered her mana and stepped forward.
“Kya!”
Move aside. I’ll do it.
I blocked Rosalia’s path and stepped into the middle of the courtyard.
I could no longer ignore the agonizing moans coming from all around.
…I couldn’t save everyone, but I could save the people in front of me.
“Kya-uuung~…”
I closed my eyes and pulled every last bit of golden divine power from inside me to its maximum.
The instincts engraved in my body guided my strength.
Flash!
“……!”
“B-Blanc…?!”
A dazzling golden pillar of light shot high into the sky from my body.
The pillar of light stretched toward the heavens and then shattered into countless fragments.
My divine power, like huge dandelion seeds floating in the spring breeze, slowly descended like falling snow.
“Waaah~…”
Lumia looked up at the sky and cheered.
“W-what…? The wounds… the wounds are closing!”
“The bleeding stopped! Breathing is easier!”
“My arm! My arm moved!”
The soldiers hit by Blanc’s divine power seeds were wrapped in golden light, and the horrific wounds healed at an incredible speed, new flesh growing back before our eyes.
Those on the brink of death were instantly released from pain.
“O-oh…!”
“W-we… we survived!!!!”
“Kya~ hah… keuk, keuk…”
Because I had used most of my divine power in one go, I collapsed to the ground on my belly, sticking out my tongue and panting heavily.
“Kya-uuung~…”
Really… I’m done for. I overdid it all at once…?
“Blanc! Are you okay?!”
Kailian rushed over in surprise and knelt beside me.
Even Rosalia and Lina were frozen stiff from the massive area healing I had just shown them.
…We should have checked on the people instead.
“In this world… to treat so many injured at once with just one release…”
Rosalia murmured in a trembling voice, awed.
Lina clasped her hands together and prayed toward me, tears streaming down.
“Oppa! Are you okay? You must be tired…”
Lumia ran over urgently and curled up next to me.
I panted and rested my chin on her fluffy tail, barely catching my breath.
“Kya~ kya-ung~….”
I… I’ll rest just a little more.
I forced my sleepy eyes open despite the exhaustion and looked around for anyone whose divine power hadn’t reached.
…Seems like I’ve saved all the ones who were about to die.
“Kya-ung~.”
I’ll rest a little more.
I couldn’t stop my eyelids from closing.