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Chapter 198: Interlude – A Warm Winter (1)
After bringing Lanez back to school,
she was imdiately admitted to the intensive care unit.
The wounds caused by shards of ice embedded in her body were severe,
but the most critical injury was her completely necrotic arm.
Her damaged mana circuits from excessive training, the cold that penetrated her internal organs, and her two arms, with nerves entirely necrotized.
Even with Iris using the "Seven Eyes," these injuries would not be easy to heal.
"Dale, give this to Senior Lanez."
Yurina handed a potion radiating a pure white light.
Divine Grace.
It was said to be a holy elixir from the Holy Kingdom that could heal any wound as long as the person wasn’t already dead.
"…Are you sure about this?"
Divine Grace was so expensive it was equivalent to buying a grand mansion in the center of Valhalla City.
Even as the noble lady of the Helios family, it wasn’t sothing she could give lightly.
"When else should we use it if not now, when a comrade is this badly injured?"
Yurina shrugged nonchalantly as if it was nothing.
"Oh."
Just as she was about to walk away, she stopped abruptly.
Her eyes sparkled as if she'd just thought of a brilliant idea, and she quickly approached .
"Dale, I did a good deed, didn’t I?"
"Huh? Well… yeah, I suppose."
Giving up such a priceless potion for a comrade was not an easy decision, even for a devout priest from the Church of the Seven Stars.
"Then I want a reward…."
With twinkling eyes, she looked at as if saying, ‘You know what I want, don’t you?’
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I looked at her.
For Yurina, there was only one thing that would qualify as a "reward."
"Alright."
I slowly reached out and placed my hand on her head.
The soft silver hair slipped through my fingers.
Swipe, swipe.
Not too strong, but not too light either.
I stroked her hair gently with just the right amount of pressure.
"Hehe…."
Her usual brisk deanor had lted away, replaced with a blissful expression as she rubbed her forehead against my hand.
I imagined that if she had a tail, it would be wagging like a happy puppy by now.
I continued stroking her hair until she was fully satisfied.
"Alright, I’ll go see Lanez now."
"Okay. Tell her I was really worried about her."
With Yurina’s Divine Grace in hand, I headed to the intensive care unit where Lanez was hospitalized.
"Ah…ugh."
Lanez lay on the bed, breathing heavily.
Her arms, necrotized from severe frostbite, were connected to magical healing devices.
"Da…le?"
Did she recognize ?
Despite the pain etched on her face, she forced an awkward smile.
"Drink this."
"…What is it?"
"You’ll know once you drink it."
Opening the potion bottle, I carefully poured its contents into her mouth.
The milky liquid flowed past her cherry-red lips.
Woooooom!
The divine energy contained in the potion burst forth, filling the room.
"…Ah."
Color returned to Lanez’s pale face, and in an instant, her purpled, necrotized arms returned to their original state.
"Is this…?"
"Yurina gave Divine Grace."
"Di-Divine Grace?!"
Lanez’s eyes shot open as she tried to sit up.
I chuckled and gently pressed her shoulders back down.
"Don’t try to get up yet. Even though the wounds are healed, the exhaustion is still there."
This was sothing I, who had experienced countless cycles of death and revival, understood all too well.
"But…"
"You can thank her later. For now… can you tell what happened?"
The place where I found her had unmistakable signs of battle.
A battle so intense that she had to push the power of her Frozen Blessing to the point of losing control.
"……."
Lanez hesitated, her lips quivering before she finally spoke with difficulty.
"There…was an ambush."
"An ambush? By whom?"
"I don’t know."
She shook her head weakly.
Slowly, she explained the events to .
"It happened shortly after I left Valhalla City. A masked figure wearing a wolf mask appeared."
I narrowed my eyes.
"They were targeting Lanez from the start."
This left two key questions.
‘Who? And why?’
What did the "master" the wolf mask ntioned refer to?
And why were they after Lanez?
"Lanez."
"Y-yeah?"
"You said they weren’t a demon but a hero, right?"
"…That’s right."
Recalling the battle, Lanez continued.
"There wasn’t any demonic energy at all."
"……."
A hero, not a demon.
Naturally, the words of Jackal lingered in my mind.
‘Among the heroes…there are traitors who are conspiring with phisto.’
And those traitors…
‘Are not just one.’
A deep sigh escaped my lips.
"Ugh…"
Perhaps my grim expression had frightened her.
Lanez shrank back like a child caught doing sothing wrong.
I set aside thoughts about the traitors for now and placed a hand on her forehead.
"Let’s see… No fever, at least."
"D-Dale…"
"Do you need anything?"
"Need anything?"
Her eyes lit up with a faint glimr.
Huddling under the blanket, she fidgeted for a mont before averting her gaze and murmuring in a timid voice.
"F-food…"
"Sorry, what?"
"I’m hungry…"
"Ah."
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Of course.
It was understandable that she must be hungry, having likely not eaten properly since she left school without permission and wandered outside.
"Wait here for a mont."
I requested sothing easy for the patient to eat from the infirmary and returned with a bowl of warm mushroom soup.
"I brought you so soup. Here’s a spoon."
"Uh, th-thank you."
"...What’s wrong?"
Her expression was uneasy.
"Oh, n-no! It’s nothing!"
Lanez hurriedly grabbed the spoon and began gulping down the mushroom soup.
Then—
"Ah."
Clatter!
Was it because her body hadn’t fully recovered yet?
The bowl slipped from Lanez’s hands and fell to the floor.
Although the bowl, made for use in the infirmary, didn’t break upon hitting the ground, so of the soup splashed and stained my clothes.
"I-I-I’m so sorry, Dale! I-I didn’t an to—!"
"It’s fine. Don’t panic. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I-I’m okay, but… Dale, you—"
"I’m fine too."
It was just a bit of soup on my clothes.
"D-Dale! Give your shirt! I’ll wash it and return it to you later!"
"It’s really okay. It’s just a little soup—no need to go that far."
"N-no! Please… I’m begging you!"
Was she worried about getting scolded?
Seeing her utterly panicked expression, I couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle.
‘Lanez is still Lanez, after all.’
For a mont, I thought her personality might’ve changed, given she had been managing the Frost’s Blessing all by herself.
But seeing this side of her, she was unmistakably the sa Lanez I knew.
‘Well, that timid deanor is kind of cute, though.’
She resembled a frightened little rodent.
Watching her, it was hard not to smile at the protective instinct she seed to evoke.
"Here."
I took off my shirt, stained with soup (thankfully, I was wearing an undershirt), and handed it to her.
"Ah… th-thank you."
"Alright, let’s clean up the soup on the floor, and I’ll get you a new bowl."
"...Okay."
Once the incident was resolved, and after so ti caring for her, Lanez was discharged from the intensive care unit.
"I’ll walk you to your room."
"Ah, n-no! It’s fine! I can go by myself!"
She declined my offer to escort her to her dorm room and went off alone.
And with that, the dramatic incident of her leaving school without permission ca to an end.
‘There’s still… cleanup left to do, though.’
I glanced toward the school’s main building with a bitter smile.
Sigh.
With a deep sigh, I made my way to Professor Lucas’ office.
* * *
"It’s impossible."
In Professor Lucas’ office, he sat in his chair, shaking his head firmly.
"Candidate Lanez has committed one of the gravest offenses within the Hero Academy. There’s no avoiding disciplinary action."
"Didn’t she return within a day?"
"By that logic, would theft be forgiven if the stolen item was returned?"
"......"
At his retort, I let out a heavy sigh.
As expected, it wouldn’t be easy to let this slide as if nothing had happened.
"What kind of punishnt will she face?"
"Well, we’ll need to hold a disciplinary committee to make a final decision, but… in the worst-case scenario, she could lose her candidate status and be expelled."
"......"
Expulsion from the Hero Academy didn’t just an being dismissed from school.
For the rest of her life, she would be forced to sign a magical oath never to use the power of her Stigma again and live under constant surveillance, wearing monitoring artifacts like a criminal.
"Is there no other way?"
"…No. The report has already been sent to the higher-ups."
Professor Lucas bit his lip before continuing.
"If it were sothing like when you left school without permission, I could’ve reduced it to a suspension. But…."
Sigh.
Professor Lucas let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground beneath him.
"Why did she have to leave behind a resignation letter…?"
As the professor said, the resignation letter Lanez left behind had escalated the situation to an unmanageable level.
Back when I left school without permission to save Yurina, the professors could cover for with an excuse like a mix-up in issuing an off-campus permit.
‘But now, there’s too much evidence.’
It was undeniable that Lanez left the school with a clear intent to drop out.
Just as the severity of a cri depends on whether it was intentional, the resignation letter had beco an inescapable chain binding Lanez.
"I’ll do my best to defend her since she returned to school, but…."
Professor Lucas sighed again, closing his eyes.
"Most of the professors already hold a poor opinion of Candidate Lanez. It’ll be hard to avoid severe punishnt."
"......"
Lanez was soone who carried the blood of demons.
And those who resented her for it weren’t just her fellow candidates.
"I’m sorry, but there’s no way to—"
"I ordered her to do it."
"...What?"
Leaning back in the chair with a relaxed expression, I spoke.
"I forced Senior Lanez to write the resignation letter under duress."
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