Volume 6, Chapter 59 – Determination

After repelling the monsters and the Black Rainbow Empire soldiers that had attacked the Royal Capital, we hurried toward Gaeribi Pass as reinforcements at the King’s request.

We had two missions: to Enchant the swords of the knights who were about to reclaim the Madura Region, and to treat what were likely a great many wounded.

However, by the time we arrived at the fort, the battle had already ended. Char, Alan-san, and the fort’s garrison commander were there to greet us.

“Did you repel them?”

“Indeed. An Empire that aligns itself with wicked monsters was no match for us.”

Char straightened her back and puffed out her chest.

Thank goodness. It seems she’s regained some of her spirit.

“Still, the fort held out remarkably well against those Empire soldiers.”

“Since we could not defeat them, we overwhelmed them with numbers and dropped them into pits.”

“I see. By the way, what is the current situation? The King requested that I handle the treatment of the wounded and the Enchanting.”

“There were 234 wounded, but Charlotte-sama applied Healing Magic to all of them single-handedly.”

Oh, wow… she really has Leveled Up.

“Ah, though there is one person for whom nothing could be done…”

“What is their condition?”

“T-that is…”

“Then please, lead the way.”

And so, we were guided to the infirmary inside the fort, where we came face-to-face with the patient.

“Oh, this is…”

The knight lying on the bed had both legs severed from the thighs, and a black haze clung to the wounds.

They had likely tried to stop the bleeding with Healing Magic.

However, the bandages were stained red, and blood still seemed to be seeping out little by little.

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His face was pale and he was moaning in his sleep; there was no doubt he was in considerable pain.

“Fiene, no matter how much Healing Magic I cast on this person, the wounds keep reopening bit by bit.”

Char explained the situation to me.

I see, so that’s why the bleeding hasn’t stopped.

“Do you see the black haze clinging to the wounds? This looks exactly like what clung to the wounds of the villagers who were attacked by the Undying Beast in the Red Sky Empire. The villagers lost their memories, but I believe this is a type of curse that prevents wounds from healing.”

“Such a thing exists…?”

“Yes. By the way, were the severed legs kept?”

I asked the infirmary staff, but the staff member shook their head regretfully.

“I see. Well, I’ll just have to do my best then.”

“Eh? Fiene?”

“It’s okay. I can fix this.”

I carefully removed the patient’s bandages, exposing the wounds.

“Dispel Curse! Purification! Cleansing! Disease Treatment! And finally, Healing!”

Just as it was with the Undying Beast, the curse was dispelled with a small sensation, followed by a large sensation as the Purification took place.

Then, Healing Magic was applied to the wounds cleaned by the cleansing magic, and the missing legs began bubbling back into existence.

In about a minute, I succeeded in perfectly regrowing both legs.

“Phew. As I thought, since this person isn’t wearing that weird collar, it works properly.”

As I muttered softly to myself, Chris-san offered me words of appreciation.

“Fiene-sama, thank you for your hard work.”

When I shifted my gaze from the patient, whose complexion had completely improved, to the people around me, everyone—including Char—had their eyes wide with shock.

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“W-w-w-what?! Fiene, you can even regenerate missing limbs?!”

“Eh? Ah, yes.”

“Ngh… I still have far too much training left…”

Char bit her lip in frustration and looked down. She whispered something like, “Just what is the Level of Fiene’s Healing Magic?” but since I didn’t get it through effort, I’ll keep the fact that it’s MAX a secret.

“Next is the Blessing.”

“Before that, I wish to borrow Fiene’s strength.”

“Eh?”

“Just come with me. Alan-sama, could you guide us to that place?”

“Ha!”

I didn’t know what was going on, but the intensely serious expressions on Char and the others’ faces told me this had to be something serious.

We were led out of the fort and headed toward the southern side of the pass.

After walking for several hours, we arrived at a clearing in the forest.

A very fierce battle must have taken place here.

Bloodstains remained everywhere, and the surrounding trees had been sliced or broken from the roots.

There were also scorch marks and places where the ground had been gouged out as if something had exploded.

And in the center of that clearing, a single sword and a cloak had been left haphazardly.

“That is! Fringhornir! Then where is Hugues-dono?!”

Chris-san cried out in surprise.

“After we pushed back the Black Rainbow Empire army, we searched for Hugues-dono, but only the Holy Sword Fringhornir and this cloak remained.”

Alan-san informed us.

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“Why wasn’t it recovered? Leaving it exposed to the elements is a bit…”

“Fiene-sama, most likely…”

“It is not that we did not recover it, but that we could not. Fringhornir refuses to be held, even by me.”

Char looked down sadly.

Ah, come to think of it, Holy Swords are stubborn like that, aren’t they?

I walked up to Fringhornir and gripped the hilt to lift it.

In that instant, an intense holy power surged into me.

Ah, I see. So this is what it means for a Holy Sword to reject someone.

However, for me, who possesses Holy Absorption, it had no negative effect; if anything, it just made me feel more energetic.

——Hey! You stupid sword! Why are you sulking in a place like this!

I spoke to it while channeling Holy Attribute Mana into my right hand gripping Fringhornir.

At that moment, the holy power flowing into me stopped abruptly, and then an even more intense force was poured into me.

——Doing that has no effect on me, you know?

When I called out, the surging power stopped dead.

——So, what happened to Hugues-san? Did he die?

Fringhornir did not answer.

——Then, was he taken away?

At that moment, power surged into me once again.

——Which means he’s still alive, right?

Then, the power began to flow intermittently, as if it were blinking.

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——I see. In that case, at least let yourself be held by the Saint chosen by your master. Don’t just sulk because your master was defeated!

I don’t know if it was sulking or not, but when I scolded it like that, holy power surged into me again as if in defiance.

——I told you, that doesn’t work on me. Shall I Purify you?

I channeled a considerable amount of Holy Attribute Mana into my right hand and then immediately let it dissipate.

——If Char keeps you with her, she’ll be able to hand you right back to Hugues-san the moment they reunite, right?

I spoke to it, but Fringhornir showed no reaction.

——A-re. We. Clear?

When I said that, after a brief silence, power flowed into me intermittently.

I suppose this means it agreed.

Since it seemed I had succeeded in persuading it, I carried Fringhornir over to Char.

“Here you go. It seems Hugues-san fought here, was defeated, and was taken away. He seems to still be alive, so please return Fringhornir to Hugues-san from your hands, Char.”

And so, I offered Fringhornir to Char.

Char accepted Fringhornir as though she couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Eh? Huh? I’m not being rejected? Eh? Eh?”

“It looks like Fringhornir wants Char to be the one to return it to Hugues-san.”

“Ah…”

Char shifted her gaze back and forth between the Fringhornir in her hand and me.

“Yes. Yes! Leave it to me! I will definitely find Hugues-sama and hand this back to him!”

Char looked straight at me and declared this with eyes harboring a light of strong will.

A single tear streamed down Char’s cheek.