Chapter 23
Chapter 23
GALIAN Manotant—his name was so famous there wasn’t a single person in any military across Aridol who hadn’t heard of him. He served as the Knight to Rvydom’s former king, Leuco Cahn Rvydom. Legend has it the combination of the God of Annihilation Cahn and the Machine of Calmness Galian was the sole reason the larger kingdom of Maruk struggled to conquer Rvydom before Cahn’s disappearance. Furthermore, Galian had been Vigo’s teacher and master at one point.
Thunderstruck didn’t even begin to describe the shock Vigo felt when Rifaenotis informed him Galian had escaped his imprisonment in Cele. Escaping meant he still hadn’t given up or lost the will to fight yet. He hadn’t given up on King Cahn or the Kingdom of Rvydom.
Is this what you were referring to, Rifaenotis?
Rifaenotis alluded to his own preparations upon discovering who Yuki was. Undoubtedly his preparations entailed supporting and backing Galian’s endeavors. Vigo tightened his grip on the bag he nearly dropped and walked to the bed in the corner of the dusty room.
“Is this child the patient?” he asked, formality stiffening his tone out of respect for the man he once called master.
A young girl no older than sixteen slept under the blankets. Anguish contorted her sleeping face.
She looks about the same age as Yuki.
He stopped at her bedside and briefly examined her. Pocks and pustules had appeared in various locations across her body. A high fever wracked a body already wasting away from a lack of eating.
“S-Say, Doc, will Tita get better?” Nasette grabbed the hem of Vigo’s shirt from where he laid at the girl’s feet. A ring the same color as Tita’s glimmered on the hand clinging to his shirt.
…Her husband? Debility has gotten him as well.
“Yeah. She’ll be okay. When was the last time she was conscious?” Vigo asked.
“She was conscious until this morning,” Dante answered. Sadness harrowed his features as he gazed at the girl lying in her sickbed. By his forlorn look, Vigo assumed she was his daughter.
Vigo hadn’t noticed him until he opened his mouth, but he knew Dante as well. He was the head of one of Rvydom’s noble families. Rumor had it he pulled in his fair share of military accomplishments during the war as well.
“She has been unconscious since then, I presume? Very well. I understand the situation. I am going to give her the medicine but require boiled water. Can you provide it?”
“S-Sure can. I’ll get it for you right now!” Nasette rushed out of the room. The quiet in his wake was broken only by the labored wheezes coming from the girl.
“…Is this girl his wife?” Vigo asked, checking Tita’s airway for any impediment.
“No, they are both my children,” Dante said with a tender, doleful smile. “I apologize for the misunderstanding. My son is an older brother who has issues separating himself from his younger sister.”
“I should apologize for my rude interpretation of their relationship.” Vigo glanced at Galian who stayed glued to his chair since he entered the room and returned his gaze to Tita. “…She will absolutely get better. After all, this child will receive our goddess’ blessing and not the Witch’s curse.”
Yes, if Yuki’s blessing has the effect I believe it does, all will end well.
Hurried footsteps sounded before Nasette flung the door open with a pot of boiled water in his right hand. Vigo poured the powdered medicine into the hot water and let it dissolve before waking Tita up.
“…Ngh,” Tita moaned.
“Sorry for waking you.” With Nasette’s assistance, Tita was slowly lifted into an upright position where she vacantly stared at Vigo. “Can you drink this?”
The fever put a haze over her. She looked up at Nasette like she didn’t understand what Vigo said.
“Tita, this is medicine. Can you take it on your own?”
Understanding when Nasette said it, she held her hand out to Vigo. Nasette placed his hand under hers and helped her bring the medicine to her mouth and wiped the small bit dribbling down the corner of her lip.
…Is there any change?
Change took place immediately after Yuki prayed for Chiruka’s well-being. However, by all appearances, there were no changes in Tita’s condition.
Is it ineffective without direct contact?
Vigo watched to make sure she drank the medicine to the last drop and helped her lay back on her pus and sweat stained pillow. Tita comfortably closed her eyes when they placed a strained wet towel on her forehead. The eyes of everyone in the room pierced through Vigo. The aggressiveness and tension between them was unsuitable for a sickroom.
“…I can say with certainty she will recover should her condition improve by tomorrow,” he informed them, slightly reducing the tension in the room.
Unfortunately, only Nasette’s expression softened—the other men sternly squared their faces. Vigo had an inkling about why. “Is it so bad for you that I discovered there are people here?” he asked in as neutral of a tone as he could muster. Bloodthirsty glares cut through him. “Please keep your bloodthirstiness in check in the presence of the sick. I wish to speak with you. Is there a more suitable place to do so?”
“Let’s go to the adjoining room,” Dante suggested, inviting him to the room Nasette brought the water from. “Keep watch over your sister, Nasette.”
“Ah, sure...”
Vigo glanced at Nasette who was taken aback by the volatile atmosphere as he left for the adjoining room with his medical bag. Galian entered the room behind him. A basic kitchen and dining table with four chairs were the room’s only furnishings. They urged him to sit and he complied. Dante and Galian sat next to each other across from him.
“First, please allow me to pay my respects for the first time in many years.” Vigo placed his hands primly on his lap and reverently bowed his head. He lifted his face to find their harsh scowls hadn’t budged. “Don’t you…do you not remember me, Lord Galian?”
Galian’s eyebrow twitched, but his expression remained stern. The name Steel-face Galian nostalgically came back to Vigo, and he accidentally laughed aloud. “Your face hasn’t lost its scariness. Well, I guess I shouldn’t have expected much with this beard covering the lower half of my face. I never had much of a presence either. I’m Vigo Kollo. Lidy Kollo’s older brother.”
Instantly, the sharp glint in Galian’s eyes dulled. “You’re the Vigo Kollo who crazily buried himself in his research?”
Finding his old master remembered him brought a broad grin to Vigo’s face. “The one and the same Vigo who always played with Lord Cahn, Rifaenotis, and the others.”
“You confuse playing with indulging yourselves in the art of pranking,” Galian corrected, the corners around his wrinkled eyes softening. He turned to Dante and explained how Vigo was a past student of his. Now that they knew he wasn’t an enemy, they filled him in on their situation.
Tita had collapsed with a terrible fever and broke out in hives a day ago. It didn’t take long to determine she had contracted the Ten Day Fever. Losing his head over seeing his sister ill, Nasette copied what his Mage friend had done with the crystal to send out the message Vigo picked up on. They didn’t touch why they were at this settlement or who the people with them were.
In other words, had he not acted on his own to send out a message through the crystal, they would have let her sleep in this unsterile place with no medicine until the illness took her life. She couldn’t have recovered on her own in the state I found her.
Disgusted, Vigo fisted his hands. “…Were you planning on watching her die?”
“We had no such plans. There’s simply nothing to be done about the Ten Day Fever. What do you suggest we could do aside from watch over her until she fought through the fever on her own?” Dante asked, bitterness seeping from every word. He was ashamed of not being able to help his daughter.
“…Pardon my rudeness. You are not mistaken in your claims.”
“No, I should apologize as well. I shouldn’t take it out on you when you are caring for my daughter.” They bowed to each other and peace returned to the room. “Now then, Vigo, this is rude, but why are you in a place like this?”
Vigo met their searching eyes with honesty. “As you can see, I’m traveling around distributing medicine for the Ten Day Fever.”
The men couldn’t hide their surprise upon discovering there was a medicine for the Ten Day Fever.
“The man thought to always be wasting his time on trivial research has been continuing the ambitions of his long-lost nation to this day,” Vigo told them.
Rvydom meant the world to Vigo. He loved his country and was proud to be a citizen of the fallen kingdom. He hoped his statement would convey his feelings to them. Galian and Dante exchanged looks and words with simple gestures.
After a brief pause, Galian was the first to speak up. “Vigo, you don’t appear all too surprised to find me here.”
“Indeed. I heard you had escaped from Cele.”
“From whom? If I may ask.”
“From Rifaenotis. Do you remember him? He is the son of the Lily Witch.”
Galian partially closed his eyes and muttered, “I do.”
“Since Rvydom fell, he started researching medicine in this general area and became an information broker. I heard everything from him. I also know you are the one who lured away the Rvydom soldiers fighting on the frontlines between Adolunde and Maruk.”
Dante looked to Vigo in shock. Galian calmly mumbled, “I see. That eliminates the need for explanation on our part then. Vigo Kollo, allow me to ask you upfront: will you assist me with my plans to rebuild Rvydom?”
Rebuild Rvydom. Those words brought a wave of dizziness with them.
I knew it was coming.
Galian’s escape meant he hadn’t given up on Rvydom. And Rifaenotis was preparing for something. Experience told Vigo the road this all led down.
“…Lord Galian, you might not know this, but I had the least remarkable presence of the people I hung around with. Do you know why?” Galian’s eyebrow arched up. “You see, I have no right to refuse. I didn’t in the past nor do I in the present. I act as they will me to. And I have no qualms moving as they want me to.”
Dante eyed Vigo searchingly.
“Rifaenotis already informed me he will be assisting you.” The tension surrounding the two men instantly abated. Detecting the change, Vigo smiled too. “As such, I am already an ally to your cause.”