38
“Isn’t the person who is supposed to issue orders lying unconscious?”
“What did you just say?”
The soldiers’ demeanor turned hostile. Eliza, who had spoken sharply without realizing it due to her anxiety, immediately regretted it and took a step back. Then she opened the box she had brought with her.
“These are items delivered by the sponsor through the temple.”
“What is this…….”
“Gasp!”
One of the two soldiers seemed to recognize the item, his eyes widening. Eliza softened her voice as much as possible.
“It is Luo. You know it, don’t you? This is an item that utilizes divine power. It can be used more effectively when a priest is present.”
“This is that thing? I heard it’s extremely rare. Is it really?”
“How frustrating! Can’t you tell just by looking? Look at that luster! Good grief, I didn’t even realize she had brought something this precious.”
Upon seeing the Luo piled neatly inside the jewelry box, one of the soldiers completely abandoned his suspicion and struck his companion’s forearm with a loud thump.
Eliza closed the jewelry box and held it against her chest as she asked them a favor.
“The sponsor gave me strict instructions. She told me to check on him before I returned.”
“Hmm……. I understand. Please go in.”
“I’ll escort you!”
“Hey, if you leave your post right now—”
“It’ll only be for a moment, so what does it matter? Ahem, Priest! This way, please!”
Leopold’s mysterious patron, hidden behind a veil, was known among the soldiers who had fought alongside him for a long time.
He, who showed no interest in anyone, had begun personally inspecting the items that arrived from his sponsor at some point.
Thanks to that, Eliza was able to reach the place where Leopold was with relative ease.
Leopold’s close aide, who was guarding the entrance to the tent, examined her suspiciously, but when she removed her robe and revealed her face, his suspicion faded upon realizing she was a woman.
“If you cannot trust me, you may come inside and follow me.”
“Then I will keep watch.”
He was finally in here. With trembling hands, Eliza lifted the cloth herself and stepped inside.
Leopold’s tent was bleak to the point of being unbecoming of a commander. The moment she entered, she caught sight of disheveled, bright blond hair spread across the bed.
Eliza barely managed to move the legs that had almost stopped in place and slowly approached.
Leopold did not allow anyone to remain near him. Since failing to obey that rule meant being immediately expelled from under his command, that ironclad rule had been upheld even when he was injured.
Thanks to that, Leopold, lying silently and alone, was clearly unconscious.
“……Ah.”
The man lying there had become an adult over the past five years. His slightly sunken eye area and more defined bone structure carried shadows.
As she superimposed the face she knew over the sharp line of his jaw and the bridge of his nose, Eliza clenched both hands, afraid that she might unconsciously reach out.
‘Just as I have changed, you have changed too.’
Her heart ached with the longing that slowly filled it. What brought her back to herself was the sound of Leopold’s breath escaping through his chapped lips.
Eliza composed her emotions and took out the holy water she had brought with her. Hoping that his wound was merely a minor one that could be treated with this alone, she supported the back of his neck and poured the holy water into his mouth.
“Cough…….”
“……You have to swallow it. Leopold.”
However, Leopold coughed and remained unconscious. Eliza wiped the corner of his mouth and bit her lip.
He was not the kind of person who would allow someone to touch him so easily, yet seeing him so defenseless made her eyes burn with emotion.
Eliza poured more holy water into Leopold’s mouth and immediately covered his mouth.
The holy water went down his throat along with the breath he unconsciously swallowed. However, there was not the slightest change in Leopold’s condition.
Both the back of his neck and his face, which her hand had briefly touched, were cold, and Eliza was overcome with fear.
“What happened to him?”
“He was injured.”
“I mean, what kind of injury is it that he is lying here like this?”
As though determined to hide exactly what, he was wearing a loose shirt over his tightly bandaged upper body.
Judging from the fact that the bandages completely covered his chest, rising and falling beneath the open edges of his shirt, it was clearly a serious injury.
When the soldier hesitated, Eliza clasped her hands together and pleaded.
“I swear upon the River Mors. I swear that I will keep everything I see and hear here an absolute secret. So please, tell me how this man was injured. Only then can I treat him more accurately.”
“But—”
“If that is not enough, shall I make a vow in the name of the Great Mother as well? I swear that I will devote myself solely to healing this man so that Her light may shine upon him and watch over him. I swear that I will do nothing that could harm him in the slightest.”
At the firm, sharp voice, Leopold’s subordinate squeezed his eyes shut. Then he let out a sigh and said,
“His chest was pierced through.”
“……His chest.”
“I heard his heart was narrowly missed, but the injury was so severe that it’s a miracle he is still breathing—”
“Who says such nonsense?”
Her voice rose involuntarily. Eliza immediately realized her mistake and bit her lip.
“I’m sorry. I was worried, so it slipped out without me realizing.”
“No. Perhaps because you are a priest, you have a warm heart.”
“Did the field priests come by?”
“They did, but you know how it is. The divine power of the priests who come to places like this is all about the same. They said a wound like this would require something closer to a divine miracle.”
His subordinate seemed frustrated as well and scratched the back of his head vigorously. Perhaps thinking there was no longer any point in hiding things, he even explained in greater detail.
“Besides, before he collapsed, he dismissed all the medics who were treating him.”
“What? He was still conscious then?”
“He remained conscious until they stitched his chest. But for some reason, he said he didn’t need treatment and ordered everyone to leave…….”
Eliza drew a startled breath. So he had been treated while still conscious.
Just hearing about it sounded painful, and the thought that such a thing had been possible made her vision go white.
“Of course, we kept checking his condition after he collapsed, but with even divine power having no effect, there was nothing more we could do.”
“……I see.”
“Is it difficult for you to treat him as well, Priest?”
“No.”
Looking down at his pale face, Eliza felt the barrier of the past five years with painful clarity.
Among all the rumors she had heard, there had never been anything about him lying there this helplessly.
‘You said you were strong, Leopold.’
You were the strongest. You would defeat every monster. You were a hero, so you would always win. That was what everyone said.
They were all fools. They were fools who knew nothing.
No one knew you. You were simply a person who fought like this, got hurt, bled, and suffered.
“I will treat you. I must.”
There was a hint of anger in Eliza’s voice. Seeing his relieved subordinate, Eliza added,
“I would like to use Luo, so please leave for a moment.”
“You mean you want to be alone with him? I cannot allow that…….”
“Do you think I am going to hurt Sir Leopold? Even though I am nothing more than a frail woman.”
Eliza turned around and removed the hood of her robe. Leopold’s subordinate flinched at the piercing gaze directed at him from behind her glasses.
Because her lower face was covered by a mask, his attention was drawn even more strongly to her sharp eyes. The blue irises altered by her glasses reminded the subordinate of Leopold.
“Would you like to inspect my body as well? Shall I take off my clothes?”
“No, Priest. That’s not what I meant.”
When Eliza placed her hand on her robe as though she truly intended to take it off, the subordinate became flustered. He had no idea where such stubborn determination could come from in that delicate frame.
“I have to save him. So please, leave for a moment.”
***
Leopold’s subordinate did not easily leave.
Having had his life saved by him several times, he had to remain vigilant around the unconscious commander in his place.
The superiors who remembered Leopold’s origins were displeased whenever he distinguished himself.
They often switched his weapon with one that would break during battle or pushed him toward places where he was certain to die.
Yet even then, he kept coming back alive, time and time again, which made them all the more furious.
It was satisfying to see the expressions of those who only engaged in armchair theories become twisted, but the subordinate thought that, for that very reason, he could not know what schemes they might attempt against the commander now.
“Do not forget that I am outside. If I sense even the slightest sign of trouble, I will rush inside immediately.”
“All right.”
Thus, as the result of their compromise, Eliza’s slender wrist was tied with a rope, and her subordinate held the other end.
As the subordinate went outside, she felt the rope being lightly tugged, as though he were keeping watch.
Seeing that he seemed genuinely worried about Leopold, Eliza smiled.
She was pleased that she had managed to give him someone who would at least look after him this much.
‘A little inconvenience like this is nothing.’
Eliza took a deep breath and exhaled before taking a step closer to Leopold.
“Leopold.”
Calling his name made her heart ache. Perhaps she no longer even had the right to call his name.
“Wake up.”
Eliza poured the Luo around him. Then she closed her eyes and began to sing.
‘It’s the song you used to like.’
For five years, she had occasionally sung hymns at Gesle’s request. At times, she had secretly treated patients and experimented with her abilities.
Therefore, Eliza knew well what it felt like when her ability manifested.
Her desperate heart reached toward the high notes, and light surged and shimmered out from the Luo.
