Thud.
The door to a VIP room in the Mokhwi Palace closed delicately.
With a tap-tap of footsteps, a white-haired healer, Commander Lars Gothberg, appeared.
In front of him sat the 3rd Princess of the Empire, Acella von Württemberg, handcuffed and scowling while seated on a bed.
A sly grin crept onto the healer’s lips.
“Ah, that feels unpleasant.”
Although she lost the duel, the war was resolved in an instant. The damage to the Moonlight Palace wasn’t catastrophic. She hadn’t lost her succession rights, leaving the door open for revitalization.
Acella was about to draw a magic circle right away when a nagging voice whispered in her ear—
“Geass.”
Thud, her strength drained magically from her arm, causing it to drop.
It was indeed magic. Thanks to the pact, Acella was now unable to refuse Lars’s treatment.
“I said I accept defeat in my duel, but I never said I’d endure insults. Go ahead and try me. For the crime of trifling with this princess, I’ll repay you a hundredfold…”
“Geass.”
Thud.
“Ah, I happened to want to lie down on the bed and rest. Did you think you could subdue me? Pathetic man. If it weren’t for the pact…”
“Geass.”
Roll roll.
“You’re really dead.”
“This is fun.”
“How is this treatment? You street quack with no sense of ethics!”
“Haha, did you think I could even pretend to be a doctor? I’m just a hack healer, after all. Diagnosis.”
Lars inspected Acella’s body, bound by Geass, poking and prodding everywhere. Using an amulet combined with a Storm Stone sparked with crackle.
“It won’t do. Even if I use all the high-grade potions I have, I can’t guarantee I can lift that curse.”
“Isn’t there another way, Lars?”
Gishta, who was watching Lars’s examination, asked.
[Elixir = Demon King’s Blood + ??? + Dragon Scale]
Lars, upon looking at the Status Window, pondered for a bit.
Using the one and only elixir he could create in his alchemist life on this woman was preposterous.
Besides, she’s the one who made him roll around for life, so obviously, he didn’t want to give it to her.
And let’s not forget, his life was hanging by a thread! It looked like he might just need it for himself!
But if he treated her wrong, Acella might just blow up right in front of him, and the continent would go flying—what a dilemma.
If he were Doctor Gothberg, he’d take responsibility for his patient’s life, and if he were Count Lars of the noble family who had a good relationship with Acella, he might have chosen differently.
But having already been transformed into a full-fledged adventurer, along with Gishta, he decided to choose the most efficient answer.
“Your Highness, do you believe in the greatness of time?”
“Time? Hmm, what do you mean?”
“Time is a panacea. Even incurable diseases that would doom humanity can be cured cleanly with just a potion after a few decades.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“There’s a concept called cryonics. Just like animals that fall into hibernation to survive the harsh winter, we can sink into sleep to cure incurable diseases. You excel at freezing magic, so if you freeze yourself for about ten years, we might find a solution…”
Yes, Lars’s chosen answer was to push the responsibility off onto his future self.
“This jerk.”
Lars was hit by Acella, and he marveled at the new truth that he could even get slapped with a foot!
*
Acella clung to Lars, noting that the obligation to fulfill the pact was not only hers but also his.
“I have to find that Hero.”
“Where do you think you’re going? I have to run the palace.”
“That’s your problem, Your Highness. My contract as the attending physician has ended.”
“You sound like a dirty traitor of the kingdom.”
Despite her complaints, Acella accompanied the Hippogriff commander.
Gishta explained to Lars, who couldn’t understand why she did so.
“I felt something when I collided with gold. It was as if she grabbed hold of something evil. Perhaps she has regained her senses.”
Normally, Lars would have been skeptical, but he found Gishta’s instincts reliable. He thought there might be a chance as he witnessed the gradually decreasing probabilities of a bad ending.
But there was one more problem.
Ahem, ahem.
The price for talent was tightening around him by the day. During the journey south to find the Hero, Lars coughed up blood deeply at a camping ground and collapsed.
“Lars!”
Gishta was the first to find him and moved him to a bed.
He asked her to bring the necessary potions and swallowed everything as it was.
But the effects were waning. His alchemy was just on the brink of upgrading to A-rank. It was only natural that the backlash was quite severe.
A recipe for a new potion that could offset the debuff appeared, but there was a problem.
“We lack materials. Dragon… Dragonkin mana.”
“Dragonkin? Should I summon the Legion, Lars?”
“Great dragons… It needs to be concentrated.”
Lars lost consciousness before completing his sentence.
Gishta’s heart began to beat wildly.
This time was different. It was mixed with cold sweat and a heavy sense of impending doom.
‘…The great Dragonkin go to Valhalla after death.’
It was a story that had been passed down as a legend in her nation since childhood.
“Do not fear death. The only thing to be ashamed of is to run away out of fear.
If you cannot enter Valhalla after death, that will be the true suffering. Do not regret it. Do your best at this moment.”
Surely, the mother who had blessed countless lives must have gone there. That would be a reason to celebrate.
But what about Lars?
Lars was equally qualified. But…
Right now, here, no. Anytime, anywhere.
Gishta fervently wished not to witness his departure from the world.
Responding to her feelings, the Dragon Heart nestled within his chest thumped as if it would explode.
“Dragonkin mana.”
Isn’t it right here? Mana with stronger life force than any dragon in this world.
It surged forth from her chest, circulating through her entire body.
Gishta hesitated no longer.
She decided to give her all, wholeheartedly, just as Lars had done for her in the faint memories from long ago—she pressed her lips to his to transfer her breath.
‘It’s not about devouring him.’
Seeing his weakened face turned rosy, she closed her eyes tightly and continued breathing.
The mere touch of their noses sent a ticklish sensation through them.
With a breath that couldn’t be taken in fully, she sucked in instead.
‘…Agh.’
She didn’t mean to sample his tongue.
Included in the fluid, the saliva was dense with mana, so it ended up helping Lars in the end.
When Gishta regained her senses, she found herself gripping Lars’s hand tightly, pressing against him with her whole body, indulging herself.
About ten minutes passed like that.
“Cough.”
At the groan Lars let out, Gishta came to her senses and pulled her upper body away.
“Haah, haah. Are you… alright?”
“Thanks to you, I’m alive.”
Lars wiped the mess around Gishta’s lips with his sleeve.
When Gishta felt his touch, a current unlike anything she had ever experienced coursed through her body.
It was a tingling sensation she’d never felt even in the fieriest lightning bolt.
With a gentle touch and a soft gaze.
Could this… mean it’s okay?
“Lars.”
Gishta said cautiously.
“If you need more mana… there’s a way that absorbs it better…”
“Hmm?”
Without a moment to blink, like a wild leopard, Gishta lunged at Lars.
“…Want to give it a try?”
Realizing the intention behind it, Lars opened his eyes slightly.
“No, no! That’s a misunderstanding, Lars!”
Gishta startled and tried to pull back.
Lars and she were friends.
Gishta had never interacted with any male before in her life. Though she had no experience, her instincts warned her that if she made a mistake here, she wouldn’t remain friends any longer.
“Gishta.”
Lars gripped her arm so that she couldn’t escape.
Actually, he had tried to grip it but accidentally slipped once. Thanks to Gishta’s solid muscle, Lars couldn’t hold her back.
“…Why?”
“It’s not a misunderstanding.”
And with those words, Gishta, the wild woman, lost her sanity.
*
Upon arriving in the southern part of the Empire, the commander received new information.
If they went further south across the border, they would reach the elves’ territory, where the Great Forest had become a battlefield.
It was an ambush by the Demon King’s army.
“Why did they target this area first?”
The Great Forest was a battlefield where they fought the Ritch.
Oddly enough, even though the leader commanding the demon army had changed from Demon King to Great Demon, the areas attacked by the enemy remained the same.
The Great Demon had apparently made a pact to fulfill the goals of the Demon King. There must certainly be some hidden agenda concerning specific regions within the human realm.
“Did the citizens of the Empire get caught up in this?”
“The elves were pushed back northward and reached the Barony of Volpenbüter. Most peasants have been conscripted into the defense forces.”
Lars immediately informed the allied forces of the situation. But there was no need to wait for reinforcements.
—Boom!
A legion of green dragons cut through the sky.
Led by Gishta, they could become a potent force for Lars anytime, spewing threatening breath.
No ground creatures, however numerous, could withstand supersonic bombers soaring through the sky.
And of course, they carried unlimited bombs.
“Give the orders, Lars!”
As Callegor spread his massive wings and landed, Lars tilted his head.
“Your commander is Gishta. You should ask her.”
“Your chieftain is running around. As your husband, you also have the authority.”
“When did the rumors spread so far?”
Lars commanded his troops alongside the dragon legion.
Amid the chaotic battle, he finally spotted her in the middle of the battlefield.
“Lishe!”
“Who, me?!”
He threw the prepared Holy Sword toward her with all his might. Grabbing the Holy Sword, Lishe unleashed a blast of aura that obliterated the enemies and landed beside Lars.
It was the moment when Charles’s personality switched on.
Seeing the dragons flying in the sky and Commander Lars, she gaped in shock.
“Lars, what’s all this…?”
Lars shrugged.
“The Demon King is dead, and I’ve neutralized Acella. We’ll end this when we take down the Great Demon, so don’t break the Holy Sword.”
Charles slowly nodded.
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