With those words, Kaon plunged into the midst of the monsters. He began cutting them down one by one, starting with the ones in his line of sight. Like a flash of lightning, he reversed the tide of battle with overwhelming force.
His precise movements targeted the core areas with surgical accuracy, slicing through weak points with a single stroke. The monsters, struck in one blow, let out piercing screams and twisted in agony. Seizing the moment, fireballs flew in and pierced the exposed cores, ending the monsters’ lives with a final cry.
Kaon didn’t hesitate as he moved to the next monster. His eyes, capable of seeing the flow of mana, easily identified the cores, which pulsed like hearts pumping blood.
Kaon’s efforts gradually reinvigorated the knights. Yvonne, who was skillfully holding the front lines, sensed the change in atmosphere and shouted to boost morale.
“What are you doing? Don’t fall easily as knights!”
“Here we go again!”
Kaon glanced back. A monster, flailing its limbs and emitting strange cries, collapsed. The stench of burning fur and blood signaled its death.
‘She’s doing well.’
Despite his worries about the intense battle, Alessia was calmly doing her part. Though she couldn’t use a variety of spells in combat, her exceptional focus allowed her to accurately hit the exposed cores.
Kaon ventured deeper into the forest, where a thick fog obscured his vision. Using his heightened senses, he detected monsters trying to hide and charged at them. His incredible speed and unexpected strength left deep marks where he stepped, and death followed where his sword struck.
Kaon inflicted wounds on the monsters’ core areas that were difficult to heal and threw the thrashing monsters out where Alessia could see them. The monsters, incapacitated by their fatal injuries, became easy targets for Alessia’s flames.
The tide of battle was turning in their favor, and Kaon intended to solidify this advantage. Delaying any longer would mean fighting in the night, which would be even more disadvantageous.
The process of slashing and cutting continued relentlessly. The mingled scent of blood and foul stench was overwhelming, but Kaon did not stop. Monsters that lost their hiding places either fled or were killed by his hand.
‘Just a little more…’
The ferocity of the rampaging monsters noticeably waned. Kaon, sensing the end was near, chased a fleeing monster into the darkness.
“Lady Alessia!”
Maurice’s desperate cry rang clearly in Kaon’s ears. In an instant, Kaon abandoned the chase and rushed out of the fog, only to freeze in place.
“…Alessia?”
“The lady was attacked by a monster!”
An unbelievable reality awaited him.
***
“She jumped in to save me. I couldn’t handle the monster that kept coming at me all at once…”
A knight, his face pale, stammered as he explained the situation. He was one of the knights guarding Alessia, who was focusing on attacking the cores of the fallen monsters.
While Kaon was wreaking havoc in the center of the enemy, the battle continued on the outskirts.
The knight, skilled enough to handle a single monster, found the prolonged fight exhausting. The sudden increase in the monsters’ level made it difficult for him to cope, especially when a giant monster attacked him.
Though he wasn’t defeated, he struggled to fend off the monster and managed to land a blow. But he wasn’t unscathed; blood flowed from a gash on his forehead, blurring his vision.
He won the fight, watching the monster thrash and fall with a sigh of relief. On the verge of collapse, he mustered his strength to steady his sword.
At that moment, something pushed him. With his vision narrowed by the blood, he didn’t understand what was happening at first. When he turned around, he saw the mage and noble lady he was supposed to protect lying on the ground, bleeding profusely.
“It’s my fault… The lady tried to save me…”
He began to tremble and sob uncontrollably, unable to believe what had happened.
“Alright, I understand the situation. First, let’s focus on treating her. You may leave now.”
Kaon dismissed the panicked knight and turned his attention to Alessia.
Her left arm was completely soaked in blood. It was the mark of the wolf-shaped monster’s sharp claws. Four large claw marks were clearly visible, with torn clothing revealing deep, gaping wounds filled with blood. Each mark was roughly the size of an adult man’s fist.
It was said that she managed to twist her body to minimize the damage. The less severe tear near her left side seemed to support that claim. However, the injury was still severe enough to warrant concern.
Would she be able to recover from this? Even if she did, would there be lasting scars? Nothing was certain.
“Ugh…”
Even in her unconscious state, Alessia let out painful groans, unable to bear the agony. The extent of her suffering was unimaginable.
The physician hastily applied a herbal powder with numbing and hemostatic effects to the exposed wounds. The gashes on her already thin and frail arm were enormous. The powder, resembling freshly fallen snow, settled on the vivid red blood before being absorbed. Soon, her white arm was once again covered in red blood.
Kaon looked around carefully. The white sheets were stained red with blood that hadn’t been fully wiped away. Her usually pristine silver hair was splattered with blood, making her appear entirely red. Only her face, drained of all color, remained a ghostly pale.
The entire scene felt surreal. Alessia had been calmly helping him deal with the monsters. The sight of her flames, every time he glanced back, had been a great reassurance.
“At least there’s no poison involved, so that’s a relief. The wound area is relatively…”
The physician trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. He meant to say it was fortunate that the wounds were not more widespread, but the words wouldn’t come out. Silently, he took out more herbal powder and sprinkled it on the wounds, which looked like pools of blood.
“It’s also good news that the wound didn’t penetrate her torso and damage any organs. If it had… it would have been really bad.”
If that had happened, she would have died. Kaon understood the unspoken words easily. Die? Alessia Ingelos? While saving someone else? Impossible.
“First, we need to cut away the clothing around her arm. If the fabric sticks to the wounds, it will be problematic. We’ll need to cut through both the outer coat and the inner dress along the seams connecting the shoulder and armpit. Additionally, we’ll have to cut away the area around the scratch on her abdomen.”
“…”
“Normally, I’d call for a maid, but since the winter coat is thick, it would be easier if you helped, my lord.”
“…”
“My lord?”
Kaon, who had been staring at her in a daze, snapped back to reality and assisted the physician. With skilled hands, the physician carefully cut away the clothing around the wounds. When the thick coat resisted cutting, Kaon took over. They couldn’t fully remove the dress, so they cut a circular section around the wound on her abdomen.
Kaon removed the pieces of fabric one by one and, following the physician’s instructions, cleaned the area around the wounds with a clean towel. The physician tried to call for a maid, but Kaon refused and did it himself. He couldn’t entrust Alessia to anyone else anymore.
Kaon continued to wipe and clean. The blood had soaked through her clothes, so it was easier to clean everything around the wounds.
After changing the water several times to clean the bloodstains, Kaon paused. As the blood washed away, old scars on her arm and abdomen became visible.
“My goodness, these scars…”
The physician, seeing the same thing, fell silent. The old scars were numerous and varied in depth, but they all had one thing in common: they were lined with teeth marks.
“Judging by the teeth marks, it seems she was bitten by a dog. No, it’s more accurate to say she was mauled. These scars indicate that chunks of flesh were torn away… It looks like she was tormented by multiple animals. Maybe even more than that… Yes, that seems likely.”
The physician, examining the scars with a grimace as if envisioning the horrific scene, soon tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Given the extent of these injuries, it’s surprising that her face and neck are unscathed. It’s almost as if she’s been hiding them perfectly,” the physician remarked, examining the wounds with a newfound interest. Kaon suddenly recalled that Alessia always wore long-sleeved dresses, even in the scorching heat of summer.
“Judging by the fact that the wounds are mostly on the outer parts, she must have curled up to protect her inner body. It wouldn’t have been easy to endure.”
The physician continued to murmur, unable to stop himself from explaining, despite his sympathy for the patient’s pain.
“But it’s quite strange. Defensive wounds like these are rare. Usually, when a dog chases someone, they turn their back and run. If they fall, it’s over; there’s no time to curl up neatly like this. Even if they did, they would still get injured in the process.”
“What are you implying? If she wasn’t chased by dogs, are you suggesting she willingly walked into a room full of vicious dogs?”
“Well, that’s one possibility. But another thought is that she was forcibly thrown into a room filled with dogs. That seems more likely. Of course, who would do such a horrendous thing? It’s unthinkable.”
The physician quickly dismissed his own speculation, suggesting it was too far-fetched to take seriously. He soon focused back on examining the wounds, paying no further mind to the past he couldn’t uncover.
“…I’m fine. You don’t need to call a doctor.”
“I’m sorry. You must have been scared. Actually, I’m a little afraid of dogs.”
“You won’t bite me, will you? I’ll come to greet you every day, so please don’t bite me.”
But Kaon couldn’t ignore it. Memories resurfaced, layering over the old scars on Alessia’s body. Each scar matched a memory, meticulously piling up.
“When I go back, I’ll be dead.”
“What bad thing? Getting thrown into the lake in the middle of winter? Or being hung from the castle wall to see if I could climb down? Or was it being shot at with fireballs to feel the magic?”
“I see. I just wanted to get along a little better.”
“The thing I hate is that you might never understand why I dislike you.”
“It’s not that I hate you. I just…”
“You hate me.”
Kaon finally reflected on all those moments and sighed deeply.
Oh, what kind of life have you endured, Alessia?
🍉🍉🍉
