Chapter 49 - Sanctuary (3)

A sudden emergency alarm rang in the Academy's medical department. Startled by the unexpected noise, all members, including the sleeping medical professor, hurriedly returned to the medical department building and checked the location where the warning was triggered. Then they all showed strange expressions.

"This is... the place we used as an injured reception area during the combat department entrance exam," the professor muttered.

On the Academy map placed in the center of the medical department's emergency room. Three red lights were blinking at the entrance of the southern forest.

The residual magic of the alarm was too strong for it to be a malfunction. A signal clearly sent with someone's intention.

It was nonsensical. The magic used during the entrance exam was currently not in use.

Yet now, suddenly, that magic was activating. It wasn't something made by a mediocre mage, how could this be possible? It was more plausible that residual magical power from back then had reignited now.

But... the professor somehow had a feeling this situation wasn't a simple incident.

It was in the realm of intuition. All her senses, honed by rolling through battlefields as a healing mage, were telling her to head to that forest immediately.

Her intuition, cultivated over many years, had never lied to her. 

She hardened her expression and spoke to those gathered in the emergency room, "Let's check it for now. Everyone prepare."

So the medical department students, professor, and assistant professors all began a midnight march together. Fortunately, the distance between the medical department building and the Academy's southern forest wasn't too far, so they were able to arrive there before long.

Steps continued while pushing back darkness through lanterns and basic illumination magic. At the end, they discovered three people collapsed in a miserable state.

Quill, unconscious with organs spilling from his side, Warren, convulsing while coughing up blood, and Saya, vomiting blood with a spear pierced through her abdomen.

Not one of them was in a good state. Severe injuries that wouldn't be strange if they died right away. It was fortunate there were no missing body parts, but even so, they couldn't be at ease. If not treated quickly, they would die from excessive blood loss or shock.

The judgment was quick. The professor prioritized transporting the patients over assessing the immediate situation. Then the assistant professors and students who had been blankly staring at the three people hurriedly transported them to the emergency room.

A strong smell of blood began to fill the previously quiet emergency room. One of the assistant professors reported the current situation to Fride, and students lit incense to dull the senses of the three people.

But the drug's effect was too weak to put mana users to sleep. At most, it only slightly deadened pain sensation. It was difficult to go beyond that.

"W-what should we do?"

"Bring the ampules! First, let's pull out that spear!" the professor said while drawing up the clean magical power unique to healing mages. 

The students, smelling the scent of death up close for the first time, nodded with tension and fear filling them.

No matter how high their grade, the injuries they had dealt with were only minor ones that occurred during exams. Even they had only seen severe injuries where every minute and second counted in books. A situation where they had to handle things relying solely on knowledge in their heads, let alone practical experience.

But they couldn't just stand still. There was no one here who would stupidly stand around in a situation where they could save or kill someone with their own hands. They firmly pressed down their trembling hands and moved in an orderly manner following the assistant professors' instructions.

"...First, cut the spear in half. Then pull it out from the side with the spearhead."

"Yes."

The students nodded. They cut the spear with a dagger whose cutting power was maximized through magic, and following the assistant professor's order, pulled out the spear straight. Then the blood and organs thickly stuck to the spear shaft came out with it.

"Aaaargh...!"

Saya screamed in pain. 

Although pain sensation was partially numbed, the feeling of organs being torn out was accompanied by unimaginable pain.

As the spear that had been blocking the penetrating wound disappeared, blood gushed out like a fountain from the hole. Hastily administering hemostatic agents somewhat stopped the bleeding, but even so, the situation was still critical. They needed to quickly use healing formulas to filter out bacteria or impurities remaining in the body and start regeneration.

"Everyone who can use magic, draw up magical power! We'll start treatment nowㅡ"

"Ah, cough, Acel..."

As the assistant professor was shouting, Saya coughed up blood and muttered while painfully rolling her eyes.

For a moment, everyone's attention focused on her. Saya met the assistant professor's gaze and continued speaking.

"Where is... Acel...?"

***

"...Ugh."

Eyes slowly opened to the sound of birds chirping. Eyelids felt so heavy they seemed about to close again at any moment, and the intense pain felt throughout the body was enough to make one faint as soon as they came to their senses. Why were the eyes so painful too, it felt like the brain would be cooked just from keeping them open.

There was something he could guess.

What the necromancer had said. Didn't she say there were signs of awakening magic eyes? Having recklessly stuffed magical power into the eyeballs at every opportunity, it seemed the eyeballs and magical power had resonated somehow. It was the result of terribly strong mana sensitivity affecting the body as well.

Unfortunately, it would be difficult to expect similar results in other areas besides the eyes since it was hard to contain magical power in them, but this alone was sufficient gain.

Should he say it felt like receiving an unexpected gift? Acel smiled bitterly and closed his eyes.

It was good that awakening wasn't far off, but for now, his body condition was a mess so even opening his eyes was difficult. Just moving a finger joint made the muscles and nerves throughout his body scream.

Still, judging by the fact that he could properly hear the chirping birds, it seemed his half-cut-off ear had properly returned.

It seems Master did something.

Acel let out a deep sigh of relief and half-opened just one eye. The pain was too severe to open both.

He had no memory of immediately after teleporting. After entrusting his body to magic, he fainted and when he woke up, a pure white ceiling was the first thing that entered his eyes. Since all his senses were there, it didn't seem to be the afterlife, so it seemed his master had treated him.

It was a bit of a gamble, but it seemed to have been the right answer. Even the teleportation formula he had improvised on the spot had been honestly uncertain, but it seemed to have worked well.

He was lucky.

It was a miracle that could only be explained that way. Acel thought this while enjoying the soft sensation felt in his left hand.

"...?"

After a moment, Acel realized the sensation was somehow familiar and painfully turned his head slightly.

His gaze fell upon Ena, who was tightly grasping his hand with wide open eyes.

Clear tear marks were on her cheeks as if she had cried for a long time. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were slightly sunken as if she hadn't eaten for days.

The cold impression she usually showed was nowhere to be seen. A pitiful appearance that would evoke sympathy from anyone who saw it.

In a way, it was natural. The disciple she had trusted and sent to the Academy had suddenly appeared as a half-corpse. The mental suffering Ena felt while Acel was unconscious was immeasurable. The tears she shed while watching over him were enough to form a puddle.

Of course, Acel didn't know these behind-the-scenes details, but he was aware that he had given Ena a burden on her mind. So he smiled painfully and spoke in a cracked voice:

"It's been a while, Master."

At those words, Ena seemed to choke up, and with the corners of her mouth drooping, she pressed her cheek against Acel's hand that she was holding.

Warmth was gradually returning to his hand that had been cold for over a week. That fact conveyed warmth to Ena. She looked up at Acel without even thinking of wiping away her flowing tears.

Acel smiled bitterly as he looked at her blue eyes sparkling with moisture.

"I'm sorry. I made you worry unnecessarily."

"No."

Ena barely opened her mouth. 

Her voice was full of tears. She stood up from her seat and placed her hand on Acel's cheek, smiling painfully.

"Thank you for coming back."

During the week Acel had been unconscious, she had never left his side even once. When his magical power convulsed, she calmed it down herself, and when cold sweat flowed, she wiped his body alone without the help of magic. She didn't even sleep in case he suddenly became critical in the early morning.

While doing so, she transmitted warmth to him. Until all the necromancer's magical power that had invaded his soul was expelled, she directly pressed skin to skin to extinguish the cold. None of it was easy, but Ena tended to him without any complaints.

It would be a lie to say it wasn't hard, but Ena didn't reveal that fact to Acel. The fact that he had safely regained consciousness was more important to her than showing off to him.

She didn't care about repayment or anything like that.

"Does anything hurt?" Ena asked while wiping her tears. 

Acel answered with a somewhat humorous voice, "Everything hurts."

Ena smiled gently at that quip. She briefly kissed Acel's forehead and met his gaze.

"Seeing you joke makes me feel a bit better. As much as I want to ask what happened right away... rest should come first," Ena continued speaking as she stood up. "Wait. I'll bring the bishop. Stay still."

She opened the door to go outside. Acel answered that he understood, then laid quietly staring blankly at the ceiling.

Click.

At that moment, he heard a sound like the door locking.

"...?"

Acel's head tilted.

Fortunately, the archbishop left after saying Acel would be fine with just a few more days of rest. Ena seemed relieved at those words and exhaled deeply, then brought porridge from the dining hall and personally fed it to Acel.

"...I can eat by myself."

"Be quiet. You whine that it hurts just to move your arms."

"..."

Having nothing to say, Acel obediently ate the porridge she offered. The porridge with chicken and vegetables evenly mixed in was quite edible, better than expected. The tomato juice brought as a palate cleanser was also decent.

After the meal, he spent all day lying on the bed. Acel tried to raise his body from the bed to do some rehabilitation, but whenever such signs appeared, Ena made him lie down with verbal magic.

Even Acel couldn't do anything about that magic that forcibly controlled movement.

He did try to resist by digging into gaps in the magic in between, but then Ena would directly climb onto the bed and lie down on top of his body. Thanks to using magic that completely eliminated the weight others feel, no matter how much she laid on top of Acel, he felt no pain.

That was the case now. Acel stroked Ena's hair as she laid on top of him and let out a deep sigh. Ena enjoyed his touch without any particular complaint.

Even when a nun entered the room to use holy magic, she remained unmoved. Rather, she gave the nun looks as if telling her to leave quickly.

However, the nun was someone who didn't allow even an inch of compromise when it came to caring for patients. She ignored Ena's gaze and thoroughly examined Acel's condition. While doing so, she used holy magic on areas that needed treatment and gradually calmed his sensitized pain sensation.

That alone improved his condition. Acel slightly bowed his head towards the nun while still lying down.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing. More importantly, how long does Lady Ena intend to stay there? The patient is having a hard time."

"Hard time?" Ena asked, looking down at Acel's eyes. 

Acel smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I'm fine. Please be comfortable, be comfortable."

"He says it's fine?" Ena answered the nun with the corners of her mouth raised.

 The nun sighed deeply and shook her head.

"I'm saying this just in case, but the patient still needs stability. Please refrain from 'that kind of activity'."

"That kind of activity?"

"Sexual activity, I mean."

"...Huh?"

Ena's face turned bright red. 

Regardless, the nun gathered the bowl and bottle Ena had brought and added one more thing as she left the room, "By the way, this room isn't soundproofed."

"Get out."

"Yes. Take care."

The nun smiled slightly and closed the door as she left. Ena glared at the door she had exited through and wriggled her fingers. White magical threads extended from her fingertips and manipulated the door's lock.

Click.

The door locked. Ena checked once to make sure it was properly locked, then collapsed back onto Acel's body, overlapping her upper body. 

While doing so, she muttered, "Don't mind what she said. I don't intend to do that."

"..."

"Acel?"

"Ah, yes. I'm not minding it," Acel answered roughly like that. 

As if there was something unsatisfactory about those words, Ena pouted her lips and tapped her forehead against Acel's chest. Acel wondered why his master was acting like this, but just brushed it off and shifted his gaze.

The tightly closed door came into his view.

'Why does she keep locking it?'

Earlier when she went to bring the archbishop, and now too. 

Why does she lock the door in a way that can't be opened from inside?

"..."

An ominous thought crept up in Acel's mind.