Chapter 81

"Heating magic should be easy to manage. Keep the temperature steady for now. I'll go check on the treatment progress."

In response to my words, Winry nodded vigorously, as if to say she would take care of it.

* * *

As I followed behind Baron Gorneo and stepped out of the tent, a subtly awkward atmosphere filled the tent's interior.

"Princess Winry really likes Prince David, doesn't she?"

For the two who had mastered the magic of the Red Tower, a simple temperature change spell was not difficult.

As Lysius, who was managing the heat with familiar mana, smiled gently and asked, Winry's face immediately relaxed, and she laughed heartily.

"Right? My brother has always been a wonderful person."

"From the past..."

"Even though my birth mother was different, he always treated us as family, being affectionate and warm to me and Baris. Although he was a bit hot-headed... both Baris and I will never forget the warmth he showed us."

In fact, the exact time was hard to remember.

She rubbed her blushing cheeks and smiled heartily.

"That's why I really like my brother. I still remember the old story about the sun and the moon that he told me when I was little."

"I'm envious."

Lysius, who spoke without a hint of falsehood, smiled warmly.

"Then, Princess Winry, if I were to..."

Rumble... rumble... rumble...

As if a vibration was sounding.

While he was about to speak, Lysius stopped and took out a small tool from his pocket.

"Is that a communication artifact?"

"Ah... I'm sorry. I'll be back in a moment."

Lysius, who quickly got up with a pale face, left his seat, and Winry nodded with a bright smile.

"Hehe. I'll bake some delicious cookies for my brother."

After the estate's affairs were settled and the disease management team left, what would she do next?

Since she was already there, she would show the estate's famous attractions and use her baking skills to make delicious treats.

As she imagined various happy scenarios, the corners of her mouth naturally turned up.

If someone saw her, they might think she was in love, but unfortunately, Winry had a strong clingy personality.

Thud... thud...

"Ah, are you already here?"

About five minutes after Lysius left.

Hearing footsteps from behind, Winry, who was channeling mana with her fingers, turned her head with a smile.

Or rather, she tried to turn her head.

Thud!

If not for something suddenly striking the back of her neck, that is.

"A... Ah?"

In her blurred vision as she fell, she saw an elderly knight in a red uniform with a scarf instead of a hood.

* * *

"Master."

"Yes, did everything go well?"

"Yes, Prince David is truly remarkable. I didn't expect him to have such deep knowledge of medicine."

"Is that so?"

"Most impressive was the prince's confidence."

"Hmm, confidence?"

Wiping his gray beard, the master asked with satisfaction, and Lysius nodded.

"What can I say? It was the kind of confidence that only someone with a lot of experience could show. The fact that he has such confidence at his age suggests there might be something I don't know about him."

"If you felt that way, then it must be true."

"Yes, as you judged, Prince David has a lot to teach if observed closely. But more than that, I have a personal desire."

"Desire?"

"Yes, I wonder if we could become close friends, regardless of age or group interests."

Apart from his abilities, he was subtly strange yet warm.

Subtly different from the nobles and royals who live according to plans from birth.

If I had to describe it, he was a free person.

"Hehehe! You've met a good person, the world is full of things that can't be judged by age. Even a three-year-old child has something to teach. Remember that."

"Yes, Master."

Wiping his beard with satisfaction, the master continued.

"Also, I looked into what you mentioned."

"Ah... Did you find anything?"

"Yes, Baron Gorneo and Earl Linton, who were in charge of the disease management team's special project. Most of the information was lost, but I managed to find out."

He sighed briefly and then spoke.

"Yes, Baron Gorneo is a decent man. A rare example of selfless dedication in this era. However... the Earl Linton is different."

As Lysius listened to his master's words, he forgot that his face was growing sterner as the story went on.

And when the story ended.

Boom!!!

With a heavy explosion, Lysius's eyes widened as he saw the tent, where he had just been and where the treatment was prepared, completely burned.

"No... No!!!"

Lysius's face, which usually wore a gentle smile, was now filled with urgency.

It was almost a scream.

* * *

"Princess Winry!"

Lysius, who ran over screaming, looked at the burning tent with a hopeless expression.

Just a moment ago, he and Winry were there, managing the treatment that David had left in their care.

But what had happened in the short time he was away?

His hand, which reflexively channeled mana, produced a staff that glowed.

At the same time, a large amount of water appeared from the empty air, forming a giant whirlpool that extinguished the burning tent.

Sizzle...

"Prin... Princess Winry!!"

A 4th Circle late-stage spell used reflexively.

Not only was it a high-level spell, but the sudden use of magic also consumed a significant amount of mana.

Ignoring the sudden chill in his blood, Lysius rushed into the tent's remains, his robe torn to shreds.

But all he saw were the completely destroyed treatments.

Winry was gone.

"What... What is this...?"

As he muttered with a stiff face, a thought suddenly struck him.

Though he thought it impossible, his master's words just now hinted at the possibility.

No matter how extraordinary his past, he never thought he would act here.

Lysius, whose face had turned pale, took off without further thought.

'Prince David has excellent medical knowledge and a sacred mark, but he has no combat skills. He must not be involved. If so... '

He was the only one who could act here.

With that thought, he used a 5th Circle Fly spell and began to follow the trail quickly.

His real name was Linton Borniade.

A genius who, from a young age, excelled in medical knowledge, born in the medical kingdom of Luthis, which was once part of the eastern continent and later subjugated by the Lindis Empire.

However, his personality was so bizarre that he was disciplined and banned from medical activities within the Luthis Kingdom.

To develop a cure for a rare disease, he kidnapped 200 of his own citizens and forcibly administered the disease-causing bacteria, then locked them up and conducted thousands of experiments.

Although he successfully developed the cure, by the time he finished, only ten of the 200 citizens survived, and they were all severely disabled.

And all ten died within three months, making him a person who would do anything to achieve his goals.

One who kills one person is a murderer, one who kills ten is a serial killer, one who kills a hundred is a mass murderer, and one who kills ten thousand is a hero.

However, Linton's bizarre ideology made him look like a demon who killed ten thousand.

"He must be safe!!"

He clenched his teeth and muttered under his breath.

* * *

At the same time.

David, who was following Baron Gorneo to check on the patients and conduct treatment at the clinic, frowned as he saw the red-uniformed knights surrounding them, swords drawn.

"Hey, Baron Gorneo."

"Yes?"

"Is there a problem?"

In response to David's question, Baron Gorneo shook his head strongly.

"No! What are you doing? Drawing swords in a sacred clinic!!"

He was clearly the superior of the knight squad, so the knights should follow his orders.

However, no one sheathed their swords in response to Baron Gorneo's words.

The knights, wearing hoods with only their eyes visible, all displayed Expert-level or higher power, with auras surrounding their swords, and declared.

"We have no personal grudge, but orders are orders."

"Orders?"

"Following the orders of Earl Linton, Baron Gorneo, you must die here. And Prince, you must come with us."

The resolute words made Baron Gorneo's eyes flash with anger.

"Why is he doing this!!"

Of course, his outcry went unheard.

"Do not resist. Resistance will only cause more pain."

With those words, one of the knights swung his sword at Baron Gorneo.

Clang!!!

"Is that so?"

At the same time, a white hand caught the sword's tip effortlessly.

The sword, as if it were nothing.

33. Pursuit

"Ugh..."

What are the chances that a regular person, especially an elderly man, could block a sword strike from an active, Expert-level or higher knight?

Naturally, Baron Gorneo never doubted that his neck would be severed by the sword of the knight who attacked him.

Although Prince David, a young man, was by his side, he had only heard that he had an unstable sacred mark, not that he had any combat skills.

So, he would inevitably die by that sword.

But.

What was happening here?

Clank... Clank!

The knight, whose sword was trembling in his hand, and Prince David, who held the sword with his bare hands and wore a complicated expression.

And himself, watching the scene.

"Pr... Prince David?"

"Are you hurt?"

"A... Ah, no."

"Ugh!"

As the knight groaned, he tried to pull his sword back, but the sword, held by David's hand, wouldn't budge as if it were firmly stuck.

"Did Linton send you?"

"..."

"Well, that politician was a bit suspicious, but I never thought he would do something like this."

David's eyes glinted dangerously as he spoke calmly.

At the same time, David's hand, which held the sword, twitched and pulled the sword into his own chest.

In an instant, the knight, who was holding the sword, was pulled into David's embrace.