A place that could be called a medical clinic of sorts, where the injured were all gathered.

While most of the people receiving treatment here were soldiers from Mercurio’s army, there were also some captured soldiers from the punitive force.

Word of the punitive force’s surrender had spread and many of the people working here were smiling.

On the other hand, the punitive force soldiers receiving treatment had looks of pain on their faces.

The probably didn’t want to believe that they had lost.

After all, they had gathered a force four times greater than Mercurio’s army.

Given the circumstances, it would have been strange for them to doubt their own victory.

Even so, the reason that they didn’t act out violently despite not believing their defeat was because they didn’t want to inconvenience the people treating their injuries.

That said, most of the treatment being provided was limited to medication.

There weren’t many people who could use healing magic, so that was limited to treating people with life threatening injuries. Even potions were restricted to those with serious injuries.

That was only to be expected as Mercurio’s army didn’t have as big of a potion supply as the punitive force.

As a result, most treatment was conducted with cheaper medication rather than potions.

Rei showed up at such a place as he looked around.

Set, who was usually with him, was nowhere to be seen.

Rei had judged that bringing Set with him to the infirmary might end up scaring those who were not accustomed to him, so he had left Set behind to guard Mercurio.

Now that the punitive force had surrendered, the danger to Mercurio and those around him was much lower, but there was no guarantee that a desperate rogue soldier from the punitive force might still try to assassinate him.

(There’s also that Set and Rhodes don’t get along with each other.

Rhodes’ first meeting with Set had placed a terrible impression on Set.

Something extremely unusual for the typically sociable Set.

As a result, bringing Set to check on Rhodes would probably be unpleasant for both parties involved.

That said, from what Rei had heard from Theorem, Rhodes seemed to be a comatose state with no signs of waking up.

As he looked around for Rhodes, Rei had found himself at the medical clinic of a 10,000 strong army.

There were a large number of soldiers receiving treatment here, when combining both Mercurio’s army and the punitive force.

Realising that it would be impossible for him to find Rhodes on his own, he was about to ask someone passing by……when he stopped hismelf.

「……Hey, what are you doing here?」

Rei couldn’t help but ask with geniune surprise as the other person replied as if it were normal.

「Well, there aren’t that many people around who can use healing magic. Fortunately, I can still use a lot of water spirit magic that can be used to heal. So, in exchange for helping with healing, I’ve been provided some adjustments to my treatment as a prisoner.」

The one who replied……Digma, quickly used his magic to spray water over a seriously injured soldier.

As the water covered the soldier’s torso, which had been slashed open, revealing their organs, the soldier’s painful groans turned peaceful.

Digma hadn’t moved a single step while talking to Rei and his skill with healing magic showed that his title hadn’t been earned purely through his combat ability.

(In that sense, he’s definitely better than me.)

Rei envied Digma’s skill, knowing that he himself was only specialised for combat.

(If only I could earn a title for something other than fighting.)

Rei replayed the various things he had done since arriving in Elgin before reaching a conclusion.

(Maybe, Rei, the Cook?)

The udon noodles he had spread in Gilm had already become popular in the surrounding towns and the seafood okonomiyaki he had made in Port Emoshion had also been quite well received.

As for the Imperial Capital……he immediately shook his head.

(It would clearly be a derogatory title. ……Unless I imagine it as cooking up some sort of bloody feast, or something along those lines.)

Digma observed Rei with some interest before speaking up after deciding he would be wasting time if he kept at it.

「So, what are you doing here exactly?」

「Hm? ……Oh, that’s right. Actually, I heard that Rhodes was here. I also heard that there was something wrong with him, so I came to check up on him.」

「Rhodes……he was at the tournament, wasn’t he? Yes, he is here. But……there’s no point seeing him right now. It seems he used a magic item with some pretty severe side effects and his body has reacted abnormally.」

Digma immediately replied to Rei.

The fact that he immediately knew who Rei was referring to when ‘Rhodes’ was said was probably because Rhodes’ symptoms were so distinctive.

「How, specifically?」

For Rei, Rhodes was the son of Elk, his friend, as well as someone he didn’t necessarily get along too well with.

They might not have been close, but it would still have been hard for Rei to face Elk and Min were Rhodes to die.

「He’s still unconscious. I’ve done all I can with my spirit magic to treat him, but I don’t know if he will regain consciousness. Even if he does, he will likely suffer from some after effects.」

「……I see.」

Rei closed his eyes for a few seconds at Digma’s words before speaking.

「As someone who can use healing magic, I would like to ask you, based on your own intuition, what are the chances that Rhodes will be able to regain consciousness and return to his life as an adventurer?」

「Well, there’s a 10% chance he will be able to return to adventuring with no side effects, 30% chance he will suffer minor after effects, and 20% chance he will suffer severe after effects.」

「……What about the remaining 40%?」

Digma shook his head in response.

It was clear what he meant by that.

「I see.」

Rei muttered softly and sighed.

He hoped that Rhodes would regain consciousness. But, if that left him with serious after effects, that alone would be a huge shock to Rhodes.

「What would you like to do? Do you want to go check up on him?」

At Digma’s question, Rei shook his head.

「No, if he’s unconscious, there’s no point in me looking for him right now. I’ll come by again once the civil war is officially over.」

「I see, I understand. So the punitive force lost the civil war after all?」

「Yeah.」

Rei replied briefly, deciding it would be best not to mention that Kabajid had taken responsibility for the loss by taking his own life.

Another reason was because Rei had yet to fully sort out his own thoughts regarding Kabajid.

The two of them stayed silent for a dozen seconds.

As this was a medical clinic, neither of them really needed to speak.

Of course, the groans of soldiers in pain could still be heard around them.

「Vihera-sama, is she safe?」

Digma broke the silence.

Rei was a little confused at the sudden mention of Vihera, but immediately understood.

Who had defeated Digma?

If he thought about that, it wasn’t strange for Vihera to be brought up.

「She’s safe. But, it seems like she has no intention of showing up in public any more.」

That was why Rei had returned to ask Mercurio and Theorem on how to bring an official end to the civil war.

Howeve, Digma didn’t seem to understand what Rei meant. He frowned slightly as he spoke with dissatisfaction.

「Why? Vihera-sama, who achieved such great feats, would throw her achievements away? Did Prince Mercurio……no, that can’t be it.」

Digma had held a brief conversation with Mercurio after being taken prisoner by Vihera.

Since it was Vihera who had captured him, she had naturally come up in their conversation.

From that, it hadn’t been hard to see that Mercurio cared greatly for his sister and it was impossible for him to take away his precious sister’s achievements.

That was the truth of things, which was why Digma was so confused that Vihera would give up her achievements so easily.

Digma was also someone who attracted a lot of attention based on his looks, so he couldn’t understand what Vihera was thinking.

The root cause, of course, was that Digma had fallen for Vihera’s beauty and strength.

「Since you’re from the Bestir Empire, you probably know this, but Vihera ran away from the Bestir Empire. That’s why she probably doesn’t want to draw any attention to herself. She’s probably planning to quietly disappear without revealing her true identity……」

「What!?」

That was what Rei was saying when Digma forcibly interrupted him.

His voice was filled with the authority of an A rank adventurer, causing the injured around him to flinch.

However, Rei was just confused, not knowing why Digma was so worked up about it.

「Vihera-sama!? Disappearing!? Where is she going!?」

Digma asked with such force that it seemed like he was going to jump Rei. However, Rei had no idea where Vihera planned to go either, and couldn’t say.

There were a few possible places……but they were merely Rei’s guesses.

What’s more, even if he were to correctly guess where Vihera was going, it would only cause more trouble down the line.

「I don’t know either. But, since she ran away from the Bestir Empire, wouldn’t that mean she would leave the Bestir Empire again?」

「I see. ……I see. ……What!? Leave the Bestir Empire!?」

Digma’s handsome features distorted as he spoke.

Seeing Digma like that, Rei wondered if he was in actual pain.

「I suppose that’s only natural, since she’s running away.」

「No, but maybe she’s just leaving the Imperial Capital for somewhere on the outskirts of the Bestir Empire……」

「……That’s not impossible, but……」

That probably won’t happen. Rei hinted towards that.

For better or worse, Vihera stood out in the Bestir Empire.

With her looks and skill, she wouldn’t be able to hide away in some countryside.

Also, as a battle maniac herself, living a secluded life out in the countryside was an impossibility.

「In that case, should I leave the Bestir Empire as well?」

「Is it really okay for you to decided on something like that here?」

Water Dragon Digma was one of the most powerful adventurers in the Bestir Empire.

The Bestir Empire probably wouldn’t be happy that such a person would leave them so easily.

Adventurers were individuals in the end, so they couldn’t be forcibly tied to a country.

But while that wasn’t possible……the Bestir Empire would probably still try every means to prevent someone of Digma’s stature from going to another country.

Even if they were willing to use force to keep him, there was still the problem of how to stop an A rank adventurer with a title.

They couldn’t be careless with military force as they risked having that force wiped out. After all, if it were possible to suppress him with simple military force, Digma wouldn’t have had a title to begin with.

The only way to achieve that would be to find someone with even greater strength or to bind Digma to the country with something else, like money, women, or power.

However, the higher ranked one became as an adventurer, the more highly rewarding requests one could accept. Most such high ranked adventurers already had a large range of women they could chose from and many weren’t particularly interested in power either.

And, from Rei’s perspective, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for someone as strong as Digma to leave the Bestir Empire.

In fact, considering the ongoing possibility of war with the Mireana Kingdom, he was even inclined to actively encourage Digma to leave.

Digma, with his water spirit magic, could use his water dragon in large scale combat. And, as could be seen here, he was also skilled in healing magic, something that not a lot of mages could use.

「What are you saying? Adventurers are free people. They should follow their hearts and live freely.」

「……Well, if that’s what you want, I don’t mind.」

Rei replied to Digma as he noticed a soldier walk over towards him from the entrance to the clinic.

「Captain Rei, His Highness Mercurio and his men are ready, so we’d like you to come immeidately.」

「I see, I understand. ……Well, I’m heading off now. Please take of Rhodes.」

「Yeah.」

With that brief exchange, Rei and the soldier left the clinic.

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