【Guest, sir Guest!】

The Archmage was forced awake by the people suddenly rushing in. 'What about the Demon Knight?' she thought, instinctively looking back into the room, and the Demon Knight was indeed there.

【He's hurt!】

Only, he was half-dead, having been carried in on someone else's back.

"H-How did..."

She could see his white shirt stained red between his burgundy vest. And it was right near his heart.

For a moment, her heart sank.

【Only those holding him down stay, everyone else step back!】

But if his heart really had been pierced, every second counted. The Archmage urgently tore his clothes open and cut the bandages vertically to check the wound.

There was one near his collarbone, and two near his heart. As if stabbed by something with an uneven edge, the jaggedly gouged wounds spewed blood.

"What in the—"

Her mind reeled upon seeing the severity of the injuries.

Judging by the amount of blood loss, the wound on his shoulder seemed to have barely missed the subclavian artery, but the ones by his heart were undoubtedly fatal. He was only still alive because they hadn't hit dead center.

【Bring cloth to stop the bleeding!】

She had to do everything she could for now. Leaving only the people to hold his limbs in place, she cast her magic.

She had no idea how someone as strong as the Demon Knight could suffer such a thing, but saving him was the priority right now.

"How, how did this person..."

She maintained her magic while pressing down on his wounds until her white fur was soaked with blood. Having rarely seen him get hurt, she had never considered the Demon Knight's armor to be thin, but today she bitterly resented it.

Even if he couldn't wear heavy armor like the Inquisitor, how nice would it have been if he had at least worn light armor. At the very least, vitals guards—

"...!"

While her thoughts raced rapidly, the Archmage's breath suddenly caught.

He had one. A guard.

And one specifically meant to protect his heart, at that.

... The one she had secretly taken away from the Demon Knight.

CLENCH.

She gritted her teeth. The rapidly surging regret stemmed from a branch of possibility she had not been able to choose.

"... If I had known this would happen."

Ah. If she had known this would happen. If she had known he would be attacked in his vitals like this. If she had known he would be stabbed near the heart and hover between life and death.

She would have, with that...

No. She still would have taken it back.

If she had known he was going to be attacked, she could have made him a new chest guard, or prevented the attack from happening in the first place.

Therefore, her welling regret now was worthless. Since this incident occurring and him constantly carrying around a bomb called a guard were completely separate matters, her regret was meaningless.

Of course, how could she have known this would happen when she took the heart guard?

She merely, merely wished that this man wouldn't keep a bomb strapped to his heart. She had secretly removed it because she thought he would prioritize detonating the bomb himself over letting someone else take his heart.

Not because she wanted his injuries to be worse like this.

So this was purely bad luck. Just as goodwill didn't always bring about good results, this time too, misfortune had simply won out over good intentions.

That was all it was...

"Oh, God."

That was all it was, but.

"Harboring a demon was not this person's fault, so please, have mercy."

She still couldn't help but picture a future where she had remained ignorant, and the Demon Knight had suffered lesser injuries thanks to the guard serving its nominal function.

"Please grant him mercy."

Sorrow streamed from the seasoned Sage's eyes.

CRACK.

"...?"

At that moment, the sound of something breaking rang out. The Archmage's tear-filled gaze turned toward where the sound came from.

【Roll up his shirt.】

Could they have broken a bone while holding him down? But the sound was too sharp for that.

She watched as the person holding his right arm down pulled back his gauntlet, coat sleeve, and shirt.

The key was whether the health recovered by magic would exceed the health being lost; since diverting her attention while keeping the spell active posed no issue itself, she could afford to look.

"...!"

However, the arm stripped of clothing was perfectly fine. The only issue was that black fragments fell from the arm of the shirt as it was being pulled back.

Fragments of a seal. She swallowed a groan.

【Should I remove the bandages too?】

【No. Leave those be.】

Why the seal broke was a mystery, but as long as there were no signs of the demon running rampant, treating him took priority.

Furthermore, the bandages... had a hemostatic effect for one, and as long as they weren't removed, the secret the Demon Knight wanted to hide would be kept to some extent. She focused on the wounds near his heart.

"Gasp!"

But before the flesh could even fill in, and less than ten seconds after the seal broke, the Demon Knight woke up with a sharp intake of breath.

Because of the amount of blood he had lost, his face was pale, making him look exactly like a waking corpse. Or as if a soul had just possessed a dead body.

"The, child."

"...! Don't speak—no. Keep talking. It's better than falling asleep!"

"The child."

Whether he had actually heard her words, or if he was just mumbling what he deemed important in a dazed state.

Regardless, the Demon Knight coughed, spilling blood along with his words.

"That came, with. Me."

"The child that came with you?"

She couldn't understand the situation with just those words. She turned her gaze to the people who had brought the Demon Knight.

【Was there a child with the Demon Knight?】

They made troubled expressions.

【Well, she was an escaped child, so...】

【The child... was sent to prison.】

【Escaped?】

"That child was, hurt too..."

An escaped child? And the child is hurt too?

【Bring that child here as well.】

It was just as hard to grasp the situation even if she heard more.

However, the Demon Knight wasn't likely to be pleased that an injured child was sent to prison.

Moreover, it seemed that child was somehow entangled with the Demon Knight's injuries. She decided she would rather hear the truth from the child.

Her hands were still pouring magic into the Demon Knight's wounds.

【Y-Yes.】

The people around them might not have liked it, but they didn't refuse. No, they couldn't.

The Archmage glanced at the people who only went to fetch the child after she shouted firmly, then focused on the treatment again.

Leaving them to drag their feet when every second counted made her feel as if heat was boiling up inside her.

"...?"

However, there was still one more headache waiting for her.

When she turned her head to the injured area, a bizarre sight entered her vision.

Black energy, black mana, was gathering between the wounds.

"This is...?"

She wanted to know what on earth it was doing, but there was no way to find out right away. She committed the sight to memory and dedicated herself to the treatment for now.

As always.

The Demon Knight clung to life with bizarre tenacity, ultimately escaping the crisis of death.

─What do you make of this phenomenon?

At the other party's question, Fierce White Wind drummed her fingers.

According to the Archmage's testimony, his recovery speed wasn't exceptionally fast normally.

It was definitely much faster compared to an ordinary person, but considering the average for mana users, it was a perfectly understandable recovery speed.

But not dying from something like this was a different story. Infusing vitality into the body with mana had its limits, after all.

Are mana users some kind of monsters? Strolling around perfectly fine for hours without proper treatment after getting stabbed near the heart.

On top of that, he had supposedly woken up and mumbled something in less than thirty minutes after shedding that much blood.

This was undeniably abnormal.

"There's no result without a cause, and no end without a beginning."

─... Right.

"Ultimately, there must be some reason for the Demon Knight's tenacious life... Is the demon perhaps interfering with his body? Because if the Demon Knight dies, it dies too?"

─I figured that might be the case for now.

"Hmm."

For that to be the case... didn't it end far too smoothly? It could have taken over his body using that opening, so wasn't it a bit un-demon-like to just heal him and be done with it?

"You said the seal shattered earlier, right?"

─Yes.

If the demon had truly interfered in his healing, it wouldn't have ended so simply. White Wind pondered from a different angle.

"... Mana can substitute for the energy the body uses."

The situations where the Demon Knight's seal broke were mostly output issues. Of course, after multiple experiments, it had become able to withstand things to some extent, but...

Seeing as it had broken a few times since then, it was clear it still couldn't withstand output beyond a certain degree.

Then couldn't this incident be because of that as well?

─Mana users do have more tenacious vitality than ordinary people, but isn't this degree a bit much?

"That's the story for normal mana users. The Demon Knight's mana capacity is practically out of the standard, isn't it?"

─Are you saying that if mana exceeds the limit... it can even delay death?

"It's already a proven case that the more mana one has, the longer they can hold out. It's just that there's never been an owner of such massive mana like the Demon Knight before."

─... There is a possibility.

"This is more convincing than a demon treating its vessel and quietly backing off."

Given that his life was hanging by a thread, even if the demon did interfere, it could be that it lacked the remaining strength to take over his body and just stopped there.

However, they could also form a hypothesis that while the demon remained suppressed, the Demon Knight's subconscious shattered the seal and drew out power in order to survive.

Either way, the possibilities were plausible.

"I'll have to ask about this in detail if at all possible."

Though, yes. If it was the latter, it would be a relief, but if it was the former, it would be dangerous.

White Wind pondered whether or not the Demon Knight would answer this, and asked about his current condition.

─He is still asleep.

"True. It's a miracle he woke up at all already."

It was actually stranger that he briefly woke up in the middle, said his piece, and went back to sleep. White Wind nonchalantly leaned back in her chair.

The chair she brought from the Magic Tower was plush, making up for the dissatisfactions brought on by the tribe's unique floor-sitting lifestyle.

"Ah, by the way, why on earth did the Demon Knight get hurt? Did a dragon show up? Or did he fight the Mountain Lord? Did they have a bout?"

─... It's not that, they say he got hurt while saving a child.

"And he got hit in the heart, of all places?"

─That is... Ah. He seems to have woken up. I will step away for a moment.

"Alright."

She had nothing to do anyway. Knowing the connection was cut, White Wind waited for the contact to resume instead of bothering to stand up.

It wasn't long before the communication device rang again.

"Sooo."

─Do you have any spare seals?

"Huh?"

She should have a spare, so why was she looking for a seal? While thinking this, White Wind docilely gave an answer.

"I do."

Since she had nothing to do, she had brought a few extra to tinker with and improve when she got bored. The materials were also in her subspace bag, so she could hastily throw one together if need be.

"But why? Don't you have a spare?"

─... I was told he used a spare a while ago.

"When?"

─The day he got hit by poison and slept for half a day. It seems it shattered back then too.

"Really? But why is he telling you that now?"

─... I only just heard it myself. I suppose he just assumed it was broken by the snake.

Is that so? To say that, things felt subtly mismatched...

White Wind furrowed her brow, recognizing the subtle discrepancy but unable to explain it clearly.

"Got it. Then I'll have to send it right away."

However, that was only for a very brief moment. White Wind didn't really care much about these things.

"Zatab still hasn't given up, so who on earth should I send..."

Just then, the sound of knocking came from the door.

"Excuse me. Your Mages caused another accident..."

"The Berserker didn't cause an accident."

"Sir Fighter, please keep your mouth shut. It's not that you didn't cause an accident, it's that I stopped you from causing one. Anyway, so... what's with that look on your face?"

By a true stroke of luck, the perfect people to send had come knocking on their own.

White Wind smiled radiantly.

"I'll send these guys."

─Do that.

"Huh?"

The errand boys were decided.

'I completely forgot...'

I fell into a complicated mood as I looked at my mana pool, which had far surpassed 2,000.

Of course, I hadn't actually planned to say nothing and just get a spare from White Wind directly before moving on. I'd just thought that in a fit of pique at the time.

But... I completely forgot about it after that...

I awkwardly checked my condition while walking on eggshells around the Archmage.

The bandages the Archmage had cut open to treat me had been restored, and I was back in my unbuttoned shirt.

【I'm sorry, I'm sorry...】

The kid who attacked me... well. It seems she got treated properly. The injured spots are nicely wrapped up with bandages and splints. She seems somehow more hurt than I remember, but surely she didn't get hurt even more after coming to the village. It was dark and the situation was a mess, so I must have just been mistaken.

The part I was actually concerned about lay elsewhere.

Since she came back to the village and was hurt, if she had a guardian, they would normally be sitting right there with her... but seeing as there's no one, she really doesn't have one, does she? Hiss.

I was about to pat the head of the child crying face-down in front of me before realizing the risk of breaking my character concept was at a critical level.

At least it was a relief that only this kid saw my true personality come out in the heat of the moment...

Still, you never know. While explaining the situation back then, she might perfectly repeat what I said—actually, she wouldn't be able to. We speak different languages.

For the first time, I liked the fact that we couldn't understand each other's language. No matter what I said, they wouldn't even realize I was breaking character.

Still, a crying face was universal. Since that part had been witnessed, I had to be careful. Patting her head was definitely out of character, too.

So, gripping my right arm, I blankly leaned against the wall. Was it because my wounds hadn't fully healed yet? I felt strangely tired.

Or maybe it was because I spent time near the waterfall instead of sleeping? Or perhaps my fatigue hadn't fully lifted because I woke up after only a few hours of passing out from my injuries?

"Let's talk for a moment."

However, if I wanted to sleep to shake off the fatigue, I still had many mountains to climb.

The karma of putting off the conversation about the seal had finally come back to bite me. Damn it.

"... Are your sore spots... no, are your injuries alright?"

Shouldn't the person who treated me know that better than anyone? I sullenly looked at my HP window.

After a long time of experience, HP was the very thing I considered to have somewhat decreased reliability, but it was still intuitive since it was displayed in numbers. At the very least, it meant I wouldn't die when it was full.

In that regard, I was fine.

Even though the hole in my shoulder was just wrapped in bandages after applying herbs and ointment, and the wound by my heart had noticeable new flesh growing over it, and my HP was repeatedly dipping and rising slightly!

Regardless, it wasn't on a downward trend, was it? That was enough. These were wounds that would heal as time passed.

Unlike the scars etched into the mind and heart, this meant things would get better as time flowed.

"... I heard that the child attacked you."

"And so?"

Wait, are we jumping straight to talking about punishing the kid?

Of course, my forgiveness aside, almost killing a person was definitely a wrong thing to do. It was right to apply an appropriate penalty. Just letting it slide at a time like this would be the perfect way for the kid to develop a bad habit.

But the punishments here... didn't seem like things I would be very fond of, you know? This world was so merciless and the severity of its punishments so harsh.

Since it was an attempted murder, she definitely needed to be punished, but as long as she knew what she did was wrong, I wanted to avoid things like the death penalty.

Ah, does the kid really not have a guardian? This was a problem I normally should have discussed with a guardian.

"What would you like me to do?"

While I was pondering, the Archmage, who had been carefully choosing her words for a while, asked. It was unexpected. I thought she would ask why I saved her or something like that.

"If we hand this child over to the tribe, they'll likely dish out the punishment themselves. Though death is the most probable outcome."

Separately, it seems the Archmage also thought the kid would be killed.

"I will follow your decision. You're the one who got hurt."

True. There was no way she didn't know. The people who kept bringing things in all tried to drag the kid away, so there was no way she hadn't picked up on the malice directed at the child.

I figured her kicking everyone else out and leaving just the three of us before I even woke up was in the same vein.

It must have been a measure to protect the child until the situation became clear.

"She says she's sorry."

But because I looked at the child while thinking about such things, the Archmage seemed to think I looked out of curiosity. That wasn't really it, though.

Even if I didn't know the words, there was a certain nuance you could feel from the language, so I'd already gotten the gist.

"... Or are you curious as to why that child attacked you?"

"It's none of my business."

"Then..."

"Tell her."

More than anything, I...

"The words 'I'm sorry' are worthless."

Of course I was curious about the reason, but it was hard to ask because of my concept, and I didn't want to receive her apology from the start. Honestly, a kid this young wouldn't have pulled a knife on me for no reason.

So it was probably either something I did wrong, or someone put her up to it.

I could even take a guess at both. After all, considering she's a child without a guardian, for the former, she could be the child of the person who was executed because of me, and for the latter, there's Atart, whose pride I shattered.

Therefore, I just, just...

"That there won't be a second chance."

I wanted her to receive a fitting punishment so she wouldn't commit this kind of wrong again, but grow into a better person through it.

Just as many who are already adults do.

"Are you forgiving that child?"

"If she attacks me again, I will kill her. That is all."

"... Then, should I hand her over to the tribe?"

"I said I would kill her if she attacks me again."

"I see."

Hoping the Archmage would flawlessly understand me even if I spoke like garbage, I attempted some Bluetooth-style communication.

You know, right? You should know. You must have something popping into your head about what judgment you should make in a situation where the kid dies if handed over to the tribe.

【... He says rather than being sorry, you should ensure you never repeat your mistake.】

【B-But...】

【Yes, yes. You must be wondering how he could forgive you. But do you think we don't know how you feel? Right or wrong aside, your resentment is valid. Because it's valid... we wish to understand it.】

【... How could you, how could you possibly understand me? I, I lost everything...!】

【Yes. You lost it because of us.】

【And knowing that...!】

【However, your parents tried to kill the children of others.】

【...!!】

【That was the reason he drew his blade, and the weak he chose to save. Those young children being held captive were the very reason he interfered in your affairs.】

【... Th-That's.】

But I had no idea what the Archmage was doing making the kid cry even more. What was she saying to make the conversation drag on so long?

【I'm not telling you not to resent us. No matter what your parents did, we had no right to take them from you. You may resent us. It's only natural for you to hate us. Even if you pick up the blade of revenge again... I would understand. But... it looks to me like you already know the answer.】

【... I know. I know it, but I know it... I knew Dad and Mom were whispering about something all night...!】

【Yes. Yes.】

【Even so, even so, I was so angry...!】

【It's not your fault. Your anger is justified.】

【Daaad...!】

I didn't know what they were talking about. I didn't quite know why the already sniffling child was sobbing even harder now, either.

【I am sorry. We are sorry.】

Still, it was a relief that the kid seemed to be finding comfort.

【... Why must only the children suffer for the greed of adults.】

I quietly closed my eyes.

"Hmm. Has he fallen asleep?"

The Archmage laid the wailing child down on one side after confirming she had fallen asleep as if passing out.

However, there was nothing in particular she could do after that. The Demon Knight had also fallen asleep.

"He must have been tired."

He usually wasn't one to close his eyes in a space with other people around.

She brought over a blanket that had been strewn to the side and draped it over him.

The face of the soundly sleeping man didn't look like someone who had just been stabbed in the heart, nor did it belong to someone who had forgiven the one who stabbed him.

Right. It was simply ordinary. Just like the young men of the pastoral lands.

"... Even after nearly dying, he gives her one more chance."

Then, was he planning to become a saint, who was said to have wandered the world in the guise of a shepherd matching that appearance? Or perhaps he had already become a saint?

Forgiving the child without even asking why she had done it—such tolerance—was something no one but a saint could...

"Hah."

Of course, naturally, he wasn't.

The cold-hearted God killed all who harbored demons, whether by choice or by force. There was no way the Demon Knight, who harbored a Great Demon of all things, would be chosen as a saint.

But if he wasn't a saint, how could his actions be explained?

She had only withheld the details so that he wouldn't revoke the punishment out of pity upon hearing the circumstances, or feel unnecessary guilt if he did punish her.

What kind of person could you classify someone as who just forgave her without even listening at all?

To call him foolishly kind—well. He wasn't a stupid man. He had surely guessed to some extent, yet still chose to forgive.

Right. He must have let it go despite knowing.

"If you hadn't become a demon's vessel, perhaps we might have crossed paths in the Temple."

This also led to a question. If the Demon Knight was someone who gave a child a chance even in this situation, how much kinder of a person would he have been if he had lived a more ordinary and peaceful life?

"No. I don't know your past, so it's hard to jump to conclusions. You mentioned having traces of training in swordsmanship, so maybe you belonged to a knightly family?"

Her thoughts trailed further, reaching the Demon Knight's past.

Was he this kind of seemingly heartless yet gentle person even before becoming a demon's vessel? Or maybe he had a bright and energetic personality?

These were thoughts born from wanting to understand the Demon Knight as a person. It was a curiosity she would never hear the answer to from the Demon Knight, and would likely remain a lifelong question.

BUZZ.

Just then, the communication device rang.

"Ah, perfect timing. Could you possibly ask that tribe if they could take in a child—"

─Yeah, yeah. I'll ask for you. But I have something I want to talk about first.

The Archmage perked up her ears at White Wind's words.

"Is something wrong?"

Did something happen to the young Thief or the Fighter she said she was sending? She tensed up slightly.

─The Chief of Serhang says that during the Katina period, you absolutely can't meet the Mountain Lord—or more precisely, the Priestesses of the swamp who serve him. If they do it wrong, it could be seen as fraudulently acquiring the Great Chief position, so no matter what strings they've pulled beforehand, they aaabsolutely cannot approach that area during the Katina period.

"... Is that the truth?"

If that was true, then what was going to happen to what the Chief of Bigabol had promised?

─Beats me. Whether that side confidently thought they could pull it off despite knowing that, or if they were just spouting lies. But the Chief of Serhang and the Priestess definitely said this. Implicit permission or not, the Priestesses of the swamp absolutely do not allow contact during this period. So what's your plan now?

It could be that Serhang's power was weak, making it seem impossible to them.

But there was also the possibility that the Chief of Bigabol was spouting lies.

"... It looks like the latter to me."

─It sounds like a lie to you too, right?

"Tsk. We just wasted time."

If this was the case, all the time they had spent here and every moment they spent helping the Bigabol Chief turned completely worthless.

The Archmage shook her head, blaming herself for being so blinded by the opportunity of the Mountain Lord that she hadn't doubted him even once.

"If we can leave, it would be better to leave right away."

─Mm. Yeah. Then there's no need for us to go there either. But what about the kids who already set off? There's no Mage with them, so we can't even contact them.

"... We're about to take a short rest before leaving anyway, so we'll figure it out and join up with them from our end."

─Got it.

Had they already left? Sometimes, having too much initiative was a problem.

With that thought, the Archmage calculated roughly where they would cross paths with those who had already departed.

However, her sleep had been interrupted just as much.

Unable to overcome her fatigue, she cast a light barrier and closed her eyes.

She planned to think about it after getting some sleep first.