The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 102 - Knight of Ascension (37)

Lukovich was looking at the priest with a dark expression.

Anton, who had been sweating profusely yet tirelessly working without rest, noticed that gaze and opened his mouth.

“Brother, is there somewhere that feels uncomfortable?”

“…Ah, it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

Anton briefly rubbed his waist while looking at Lukovich’s head, which was wrapped tightly with bandages.

“It was torn up quite a bit, but fortunately the wound was shallow.”

“…I’m alive thanks to your treatment.”

Indeed, Lukovich’s wound was relatively light compared to others.

The sounds of mercenaries and warriors who were severely injured in various places could be heard groaning continuously.

So Lukovich knew well that what he was about to say now was somewhat shameless.

He bowed his head and quietly opened his mouth as if muttering.

“It’s just… it hasn’t been long since the arrow was pulled out… I wonder if it’s really okay…”

“Hmm…”

At his words, Anton also let out a troubled sound with a dark expression.

Lukovich’s point was something that had been continuously weighing on his mind as well.

It was when Anton couldn’t bring himself to answer anything and kept hesitating.

“Don’t bother the priest…”

Though it was a faint voice that seemed about to break, the words contained strong will, making Lukovich quickly raise his head.

“…Alisa, you!”

“I was the one who asked. If my medicine is available, it might be able to help more people…”

Staggering, Alisa walked in holding a wooden bowl in her hands.

Inside the bowl she held was a liquid with an unknown musty smell.

“Here, apply this. You can use it sparingly.”

“Ah, I’ll do it. You should sit and rest even for a moment.”

Anton took the bowl away with a worried expression, then forcibly made Alisa sit down.

Lukovich looked at her with a relieved expression.

“What, you’re more fine than I thought. Are you really okay?”

“…This much is nothing at all.”

Though she kept staggering, Lukovich wasn’t particularly worried about that aspect.

Alisa had originally walked around like that.

Since she looked relatively similar to her usual appearance – well, you couldn’t say she looked fine, but anyway she seemed to have no major problems – Lukovich sighed.

“Still, don’t overdo it too much. They said you almost died when pulling out the arrow.”

“What… the priest just spoke too dramatically.”

When Alisa glared at the priest with a pale face, Anton coughed briefly, then hurriedly disappeared saying he would distribute medicine to others as well.

“Well, I’ll be. You have surprisingly strong aspects despite your appearance.”

“Hmph, I’m a witch after all. This little wound is nothing to me.”

Lukovich examined Alisa’s corpse-like pale face.

Whether all witches were like this or Alisa was particularly peculiar, he couldn’t distinguish whether she was in pain or not from her face.

“…But why are you speaking formally again?”

“…What?”

“Why, when you were shouting on the battlefield, you spoke informally just fine…”

“Ah… that was because I was speaking urgently… I’m sorry.”

Alisa rubbed her pale cheek and shamelessly bowed her head.

After looking at her with disbelief for a moment, he slightly turned his head.

“Well, I’ll let that slide… but since it’s you I’m asking, what kind of sorcery did you use to make people change like that?”

“You mean the warriors in black armor?”

“Yeah. Even thinking about it now gives me chills. To be able to fight without particular fear even when cut by swords or burned by fire… as if those emotions themselves had disappeared.”

When Lukovich shuddered, Alisa seemed to think about something for a moment, then soon opened her mouth.

“Sorcery that castrates parts of emotions or thoughts is rare power. It’s hard to guess what kind of spirit’s mystery it is, but… I have heard of witch groups that mainly tamper with such human aspects.”

“…Really?”

When Lukovich gulped, Alisa quietly continued speaking.

“But as far as I know, they should be active in the far east from here…”

“No, you mean people live even further east than here?”

At his words, Alisa glanced at him sideways.

“You’ve heard from Tumen before. The steppes are vast and wide. You might not know well as someone from the principality, Lukovich, but the world is wider than you can imagine.”

Though it was somehow condescending words, Lukovich just crossed his arms and groaned.

“Hmm… it’s hard to imagine. I’m not that devout either, but I vaguely heard from the priest before that there are incredibly deep cliffs at the end of the world. I naturally thought there would be great cliffs at the end of these steppes…”

“Fufu, just because I’m a witch doesn’t mean I know everything. Perhaps as you said, if you keep going east, east, someday that cliff might appear.”

At her words, Lukovich pondered deeply, then soon shook his head.

“Ah, never mind, never mind. That’s not what’s important now. The identity of the witch who cast sorcery on them can be asked when their leader wakes up… and to Lord Viktor, such sorcery would be nothing.”

“…”

At Lukovich’s carefree words, Alisa’s already pale face became even more drained of color.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Yeah, of what?”

When he tilted his head, Alisa trembled and continued speaking.

“I hate to admit it, but… if it’s a witch who can cast sorcery on such a large number of humans, she’s likely a witch far superior to me. It wouldn’t be strange to call her a Grand Witch level.”

“…So?”

“It’s not ‘so’! I heard the story later. You’re saying he shattered such powerful sorcery cast by a witch in one go?!”

“Yeah. Certainly those guys were also scared in front of Lord Viktor. But isn’t that not strange? Even I would probably faint if told to properly receive his momentum…”

Alisa looked at Lukovich as if she couldn’t believe it.

“How is that not strange? They were guys who could slice people while being fine even when burned by fire! But you think it makes sense that warriors under such powerful sorcery came to fear from just momentum or a glance?”

“Uh… now that you mention it…”

Lukovich tilted his head once more.

Since all enemies facing Viktor felt that way, he hadn’t thought much about it at first, but hearing Alisa’s words, it was certainly a bit… strange.

“I, I think… Lord Viktor isn’t human. Perhaps, perhaps he has monster blood mixed in…!”

“What did I just say?”

Boom!

Alisa and Lukovich could experience exactly what it felt like to have their hearts drop.

Her neck turned with creaking sounds like a broken doll.

“…Hiiik!”

Viktor was looking at them alternately with his usual impassive face.

“What were you talking about? I thought I heard my name.”

“…Alisa!”

Thud.

As Alisa collapsed, unable to overcome fear and shock, Viktor scratched his chin.

“She doesn’t seem fully recovered yet. Wait a moment, Lukovich. I’ll call the priest.”

“Yes, yes…!”

Lukovich watched Viktor slowly disappearing, then could finally exhale.

“Surely… he didn’t hear, right? Ah, making only useless remarks…!”

He stomped his feet while first dragging Alisa out and beginning to lay her down slowly.

---

“I see, so he still hasn’t awakened.”

“Honestly, it’s serious. Without Alisa’s medicine, it would have been a disaster.”

“…I hope there’s a skilled healer in Roshtov.”

Viktor looked at Tumen, who was wrapped tightly in bandages all over his body and only breathing.

Whether he had been beaten quite severely, Tumen couldn’t easily open his eyes.

“Still, there probably won’t be enemy attacks for a while, so there shouldn’t be problems evacuating the wounded.”

When Viktor spoke while turning his eyes away, Anton nodded with a relieved expression.

“That’s good news. I was worried we might have to abandon the seriously wounded.”

Just because the battle ended didn’t mean everything returned to normal smoothly.

When they needed to move quickly, unfortunately those who barely saved their lives weren’t given much time to rest.

In the case of the wounded, if they were unlucky, they would be abandoned, which happened countless times.

For Anton, who had seen such sights several times while working as a military chaplain, it was always heartbreaking, but this time it seemed unnecessary.

“How are the defeated soldiers?”

“Ah… they’re much better than we worried. Victory is probably the biggest reason.”

The defeated soldiers who had relatively low morale ended up with nearly a third of them dead or wounded in this battle.

It was considerable damage, but compared to what Viktor had worried about, they were much calmer.

Unlike the past when they suffered a great defeat even with much more overwhelming troop numbers than now, the vanguard had succeeded in repelling the enemies relatively successfully.

The survivors had already come to their senses and were transforming into more seasoned veterans.

The steppe warriors who fought together with them on the battlefield, and seeing the retreating enemies, their unconditional fear of barbarians was diluted, and pride in having survived through several battles began to take root.

“It’s all thanks to you comforting them well, priest. If riots had occurred because of them, it really would have been difficult. Thank you, priest.”

When Viktor bowed his head, Anton waved his hands in embarrassment.

“What, that’s entirely thanks to Sir Viktor. I didn’t do much.”

He looked at the knight before him who remained humble whether when he first met him or now after achieving success, and smiled.

“Without your overwhelming charge, it would have been hard to guarantee victory. Especially the mercenary captains were making such a fuss… anyone watching would have thought they were your private soldiers, haha.”

“…Is that so?”

When Viktor slightly raised his head, Anton continued speaking with a faint smile.

“Well, I don’t know how many wouldn’t fall for you after seeing such an appearance. Sir Mikhail too, and Sir Krupin too… it’s not new, but I think I’m fortunate to belong to your unit.”

“I’m grateful if you think that way.”

Viktor slowly spoke while getting up.

For Anton, it might have been words spoken without much thought, but from Viktor’s position, they were words he had to be somewhat wary of.

The young priest’s words pierced through his true intentions.

‘…Hmm.’

Viktor slowly examined Anton.

But soon he shook his head.

The Anton he knew was a pure priest, not a political priest skilled in conspiracies and strategies.

It wouldn’t hurt to be careful, but he didn’t want to suspect the faithful priest who had willingly come to this dangerous place for him.

“Ah, and about that person… the chest wound was quite fatal, but he seems about to regain consciousness.”

At that moment, Anton opened his mouth once more.

“…I’m sorry, I was thinking about something else for a moment. Who are you talking about?”

“The enemy leader. According to the prisoners, his name was… Vashi, I think?”

At his words, Viktor smiled slightly.

“That’s good news. I have many things I want to hear from him.”

“…Haha, that would be so. God would want that too.”

Looking at Anton smiling white as snow, Viktor nodded.

Priests didn’t particularly think badly of interrogating heathens.

Rather, they tended to strongly believe that through such acts they could protect their fellow brothers, and furthermore that God wanted it.

“Then I’ll go first. I need to move busily to get necessary information from him before arriving at Roshtov.”

At Viktor’s jest, Anton quietly made the sign of the cross and smiled.

“May God be with you… ah, Sir Viktor! Wait a moment.”

“…?”

When Viktor tilted his head after turning around, Anton took out a piece of parchment from his bosom.

“I was so busy I missed the chance to give it to you. Here, it’s a letter sent to Sir Viktor from the archdiocese.”

Viktor received the parchment.

The small parchment the size of a palm seemed sturdy, bound with good leather, and was of the finest quality without flaws.

“…How on earth did you receive this?”

Since the vanguard’s position changed constantly, receiving a letter from someone was hard to imagine.

When Viktor asked with suspicion, Anton answered concisely.

“Ah, all of us military chaplains operate carrier pigeons. I also keep one in case problems arise on the battlefield or urgent contact comes from the diocese.”

“…Indeed.”

“It was really terrible at Permikoff… my beloved pigeon died and I had to get a new one.”

At this unexpected method, Viktor scratched his chin embarrassedly.

‘Come to think of it, there was such a method.’

“Hehe, the Orthodox Church trains pigeons improved to track special scents. Isn’t it amazing that they can be used in any diocese anywhere in the world?”

At Anton’s rare boastful words, Viktor couldn’t help but admire.

‘Indeed… I shouldn’t underestimate the people of this world either.’

Realizing this fact anew, Viktor unfolded the parchment he was given.

“…!”

And inside, written in concise and neat handwriting, was content Viktor could never have imagined.