What Do You Wish For With Murky Eyes: Record of Highserk War - Chapter 50

Trees that a flood of monsters had passed through were demolished and the ground is scarred with numerous claw marks. Ayane could only be astonished at the destruction wrought by a single creature. Simultaneously, she feels awe at the existence of a human who can afflict even that monster with hardship.

Most likely, or rather, undoubtedly, she thinks of the soldier responsible for her protection and care—the one called Walm, who burned the soldiers of Craist and Rehauzen with azure flames, the one who kidnapped her.

When the irregular ground tremors and the roars of monsters subside, a moment of silence ensues. Shortly after, Ayane senses the Highserk soldiers bustling around, and shouts approaching the cargo carriage.

“Carry him! Don’t let him die!!”

The cover of the cargo carriage opens, and what’s carried in is the fire user, half of his body crushed. Ayane doesn’t understand why he can continue to fight so fiercely, inflicting painful injuries on himself and willingly plunging into death.

“We’ve finished off the crawler, but Commander Walm is severely injured. He didn’t let go of the rampaging dragon until it was burned to death.”

“What reckless nonsense! Undress him, remove his clothes and armor quickly.”

Even Moritz, who is generally mild-mannered among the Highserk soldiers and has treated Ayane and Maia kindly, speaks in an agitated tone.

“Ayane-dono, please perform healing. I beg you.”

She flinched. They, who are prisoners of war, are being bowed to.

“Ayane-sama, I’ll check the limbs, and I’ll examine the internal organs and head,” Maia says.

Ayane nods, and Maia begins the palpation. Surprisingly, Walm manages to maintain consciousness, albeit in a dazed state.

“Does it hurt?”

“A- Ah? It hurts.”

“Your ribs are shattered, but they’re not piercing your lungs. However, your left arm is dislocated, and the humerus is broken. There’s also some skin loss.”

“Huh, ahh,… can you heal it?”

“It will be painful, but I can heal it.”

Ayane has healed even more severe injuries. Although it’s undoubtedly a serious condition, it’s not an injury beyond recovery. Ironically, her experience treating the critically wounded brought to the battlefield had honed Ayane’s skills.

Maia uses water attribute magic to remove dirt from the wounds. Some gravel and wood fragments have embedded themselves deep inside. Ayane grabs the dislocated shoulder and pushes it back in at once.

Walm endured without screaming. It’s not that he doesn’t feel the pain. He clenches his teeth, breathing heavily with wide-open eyes.

“When I treated you before, you also had severe injuries.”

It was a miserable time back then. Patients with third-degree burns kept being brought in, and among them was Walm. Ayane never imagined that he was an undercover Highserk soldier. The wounded man reacts to Ayane’s casually spoken words.

“Yeah, that’s right. At that time, our position was blown away by magic. When I woke up, I was on the verge of death, and the surroundings were filled with corpses of my comrades…my friends.”

Hearing those words, Ayane regretted it. There were many Craist soldiers celebrating blowing away the troublesome fire user. Among those who attacked were Ayane’s two childhood friends.

“… I’m sorry.”

In response to Ayane’s apology, Walm tilted his head curiously.

“Sorry? Why apologize? It’s war. I killed a lot of people, I burned a lot of people, and I took Ayane and Maia hostage. I was ready to kill even your childhood friends. Just high schoolers.”

Ayane had thought of Walm, who conspired against her and tried to burn her childhood friends, as an extremely ruthless war fanatic.

However, she now realizes that he is a human with the same blood running through his veins. Well, she had a vague idea all along. The soldier in front of her maintained a distant attitude, but even so, Ayane could sense subtle consideration in the short time they spent together.

He said in a blunt manner, ‘Uncleanliness affects the treatment negatively. While we can’t have a bath, it’s better than nothing to cleanse your bodies with water.’ Every night, Walm diligently used magic to boil water and let Ayane and Maia wash themselves with a water and a bucket.”

When it became clear that she couldn’t drink fruit wine, he arranged a substitute for her. The same happened when Ayane was on the verge of assassination. He halted the treatment for the despondent Ayane and bowed his head to the approaching general.

Ayane had suspected that the recent combat, taken as dangerous means to protect them, might have been for the sake of guarding the escorts. While Ayane and Maia had been wary, thinking that the soldier’s objective was to manipulate them, Ayane has now come to the conclusion that the essence of this soldier lies in his fundamentally earnest nature. He seems to earnestly engage in war and killing to an extent that is almost too serious.

“Something like that—”

As Ayane began to speak, she felt a sense of discomfort and stopped herself. Something in the conversation, in the words, felt off. Before she could grasp the true nature of the discomfort, she was brought back to reality.

“Walm-dono, please leave it at that. The wounds must hurt. Ayane-dono, let’s focus on treatment first.”

“I apologize.”

Moritz, who had been observing the treatment, admonished Ayane. Reminding herself that there would be time to think later, she concentrated on using healing magic while shaping her magical power.