Chapter 355
"Dealt with. One remains!"
"Leo! Where's Luka?!"
The instant my words ended, Elias shouted at . Elias, who had killed the one bishop Lukas had entrusted to us without a mont's hesitation, grabbed my shoulder with the bishop's blood still dripping from his hand. Having arrived late, he didn't know where Lukas had gone. But not knowing where he'd gone was the sa for , who'd been standing right there.
Corniviano's burning fields and murky sky began to dissolve. In an instant, Füssen's Kreepkirche St. Nicolaus—the small church the Pleroma of Munich-Freising had been using as their archives—unfolded before us. We stood in the narrow cloister where moonlight stread in, covered head to toe in Vitriol. The sound of soone shouting and running could be heard.
[…It seems Saint Corbinian has sided with the Empire.]
Lukas's faint voice struck my head and passed through. Only then did it sink in. We had returned. We'd returned, and it was over. All of it. I ran blindly toward where his Magic Power pulled.
The back of Albertina Hohenzollern of the 91st—and behind her, the familiar yet alien red eyes, already half closing. Albertina Hohenzollern's reflexes were faster than the speed at which I ran toward Lukas. He fell into her arms.
***
Until that point, I think I felt relieved. Whatever the process, we could go ho. And so, only after dawn broke did we all arrive at a hospital in Bavaria, and only now did I learn that one of Lukas's senses had been lost.
"Your Highness Crown Prince Leonard Wittelsbach, please co in."
"Hey, Leo. They're calling you."
In a voice two tones lower than usual, Elias slapped my back hard. I had no idea what state of mind had gotten up. I took one look at the room where Lukas was and slowly turned around to pull open the consultation room's door handle. The doctor saluted and sat down, pulling out a file. A steaming cup of black coffee and a jar of sugar cubes sat before the chair.
"All examinations for Sir Askanian have been completed. You'll want to hear the explanation right away, so I'll get straight to the point…."
Corniviano's plains and the black smoke that had been billowing skyward on all sides had scattered just like that. Like sand. We'd patrolled Füssen's tranquil monastery town until the morning glow appeared, but nothing remained from that evening. No matter where one stepped in the garden behind Kreepkirche St. Nicolaus, the field that had burned and been soaked in Vitriol was nowhere to be found, yet irrationally, the effects of that space still lingered. I no longer knew with what heart I should set foot in Füssen's Neuschwanstein. The doctor's voice was buried and scattered in the smoke rising from the black liquid.
"Your Highness, I know your spirits must be low because of what happened to your comrade. Still, thanks to escaping the spell quickly, the worst has been avoided. Ultimately, ti will resolve…."
I'd heard everything up to this point—that my friend's condition wasn't terribly bad and the prognosis was positive. I was well aware of what the doctor was inferring from the micro-expressions on my face, but right now, the loss of Lukas's sense wasn't the problem. Yes, I could admit it to no one but acknowledge it. The countless thoughts crumbling and caving in everywhere had nothing to do with the examination results. There was no aning in tying him to that spot. My friend always moved in the opposite direction of my wishes. And by moving opposite, he ultimately achieved what I wished for. The relationship I had wanted from the start but failed to obtain, the misaligned first button I'd fastened—he was the one who'd moved it, and everything depended on his hands. Even now. Absurdly crude devices, plans, promises I'd thought could bring peace of mind…. A white island dropped onto black water was devoured and disappeared. A single piece didn't even taste like sugar.
CREAK—
Maybe I needed to pour the entire jar of sugar in.
"So? What happened?"
"……."
"Hey! You have to tell us!"
When I opened the hospital room door, Lukas, who'd been reading a book, looked up. He flashed an awkward smile and scanned the 101st friends filing in behind . He cleared his throat and, as though coaxing out words that wouldn't co, asked.
"You ca?"
"Yeah."
Silence. Lukas rolled his eyes, closed the book, and leaned back against the headboard. Watching him, I murmured without thinking.
"What do I do?"
"So there are things even His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't know how to handle."
Why did this familiar sarcasm—which I'd normally have let slide—sting so much now? Because I truly knew nothing, a thorn lodged deep in my heart. Facts stated to those who have are no different from an ant on a boot toe. Facts stated to those who don't all beco sharpened arrowheads that pierce. I pressed my eyes under my palm and murmured.
"I'm not in the mood for wordplay."
"…So everything I say sounds like a joke now? Is that why even my concern cos across as nothing? Does our Crown Prince think that even my concern for a friend—however uncouth I may be—looks frivolous?"
If you're going to keep at it, maybe it would have been better to haul everyone to whatever Imperial Whatever Hospital where they all took bombs to the head—then at least a Bavarian Crown Prince with no connection whatsoever wouldn't have been hogging the examination results…. His continuing words beca daggers again. But what my eyes caught at that mont was Elias's Adam's apple moving under weight, and his eyes growing a shade deeper, and the past I knew of him. This was why I always had to sharpen myself. My fatigue leaves scars on others, and those scars circle back to .
"Everything sounds like a joke—that's not what I—my intention aside, it could certainly…."
"If that's how it ca across, I apologize. I'm sincerely sorry, Elias. I heard you and I'm sorry too, and I'm grateful for your generosity. We always fight to the death with words, and fighting here too is exhausting. Can I answer the question now?"
Yulia, who'd been listening to such conversations since childhood, and the ever-expressionless Heike Ainsidel showed no interest in us as always, but Ulrike Kleist alone wore a face full of fear as her eyes darted between us. That semicircle sweep wasn't exclusive to Kleist. Unable to imdiately grasp what we were discussing, Lukas's gaze flickered rapidly between and Elias. Ah, I'd been thoughtless. The mont Elias and I simultaneously closed our mouths, Lukas smiled, folded his arms, and tilted his head. The face he always made when we'd presented a flawed argunt or done sothing wrong. So—was he saying our clamming up out of concern for him made him more uncomfortable? I couldn't tell. He pointed at the bandage around Elias's neck and the bandage on my left hand and spoke.
"You're hurt."
I forced the corners of my mouth upward at his words.
"Both of us got a bit burned. The Vitriol was incredibly strong."
"Right. I got my hair chopped again this ti too. Look at this~ after all that effort growing it!"
Elias grumbled, showing the short-cropped back of his head. 'After all that effort growing it'—hadn't he cut it once when infiltrating the Munich theater and then regrown it with Divine Power? He'd just…. I was about to say sothing but stopped and looked at Lukas. Lukas silently studied Elias's neck, then mid a Vitriol splash and smiled.
"You cut your hair. No wait. It got cut?"
"……."
Yulia maintained her smiling mouth but furrowed her brows with a complicated expression. It was us who couldn't adjust to the sudden change. Even knowing he couldn't hear, we spoke as we always did because it didn't feel real. Knowing, and yet. Elias quickly nodded, then used his hands to show sothing flying at the back of his head, then mid crying. Lukas grinned, paused for a beat, then asked.
"So, when's it coming back?"
We all knew he ant his hearing. Ulrike Kleist looked sharply at , and after Heike Ainsidel, every gaze returned to . I looked into those pink irises and moved my lips.
"Nobody knows."
"Huh?"
Elias screwed up his face and turned.
To be precise, this was part of an ambivalence. While thinking of ways to speed up recovery, these words had escaped first.
The estimate was about a month. Once most of the Magic Power in his body was replaced with new Magic Power, the lost sense should return—treatnt alongside would speed things up. That was what the doctor had said. I took out the notebook I'd received from the attendant and wrote.
[They say about a month. The formula that was cast on you is one they've never seen, so they can't be certain.]
"What, a month?"
Lukas burst out laughing vacantly and pressed his forehead. Ulrike Kleist gaped and rolled her eyes.
"Wow…. That's way longer than expected…?!"
"Hmm. Either way, the fact that it'll co back is good, but what about work in the anti?"
"That period depends on how well you…."
Recover. If you don't go running around on research trips again, you could recover quickly. I should have said that, but my thoughts blocked my mouth. Once your hearing's restored, you'll go back to work, take on another impossible operation, create another impossible breakthrough, and end up in another hospital bed. In that case, maybe it would be better to just….
"……."
I pressed my lips with pale fingers. The thought I was having chilled my blood. This couldn't be a normal thought. Narce looked at . Surprise flickered across his face, then a look of amusent lingered.
"I'll make sure you recover fast."
I spoke with deliberate certainty to stamp out the thought that had suddenly blood. Even knowing Lukas couldn't hear. I took the sketchbook and wrote it for him. Lukas laughed heartily, grabbed my hand and patted it, and leaned back against the headrest.
"Ah, reassuring. Thanks. For now, I can't handle the incident report, and to recover I should just laze around doing nothing for a while. Right?"
"……."
"I'm confident. Confident I can do absolutely nothing. Let set the record for fastest recovery ti."
"As if you'd actually laze around."
"Did he just insult ?"
Lukas pointed at and asked our friends. Shalessly, they nodded with smiling faces, so I gave them a frigid look. Then Ulrike spoke with force in her eyes, seriously.
"Guys. Later, Lukas and Senior Albertina Hohenzollern have to go out together, but Lukas can't hear, so what do we do…. We, I an Lukas, hasn't even trained in lip reading."
At that, Narce spoke as if just rembering.
"Ah, right~ hasn't everyone heard the news yet?"
"The examination just finished. Not everyone would know yet."
"Mm, I see. If I relay it to Lukas so he can hear, it should be fine."
Relay so he could hear? Surprise surged ahead of any mories. Narce set aside our puzzlent and leaned close to Lukas. Lukas, who'd been reading a letter, blinked at the unusual proximity, then raised his eyebrows. Soon his eyes widened with surprise, and he smiled and spoke.
"I'm happy too."
Happy too? Out of nowhere? Narce was speaking through Divine Power, and Lukas was answering aloud. Knowing that, the surprise still didn't easily subside.
"Ah, what conversation is this even~? I'm feeling left out."
Before Elias's jest was even done, Lukas, his face brighter, answered Narce.
"This is useful at tis like these. If you don't mind, I could just talk through you from now on."
"Nooo! Talk to directly!"
Elias snatched my sketchbook and wrote the sa letter endlessly, then showed it to Lukas. The slant of his eyebrows was so insufferable I clicked my tongue. In the distance, Yulia snickered.
anwhile, Lukas squinted to read it and laughed.
"'Nooo'? That's so you."
Then, while the rest of us stood there dumbly watching, he began conversing with Narce.
"Ah, I'm going too? That's fast. Didn't expect them to do it starting today."
"……."
"Makes sense. Alright. I prefer eting people over sitting in a hospital room anyway."
Elias, wide-eyed at their unfathomable exchange, slapped my arm.
"Did you hear? Luka says he likes eting people."
"What do you want to—"
"Forget it."
What was that supposed to an? I was decoding Elias's words when I quickly dismissed the thought, looked at the 101st friends, and spoke.
"Hey. I need to talk to Lukas for a bit. If you're done saying hello, could you step out?"
At that, Narce widened his eyes.
"Hmm, I need to leave with Lukas soon for the banquet~?"
"Co pick him up when it's ti."
I ushered every friend out of the room. Displeased at losing his conversational partner, Lukas looked up at with dissatisfaction. I wrote in the notebook and showed him the first thing I'd wanted to say.
[Congratulations on the successful operation. It's thanks to you.]
"Congratulations to you too. I'm glad everyone's relatively unhard."
I answered his hearty response with a smile and wrote on the next page.
[You're out of your mind.]
"……."
Lukas snorted and tilted his head.
"That's funny—Senior said the exact sa thing. How does it look to you?"
Senior…? I frowned. That personality-deficient bastard from the 98th…. There was nothing to gain from saying more. I sighed and scrawled rapidly.
[From where I'm standing, you're obviously out of your mind. You knew that Pleroma would launch a desperate final attack.]
"Of course. Think about it from that Pleroma's perspective. All he needed was to drink blood to deploy Space Magic. If he poured everything into a lethal blow, reduced his opponent to half-dead, and drank the blood, he could recover to baseline and beyond—so what reason would he have not to create that final strike?"
The thing I couldn't understand was that he'd charged in knowing all this. When I moved my lips, I saw Lukas's gaze drop to them. I waved my hand to signal I'd said nothing. Lukas shrugged placidly and continued.
"Because I knew, I figured out what magic to use, and that's why we're all here now. I didn't expect to lose my hearing temporarily, but the formula I'd prepared in advance ant it ended at a level that treatnt can heal."
Yes, I knew everything he was thinking. I understood. Maybe it was sothing soone had to do. Perhaps it was a luxury for to wish that a friend I admired wouldn't die in a place like that. And so I could say nothing more. Lukas broke the silence.
"Am I speaking properly, though?"
It felt like a blow to the head. I looked down at him in silence. So far, he was speaking no differently than usual. When I nodded, Lukas quickly accepted it and brought up sothing else.
"You have more to say to ."
Obviously. As if this were everything. I didn't answer, but Lukas read my expression, let out a hollow laugh, shuddered, and got up from his seat.
"I have no idea what you're going to say. Let hear the lecture later. Don't we have to go down in an hour? Go on, get out."
Hear the lecture later….
He was right. I hadn't managed to say even half of what I wanted to say to him, and I had no intention of saying it all during a chaotic ti like this.
Lukas chased out, changed from his hospital gown into formal dress, and ca out. The brief rest ended, and a short while after everyone except the two admitted to intensive care had risen, we all went down to the ballroom. On both sides of the ballroom sat everyone who had participated in this operation, and I could see the Chairman of the Imperial Mages' Association—nominal supre commander of the command post—who had co on the Emperor's delegated authority. No Bavarian royals were present. They had rely lent the space temporarily to Prussia and the Empire, so there was no obligation to attend.
An aide to the Chairman I hadn't seen before read through the prepared speech. Standing before him were Albertina Hohenzollern of the 91st and Lukas.
"…We hereby award the Corniviano Military rit dal to the 91st, 98th, and 101st Classes of the Imperial Mages' Association, who led this operation to success."
Narce appeared to be sitting in the front row, relaying everything the supre commander said directly to Lukas.
"No matter how I think about it, this is either jumping the gun or speed achieved by grinding people up. When did they even make a dal?"
Elias murmured. Fast processing. Everyone reacted just as Lukas had earlier. From the Empire's perspective, they'd want to maintain this victory montum without breaking it, so it was a natural decision.
The Chairman, having placed the dal around their necks as representatives, rested his hand on Lukas's shoulder and spoke earnestly.
"Thanks to the brilliant contributions of Vice-Captain Lukas Askanian of the 101st, our Empire was able to achieve a great victory. From the beginning to the end of this Corniviano operation, there is not a place untouched by Askanian's hand. Our Empire will never forget Sir Askanian's dedication."
"My strategy was only able to shine thanks to the Imperial Mages' Association's thorough training. It was an honor to protect the Empire's safety alongside such outstanding mages."
Lukas answered as cleanly and cheerfully as always. The ordinary deanor he showed in front of people other than , Elias, and Narce. Whether a sense was gone or not, naturally, he was still himself.
A brief celebratory atmosphere followed. We moved to the adjacent banquet hall. Before Lukas joined Narce, I approached him and he offered a simple remark.
"Do they throw a banquet every ti an operation ends? That's nice."
"Usually."
I could have said more, but ever since I noticed Lukas's gaze was fixed solely on my lips, I didn't. He filled his answer with a smile and didn't open his mouth again. After a long silence, Lukas pointed at a canapé with a cherry tomato and white cheese on a stick. I shook my head, and he ate it by himself. Everything continued via hand signals. He'd always been a man of few words, but if I had to guess, he was likely economizing his speech more than usual out of fear of saying the wrong thing. It stung a little.
"The sound—do you wish it'd co back even a day sooner?"
When I spoke with my mouth, Lukas, belatedly catching that my lips had moved, showed a flash of consternation. I scribbled sothing on a mo and held it out. Lukas, who normally would have answered with a serious face and a terse affirmative, replied cheerfully—whether he was worried about us worrying, or simply in good spirits.
"What…. Isn't that obvious? If I were doing sothing else it might be different, but as a combat mage, I need to recover my sense today if possible. Or else train to fight without it."
He paused briefly, then continued.
"Got a thod or sothing?"
The mont I opened my mouth to answer, Lukas looked past and raised his eyebrows.
"Hold on. I need to go get Narce."
Why again?
Thinking that, I turned where his gaze had landed and imdiately understood. I had to stop my expression from souring at this immaculate face I'd seen to the point of disgust since the Corniviano coordinate system. The 98th A Captain standing beside watched Lukas disappear into the distance and stared with disbelief.
"Why is the Vice-Captain just leaving?"
Because of you. I swallowed the words and smiled.
"I wonder. I have no idea."
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