I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

038. Historia (2)

The importance of a medic in the field is beyond words.

Especially for the imperial forces, who had lost both the Papal Court and the Magic Tower, medics were worth their weight in gold.

In such circumstances, the prisoner unit was lucky.

Among the prisoners, who mostly knew only how to break or harm things, there was, by chance, the most exceptional medic in the empire.

―Historia. Just call me that.

―Yes, Saint.

―Haha! You are an amusing person!

Even in those days, Historia was a saint.

It wasn’t just that she was revered as a symbolic figure; it meant that her divinity was the strongest among all humans on this land.

Even though she had fallen into a state that could hardly be considered human, it was the same.

She was the one most favored by hope.

Of course, even if her limbs were blown off, as long as the pieces were found and put back together, it was as if nothing had happened.

With such abilities, she could have been placed in the center.

She was a woman who had voluntarily taken on a false charge and entered prison, so there was no issue with military discipline.

Nevertheless, the reason she was assigned to the prisoner unit was none other than this.

―…The saint is a ticking time bomb. We can’t keep her in the center.

The contamination embedded in the saint’s body was the problem.

If she let her guard down even a little, the contamination festering in her twisted body would spread everywhere.

It meant that the army could self-destruct not from war, but from an internal accident.

At that moment, the crown prince snatched her away.

No medic wanted to be with her.

Performing the most dangerous missions, barely surviving.

That was our unit.

For us, even if she was a ticking time bomb, as long as she had healing abilities, we could accept her. For that reason, the saint was the medic of the prisoner unit.

Anyway, speaking of the woman assigned under my command… yes.

―Ah, it’s a wildflower!

Her mind was a field of flowers.

Even in the midst of war, where everyone was dying, she never lost her smile.

Even though every gaze directed at her was filled with hatred, she never lost her spirit.

Including that aspect, was she truly a cleric? She always preached hope.

At first, no one liked Historia.

In a battlefield where dozens, even hundreds, die in their sleep every day, it was infuriating to see someone smiling without even fighting the enemy. Or maybe it was just that her appearance was so repulsive that no one wanted to get close to her.

It didn’t take long for that perception to change.

No one suggested that we should be nice to Historia.

She didn’t change her behavior on her own either.

It was just that, as time went on, everyone came to realize.

That woman was sincere every moment.

―Tomorrow, Hanna will show us a new dish!

While everyone talked about what they lost yesterday and what they would lose today, she alone talked about what they would gain tomorrow.

―Do you have any worries? Ah, perhaps a crush…!

She made us realize that there were countless things of value besides dying.

―This flower, will we get scolded if we make it into a potted plant?

Her whimsical actions made us smile.

Yes, Historia, who had the most hideous face in the world, had the most beautiful heart.

That was why we cherished her.

And if I were to add one more thing,

―Confession again today?

She was the lifeline for us sinners.

Above all, the psychological relief that confession brought was immense.

Especially for me.

―You know you’re the one who comes the most, right?

―Shut up and just listen.

―Are you here to confess?

―I…

―Wow, not even listening.

The guilt that had festered was too deep.

The desire to atone was too intense.

That’s why I had to speak.

I didn’t want to forget it myself.

So I told Historia about my many regrets.

Each time, Historia would laugh and say, “I absolve you of your sins!”

There was a time when such words were spoken.

―It can get better. Everything will be alright.

―Don’t make promises. It’s not something you can say so easily.

―No, I can say it easily.

I still remember the reason I gave for saying I would rebuild Pharos.

―The way the young master has become a model for the army, saving countless soldiers. You’ve already changed. And you will change even more.

―What if I betray and defect to the enemy?

―I believe you won’t. Because I know you, Lieutenant.

Beyond subordinates, comrades, and such.

That day, that person seemed truly noble.

―Believing in the will to be good. That’s my duty.

It was only on that day that I realized why this one was a saint.

Because of that, even the final moment was in a form befitting that one.

―Haha, we’re isolated.

Three months before the defense of the capital, the front lines were crumbling.

We fought battles for retreat every day, and we heard that the main force was hit by a feint operation.

I ran frantically to support.

That was a mistake.

―Damn, they were targeting me.

―It means you’re someone so great that the enemies are afraid of you!

It wasn’t just a feint, it was a triple-layered trap.

While the king of the barbarians held the crown prince, they planted ambush soldiers to target me as I moved to support.

I somehow won, but my wounds were too deep to retreat.

I had used up all my mana, and my muscles and joints were crushed to the point of being unusable.

It was a forest, so there were places to hide, but it was an environment where it was impossible to survive for long.

The others joined the main force.

But Historia stayed by my side.

She claimed that her presence would slow down the others’ movement…

Well, it was an excuse.

―Am I going to die…

“No, Lieutenant, you can make it out alive.”

He tried to heal my wounds.

It was madness.

It was clear that the second and third pursuit teams were already on their way here.

With injuries like these, even Historia’s divine power would need at least a day to heal.

Moreover, the pursuit teams were terrifying enough to find us within half a day.

I told him to go, but he wouldn’t listen.

No matter how harsh my words, even when I gritted my teeth and slapped him, he stood firm.

Instead, he cast a sleep spell on me, seeing that it was hopeless.

“Lieutenant, everything will be fine when you wake up.”

What happened next, I could only infer from the circumstances.

“…Historia.”

When I opened my eyes again, the surroundings were twisted into a horrific shape.

The pursuit teams had mutated and were writhing.

The trees twisted as if they had gained a will of their own.

Only my body was perfectly healed, protected by the divine power.

Isn’t it too obvious?

He had released the contamination that had always been sealed within his body by divine power.

That killed the pursuit teams and saved me in the process.

He self-destructed.

To save me.

Only that fact came clearly to mind.

Yet, I couldn’t even bury him.

Knowing what would happen if I touched the contamination again.

I had to return and join the main battle.

I thought that was the way to repay the life he saved.

As always, I wanted to live for tomorrow.

It’s a pity that it ended in destruction less than three months later.

In the end, I recall, he preferred meat buns over cheeseburgers.

He loved wildflowers blooming in desolation and always talked about tomorrow.

That was the kind of person he was.

“This garden is really beautiful.”

He smiles at me with an unfamiliar face.

He praises the flowers familiarly.

Quietly, but with a lively laugh, he tries to lighten the mood.

It really troubled my heart, wanting to lessen my guilt somehow.

So I said,

“Have you eaten?”

“No? Not yet, but…”

“Then let’s eat while we do this. The witness interview.”

Historia blinked and then added a word.

“…If it’s not too much trouble, may our holy knights join us for the meal?”

“S-Saintess…!”

“Haha, they haven’t eaten since morning…”

Her personality seems to be the same as it was back then.

I nodded with a slight smile.

* * *

At the same time Yuren was greeting Historia, Callios was also facing Saint Verheim in the audience room of the Palace of Dawn.

Red hair and golden eyes.

A calm and cold impression that seemed too emotionless for someone blessed by the gods.

Callios smiled faintly as he faced him.

“You’ve had a hard time coming here. Being alone with you makes me nervous.”

It was a private audience.

No matter how much it was an investigation into the summoning of demons, the only one who could hold his head high and question Crown Prince Callios van Ortaire was the saint.

Even aside from that.

‘You must have wanted this arrangement.’

Callios had anticipated everything.

It was within his calculations that Verheim would come to him, not Yuren, who was the one who reverse-summoned the demon.

It couldn’t be helped.

‘Why, you have no interest in demons, do you?’

To him, the demon was of no importance.

Rebecca had disappeared since the day of the founding festival.

It might have been only a week, but to him, the past week felt like an eternity.

The only ones who could be asked about Rebecca’s whereabouts were himself, who had been hovering around her, Beatrice, the Grand Duke, and the one in the underworld.

Among them, Beatrice had been bedridden after being attacked by the demon.

The Grand Duke had returned to the north, and his relationship with the one in the underworld, Verheim, was the worst.

So, it had to be him.

Sending the saintess to Yuren, who was a more important figure in the investigation, and requesting a private audience like this.

If one could read the flow of such thoughts, it was all too obvious.

Moreover, knowing the behavioral patterns made counterattacks easier.

Callios asked leisurely.

“Then let’s start the testimony right away. What do you want to ask?”

“…First, please tell me what you saw directly.”

“What I told you in advance is the end of it. Yuren asked me to come to the tower, and when I arrived, there was Yuren who had defeated the demon. Embarrassingly, I couldn’t appear in time… After that, I was busy tending to his wounds.”

Verheim remained silent.

Callios looked into his eyes.

It was clear that he had something to say.

That was welcome.

“Is there anything more suspicious? I’ll help as much as I can.”

In the first place, it was not Callios who should be investigated in this witness investigation.

Given Beatrice’s case, and what he had intended to do to Yuren.

Callios was certain of one thing.

‘So, you must have had some thoughts. Doesn’t the idea of possessing that demon drive you mad? What have you prepared?’

Surely, there must be a major incident either in progress or planned.

That was what Kallios needed to find out.

There were several reasons for resorting to such troublesome methods.

To strip the name engraved in the demon’s heart, one needed doubts that lead to certainty.

To plant doubts, one had to have an advantage that could prove oneself right.

Isn’t that so?

In such a situation where the opponent could explode at any moment, if there was no deterrent force to surely restrain the opponent, announcing Rebecca’s death would only make things worse.

But that doesn’t mean one can just say, ‘It seems like you’re plotting something, so let’s have an interrogation.’

The opponent is one of the two pillars of the Papal Court, and a misstep here could lead to political issues.

Therefore, what was needed was certainty.

So, to find a gap, he first showed a gap.

‘It’s strange. I heard that after the reverse summoning, Your Highness left the castle with the young lord of Pharos. But you were running around to tend to wounds…’

Berheim was caught by that.

‘…What kind of wound made you bypass all the healers in the capital and head outside?’

Kallios suppressed a smile.

He could clearly feel the emotion rising in his eyes, the true intention behind those words.

‘I saw that the demon had been summoned. Not knowing how far the aftermath would reach, I felt the need to avoid people.’

‘Then where did you go?’

“Is this question important?”

“I think it is.”

“Ho, it seems like you’re interrogating me?”

Tok, Kallios tapped the table with his index finger.

“I’m sitting here as a witness.”

“…I can only think of one reason why His Highness would leave the capital.”

The desired words came out.

Kallios changed his expression at that moment.

A mix of anger, suspicion, and vigilance formed a rather anxious look.

“…I went to find Rebecca?”

“……”

“Rather, I want to ask you.”

Mana began to faintly gather.

Kallios, exuding unrefined killing intent, questioned Verheim.

“Yes, I went to find Rebecca. The moment I realized the demon had appeared, I was most worried about her. But she was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t even a trace of her.”

Kugugung―

The furniture in the reception room shook.

“Why? How? For what reason was Rebecca not there? Such thoughts crossed my mind.”

The smile disappeared from Kallios’s face.

“What was the Holy See doing until the demon caused that chaos and got caught?”

Berheim’s eyes sank.

Facing him, Kallios intensified his murderous intent.

He spoke with a smile inside.

‘So, how does it feel to be suspected?’

Suspicion breeds vigilance.

Vigilance begets secrecy.

However, excessive secrecy creates a sense of incongruity.

If something was being prepared, and considering the saint’s character, that incongruity would surely be revealed.

There was someone who needed to feel it.

‘Please, Yuren.’

Before the investigation, during the strategy meeting, Yuren had said,

―We cannot drive this into a political fight for power. The saint is not someone who can be moved that way.

―Then what should we do?

―We need to create opposition in another way. For example, by planting moral suspicion.

―So! How do we do that?

―Your Highness, suspicion naturally arises from circumstances.

Yuren had probably already met the saint.

The stage was set, and the rest was up to him.

End

ⓒ papapa.

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