Every time I breathe, I feel a pain in my throat.

　If I move my fingertips even slightly, it feels as if thousands of needles have been pricked into my spine. The skin of my back is torn, and the exposed flesh and blood torments me.

　I close my eyelids, wondering why I am in such pain, and if the pain was only momentary. Or did Burbage Vardonick choose to let me suffer and die for that insult? It's not impossible.

　I breathed in the choking air and felt the coldness of the dungeon itself, and then the pain in my throat.

It was a stupid thing to do.

　Kalia Vardnick. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. Only a few sobs crawled from his mouth, but they would sound like he was shaking in pain. His vision was also poor. Opening his eyes was a chore, and his eyelids had swollen when the guards had beaten him.

"Good, don't talk. You're a fool. You didn't have to risk your life for anything. Idiot. You idiot.

　My ears are strangely clear, and all I can hear is Kalia Vadnick cursing me. Yeah, I'd love to argue with you all I want, but I don't have the means right now.

"Can't you even open your eyes? ...... Not at all. You'll open your mouth, it'll hurt, but you'll have to be patient.

　You're going to open your mouth, and it's going to hurt, but you're going to have to endure it." A thick, gooey, bitter mucus is forced into your mouth through a wooden container. My whole body writhed in agony at the sight of the mucus, which seemed to be purely intended to torment people, and I felt pain in my wounds.

　In addition to that, the mucus slowly flowed down my throat, leaving a lingering taste.

It's a herb that should be kneaded, but it's easier to drink now. It won't heal you completely, but it shouldn't cause the wound to become infected.

　Medicinal herbs, I see. I've only used it as a pill, but when I paste it, it tastes like this. I never want to see herbs again. My tongue is fortunately used to bad tastes, but I've never had a bitter taste like this crawl and slide across my tongue like a harassment.

"...... Tomorrow morning, I'll tie up the horses near the hut behind the fort. You can use it to get home. Your mission is over.

　I felt a cloth being wrapped around my wound. This is being treated. Just like Alueno once did to me. It's strange. I had never before been touched by the kindness of Kalia Vadnick. All he gave me was insults and violence.

　And yet, now I'm outraged by her outbursts, and she's treating me for it. This is the kind of behavior that makes me wonder if I've lost my mind.

"I'm sorry for your loss of ......, but it's a good thing you're blind.

　What was just right? You can't ask her back, but the thin fingertips of Kalia Vadnick gently touch the wound and cover it with a cloth.

I'll ...... ah, stay here. As a knight, I've been given a job on the front lines. So I won't be seeing you anymore.

　As if talking to herself, Kalia Vadnick continued to speak.

　Her words were filled with her stoutness and delicacy at the same time. I don't know what's going on, but she's holding something back, as if she's at a loss to put it into words. It was an unmistakable sign of her nobility.

　Oh, I see. It's this nobility that I admire.

　Kalia Vadnick is not a good person. He may even be a violent racist against the weak. But his heart is undeniably noble and honorable.

So... Good luck. I'll remember your name, Lugis. Don't die so easily.

　As I finished wrapping the cloth, Kalia Vadnick scooped up a strand of my still-breathing hair and said, "What are you talking about?

　What are you talking about? Of course, I don't think I want to see you. But it's not as if we're parting ways. This fort is as far from King's Landing as you can get. First, the glory of Caria Vardonik is far from over. After this, she will compete in a sword fighting tournament to promote her skills against threats from within and without, making her skills known throughout the country and solidifying her position in the Order.

　I know this fact. And yet, I don't know why. Those words really sounded like an eternal goodbye.

　--I'm so glad I'm blind. I'm not sure I could show you my face right now.

　My aching throat couldn't question, couldn't call her out.

　Her words echoed in the basement, and with the sound of her footsteps, Kalia Vardnick walked away.

　I'm sorry.

"You look terrible, but you did well. If I can make it out of this mission alive, I'll be fine.

　As he rode his horse back to King's Landing without eating or drinking, the praise he had heard from Richard's grandfather did not resonate with him at all.

　The swelling in my body had gone down, but the pain in my back was still there, and I wondered who had told me it was not a dangerous job.

The dangerous jobs are the ones that take you to the middle of a battlefield or ask you to kill someone. In this case, ......, it's more like 50-50, the danger.



"I was an idiot. I took your word for it. ...... Oh, yeah, Kalia Vadnick's staying at the fort. Send him his reward.

　He said this while accepting the reward in his cloth bag, which was quite low for a man who had been in mortal danger twice. I owe you for your treatment. It would be too dangerous for me to go to that fort, but I can at least send you a reward.

　But Richard's old man, hearing this, wrinkled his brow and scratched his beard.

"What the hell are you talking about? Birdnick's daughter has resigned from the Order and is recuperating on the estate.

　The wounds from killing a large hexenbiest have opened up. That's what the old man said as he stoked the ale.

　Oh, I see. I see what you mean.

　The pain I'd been feeling in my whole body stopped for a moment.

　I was a fool, a fool after all. Why didn't I die? Why did Caria Vardnick, a member of the Order, insist on staying at the fort? And why were his last words so strangely fleeting and vanishing?

　I abandoned all these questions and came back like a fool.

"Grandpa.

　The wound in my mouth tingles. It's none of my business. I stare at Richard's face as he raises his eyelids questioningly.

　Kalia Vadnick. She's a b*tc*. Yeah, she's a real b*tc*.

"I'll get you the money-- I'll get you the job.

　I don't ever want to see that face again.