The saintly voice of Mattia echoed through the streets of Belle Fain. A splash of red blood left a mark on her pale cheek. A small lip quivered involuntarily.

A small lip quivered involuntarily. "A hemostatic, even a bleeding herb would be fine. Go and gather up everything that can be used as medicine.

　While letting out a somewhat tense voice, Mattia desperately faced the seriously injured person in front of her. The bandages she had just finished wrapping were already soaked with blood.

　It's no good. The wound is still too deep. The laceration that cut through his shoulder may not be fatal, but if it continues, he will die from blood loss.

　Mattia raised his eyebrows and looked into the face of the seriously injured person in front of him, the Steel Princess Vestalinu. She still hasn't regained consciousness. Her cheeks were even faintly cold from the loss of blood.

　Clearly, her condition was bad. If she doesn't force the blood down, the light of her life will slowly go out. Mattia bites his lip and clicks his tongue involuntarily in his chest.

　--Lugis, there are things I can do and things I can't do.

　He's a real jerk. He asked people to rescue the injured, and then he sends them to the hospital with such a serious injury. If he went to save someone, he should be able to save that person's life until the very end.

　Mattia naturally remembered the words he had exchanged with Lugis in the back alley before they parted.

　--Maybe I'll be brought in myself, but I want you to be my rearguard, my last line of defense. What's more, on the battlefield, it's like selling a wounded man.

　He said this aloofly and disappeared into the battlefield.

　And so it was that he brought in the badly wounded girl, Vestaline, the Steel Princess. Bruder, the mercenary who called himself Bruder, brought her to the rearguard, smearing himself in blood.

　But as I said, there is a limit to what you can do. I don't know who could have inflicted such a serious wound on this steel princess, but it's too sharp a cut. It would have been better if the tear had been a little rougher and not so deep.

"...... What do you think, my lady? Vess - no, Vestalinu.

　It's not that I'm not a good person, but I'm not a good person. It was a voice that seemed to be filled with resignation. This laceration, this spurt of blood, is taking all hope away from Bruder.

　Mattia doesn't know the relationship between Bruder and Vestalines. Rather, as far as she could see and hear, they were enemies. However, with the voice and the way he was struggling to bring Vestalines here, Mattia knew that he was hard to lose. Mattia's heart made a strange sound.

　She could not help but feel that the figure overlapped with one of the people in her mind. A feeling of sympathy came to her heart. It was a feeling that I would have laughed at as ridiculous in the past.

　One big, deep breath. Mattia's eyes narrowed. The herald had brought a small amount of medicine.

"Hold the fire. It will burn the wound and stop the flow of blood.

　He said slowly, taking out a dagger from his pocket.

　I must save him at all costs. The person Lugis went to save was the mercenary Bruder. That Bruder brought Vestalinu with him. Then she must be the one who should help Rougis.

　And so Lugis said to himself. I want you to be my last stronghold. So it's my duty to fulfill that wish. And, oh, by the way.

　Mattia felt a slight return of the emotions that had once strangled him with his own hands and choked the life out of him. My heart is palpitating faster.

　--And I'm a saint. I'm a saint. I can't help but take the hand of someone who is desperately reaching out for help right in front of me.

　I know. I understand. I know how many lives I've lost on the battlefield. How many people have I tricked for the sake of calculation? It's not even funny that I'm now acting like a saint and wanting to save people's lives. I'm sure that even my God is mocking me for this.

　This is hypocrisy. This is deception. It's one of the stupidest things you can do. Oh, it should be my most hated act.

　But I don't want to give up, I don't want to dismiss it as inevitable.

　This is all because of him. I saw him desperately reaching for something that seemed so irrational and pointless. Truly, a helpless person. A person who needs to be watched over.

　He seared the iron with flame and pressed the hot dagger against Vestalines shoulder. A slight sob escaped Vestaline's lips. Her dazed eyes open slightly, her gaze vacant.

Somebody get her some water.

　If she regains some consciousness, she can drink water. If she can drink water, she will be able to live a little. From that point on, it's up to her.



　With a short speech, Mattia presses his iron sword against Vestalinu's shoulder again. The disgusting smell of burning flesh hit my nose. I can feel my body trembling in my hands. Her own breathing is ragged with tension, and she can no longer maintain her normality. I finally realize that my surroundings are turning into night.

　--I finally realized that the distorted light was covering my surroundings.

　My eyes blinked involuntarily. His gaze left Vestalynne's for a moment. An eerie light green light covered Belfain. A light of powerful magic. Mattia's lips quivered as his large eyes rolled back.

　Should I stay here now, or should I leave as soon as possible?

　The situation seemed so abnormal that for a moment, her brain swam with calculation. Reason cried out, "Is it really the right thing to stay here? Vestalinu's moaning voice struck her ear. Mattia blinked his eyelids a few times.

　I can't do this. I'm no good now. I am the leader of the heraldry, I should be thinking about the heraldry first, I should be the saint of the heraldry. I just can't bring myself to leave right now.

　It's because there is a person in front of me that I need to save. Because this is the last stronghold left to him.

　After confirming that the bleeding has stopped, he removes the dagger from Vestalinu's wound. Then, as he touched the herbs, he suddenly realized. I looked around. But he couldn't see her anywhere. The human who had just been watering Vestalines mouth and staring at her face was nowhere to be seen.

　No sign of Bruder.

　Mattia's spine fluttered as if he had intuited something, and his lips twisted.