“You are crazy. You are really crazy!”
Temas’s mouth twisted.
“How could you say such a thing? Did you go crazy from the pain?!”
He violently shook his head. He apparently couldn’t accept the fact that his entire career as a healer had just lost to Raon’s face.
“Head of House, are you really going to let them do that? It’s plain to see that they are going to die! You have to stop them!”
Temas shouted. His voice showed clear anger, rather than worry for the patient.
‘Hah.’
Raon snickered while looking at Temas.
‘He got so angry from getting his face compared to mine.’
Since composure was one of Temas’ strong points, he had never seen him get so angry before, not even in his previous life. Getting his face compared to Raon’s must’ve seriously crushed his pride.
‘This is getting interesting.’
It was impossible to blow his cover because he had too much reputation behind him, but Raon figured there was a lot to gain from the situation.
“Head of House!”
Temas called out to Michelle once again to urge her.
“That’s…”
Michelle bit her lip in consideration. She apparently wasn’t sure who to trust between Raon and Temas.
“Unlike your daughter, I’m sure you aren’t going to decide just from looking at the face, are you? The head of house was the one who called me here in the first place!”
“The face isn’t all I’ve got. I’m rather confident in my swordsmanship and medicine.”
Raon smiled brilliantly at Temas, who was scowling.
“I wasn’t talking to you!”
As soon as Raon mentioned his face, Temas started glaring even more fiercely.
“Head of House, I’ve healed countless people so far, regardless of their country and house. I can proudly announce that I’ve never lied before concerning the patient and treatment!”
Woof woof. It was dogshit.
He used his noble image and his medicine to kill countless people and turn them into his slaves. He was indeed Derus’s confidant, since he was capable of lying without flinching.
“If your daughter moves right now, there’s bound to be a danger on the way. Moreover, Retran is currently at war, and there’s no guarantee that the Saint will properly treat her even if they manage to arrive there!”
Temas appealed with teary eyes, as if he really were worried about Encia.
“Although I’m still lacking as a healer, I’ve got way more experience and put in a lot more effort than him. You are definitely going to regret it if you trust him just because he was lucky enough to find the cause.”
Although he was trying to convince her politely, he was pretty much threatening her by saying that Encia was going to die if she didn’t listen to him.
“Was your name Raon?”
Raon nodded without responding. Another tendon popped on Temas’ forehead.
“You said earlier that the heat’s source was located around the patient’s head, didn’t you?”
“Indeed.”
“Why do you think the other healers didn’t manage to find it? Because they were less competent than you? No. It’s because they were careful in their examination since a small mistake in her head could cause the death of the patient.”
Temas lowered his eyebrows and continued.
“You were lucky this time, but if you keep searching through the patient’s mana circuit with your immature skills, you will end up killing your patient or disabling them. If you want to call yourself a healer, you should stop taking care of your face and learn how dangerous it is to deal with the head…”
“One hundred and eight.”
“What?”
“There are one hundred and eight places that can endanger you if an aura touches them.”
Raon nonchalantly spoke with his arms crossed.
“B-But how did you…”
Temas’ jaw dropped, unable to believe Raon knew that.
“Uhh?”
“H-He even knows such a thing?”
“Was he really the Saint’s student?”
“Wow…”
The other swordsmen also looked up at Raon, who managed to unsettle Temas.
“It would be strange if I didn’t know that.”
Raon snickered, enjoying Temas’ astonishment.
‘Because you told me about that.’
What occupation needed as much knowledge of a human body as a doctor?
It’s that of an assassin.
You needed to know better than anyone else which parts you needed to hit to kill or disable your opponent in order to become a fully-fledged assassin.
‘And I needed to learn it even more thoroughly because Derus was a perfectionist.’
Since he often needed to disguise the deaths of his enemies and allies for his plans, he periodically received lessons from Temas about weaknesses and vital points in the human body.
The knowledge he learned from Temas was extremely helpful this time as well, when he examined Encia's head.
“Ah, let me add one more thing.”
Raon raised his finger to point at his face.
“I don't really take care of my face. I was just born with this face.”
“You… Why are you talking back to me like that?”
Temas glared fiercely at Raon.
“Because that's how you've been talking to me.”
“What? I…”
“I already gave you enough respect. I've been answering your questions honestly and politely.”
Raon smiled coldly and tilted his chin.
“But you were simply disrespectful towards me even though you didn't even know what position I have in Zieghart, nor what I represent. Do I have any reason to remain polite to someone who has no manners?”
“Argh!”
Temas' cheeks trembled. His face turned so red that he was now comparable to Encia's skin.
“Wow, he even looks handsome when he's making fun of him.”
Encia exclaimed while staring at Raon with her hands gathered. Temas looked even more angry because of Encia’s interjection.
“Do you even realize who Sir Temas is to behave like that?”
The young man next to Temas stepped up with a frown.
“He's a saint that bestowed his benevolence on countless people in the continent without even receiving any rewards! He's on a different level as a doctor, especially compared to you!”
“Are you telling me that manners are unnecessary just because he's on a different level?”
“But his experience…”
“His experience, I see…”
Raon smiled coldly.
“Do you remember who taught me medicine?”
“Th-The Ragged Saint and Zieghart's Sword of Light…”
“I don't think my standing is that different from his, since I was taught from those two.”
“That's…”
The young man who seemed to be Temas's disciple fell speechless.
“You should stay back.”
Temas came up with a frown.
“It was my mistake. I was too flustered and forgot I needed to keep my manners towards you. I apologize.”
He said it with a voice full of respect as he bowed.
“In that case, I apologize as well.”
A smile appeared on Raon's face while his head was lowered.
'It hit the mark.'
Temas hadn't calmed down. His head only cooled down because he wanted to kill him too much. He was definitely going to come to personally kill him during the mission, or at another time.
“Head of House, please make your decision.”
Temas turned his head towards Michelle.
“My opinion hasn't changed. It's extremely dangerous to send your daughter to Retran, since it's pretty much certain that she is going to die. If you leave her to me, I'll do my best to treat her within a year.”
He even gave a one-year time limit, unlike before.
“I'll also tell this to you for the last time. I can definitely treat her once we meet the Saint at Retran. Since the Heavenly Division leader is going to lead the group, no one is going to be able to lay a finger on Lady Encia, regardless of who they are.”
Raon declared that he could definitely treat her without any hesitation in his voice. The Heavenly Blade leader also nodded confidently.
“Heavenly Blade leader…”
Temas' expression distorted in an indescribable manner as he bit his lip. He apparently didn't notice the Heavenly Blade leader before.
“Haa…”
Michelle sighed deeply between them, since she couldn't decide. She was well known for her bold personality, but she was apparently too worried when it came down to her youngest daughter’s health.
“Mom.”
Encia raised her hand.
“My opinion hasn't changed. I want to go with Sir Raon.”
“Seriously, you…”
“Choosing Sir Temas wouldn't be a bad idea, but I think Sir Raon is going to make me recover faster.”
“How do you know that!?”
“Because he's handsome!”
Her argument was his face once again.
“There's no way someone as handsome as him would lie!”
“Encia…”
“His face is my medicine and my treatment. I don't feel any pain as long as I'm watching him.”
“Ahh!”
Michelle sighed, frowning while grabbing her temple. After clutching her head for a while, she slowly raised her head. The hesitation had disappeared from her eyes, which used to waver.
“I'm sorry, Sir Temas.”
She bowed at Temas.
“It is said that no parent ever persuaded a determined child to do otherwise. I would like to grant her wish.”
“……”
Temas nodded silently after looking at Michelle, Encia, Raon, and Sheryl.
“I see. The patient and her guardian's decision is the most important.”
He smiled gently and lowered his raised sleeve.
'That bastard…'
Raon narrowed his eyes.
'He made up his mind.'
Judging from his expression and voice, Temas already decided that he would kill Raon. It was obvious that he would kill Encia as well after taking full advantage of her symptoms.
“I'll pay the treatment fee that I promised…”
“No, I couldn't treat her, and I never planned to take fees to begin with.”
He shook his hand with a smile.
“And as for you, please excuse my rudeness. I was just too agitated.”
“It's okay. I understand.”
He managed to appease his anger and behave so calmly in that situation. He was indeed an extraordinary person.
“I'll be taking my leave now. I'll be hoping for your complete recovery from afar.”
Temas left Encia's room alongside his disciple, as if he didn’t care anymore.
“General administrator, please see Sir Temas off.”
“U-Understood.”
The general administrator, who couldn't keep up with the situation, hurriedly ran after Temas.
“Haa, I wonder if I made the correct decision.”
Michelle sighed deeply.
“I'll make sure you won't regret it.”
It wasn't just a correct decision, but she had pretty much taken the hand of a savior. If she chose Temas, the entire house would've been taken over by Robert.
“The way he guarantees is also super handsome.”
Encia's eyes were sparkling as she exclaimed.
“Then, when are leav…”
“Ack!”
As Michelle was about to discuss their departure, Encia groaned and collapsed on the bed.
“Encia!”
* * *
* * *
Raon immediately went to Encia, inserting Glacier's coldness into her mana circuit.
'I just need to scare it off.'
If he attacked the Hell Worm, it would most likely bring pain to Encia. He used his coldness to scare it off, instead of moving quickly like before.
Whir!
He slowly followed Encia's mana circuit upwards while pushing away the heat with Glacier's coldness, and the Hell Worm's presence disappeared. In turn, the heat spreading throughout Encia's body subsided.
“Wow…”
Encia's lips parted after she tried clenching her fist.
“It doesn't even hurt, and I feel even better than before!”
She smiled while being surprised at the same time as she looked at the relieved swelling in her arm.
'I should continue like this.'
He estimated that he just needed to scare the Hell Worm off to make it hide for Encia to last until they reached Retran.
“It's a relief.”
Michelle nodded while grabbing Encia's hand.
“Then, when are you going to leave? Are you going to leave right no…”
“No. I'm planning to leave tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. We have some preparations to make. Is that okay, division leader?”
“Yes.”
Sheryl nodded, showing her agreement.
“Then, how many people from our side can you bring with you?”
“Since we need to move as quickly as possible, I'm only planning to bring Lady Encia.”
“What? But she can't do anything by herself!”
Michelle shook her hand, telling him it was impossible.
“Since we have female swordsmen with us, you don't need to worry.”
“But at least one person…”
“It would be a bother.”
Raon stood firm, giving additional instruction to Michelle through an aura message.
[Head of house, please make every maid leave the room right now, as naturally as possible.]
Michelle flinched for a moment, but she nodded imperceptibly once she understood his message.
“Th-Then, we need to quickly prepare. You girls should go check the carriage and prepare the food and necessities for the swordsmen.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
The maids inside the room nodded, then left the room.
Whir!
As soon as the door closed, Raon created an energy barrier to stop the sound from going out.
“What's the matter?”
“We need to catch the culprit.”
“C-Culprit?”
“The energy inside Lady Encia's head isn't a natural symptom or disease, but an artificial phenomenon.”
“Wh-Which means…”
“Somebody was targeting Lady Encia.”
“Ah…”
Encia and Michelle's lips started to tremble upon hearing that.
“Had you ever been injured outside before your finger started to hurt?”
“N-No, I hadn't. I've always just worked in my workshop…”
“Which means someone inside the house did it.”
Raon declared with certainty.
“Are you sure?”
Sheryl came up to him with a frown.
“You have to be careful about this kind of matter.”
“I'm sure. I don't know who did this, but this is definitely unnatural.”
He wouldn't have been so sure if Temas hadn't come to visit, but he could ascertain it after he saw Temas' reaction. There must've been a House Robert spy among them.
“Hmm, there's no way…”
“E-Everyone I met in the workshop was my trustworthy family!”
Michelle and Encia shook their heads. It looked like they didn't want to believe it.
“If you don't want to find the culprit, then I'll withdraw. It's not our mission, nor is it our house's business. However, this is your only chance if you want to find the culprit.”
Raon declared it was their last chance, then closed his eyes. He was telling them he didn't mind if they refused.
“C-Can you really find them?”
Michelle swallowed nervously.
“Since I've set a trap, they are bound to step on it.”
“A trap?”
Sheryl also stepped towards him in curiosity.
“The culprit must've made Lady Encia fall in that state with an objective in mind. There must've been something to gain from her sickness.”
Although he already knew that it was Robert's plan to take over the house, he unfortunately couldn't tell them about it.
“Since I showed them I could appease Lady Encia's condition, and said that I would leave with her tomorrow, the culprit must be impatient right now. After all, if she gets treated instead of staying sick, whatever plan is will be foiled.”
“Th-Then, before Encia leaves…”
“Indeed. They will try to worsen her condition so that she won't be able to leave.”
Raon nodded. Since he said he would leave the next day, and wouldn't bring anyone from House Yonaan, that night was the only opportunity for them to worsen her condition.
“Which means there's an extremely high possibility that they will visit Lady Encia tonight.”
“Ah, so that was why you asked me to make them leave in a natural manner…”
Michelle’s jaw dropped upon realizing the meaning of Raon's aura message.
“How long have you been thinking about that?”
“From the beginning.”
“…You are crazy.”
Sheryl narrowed her eyes as she looked into Raon's eyes.
'How can someone like him exist?'
Medicinal knowledge surpassing Temas, and the ability to predict the existence of a culprit and immediately lay out a trap wasn't something even she was capable of.
'How the hell did he grow up?'
Might, planning, knowledge, composure, and even his face. She was speechless to learn that a seventeen-year-old swordsman could be perfect in every aspect.
“Huh…”
“Did he really think about that from the beginning?”
“Our vice-squad leader is s-so scary…”
“I know, right?”
The Light Wind and Heavenly Blade were also dumbfounded as they looked at Raon.
“Th-Then, what shall we do now? We can't just leave Encia like this.”
Michelle impatiently bit her fingernail.
“Of course we can't.”
Raon nodded.
“That's why we need something.”
“Something?”
“Yes. I heard that Yonaan possesses 'that artifact'…”
* * *
Boom!
Explosions occurred one after another around the forest on the outskirts of Dembell City.
“Damn it! Damn it! Daaaamn it!”
Temas crushed everything in sight by continuously shooting his aura around him, regardless of the forest being destroyed.
Tssh!
The trees and grass didn't simply get destroyed—they turned into black ash and melted down.
“Raon Zieghart!”
The rage from getting thoroughly defeated by Raon at House Yonaan seemed to have exploded, turning his eyes completely red.
“I'll kill you. I'll melt your face alive. I'll make sure you won't have an easy death!”
Temas screamed like a monster, spreading enough aura around him to crush the entire forest.
“Uhh…”
Temas' disciple, Yufen, could only bite his lip in fear while staying far back.
“I need to stay further awa… Hmm?”
When Yufen was about to step back, a crow with white eyes surged from his shadow.
Caw!
The crow sat on his shoulder, then opened its sharp beak to spit out a black piece of paper.
“This!”
Yufen's eyes widened after reading the paper's contents.
“M-Master! We are in trouble!”
Yufen ran towards Temas, who was still destroying the forest, with the paper in his hand.
“They are going to leave tomorrow, without bringing a single maid or servant.”
“What?”
Focus returned to Temas's eyes upon hearing that.
“Why?!”
“It's apparently in order to move as fast as possible, since there are female swordsmen among Zieghart people…”
“Those damn bastards keep doing that!”
Temas ground his teeth. He only pretended to not care anymore because he had spies in House Yonaan, but it had become more problematic.
“Wh-What should we do?”
“Haa, tell them to increase the Hell Worm's activity to eighty percent tonight.
“Isn't eighty percent going to be dangerous?”
“She will feel pain worse than death itself, but she should survive. Since we need to delay their departure, that's the minimum we need.”
“Delay their departure?”
Yufen tilted his head. He couldn't understand why he would delay them instead of just preventing it.
“ I won't get the opportunity to kill that damn bastard if they can't depart at all.”
“What? But they have the Heavenly Blade leader on their side…”
“I'm going to call the Shadows.”
“Even the Shadows are unable to stop the Heavenly Blade leader.”
“I'm not planning on killing her. I'm only targeting Raon Zieghart, no one else. I'm going to use Shadows to stop the Heavenly Blade leader and insert the 'Ash Poison' in him. They will have to leave if he ends up dying.”
He clenched his fist, determined to kill him.
“Raon, I'm going to kill that arrogant bastard. I'm definitely going to melt down all his skin and watch him suffer.”
“U-Understood. I'll make preparations for that.”
“One more thing!”
Yufen nodded, and when he was about to write the message to convey it through the crow, Temas raised his hand.
“Send an assassin to that madman in Retran.”
Temas ground his teeth.
“We need the power of House Yonaan for our future plan. We can't let Zieghart or the Saint help them.”
* * *
During the dim night where the moon was hiding behind dark clouds, the pink door located at the deepest part of the ninth floor of House Yonaan silently opened, and a black shape entered the room.
The black shape seemed familiar with the room as it went to the center, where the bed was located. Encia was sleeping there, drenched in a cold sweat because of the pain.
“My Lady.”
“Umm…”
Although her name was called, Encia only groaned without waking up. Her skin had turned even more red than usual because of the intense heat.
Rustle.
The shape took out a small piece of cloth. It took out the red needle that was wrapped inside and pressed it to the middle of Encia’s forehead.
“Huh?”
However, the needle was unable to penetrate Encia's skin. The tip bent as if it had just stabbed a rock.
“H-How is this possi… Gasp!”
Just as it was about to remove the needle, Encia opened her eyes.
“It was you.”
Instead of blue eyes similar to an ocean, crimson eyes that sparked in a frightening manner and seemed to bring death appeared.
