“Before that, get me treated. If you don’t, you’ll be the one dead before the situation is settled.”
Looking at Kasha’s pale face, Elsen clicked his tongue. His already unnaturally white face had turned a sickly shade of blue, with veins clearly visible under his skin. It was almost miraculous that he was still breathing and walking.

“Move quickly.”

As Kasha spoke and turned away, Rejin, who had been silent until then, ordered the knights to escort the tied-up prisoners and then reorganized the rest of the knights. After watching around twenty knights lead the prisoners down the mountain toward the Rengetti region, Kasha collapsed onto the ground as soon as they disappeared from sight.

Falling to the ground as if he had crumpled, Rodin quickly ran over and caught Kasha’s body. He raised his hand to check his pulse. It was weak but still there, and white breath escaped from his mouth. It seemed like he had fainted for a moment.

“I told you something was wrong. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. We need to move him right now. Is there a healer nearby?”

Rodin, still holding Kasha, asked Rejin, who knew the area well, but there was no answer. Feeling frustrated, Rodin shot a glare at him.

“Hey! You seriously wish this bastard would just die, don’t you…”

Rodin was about to shout at Rejin for leaving Kasha in this state, but when he looked at his face, he couldn’t continue. Rejin’s face was just as pale as Kasha’s, frozen in shock. He raised his hand and touched his right arm. The blood had drained from his face, and it was turning a sickly shade of blue.

“What’s wrong?”

“…My shoulder… it won’t move.”

At first, Rejin had been so shocked by Kasha’s collapse that he temporarily lost consciousness. But it was brief, and soon his senses returned. He tried to dismount to catch him, but his right shoulder had gone numb and felt prickling. It hurt so badly that it felt like his shoulder might fall off. He had felt it earlier but had assumed it was just from the rain, but now it had become unbearable.

“Why are you like this?”

Rodin looked at him, surprised. With gritted teeth, Rejin reached out his left hand.

“Over here.”

Rodin hesitated for a moment, but then picked up Kasha and moved toward Rejin. Sitting on his horse, Rejin wrapped his left arm around Kasha’s body. In an instant, the pain in his right shoulder disappeared, and he could move his arm again.

Rejin stared at Kasha for a moment, then, seeing his limp body, he held him up and placed him in front of him. Supporting him with his left arm, he grabbed the reins with his right hand and turned around to give orders to the knights.

“First division, protect me. Ren, Kay, take the others and search the mountain. Spread out and search every corner in the direction they went. Immediately send a messenger to summon the former division stationed in the Lengeht region and have them move together. We must find them safely before the day ends.”

“Understood.”

“Rodin, follow Kasha’s instructions. If there’s news, let us know with the horn.”

Rodin responded with some irritation, his emotions bubbling up.

“I don’t want to take orders from you.”

Rodin’s reply was somewhat rebellious. Even though Kasha had caused the problem, he didn’t like what Rejin was doing. It wasn’t so much Rejin himself but his parents’ actions that bothered him. Given the situation, Rodin could understand why Kasha had parted ways with him. If he hadn’t let him go, they would have sent assassins into Vera and caused chaos.

“Go quickly.”

Despite his frustration, Rodin, realizing there was no other option, gave in and mounted his horse. He divided the mercenaries, choosing a few to go with him and others to help with the search. Holding Kasha in his arms, Rejin turned the horse and suggested to Jessie and Kamiel that they come along. Jessie, being of Karileum’s royal family, agreed without hesitation. Kamiel, however, was clearly exhausted and wounded, and despite his request, he stubbornly shook his head.

“I’ll help with the search in the forest with Elsen.”

Jessie scowled and glared at Kamiel in response to his answer.
“Stop being stubborn, Kamiel. This isn’t Karileum. You don’t even know the geography of this mountain, and you’re exhausted—where do you think you’re going? You’re just going to end up being a burden to everyone else. Leave the search to the healthy people. And you’re about to have a child, so don’t act out for no reason. If you die, Lady Lindsay and the Empress will turn Clozium upside down.”
He was right. Kamiel was in an extremely exhausted state. Over the past few days, a journey that should have taken about two weeks had been completed in five days, and today he had spent the entire day in the rain, wounded, constantly running and fighting. Even a perfectly trained knight would have struggled with such a task, but Kamiel, who had been out of the field for the past four years working administrative jobs, couldn’t bear it.
“Don’t make things harder for everyone. Just follow along. Clozium won’t want to make the situation worse, so they’ll search for them with their lives on the line.”
Only then did Kamiel nod. Recognizing that he had agreed, Rejin slightly bowed his head to him and then turned to look at the road ahead.
“The nearest village is to the west. The road is a bit rough, but it’s the quickest way to the village, so please follow me carefully.”
“Don’t worry.”
By now, the Clozium knights had already begun carefully loading the injured onto horses. Once Rejin confirmed that everything was ready, he turned the horse and spoke to them.
“Then, let’s depart.”