"There are some ripples coming from the royal palace due to the disappearance of Berthold De Pearl. But oddly enough, it looks like they're planning to keep it quiet." Briefed Renata.

Considering the huge commotion we'd made and all the mess at the haunted Marquess's place, it didn't make any sense that they were leaving us alone without openly investigating anything.

'They don't want to make a huge deal out of it...But why?' Tapping my finger, I pondered. "Did my fight against the Saint have anything to do with this?"

"I believe that plays a huge part why...Many were present when the battle was over, trying to relieve their curiosity about the figure who could contend with the Saint. If not for him, who decided to hand my lord over by his own will, we wouldn't be able to escape safely that night."

'So by openly letting us escape, he was telling the kingdom to not touch us, who he spared...?'

I shook my head lightly and swallowed the depressing thoughts before falling into yet another pit of self-pity.

"What about home? What's happening there? They must be searching for me now that I've been gone for some time." The discomfort grew the moment I pictured my family's faces.

"...Milord-" Renata appeared hesitant to answer me.

"Searching? You've been missing for a day, and they already went ballistic, Shepherd. They're digging dirt, overturning rocks, and asking every person who roamed the streets. I'm telling you, those Dawson's knights were literally this close to ransacking the whole fief just to catch a clue about your whereabouts." Cut Clara with a wide smirk plastered on her face.

"You really need to rub it in my face, don't you?" I sighed irritatedly.

"Of course, I do, my little Shepherd~ Why? You don't like me teasing you?" Remarked her mischievously with a sultry tone.

"More than not liking it, you know she won't let it fly whenever you pull off something like this, Clara..." I hinted toward Renata, who was staring dagger at Clara.

"It's not like this will be our first rodeo or anything. I, for once, am itching for some good hustle lately~" Replied Clara back fearlessly.

"Renata. Report." Ignoring Clara's nonsense, I turned to Renata.

"Milord. His Grace, the Duke had been deploying garrisons of knights to scourge Germund's mountains and fields. Both the castle and city have also been placed on lockdown due to Milord's disappearance. Reinforcements from the vassal families have also been sighted coming and going out of the city." Explained Renata briefly.

'...Oh, I'm in a deep shit...' I closed my eyes, feeling my headaches catching up with me.

"That's not even the worst part yet~ Go on, Renata. Tell him about that." Nudged Clara with a playful tone.

"You will call me by the correct name, Spy." Rebuked Renata short.

Shrugging, Clara replied lightly. "Sure~"

"What is she talking about?" Unable to contain my curiosity, I urged Renata to speak.

"...We assumed that the word about this issue would be passed on soon to Dawson's ancestral home...Nemeria." Answered Renata.

"To my grandparents? What about it-..." And I froze.

"Hahaha! Look at your face!" Laughed Clara out loud.

I ignored her and found Renata once again. "Are you saying he'll start something?"

"Start something? Oh, you actually know so little about your own family, don't you?" Remarked Clara.

"Enough joking! Tell me more, Renata...Did my Father really agree to this?" Having enough of her antics, I told her to shut the hell up, urging Renata to give me all the details instead.

"Yes, Milord. The previous Duke had been infamously known for his bold and fearless behavior. Not to mention his display of might that even garnered a word of praise from the Saint himself. With the endless attempts coming from the royal palace to cut down Dawson's force, it is only possible they will remain as the main suspect in the previous Duke's mind."

She paused briefly, constructing her words carefully before continuing.

"Not only that. With the recent visit of the church of Light and their incessant mission to have Milord join in as a member of their church, I believe not even they will escape from the previous Duke's senseless rampage when the time comes. And surely of all people, the Duke of Dawson will know best what to expect when he decides to deliver this news to the previous Duke himself."

'Holy shit!' I gulped dryly. "...Do you also think so, Clara?"

"Hm~? Do I think he'll wage a war? Believe me. He'll do worse...I've met that man, Rygor Von Dawson, once. Fought him, too, and I never want to do it again...Why do you think I brought so many people with me to the Festival of Light? I knew he wouldn't be there, but just the thought that the old lion might be there in the off chance that my source was wrong was enough to make my stomach churned in anxiety." Iterated Clara with an ugly look on her face.

"...We still have time, right? Let's go back right now." I pushed aside the blanket, trying to get up.

"Milord! You shouldn't." Rebuked Renata alarmingly, gently pushing me back to the bed.

"She's right. Of all things, you shouldn't do that right now, Shepherd." Sounded Clara in concur.

"Why?" I frowned.

"Let me, your attending healer, do the honor for you." From the opposite side of the room, a brusque tone suddenly interrupted us.

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Tilting my neck, I studied the figure. "Helios?"

"Yes. It is I, Helios. Now stop struggling and do as you're told. You are now a patient, and I shall not tolerate any unbecoming behavior coming from a patient like you, Shepherd." Stated Helios with a stubborn look.

'What the...' I tossed a confused look at Renata.

"Forgive me, Milord. But you are still hurt." Responded Renata, bowing deep, avoiding my gaze.

"I am fine, though...?" I said, flailing my arm around to show them.

Frankly, other than a mild discomfort I've felt for quite some time, I felt fine and dandy.

"No, you are not. You might think you are due to the potions I gave you. But you are not." Argued Helios whilst touching my body here and there.

"But I really feel fine. Nothing's hurt. I can't even see a scratch on me." I expressed vehemently.

"...You really want to play it this way?" Sighed Helios.

"I'm not playing anything. I'm just telling you honestly about what I feel, and I'm not lying." Frustration began to take root in my chest.

"Fine. I never found pleasure in watching others in pain, but if it is what it takes to make you sit still and let me fix you like a good boy, then so be it...Try to move your mana and see what happens." Challenged Helios.

'Um...Okay...?' It felt like it wouldn't end well if do it, but I just wanted to go home as fast as possible and prevent the civil war from breaking out.

So, I did what I needed to do. I tried to move my mana, accessing word magic.

And the result was...

"Hmm- ARGH!!!" A blood-curdling pain that jolted the bejesus out of me.

'The fuck was that!?' It was so painful I forgot how to fucking breathe for a split second.

"Told you." Mocking my pained gaze, Helios popped a flask and had me drink it.

"Urgh. What is that taste..."

I was never one to be picky about my standard in taste, but that thick and smelly disgusting medicine Helios made me drink? That was some premium-class shit, I tell you.

"Hahaha!" Clara burst out laughing yet again, slapping her stomach unbridledly.

"A good medicine is always unsavory, Shepherd." Helios was nodding proudly at my reaction.

"It tastes like a rotten foot coated in bland gross cream!" I groaned, trying my best to not gag.

"Bwahaha! Ah, my stomach! I can't. I can't!" Meanwhile, Clara had almost fallen off her chair.

And, of course, Renata didn't take the unhinged reaction well. "Preposterous! Cease this act at once, Spy!"

"Now, that is an exaggeration. A rotten foot does not leave that particular spicy aftertaste as this little angel does. Although your impression of the taste does sound interesting. Perhaps you are interested in learning more of the ingredients of this little angel, Shepherd?" It was the first time I saw Helios beaming like a child.

"You know what...I'm sorry I said anything. I don't want to know. Please don't let me know, okay?" I had a feeling that I needed to be direct with him.

"Are you sure? You might change your mind later on..." And I was right; the dwarf man was still pushing it despite my clear rejection of the notion.

"I am sure, Helios. Trust me. I am sure." Hell, Helios's face was starting to look dangerous; I had to double down.

He had that evil scientist look going on, and minus the laugh, Helios pretty much nailed down everything else.

"Huft...The lonely fate of the scholars..." Exhaled him with a sad look.

"Yeah...So...What happened to my body?" I rolled my eyes furtively and moved on with the topic.

He looked me right in the eyes and frowned intensely. "I don't know what happened, but all the blood vessels in your body are damaged. If not for the paint suppressant, you wouldn't be able to spend a second lying in there without crying out in pain."

'Blood vessels? Is it because I tried to absorb and directly use the raw mana?' I pondered, tapping my finger rhythmically.

"I have come across a similar case once on a patient with a symptom of a mana dissonance." Began Helios, sensing the detached ambiance coming out from me.

"Mana disorder?" My eyebrow arched up in wonder.

And he explained, with gestures and all. "It's a state when your mana collides with new and foreign source of mana, rampaging chaotically inside your blood vessels."

'Ah, so that's why the purifying of mana pool is needed...We can't digest mana in its raw state.' I nodded in realization. "...So, how long before I get better?"

"You're lucky the damage done to you was not too fatal, and that was only possible because you had somehow almost exhausted your own mana pool...Someone never told you how dangerous it is to force your body to use unfiltered mana, Shepherd? You could've died. All the more so if we take into account how weak and unhealthy your body is." Expressed Helios in vexation.

I know he was making a valid point. But at that time, it was truthfully the only solution I could think of...For better or for worse...

"Alright. You've made your point. Now tell me, how long, Helios?" Growing impatient due to remembering my miserable defeat, I urged the dwarf.

"...A month at best. Longer if you keep being reckless with your body." Answered him squarely.

"A month?" I almost couldn't believe him, thinking that he might be screwing me.

"I can't do that." I shook my head.

My family was about to spearhead a civil war because of me, and he wanted me to chill out for a whole fucking month? There's just no way I could do that...

"What do you mean you can't do that? You have to do that. What if something happens to you?" Returned Helios, raising his voice.

"Milord...Forgive my insolence, but I do believe your health takes precedence over any other matter."

"Listen to the dwarf, Shepherd. He does not kid when he says you're lucky to be alive. I've seen someone die due to mana disorder. And it ain't pretty."

Even Renata and Clara joined in and voiced their agreement.

'Damn it...' I gritted my teeth in anger.

"A week...I'll do whatever I can, and you'll do whatever you can to fix me in a week. You hear me, Helios?" I stare him dead straight in the eyes.

The man looked visibly unhappy with my decision.

"I can't do it in a week." Refused Helios firmly, waving his hand.

"You can't. But I can help you to make sure that you can do it." And I refuted back, not backing down.

"It's impossible, Shepherd." He replied.

"Not with me, it won't." I pressed on.

Finally, Helios decided to hear me out, albeit looking very skeptical at the prospect. "Fine...How?"

"You'll see in just a minute." Then again, all I needed was for him to take the bait, and I'd do the rest...

Then, I turn toward the other two. "As for you two, Assassin and Spy...I want you to send words to my family. Tell them I will be back in a week. And by any means possible, don't let them start a war. You understand?"

"By your will, Milord."

"Sure thing."

Voiced Renata and Clara in tandem.

'Now then...Let's do this...A week. No more than a week, Alex. You can do it...' I mused, psyching myself up.

Crystalizing all my ideas and thoughts about my current power and the new perspective I have on how I should use my blessing, I invoked the word magic.

"I will offer my sight for seven days as a price in return for an accelerated healing of all my blood vessels."

And...

'Fuck!!! That hurts!!!'

I cried like a bitch...

"ARGH!!!"