Chapter 870

It took a few more minutes, after sending the Cavalry members out and cleaning up the area, before they were finally able to have a proper conversation.

“...So let me get this straight. You had some weird dream again, and that’s why you were asking about your Commander?”

“......”

When Yuder silently nodded, Inon scowled, a touch of awkwardness in his scrunched-up brows as he raised his voice.

“Then you should’ve said that in the first place!”

And when, exactly, would he have had the chance to explain?

Still, since Yuder knew Inon’s anger came from concern, he didn’t feel particularly bothered by the outburst.

“Anyway, your Commander isn’t here right now.”

“Why...? cough, cough!”

The moment he tried to speak with a bit more force, his throat flared in pain, triggering a fit of coughing.

“Cough gently! You want your ribs to snap again after we barely got them set?! Here—drink this!”

Clicking his tongue, Inon grabbed a cup and brought it to Yuder’s lips.

“Open up.”

“...I can just use my own hand—”

“Don’t you see your arms are both sealed up from the shoulder to the wrist? Quit whining and drink. My arm’s tired.”

Yuder hadn’t noticed earlier when he first woke up, but just as Inon said, both his arms were splinted and tightly bandaged from shoulder to wrist, with only his fingertips visible. Divine power had surely been used too—was this really necessary? He sighed quietly and opened his lips to accept the water.

But it wasn’t normal water. It had a reddish tint and a bitter, pungent herbal scent—strongly brewed medicinal tea. The moment it entered his mouth, a sharp, burning sensation flooded through him, scorching its way down his throat as if searing his entire esophagus.

It was such an unfamiliar sensation that even Yuder, who rarely reacted to pain, flinched slightly at the jolt.

‘...Is this really {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} safe to drink?’

“Drink all of it. It’s good for you.”

“......”

Inon’s sharp eyes flashed, reading his hesitation perfectly. Yuder ultimately downed it all. The bitter stench lingered with every breath, and his whole body tingled from mouth to stomach as he exhaled deeply. Inon muttered under his breath, frowning.

“Damn. You really are something. Didn’t even gag.”

“...Didn’t you give it to me to drink?”

“Are you stupid? Of course I brewed it extra strong and extra disgusting just to punish you. Any normal person would’ve already vomited and passed out!”

That explains it.

He muttered something ominous about increasing the concentration next time, but fortunately didn’t offer another dose. Setting the cup down, Inon crossed his arms and leaned back with a lazy posture as he began to speak.

“Your condition being what it is, you didn’t seriously think your Commander came out of this unscathed, did you? His internal state was a mess. He had to be completely isolated. Not fatal—but don’t even think about saying ‘then I should go see him.’ He came to his senses way earlier than you and is already working again.”

“......”

Yuder closed his mouth—he’d been about to suggest just that. Inon scoffed, clearly expecting it.

According to Inon, after everything ended that day, Kishiar had been isolated in the temporary Commander’s quarters. Only Inon and Nathan were allowed on that floor. Even then, Inon said he barely went in—just to deliver medicine and check his condition briefly.

That level of seclusion... Yuder instinctively remembered something.

The triple-layered hidden walls in Prince Kishiar’s palace during his royal days.

The tightly sealed Commander’s chamber door during his "cycle"—the only person allowed in being Nathan.

‘...Could it be? Is his cycle happening again?’

Given the toll from pushing his powers to the limit, it was more than possible. He may not be dying, but Yuder still wanted to confirm he was truly okay.

“Originally, I was going to keep you near him, too. But your condition kept fluctuating so much I had no choice but to keep you in my care. I honestly thought I’d be planning your funeral last night. Hey, are you even listening?”

“...Sorry. I missed that part.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Caught up in thoughts about Kishiar, Yuder admitted it honestly. Inon closed his eyes tightly in frustration, fingers hovering dangerously near Yuder’s face before reluctantly lowering them again.

“Haa. You little...”

“......”

“Do you even know how long you’ve been out?”

Come to think of it... what day was it? His body didn’t feel that bad, so he figured it must’ve been a while—but he wasn’t sure how long.

He remembered that, in his past life, the longest he’d ever been unconscious after an injury was about a week. That much downtime came with heavy consequences—so from then on, he made sure never to go more than a day without getting back to work.

‘Last time... the giant Petuamet incident took three days, right? So maybe this time too...’

“...Three days?”

“Pfft. Three days, my ass.”

Inon’s eyes didn’t smile at all as he answered coldly.

“Today marks the start of the second week.”

“...What?”

Two weeks?

His mind froze in shock.

From Yuder’s perspective, the battle ended, he was with Kishiar... then he lost consciousness, had a strange dream with the white gloves, got pushed, and woke up. In terms of time felt, maybe a day had passed.

But to learn that two weeks had gone by in reality—he couldn’t believe it. If anyone else had told him, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Inon let out a sigh, finally seeing a properly confused and disoriented patient reaction from Yuder.

“Now are you starting to understand just how bad your condition was and what I had to do to keep you alive?”

“......”

“Whatever weird dreams you had or didn’t have, as long as you’re a patient, you need to think like one. No matter how many people take care of you, if you don’t take care of yourself, there’s nothing anyone can do. You get me now?”

Every word was spot-on. Still reeling from the shock that two weeks had passed, Yuder obediently listened to Inon’s explanation of his condition.

Externally, thanks to Lusan’s divine power and Inon’s medicine, Yuder’s wounds had healed remarkably well. But Inon warned that they’d need to keep him under observation for a few more days.

“The reason should be obvious. With injuries as severe as yours, even if they look healed, they could reopen with the slightest shock. In fact, just moving your bed caused your arm to break again.”

“...My arm?”

“You think it was someone else’s?!”

He didn’t remember it, but apparently it had happened—hence the heavy bracing and bandaging. Still, the real issue hadn’t been his physical wounds.

“No one else noticed, but your soul’s condition was a mess. Normally, you slowly recover—but this time, nothing changed for the entire time you were out.”

According to Inon, during Yuder’s unconscious state, his soul remained in a stagnant, unhealthy condition. While his body recovered, his soul did not—and that worried Inon greatly. Then, something unexpected happened last night.

“I stepped out briefly to give your Commander some medicine. When I came back... I couldn’t see your soul.”

“If your soul’s not visible, that means...”

“The only time a soul disappears is when the person’s dead.”

“...So I died?”

But Yuder felt fine now. There was no sign of anything wrong—no invisible pain, no eerie sensation. As he looked down at his hands, unsure, Inon ran his hand through his hair roughly.

“You didn’t die. You were still breathing. The sword’s thread was still intact. But your soul—only to my eyes—was completely gone.”

“And then?”

“I was about to call your Commander... but when I came back, your soul was back in place. Hah. I can’t even tell you how ridiculous that was.”

Only now did Yuder understand what Inon meant earlier about thinking he was preparing a funeral.

For someone like Inon, who could literally see souls, it must have been terrifying to witness it vanish and then suddenly return.

A deep sense of guilt crept into Yuder’s heart.

He felt truly sorry for what Inon had gone through.