"Saint. Please watch your step."
"Understood."
Anton spoke without glancing back, carrying Rein on his shoulders.
With Lina taking the lead, we hurried through the corridor where the parted flames stood flanked to our left and right. Rein showed no sign of waking, no matter how much he was jostled.
Once we reached the front of the fortress gate, Lina turned around and spoke as if addressing the flames themselves.
"Thank you. That's enough."
The moment the words left her lips, the fire inside the gate closed back in. It was a spectacle I wouldn't have believed had I not witnessed it with my own eyes.
Anton laid Rein down inside the carriage waiting before the gate. I took his hand to examine his condition.
The injuries on his hands had already vanished.
There were no burns, nor was the skin peeled. Without even a trace of redness, it was the same pale, delicate, soft hand as always.
—I can't heal him.
For some reason, a wave of frustration washed over me, and I stared intently at Rein's face.
I couldn't tell from the outside whether his mana was depleted or if he was simply exhausted, but he wore a pained expression.
I desperately wanted to take that pain away, yet I was entirely powerless.
Even though I am a Saint. Even though I am his big sister...
After checking on Rein, I immediately moved on to treating the wounded without pausing to catch my breath.
Many of those who had escaped from the fortress suffered from burns, but fresh burns were easier to mend with recovery magic than deep lacerations. I focused entirely on attending to them. Only while losing myself in the work could I push the memory of Rein's agonizing expression from my mind.
Once the burn victims were mostly treated, I moved on to those who had received emergency first aid.
Now that the threat of an enemy assault had passed, I could attend to those who had lost limbs, provided they wished for it. While it was problematic to say this openly given my position, treatments performed on our journey's escorts did not require standard fees to be paid to the Church. Even the Saint's regeneration magic, which normally commanded an exorbitant sum through official channels, could be performed free of charge under these circumstances.
—Assuming, of course, they wished for it and possessed the fortitude to endure it.
I wondered if anyone would actually step forward, but true to their reputation as hardened Laufen knights forged in conflict with enemy nations, there was an applicant. The tip of his thumb had been blasted away by magic. While not a massive wound, it was a crippling blow for a swordsman; hearing it could be restored, he eagerly requested the regeneration magic.
"...I'm ashamed of myself."
The knight offered an awkward, failing smile as he spoke.
"I will not take an offering for this, but please understand that it may be recorded publicly as a treatment achievement."
"Good grief, how embarrassing..."
Lacking proper restraints, I had the other knights hold his limbs fast, placing a rolled-up cloth between his teeth in lieu of a gag.
Placing my hands over his, I lowered my consciousness. Toward the ideal form. Toward the true shape that this man's body had never forgotten.
The man let out a muffled shriek and convulsed violently.
The two knights pinning him down were nearly thrown off, frantically throwing their full weight across him. Muffled by the cloth, his screams warped into something resembling the roar of a beast.
The treatment dragged on until the smoke rising from the fortress thinned to a wisp, but because the regenerated portion was minuscule, it was fully restored in a single session.
The moment the knights released their hold, the man scrambled away from me on all fours.
I was long accustomed to such reactions. It only reinforced my conviction that Rein truly was extraordinary.
◇◇◇
Once the fire had burned itself out entirely, the two who had slipped past the iron portcullis came down from the mountain trail.
Lady Katia was drenched in dark, dried blood. Mr. Lutz, beside her, looked much the same. Without uttering a word to anyone, Lady Katia walked straight to the carriage. Peeking through a crack in the door, she let out a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing Rein asleep.
Mr. Lutz strolled over to me.
"Saint. Looks like you patched up our knights. Much obliged."
"Are either of you injured?"
"Shouldn't be anything worse than scratches. All this is just the enemy's blood."
"I am glad to hear you are unharmed."
"Looks like there's a well next to the field's shed. Let's go wash this filth off. You've got your hands dirty too, eh, Saint?"
When we reached the well, knights were already dumping buckets of water over their heads, armor and all. Lady Katia and Mr. Lutz followed suit, washing away the gore. I dipped my hands, stained crimson from the treatments, into the water and scrubbed them clean.
—A Saint's work is forever steeped in blood, dread, and death.
Having grown so numb to it all, I suppose an ordinary life is beyond my reach now. The thought drifted idly through my mind.
Afterward, the knights swept through the smoldering ruins in search of evidence. They found virtually nothing. Since the fortress had served merely as a staging ground built on the assumption of a swift retreat, Mr. Lutz surmised they likely never kept incriminating evidence here to begin with.
Finally, we torched the fields beginning from the valley's entrance.
The knights moved down the line, setting fire to the rye that stretched deep along the stream. The parched stalks caught readily. Swept up by the wind whistling through the ravine, crimson tongues of flame devoured the valley in an instant.
We stood shoulder to shoulder at the valley's mouth, watching the inferno. Rein remained asleep inside the carriage.
"...Lord Rein."
It was Lina who spoke, her voice flat and devoid of inflection as she stared into the blaze.
"I believe he will do something like this again."
No one offered a denial.
"I couldn't stop him... Even though I'm his guard...!"
Mira choked out the words, her expression twisted in despair.
"I share the blame as well," Anton said, his face heavy with remorse. "While he must be reprimanded for taking such drastic measures, I cannot help but think I should have held him back."
I stepped in to take over the conversation.
"I believe we simply must not let him wander outside."
The unnatural calmness of my own voice surprised me.
"He meets with danger only because he goes to dangerous places. Had he stayed away, that child would never have suffered. He wouldn't have been burned."
"...Lady Therese."
Mira looked up.
"However, placing Lord Rein under what amounts to house arrest is..."
"It is not house arrest."
I cut her off with absolute certainty.
"We are protecting him."
Mira looked as though she wanted to protest, but fell silent.
"That child is broken in some way... Even while claiming to hate pain, he will willingly inflict it upon himself the moment he deems it necessary. He places a terribly low priority on his own suffering. Even if we tell him to cherish himself, he may not understand what that truly means."
As the words left my mouth, I felt a strange, cold clarity settling into the depths of my mind.
"If he cannot do it himself, we have no choice but to do it for him. Since he cannot care for his own well-being, we will cherish him in his stead. We need only make him happy. If there is anything he lacks, we will provide it all."
Lina gave a small, quiet nod.
"Together, making Lord Rein happy... Staying by his side inside the estate forever..."
Mira stared into the fire with a look of quiet rapture, as though already picturing the scene.
"...Even if Rein and I marry, I wouldn't mind if he stayed inside the mansion forever," Lady Katia said, gazing into the flames. "Rein is more than capable enough as a recovery practitioner. As long as we have the patients come to him, it makes no difference whether he leaves the estate or not. I can shoulder everything on the outside."
"Milady, you're getting way ahead of yourself, and that's taking things a bit too far..."
Mr. Lutz started to object, but looking at Lady Katia's expression and glancing across the rest of us, his face soured as he turned toward Anton. Anton caught his eye, wearing an equally troubled look, before turning back to face us.
"What you are discussing is not something for us to decide."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Lord Rein is the second son of House Werl. The only person with the authority to determine where the young master resides is Lord Wilhelm."
"Which means, as long as Lord Wilhelm gives his consent, there is no issue, correct?"
"Well, technically, yes, but..."
Anton's face stiffened, though he offered no rebuttal.
"At any rate, let's leave this until the dust settles," Mr. Lutz intervened, stepping between us. "This ain't something to hash out here and now. None of our heads—mine, the Saint's, or anyone else's—are screwed on straight today."
"..."
"Shouldn't we head back, get some food, sleep on it, and talk about it then?"
I offered no argument. It was certainly a matter that did not need to be settled today.
Even so, I already knew that tomorrow would bring no change to my resolve.
Once the conversation subsided and left only the crackle of the fire behind, the carriage door swung open from within.
"...Everyone? What's the situation?"
Rein poked his head out. His hair was ruffled with bedhead, and his eyes were still heavy with sleep.
All of us turned in unison, offering him warm smiles.
"You're awake. How are you feeling?"
My voice sounded startlingly gentle, even to my own ears. Lady Katia rushed to his side, Mira offered him water, and Lina gently readjusted his cloak. Not a trace of the suffocating tension from moments ago lingered on anyone's face.
"Yeah. I think I might have slept a bit too long."
That child smiled. A carefree smile, completely unaware of what had just transpired.
And that was perfectly fine.
—You don't need to worry about anything, Rein. Your big sisters will protect you.
With the ash-strewn fields and ruined fortress at our backs, we began our descent down the mountain.