‘It’s so painful.’
Sylvia wandered through a crisis.
The pain piercing her entire body pressed down on her.
-To heal, we must amputate the right arm.
-Is there really no other way?
-Yes
Through the haze of consciousness, she heard a faint voice.
-Fake priest. Save Sylvia without cutting off her arm.
-…Foolish. Without amputation, there’s no hope.
-Damn it… Sylvia. Why did a knight like you fall victim to such an attack? Why at that moment, of all times! Speak and die!
-I heard a familiar name.
Sylvia gasped for breath weakly.
-A name I’ve only heard in my dreams.
‘Did you hear about the person selected as the Lord’s personal physician this time? His name was Birkender.’
‘Birkender, isn’t that the surname of Cruyff? A b*stard son?’
The strings of her memories stretch long in her fading mind.
Sylvia Clifton, the youngest child of Countess Clifton.
Her light, showing the most impressive memory just before death, illuminated her time at the Academy.
-What is she?
-Why did a child enroll in the Academy?
Sylvia entered the Academy at the age of 12.
She was a genius. By the age of 10, she already possessed the strength to rival adult knights.
Everyone around praised and admired Sylvia.
She stepped through the gates of the Academy with confidence. Yet, she also felt it was mundane.
She already evaluated herself as an adult level. She felt there was no time to waste with these kids’ games.
But Sylvia didn’t know. The Academy was where geniuses from around the world gathered.
Here, Sylvia’s genius was merely ‘ordinary’.
It was only then that Sylvia realized she had been able to enroll early not because she was a special genius.
She barely met the admission criteria.
Realizing this, she fell into a deep slump. Doubts about her talent, self-loathing, all tormented Sylvia.
That was when Sylvia first encountered Sena.
-Are you Sylvia?
Sena was a senior about to graduate.
He was famous, so even Sylvia, who wasn’t interested in others’ affairs, had heard of him.
“Saint of Larden”.
However, Sylvia thought such a grand title was utterly absurd.
The rumors were unbelievable. What? Resurrecting the dead and stopping the plague spreading in the slums? He must be exaggerating.
-Wow, you’re even smaller than I thought. How did a little kid like you get into the Academy?
From the first meeting, Sena’s perception of Sylvia saying such things was the worst for her.
So, she simply ignored him.
But Sena ignored Sylvia’s disregard.
Approaching, he seemed to pierce through Sylvia’s eyes.
-It’s definitely a genetic disease. Why do nobles here like their close relatives so much?
-W-What, what are you…
-Have you recently noticed a slower growth rate? Feeling inexplicable depression and your body not responding as it should?
-…!
Just by looking at her eyes, Sena accurately assessed Sylvia’s recent condition and suddenly grabbed her hand.
-I’ll fix it. Just wait a moment.
Something magical happened.
Small lights spread out from the hand that was holding Sena’s hand.
It was so beautiful as to lose oneself in it. Not the lights, but Sena’s focused figure.
-You are completely cured. So goodbye!
‘What on earth is he?’
He appeared suddenly and disappeared suddenly.
At first, Sylvia thought he was a peculiar person, but…
It didn’t take long for her to realize that it was indeed ‘treatment’.
She found her talent again.
Sylvia’s abilities began to skyrocket.
In the abyss of despair, Sylvia could escape through that path.
Sylvia felt an indescribable gratitude.
She wanted to express this gratitude somehow, but…
-It’s really annoying. Why is he always with a woman?
-I pity the woman who would marry a playboy like Senior.
Because of Sylvia’s personality, she couldn’t do it. In fact, she just wanted to express her gratitude.
She just grumbled with such words.
Sena was always surrounded by many people.
There seemed to be no room for Sylvia. Perhaps that was the source of her dissatisfaction.
Thus, instead of gratitude, days of constantly bickering with Sena passed by.
So, on a night when the moon was halfway obscured.
Sylvia encountered Sena outside the Academy, holding a suitcase in his hand.
-What’s up? Senior. Where are you going?
Fresh from training, Sylvia wiped away sweat with a towel and asked Sena.
Sena, who always spoke with a playful face, was unusually serious that day.
-Sylvia, you have talent. Someday, you’ll become an incredible knight. Believe in yourself.
Sylvia was inwardly very pleased but felt even more embarrassed. So, she retorted for no reason.
-W-What are you suddenly saying? Please disappear quickly from my sight. I hate Senior the most in the world.
The Saint never appeared again.
There were rumors that he had already died, while others said he continued medical activities on the battlefield.
Sylvia never imagined that the words Sena said to her would be his last.
She regretted it several times a day.
If she knew it would be the last, she would have said something else.
Thank him for curing her.
Thank him for her salvation.
‘Cut off the arm.’
Sylvia opened her eyes.
Even if she gave up being a knight, she wanted to convey just that.
And Sylvia froze at the sight of the transparent silver hair right in front of her.
“Rest assured and sleep.”
It felt just like the hand she had held before.
“I will definitely save you.”
‘This must be a dream.’
If so, it’s a happy dream she wants to continue.
Sylvia closed her eyes quietly.
**
[1]
The smell of thick blood tickled his nose.
The smell of blood that never became familiar no matter how many times he smelled it.
The floor was littered with blood-soaked bandages, and a girl was lying on the bed, breathing heavily.
-Is this another case like Sylvia?
‘The name somehow seemed familiar.’
After hearing Reston’s words, he didn’t expect that she would end up joining the Empress’s royal guard at such a young age.
Indeed, a genius with the nickname ” Sylvia the Shiver” was different from others.
“What happened?”
Sena, checking the pulse, asked Reston.
Reston, who was brought here without any expectations, broke into a cold sweat at the sight of Sena, who exuded the scent of an expert.
“A large-scale purge happened recently. We were attacked by an unidentified monster during the purge. It resembled the legendary monster ‘Hydra’.”
‘Poison.’
The symptoms were confirmed.
Bleeding from Sylvia’s right arm hadn’t stopped.
‘So that’s why they wanted to cut it off.’
Even now, Sylvia’s right arm was regenerating the wound.
However, the rate of tissue necrosis was faster than that of regeneration.
Although Sylvia was containing the poison with her magic, there wasn’t much time left.
At this rate, it would spread throughout her body within a day.
In other words, there was no time to identify the poison and make an antidote.
There was only one way.
They had to remove it.
“Can you heal her?”
“We’ll have to try.”
It won’t be easy.
Before the poison, there was too much spilled blood.
Blood was needed. Otherwise, she would die from excessive bleeding before they could remove the poison.
“First, gather as many people as possible with a similar magical reaction to Sylvia.”
In the medieval era, there was no way to know blood types.
There were no relevant reagents, and they didn’t even know if it classified into modern blood types.
However, they could judge to some extent with the term ‘magical reaction’.
“I, if that’s the case, then it’s me. My magical reaction is the most similar to Sylvia’s.”
‘Thank god.’
Sena quickly got up and opened the square travel suitcase lying on the floor.
It was a good thing that he brought all these herbs for planting, just in case.
Sena tightly bound a tourniquet around Sylvia’s right arm, making sure the blood flow was cut off, then inserted a needle into the wound.
The blood, tainted with a dark red poison, poured into the glass container under the bed as if it were mad.
With no sign of hemostasis, every second was crucial.
“Raise the arm as high as possible.”
“Like this?”
“Not too high, just near my head. Yes, there. Remember that position.”
He inserted the blood transfusion tubing into the vein above the tourniquet.
Then, he punctured Reston’s vein with the opposite needle. Reston’s blood began to flow through the tube due to gravity.
Sena knelt down, concentrating after holding Sylvia’s arm.
‘Where is it?’
Closing his eyes, he began to heal the blood vessels where the poison was escaping. The amount of blood dripping into the container gradually decreased.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t completely stop it. It was just enough to prevent immediate death from acute excessive bleeding.
A drop of sweat fell from Sena’s forehead. Next, he needed to confirm if Reston’s blood was compatible with Sylvia’s.
Although he could manage somehow with his abilities even if it wasn’t, it was a very difficult task.
He hoped they would match. He prayed to the gods even though he didn’t believe in them.
Luckily.
‘It matches.’
Reston’s blood passed the compatibility test. Sena opened his eyes and quickly removed the bandage he had tied.
Fresh blood began to circulate around the wound. Now, fresh blood, not poison, was coming out.
‘If only I could use holy magic now…!’
With Sena’s abilities, the only way to stop the blood was to apply pressure to the wound.
Then, the door burst open.
It was a priest. Behind him, many other knights were also present.
“You’ve done a foolish thing. A lowly healer not chosen by God dares to touch my patient? This is outrageous…”
“Hey, fake priest!”
Sena grabbed the priest’s collar at an unbelievable speed and brought him in front of Sylvia.
“Quick, do that ‘thing’!”
“What, what?”
“Use your holy magic!”
“I’ve seen such outrageous…”
Swish, Reston drew his sword and brought it close to the priest’s throat.
“Do it quickly, you fake priest!”
“…”
Samuel, a priest with dark circles around his eyes, looked down and put his hands together in silence.
“O’ Lord, please save this wretched one.”
A warm healing light seeped into Sylvia’s wound.
“Phew.”
Sena finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks to the timely appearance of the priest, there was no need to dispose of a body.
[18251]
Seeing Sylvia’s extended lifespan filled Sena with immense pride.
Was it because he could finally relax?
‘When did so many people gather?’
Only then did he see his surroundings.
Inside the room and outside the room.
Many knights were kneeling on one knee and bowing.
Reston, who was in front, looked over Sena’s shoulder, was startled, and fell to the ground.
“I came to protect my knight’s dying moments.”
Sena turned around at the sound of a gentle, melodious voice.
Chris was smiling. And-
‘Since when…?’
Empress Astria, sitting arrogantly with her legs crossed on the chair, remarked.
“Alive, I see.”
With a subtle smile, Empress Astria stared piercingly at Sena.
“It seems the nickname ‘Saint of Larden’ wasn’t just a title.”
