CHAPTER 407: CHAPTER 22 DEPARTURE

Imperial Army’s wounded camp.

Due to the damage caused by land mines, most injuries were irreparable and debilitating, which is why the military’s medical officers were recently stretched thin, beginning to recruit medical personnel on a temporary basis from outside.

Therefore, Nora and Eleanor went to work, not for the trivial remuneration, but purely out of humanitarian aid.

"Another wounded soldier is coming in!" Eleanor, holding a stretcher, rushed into the medical room. The stretcher, which normally required two adult soldiers to carry, was easily held by her with just her hands as she ran quickly inside.

After placing the stretcher on a temporary medical bed, Nora just "saw" with her ability.

"Arrange the amputation surgery quickly," she said calmly.

That sentence announced the wounded soldier’s "disabled second half of life," who was originally groaning in pain but immediately screamed upon hearing her words:

"No, don’t amputate! Doctor, please, at least save my leg..."

Nora quietly watched him, a flicker of compassion passing through her eyes, but she soon regained her composure:

"Your leg can’t be saved. If we don’t amputate, your life will be in danger."

Saying this, Nora activated her mind power, silencing the still howling wounded soldier, and directed the other doctors:

"Take him in."

The doctors immediately pushed the medical bed into the surgery room. Despite her recent arrival, this girl had established prestige among the doctors with her superb medical skills.

Although her technique at making incisions was somewhat immature, each cut precisely avoided blood vessels, handling the wounded area with extreme accuracy... While the girl explained it was because of her abilities, it did not stop the doctors from respecting her, completely following her orders and arrangements.

Eleanor wordlessly watched the closed door of the surgery room, where wounded soldiers with missing hands and legs, their eyes numbly gazing in one direction and pupils out of focus, seemingly had lost all hope in life.

Why would someone without proper expertise risk dismantling mines?

Suddenly, Eleanor remembered Aske’s words:

"...It can’t be solved manually. A few more explosions, and the Emperor should understand."

But "a few more explosions" meant more soldiers would lose limbs or even their precious lives in mine clearance. Why knowingly tread a futile path, merely to swap for the Emperor’s sudden realization and change of heart by sacrificing these people’s rest of lives?

If only the Emperor would rescind that order, so many more casualties could be avoided...

She slumped into the chair beside her, filled with a sense of helplessness and defeat from body to soul.

"What’s wrong with you, sitting here like a salted fish?" Aske’s voice suddenly sounded.

"Aske..." Eleanor looked up as Aske stood in the doorway, blinked against the sunlight streaming in, eyes slightly tearful.

"Where’s Nora?" Aske glanced around at the wounded soldiers, expressionless, "Heard you were working part-time here, so I came to find you."

"She’s in there, operating." Eleanor said.

"Good, I’ll wait for her." Aske sat down on the chair beside her.

"Aske..." Eleanor began sadly, causing Aske to instantly shiver, worrying she might ask him some philosophical question about "war and peace".

Instead, she simply spoke despondently, resting her chin on her hands, "If only we could find an effective way to safely clear that minefield ahead."

"There’s already a way," said Aske, "In fact, we’ve just received a mission."

————————

After Nora finished her surgery, the entire Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps had gathered, preparing to depart for the East.

The doctors in the military were quite reluctant to let her go, but this trip was aimed at resolving issues once and for all; thus, Nora swiftly changed out of her surgical gown and followed the team away.

The Azure Longsword party consisted of nine people, while the escort team led by Albrecht comprised twelve knights, making a total of twenty-one people.

Of course, these noble knights were ordinary individuals without any levels. Thanks to the "autumn hunt" tradition of the Frank nobility, by killing extraordinary creatures annually and accumulating their extraordinary powers, they could roughly increase their physical power to about Level 6. Hence, their physical conditions were better than the Crusader Knights who attacked Constantinople last year, but not by much.

Logically, with just the strength of the Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps, they wouldn’t need the protection of these Frank knights. However, clever individuals like Medea or Thira were well aware that these escort teams also bore the duty of "surveillance."

Should the Azure Longsword betray or be bought during negotiations with Venice, such as leaking information about the Imperial Army, these escort teams would then become military police.

So despite the beautiful words spoken by the Emperor and Lord Aske, those were just traditional political arts; precautions were indeed taken in actual operations.

"Lord Aske," Albrecht approached Aske as they prepared for their journey to the East and said, "There is something I must inform you of in advance."

"It’s about Purgatory’s Jailer."

"What have those guys stirred up now?" Aske asked.

"Recently, those Jailers have been spreading rumors within the military that there is a Devil among your team," Albrecht explained. "As you know, despite our ongoing conflict with the Church Court, most soldiers are still Catholic believers."

"So once we head to Venice, those Jailers might take action."

"Like inciting soldiers to come and kill us?" Aske asked with a smile.

Albrecht: .........

Hearing that Purgatory’s Jailer wants to kill you, why do you seem joyful, almost as though you’re saying "bring it on"?

However, being a traditional person, this knight straightforwardly advised:

"Yes, so we need to move quickly to avoid unnecessary trouble."

His knights then brought many horses, allocating one to each of the ladies.

The ladies found this rather novel since they used to travel by car or on foot, and usually, only a few traveled while the majority stayed on Fire Island... It seemed that this time they were all going to ride horses, which the ladies found quite entertaining.

Eleanor, Medea, and Nora were the first to mount, their movements elegant and experienced, clearly accustomed to riding. Thira also had some basic riding skills, but being too short to reach the stirrups (someone usually helped her mount in Constantinople), she had to use Light Body Skill to float onto the horse.

Sigrdrifa and Peggy had never ridden horses before and didn’t know how to mount. The latter, using her explosive power, jumped directly onto the horse from the ground, startling the poor creature into stumbling; the former simply forced the horse to kneel before swaggering onto it.

The knights watched with blank expressions, thinking, this woman... her strength can subdue a warhorse? And she doesn’t have much muscle on her frame?

Finally, only the two smallest members of the team, Mia and Miel, were left looking confused and helpless as they faced their large horses until Aske lifted each of them onto their mounts.

"These small children, you accept them into your mercenary corps too?" Albrecht asked with a frown, now aware of the name of the Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

"Don’t be fooled by their age; ordinary knights are no match for them," Aske replied nonchalantly.

Albrecht raised his eyebrows, about to object, but then decided against speaking.

Somehow, he felt that if he did speak up, he would probably be proved wrong.

After all, the opponents were Transcendents.