Chapter 358

“For now… it seems… it’s safely reattached, Lord Blackwood.”

“Haa, haa… Thank you, Saintess Ceresta.”

Ethan had somehow managed to retrieve and reattach his lost arm.

Lilith had feared that Ethan’s injury might get worse or that they wouldn’t be able to reattach his arm, but thankfully, things hadn’t turned out so direly. It was a relief, to say the least.

“Are you in your right mind, Young Master Ethan? How could a Sword Expert, especially a dual-wielding one, even consider sacrificing an arm?”

“…Maybe because I’m a dual-wielding Sword Expert, Lilith. After all, having a sword in each hand means that even if I lose one arm, I can still fight with the other.”

“...”

“…That was a joke. Wasn’t it funny?”

“I’m relieved. If you had been serious, I was considering breaking your other arm as well.”

“...”

“Of course, that’s a joke too, Young Master Ethan.”

“Y-yeah… I knew that…”

Really, she knew how to make someone’s heart skip a beat.

When Lilith had hurried to assist him after finishing off the younger Okam, seeing Ethan with his shoulder completely severed had made her feel as if all the blood in her body had drained out.

‘Thank goodness Ethan’s arm wasn’t far away. If it had been damaged by a stray sword or stepped on during the battle…’

If his arm had been injured beyond the point of reattachment, the recklessness of his actions would have been unforgivable.

Even though he had been successfully treated, it wasn’t an injury one could simply brush off as “lucky.”

“Haa, please make sure to rest your right arm completely for a while, Lord Blackwood. Lifting a spoon is fine, but you’re not allowed to swing a sword or axe for the time being, understood…?”

“…I understand, Saintess Ceresta.”

“I’m honestly shocked. What did you do to end up more injured than the hero?”

“…I was just weaker, that’s all.”

“A bandit who introduced himself as Okam, part of a twin duo, attacked both me and the young master, Miss Agnes. Both were at Expert level, so it was inevitable that Young Master Ethan would be injured during the fight.”

“…You don’t have to sugarcoat it so much, Lilith. I just faced an Expert one-on-one and lost.”

“...”

It seemed losing a battle between two Experts was weighing heavily on his mind.

Of course, it didn’t make sense to compare Ethan, who had barely been an Expert for a year, to the Okam twins, who had likely been Experts for at least four or five years.

The Okam twins were clearly seasoned Experts, with far more experience in real combat and taking down opponents compared to Ethan.

…The issue, however, was that I had beaten both Okam brothers in my one-on-one fights.

Even though I had used my knowledge from my previous life to catch them off guard and used Ethan as bait to ambush them, it didn’t change the fact that I had won, and Ethan had lost.

In practice duels, Ethan had always overwhelmed me, but in real battle, he had ended up losing miserably, so today’s outcome had to feel especially bitter for him.

“Ugh, hngh…!! Haaa…!!”

After treating the most severe injury—the severed right arm—Ethan moved on to treating the wound on his left arm, which had been cut into by Okam’s axe.

Fortunately, the blade hadn’t gone too deep into his left arm, so treating it wasn’t too difficult. Although it was still painful, judging by the way Ethan bit down on his lower lip, trying to suppress his groans.

Next in line for Ceresta’s healing was the knight with the completely shattered knee, Thomas, who had been impaled by a spear, and Natalie, who had lost four fingers on her left hand.

It was clear that even the hero’s party had suffered just as much as we did, as Seraphin and Luke also bore minor injuries on their legs and hands. Though the rear support team had been unharmed, none of the front-line fighters had escaped without injuries, which indicated just how intense the battle had been. There was no point in complaining about the fact that they hadn’t come to assist us.

‘If anything, Ethan and I being here might have been a stroke of luck.’

If Ethan and I hadn’t been here, the hero’s party would have had to face not only Huma but also the Okam twins on their own. In the worst-case scenario, they might have been wiped out.

For my sake, and for the sake of my peaceful life in this world, the hero’s party absolutely cannot die. I need them to defeat the Demon King, so I don’t get dragged into that event.

‘I still need to figure out how reality compares to the game, but…’

For now, the only thing to focus on is helping Ethan recover from his injuries.

What I initially thought would be just a light-hearted academic exploration has turned into a battle for survival, and all I can hope for now is to get through this week without further incident.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

As I’ve mentioned once before, Lilith was positioned as an all-around support character in Luminor Academy.

Her primary role was buff magic, but she could also be equipped with daggers to serve as a secondary combatant. While her low Luck stat made her attack magic inefficient, she could contract with spirits and act as a spirit summoner.

And most importantly, even though she had lost her qualifications, she had once been deemed worthy of becoming a Saintess. As a result, Lilith possessed recovery magic that ordinary mages couldn’t learn.

‘I really didn’t want to invest more points into support magic.’

As a solo adventurer, offensive magic was obviously more advantageous, so I had intended to focus on that. After all, support magic wouldn’t be of much use once I graduated from the Academy.

But since Ethan had come so close to death and needed to recover quickly before the Humanities Exploration Event was over, I had no choice but to learn the Tier 3 support magic, Aura of Healing, and use it on Ethan.

And to maximize the effectiveness of this healing aura, there was one critical requirement: physical contact with the person receiving the spell.

“I clearly told you to take off your clothes, Young Master Ethan.”

…Just to clarify, this is absolutely not an act to fulfill some selfish desire.

The Aura of Healing skill that I possess increases its effectiveness the closer the physical contact between the caster and the person receiving the spell.

Aura of Healing: Recovers injuries of surrounding characters within range of the caster. The closer the physical distance between the caster and the target, the more the healing effect increases exponentially.

The aura’s effect increases not just proportionally but exponentially with proximity. Even something as thin as a piece of cloth between the caster and the target would significantly reduce its effectiveness. Naturally, the design of this skill was meant for Luminor Academy's service scenes.

The premise of maximizing physical contact was an easy excuse to justify the protagonist and Lilith being naked together for healing.@@novelbin@@

Additionally, if I wanted to heal the other female characters’ injuries at the same time, it would provide a convenient reason to embrace multiple women naked.

It might seem like an absurd and embarrassing scene, but the effect was undeniable, and for Ethan's recovery, I needed to use Aura of Healing to its fullest potential.

“Uh, don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate to undress out here, Lilith? Even though we’re in a tent, this is still outside, and the hero and the others are in the next tent.”

“What kind of misunderstanding are you having, Young Master Ethan? I’ve explained several times that this is purely a healing spell.”

“I-I get that. I don’t doubt what you’re saying, Lilith, but still, doing this here…”

After losing the battle, it seemed the maiden side of Ethan’s heart had awakened. Despite my persuasion, he hesitated to undress, showing a strangely bashful attitude.

“If you’re going to act all shy and unmanly, then I’ll go first.”

Swoosh.

“Lilith…?”

Thinking that if I got naked first, Ethan might be less embarrassed, I began taking off my clothes, one piece at a time, in front of him.