Chapter 13 – Medical Care

“Sebastian!” Margarette ran to her friend’s side. “Are you okay?”

“What the hell is going on out here?” yelled someone from behind as people in the barn rushed outside to see what all the commotion was about.

“Major General Muller!” saluted Drill Sergeant Robinson, his face turning pale. “There’s been a weapon malfunction, Sir.”

“Sir,” Margarette stood in attention as well, “a civilian has been injured by a weapon malfunction.” The general approached and looked at the crater where the target used to be before checking on the two students on the ground.

“Would someone tell me what happened here?” he demanded, when Dorin suddenly looked up.

“Dorin?!” the general said with a gasp. “What are you doing here?!”

Dorin stared at the general wide-eyed, thoughts swirling in his head. He looked down at his friend, unconscious in his arms. “Marcus,” he said, staring back at the general, “my... friend... is hurt.”

Major General Marcus Muller stared at him. He then turned back at the cadets mulling around the place. “Is there a medic here?”

“Sir, Combat Medic 2nd Lieutenant Benette reporting for duty, sir!” said one of the cadets as he stepped forward.

“Give this civilian medical attention,” ordered General Muller. “The rest of you, get back inside the barn and continue with the drill I gave you.”

The cadets went back, soon only the 3 friends, General Muller, Sergeant Robinson, and the medic Lieutenant Benette were left outside on the shooting range.

Lieutenant Benette took a small bottle from a pouch around his waist, opened it, and passed it under Sebastian’s nose, who slowly regained consciousness.

“Sebastian! Are you okay?” called Dorin as Sebastian started to stir, “How are you feeling?”

The other lifted his right hand. It was shaking, blood still dripping from a deep gash on his palm.

“Let me look at your hand,” said the medic by their side.

“I’ll take the rifle back to storage,” offered Sergeant Robinson, “we should get it checked by the magic artificers to see what caused the problem...” he made to take the broken rifle on the ground, but General Muller stopped him. He leaned over to pick it up himself.

“I’ll take the rifle,” he said.

“Sir, you shouldn’t bother yourself...”

“Sergeant Robinson, go supervise the cadets inside, I have been timing them while they clean their rifles when this incident occurred. I will take responsibility in this affair.”

“Sir, yes, Sir.” Sergeant Robinson looked worriedly at the rifle in the general’s hand.

“Can you walk?” General Muller asked Sebastian as soon as the drill sergeant left. Sebastian looked up at him, his glasses glazed over, and slowly nodded.

“I have a vehicle parked this way,” said the general, he looked back at the small company, “You two help glasses along. My car is just behind the barn.”

Margarette and the medic helped Sebastian as they made their way with Dorin to the back of the barn. There, a military jeep was parked. Its muddy wheels reached up to Dorin’s thighs and its back was open.

Place glasses at the back,” instructed the general. “You, boy, sit with me inside,” he said, pointing at Dorin.

Dorin looked at him, then at Sebastian who lifted his left hand weakly, holding on to his key card.

“That’s right, our stuff is still at the checkpoint at the Sky gate!” Dorin informed the general.

“Count on Sebastian to prioritize his stuff...” said Margarette with a sigh. “That means he’s doing okay.”

“We’ll pass there on our way to the infirmary.” announced General Muller. “Now, everyone in the jeep!”

“Okay boy,” said General Muller as he started his vehicle, “what are you doing here?” he asked. “Does your mother know you left Monarch Forest?”

“No, Sir,” replied Dorin, too worried about Sebastian and his mother to want to examine the wonderful gears and gauges inside the jeep.

“What got into your head to want to come here of all places?”

“I wanted to attend a class, Sir.”

“A class? What kind of class? A military class?”

“No sir. A photography class, sir.”

“A WHAT?” bellowed General Muller. “You travel hundreds of miles, defying your mother, risking all sorts of danger, just to attend a damn photography class?!?”

He was interrupted by a knock on the window behind them.

“What is it?!” the general barked, hanging his head out of the driver’s seat.

“Sir, we need to stop by the Sky gate, sir!” called Margarette before they got too far from the gate they just passed. General Muller hits the brakes, nearly sending the cadet flying off the jeep. He took a key card from Dorin and gave it to Margarette.

“Hurry up!” he growled.

Margarette jumped off the back of the jeep with the 2 key cards and ran back to the gate house. She soon arrived, carrying Dorin’s satchel and Sebastian’s coat. The jeep was running again as soon as she mounted it.

Sebastian thankfully took his coat back. He fumbled through one of the inner pockets and pulled out a blue vial which he emptied in his mouth. Soon his breathing became regular and he was able to sit on his own, in spite of the bumpy ride.

“You’re going straight home after this, boy,” said General Muller.

Dorin was silent, eyes forward.

Finally he opened his mouth.

“With all due respect sir, I still have to finish my photography class,” said he.

“Do you have any idea what you have already done?” hollered the general, then in a softer tone, “If the upper brass find out about you, they would never let you go,” he hissed at the lad beside him, a scowl on his face. “The kind of training you went through can not be compared to the ones in this University. You do not fit here. Just look, you have already gotten a civilian involved!” He noticed the lad flinch.

“It’s true, everything is different here,” Dorin said quietly, “but that’s exactly why I want to stay.”

General Muller looked at the boy, his head hang low, his fists clenched.

“There’s just some things that you cannot learn through books or special lessons,” Dorin continued, “there are things that only experience can teach.”

The boy looked at him sideways, his eyes giving off a golden gleam.

“Would you deprive me those lessons, Marcus?”

The jeep suddenly came to a screeching halt. Sebastian hit his head on the back window, trying to listen to the conversation inside the cab. Lieutenant Benette fell over him while Margarette held on to the rails, half of her body flung over the roof.

“What is this photography class you speak of anyway? How long do you expect it to run?” said the general, facing the boy.

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“Just two more days, sir...” Dorin replied rubbing a lump on his head that was beginning to turn bigger. “Tomorrow’s the second day, then I can go home the day after that...”

“You’ll go home tomorrow night.”

“But they hand out certificates on the next day!”

“Okay, boy, but no more extensions!” the general finally gave in, his face turning red. “You go home the day after tomorrow. I’ll bring you back myself.”

With that, the group finally got to the Magic Division’s Infirmary which was located between the East Dormitory’s Male and Female dormitories. Sebastian was brought in to get his hands looked at, Margarette and Lieutenant Benette for minor bruises and scratches, and Dorin for a lump on his head. Major General Muller, on the other hand, went to get his blood pressure checked.

The nurse just stepped out of the room they were gathered in, when the general returned with Prof. Althea in tow.

“What have you lot done now?” she asked as she went to Dorin’s side and bumped him on the head.

She was wearing a lab coat, her wand in one of the pockets. On her chest, a metal ID plate said ‘Dr. A. A. Althea MD’ and under the name, ‘Internal Medicine Magic Department’.

“It was a weapon malfunction, au- professor...” said Dorin rubbing his head. “It just blew up. Sebastian tried to shield me from it and got injured instead.”

“But I still can’t believe you got out of it unscathed...” said Margarette examining Dorin’s arms.

“I always have a thin layer of defensive magic on, that’s why it didn’t affect me,” said Dorin.

“That’s why the explosion in the dorm kitchen hardly fazed him either,” added Prof. Althea.

“What explosion?” asked General Muller, his face turning red again. “You mean, this is the second accident already? Or are there more?”

Sebastian fumbled inside his coat, but both his hands were bandaged, particularly his dominant right hand. He pulled out his slate clumsily and tried to write with his left. [nOT hIM] he wrote in squigly lines [CheCK GUn].

Major General Muller took the elemental rifle that was left on top of an examination table and looked it over. It was not long before he noticed the small switch at the bottom. The major’s face darkened.

“What’s with the gun?” asked Althea.

“The safety is on,” said the general on a low voice. “I think I got the gist of what happened.” He faced Dorin who looked at him questioningly.

“But if the safety switch was on, there was no way Dorin could have used the rifle,” Margarette mused. “Why would it blow up like that?”

“It would if you were a powerful mage who knew only vaguely how a rifle works,” explained General Muller. “All you had to do is simply ‘make’ the rifle do your bidding.”

“Dorin?” Althea was expecting an answer. Her nephew kept his gaze down.

“The rifle wasn’t charging,” he said, “so I forced my mana to flow into the bullet and out of the tube...”

“Thus the explosion,” Margarette said with a nod.

“Even so, none of this would have happened if he just stayed at home!” General Muller grumbled, “What possessed you to use a rifle anyway?”

Dorin looked at Margarette who reddened. “I’m sorry, Sir,” she said in attention, “I was the one who mentioned about magical weapons to Dorin.”

“But I was the one who insisted that I try to use one!” Dorin defended his friend.

“And it was that idiot Robinson who turned the safety on!” finished the general. “That stupid thimble brained imbecile. No wonder he wanted to take the rifle back!”

“B-but it’s really amazing how he pulled that off with the safety on,” Lieutenant Benette cuts in. “It makes you wonder just how strong his aptitude for magic is...”

His voice trailed off as his companions turned around to face him.

Everyone went silent.

“Who’s this?” asked Althea with a thumb. “Another ‘witness’?”

“I didn’t notice him still there...” Margarette said, covering her mouth.

“Huh?” Lieutenant Benette’s eyes widened. He was starting to wish he just kept quiet, after all, he has a talent for being inconspicuous.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of ‘that’ one,” General Muller said absentmindedly, “I didn’t notice him follow us inside...” he looked darkly at Sebastian and Margarette. “What about 4-eyes and carrot head here?”

The two felt threatened.

“They are with me,” replied Prof. Althea. “These are Sebastian Revius and Margarette Gunnar.”

“Gunnar... Sounds familiar...” General Muller scratched his stubbly chin. “Ah, yes, Gunnar Knights, and this is... Revius...” he suddenly brightened up, “Oh, the young Silver! That makes my job easier then!”

The professor suddenly kicked his shins.

“OW!” he yelled, accompanied with several explicits. “What is it now, woman!”

“Watch it,” she said with a glare fit to kill. She faced the students and stopped at Dorin, “You best be on our way, aren’t you expected to be in the kitchens at 5?”

“That’s right!” he replied wide eyed, “What time is it?!”

“It’s quarter past 5,” said Margarette.

“No worries. I’ll inform Ms. Ermingard about the accident,” said Prof. Althea with the wave of a hand. “I thought I could keep you out of trouble by asking her to put you in kitchen duty, guess I should have just told her to lock you up in the Dorm!”

“Eh? The kitchen duty was your idea, aunt Agate?”

Agate looked at Dorin angrily. “Don’t call me aunt,” she reminded him. “Now go back to your dorms!”

The students hurriedly took their leave, but before Lieutenant Benette could pass the door, General Muller and Prof. Althea were suddenly by his side. “Going somewhere, boy?” asked the General.

“Sir!” the medic saluted nervously. “Rest assured, Sir, that I won’t tell a soul about what transpired this day, Sir!”

“What makes you think that we would trust you?” said Prof. Althea.

“P-professor Althea... I have always wanted to join your team since the first day I entered university,” he continued, “b-but... my family wanted me to join the military like my father and my grandfather and my...”

“Hmm... yes, Benette sounds familiar too...” mumbled general Muller. “I think you have 2 other brothers in higher ranks...”

“Sir, 6 more brothers, Sir...” he remarked. “But I am not keen at taking lives, so...”

“Ah yes, the Yellow Benette!” General Muller said again. “I remember now.”

“Marcus,” Althea warned.

“What?” the general asked innocently.

“Still we must take steps to keep this from the others.” She readied her wand and faced the young lieutenant. “Just my luck,” she grined wickedly, “I’ve always wanted a combat medic under my wing.

Later, Agate Althea opened the door to the passenger’s side of the jeep. She sat inside and closed the door.

“Is this thing clean?” she asked her old friend.

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” said the general on the driver’s seat. “I may be in the military but that doesn’t make me any less of a mage.”

“So, how long have you known?” she asked.

The other sat in silence.

“38 years, Marcus, that’s how long we’ve known each other, and yet...”

“Well, you know how geists work...”

“Answer the question Marcus, how long have you known about Dorin?”

“Hermionne contacted me when the boy was 3, said he needed physical training.” He took a deep breath and sighed long. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally speak of it... she said the boy was growing soft. Turned out a R- . . . a R... well anyway, a nanny spoiled him rotten. We had to train him to harden him up a bit.”

“Train him for what?” asked Agate.

“... I’m afraid I can not tell you.”

“What did you teach him then?” the professor asked instead.

“Mostly martial arts, self defense, survival... but she specifically instructed me not to bring guns. Guns and other modern devices of any kind. That was strictly prohibited.”

“But why...” Agate frowned.

“I cannot – “

“Yes, I know you can’t tell me... there are just so many questions I want to ask and no one to answer them!”

Marcus reached out and held the small hand on the car seat. The two sat quietly for a while. Marcus was the first to break the silence.

“The Silver Tongue, how are his hands? You know how fragile they can be...”

“He’ll be okay. That young lieutenant had an aptitude for healing magic. He was able to magically suture the wound, and from what he tells me, it seems that he’s self taught. Just think of what he could do after some actual training.”

“And the Gunnar girl? Are you sure we can trust her? You know how loyal those Gunnar’s are, they put blind faith before everything else.”

“I’ve got her under a geis too.”

Silence again.

“As long as he goes home soon...”

“Yes. The sooner the better.”