The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 176

176. The Situation of the Subjugation Unit (1)

“It seems they went to the North.”

“The North?”

Isabelle seemed taken aback but quickly composed herself to grasp the situation.

“Did they go to find the subjugation unit?”

“It seems that way.”

“Why, all of a sudden……”

Unable to maintain her composure any longer, Isabelle’s complexion worsened. Her hand, touching her temple, trembled slightly.

“Why did they leave without a word?”

“Actually, I couldn’t tell you, but Daniel was injured.”

“Yes?”

“His condition seems quite serious, and Rose must have been very anxious since she lost contact with him.”

“I see……”

Isabelle sighed deeply.

“Lukas must have known about Rose’s plan in advance and followed her, unable to dissuade her stubbornness.”

“Probably.”

“Haa, Rose can be quite stubborn sometimes.”

Having sorted out her thoughts, Isabelle approached the closet and began gathering winter hunting clothes.

“I’ll follow them. It’s a bit late, but if I catch up now, I might meet my siblings before anything happens.”

She smiled bitterly.

“Actually, I’ve been very worried about the subjugation unit for the past few days.”

Isabelle recalled Count Roten, who always smiled kindly at her.

He had shown her unwavering affection. On the other hand, Isabelle had only pushed him away, believing that romance was a luxury when she needed to focus on her swordsmanship.

Romance, marriage. She thought they would only hinder her path as a knight.

Count Roten did not demand affection from Isabelle. Rather, he understood her feelings and supported her decisions.

He stood a step back, always cheering her on, as if merely watching Isabelle was enough for him.

That was Elliot Roten’s way of love.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t drawn to such Count Roten. Still, she tried to ignore her feelings.

She thought that if his feelings remained unchanged even after she reached a position she was satisfied with, she would gladly accept his heart then.

Even if he fell in love with another woman, she would sincerely wish him happiness.

But, but…….

-I will return safely, Sir Adrian. So, don’t worry too much.

-I know you will return safely. I know Count Roten’s skills better than anyone else.

-But if, just in case, I don’t return…….

At that time, Count Roten, who was always smiling, erased his smile for the first time and said something.

-Don’t be sad. Sir Adrian’s tears are too much for someone like me.

Ah, that’s right. Count Roten humbled himself and worshiped Isabelle, even while telling her not to cry.

How could she not love such a man?

-Don’t say such things. You will definitely return safely. If you don’t return, I won’t cry, but I will resent you.

-Haha, that’s better.

His last face, bursting into laughter as if he was truly happy, was still vivid in her mind.

“I have someone I need to find too, Father. So, please allow me to go to the North.”

“I want to stop you, but looking at your expression, I think you’ll resent me if I do.”

Duke Adrian patted Isabelle’s shoulder.

“Then let’s go together, my daughter.”

“Yes? No. It’s enough for me to go alone.”

“It’s not that I doubt your skills. However, how can I stay here comfortably after sending all four of my children to the North?”

The Duke looked down at Isabelle and smiled bitterly.

“No matter how strong and mature you become, you are still precious and fragile children to me.”

“……”

“Then pack your things and come out. I’ll get ready soon too.”

The Duke quietly murmured, looking out the window at the dawning sky.

“I must go and bring my children back.”

* * *

Joshua bit down on his molars as he wrapped a new bandage around Daniel’s grotesquely swollen leg. He had just applied a new bandage, but it was already soaked with pus.

‘I need to disinfect it.’

But there were no suitable medicines available now. If there were any houses nearby, he would have obtained some strong liquor to use instead of disinfectant, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find any.

He hated to admit it, but they were completely isolated.

All Joshua could do now was watch Daniel die helplessly before his eyes.

Had he ever been so helpless in his life? Even when he had to let go of loved ones in the past, it wasn’t this painful.

Daniel was still alive and breathing before his eyes, yet there was nothing he could do.

What use was being a prince or crown prince at a moment when life and death were at stake?

Joshua tried to calm himself and put his ear close to Daniel’s nose. He could hear Daniel breathing faintly.

He worried every moment that he wouldn’t hear any sound from him.

“Thank you. Thank you for holding on.”

“I’m hearing such words from Your Highness now.”

Joshua was greatly surprised by the reply and stood up. Daniel, who had been sleeping as if unconscious until just now, was now squinting and smiling.

“You’re awake? How do you feel?”

“I’m fine, Your Highness.”

“Saying that with that face doesn’t make it believable at all.”

“I really am.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get some more sleep. You can’t see yourself right now. You’re practically a living corpse.”

“Haha.”

Daniel laughed out loud as if he had heard a funny joke. But there was not much energy in his voice.

It wasn’t just his voice. Currently, Daniel had no part of him that was alright, just like Joshua said that he was like a living corpse. It was because of a wound he received from a monster about a week ago.

At first, it was clearly a minor scratch that didn’t even need treatment. But the wound gradually began to fester and swell.

He had simply told Rosette that the affected area was swollen and festering, but that wasn’t all. Starting with the wound on his thigh, Daniel’s leg was turning black and necrotic [dead tissue].

The opinions of the military surgeon and the people were sharply divided over Daniel’s leg.

Some said that the leg should be amputated as soon as possible to save his life, while others argued about how a knight’s leg could be amputated.

At that time, they decided to wait and see the progress and focus on treatment.

The problem occurred the day after he sent the letter to Rosette.

Joshua went out to subjugate monsters with the knights as usual.

He couldn’t take the injured Daniel with him, so he left him at the camp. Since the base camp was surrounded by a barrier to prevent monsters from invading, there was no need to worry about the safety of those who remained.

As he was swinging his sword mindlessly at the endless swarm of monsters, Silver suddenly rushed towards the base camp.

Joshua noticed Silver’s solo action but couldn’t follow him because he was busy dealing with the monsters attacking him.

A little later, Silver returned with Daniel on his back.

[Woof! Woof!]

-Silver, what on earth is going on?

Daniel answered instead.

-The monsters attacked.

-What? There should have been a barrier around the camp.

-I don’t know what happened either. I was barely fighting the monsters when Silver appeared and brought me here.

Instead of wanting praise, Silver bit and pulled on Joshua’s pants.

At Silver’s urging to return to the base camp quickly because something was wrong, he took the knights and returned the way they had come.

But no matter how much they walked, they couldn’t see the base camp. Moreover, they felt like they were subtly going around in circles.

-What on earth is going on?

It was a confusing situation, but Joshua and the knights did not panic and left marks on the trees with their swords.

They walked for another thirty minutes. The subjugation unit returned to the place where the marks were left.

-It seems we’re going around in circles, Your Highness.

-That’s strange. I’ve already grasped the geography here. But why are we going around in circles? How can so many people forget the way back?

At that time, Silver, who was carrying Daniel on his back and following Joshua, barked. In fact, he had sensed a huge flow of mana [magical energy] before bringing Daniel.

He didn’t know why such a phenomenon occurred. However, he instinctively felt uneasy and came to his master Joshua’s side.

-Mana…… I’ve never heard of monsters using magic.

The subjugation unit decided to find another place instead of the camp that didn’t appear. But they couldn’t see the village either.

Joshua and the other knights had come out to subjugate monsters. They had simple food for emergencies, but they didn’t have any tools for camping.

They gathered branches, made a fire, settled down, and had a meeting. As a result of discussing with the magicians who participated in the subjugation, they came to the conclusion that they were trapped in a huge space.

-Trapped?

-Someone artificially distorted the space around here. You can think of it as creating a new space with magic.

-Then what should we do?

-First, we need to find the end of the problematic barrier and break it.

-And then?

-It’s difficult to find the end of the barrier, and if the caster who used the magic is stronger than me, it’s not easy to break the barrier.

-So, are you saying we should just be trapped here? Even if it’s other people, Sir Adrian is here now. We need to treat Sir Adrian.

-I’ll do my best.

-Haa……

Joshua didn’t know whether to praise or scold Silver for bringing Daniel and trapping them here.

-What happened to the others? What about the military surgeon?

[Woof!]

-You didn’t feel the presence of other people……?

Under the circumstances, it seemed that the military surgeon had not survived. If so, it was fortunate that he brought Daniel, but the problem was that there was no way to treat him.

Joshua used magic to prevent Daniel’s wound from getting worse. However, he couldn’t heal Daniel’s leg with his healing magic skills.

Now, it was becoming increasingly difficult to prevent it from worsening, and the necrotic part was gradually increasing.