Chapter 208: Guilty Conscience

I heard the clashing of metals and sounds of horse’s hooves.

Normally, I wouldn’t recommend rushing into a forest with horses as it put their mobility to waste, but the need to set out for immediate rescue had forced them to resort to such rash actions.

Perhaps they also had judged that since the enemy managed to come here with a carriage, there should be enough space for horses too.

With that, I decided to check Cloud’s condition.

His consciousness had not returned even now. That said, his arm was constricted at the base, on top of his lower arm being sandwiched by rocks at the point of the artery, so his bleeding had stopped almost completely.

Michelle looked relieved seeing the bleeding stop, but it was too soon to let our guards down. The bleeding was stopped because she was pressing on his hand, and if she let up even momentarily, the blood would once again start gushing out like a fountain.

For a child like Cloud, bleeding any more than this would really be a matter of life and death. Neither she nor Cloud could move from this place.

“Nicole… Your hand—!?”

Michelle momentarily flashed a smile seeing me come close, but her face paled the moment she saw the state of my fist. Indeed, my right first was in quite a grave state. It was deformed to the point that just one look was enough to tell how bad it was.

That said, I felt no pain since I already severed my nerves.

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything life-threatening, and it doesn’t hurt, either.” “Doesn’t that make it all the more dangerous…” “I removed the sense of pain myself, so it’s okay, really.”

After saying that, I grabbed Cloud’s remaining arm. I could feel a faint yet definite pulse. I suppose we could safely say that we managed to overcome this dilemma.

After some time, one of the knights showed up, pushing aside the grass. Seeing me and Cloud in a bloody state, he immediately yelled.

“Target found! We have two wounded here! We need a combat medic, fast!”

Following that, he rushed to our side and was surprised to see our work on stopping the bleeding.

“Are you alright!? Show me the wound… Huh?”

There was nothing else he could do at this point. The only thing remaining was to wait for the combat medic to start healing him with magic. He was amazed at how well we handled the immediate treatment.

“This is amazing. There’s hardly anything left for me to do. Did you do this?” “No, I just followed Nicole’s instructions.” “Still, he won’t last long in this state. We have to heal him and fast.”

Even if the bleeding was stopped, the wound was still left open. The blood was still oozing out from the severed surface. And we couldn’t move them by ourselves.

Cloud would have surely died had they not showed up.

“No, this is enough. We have a healer in our ranks. Reattaching the arm would be difficult, however…” “Then just close the wound. I’ll ask mom to do it afterward.” “Your mom…? Ah, so you are Lady Maria’s daughter.”

As he answered, this time, another person showed up from the grass. It was not the combat medic… But Finia.

“Lady Nicole!”

She did not seem to be injured, but her expression was pale. Seeing her face was enough to understand how worried she was. However, had I chosen to go with the safer option at that time, Cloud would already be dead.

“I was worried sick! This is why I said to leave it to the kni—Wait, what is wrong with your arm!?” “Sorry, it kinda broke.” “What do you mean it broke! Does it hurt? I have to let Lady Cortina… No, Lady Maria, know!

She started rummaging in her bag in pure panic and confusion. This flustered state made her look more immature than she really was and it was cute, but this was no time for that.

“I’m fine, there’s no bleeding, don’t worry. Cloud is the one in need of worrying now.” “Cloud…”

Her expression got warped in awkwardness. She and Michelle were arguing whether to go save Cloud immediately or leave it to the knights.

Then I appeared and made a prompt decision to save him, so she went to notify the knights to help. But since I already notified them along the way, she was able to follow them straight to here.

The problem was whether the knights would manage to follow our traces. But with her, an Elf, who was well knowledgeable when it came to forests, they were able to quickly reach this place.

If we followed her initial plan, Cloud would have most likely lost his life. That much was obvious at a glance given his current state.

As such, Finia seemed to have a guilty conscience for trying to guarantee my safety even at the cost of abandoning Cloud.

“Your opinion was correct. However, I judged that Cloud would die if we followed it. That’s why I did that…” “No, this time it was you who was correct, Lady Nicole. I should have also followed you instead.” “If you did that, the knights wouldn’t have arrived this fast, right? So, your judgment was ‘also’ correct.”

If the guards had not arrived when they did, I might still be fighting with Mateus even now. So in hindsight, Finia went to notify and guide the knights while I rushed on ahead. It was a complete coincidence, but we managed to play our roles perfectly.

“It all happened by chance, but you did well this time.”

With those words, I flashed my best smile at Finia.