"Let me tend to your wound," Iliana said as she put her hand on top of Basil's abdomen. "It is already bleeding, so I can tell you don't have enough Qi to hold the blood off."
What Iliana said was correct, but Basil still decided to stop her. "Let's wait until we arrive at the tent. The camp is closeby—I am sure a couple of minutes poses no threat to my life." He didn't want to attract attention to his wound.
Pitter-patter.
Most of the people had lost their horses. Some had even lost their Summon and their Beast Companion, so most of them were running to the camp or riding their Transportation Artefact.
Although Deacon was ahead of them, they could still see Basil clearly due to their Mastery level over Magic and Body Forging Technique. Basil didn't know which of them was the Church's spy, as such, he couldn't show his weak side.
He still intended to stay in the rear when the second wave battle started, but he already had an alibi that wouldn't make him look weak, while in truth he just couldn't exhaust his Energy any longer.
Pretending to be strong was something he had stopped doing ever since he became a Violet Core Knight in his past life. It was honestly embarrassing for him to act like that again, but he would do anything to prolong his life.
"The camp is right in front of us, Head Commander," Carlyle, who was running beside Deacon notified. "It is not as big as you might think, but I can guarantee you it is comfortable." He chuckled.
"I don't mind," Basil said. "Also, just call me by my name. My status as the Head Commander only has an influence to the 18 Legions who appointed me."
"That status certainly means something, Head Commander," Carlyle replied. "It shows how much my fellow Commanders trust you, and I have to respect that."
Shrugging lightly, Basil decided to drop the matter. He didn't care what the people called him anymore; the more he told them not to, the smarter their excuse was just so they could still call him the same way.
Upon reaching the camp, Basil, Iliana, and Ione immediately got down from Deacon. Said King Saberwolf shrunk himself, then jumped on Basil's shoulder.
In the next moment, Glenn and his fellow Commanders who had fought in Woster County alongside Basil immediately surrounded him.
In the next moment, people crowded around him out of curiosity. Knowing that Basil didn't like to be surrounded by people, the Legion Commanders took on the role to keep them away from him.
Basil clicked his tongue at the scene; he didn't understand why they had to be excited just by looking at him. Concealing his wound with his robe, he ignored them, and entered his tent.
"You may rest until Your Majesty summons you, Head Commander. Please, do not think of anything unnecessary," Carlyle smiled at Ione and Iliana, "and focus solely on your rest." Bowing lightly, he exited the tent after saying his farewell.
"What was his deal?" Iliana frowned lightly. "Who in their right mind would have fun in this kind of situation?"
"Those who know they won't survive," came Ione's instantaneous answer. "Certainly, not us."
Thud!
"Huuh..."
"Basil! Are you alright?"
"Oh, My Lord. This is the reason why you should never push yourself for the descendants of the betrayers!"
When they heard Basil plopped into the bed, the two women became a chicken on fire. They were as panicked as if the world was coming to an end.
They immediately ran towards his side and checked his body from the outside and the inside. They soon figured how low the amount of Mana in his body; it astonished them how he could still stay conscious in that state.
"Do you still have those Catalysts you made—Morning Dew?" Iliana asked. "Give it to me. I'll feed it to you and help you digest it."
"I will cleanse the wound with Mana, so it can heal faster," Ione stated.
Looking at how much care the two showed him, Basil couldn't help feeling conflicted. On one hand, he was glad that he already had people who would put such a great care in him, but he was also annoyed on the other hand.
"I am not a baby. I know when it hurts, and when it does not." Basil put his hand up, calming down the two. "Let me take my shirt off first, so you two can tend to me easily."
Putting their hands away from him, the two women took a step back as he stood up. He wobbled slightly, causing them to panic again, but he managed to stop them even before they ran toward him.
Stabilizing himself, he took off his robe, his suit coat, his vest, and his shirt. None of them had a hole in them because they had a special Rune carved on them, which allowed them to repair themselves with Mana.
Drip. Drip.
His blood immediately dropped to the ground once he stopped channeling his meagre Qi to the wound. He sat himself on the bed, then leaned his body to the headrest as fatigue finally took over him.
Taking out three Morning Dew pills, he gulped them at once, surprising the two women as they thought he would do the same thing he had done back at the collapsed Dungeon in BA-32.
Nothing worthy of note happened other than his breath got steady however, so the two immediately sighed in relief. Chaos would ensue if Basil had suddenly gathered an absurd amount of Mana to recuperate.
"Let's help him," Ione said to Iliana as she approached the bed.
Iliana merely nodded her head and did the same. They got on the bed—Iliana positioned herself in front of Basil, whereas Ione behind Basil—and started doing their task.
Iliana helped Basil digest the Morning Dew pills by injecting her Mana into his body, meanwhile Ione helped the healing process of his wound faster by covering the damaged tissues with her Mana.
They were so focused on their task, they didn't even realize how suggestive their position would be from others' perspective. In fact, they didn't even realize Cray had peeked into the tent, until he gasped in shock.
"Holy mother of Earth!" Iliana and Ione's eyes immediately turned to him, causing him to tremble in terror. "I—I see n-nothing!"
Blinking their eyes at the entrance of the tent, which was where Cray had been, the two women wondered what had made him so appalled, he chose to run away.
They had indeed been irked when they were interrupted, but they were sure they didn't have any intention to kill him. They eventually shrugged the matter off, and resumed tending to Basil.
That day, Cray became quiet for a whole hour, which bewildered his friends, who knew he couldn't hold his mouth for more than ten minutes. They knew something must have happened, so they didn't bother to ask.
...
Time flies so fast, by the time the hole in Basil's abdomen disappeared, two hours had passed. All of his internal and physical injuries had been healed, but his Qi, which was currently his strongest Energy, hadn't recovered yet.
In other words, if he immediately went to the battlefield, he wouldn't be able function as a Knight. His Mana hadn't completely recovered either, so he, too, couldn't function as a formidable Mage like he normally was.
"Thank you for your help," he said to the two women.
"Well, I think I should be the one to thank you since you have shown me such a magnificent scene," Iliana stated as she swept the sweat off her forehead. "Never did I dream to be able to see a human whose recovery speed is as absurd as yours."
"I am more than thankful enough to be able to help My Lord... And touch his body," Ione stated sincerely before muttering the last part.
Iliana immediately gave Ione an unamused gaze, but before she could speak, Basil said, "Just say you're welcome."
"You're welcome!" They said in unison.
Shaking his head faintly in amusement, Basil handed them two Morning Dew pills each. He knew their Mana wasn't exhausted, but they needed the pills to alleviate their fatigue; helping him wasn't an easy task anyone could do.
The two women immediately gulped one of their pills down, and closed their eyes to concentrate on digesting it. Basil gulped another one, and also closed his eyes, following the two women sitting cross-legged on his sides.
A couple of minutes passed silently, until they sensed a presence approaching the tent. They were familiar with the presence, so they immediately opened their eyes.
"Head Commander, may I enter your tent?" came the pleasant voice of a male. "I am here to tell you about the King's order."
"If you don't mind looking at my naked upper body, you can enter now, Commander Carlyle," Basil replied.
Giving no verbal response, Carlyle immediately barged in. Expecting to see some naughty scene, he was disappointed when he found Basil standing topless in front of the bed, meanwhile Ione and Iliana were sitting cross-legged on the bed, properly dressed.
No matter how he looked at it, the three of them had been focusing on recuperating for the past two hours. He was glad as much as he envied the fact, since that means they were really outstanding youths.
"Do you mind if I listen to you while putting on my clothes?" Basil said, already starting putting on his shirt.
Smiling in amusement, Carlyle said, "I don't mind, Head Commander." He looked at Basil's abdomen, and noted the disappearance of the hole. "What an absurd regeneration speed," he remarked softly."
"What is it that the King wanted to tell me?"
"There will be a strategy meeting in half an hour, Head Commander. Your Majesty wants to hear your input on the best position our reinforcement should be put in."
"Reinforcement? Do you mean the troop that I lead?" Basil frowned lightly. "I am pretty sure I have put them in the right position."
"No, Head Commander. I am talking about the Priests and Paladins under the lead of Head Priest Eban that have just arrived."
At the revelation, Basil's frown got more apparent. He was absolute the Church wouldn't involve themselves in any battle occuring in an Outbreak until the Seventh Outbreak.
In his past life, they had even only moved because their believers started boycotting them, meanwhile the Kingdom had always put them in a situation where they had to defend themselves.
Something that didn't happen in his past life happened again, and he didn't know where it would lead to.