novelraw Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8
I have a concern these days.
“Breathe in—‘hiss, ha’—and then breathe out slowly while looking at this picture. Now…”
“Hiss, ha… hiss, ha… hiss, fa… fa… FIREBALL. Fireball…!”
“Mr. Berian, Mr. Berian!”
Mr. Berian’s condition has been steadily worsening.
***
Mr. Berian is a fire mage.
It is not that he uses only fire magic. Like all mages, he can use elemental magic such as ice and wind as well.
Even so, there is a reason he is called a “fire mage.” While his other elemental magic is merely average, his fire magic is so exceptional that it is said to be the strongest in the entire kingdom.
“He is famous among mages. When it comes to fire magic alone, he is even better than me.”
“If even you say that, with your lofty pride… then Mr. Berian must truly have been extraordinary.”
“My nose is high and pretty, but what does that have to do with this?”
“I did not say it was pretty… let us move on.”
Mr. Berian, a mage skilled enough to earn Erisa’s acknowledgment, can no longer use his once-formidable fire magic.
Because he developed fire phobia.
Strictly speaking, phobias do not always have to be treated. If the symptoms are not severe enough to interfere with daily life, it can be acceptable to live with a phobia.
If one has acrophobia, one can simply live a life avoiding high places.
If one has fire phobia, one can live as they are, simply keeping their distance from fire as much as possible.
However, Mr. Berian’s symptoms were severe enough that he trembled in terror at the mere sight of anything shaped like fire. More importantly, he was a fire mage.
For Mr. Berian, renowned as a powerful fire mage, fire phobia was a serious illness that destroyed his daily life.
“…I am sorry, Teacher Kain. I just cannot—cannot endure it.”
“It is all right. This is not your fault, Mr. Berian.”
“Will I never be able to use magic again? Teacher, I…”
“That will not be the case. With time, it will surely get better.”
But even today, there was no progress in the treatment. Rather than progress, all I could confirm was that Mr. Berian’s condition was gradually worsening.
After Mr. Berian left the counseling office, I fell into thought.
To begin with, the fire phobia he was experiencing was not a simple case.
‘Mr. Berian’s fire phobia is combined with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.’
Mr. Berian began suffering from fire phobia after participating in a battle against other races as a mage in the kingdom’s army.
Generally, patients with fire phobia experience cold sweats, trembling, or severe nausea when they see fire. Sometimes, they even feel anxiety at the thought that a fire might break out, even when there is none.
Mr. Berian’s symptoms were more severe than that.
“Mr. Berian, this is not real fire. It is just a picture! Mr. Berian!”
“Ah—aaah. Fire, fire. Fire. Fireball, fireball…!”
Even when it was not real fire, but merely pictures or words related to fire, he suffered panic attacks. Moreover, when he saw flames, it seemed to trigger memories from his time in battle. He would shout things like “Fireball” or “Fire,” and even exhibit hallucinatory reactions.
I employed every treatment known to be effective for PTSD and phobias, including gradual exposure therapy and medication, but there was no sign of his condition improving.
‘What else should I do? I feel like I have tried nearly everything.’
At this point, even my own spirits were beginning to flag. After days of continuous effort with no progress, it was only natural.
“…Teacher. Teacher?”
“Hm? Erisa. What is it?”
While I was lost in thought, Erisa called out to me.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“You know Mr. Berian, right?”
“I do. The fire mage. Is there no progress in his treatment?”
“Yes. That is what I was worrying about. I may need to change my approach entirely…”
Erisa stared at me, her expression tinged with puzzlement.
“What is it?”
“Lately, it feels like you are paying more attention to Mr. Berian than to other patients.”
“…I try not to, but it cannot be helped. Yes. I am paying more attention to him than to other clients.”
“Why?”
From the kingdom’s perspective, losing a capable combat mage to fire phobia was a tremendous loss. I had even heard that the kingdom’s active northern advance had been stalled due to Mr. Berian’s absence.
The kingdom had tried every conceivable method to treat him—exorcism, necromancy, shock therapy—but all of it had been futile.
After wandering from place to place, the kingdom came to me, half in doubt. They asked me to treat Mr. Berian and handed me a massive advance payment.
“If it is because of the advance payment, could you not simply return it even if you fail to cure Mr. Berian?”
“That is not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Conviction. Once I accept a client, I must take responsibility and see the treatment through.”
Erisa narrowed her eyes.
“Really?”
“…To be honest, I already spent the advance.”
“Where did all that money go?”
“Various things. Repairing the counseling office door that broke last time, buying medicinal ingredients…”
When I became entangled with Ms. Nyxle and Feral Wolf, Castalners members had broken the counseling office door. I had also used raw medicinal solutions while dealing with them.
Furthermore, because Feral Wolf was a werewolf, I had to administer far more of Mist’s Lullaby than would be required for an ordinary person. The losses from that alone were enormous.
Although I later received a large medical fee and rare ingredients from Director Justin, it was not enough to cover everything.
“I also used it during the counseling office expansion.”
Director Justin had purchased the neighboring building and given it to me as counseling fees for Ms. Nyxle.
I immediately began expanding the counseling office.
“I expected the construction costs to be high… but I did not expect them to be this high. And once construction had started, I could not exactly stop it…”
As a result, I ended up dipping into the advance payment from the kingdom.
“In any case, I have to cure Mr. Berian, no matter what. There is too much riding on this treatment.”
“…You really spent that money thoroughly.”
Erisa looked at me with a blank expression. Her face was usually expressionless to begin with, but today it looked especially cold.
She let out a shallow sigh.
“When did Mr. Berian starts suffering from fire phobia?”
“After he participated in the battle against other races at the border. The Ashen Cinder Battle, I believe.”
“Then would it not help to look through the records of that battle? We could also hear testimonies from other soldiers who fought there.”
“I am not sure that would help…”
Because of his trauma, Mr. Berian had almost no memory of the Ashen Cinder Battle. Even trying to draw out those memories triggered traumatic reactions, making it difficult.
That was why, when the kingdom asked me to treat him, they had provided me with records of the Ashen Cinder Battle and information about Mr. Berian.
I doubted that reviewing more records or testimonies would change anything.
At that moment, something glimmered in Erisa’s grasp. It was mana. Mana was gathering in her hand—a sign of magic.
I hastily spoke up.
“…That may be helpful. Thank you, Erisa.”
“You said we have to cure him no matter what. We should try anything.”
I nodded. I could not bring myself to do anything else.
***
I chose a day without clients and came to the Lumiere Royal Library. I intended to search for records and documents related to the Ashen Cinder Battle.
The Ashen Cinder Battle was such a famous engagement that, despite having occurred only a few months ago, there were already many documents covering it. Through those records, I was able to learn nearly everything about the battle.
‘The Ashen Cinder Battle was a conflict between the kingdom and other races…’
More precisely, it was a small-scale territorial dispute between the Lumentea Kingdom and the Orc Empire, fought along the northern border.
Recently, the Lumentea Kingdom had been pursuing a rather aggressive northern expansion policy. Apparently, the northern mountain regions occupied by the Orc Empire were rich in natural resources, including magic stones.
As part of this policy, the kingdom’s army had been advancing north.
In the process, the army discovered an abandoned Orc garrison.
They occupied it and replenished their supplies. However, the garrison itself was a trap.
The Orc army launched a surprise attack on the kingdom’s forces while they were reorganizing there.
That was the beginning of the Ashen Cinder Battle.
‘During the battle, Mr. Berian was captured by the Orc army.’
The kingdom’s forces failed to properly respond to the Orc counterattack and retreated. Some soldiers were taken prisoner and isolated within the garrison.
Mr. Berian was among those captured.
‘During the operation to rescue the prisoners, numerous casualties occurred. After a fierce battle, all prisoners were successfully recovered, but…’
I continued reading with a hardened expression.
‘A great fire spread due to a kingdom mage, and the entire garrison was burned to the ground. Thus, it came to be called the Ashen Cinder Battle.’
Here, the “kingdom mage” referred to Mr. Berian. His name was not explicitly stated in the record, but the kingdom had informed me of this detail.
At the end of the document, it stated that “as the garrison burned, all Orc soldiers stationed there perished.”
“Hm.”
I stared at the open document, lost in thought.
Several hypotheses floated through my mind.
‘Mr. Berian felt guilt over killing the Orc soldiers.’
This seemed unlikely. Mr. Berian was a veteran mage who had fought not only in the Ashen Cinder Battle but in many others as well.
Guilt over killing enemy soldiers alone would not cause fire phobia.
‘Mr. Berian was struck by fire magic during the battle.’
That was also unlikely. There were no burn scars on his body.
There were no traces of having been hit by fire magic.
‘Mr. Berian misfired his fire magic during the battle and harmed his allies.’
This seemed the most plausible.
If his own magic had harmed allies rather than enemies, it would certainly be traumatic.
However, there was a problem.
‘There are records of kingdom soldiers dying to fire magic. But it is clearly stated that they were killed by enemy fire magic, not by friendly misfire.’
According to the records, Mr. Berian did not harm allies with a misfired spell.
‘…There is something I do not know. Something the records alone cannot reveal.’
That “something” felt like the key to treating Mr. Berian.
Above all, there was something strange about these records.
***
Mages can be more powerful than anyone when certain conditions are met, but they are not adept at improvisation.
They are especially vulnerable to assassinations and ambushes.
Knights, by contrast, lack the overwhelming firepower of mages, but they can respond steadily to sudden situations.
Thus, the kingdom’s army paired mages with escort knights, having them move in teams of two.
The idea was to highlight the mage’s explosive power while compensating for weaknesses with the knight’s stability.
“Nice to meet you, Sir Dalmon.”
“Yes. I hear you are Berian’s physician.”
“Physician… yes, something like that.”
I met Sir Dalmon, who had served as Mr. Berian’s escort knight.
Sir Dalmon had bandages wrapped around his side from injuries sustained during the Ashen Cinder Battle.
In truth, I wanted to meet Sir Dalmon alone, but unfortunately, that was not possible.
An adjutant sent by the kingdom’s army stood behind him, watching us—watching me, more precisely.
This adjutant had also participated in the Ashen Cinder Battle. His name was Sigrid, and his right arm was in a splint, likely from injuries sustained in battle.
‘For now, this will have to do.’
In this country, it was unthinkable for a commoner to summon a knight.
However, Sir Dalmon had effectively retired after the Ashen Cinder Battle. More importantly, this meeting was necessary for Mr. Berian’s treatment.
The kingdom had granted permission on the condition that Adjutant Sigrid accompany him.
‘…He looks listless.’
That was my first impression upon meeting Sir Dalmon.
It is not unusual for someone to appear listless. But for Sir Dalmon to look this way was somewhat strange.
‘According to rumors, Sir Dalmon was a very valiant knight. The records say as much.’
Not only had he shown aggressive prowess in battle, he had also been known as a hearty and charismatic man in private, extremely popular among other knights.
Yet the Sir Dalmon before me seemed far removed from words like “valiant,” “hearty,” or “charismatic.” His expression and eyes even hinted at symptoms of depression.
‘Did his personality change because of the injury to his side? It does not look like such a severe wound.’
Speculation would not help. I exchanged brief greetings and went straight to the point.
“I have questions about the Ashen Cinder Battle. According to the records, some kingdom soldiers were taken prisoner by the Orc army. Was Mr. Berian captured at that time as well?”
“Yes. We all struggled to rescue the prisoners.”
Sir Dalmon’s eyes clouded over, as if recalling the past.
I put on a kind smile.
“Even from the records, one can sense how fierce the battle was. You must have suffered greatly.”
“We did.”
“I will continue. The records state that the Orc garrison was completely burned by a kingdom mage. Was that mage Mr. Berian?”
“That is correct, but is that not already in the records? I find it odd that you ask me again.”
A trace of irritation crept into Sir Dalmon’s voice. It sounded as though he were scolding me for calling him over for such trivial questions.
Of course, I had no intention of stopping at such trivialities.
This was where it truly began.
“According to the records, it appears there was also a fire mage on the enemy side.”
“What? Who says so?”
“It is written in the official documents. A kingdom soldier died after being struck by enemy fire magic. Does that not imply that the enemy—the Orc army—had a fire mage as well?”
Sir Dalmon’s lips parted slightly.
“That is true. The Orc… the Orc side also had a mage.”
“Then the burning of the garrison may not have been caused solely by Sir Berian, but also by that Orc mage.”
“That is… no, that is not… well, it could be, but…”
“If the records merely stated that ‘after a fierce battle, the garrison burned,’ I would not find it strange. But the official documents state, in definitive terms, that Sir Berian burned the entire garrison. That is what I find odd. Sir Dalmon, could you tell me in detail what happened at the time?”
Sir Dalmon suddenly turned his head and glanced at the kingdom’s adjutant. For some reason, he seemed to be watching Sigrid’s reaction.
“Sir Dalmon.” I called him.
He flinched and turned back to me.
“Were the records of the Ashen Cinder Battle falsified?”
“You bastard!”
I did not even get the chance to hear Sir Dalmon’s answer. Adjutant Sigrid shouted furiously and immediately drew his sword, pressing it to my throat.
The movement was extremely fast.
‘…I could have avoided it, but if I had, a fight would have broken out.’
I looked at Adjutant Sigrid, who was holding a blade to my neck.
I could read his emotions without difficulty.
‘This is closer to anxiety than anger. Why?’
Sigrid glared at me with ferocity.
“Who do you think you are interrogating? This man is a noble knight. He is not someone to be questioned by the likes of you. And falsification—do not dare utter such blasphemous words.”
“……”
Then what are you, who makes such a noble knight watch your expression? I wanted to retort, but I suppressed my temper and kept my mouth shut. Provoking the adjutant further would not be a good choice in this situation.
In any case, one thing was now clear.
‘The kingdom is hiding something about the Ashen Cinder Battle.’