"Young master!" Sir Mephisto caught him before he could faceplant on the dusty floor.
"why did you get up?" The old knight led him to the bed.
Mephisto glanced at the healer he had summoned. It was a good thing he let the healer take the tray before they entered.
The old knight took the water and made Aliester drink it.
Feeling a little bit better, Aliester opened his mouth. But he barely got the words out. "I…I want…ted to… get up… for a bit."
Mephisto's brows furrowed. "one of those pursuers had strangled you. He had crushed your throat."
'so that was why I had bruises on my neck.' Aliester thought.
"You should have just waited for me, young master." The knight reprimanded him while making him sip a few more times. "You are still in no condition to move around."
"I wanted… to know… where I am." Aliester said after he finished the water.
"We are in an abandoned mansion at Cupula." The knight answered.
"Cu…cupu..pula?" perplexed, he asked.
[Answer: Cupula is one of the four major towns of the Duchy of Alcove. It is located at the outskirts which serves as the border to the Forest of Silence. Since it is a border town near the monsters' territory, most people here specialize in hunting.] came the information from Zarame.
Aliester nodded though he was still a bit confused.
"Young master, please allow Ertz to check your condition first before we talk." Sir Mephisto motioned the healer to come closer.
The elderly healer bowed. "Young master, I am Ertz. If you would allow me."
When Aliester nodded, the healer held out his arm and a pentagram was formed in front of the young lord.
Ertz frowned as he finished diagnosing Aliester. "There are no deep wounds, just scratches on the surface. His throat was crushed as Mephisto had mentioned. But those could be healed with ease."
"What's wrong?" Mephisto asked when Ertz's face darkened a little.
"I am afraid that young master got three broken ribs, which caused his interior to bleed. Some of his organs had been damaged…He is quite lucky that he was able to hold out for a few days before I arrived here."
Mephisto muttered. "I never thought that his injuries are severe. He looked fine."
Aliester thought the same. However, the pain that he felt whenever he moved and the bandages around his body made him doubt that he was really fine.
"His exterior may look well, but in cases like this, internal injuries are more fatal." Ertz said.
"Can you heal him?" the knight asked.
The elder healer smiled gently. "My friend…It is my job, so I can. I may not be the best healer in Alcove but I can still fix injuries like this."
Ertz held out his hand and this time a greenish pentagram had appeared.
Aliester had weird feeling when his superficial wound and his skin had closed. He also felt a bit strange as the damaged tissues and fibers on his throat healed. The sensation was bizarre.
But eventually he cried out as the pain intensified.
Tears fell from his eyes as he felt that his internal organs were being regenerated. It was quite excruciating!
Alister struggled to move away. He almost pushed Ertz back.
But Mephisto seeing that the young lord would kick a fuss, pinned him down and held him in place.
"I am sorry about the pain, young master." The healer sweated as he poured his mana into the spell. "I have to realign your bones put them back together."
"Whaaaat!!! Arghhh!" Aliester screamed as he could feel his bones moving and reattaching.
In the process of that hellish healing, Aliester started lost consciousness while thinking. 'don't they have anesthesia in this realm?'
By the time Aliester came to, the room was a bit brightened by the sun's rays.
"Finally, you gained consciousness, young lord." Ertz was the one who greeted him. "you have been asleep for five days."
"Five days!" he exclaimed.
Just then the young man's stomach growled. "no wonder, it made such a loud sound." He smiled awkwardly while rubbing his mid-section.
Ertz chuckled. "You seemed fine now. Do you feel pain anywhere?"
"Now that you mentioned it. The pain is gone." He replied.
Except for the grumbling of his empty tummy, Aliester could no longer feel any trace of the injuries he suffered.
"Since, there are no relapses. I will tell Mephisto to prepare something for you." The old man said and turned to leave.
Aliester noted that the healer seemed to have grown a bit feeble than the last time he saw him.
"Was it just my imagination? Ertz was a bit more energetic than that time before he healed me."
Zarame interjected. [Info: healers exchanged a part of their mana to heal a person. Normally, it will not result to a weakened state. But in some rare cases healers acquire damage if they treat a severely fatal injury or when they treat a dying person.]
"Did my injury transfer to him?" Aliester asked.
He could recall in some of the RPG he played, some healers would sacrifice their HP to heal their comrade. While other healers would have the damage transferred to themselves so that their companion can be cured.
[Answer, technically no. But Aliester had died for a few seconds before you got transmigrated into his body. His severe internal wounds were the cause of his death.]
[When you got transmigrated, Raiha and I did not have much time to prepare the vessel until the last minute. The one we have prepared for was the princess not you. So, we were not able to heal the injuries.]
That information made Aliester's jaw hung ajar.
Zarame added. [In exchange for healing such severe injury, Ertz have suffered a backlash for using a forbidden spell.]
"Forbidden spell? Did he resurrect me." A bit shocked, he asked. "Am I a zombie?"
[No, it was not Ertz who revived you. We did. Ertz just simply healed you.] Zarame answered. [And for the other question… your body is a reanimated corpse.]
Aliester could feel the blood draining from his face. "then…"
[But the only difference is that you have received a blessing from a guardian and you have me your system. So, you are different from those witless undead since you are capable of thinking and had your vitals restored. You can still pass as a living being.]
For discovering such truth, Aliester was dejected. "what in the world is this? This defies logic."
[Don't mind the minor details. For now, you are good as a living being.] Zarame encouraged him.
"Easy for you to say. You are not the one in my shoes." Aliester grumbled.
The blonde would have complained but he was distracted when an appetizing smell filtered his nose.
"My sense of smell is working well." His mouth watered as he saw Sir Mephisto arrived with a tray of food.
It was stew. He may not know what the actual ingredients are but no doubt that this is his favorite stew. His memories told him.
"please help yourself, young master." Mephisto put the tray on a portable table.
Aliester gulped as he scooped a spoonful. When he finally took a bite, his eyes widened. "My sense of taste is okay. This stew tastes really good! Not too salty, just the right blend."
In a matter of seconds, he ate it all.
He then contemplated. "In that case, I may not really be an undead. Zombies would usually lose their senses."
[Tsk… you really didn't believe me.] Zarame harrumphed.
After that brunch, Sir Mephisto had given him a report of what had transpired.
"Duke Alastor got framed for treason. Of course, most of us, his subjects would not believe it. Your father had always been loyal to his older brother, King Ignys."
"Then why?" Aliester was puzzled.
"It seemed the other ducal houses has planned things all along. Since his grace took the princess in, he had unknowingly received the ire of the other nobles. When her highness died, the duke was blamed for her death."
Aliester could recall a few images of a black haired princess. He could not remember her face but he knew that she was Aliester's cousin.
"Your father asked me to allow you to escape and to protect you with my life. He does not wish that you will suffer the same fate as his. Before he was thrown into prison, your father had said, "since the princess died… Aliester is our only last chance-one of the remaining bloods from Verbena."
"We did our best to secure you but got ambushed in one of the towns. Luckily, due to a comrade's noble sacrifice, we were able to escape to Cupula. But you received fatal wounds. I apologize." the knight bowed.
"No need to apologize. I should be thankful that you saved my life. You sacrificed a lot."
Aliester felt guilty. He could not say that the soul was no longer the original. The real Aliester is already dead. He is just an other-worlder who got caught up in a ritual to get the princess back.
But since he could not do anything. He might as well fulfill the mission left by his predecessor.