『Alberto: Don't listen to Miguel, Neizan. That moment was impressive and gave the audience much more excitement in the spectacle. 』
Alberto knew well how the spectacles in the coliseum worked. He had suggested that if Neizan managed to win over the audience with a more thrilling fight, he would have a better chance of survival in case he lost and had to face a life-or-death sentence.
『Neizan: To hell with the spectacle. I won't make the same mistake twice. 』
『Meilia: That mage who usually launched fireballs would normally just set the impact area on fire, but the attack he used against you was much more devastating. It was an explosive fireball. Only mages who master the intermediate level of fire magic can do that, as it consumes a lot of mana. He was saving it as a trump card for the last moment. 』
『Neizan: Then I'll have to be ready for that next time I face one. 』
『Alberto: Well, guys, Miguel and I are heading back to the stands; the next matches of the other seven factions are about to begin. You can stay and watch or go home to rest. See you later. 』
When the group said goodbye to Alberto and Miguel, Lina had already arrived with what they needed to tend to Neizan.
『Lina: Here you go. 』
『Meilia: Thank you. 』
Lina handed Neizan some bandages. He took them and held them in his mouth, clenching them between his teeth. Meanwhile, Lina watched him from the front, standing behind Arthur and Meilia. Meilia approached and dipped both hands into the bucket of water.
『Arthur: I don't know if I can watch this right now. 』
『Lina: Arthur, don't be a wimp. Stay here. 』
Meilia began to touch Neizan's back with both hands. An intense pain spread throughout his body. He bit down hard on the bandage between his teeth, crying out in pain. Lina held his hand to help him endure it, and Neizan started to squeeze hers, trying to withstand the relentless suffering.
A layer of water had formed on Neizan's back, spreading over and cleaning the wounds, removing the accumulated dirt. After a few minutes, there was no visible stain left.
『Meilia: Neizan, you have some metal fragments embedded. I'm going to remove them, all right? 』
Neizan nodded and made a "mph" sound to indicate yes.
『Meilia: All right, let's see. 』
She extended her hand toward his back without touching it. The fragments of metal and wood began to emerge from his skin, one by one. These fragments had likely lodged into Neizan due to the explosions they had endured. The shattered cart had scattered wooden splinters, and his own damaged armor had left fragments scattered from the impact of the fireball.
Meilia also had to make an incision on the arrow wound in Neizan's shoulder. Arrowheads are usually designed to pierce skin and muscle, making them difficult to remove due to their hook-like effect, which prevents easy extraction through the same wound. To remove it, an incision must be made on the opposite side, creating a path for the arrow to exit. Fortunately, Neizan's armor had prevented the arrow from embedding deeply, and now it could be removed more easily from the wound.
『Meilia: All done. Now I just need to close the wounds and regenerate the lost soft tissue. 』
Using three types of magic—blue water magic combined with light blue air magic—Meilia closed and cleaned all of Neizan's wounds in a matter of minutes. If this treatment had been done traditionally by a non-magical doctor, it would have taken much longer and caused Neizan intense pain.
Then, with green earth magic, the tissues began to regenerate, leaving Neizan's back almost fully healed. The third-degree burns were now only faint first-degree marks, and his skin was reddened as blood circulation returned to normal.
Finally, Lina took the bandages, and with Meilia's help, they wrapped Neizan's torso and the wounds that still needed a bit more time to fully heal.
『Meilia: There you go, Neizan. 』
『Neizan: Thank you all so much, truly. 』
『Meilia: Mph, don't mention it. 』
Meilia replied to Neizan while Lina smiled. Arthur, meanwhile, sighed and relaxed his furrowed brow in relief.
『Neizan: Well, except for Arthur, he didn't do anything. 』
He said with a mocking smile.
『Arthur: Huh?! But what did you want me to do?! 』
He exclaimed, raising his hands in protest, with a furrowed brow.
『Neizan: Nothing. Hahaha. 』
『Arthur: You've recovered your humor so quickly, idiot. You had us really worried. 』
He said, relaxing his expression a bit, though still with an annoyed tone.
『Neizan: I know. Now I just want to go back and rest. What will you all do? 』
『Lina: I'll go with you. 』
『Arthur: I'll stay to talk with Alberto and see later who your future opponents will be, since you're leaving now... 』
『Neizan: I really don't feel like staying, to be honest. At least I can count on you to inform me later. 』
He replied with a sigh, relieved to have someone he could count on and trust. Arthur let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze to Meilia, who was watching.
『Arthur: Anyway, what about you, Meilia? What are you going to do? 』
『Meilia: I think I'll leave too, Arthur. 』
『Arthur: Huh? So I'm left all alone... 』
『Neizan: Didn't you say you were going with Alberto? 』
『Arthur: Yeah... Well, never mind. See you later then. 』
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Upon returning to Alberto's grand residence, Neizan and Lina headed back to their room.
『Lina: Why did you take that risk for that man? 』
『Neizan: When I spoke to him, he told me he was a slave. He had a wife and a daughter he hadn't seen in a long time. He fought bravely and guided us like gladiators in battle. 』
『Lina: You should be more careful with what you do. You can't risk your life to save everyone. 』
『Neizan: I know. I understand that too, but there are times when I try to change fate. 』
If Neizan had aimed to eliminate the wizard in the carriage from the start, he wouldn't have suffered such severe damage. However, this wouldn't have prevented the other soldiers from ending his companion's life due to a lack of time.
『Lina: It's okay. I'm proud of you for being like this. 』
『Neizan: Proud of me? You shouldn't feel proud of someone who has taken lives. 』
『Lina: I don't care about that. I just want you to be okay. The times you did it, you had no choice, right? 』