Chapter 111

Do you believe in miracles?

Ah, sorry about that. I should introduce myself first.

I suppose I was just a bit too excited, and it made me rush things.

My name is Leo Schleich. I’m twenty-two years old, and I’m a corporal in the Royal Army of Saxens.

Up until two days ago, I was deployed as a soldier on the absolute front lines.

I spent my days running around amidst the explosive roars of magitech cannons, living hand-in-hand with death.

Time and time again, I either had to kill someone or came dangerously close to being killed myself…

Amidst that storm of artillery fire, not a single day passed where I didn’t curse the choices I had made in life.

I constantly wondered why on earth I had chosen to become a soldier.

Yet, back in my hometown, a guy like me was actually hailed as a child prodigy.

When the Temple taught me how to read and write, I memorized the characters faster than anyone else, and my physical strength was the absolute best among the kids my age.

Once I came of age, I left my town as a matter of course.

Since I wasn’t the eldest son, inheriting the family estate was out of the question.

There were people who wanted me as a son-in-law, sure, but I yearned for a life in Dresden.

I harbored foolish notions that a man of my immense talent shouldn’t be left to waste away in some backwater countryside.

Looking back on it now, it’s genuinely mortifying.

I was basically a loach who mistook himself for a dragon.

Upon arriving in the Royal Capital, I took the entrance exams for both the lower civil service and the military.

As it turned out, I passed both.

I chose to become a soldier.

The reason was incredibly simple: the recruiters told me that a soldier would be promoted to corporal immediately, and the monthly salary was 2,800 marques higher than the civil service post.

…It was strictly for that reason alone.

I figured that if I saved up my pay from there, I could at least buy my younger sister a decent wedding dowry.

Out of everyone in the family, she was the one who adored me the most, after all.

It’s laughable, really.

I had genuinely believed that I would rack up military exploits in battle, climb the ranks, and eventually work my way up to becoming a general.

But on that fateful day, everything was violently shattered into pieces by the glowing shell of a magitech cannon.

“Please look at him! I beg of you, I’ll do anything!!”

“Stop it, Leo is already dead.”

“Don’t talk such nonsense!! There’s no way Leo would die. Not Leo…”

I felt like I could hear the voices of my comrades echoing from somewhere far, far away. However, I could no longer grasp what they were actually saying.

Everything before my eyes turned pitch black with no light to be found, and I could only comprehend that I was simply fading away into nothingness.

At the very end, I wanted to see my sister’s face just one last time.

I’m sorry, Romy.

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“Hmm. There is still a faint breath of life, de gozaru.”

…De gozaru?

At that exact moment, I felt my fading flame of life get enveloped by something incredibly warm.

“Come back, de gozaru!!”

A torrential surge of mana was forced into my body, and the world flooded with light so intense it was blinding even with my eyes closed.

The next thing I knew, I was being held tightly by my comrades.

That was the first miracle that happened to me.

My life was pulled back from the brink by a summoned beast named Hippocrates, who had been called forth by Knight Bachelor Clara Ansbach.

“Once your treatment is finished, move along quickly, nary. You are getting in the way, nary.”

“Do not give up hope, you lot, and keep bringing in those who have collapsed, de gozaru. Even if they appear dead, a chance for salvation remains, de gozaru.”

Despite having just returned from the gates of death, my consciousness was completely clear.

Because of that, the words of the exalted Hippocrates Brothers sank straight into the depths of my being.

He was right; all around me, there was a mountain of people who deserved to receive a miracle just like I had.

I helped transport my wounded comrades, and the soldiers from a unit called the Special Medical Unit taught us a technique called hemostasis.

Apparently, if you could halt even a fraction of the flowing blood, their chances of survival skyrocketed.

I desperately gave it my all, mimicking their movements.

Pressure bandages, digital pressure points, tourniquets—I was simply desperate.

“Your handling is quite adept, de gozaru. Can you read script?”

It was right around dusk when the horn-bearing Hippocrates addressed me.

“Y-Yes! I can read, sir!”

“Hmm. In that case, report to Clara Ansbach and have yourself added to her command. If you tell her you were ordered by Hippo-ni, everything will be fine.”

“Hippo-ni?”

“Lord Ansbach should handle the administrative paperwork for you. Go quickly.”

“Yes, sir!”

And that was how I found myself transferred to the Special Medical Unit.

Having compiled the inventory list for the medical supplies possessed by the Special Medical Unit, I headed toward Sergeant Major Hinoharu’s room.

While our commander, Lord Ansbach, was an incredibly strict individual, her adjutant, Sergeant Major Hinoharu, possessed an extraordinarily gentle demeanor that lacked even a shred of typical military harshness.

Though he was tall and by no means bad-looking, the aura he carried was far closer to a civil official than a military officer.

Yet, I heard he was a master of staff techniques, proving that appearances can truly be deceiving.

Since most superior officers did nothing but spout unreasonable demands, having someone like him around was a massive blessing for us subordinates.

“Excuse me.”

As I opened the door, the rich aroma of coffee drifted through the air.

“Let’s see, you are…”

“Corporal Schleich, assigned to the Special Medical Unit as of yesterday, sir!”

“Ah, right. You were recommended by Lord Hippocrates, weren’t you?”

“Yes, sir. I have brought the inventory list for our supplies.”

Sergeant Major Hinoharu accepted the document with a warm smile.

The scent of coffee combined with the Sergeant Major’s smile made me momentarily question whether I was truly standing in the middle of a war zone.

“Would you like some, Corporal? There are cups over on the counter. It’s self-service, though.”

Did his offer of a drink mean… coffee?

Was that truly alright?

That stuff was far more expensive than fine wine.

“The sugar and milk pitcher are right by the cups, so go ahead and pour it yourself,” the Sergeant Major added, his eyes already returning to the paperwork.

I swallowed hard.

To my embarrassment, I had never tasted coffee in my entire life.

I had only ever seen nobles drinking it from afar.

What should I do…

“Your report is excellent, Corporal Schleich. It’s incredibly easy to read.”

I was praised!

Superiors who offered praise for details like this were rare, so it made me genuinely happy.

“By the way… do you happen to dislike coffee?” Sergeant Major Hinoharu tilted his head with an expression resembling a massive lapdog.

“N-No, sir… To my embarrassment, I have simply never had the opportunity to drink it before.”

“I see. Well, do you like sweet things?”

“Yes, I do, sir!”

“In that case, a café au lait might be better…”

The Sergeant Major personally poured the coffee into a cup and added milk to it.

“Let’s start with one spoonful of sugar. If you prefer it sweeter, feel free to add more yourself.”

An indescribably wonderful aroma drifted from the cup placed before me.

“Thank you for the beverage…”

The mysterious scent bloomed deep within my nasal passages.

The sweet, rich fragrance filled my chest, and I was utterly amazed by the slightly bitter yet delicious liquid.

“It’s incredible…”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking. By the way, take a look at this.”

The Sergeant Major handed over a bundle of documents.

It was something the likes of which I had never seen before.

“This is a first-aid manual written by a friend of mine. I wonder… can you read and understand it, Corporal Schleich?”

What on earth was this?

Naturally, I could read the words.

The issue was the illustrations drawn alongside them.

Two girls drawn with proportions of about three heads high were sketched on the page.

Was one of the girls an elf?

A shape resembling a sack protruded from near the elf, and text was written inside that sack shape.

“I see… so these explanations are presented as if this elf is speaking them, correct?”

“Exactly. You picked up on it perfectly.”

Sergeant Major Hinoharu let out a relieved sigh.

I turned my attention back to reading the content properly.

—My name is Deed. Let’s study first aid together from here on out.

—I’m Arche. I’ve never done first aid before, so I’m a bit worried if I can handle it…

—You’ll be fine, Miss Arche. If you follow this manual step by step, even someone who gets called ‘disappointing’ like you will surely become a fine medic… probably.

—Aww, that’s mean, Miss Deedlit!

“I see. It is a first-aid manual written in a dialogue format, then.”

Though it had felt bizarre at first glance, reading through it made it incredibly easy to comprehend.

Just as I was about to read further, a sudden knock sounded at the door, and an unimaginable individual stepped inside.

“Kota, I came by to hang out.”

I instinctively sprang to my feet, snapping into a rigid salute.

The one who had appeared was none other than the hero, Gary.

He was an individual to whom even General Anker, the supreme commander of Romanburg, showed deep reverence.

“Welcome back, Gary. Are you hurt?”

“Nah. I can’t use recovery magic, but my passive self-healing is insane… Wait, what’s that?!”

Having been asked to show it to him, I handed the manual over to the hero, Gary.

“These characters are incredibly cute! What is this?”

“It’s a first-aid manual written by Yoshioka.”

“Akito’s work?! No wonder… Kota, you’ve got to give me a copy of this too!”

I didn’t quite understand, but the hero, Gary, seemed to highly appreciate drawings of this nature.

Afterward, the two of us continued their conversation in an incredibly close, casual manner.

“Do you want some coffee too, Gary?”

“Your coffee is way too strong, Kota.”

“Eh, American coffee is just way too weak.”

Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder about the true nature of the relationship between these two.

“Um… if I may ask, what exactly is the relationship between the two of you, sirs?”

The moment I asked, the response came back in perfect unison: “We’re friends.”

…I suppose it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility for even a hero to have a friend or two.

Perhaps my new superior officer was actually an extraordinary individual underneath his unassuming appearance.

Today’s acquired skills: