[V3C8] To Win or Lose, To Live or Die
Translated by Jodas 3: The Fateful BrothersAside from the training room, there was one more large room on the first level of the Second Spire: Golden Needle. That room was the Medical Office’s Main Branch.
The Medical Office, which was responsible for treating severe injuries, built their headquarters in the Golden Needle, where such injuries were the most common. The First Branch in the Third Spire: Water Bubble conducted research on medical magecraft. Lastly, the Second Branch in the First Spire: White Smoke typically only treated minor cuts and bruises.
The ‘Red Rain’ Oliver, who had suffered countless worrying injuries in his battle against Frederik, spewing nose blood all over the place, was brought to receive treatment at the Medical Office’s Main Branch inside the nearby Golden Needle.
“Waaahhh, why does this have to happen while I’m here…….”
“Shut up and get to work, Meine! This kid’s from the White Smoke, just like you. Take care of him!”
The one crying and complaining while she cleaned Oliver’s wounds was a glasses-wearing woman with unkempt black hair. The one scolding her was a plump old lady with braided white hair.
The one with the glasses was in charge of the Medical Office’s Second Branch, located in the First Spire: White Smoke—Branch Director Meine.
Then, the old lady with the braid was the Director of the Medical Office located in this Second Spire, Director Treu—In short, the highest authority among all medical workers at the Wedge Tower.
The moment she laid eyes on Director Treu, Tia thought.
(That’s the boss. This one’s the boss of her flock. )
While her body was large, Treu’s movements were lightning fast. She had a wide reach, and appeared strong enough that Tia thought she would be blown away she bumped into her.
On the other hand, Branch Director Meine was a young woman who gave off an unreliable impression. While she diagnosed the injuries on Oliver’s wrist, she mumbled to herself “Is it sprained? It could be? Maybe~?”
“Out of the way!” Fresh out of patience, Treu pushed Meine away with her body and inspected Oliver’s wrist.
“It’s not broken, but there is a minor sprain on his wrist. He likely failed to redirect an attack. Meine! Get it splinted up!”
“Oka~y, ri~ght away~”
Tia, Wren, Sevil, and Rose watched their exchange from the edge of the room.
Wren whispered to the others.
“I wouldn’t want to have that granny taking care of me……”
“Really? In fact, she looks rather dependable. She’s a trustworthy doctor.”
Sevil seemed impressed by Director Treu’s handiwork.
Rose, standing the furthest away, cast his eyes around the Medical Office with curiosity. To be honest, Tia did as well.
The shelves were full of bottles of medicines and tools whose purposes she didn’t understand. The room smelled of drugs and herbs.
It was not a familiar environment to a harpy, but it still felt nostalgic to her. That was because this place reminded her of the home where the Witch who took care of her lived.
As Tia sniffed around, taking in the scents of the room, Wren spoke to Oliver.
“By the way, Oliver……..I know I’m not one to talk, but I’m surprised you passed the entrance exam.”
“Indeed. I used flight magic to leap over the cliff. Like a wild hare.”
“Oh, that’s what you meant by wild hare?”
When he heard Oliver’s words, Rose clapped his hands in realization.
Tia thought back to that entrance exam. Back then, the objective was to gather four keys, open a safe and acquire a Wedge Medal, then bring it back in time.
Tia’s group climbed the cliff on foot using the winding path, but considering Oliver’s leaping ability, it wouldn’t be hard for him to jump straight to the top of it—Although swinging his arms in midair must have been hard for him.
“Piyo? Then, you found four keys, Oliver?”
“No. I couldn’t find enough. Regardless, all of the other safes were completely empty, so I staked my last hopes on heading to the farthest place from the starting point.”
The farthest place from the start—that meant Oliver headed to the same place as Tia and the others did.
“When I got there on the last night, the door the safe was wide open, and there were Wedge Medals inside.”
“Pirorororo……….” Tia vocalized while she thought back to the events of that day.
They defeated the winged snake controlled by Library Office Director Linke, then Tia and the others reached the safe and opened it with their keys.
They’d opened the safe during the evening. Then, Oliver arrived at that safe a few hours afterwards, in the night.
Wren was probably thinking the same thing as Tia, as he suddenly jumped and turned to face Sevil.
“Sevil, after we took the Wedge Medals……..did you remember to close the safe?”
“Did you not close it, Wren?”
“You were the leader back then, Sevil! You were the one who opened the safe in the first place!”
Sevil folded her arms and snorted with a confident attitude.
“You mean to say, that it was all thanks to myself forgetting to close the safe door that Oliver was able to pass!”
While Sevil was simply spinning the narrative, Oliver bowed his head towards her in all seriousness.
“Is that how it happened? I must thank you.”
“Good for you, Oliver!”
Sevil who acted smugly, Oliver who dutifully thanked her, and Rose who spread joy with a smile.
Between such adults, Wren grumbled “Are you really okay with that….?”
Standing beside the safe back then had been Library Office Director Linke, but she was only there to prevent them from taking loads of Wedge Medals, and did nothing to interfere with whether the lock was open or closed.
As a result, Oliver had been able to secure a Wedge Medal from the safe that they had left wide open.
The reason why Oliver was able to return before Tia and the others got back was because he could use flight magic to descend from the cliff much more quickly.
At that point, Branch Director Meine unfurled a long cloth and sat before Oliver.
“Alright, alright, I’m going to put your bandages on now~. Lift your arms, okay~. Sheesh, you’ve really been through it, huh~. That young Lange did all this? ….Wait, ah……You’re a young Lange, too. That’s confusing, y’know. Both of you look a lot alike~, are you twins?”
“No, I’m a year younger.”
“Heh~. If you let your hair down, I’d confuse you with your brother…….Oh, is the bandage too tight?”
“It’s loose.”
“Eek, sorryyy! I’ll redo it~!”
Treu sighed through her nose as she watched Meine frantically undo and rewrap the bandages.
“What do you think you’re doing, Branch Director…”
“You know~, the White Smoke doesn’t get people with injuries like this~! I just have to deal with little scrapes or make medicine for hangovers or hemorrhoids……”
“Piroro….” Listening to this exchange, Tia’s face contorted in thought. There was something that had been bothering her for a while.
Eventually, Tia was unable to keep it in any longer, and whispered her question to Wren.
“Hey, Wren. Why is that person wrapping cloth around Oliver?”
“…….Huh?”
Wren looked around, taking note of Rose’s position, then moved to open the distance before whispering back to Tia.
“What do you mean ‘why’? …….It’s first aid, just normal first aid. You apply gauze to prevent the wounds from opening up, and wrap bandages to keep his wrist from moving too much……”
“Are those white things the ‘bandages’?”
“Yeah, those.”
Tia was a little surprised.
“Those weren’t just for decoration?”
“Hey, that’s rude! Um… actually, do you guys even do first aid….?”
“No we don’t. When a Monster is injured, they just recover by resting in a place with lots of mana!”
Wren’s mouth dropped open. For whatever reason, it seems that fact came as a shock to him.
Tia didn’t know much about the biology of other Monsters, but she assumed that even Greater Monsters never had to bother performing first aid on themselves. A Monster’s ability to recover was far higher than a human’s.
There might be some who lick their wounds or wash themselves, but none of them would take medicine or wrap bandages around an injury.
Suddenly, Tia had a recollection.
The man who picked Tia up when she ran away from those humans—Kai—had been wearing bandages.
(I just thought it was part of his clothing or some kind of fashion accessory…….I see, Kai was injured at the time…..)
Then Kai must surely have been a human. Tia felt confident in that conclusion.
After all, Monsters would not go out of their way to perform first aid with bandages.
Now that it all made sense to Tia, she started to listen in on Rose and Sevil’s conversation.
“Hey, do you think we’re really gonna do that thing Director Hegelich brought up?”
“I cannot speak with certainty, but I believe we will. I’ve been awaiting a good fight.”
Wren slipped back into his original position and jumped into the conversation.
“You mean the Magic Battle against the Extermination Office? Honestly, that’s crazy talk. We haven’t even learned any magic yet!”
Meine, who had been re-wrapping the bandage, interjected into the conversation with much interest. She seemed to really like this kind of chit-chat.
“Ooh, what are you talking about? There’s gonna be a Magic Battle? Who’s fighting who?” “My Brother, against all of the Apprentice Mages.”
Oliver gave a straightforward answer, to which Meine’s face scrunched up and she shrieked “Eeek!”
“That’s so unfortunate for those poor Apprentices~. The older Lange brother…..Y’know, I’ll just call him Frederik. He’s the Extermination Office’s ace! You have no chance of winning~!”
“Meine! Move your hands, not your mouth!”
“Oka~y, Director Treu!”
Meine clammed up, and got back to work wrapping the bandage.
Tia, who had just been listening to that exchange, shuddered.
(A Magic Battle, huh……)
Sevil seemed raring to go, but Tia honestly didn’t feel very excited by the idea.
Tia’s only goal was to fly with flight magic, and she had no interest in using magecraft in battle.
In the first place, what was the point of winning a Magic Battle if you were guaranteed to survive either way?
(I’d get why you’d put your all into fighting a battle if it meant the difference between living and dying, but…..)
If you don’t want to die, then you’ll act desperately. She understood that.
However, Tia couldn’t understand the idea of being desperate just to win.
As long as she could fly and sing, Tia was happy with that.
(I don’t have any reason to be happy for winning over Frederik……)
Maybe if she hated Frederik, there might still have been some reason to fight him.
However, Tia felt very thankful to Frederik for letting her fly with him using flight magic.
She had no reason to win the Magic Battle. She had no reason to fight Frederik.
“Piroroo…….” Tia groaned as she thought about it.
(I feel like it’s not good to do a Magic Battle with this attitude…….)
After all, Tia understood as a Harpy.
Fools who entered the hunting grounds without the will to fight will be hunted without mercy.