Now that her hunger had been sated, the girl seemed to have regained her energy, leaning forward excitedly. Fortunately, Carmilla had vanished—if this girl saw the floating entity, she’d presumably have quite the reaction. Whether it would be good or bad was uncertain, but it was best avoided regardless.
“And who are you, miss?” Lily asked, making everyone’s eyes turn to the strange girl.
Her beauty was so pure and otherworldly that she looked as though she’d descended from the heavens themselves. Given her reaction to the demi-humans, she couldn’t be from the slums. Judging by her maid’s outfit, perhaps she was a servant in a noble household? Still, she didn’t give off the vibe of someone who worked under others.
“Um, I’m Arte—” She caught herself, shook her head, and then said, “Arty. Yes. That’s my name.”
“Arty,” Lily repeated.
Zenos, seated next to her, asked, “Why are you out here at this hour? You’re upper-class, right? Not exactly the kind of person who should be wandering around a place like this.”
“Um, well, you see, a lot’s happened, and...” Arty trailed off, moving to pick up her discarded hat. She gathered her hair and put the hat over it, pulling it low to cover her face. “Either way, you’ve helped me tremendously. I will be sure to repay the debt someday. But...I do have another favor to ask: Please don’t tell anyone that you saw me here.”
Zenos and the others exchanged confused glances.
“I figured something was going on,” Zenos mused. “Well, if you don’t want us to tell anyone, we won’t. We’d rather stay out of trouble anyway.”
“You have my thanks. I’ll be going, then.”
“Wait a second!” Zenos called out before the girl could run off.
“Huh?”
“You’re going where, exactly?”
“I was planning on crossing over the mountains while it’s still dark.”
“Don’t do that. There are monsters in these mountains. The vicious ones are more active at night too.”
“What? Truly?” Arty cast a troubled glance at the mountains looming in the darkness ahead. Nervously, she murmured, “But... I must leave now...”
Just then, a scream came from the direction of the mountains.
“E-Eeek!”Arty yelped.
Several men came running, practically tumbling through the distant underbrush. Ferocious growls echoed not far behind—though their dark fur was hard to spot in the dark, the creatures giving chase were likely night wolves, known to roam the mountains after dusk in packs.
“Huh? Why are these guys here?” Zophia asked, surprised.
The men running from the magical beasts were young lizardmen, werewolves, and orcs—subordinates of the three demi-human leaders.
“Boooss!”
“What are you doing?” Zophia asked.
“W-We’re sorry!” the lizardman at the front shouted apologetically. “We heard our bosses were out camping with the doctor, and there’s these mushrooms that sprout at night in the mountains, and they go great with drinks, and we figured we’d forage some, and—”
Loewe crossed her arms. “You mean golden waxcap mushrooms? Indeed, when grilled, they have a wonderfully rich aroma. Truly a rare delicacy. That was thoughtful of you, but...”
Lynga shrugged. “You’re all too young to go into the mountains at night! That was stupid.”
Zophia let out a sigh, then cracked her neck. “Honestly! Is anyone hurt?”
“Um, two of us got badly bitten, actually!” the lizardman at the front said.
Upon closer inspection, two young orcs were carrying what appeared to be one injured lizardman and one injured werewolf. The wounded youths’ eyes were shut tight, their bodies hanging limply from the orcs’ backs.
“What are you doing?! Hurry and lay them down! We’ll handle the beasts!” Zophia ordered.
“W-We’re sorry!”
“I’ll handle this,” Lynga announced proudly. “Loewe, you can go snooze in the tent. You must be scared.”
“Silence!” Loewe snapped. “I can handle them myself!”
“Stop bickering and let’s go already!” Zophia interjected.
Zophia, Lynga, and Loewe darted off, switching places with their men as they leaped into the pack of snarling night wolves.
“Zenos...” Lily murmured anxiously.
The shadow healer gently patted her on the head, then walked over to the two injured youths lying on the ground. “They’ll be fine. Let’s take care of these guys.”
The first youth’s arm had been torn in half, and the second youth was missing his right foot from the ankle down. Both had additional bite marks on their abdomens and shoulders, and blood was oozing freely from their torn flesh. Fortunately, their soft groans of pain meant they were still breathing.
Zenos looked ahead at Arty, who was blankly staring at the second injured youth, her hands clasped tightly together. The shadow healer had seen plenty of injuries as bad as these during his time in the western front last month, but an upper-class girl like her was probably overwhelmed.
If nothing else, this would make the dangers of the mountains at night abundantly clear to her.
“Okay, let’s start with this one,” Zenos said, gesturing at the first youth. “Lily, can you give me some light?”
“Yes!” Lily exclaimed. “Glow!”
A ball of light floated up from Lily’s palm, illuminating the dark night.
Accurate diagnosis was essential for proper treatment, so visibility was very helpful. Next came protective magic, to cover the exposed blood vessels and stop the bleeding. Then, Zenos held out his right hand and began chanting.
“High Heal.”
The torn skin on the patient’s abdomen and shoulder began to expand rapidly, closing over the wounds from every direction. Mindful of the fact that bacteria could’ve slipped in through the bite marks, Zenos channeled healing magic into the youth’s bloodstream. As the glowing magic shifted to the patient’s left arm, bone began to regrow from the stump like icicles, followed by nerves, blood vessels, and muscles, reforming the arm’s original shape.
White motes of light scattered over the newly formed arm like scales, and finally, layers of fat tissue and skin wrapped around the limb, restoring it fully.
“Man, regenerating limbs sure is tiring,” Zenos mumbled. He exhaled and rolled his shoulders as he pushed to his feet.
Zophia and the others, having driven away the beasts, had made their way back.
“Sorry about our dumb men, doc,” Zophia said. “We’ll bring the payment to your clinic as soon as we’re able.”
“Sure,” Zenos replied. “We should eat the mushrooms they brought. Would be a shame to let their effort go to waste.”
“Yeah! Oh, they smell so good. I can hardly wait,” Lynga said with a grin.
“Indeed. Light workouts always drum up my appetite,” Loewe remarked with a smile of her own.
Lily smiled too, albeit a little awkwardly. “Loewe, did you just call fighting those monsters a ‘light workout’...?”
“Sorry for the trouble, doctor,” said the young demi-human Zenos had just healed, bowing his head repeatedly. “Thank you so much!”
“Yeah,” Zenos replied. “Just be careful when wandering around the mountains at night.” He turned his attention toward the other injured demi-human, who had lost a foot; before resuming the feast, he had to treat that one too.
Arty, who had been looking over the injured man, walked toward Zenos.
“You get it now? These mountains are dangerous at night,” Zenos told her.
“Yes, I see now,” Arty said. “Those were magical beasts, were they not? I can hardly believe such things are out here...”
Her already pale skin had gone whiter still. On top of seeing the magical beasts, she’d just witnessed two severely wounded people. It must’ve been quite a shock.
Zenos walked past her and approached the second man.
“Wait...what?” he blurted out.
To his alarm, the demi-human’s missing right foot had now fully reappeared. Not only that, but the lacerations on the patient’s shoulder and abdomen from the beasts’ sharp fangs were also completely healed, and the young man was now breathing peacefully, fast asleep.