I was standing in front of the gates of Tachyrinn, watching the line of soldiers from Croway stream into the citadel grounds.
Maybe Nadar wasn’t dead.
What if he’d managed to escape and was still somewhere out there?
Maybe he’d been injured and he couldn’t walk very quickly. Or perhaps he was being carried here on one of the wagons.
I didn’t have time to be watching the wagons roll in like this. I needed to head down to the teleportation station right away and get to work.
In my dream last night, I had believed him dead. I knew the odds of his survival were slim to none.
But maybe, just maybe...
“Kariya!”
I turned to look toward the familiar voice with a start. “Bondaughn?”
Riding in a damaged covered wagon, a young boy covered in soot and dirt waved at me.
At the sound of my voice, other familiar faces peeked out of it. It was the group of mages I’d seen off a long time ago.
“You’re safe!” I exclaimed.
“All thanks to the present you gave me! We used it to cancel the enemy’s magic for a few minutes, which nullified the walls they’d erected to trap us. Everyone near the rear of the battlefield was able to escape!”
His face crinkled as a smile spread across his face. He looked like he was about to cry.
“After we escaped, we helped the troops from the relay stations defend our rear as we escorted the wounded soldiers back here. You can assume we’re the last to return from Croway; there shouldn’t be anyone else coming after us.”
He paused, then looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry. We tried to get back here as quickly as we could, but we couldn’t make it during the night. Since we were in a rush, we cleared the blockage from the road all the way back. If the enemy realizes it, they might send transmigrators this way.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m just glad you made it back safe and sound, Bondaughn—”
“Ka...riya...?”
I heard a hoarse voice calling my name from deep within the wagon.
Peering into the dim gloom inside, I could see several soldiers laid out on the wagon’s floor. There were so many that they almost looked more like a pile of bodies.
Ash, blood, and the stench of charred flesh assailed me as I looked inside.
The soldiers were groaning in pain. Their potion supply must have run out. From among them, I caught sight of someone’s arm reaching toward me.
“Do you know him, Kariya? These are all people we managed to bring back, but they all need treatment right away.”
I knew Bondaughn was talking to me, but his words didn’t register. Not right now.
I gingerly retrieved a high potion from my interdimensional storage and put it down. With trembling hands, I uncorked the bottle and poured it over the man who was reaching for me.
Because a while had passed since the time he was injured, and because he had only been able to receive partial treatment, his wounds closed oddly, leaving him permanently disfigured. This wasn’t something a potion could fix—only healing magic could restore him. Or maybe not even that.
The man, with one eye crushed and half his face scorched, repeated my name as he spoke once more.
“Kariya... Has Nadar returned...to Tachyrinn? He’d been with...His Highness, on the battlefield... I’d gotten separated from them... Did he...make it back...”
This man, who’d been Nadar’s milk brother, looked up at me. His words died on his lips when he saw my face.
I had known from his voice that he wasn’t Nadar.
The outstretched hand that had been reaching for me fell back to his side.
Tears began to stream down from his one remaining eye.
On the morning of the fourth day after our crushing defeat at Croway Plains, we had completed evacuating all rank and file military personnel from Tachyrinn Citadel.