A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

Episode 22: I Shouldn’t Have Done That (3)

The tragedy that unfolded at Umshtendel Castle seemed more like a massacre than an assault.

The corpses that Eden encountered as he walked through the palace corridors were those who had never held a sword in their hands during their lives. The bodies of soldiers numbered at most one or two. It seemed that the attackers had chosen to target people who had no power rather than the Marquis of Penniard or the soldiers.

However, their cruelty was not the only thing. The attackers seemed to desire for the civilians to die in as much agony as possible, attacking them was not enough.

“They attacked strategically, aiming for vital points.”

Eden gnashed his teeth as he saw the evidence left on the corpses.

The body of an unknown servant, who seemed to have crawled for a long time in order to survive, had worn out elbows and knees, and his blood was flowing along the corridor.

Would there be anything more painful than surviving only to witness someone who survived by desperately crawling in order to live?

Probably not.

“They wished for the princess to be just as frustrated, instead of killing her with a single blow.”

Now, or even back then, the fights between the powerful were truly ruthless.

Eden tried to calm his frustrated heart and continued on.

However, no matter how far he went, all he could see were corpses.

Perhaps he had arrived too late, as Eden was about to turn his footsteps towards the garden,

“Eden.”

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Someone called his name in a very small voice.

When he turned his gaze, he saw Pheaka poking her head out from the staircase leading to the basement. Holding onto the stairs with both hands, she seemed to be lying flat on the stairs.

Pheaka showed her hand towards Eden, but he could not easily approach her.

“…There was someone who was following me.”

At some point, he could no longer feel the man’s presence.

As there were still screams and sounds of metal resounding in the garden, she may have joined them.

“When it came to the worst, he even tried to draw a sword…”

Eden confirmed his surroundings once again, then finally approached Pheaka.

With her index finger pressed against her lips, Pheaka led Eden towards a wall in the basement. As she forcefully pulled the candlestick hanging on the wall, it made a creaking sound and the ordinary stone wall slowly began to move.

“So there was a shelter that I didn’t know about.”

It wasn’t surprising since Adrian and Ludimine had escaped through the emergency shelter in the pharmacy.

Eden and Pheaka squeezed their bodies through the narrow gap one by one, just enough for one person to pass.

After walking about ten steps, they came to a slightly wider place. Pheaka kicked a lever protruding from the floor with her foot.

Judging from the sound of the creaking I heard earlier, it seemed that the wall had closed again.

“I was surprised, too. But since we’ve been through it ourselves, we had to prepare in our own way.”

After confirming that the door was perfectly closed, Piacca opened her mouth.

“Does this path lead to the shelter?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but should we talk about it while we’re on our way? It might take some time to get there.”

The winding tunnel continued for about five minutes, just as she had described. While walking through the tunnel, Piacca briefly explained the essentials to Iden.

There is a large underground cave near the Wüstenadel Castle, and they had converted it into a temporary shelter under decent conditions. And those who had served the princess for a long time, including herself, had received various training under the Marquis’s command on a regular basis.

“I made it sound grand, but all we learned were how to evacuate the injured and some swordsmanship. It seemed useless when we were training, but now it doesn’t seem completely useless.”

“So, the palace was left with only corpses…”

“Yes, that’s right. We moved everyone who could survive.”

As Piacca thought about the people they left behind in the castle, she closed her mouth with a sad smile.

*

Before long, the shelter came into view. It was quite large compared to other underground caves and had a very faint breeze of air flowing through. Judging by the sound of water, it seemed that there was even an underground stream somewhere in the cave.

Piacca’s words were not wrong; it truly was a perfect temporary shelter.

While Iden took a moment to look around the cave, someone came running. It was a maid named Polka.

“Piacca, I can’t find Her Highness, what should I do?”

“…Her Highness? Have you checked the infirmary?”

Piacca stood straight with crossed arms and answered, hanging the torch on the wall.

“I went there many times, but there was no one in the infirmary. The Marquis must have taken Her Highness there…”

Polka said, biting her thumbnail nervously.

Come to think of it, if they had prepared a temporary shelter like this, they must have made a plan for the princess’s evacuation.

‘…So, only Her Highness and I were unaware of it.’

For a moment, Iden wondered if it was a foolish thing to do, but considering the circumstances, he interjected in their conversation.

“You don’t have to worry about Her Highness. I came to inform you that she safely evacuated.”

“…Is that true?”

Polka looked at Iden with eyes of disbelief.

“How do you know that?”

“I met Her Highness in the infirmary. She escaped through another escape route.”

“Well, how can you let Her Highness move so freely! She doesn’t even have a separate escort. And how did you find out about the other escape route?”

“I can’t tell you the details, but Her Highness will be much safer than the people here.”

“Not being able to tell us the details is such an irresponsible thing to say!”

Polka barged in noisily, and Pia quickly stopped her.

“Stop it, sister. The apothecary wouldn’t lie about the lord’s condition. Besides, no one else knows where the lord is. So we just have to trust him.”

“But…”

“For now, let’s take care of the injured people as the count instructed us. That’s our priority.”

Upon Pia’s words, Polka nodded reluctantly.

“…Fine. That’s our first priority for now.”

It seemed like the story was over, so Eddun opened his bag and handed a package to Pia.

“Pia, you know what herb has hemostatic effects, right? It’s in there, so please be meticulous in applying it to the patients over there.”

“But what about you, Eddun?”

“I have to take care of those people over there.”

Eddun pointed to the outskirts of the common area.

“Those people…”

“I know. So I should go.”

Thanks to the strict education from the count, the patients were lying in different areas depending on the severity of their injuries.

The patients lying on the outside had little chance of survival. They might have had a higher chance of survival compared to those left in the fortress, but still.

In contrast, the ones inside the common area were relatively minor injuries, those with a higher chance of survival.

“So Pia should take care of the patients over here first. I’ll be there soon.”

After finishing his words, Eddun concentrated and read the vitality of numerous injured people.

Soon, various colored lights appeared all over the bodies of the injured. Eddun approached a patient with a light that was not just red but almost extinguished.

Just as Pia had mentioned, it was rational to treat the most likely survivors in urgent situations first, but Eddun was different.

As long as someone was barely breathing, Eddun believed he could save any patient.

Thanks to his infinite vitality, no matter where on his body was cut, the severed parts would regenerate within five minutes.

With a similar principle, by infusing his vitality excessively, Eddun could regenerate the blood and flesh of others to some extent.

Although boasting an extreme efficiency of 1:10.

“Hands and feet are cold, and the complexion is too pale. It’s fortunate that the internal organs are not injured.”

With some hemostasis in place, Eddun placed his hand on the patient’s abdomen and started infusing vitality.

As the vitality flowed in tremendously, Eddun’s vision momentarily flickered. It felt similar to when he grabbed the cursed princess’s hand.

After a few minutes, the vitality that entered through the patient’s blood vessels gradually turned red. Soon, the patient’s color started to return.

“Good. Now all that’s left is to remove the necrotic or badly damaged parts and suture them.”

Although it was possible to regenerate the damaged parts with enough effort, doing so would likely result in Eddun collapsing before he could take care of all the remaining patients.

As Idun took out scissors and thread from her luggage, a young maid brought a pot of boiling clean water and a cloth.

“Should I continue bringing them?”

“Yes, thank you if you do.”

Idun put the scissors and needles into the steaming water. It was a rare surgery that she was about to perform, but there was no hint of hesitation in Idun.

***

Eyes soaked in blood that wouldn’t properly open. The whole body seemed to be covered in layers of heavy armor, and the throat seemed to be filled with water.

Nevertheless, Viscount Peniard never let go of his sword.

Before him, standing now, was the leader of the attackers, Rademus.

His mission was to buy time until the others inside the castle could safely escape.

“…You purposely provoked me to distract me so that the apothecary could be taken away.”

Rademus, who had his sword on the ground, gradually stroked his messy brown hair and spoke.

“But what will you do about it? Unfortunately, I can even know where the apothecary is without seeing.”

“…They are unrelated to us. Just an apothecary who knows nothing. And wasn’t your opponent me?”

From his actions, it seemed that he had no intention of killing Ludimine. Then, just like before, his target would be to eliminate those closest to the princess.

“The only ones left are me and Lady Loyel.”

Lady Loyel, who had wisely escaped to a safe place, it seemed that this incident would end if Peniard himself became the prey for the beast.

“Ah, you still don’t know even now. They are not unrelated. That apothecary, well, one who stole the lord’s treasure.”

“…How did Idun steal a treasure that belongs to someone in the palace?”

“Well, you don’t need to know the details. Knight Commander Peniard. No, should I call you Commander? Or should I call you Viscount?”

Rademus said, fixing his sword.

“If possible, I didn’t want to kill you, but you have to pay the price for disturbing me. The king would be truly saddened if he knew you were dead.”

As soon as Rademus finished speaking, he leaped quickly. Ragged corners of his mouth, crescent-shaped eyes, Rademus’ face was filled with an unstoppable pleasure.

‘…Is this the end.’

A chill of death rose from Viscount Peniard’s entire body. His eyes were fixed on Rademus, but his body was in a situation where he couldn’t move at all.

“Farewell, Viscount!”

Rademus’ sword fell straight toward Viscount Peniard’s head.

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‘If I’m going to die anyway, I won’t avoid it with a pitiful look.’

Viscount Peniard kept staring at the sword falling towards him.

Just before Rademus’ blood-stained sword reached his forehead, a breeze blew from somewhere, passing through Viscount Peniard’s moistened hair, giving a refreshing feeling.

At the same time, the sword that was falling fiercely stopped as if frozen.

“…Ma, this can’t be!”

Immediately, Rademus dropped his sword and took a step back. His face, which had been filled with pleasure just moments ago, turned pale.

“Why is such a being here?”

‘…What is happening?’

Count Fenyard forced himself to turn his head, using his remaining strength. Beyond the white walls of the castle, a brilliantly golden sun was rising.