BVWG 20

chapter 20

The low voice of Beret, accompanied by the smell of blood, brought me back to my senses. I felt ashamed of myself for being momentarily captivated by his appearance.

Fortunately, even seeing my flushed cheeks, he seemed to assume it was due to the shock from the accident.

“Princess Esperanza, are you all right?”

His usually formal tone sounded even more rigid than usual. Was he nervous too?

“Yes. Thanks to you.”

“That’s a relief. It seems the cleanup at the scene will take quite some time, so you should wait inside the carriage with your nanny.”

“How… long will I have to wait?”

“Probably at least half a day…”

He spoke mechanically, but my gaze was fixed beyond him. I ran toward the spot I had been looking at, interrupting his words.

Beret’s expressionless face showed a flicker of irritation at my uncharacteristic behavior.

“You promised to treat me as the finest lady.”

I could hear his self-deprecating mutter. His thick, deep red eyebrows twitched with restrained patience.

‘And he actually plans to keep that fleeting promise?’ I thought in surprise as I continued running. Soon, I heard the sound of his footsteps following with a sigh.

And just like that, the small trace of irritation on his face vanished. He seemed to have realized my intention.

I reached a large tree that must have been uprooted along with the sinking ground.

Beneath the tree lay a boy around Dalia’s age, pinned down. He seemed too weak to even moan, shedding silent tears.

Thankfully, blood hadn’t pooled around him, and it didn’t seem like he’d been pierced by any branches.

Perhaps because he had landed on a soft grassy area, the boy was miraculously conscious. But it was uncertain how long he could stay that way.

The boy kept weighing on my mind.

I didn’t realize it before, but I seemed to be weak toward children.

I looked back at Beret.

“Could you lift this tree for a moment? I’ll quickly get the child out.”

“If we move the child in this state, his possibly fractured spine could shift.”

“Then could you move the tree to the side instead?”

For an ordinary person, this would be impossible. But perhaps Beret, whose physical abilities were enhanced through training, could manage it?

“I don’t think I can lift this by myself.”

Even as he said that, Beret strode toward the tree and tried lifting it. But the massive tree didn’t budge an inch.

I guess my expectations were too high from the start.

The tree, seemingly hundreds of years old, looked incredibly solid.

Lifting it was impossible, and even rolling it aside might hurt the child further. I abandoned that idea.

“It seems we’ll need the royal magicians to arrive to handle this. But they’re all out on an emergency deployment, so it’ll take some time for them to return.”

Could this small child survive until then?

And the problem wasn’t limited to this boy. People were trapped under debris from buildings and landscaping trees everywhere. Time was not on anyone’s side.

I briefly recalled the hospital room I despised so much in my past life, with fellow patients always nearby.

Seeing these people helpless made me uneasy about just standing by.

I decided to start with what I could do myself.

Purely for my own peace of mind.

After briefly returning to the carriage, I immediately went to find Beret. The violet eyes of his otherwise expressionless face widened at the sight of me.

In my hands was a petticoat, richly layered with silk lace.

My dress had lost its volume and looked pitiful, but what did that matter in this situation?

“May I borrow your sword for a moment?”

I gestured toward the sword at his waist.

He looked completely confused but silently handed it to me.

I drew the sword from its scabbard, decorated with a golden dragon, though the blade itself was plain.

I began slicing the petticoat into strips.

Beret looked at my actions in speechless astonishment.

The petticoat quickly became several thin strips. I returned the sword and handed him some of the strips.

He looked like he’d seen a madwoman.

“Let’s use these to stop the bleeding of the injured first.”

Ignoring his expression, I ran among the wounded.

In my past life, I had spent countless hours in hospitals, sometimes even admitted, learning medical procedures from observing the staff.

I knew that stopping the bleeding was urgent.

I ran to where pools of blood were visible and wrapped temporary bandages made from the petticoat around wounds.

Beret watched quietly, then quickly mirrored my actions.

In this world, medical treatment was mainly magical, so my approach must have seemed unusual.

The petticoat strips ran out quickly, but many wounded remained.

I rushed back to the carriage and took the unconscious nanny’s petticoat as well.

I felt sorry for her, but I could explain later, and she would understand.

Beret raised an eyebrow in silent question—who else had I taken it from?

But the remaining wounded had to be tended to immediately. Time was pressing.

I ignored his gaze again and took another sword from his waist.

Having someone else touch a knight’s sword would normally be sensitive, but Beret allowed it without protest.

The nanny’s petticoat was cut into bandages just as quickly.

Throughout, the image of the child under the tree stayed in my mind.

His defenseless, suffering face mirrored my past life’s self.

‘Is there a way to get him out faster before the magicians arrive?’

As if answering my thought, an elderly man I was bandaging pointed to a collapsed building column.

“What a waste of this column. Back in my day, I built structures on construction sites; columns that sturdy are hard to make.”

A strange, deep blue flame flickered in the old man’s emerald eyes and disappeared.

I quickly dismissed it as a trick of my imagination and examined the column.

It was embedded midway down the cliff, as though only part of the building had collapsed.

The column, made of natural limestone, looked solid indeed, just as the man said.

Luckily, no one was trapped beneath it.

Nearby, Beret appeared equally solid as he gave orders to the White Dragon troops above the cliff.

“Teams 2 and 3, gather as much food, water, medicine, and bandages as you can for those trapped below…”

His eyes scanned the scene busily as he issued commands.

“…Then prepare ropes and ladders to reach the people below and bring them up.”

“When will the royal magicians arrive?” asked a knight from above via communication magic.

“They’re on an emergency mission to the empire’s frontier. No guarantee they’ll arrive today. Handling the scene is our responsibility.”

Indeed, the magicians’ arrival would make things easier, but we couldn’t just wait.

Beret continued issuing commands to the knights positioned above the cliff.

It would take time for them to descend.

Suddenly, an idea struck me—how to help not just the child under the tree but also the many trapped under pillars.

I ran quickly to Beret to put my plan into action.

“Sir Judizium, it’s the principle of the pulley, the principle of the pulley!”

Just a few weeks ago, Count Kairus, with strange foresight, had stubbornly taught me the basics of physics, even though I had no interest. Now, I was thankful.

Beret looked at me like I was crazy as I shouted about pulleys.

Well, not surprising—he’d never really thought I was sane anyway.

Ignoring his confused gaze, I grabbed him by the collar.

In the chaos of cries and groans, my voice wouldn’t carry, so I pulled him close.

Surprised by my sudden action, Beret was easily drawn toward me.

A small crack appeared in his stoic face, and his violet eyes wavered.

I whispered my plan in his ear.

He listened for a moment, then looked down at me in doubt.

“Do you really think that’s possible?”

“I think it can work. Besides, there’s no harm in trying. All we need are ropes and swords.”

The plan’s core relied on Beret’s superhuman strength and agility, but I didn’t feel the need to praise him outright. My grudges from the Knights’ Council hadn’t completely melted yet.

Finally, Beret nodded and instructed his team via communication magic to lower a very long bundle of rope.

The rope bundle dropped from above. We quickly untied it and each held an end.

Beret tied the rope to his waist and stood under a column embedded in the cliff. With a burst of strength, he jumped, drove his sword into the cliff as a foothold, and then leapt again, retrieving the sword and landing lightly on the ground beyond the column.

The rope caught on the column.

His movements were agile beyond what his solid build suggested.

Truly, an aura user and the youngest knight commander.

I watched with satisfaction, preparing myself. Now, it was my turn to step in.