"Your Highness!"
Yurik turned around. Sticky slime still flowed down from the sword that had just torn apart a bug.
For Eva, who should have been treating soldiers, to be panting and running all the way here.
He looked at her with his back to the bug corpse that made the ground squelch.
Disheveled hair, sweat, blood, vomit.
Though she didn't look fine at all in appearance, something was glinting in her bloodshot eyes.
"Can the soldiers move?"
"M-more than that, the black, black powder."
"What exactly, what is its identity?"
Looking at her gasping and unable to speak properly, Yurik made a "hmm" sound and stroked his chin.
Yesung had definitely returned the black lotus powder to her.
Since Eva was so thorough about medicine,
He could have expected that she wouldn't use any drug she hadn't fully understood.
That's why he hadn't said anything in particular about it. But she used it? How bold.
"As you know, a painkiller."
"Just a pain, killer, no right? Definitely, something else."
"Did I mention it also has some hallucinogenic effects?"
"When? You absolutely never told me!"
"Right, I just said it now, so that's settled. Are you satisfied with your curiosity now?"
"No."
Eva swallowed with difficulty.
Since the drug's source was the Prince, she had to ask Yurik about everything regarding the powder.
But in her mind, already exhausted to the limit, the concept of etiquette had become dim.
"What about side effects?"
"By my standards, there were none."
"How long does the hallucination last?"
"It would depend on the dosage, but if you mix a spoonful in a drink, three days to a week."
"Are the hallucinogenic effects all different? Do they see strange things?"
"Most of them extract only good memories."
Since hallucinogens were made for that purpose.
As Yurik added this, Eva immediately responded.
"Please provide means of transportation."
"Ho."
Yurik guessed at Eva's thinking.
The humans who had their mental strength drained by the wasteland demons complained of extreme depression.
The depletion of happiness and hope had driven them to the edge of a cliff, and later even eliminated their will to live.
Facing reality, they were people who chose to die while alive because there was no means to escape from here.
To counter such demons with temporary effects through hallucinations?
It wasn't bad. Actually, it wasn't just not bad—it was quite ingenious.
And though Eva didn't know it, Yurik's high-performance ears were already catching the commotion coming from over there.
Having somewhat sensed the situation, he pretended not to know and asked.
"Let's say you temporarily make the soldiers move and pull them to the rear. But what about after that?"
"After that?"
"Do you think you can treat those from whom you suddenly take away their happy moments?"
"What do you mean?"
"I was asking whether you think they could endure it if you show happy memories to people who were so tormented in the wasteland that they chose to die, and then take them away again."
Eva paused for a moment. It was natural that she hadn't thought that far.
Anyway, every passing moment was precious time right now. Eva must have come running as soon as she thought of a good plan.
Yurik watched Eva with interest. He became curious about what answer she would give,
And also wanted to know with what intention Yesung had returned the black lotus powder to her.
Eva, whose face had darkened with hesitation, slowly opened her mouth.
"I will speak without falsehood. Your Highness, it's difficult for me alone to save all these people. And as Your Highness said, I don't yet know what reaction those deprived of hallucinations will show."
"A lack of ability then."
"If you rebuke me like that, I won't make excuses."
Her tone gradually changing. Yurik looked at her while letting his sword hang.
Eva spoke clearly and distinctly, unlike someone who had suffered from overwork for days.
"But being a physician is a profession that saves people. Rather than treating alone here, I should receive more help from outside. If that were possible, their chances of survival would be higher too."
"What about the hallucinations? The resentment or despair of those deprived of temporary happiness?"
"I am a physician. I have no duty other than to save them. Whether patients despair or feel happy, isn't that also something they can only feel if they survive?"
"Quite eloquent."
"If you're alive, you can do anything. Life is the basic condition for all actions. I act for that basic condition. Though I won't think the criticism I'll receive afterward is justified, at least my pride as a physician won't be broken."
Pride. Pride indeed.
Yurik couldn't understand most of the things humans said they'd stake their lives to protect.
Honor and dignity as a prince were also just meeting the expectations of those around him.
He didn't truly think such things were important.
Perhaps it was because he had lived too long to be bound by such things. Yesung would probably be similar to him.
Yet Eva, despite being a human who lived in moments, spoke of mission while mentioning a profession that could be abandoned at any time.
Yurik suddenly thought.
Ah, that was what he had thought was glinting in this human's eyes.
Though adorned with common words like pride, honor, and profession, the essence contained in Eva's eyes was will and hope.
A thread-thin hope that she could save those people she had never met. And the will to do exactly that.
Yurik now became truly curious. Where did that hope originate? From the tragic accident she had experienced? Or from somewhere else?
However, he managed not to ask, and instead put the black whistle strung and worn around his neck to his mouth.
-Whieet!
A sound that never failed to be deflating. But Yurik could feel the presence approaching from behind him.
Eva began hiccupping in surprise at the suddenly appearing giant black horse.
Pushing away the black horse that acted friendly and stuck its muzzle forward after seeing him once, Yurik said.
"Since it's a horse Yesung cherishes, it must surely be intelligent."
'Yesung.' When that word was heard, the horse turned its head this way and that looking for him. It seemed to think its master was nearby.
Yurik slowly spoke while looking at the horse with red eyes like his own.
"There should be a cart on the road leading out of the wasteland. There won't be harness, but try to drag it here anyway."
-Pururung.
"I don't know what you're saying, but when we return, I'll tell Yesung about your heroics."
Yurik stepped back after patting the horse's back.
The giant black horse began galloping alone toward the wasteland exit as if to say confidently to trust only him.
Watching the horse find its way without a rider, Yurik chuckled.
Eibon had given it as a gift only for Yesung, and it truly was mystical.
"Eva. Go back and wake as many people as possible. This time I'll respect your judgment."
Eva, who had been looking with surprised expression toward where the horse had disappeared, now opened her eyes wide like saucers toward Yurik.
"What?"
"You're the physician. Conversely, I'm just a prince."
"That's true, but what wind suddenly blew to make you change?"
"It would be good to go before I change my mind. Ask Cellinne and Valter for help. If it's just for a moment, I can guard that side too."
At Yurik's tone that had returned to businesslike, Eva hurriedly ran toward where Valter and Cellinne would be.
At her retreating figure, Yurik finally shook off the slime on his sword.
He wondered why humans were so anxious and seemed like they would break. He couldn't take his eyes off them.
Somehow, he felt he could understand a little of Yesung's feelings when he had cared for his young self.
* * *
The otherworldly black horse flew like an arrow.
Not caring about the vibrations rumbling from the ground,
Lightly leaping over swarms of bugs that suddenly shot up sporadically here and there,
It crossed the wasteland boundary without shedding a drop of sweat.
And soon a cart appeared before Sleipnir, who had been pururring and running down the road.
The cart looked like several supply carts connected together.
From a distance, it also looked like a large chariot.
Sleipnir paced in front of it. This was because there was no harness for it to wear.
The carts were linked together, and there were even handle ropes for easy pulling.
But those who had prepared the cart seemed not to have thought to prepare harness, perhaps because they didn't use horses.
The horse circled in front of it and finally made a nation-saving decision.
Since there was no harness, it took the handle rope in its own mouth.
After stretching its neck and confirming that all the carts rattled in unison, the black horse returned to the wasteland.
The cart wheels screamed, but the horse didn't stop. It wasn't delicate enough to pay attention to such things in the first place.
The horse that returned to the main force camp within a short time witnessed three humans in confusion.
They seemed quite busy, calming staggering humans to sit or lie down, gathering them in one place to give speeches.
Meanwhile, the black-haired human woman discovered Sleipnir and hurried over.
"My goodness. What is this? There's no harness either. But you pulled all this? You're incredibly smart."
The black-haired woman's touch reached Sleipnir's head.
Originally, it was a creature that wasn't a horse wearing a horse's shell, so it fussily judged the amount of magical power the other party possessed.
Sleipnir had intended to bite the woman's hand with its meager magical power. Or chew her hair.
But when careful hands combed from its forehead to its mane, it felt a strange sensation.
Rude touch. But not bad.
Having judged so, Sleipnir stood there briefly receiving the touch before drooping its ears to the sides.
The woman who had been briefly finding the black horse with its neck and head slightly lowered cute said "just a moment" and extracted the rope it had been holding in its mouth.
The woman skillfully untangled the saliva-covered rope and seemed to be doing this and that,
Then quickly made a halter and put it on Sleipnir. The rope that passed over the neck to the horse's chest and back fit perfectly.
"This should make it easier to pull. You might get in big trouble holding it in your mouth."
Sleipnir definitely found movement more comfortable. The black horse brought its nose close to the black-haired woman.
Sniff sniff. Pururung. It could smell the woman's unique body scent.
Even the ice-cold coldness of the same type as its master.
Moreover, though not entirely to its liking, this human had made it comfortable.
Sleipnir only lightly bit and released the woman's hair with its lips. It was completely different behavior from just before when it had tried to bite.
The pink-haired woman who was seating people in the cart it was pulling panted and shouted.
"Eva, it's nice that you've become friends with the horse, but could you help here first...!"
"Ah! Sorry."
The woman hurried over and began moving the limp humans.
About thirty people were seated in the cargo cart like that. But there was only one horse to pull it.
The pink-haired woman, the black-haired woman, and the burly white-haired man all made "uuung" sounds at the same time.
"...Will it be okay, Eva? It's just one horse to pull this many people, isn't that a bit much? This doesn't seem like the best option."
"Pharmacist miss, even this old man thinks this is a bit much."
"But it didn't seem like an ordinary horse. Normal horses can't even come this far. And His Highness gave it to us."
This and that. Back and forth.
The horse, which had no intention of listening to all the humans' discussions, was looking at only one person.
Sleipnir looked at her with bright red eyes and then bent its front legs. The woman was flustered.
"You want me to ride?"
Get on quickly. Human. The horse's coy glance seemed to demand this.
The pink-haired woman whispered.
"I guess it liked that you petted it earlier. Go pet it some more."
Hearing this, the black-haired woman seemed to make some decision and approached the horse to mount it.
The woman who climbed on without saddle or stirrups gradually found her view rising.
What kind of horse was this big? As the woman muttered this while feeling the hand combing its mane, Sleipnir slowly moved forward.
-Creak. Creeeak...
The creaking cart. A sound with clearly more weight than before.
But the horse walked faster and faster. Soon the slow hoofbeat sounds became the pace of running.
"I-it's pulling this alone. Really amazing- wait, where are you going! Eva! How far are you going!"
"I was trying to get down right away. It suddenly got up and I missed the moment to get off!"
The pink-haired woman came running. But the distance between the black-haired woman and the two gradually increased.
Realizing the situation was serious, the black-haired woman soon shouted.
"Black powder! Painkiller! To the soldiers!"
Throwing only words that might have been screams or last words about needing to feed at least two mouthfuls each,
The black-haired woman was kidnapped by the tremendously fast-running black horse.
Fierce wind swept past the ears of her who lay flat on the horse's back running without a saddle.
While gripping the mane tightly and fighting fear for a moment,
In the wide wasteland spread before them, bugs targeting soldiers popped out from underground one by one.
Thump, thwack, thump.
Looking at the bugs writhing and waiting for dinner to roll into their mouths, she turned pale.
So it would have been better to have Cellinne as the rider! Though she was almost on the verge of tears, sounds of people chattering in a daze from hallucinations could be heard from the cart behind.
"Our bull is fast indeed. No, is it our dog? Am I riding a dog and running?"
Damn. How good it would be if this were a dream.
She trembled and squeezed her eyes shut then opened them.
Straighten the waist. Correct posture so feet and body can be in the same line. Put strength in the thighs, even though there isn't even a proper rein.
"Keep running like this!"
-Neighhhing!
She couldn't hand these people over to bugs here.
She didn't want to extend this terrible time by even one second!
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