A series of bursts and scraping sounds of small gravel ripping through the air ripped into the air.
　Felinella could only bring them all into view and just watch the moment they popped. Instead of focusing on the point of view, the entire vision was imprinted on her brain, just like a bird's eye view of the despair that froze her spine.

　It was like watching an image slowly moving forward in a frame.

　With everyone's concerns elsewhere, Felinella's body reflexively awakened her survival instincts from her accumulated experience.
　She released and retained an enormous amount of magic power from her entire body. The magic power travels through the AWR.

　A moment later, a thin film of wind is stretched around it by magic. It's doubtful that it can be called magic, but in any case, it wasn't built under Felinella's firm will.

　Legs to hips, hips to shoulders, arms to wrists, all moving to shoot down the myriad of flying gravel.
　When he realized that he didn't have time to manifest magic instantly, he launched himself into an interception with a single AWR. No, if I didn't, my body would be full of holes.

　I could feel a hint of penetration through the membrane of wind that had developed ahead of me. Before her concentration increased to the extreme, Felinella let out a thin breath and shifted to intercepting it by relying on her senses.

　There wasn't even a blink of an eye, not even a moment to be aware of it. She had no choice but to let her spinal reflexes take over, and experience was the difference between life and death.
　Naturally, just being able to react to the gravel released at the same time as it popped would be a nine-death experience.

　I'm going to be able to identify only the things that hit my body and knock them off with the shortest and least amount of movement.
　It's difficult to see everything at a speed that doesn't even catch your eye. The wind film acts as a sensor and tells Felinella the exact direction. He wields his AWR to the minimum, but it was a movement devoted solely to preventing it with his sword blade, so to speak.

　The sound of popping countless gravels can be heard in one.
　After about five of them, the speed at which they are prevented is no longer sufficient, and they are forced to ignore the degree to which they are snatched. The gravel that you prevented from changing its trajectory and shattering, and it snatched Felinella's cheek. However, she didn't care and focused all her attention on handling it like a machine.

　Faster than the snatched area bled red, the next bullet flew over her thigh.

　He didn't even have time to feel the pain.
　I twisted my hips and ducked by pulling my foot back from the axial leg as a starting point. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.


　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

　It all happened in an instant, and then it was over.
　It must have been a second or so... but the experience of Felinella, who had managed to overcome it, seemed to last for several minutes at that. That's how focused she must have been.
　More than anything else, one second of dead ground weighed down his body with a thick layer of mental exhaustion.

　As soon as the rainy gravel bullets stopped, Felinella dropped the AWR's blade tip heavily. It was hard to believe that she could have gotten away with this much herself.
　It was as if she was dreaming for a moment now, and even she couldn't recall it. How did I knock down the gravel?

　Immediately after feeling relieved--.

''Ahhhh!!!!!

　A painful exclamation echoed, and Felinella came to herself.
　Without needing to look, she narrowed her focus to the boys who had called out for the safety of their friends. She had her hands full just to protect herself on the spur of the moment, but her companions were different. He had no time to care for his friends.

　A painful scream that backed up that ominous feeling chilled his liver.

'----!

　Felinella heard an unvoiced scream escape from her throat.

　A male student who was closest to the ruptured demon. That much gravel was barely enough for even Felinella to prevent it - and it was not even close to being unharmed.
　The worst of it was there, painting over the blood soaked cheeks in an instant.

　Without thinking, Felinella was running as fast as she could to the boys in silence.

　The extent of her other companions' wounds were unknown, but they all managed to survive.
　The next closest thing from the demon that burst at a distance was Illumina. However, she was a competent person in her own right, just like Felinella. It seems to have been hit in the left shoulder, but it's not as serious as a serious injury. I'm not sure if it was snatched like Felinella's, or if the gravel it prevented was unexpectedly hit.

　I don't know, but Illumina is already on her way to the other male student to check his wounds.

　And among these, the one who was nearly unharmed was Seniat.
　She quickly curled her body into a small ball on the spur of the moment, which seemed to have worked. It was a bit high and low due to the fact that it was somewhat hollow, which was probably a blessing. Either way, it was just good luck.

　The question is--.

'Calm down!　Let go of my hand while I look at the wound!

　Felinella raises her voice to calm the struggling man as he squats down and holds the affected area and struggles. The pain may be too much for him to do that, but right now, it's a matter of time.
　At least he has a lot of affected areas to hold on to.

　His clothes, around his abdomen, are darker in color from sucking blood. The wounds on his shoulders and arms were also not good. Fortunately, there were no wounds that reached the bones, but the wounds, which would have been deep, looked like they had been torn through the skin.

　The most fortunate thing would be that he had covered his face with his sword on the spur of the moment when he burst.

　But even so, the affected area that he was now holding down in pain, as if trying to hold back the blood that was leaking from his body, had formed a pool of blood on the ground.

　Felinella gently thawed his blood-soaked hands while quieting him down, as if teaching the agonizing male student how to breathe.

''--!

　Felinella tried her best to remain calm so that she wouldn't make the mistake of being a distraught captain.

'Feri, that one!

　Although she didn't respond to Illumina's voice, Felinella looked at the affected area that was bleeding like hot water with a poppycock and mouthed with a serious face, "Not good.

　There are one or two big wounds.
　The gravel that entered through the calf was penetrating as if it were breaking through.

　Behind Ferinella, Seniat was looking pale and sorrowful on her pale face. She has more luggage than the troops fighting on the front line as the rear, and she's also packed a few medical supplies.......although there are some.
　With such a serious wound, Seniat laid down a cloth and spread it out on top of it, turning over the entire contents of the pouch.

'We have to stop the bleeding soon!
I know.

　The minimum amount of medical equipment is carried by Seniat, who is in charge of carrying it around.
　Despite being rushed, Felinella looks for something she can use immediately. Felinella, who has been out in the outside world several times, naturally knows the minimum amount of first aid.

　But - she didn't have the confidence to give proper treatment in the face of such a wound. And it's not just about Felinella.

　First you have to prepare a clean cloth and wash the affected area clean. Felinella didn't hesitate to take off her jacket and put her hand on the camisole she was wearing twice as protection against the cold. This should be relatively unstained since she was wearing it underneath.

''Felinella-san, what are you doing...''
Just tear some of these up into bandages.

　The cloth you have on hand is definitely not enough for this amount of bleeding. The camisole you took off would be perfect in terms of material and somewhat clean.
　There is not a moment to lose, if this bleeding continues for a few more minutes, it will easily exceed the lethal amount.

　Felinella's hands were already stained red.
　I won't let any of them drop out. With that single-mindedness, she decided to administer first aid.


　She had to get away from this place as soon as possible now, but there was no decision to leave him behind, so Felinella took out her medical needle and sutures, which she had planted in the sole of her shoe, and prepared to proceed.

　Where the gravel had penetrated, it would have crushed the bone. If the blood vessels were also damaged, then emergency surgery would be required. There was no way to be sure of that, but........

　Felinella took out a leather case from her pouch.
　My father prepared it for me in case of an emergency. It is a simple healing spell with a magical formula that promotes the self-healing ability devised by the saintly woman Nexolis. It's not something that you can get if you pay for it, and it's not something that anyone has the opportunity to get.

　It's not something that you'll ever be able to get your hands on. In terms of monetary value, the labor cost of having a healing mage accompany you is much cheaper.
　Even in Viziest, it was kept in the Alpha Army and he could barely get two copies of it.

''Don't worry, I'll get rid of the pain in no time.''

　With a word of encouragement to the man, Felinella makes up her mind.
　Naturally, it's not to use simple healing magic. It is life-threatening if you don't plug the hole that has been penetrated as soon as possible.

　I'm going to wrap a cloth around it and use it as a gag for the man to bite. The only thing that will have an anesthetic effect here is the injection of magical power, but even Ferrinella doesn't have such a very fine technique.

　He quickly disinfects the affected area and sutures the hole that was pierced. On top of that, a tape with simple healing magic is applied.
　The problem is the other wound.

　It feels like a gurgling lump. Just by touching it, you can still feel the gravel in your leg.

　After splashing clean water on the affected area, Seniat looked fearfully into Felinella's face.

'What's wrong, Felinella? We need to do the wounds over here as soon as possible.'
Yes, I know. But...

　There is no equipment to take it out, but if this is the case, there is a risk of causing an infection. It's not surprising that the fungus may be attached to the pebble that the demon was wearing.

''Just in case, I have a knife, but that would spread the wound needlessly, and it would be difficult to take it out.
Can you do Illumina?

　At this time, when there was not a second to think, Ferrinella turned her anxious eyes to Illumina once.

'I'm sorry, but I'm regretting it. Perhaps Feri would be better.'
Okay, okay.

　He won't last until the exit if he doesn't do it anyway.



　◇ ◇ ◇


　It only took a few minutes to finish first aid.
　No, it could have been quicker. Once you simulate this in your brain, the process of getting there will turn into a vivid one with no hesitation.

　Ferrinella, who was dyed in a single color of fresh blood, washes her hands and wipes the sweat off her forehead as well.
　The boys who were treated, however, are not as bad as she is.

　Still, he managed to remain conscious, and as the captain, Felinella was grateful to him.

　The gravels that were left buried were plucked out, but the care tape with simple healing magic was already cut, and the stitches were wrapped tightly with a ripped cloth that also served to stop the bleeding, and as soon as the bleeding was stopped, a bandage would be applied.

　Elsewhere, Illumina had been struck by a gravel on her shoulder, creating a bruise that had turned purple, like a bruise. According to him, it's not his dominant hand, so it's not a major obstacle to fighting. Incidentally, she refused to hang her arm with bandages, as it hadn't stopped moving at all.
　The other male student is also fortunate that he was far away, and seems to have no trouble moving his arm to the extent that he was injured in several places.

　But, as I thought, Felinella couldn't help but think.
　I thought I had made the best choice, but I was forced to destroy my troops with a single move.

''So it's my fault.

　With a somber look on her face, Felinella couldn't help but feel weak. It's a good thing that you're not the only one.
　It's a good thing that you've been worrying about it every night to make sure this doesn't happen.

'That's not true, Feri. The first thing you should be happy about is that no one died in that situation.
'Yes, sir!　Our first priority is to get him back to a place where he can receive full-fledged treatment as soon as possible. I'm also responsible for him, and if I'd known about it earlier, I could have deployed protective magic...

　Following Illumina, Seniat also shook his head violently in agreement. That voice that desperately appealed was gradually trying to seek the blame from himself.

　But it is also true that the gravel released by the demon is not caused by magic power after all, but is a natural pebble, which is a heavy burden for the Seniat of the wind system. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　No one could have predicted this.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but it's still a waste of time to look for responsibilities, and that's what everyone else felt except for Illumina, Seniat and Felinella.

''Thank you all...''

　But it was unexpected, and Felinella couldn't let it go. She wasn't young enough to have a reflection here, but she was still mentally trapped, that was for sure.

''Oh, thank you.''

　A small voice, snatched from his back, told him thanks. The squeezing sound was made by a male student who had just finished his treatment.

'No, you did better than that I'm really, really glad you did.

　Shivering, Felinella let her voice out. She had tried and tried until today with only that goal in mind, without letting anyone die. The mission was secondary. The only thing that matters right now is that we all make it back safely.

Get some rest now. You need to have your wounds looked at by a healing mage as soon as possible.

　Otherwise it would be too late and his legs would be useless for the rest of his life. Without mentioning the fact, Felinella opened her mouth to calm him down for a moment.

　It was only about twenty minutes, but he was still lucky to be able to stay in one place for this long.


　However, the troops couldn't function properly in this situation. The only ones who can move properly are Felinella and Seniat.
　Without needing to analyze the current situation, Felinella said the policy so that everyone could hear it.

''We decline the mission and will turn back immediately.

　The troops selected from the Second Academy of Magic, led by Felinella, were unanimously put together in an immediate retreat.