Ch#88
Enzo hastily pulled the carriage over on the mountain path.
It was at the eastern entrance to the Gravis Mountains, which they had to cross to reach the Capital.
"Kid, hey kid! Pull yourself together, okay?"
Veil, who had laid Astie down on the seat, gently shook the child.
"Kid. Can't you hear me? Huh?"
But no matter how much he called, Astie didn't stir.
Enzo touched Tie's forehead and muttered.
"......It's too hot."
Astie was suffering from a raging high fever.
He anxiously looked around at the other members.
"High fever in a kid...... Isn't this dangerous?"
Silence fell.
As they exchanged bewildered glances, Raoul suddenly snapped to attention and muttered.
"......Ice."
He hurriedly rushed to the luggage compartment and opened the food box.
Inside was about half-full of ice the blacksmiths had packed with fresh food.
"What if we use this to bring the fever down?!"
"Yeah. Good idea."
Basto, who answered, took off his overcoat.
And as if to cover Tie with it, he stepped toward the inside of the carriage.
"Wait! Just in case, I have a bit of fever medicine from the checkpoint. This too......"
Nordics also pulled a pill from his small bag, but
"Are you all crazy?"
Everyone froze at Lucarion's words.
Lucarion, who had been checking Tie's face, was now glaring sharply.
He stared at Raoul first.
"Ice compress? Don't you know rapid cooling can cause hypothermia? Astie's still a child. Her body temperature regulation is immature as it is—what are you......"
Raoul quickly set down the ice bag.
Lucarion turned to Basto next.
"You too. Don't think about covering Astie with anything—go light a fire over there."
"......Fire?"
"Yeah. Make lukewarm water and fill that bucket. And clean cloth."
Basto stood blankly for a moment but soon dashed off in the direction Lucarion pointed.
Lucarion stared at Nordics.
"Where'd you buy that fever medicine?"
Nordics looked flustered but hesitated before answering.
"Capital outskirts, at the checkpoint apothecary......"
"Not the kid version, I assume."
"It's for adults."
"Then cut it in a quarter."
"What?"
"Cut it in a quarter unless you want to overdose a child with adult fever medicine."
Nordics's eyes flicked to the pill in his hand.
Soon he hurriedly pulled a small hand knife from his belt.
As he began cutting the pill, Lucarion added.
"Just in case, try the medicine last. Only if the fever doesn't go down with other methods."
"Got it."
Lucarion finally turned to the frozen Enzo and Veil.
"You, check the nearest village. You, go heat water to drink. Lukewarm, like I said. She'll dehydrate at this rate."
Veil swallowed hard.
But soon he grabbed a water bottle and ran toward Basto.
Enzo had already gone to the driver's seat for the map.
* * *
Inside the carriage as dusk fell.
"Euuung......"
Astie's groan echoed softly.
Lucarion, sitting by her head, gently stroked Tie's damp forehead.
"Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Astie."
At his words, the child's furrowed brow smoothed out.
Tie curled up on her side from her sprawled position.
Veil muttered.
"......Thank goodness the fever went down."
Recalling the situation a few hours ago made his vision blur again.
The members had moved busily under Lucarion's instructions.
Basto had brought lukewarm wet cloths to wipe Tie's body,
Nordics had crushed the fever medicine and portioned it small enough for the child,
and Raoul and Veil had kept trickling lukewarm water into Tie's mouth to prevent dehydration.
Meanwhile, Enzo returned from checking the map with an uneasy expression.
"There's a village a bit further into the Gravis Mountains. It seems to have an inn, so we might be able to stay overnight......"
"But?"
"One of the blacksmiths mentioned most residents evacuated recently due to a new magic stone nearby. What if we get there and the village is empty?"
"......Yeah. And if there's an unsieged magic stone, even worse."
Agavert held an emergency meeting.
They considered turning back to the Weapon District since they didn't know how Tie would fare, but
"Can't go back to the Weapon District. Sky says rain soon."
The problem was the path they'd taken so far was a gently sloped dirt road.
Agavert's carriage was heavy to begin with.
Still, they'd made it this far because the mountain paths had been dry enough.
However,
"Downhill in rain changes everything. The area will turn to mud, and if the horses slip, everyone's in danger."
Considering the weight of the mercenary group's luggage and all the magic beast cores they'd collected.
Racing down steep slopes or wet roads raised the risk of overturning high.
"I thought we were stuck for sure."
Veil wiped his face, recalling the precarious situation, and looked at Astie.
Fortunately, the fever subsided after wiping her down with lukewarm cloths.
Lucarion's biggest worry, dehydration, had passed smoothly too.
"It's okay, Tie. Everything will be fine."
Veil eyed the summon nursing Tie with a subtle gaze.
'The kid's a monster, so this summon's a monster too?'
The summons Veil had seen were just lumps chasing the summoner around making weird noises.
First time seeing a human form, and smart to boot.
As he shook his head and turned away,
"......"
He locked eyes with Basto, who sighed with a similar expression.
They'd growled at each other at first, but now closer, Veil could read Basto's eyes.
Basto seemed to think the same.
Meanwhile, Nordics, staring at the campfire from afar, muttered.
"Gotta stock kid emergency meds at the next apothecary......"
Nordics had been just as rattled by this incident.
'Should've raised a kid sometime to know these things......'
His gaze drifted to Astie's summon.
Name was Lucarion?
Without that summon, Astie's condition would likely have worsened greatly.
And isolated in the woods, in the worst case......
Nordics paled and asked Lucarion.
"Where'd you learn all that?"
The summon turned at his words.
Summon or not, his human form was so natural he seemed like an ordinary boy.
"From a certain man."
"Man?"
"Learned from the man who was Astie's dad."
Nordics's eyes widened.
The other members were shocked too.
Meanwhile, Lucarion glanced indifferently at them as if annoyed and added.
"It's been a while since Astie summoned me. We've been together since she was a newborn, so over four years now, I guess."
"......"
"Whenever Tie got sick, that man always did this. I remembered it all."
