Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2068 2040. The Possibility of Salvation

After Lan En finished speaking, silence fell over the suspended corridor.

Melina gritted her teeth and pursed her lips, looking at the Witcher with disbelief. Leilana was wearing a helmet so her expression couldn't be seen, but she was also facing Lann.

The two women didn't understand what Lan En meant by terms like 'non-invasive' and 'surgery'.

However, they could probably understand what Lan En was saying.

Is he saying that those sorcerers... can heal?!
Since his expedition to the Shadowlands, Messermo seemed to have understood his mother's worries and concerns. He took the initiative to find those sorcerers and settle them in Shadowlands, attempting to treat and alleviate their pain.

But to this day, there has been no improvement.

They only developed the "Blessed Eye Mask" to give people a false sense of comfort.

Later, this blessed eye-covering membrane even became a reward within the Holy War Army, giving the legion, which could no longer see the light of the golden tree, the most basic centripetal force and cohesion.

In contrast, there is the "Dark Eye Cover," which completely blocks the wearer from receiving even a ray of light, plunging them into utter darkness, both visually and mentally. This was used as a form of punishment within the Jihadist Army.

However, their accompanying doctors and perfumers were using a treatment system that Lan En considered quite rudimentary, but the addition of supernatural forces made it much more effective.

Even so, the perfumers of the Shadowlands have developed a generational gap with the perfumers of the Royal City of Rodel due to their long-term separation.

Not to mention in Lan En's eyes.

They even wanted to use herbs and incense to help the sorcerer's body gradually adjust and eventually return to a normal state.

Lan En glanced over just now and knew: Of course that's impossible!

Why are you keeping all that rotten flesh if you're not going to cut it off?

Of course, it's mostly not that perfumers don't want to use surgery to remove the tissue first, but rather that the perfumer's medical knowledge and skills haven't reached that level. The perfumer's own techniques also don't meet the requirements.

However, in Lan En's hands, these sorcerers, whose flesh was growing together with rotten flesh, could undoubtedly be saved.

"You mean..."

Melina probably didn't even realize that when she spoke, her usually cold and indifferent tone had a slight tremor.

Leilana was in a similar situation and didn't notice the soul girl's abnormality either: "Do you have a way to save them?"

“If their numbers aren’t too outrageous,” Lan En rubbed his forehead and frowned, “I can cut open their bodies, nerves, blood vessels, bones… the sorcerers’ remains the sorcerers’ remains, and the rotten flesh’s remains the rotten flesh.”

"After that, I need to suppress the inflammation and ulceration, then cover it with new skin, isolate the internal environment from the outside world again, rebuild their own immune system, and soothe the nerve damage caused by long-term torment... Tsk, I've really given myself a big job."

A string of technical terms that no one else could understand came out of Lan En's mouth.

But the less they understood, the more hopeful Melina and Leilana became!
As soon as Lan En spoke, the plush ball jumped up and cheered with a "meow"!

The kitten tugged at Melina's cloak and shook it incessantly: "There's hope! If Boss says he can heal, then he definitely can, meow! I saw it before! Three dwarves had ruptured hearts! Boss revived them all in just a few minutes, meow!"

Leilana nodded immediately: "I'll arrange for people to find all the remaining sorcerers from the Shadowlands and bring them here! If you can really heal them..."

The Knight of the Twin Moons spoke with great seriousness: “Messermo will be very grateful to you! Although he is not good at expressing gratitude, I assure you, he will feel that way in his heart.”

"I hope so," Lan En shook his head. "I hope our meeting will go smoothly."

The Twin Moon Knight nodded without hesitation: "Of course."

Leilana received some good news in the Shadowlands after a long time. She led the way out of the treatment room and was about to lead Lann and the others to continue upwards from the Species Preservation Room.

Lan En lagged behind and walked alongside Melina.

Just like when she approached the Golden Tree before, the Soul Girl suddenly reached out from under her cloak and grabbed the Witcher's palm.

“…Thank you,” 'Little Wooden Head' managed to stammer out, her voice trembling with confusion. “I…I don’t know why, after seeing them…I…I shouldn’t have known them at all, but…”

Even though her mind was in complete chaos, Melina still tried to calm her tone, as if that would calm her thoughts as well.

But as she spoke, her right eye started to redden on its own.

Even though her memories of Queen Marika in the Shadowlands were hazy, this intense emotion remained and influenced her.

But at this moment, instead of patiently and gently comforting the soul girl, Lan En pushed and shoved her.

"Alright, alright, I know you're confused right now. You really want to thank me, but when you go see Messermo later, be sure to reveal your true identity as his sister and show him what's what! Let's go!"

"Huh?" Melina's eyes, which had been reddening, stopped abruptly. "But, I still don't know if he and I count as...?"

Ignoring Melina's protests, Lan En pushed the girl's shoulder and shoved her out the door.

Melina had no choice but to follow Lelana forward.

The Witcher, who was at the back, lost his teasing smile towards Melina and took one last, deep look at the hall below the suspended corridor.

"You're so gentle."

A mesmerizing voice drifted from beside her, a conversation only the Witcher could hear. Torina sat on the railing of the suspended corridor, her thick purple hair floating and swaying like waves.

“Don’t say that,” Lan En rolled his eyes at her. “When I hear that, it makes me feel like I’m doomed.”

"Is it that dark?" Torina covered her mouth and chuckled. "You clearly want to use your medical skills to save innocent people, but even such a clear act of kindness seems dangerous to you?"

“Doing good means opposing evil, which is risky,” the Witcher said, shrugging. “But it doesn’t matter, we still have to do it.”

“So, in the end,” Torina floated closer to the Witcher’s face, smiling, “it’s not just gentleness, but also strength and determination?”

Lan En tilted his head back: "You really know how to flatter, Your Majesty."

“I was just stating what I saw and heard,” Torina said with a smile, but then her expression changed as she looked at Lann. “Lann… I’m sorry.”

The Witcher raised an eyebrow in confusion, trying to decipher the sleeping saintess's expression.

She was still smiling, but the smile was no longer the genuine one it had been seconds before; it was now mixed with something else.

Relief, determination, remorse...

"You're apologizing to me? Why?"

But when pressed for answers, Torina suddenly drifted away.

"I don't know," she said with a smile. "Maybe you'll find out someday?"

Torina ignored Lann's calls, and the Witcher could only follow Melina out.

Returning to the species repository that is a hybrid of a museum and a library.

Margarita was clutching her chest, leaning against the wall and dry heaving.

She pushed away the thugs who were originally standing there, and they were now peeking around the corner with their big machetes on their shoulders.

"What exactly is in there?" Margarita's face showed lingering fear; the smell from the treatment room still seemed to linger in her nose. "The blood pool wasn't this terrifying! Melina and the others didn't tell me what was inside after they came out."

"It's nothing. Are you alright?"

Lan En spoke with a mixture of concern and perfunctory replies.

Inside that room lay the hatred and sins between the horned people and the sorcerers of the Shadowlands.

It has little to do with the rest of the people in the border region, let alone someone from another world like Margarita.

She wasn't a woman who could tolerate filth, disgust, and tragedy, and Lann knew her well.

Therefore, since this matter has nothing to do with her, Lan En didn't want her to suffer any unnecessary distress.

Led by Leilana, the group climbed upwards. In the Species Repository, there were shadow scholars who seemed to want to continue reading and researching even if their physical bodies were completely destroyed.

And another type of knight appeared here, the Flame Knight.

They are all tall and slender, skilled in using various weapons such as heavy rapiers and short swords with flame patterns, and wear silver armor and red cloaks.

They are said to be Mesmer's personal guards, with a relationship similar to that of the Venerable Knights of the Sacred Tree Legion who follow Marlene.

However, as a force originating from the Golden Dynasty, they use the forbidden power of fire as their symbol and that of their Royal Guard Knights.

If Messermo wasn't so unrestrained by Queen Marika's favoritism, then he was completely indifferent to his reputation within the dynasty.

Lakad only dared to contact the Flame Watchers in secret.

The path to the Species Repository was extremely winding, and the unique nature of the scene almost reminded Lann of the Lothric Grand Archives he had entered in the Fire World.

Fortunately, with Leilana leading the way, they made their way smoothly under the watchful eyes of the various fire knights until they arrived at a black iron door at the very top and deepest part of the building.

This place doesn't resemble the residence of a castle lord; rather, it's like a dark room deliberately hidden in a secluded and inaccessible place, unwilling to be contacted by people.

The door was pushed open, accompanied by the heavy sound of steel scraping against the stone slab.

Inside were only shadows with some outlines.

The group walked along the path outlined in the map, and Leilana's silver armor looked more like moonlight in the distance.

Once everyone had fully entered the dark room, scattered yet bright candlelight began to ignite from all around.

The dark room gradually became bright.

Everyone's eyes followed the candles as they lit up one by one.

Then a voice suddenly rang out, seemingly from nearby among the crowd.

"Leilana, who did you bring with you...?"

(End of this chapter)