139 Chapter 139: Military Base (1/2)
Troy and Kureha managed to bring me to the military base to the north. Rather, Troy did. With his prodigious strength, he basically carried me like a duffel bag, tucking my body into his elbow and walking normally.
Kureha raised an eyebrow at that.
”You sure you don't need any help?”
”Yeah. Richie's pretty light.” He frowned. ”I hope he has been eating properly. He feels like he's underweight.”
What can I say? No matter how much I ate, I never grew fat.
”Halt!”
Before the two could approach the military camp any further, the two sentries called out to them. The first one stepped forward, his finger on the trigger guard, but he wisely didn't aim his rifle at the three of us.
”This is a restricted area. Civilians are not allowed here.”
”Sorry, but we have an emergency.” Troy gestured toward my unconscious form. ”One of us got seriously injured when fighting a monster, so we might need some help. You have a doctor or healer in there? Or maybe a transport to bring us back to Jing Tian City?”
The two sentries glanced at each other, and the first sighed before he nodded. ”Wait here. I'll have to check with my superiors.”
”Hey! I know that kid!” the second sentry blurted out as he studied me. ”Isn't he one of Feng Hai's students? He came here for the training camp a few months back, didn't he?”
”Oh, you're right!” the first sentry paused to look closely at me. ”Now that you've mentioned it, he is that student from Jing Tian Academy!” he then turned to regard Troy and Kureha. ”What about the two of you? Where are you from?”
”I'm also from Jing Tian Academy. I was away on a mission during the training camp, so I didn't take part in it.” Troy produced his student ID as evidence.
”I'm Kureha Franklin. I hired these two Jing Tian Academy students for a mission.” Kureha lowered her head. ”It's my fault that they are injured. If you could please help treat our wounds or bring us to a hospital, I'll find some way to compensate somehow…”
”No need for that,” the first sentry assured her. ”We're soldiers. It's our job to protect civilians.”
”And besides, you guys aren't exactly civilians,” the second sentry added. ”Don't feel guilty, Miss. These students already knew the risks and dangers when they accepted your mission. You should thank them, not apologize.”
”I will.” Kureha nodded.” She turned to Troy. ”Thank you.”
”No problem. Make sure you thank Richie as well.”
The sentries contacted their sergeant, who reported to the Regimental Sergeant Major, who then gave his permission, on the condition that they watched us. After all, they couldn't just allow outsiders to casually stroll into a highly restricted military camp without supervision. I was unconscious the entire time, so I didn't know the details, but I was delivered to the medical center and placed in the infirmary. The military doctor or medical officer in charge cast his healing spells on us and then left us to recover.
Before he did, though, he assured Troy and Kureha that I would be fine.
”Yes, that boy certainly suffered severe injuries,” he acknowledged. ”But he's mostly exhausted. His mana is completely depleted. He'll probably sleep for a few days before he finally wakes up.” he frowned and adjusted his glasses to peer at us. ”You said you guys were fighting a dragon? A rank A dragon?”
”Yeah.” Kureha gestured to my glasses, which was lying on the bedside. ”You can check the mission recordings if you don't believe us.”
”No need. But it explains how this young man used up all of his mana. That's a rare occurrence – most people don't simply expend all their mana to the point of collapse like this. But against a dragon, I can see why he was forced to go all out.”
He then glanced at Troy and Kureha.
”But I must say, I'm surprised that the three of you survived an encounter with a dragon. How did you escape?”
”By nuking the dragons,” Troy replied. He jabbed a thumb at me. ”Richie's insane. He has this nuke-level spell…”
”…huh?” the doctor raised an eyebrow in disbelief. ”You actually slew the dragon?”
Dragons. Plural. But neither Troy nor Kureha was in the mood to correct him. Instead, Kureha nodded.
”As I said, if you don't believe me, you can view the mission logs for yourself.”
”Right.” The doctor frowned as he glanced at me, and then he blinked. ”Ah, now that I think about it, this young man reminds me of that Jing Tian Academy student who used a large-scale spell to destroy a trio of rank B Crastrates…”
He trailed off when realization dawned on him.
”Oh…so this is the student…”
”Yup, Richie was the one who nuked those Crastrates.” For some reason, Troy sounded proud, as if my achievements belonged to him.
”I see.” The doctor nodded and turned away to leave. ”Anyway, he'll require a long period of rest before he wakes up. You two should get some rest too. It's not as if you got off lightly.”
”Will do, doc!” Troy called out cheerfully after him.
*