My Ex-Girlfriend Was Appointed as a Knight Commander

Chapter 21

“...It really healed cleanly in an unbelievable way.”

In the academy’s infirmary, Maxim was receiving treatment with his upper body completely bare.

Theodora’s potion had a very definite effect. Right there on the spot, the bleeding had stopped, and the wound could be seen close up rapidly. It made one wonder where she had obtained such an item.

“It’s a potion that extremely boosts natural healing power and assists that process, so you’ll have to consider that scars will remain.”

The medic in the infirmary said while touching the scar on Maxim’s wound.

“You can remove the bandages now. If you feel any pain, let me know. As for training... I want to tell you to avoid it if possible, but it should be okay to do it lightly.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Be careful, as phantom pain may occur at the wound site.”

Maxim let out a sigh of relief. Calling the instructor would have been the best option, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t understand Theodora’s feelings. But since Maxim was injured, their score probably won’t be very good. The instructor seemed to find it quite unexpected that he was wounded in the dungeon.

‘That Living Armor definitely wasn’t something that should have appeared in the academy’s final exam.’

Maxim recalled the armor swinging that giant sword. Its overwhelming presence and swordsmanship were not inferior to those of a proper knight. Moreover, it wasn’t easy to confront it in a state where aura was restricted. Maxim lowered his raised upper garment and felt his chest and abdomen. He didn’t feel any pain.

“The treatment is over. You don’t need to come regularly. Visit if you feel anything abnormal.”

The medic tapped the desk as if delivering a verdict. Maxim stepped out of the hospital room, pressing his hand on the area where the scar remained. Outside the room, Theodora was waiting for him with an anxious expression. As soon as the hospital room door opened, Theodora ran towards Maxim.

“How is it? Maxim. Did they say there’s nothing wrong?”

“Yeah. The potion you poured seems to have definitely worked. They said it’s all healed cleanly.”

Theodora looked at Maxim with a drooping expression. To Maxim, that gloomy expression seemed like a puppy that had done something wrong to its owner. He carefully stroked her head, but Theodora’s expression didn’t change much.

“It’s okay, it’s not Theo’s fault.”

“I should have been more careful. Maybe that wouldn’t have happened if I had just sliced it with an Aura Blade from the beginning.”

Maxim shook his head at Theodora’s self-reproach.

“No, Theo. Who would have known that the armor would persistently target only you? It was right to approach it cautiously. And if we had fought with aura from the beginning, the dungeon would have collapsed on us.”

“Maxim...”

Theodora leaned on Maxim with her head hanging low. Perhaps her movement was more cautious and lighter than usual because he was injured.

With a thud, Theodora’s head touched Maxim’s chest. He drew her into his arms and stroked her head.

“Don’t get hurt.”

Theodora’s voice had become moist again. Maxim smiled bitterly at her appearance, even though he thought he was happy.

“Okay.”

“Don’t leave me either.”

“Of course.”

Theodora’s hair felt by Maxim’s hand was so soft. Maxim endlessly stroked that silky hair.

==

There was a sea of blood and a bright blue sky without a single cloud. The red seawater was sweeping away the sand on the beach.

It took quite a long time for Maxim to realize that the scenery was a dream. Maxim was sitting on the white sand beach. The sand grains were not fine but coarse. He raised his hand, grasped a handful of sand, and let it flow. The sand fell with a rustling sound and mixed back into the beach.

The white sand beach stretched without curves as if drawn with a ruler. Maxim turned his head left and right. The horizon and the skyline were visible simultaneously.

“Max.”

Maxim turned his head towards where the voice was coming from. His eyes landed in the middle of the red sea. Theodora was standing, submerged up to her knees. She was standing there wearing a snow-white dress he had seen only once before.

“Theo?”

Theodora held a sword in her right hand. With a splashing sound, she approached Maxim. He tried to get up from his spot, but his body couldn’t move.

Theodora was already standing in front of Maxim. When he raised his head, he saw her expressionless face. Theodora was quietly looking at Maxim with the sword hanging down.

“What is going on...”

Before Maxim could finish his sentence, Theodora raised the sword high. His pupils dilated as they captured the tip of that blade.

“Theo?”

Crunch.

“Ugh!”

‘Huh?’

The world suddenly slowed down. Maxim felt a pain as if someone had slashed his chest with a knife. He dropped his sword and fell to the floor of the training grounds without even having time to scream at the pain that turned his vision white. Someone’s shout, which was watching him, was the last thing he heard; Maxim’s consciousness was cut off.

Thud.

==

“...I don’t know the reason...”

“...For him to suddenly collapse..!”

Someone’s conversation was heard through his hazy consciousness. Maxim quickly regained his senses as if someone had pulled him out of the water.

“A cadet who was training just fine suddenly collapsed, and you don’t know what happened?”

“I don’t know either. We have no choice but to call a healing mage and have a thorough examination to find out more detailed symptoms.”

Maxim blinked his eyes. The place he was lying in was none other than the infirmary. In front of his hospital bed, the bald instructor and the medic were having a heated conversation. When Maxim made a rustling sound as he raised his head, the bald instructor widened his eyes and approached Maxim.

“You’ve regained consciousness!”

“Instructor... I...”

Maxim tried to forcibly raise his upper body but froze in place after looking down at his tracksuit.

Traces of dark blood had flowed all the way down from his neck, completely staining the top of his tracksuit with blood.

“You were training just fine and then suddenly collapsed while vomiting blood. What on earth happened to you?”

The bald instructor carefully asked Maxim.

“I also... don’t know how this happened...”

Maxim turned his head towards the medic. Maxim’s voice was weak and trembling.

“Is it because of the wound?”

The medic frowned at Maxim’s words and shook his head as if he didn’t know.

“I don’t know either. Maxim, can you tell me in detail where and how it hurts?”

Hurts?

Maxim suddenly felt his scar. Strangely, he didn’t feel any pain at all now. And he couldn’t feel his fingers touching the wound either. It felt like that part wasn’t his own body. Maxim hesitated to speak, feeling an ominous premonition rushing over him.

“It doesn’t hurt at all...”

The medic nodded his head as if listening to Maxim’s words.

“From the wound site, not at all...”

Click.

Interrupting Maxim’s words, the door to the infirmary opened. The bald instructor and the medic simultaneously hardened their expressions and turned their heads toward the opened door.

“We’re currently treating an urgent patient, so unless it’s an urgent matter...”

The medic’s words were cut off before they could even reach halfway. Maxim looked at the person who had entered through the door with bewildered eyes.

“Is the cadet named Maxim, Maxim Apart here?”

The bald instructor’s expression distorted terribly.

“Why is the head of the Bening family looking for our cadet?”

Upon hearing those words, an inorganic smile, as if cut from crystal, appeared on the expression of Marquis Leon Bening. Behind him stood one knight guarding the head of the Bening family and one man with blue eyes wearing a monocle.

“I apologize. I have a brief matter to discuss with him, so...”

Maxim’s eyes met Leon’s. Maxim looked at those cold eyes, which showed no emotion at all.

“Could you give us a moment alone?”

Translator’s Corner

I finally have some in stock for my other novel, so I’ll allow donations for bonus chapters here. They will go on later when I can’t do daily uploads.

-Ruminas