I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 56: Cleansing

Chapter 56: Cleansing

Stanley left a bag in the hallway and went out to get it. It contained a few magical tools that he would need for what he was about to do.

When he made his way back into the room, under the watchful gaze of Sir Gunnar, he took a seat in the chair Arthur once occupied since it was closest to the girl’s wound.

After the mage pushed the blankets aside and lifted the child’s tunic once more, he placed glasses on the bridge of his nose and squinted through them to get a better look.

His posture was curved as he leaned forward. After all, he was an old man and had gotten used to bending a certain way over textbooks and magic spells as he continued the lifelong study of mana.

Over his glasses, he looked at the knight.

"Get a maid," he said. "I will need towels. It will get messy."

Gunnar nodded and went to the hall where maids were already passing by. He knew that Agnes was the one who had worked with Irene before and requested that she help once more.

When the knight returned to the room, he saw Stanley lifting the bag of items and going through it with careful hands. He pulled out a small glass jar and placed it on the bedside table. Then he pulled out a sharp knife no longer than one of his fingers covered in leather but quickly took it out of the sheath, placing it on the table as well.

Once his supplies were set up, Agnes rushed into the room.

"I have been summoned," she announced, holding towels just as she was asked.

"I have to cleanse this wound," the mage explained. "It will get blood and... whatever this substance is if I don’t have a bit of help."

"Of course," the teenager said and she quickly joined the mage at his side.

She lay towels on the bed and tucked one underneath the girl, being as careful as she could without disturbing the sleeping Irene.

A few times she mused asking the younger girl what her real name was, but she held back, wondering if she would accidentally use that name instead. Ever since she found that the apprentice was a girl, all she could see was that. She was too pretty to be a boy, after all.

Without warning, Stanley lifted the knife and he began to cut through the stitching that had been done by Ingrid before. Almost immediately, the wound opened again, and out dripped blood and the grey substance.

However, at that time there was a particular stench coming from it as if it truly was festering.

Agnes cringed at the smell but Stanley seemed less phased than her. Even Sir Gunnar who stood far away but could very much see what was happening had to lower his eyebrows. He thought it smelled like death and it made his chest feel tight.

"The apprentice won’t wake up, correct?" she asked.

"Of course not," Stanley insisted.

He didn’t miss a beat as he produced a book from his sleeve. There was a page already being held and he used the side of Irene’s body to hold the book while he performed more magic with his free hand.

Instead of doing the spell in the air as he had done before, he began to write glyphs similar to earlier on the girl’s body, just above the open wound.

They were in a language no one in the room could recognize. When he made it to the last part of the spell, sealing it with a stab of his finger inside of the wound, he then dropped the book and used both of his hands to squeeze the skin around the wound and force out everything that was inside.

When it really started to flow even though it was still viscous, he opened the jar and collected some of the grey substance and her blood. Even though he would prefer to have only the grey, her blood was unavoidable as it dripped out onto the towel.

"Hold a towel against it," Stanley requested as he sealed up the jar once more.

He then wiped the blood and grey off of his hands while he waited for Agnes to clean up some more.

When her hands left the apprentice’s body, the mage summoned a different sort of magic that came to him far more easily than the spells he used before. It was in a warm shade of light orange and engulfed his hand completely. It moved like water and he pulled away the towel, causing more blood to drip out.

However, soon enough, the magic around his hand started flowing towards Irene and the wound on her side. Like tendrils of water, it pierced her skin and concentrated at the wound before all that was left was a scar.

Agnes’s mouth hung open but she still cleaned up the rest of the blood when Stanley’s hand stopped producing mana and pulled away.

When the area was clean, all that was left of the grey were faint veins around the edge of the scar. It was the healthiest the wound had looked the entire time it had been there.

Rather than staring at the wound like Sir Gunnar and Agnes, Stanley sat up straighter and started tilting the jar back and forth to observe the thick liquid as it sat in the container.

"I believe my work here is finished," he explained. "I will remain until the child has woken up to ensure that everything is alright."

"You said it would take a day," Sir Gunnar realized.

"Let me sleep in the library," the mage responded quickly. "You will hardly notice me there."

Considering he and the apprentices were who used the library the most, Sir Gunnar shrugged.

"Be my guest," he said. "Ask one of the other maids to take you."

The mage packed up his things—even tossing his jar of liquids into the bag a bit carelessly—before he left the room in a seemingly good mood and bounded down the hallway to find the place he sought.

"Iro seems alright now, doesn’t he?" Agnes asked, still fussing with the towels and making sure the apprentice was covered up and comfortable.

"I surely hope so," Gunnar responded. "I suppose I ought to summon Sir Arthur. It took quite a bit less time than expected."