Chapter 36: She’s Improving

Reinhart clicked her tongue, gripping the thrashing monster beneath her. With brutal precision, she forced it into the ground, crushing it instantly. The creature crashes and dies, allowing Reinhart to safely to get down. With no one leading the demons, the knights were able to quickly clean up. Crisis averted.

Reinhart rounds up all the knights and takes a headcount, thankfully, no one died, but there were many injured and passed out either from exhaustion or pain. In the middle of a bloody battlefield, the group takes a well-deserved rest while tending to the wounds of the misfortunate. 

Selina exhaled shakily, massaging her sore shoulders. Aside from a few bruises, scratches, and the overwhelming fatigue from overusing her magic, she was relatively unscathed. But there was no time to dwell on that. She quickly bandaged herself up before heading toward the others to help.

Selina moved through the battlefield, stepping carefully over the fallen bodies of demons as she approached the cluster of knights tending to the wounded. The stench of blood and burnt flesh lingered in the air, making her stomach churn, but she pushed the discomfort aside. She had no time to falter.

Reinhart was already at the center of it all, efficiently directing the knights to set up a temporary triage area. Despite the dark gunk splattered all over her, she moved with precision, not wasting a single second.

Selina knelt beside a young knight clutching his side, his face pale from blood loss. She pressed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Let me see."

He hesitated, then removed his trembling fingers to reveal a deep gash along his ribs. Selina inhaled sharply, too deep for a simple bandage, but not fatal if treated quickly. She reached for the medical supplies and did her best to clean and wrap the wound, trying to recall the techniques Reinhart had drilled into her.

"Hold still," she muttered, tightening the bandage.

The knight winced but nodded. "Thank you, Lady Amelia."

She forced a small smile before moving on. More knights lay scattered across the field, some groaning in pain, others eerily silent. Reinhart was helping a heavily wounded soldier sit upright when she caught Selina's eye.

"Check on Noah," Reinhart instructed, her voice sharp despite her exhaustion.

Selina's chest tightened, but she didn't worry too much, Noah had plot armor after all. She found Noah sitting on a broken piece of armor, his usually pristine attire torn and stained with grime. He was holding his head, eyes squeezed shut, his breathing uneven.

"Noah!" Selina called out, kneeling in front of him.

He cracked one eye open. "Amelia, I'm fine."

"Liar," she shot back, grabbing his wrist and pulling it away from his head. A thin trail of blood dripped from his nose, his body still trembling slightly. "You pushed yourself too hard."

He exhaled through his nose, smiling faintly. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Selina frowned and grabbed a clean cloth, dabbing at the blood. Noah let her, though he remained unusually quiet.

"You should check on Troye as well." Noah mutters.

"He can look after himself." Selina replies with no hesitation.

"He has a pretty bad gash on his arm, I'm sure he would love to get taken care of by his little sis~" 

"I'm pretty sure he would slash me if I even touched a sliver of his skin cell."

"...yeah, I can't say anything about that." Noah lets out a pained laugh.

"Don't talk too much, wait till you heal up." Selina advises.

"Cmon Amelia, you know I can't keep my mouth shut. It's boring."

"Blah blah blah, taking care of yourself isn't boring." 

After a few hours, most of the knights woke up and were patched up. It was nearing midnight, so they quickly got on the horses that were safe-guarded prior, carrying the others who weren't awake yet as they set off to a safer place to take cover in. 

"So, he got away?" Selina asks Reinhart while she was on the horse.

"Yeah, but he was pretty injured. He probably hasn't gotten far; I'll do a lookout for him once we're out of danger." She answers.

"Reinhart…did I do well?" Selina buried her head into Reinhart's back, too nervous to look at her while waiting for her answer.

"...For your first time, not so bad. Despite your lack of strength, you made up for it with support. You did as much as you could, and I can commend your dedication and effort. You were also the one who caught that strange man's weakness and helped me get up to him which was what ultimately let us win." Selina's ears perk up under Reinhart's unabashed praise.

"But" She continues. "If it weren't for me, you know you would've probably died, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Regardless…good job Amelia, maybe you weren't as much as a lost cause that I thought prior."

Selina blinked, stunned for a moment. Then, slowly, a bright smile spread across her face.

"I'm glad you realized that" Selina proudly lifts up her head.

"Don't get too arrogant now," Reinhart muttered, rolling her eyes. "You're still weak. Just… a little less."

"I still have room to grow," Selina admitted. "But the important thing is… I'm improving."

Reinhart didn't respond, but she didn't need to.

Selina had won this small victory.