Chapter 78: Pov of Hugo.
Hugo's POV.
How many years has it been since we got ourselves into this kind of trouble?
I think it hasn't even been long since I got back from my mission but problems started showing up from everywhere. Non-stop keeping me busy the entire time. I don't even have enough time to spend with my own family, Lisa once said to me that she felt like I still haven't come back since I was always outside of our house.
We can only spend our time together during my rest day which is Sunday, but even on those days work still managed to find a way to my house.
And now that I think about it, Lord Hubert is actually a pretty amazing man to manage the entire territory on his own. But now even with all the help from us the 10 great families, it seems like this problem would take some time and power to solve.
The only reason why we're able to win this battle against the mutated creatures is by the unity of everyone.
Unity to fight and protect our land, our home, and our family. Without this virtue, it would be hard to tide this battle, and it's all thanks to our Lord Hubert.
His leadership and strength have greatly contributed to the strong morale of many soldiers. Without him, even if I personally lead all of them to fight many would definitely falter.
His strong presence alone is already enough to encourage many of us, but seeing him fight alone outside the city is something else.
I alone already have a hard time dealing with that mutated plant creature. It even managed to inflict severe injuries on me before I was able to kill it. In fact, when I take a quick visit to my wife last night she almost screams out of horror upon seeing the wounds on my face.
I understand that she was concerned about our situation outside the shelter but I assured her that everything is already under control. That's the only time she let go of my arms before asking me about my injuries.
So I told her everything that happens during the battle, and she was clearly disturbed the entire time while listening to me. Especially, when I told her the reason for the hole in my cheeks, she almost cried but she control herself not to.
Instead of further worrying her I just told her a mixture of truth and lies.
That my opponent has a unique ability to absorb my aura that's why I suffered terribly under its vine, and it's also the same reason why it took me a long time to kill it since most of my aura skills are useless against it.
I know it's a lame reason but she still took the bait, but I know that she is aware that I still have hidden something from her in order to lessen her worry.
Most of the things I told her are the truth, the only lie that I said is not saying that I almost died during that battle. I was able to survive all thanks to my armor which was given to me by my lord Hubert.
Without this armor of resilience, I would definitely have the same fate as Sir Daniel.
Although it is indeed true that I defeated my enemy with my own blade but that fight alone has used more than half of my entire aura reserve.
A thing that rarely happen to me even when I was outside the city doing my mission.
Aura is the main power of a knight it comes from the mana in the surroundings or from magical products such as fruits and beasts.
But the battle yesterday has clearly taken a toll on the mana presence around us. Even the mana in the city has become thinner because of it, because we absorbed a lot of mana in the air in order to replenish our own. But that alone would not be enough to fully replenish us, as the concentration of mana in this place has decreased significantly since the monster wave appeared.
And now, all the knights in the city we're all here to listen and discuss further instructions from our Lord Hubert.
But Imagine my surprise when I first saw the appearance of sir Daniel.
Out of all the current 16 knights in the territory, he was the one who suffered the most injuries. Something that I didn't expect to happen to someone like him because he was a strong guy.
Daniel was known as the third strongest knight in the city of Florentine, and yet he almost lost his life during the crisis. If not because of the early treatment he received then even Ethan, our potion master would have had a hard time patching him up.
It's just a good thing that those two guys Lucas and Michael were there to help him when he loses consciousness after killing that three-headed monster.
While waiting for his father to arrive Lucas also showed to me the strange mana core that he got from that monster, and it was even bigger than the core I recovered from my enemy. Who is some kind of mutation of a plant-type monster.
So from this clue alone, I can already understand why Daniel suffered that kind of fate. It was because his enemy is much stronger than mine.
Aside from this, I also found out about the sudden advancement of captain Jack into knighthood due to an embarrassing accident, but Lucas failed to tell me the whole story because Lord Hubert finally arrived in the room and he immediately lectured Lucas about his wrongdoing.
Although it is indeed true that Lucas is at fault for this incident we can't deny the fact that his contribution to this battle is huge.
So I can't let him suffer solely for this matter as I know that father and son have just become close recently, and I can't just stand here and do nothing as I watched them fall apart. So I finally decided to intervene in their matter to resolve the misunderstanding between the two.
Although I have overstepped my boundaries as a knight but Hubert knows better that I have a point, so he eventually forgives him before we proceed to the main topic for today.
But this kid is truly bold, he even experimented with mana skills on his own without anyone's supervision.
Everyone knows how dangerous that stuff is, but he remained firm in his actions he even managed to make Michael hide everything from our lord.
It's a dangerous but admirable character. Lucas would definitely grow up stronger than me and his father. He has a strong desire for power than us, and he will do anything to achieve it, even at the risk of his own life.
Something that Hubert and I both lack in common as our priority is not to become powerful, but to keep the city safe.
"Moving forward for today's matter I would like to know the current status of our soldiers let's begin with you, Hugo." I heard our lord say as he look at me with an anxious expression.
"Hugo,.......~Sighed~......how's the situation with our soldiers? Are you already done with the assessment?" Lord Hubert asked me after he was done scolding the two brats.
I look him in the eye before I finally say the bad news.
"We have just finished our tally earlier, but according to the reports I received there are 30 soldiers dead, more than 100 soldiers with major injuries, and 300 with minor injuries." I said in a grim voice.
"So far that's the last number of reports I received from our soldiers. And due to the large number of patients, Ethan can only use a diluted version of his potion to help them." I added as I saw him clench his fist probably in anger.
Even before I received this report I already prepared myself for the worst, but when I finally saw the number of casualties it still made me sad and shed some tears. After all, they are the people whom I know for a long time.
Those soldiers didn't just die protecting our land, but they died protecting the lives of others. Most of them died in battle due to their sacrifice in saving the lives of other soldiers who is in dire situations.
Their bravery and courage are something to admire because they might not be as strong as an official knight, but their dedication to fulfilling their responsibility as a soldier is enough to prove that they are worthy to be called as one.
All of them died yesterday with honor and valor attached to their names while saving the lives of many young recruits.
Their names would be remembered forever, and their history would be written and known by many.
"30 people died with hundreds of people injured. That much?" Lord Hubert said in shock and upset tone upon hearing my report.
Sadness can be heard in his voice as this clearly reminds him of the event that happened a few decades ago. Where we have lost hundreds of our soldiers together with his 2 older brothers, bringing shock and grief to the entire city of Florentine.
"It's already a lot less than what we expected my lord." Gracefully said by Sandra as she suddenly stands beside me before explaining his reasons.
"Without the underground shelter protecting most of our people, it is projected that our death counts would climb into thousands. 30 death is already a piece of good news for us." Appeased by Sandra as she handed him a written report of names of those who died in the battle.
"I Know what you meant, but it is still hard to accept that many people died because of my incompetence." Hubert declared, clearly upset with his current situation and I understand why.
You are not incompetent my friend, you have already done enough for everyone here. Those are the words I want to say right now, but I know that it was not the right time for me to but in.
We're still not done with our work, there are still a lot of things that we need to discuss before we can have some time to rest. Thankfully, Mark has said something about it.
"It's not your fault my lord, after all no one wishes for this to happen. Our enemies are just far too many for us to handle, and they've all taken us by surprise." Mark added as he tried to calm him down.
I saw Lord Hubert sigh out of helplessness, we both know that no matter what we do we don't have the power to change anything. The only thing that we can do now is to accept it and prepare for their burial.
With one serious look, lord Hubert finally said something after staying quiet for a short time.
"Sandra makes sure to free up some of my time on my schedule to visit their families. I want to visit them all and honor their names." He said calmly as he take a quick glance outside the broken window before staring at the mummified Daniel.
The injuries that he received during the battle are more serious than it looks, but I don't think that he needs to be covered in bandages from head to toe.
It's also the same case for Evan when he arrives here while escorting the Stratnan family, covered with grave injuries. Ethan also covered him in bandages like a mummy at that time, but now I'm starting to think that he has some fetish when it comes to bandaging someone.
If not because of our lack of supplies, I'm sure that Ethan would also do the same thing for everyone who suffered from major injuries.
I even saw him last night staring solemnly at the gravely wounded soldiers who lose their consciousness while holding several rolls of bandages. It seems like he has some unique hobby when it comes to healing someone with bandages even though he specializes in potion-making.
I think I should be careful around him, I can't let him see me suffer like them, or else I would also end up as one of his patients covered in bandages like a mummy.
I almost got lost in my thoughts but Hubert's voice managed to bring me back to reality.
"Daniel!" I heard Hubert say in alarm, clearly in shock upon seeing his current appearance.
Since he leads everyone to clean the city the entire night he was unable to see him in person and only now did he see Daniel.
"I heard everything that happen to you yesterday. You have made everyone here worried about you, but it's a good thing to see you in a......... good condition?" Hubert greets before ending his sentence with a question.
"Thank you for your concern my lord but I assured everyone that I'm still far from death. There are more important things to discuss than my own condition so we should focus on our current agenda." Daniel said respectfully as he calmly explain his condition before taking a sit in a corner.
"Lord Hubert was just worried about you sir Daniel ~Sigh~ seeing you in that state also affects us greatly. After all, you are much stronger than many of us here." said by Kiel as he stares at him in silence.
"I know and I'm thankful for it. I just don't want you to further worry about me because I'm still alive. I'm more concerned for the family members of those who died." Daniel replied weakly before standing and walking in the front.
"I'm sure that all of you have known my story last night and some of you might have encountered them on your own." He said before pausing and taking a glance at me for a short time.
"The beings we encountered yesterday are far too different than the usual magic beast, and I know that a lot of you have already seen it. The reason why I'm standing here now is to remind everyone to be careful in dealing with them. Some of these creatures are far more stronger than they look, some can even absorb our own aura converting it to their own power making it harder for us to kill them." Daniel explains in a solemn mood before walking back and taking a seat.
Hearing this issue clearly reminds me of my precarious situation yesterday. That two-legged plant-type monster was able to absorb most of my attack making it harder for me to fight it in a one-on-one battle.
This immediately prompted me to speak up and remind them of the danger.
"What Daniel said is true, some of these creatures have mutated their ability to absorb aura, and they can even use it to attack us back. So avoid dealing with them on your own and as much as possible find a partner when fighting with them." Is what I advised to everyone as I pointed to the closed wound on my cheeks.
To give them a warning on how dangerous it is to fight with those kinds of mutated creatures.
"Then sir Hugo, are you saying that we're gonna face more of that creature in the future." Callisto asked in bewilderment as he was clearly worried about this news.
"As long as the fog exists we would remain helpless in this fight. The only thing we can do is to either remain on the defensive side of this battle or we can also find the root source of this problem and kill it." I heard Lord Hubert say it in a low voice but enough for everyone to understand his meaning.
