Chapter 36: Discharged

The meeting was finally over and everyone dispersed from the tent, or more specifically, the small ward that Yuupiecca was in. He let out a sigh of relief before lying back down on the bed, wanting to take a nap. He was supposed to be discharged today but was held back because Klauna decided to have another meeting. That and Medica wanted to have one last checkup on him.

Since Medica wouldn’t allow him to get out of bed, Klauna held every single meeting with the other six generals and their officers at this very tent, using his bed like some sort of table. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t annoyed at the arrangement. It wasn’t like he was needed there or anything. Most of the discussion was between Klauna and the generals anyways. The worst part was that he could feel whatever reputation he had left disintegrate after every meeting. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

As Yuupiecca was mulling over his bad luck, the blinds to his ward opened again, a flustered looking Medica could be seen. 

"Yuupiecca, have you seen Lord Lina around? As far as I know, you are the only one who has been here for the entire time," Medica asked with a worried voice, her tail swinging around uncontrollably, showing that she was agitated.

“... I don‘t really know...” Yuupiecca answered.

Medica shifted her body after hearing his answer. “How can you not know?! Her bed was right next to yours. Are you sure you haven’t heard any sound coming from her bed last night?” 

Her sudden yelling caused Yuupiecca to jerk. “... I was asleep the whole time until the meeting started… I really don’t—”

“Arghhh… You are useless, stop staying around in bed and help us find her!” She yelled, her tail swinging around much faster.

“No, but… you told me that I can’t leave the bed so…” 

Medica went and grabbed his arm before yanking the Analyst out of bed. “You are discharged now! Go find her! Let me know if you heard anything about Lord Lina," Medica said before running off to ask the other patients about Lina’s whereabouts.

‘Looks like I’ll be getting that discharge after all.’ Yuupiecca thought to himself before letting out a sigh.

“At the very least, let me have some proper clothes…” He muttered as he stood up and left the tent.

As he left, he was bombarded by a wave of congratulations from the other medical Succours. They also hope that he can find Lina as soon as possible. It seemed that all that time spent within the medical tents had made him quite famous among the Succours. Yuupiecca only gave them a thumbs-up as he took his first step out of the tent for the first time in weeks. 

His experience with mana exhaustion was so severe that he wished that he wouldn't have to go through that pain ever again. Medica had warned him that the third time within a very close timeframe and he’ll be in pain for at least a month. Strain himself too far and he is looking at months. Keep this up and he might damage his mana system till the point of no return. Yuupiecca thought of the very painful one week after the Battle of Fate. He shuddered at the thought of feeling like that for an extended period of time.

Shrugging off that thought, he was soon blasted by the bright afternoon light as he started to make his way to his quarters. His first aim was to get a change of clothing. A few odd stares and laughs could be seen in the background as he walked through the encampment with nothing but a light piece of patient’s clothing and his bare feet. Though, Yuupiecca couldn’t care less at this point. He’s been humiliated enough these past weeks. Nothing much can faze him anymore.

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“Senior Yuupiecca! You are out of the medical ward now!” Yuuko, the middle sibling of the Yuu triplets came up to Yuupiecca who was changing into his officer’s uniform.

“Hey Senior. Glad you are alright.”
“Yo. Good to have our commanding officer back into the fray just in time for the next battle,” behind Yuuko, was Yuuka and Yuuki who also gave Yuupiecca their greetings.

“I see you guys are doing fine as well,” Yuupiecca replied as he buttoned up his shirt and bent down to tie up his pair of shoes.

“We got off the next day after the fight, so yeah,“ Yuuki said.

This statement angered Yuupiecca a little bit. He then clicked his tongue.

“Dammit that Medica, she only held me back. You guys were there with me as well, so why do you guys get to be discharged early?” Yuupiecca complained.

“Ms Medica told me that it’s because you exhausted yourself the most,” Yuuko said before coming closer. “And if you ask me, I think she likes you,” she whispered.

“One doesn’t slap the face of someone she likes you know,” Yuuka, the oldest of the triplets, retorted.

“Ehhh. I know a few that would…” Yuuki, the youngest responded.

“Really? Cause I think she doesn’t like me very much,” Yuupiecca said before leaving his quarters.

“Is that so… Wait, where are you going by the way?” Yuuko asked, confused about where Yuupiecca was heading.

“I need to find someone. I’ll be back later, I expect a full report of what the hell is going on when I do,” Yuupiecca ordered as he walked away.

The triplets only replied with a salute and a loud: “Yes, Sir!”

Yuupiecca nodded, satisfied with their answer. Now that he has changed into proper clothing, he shifted his focus to the matter at hand— trying to find Lina who has gone missing. Sure he may have a more important task going on like the evacuation of the citadel, but he owed it to Medica to at least help her find the Succour.

The Succour that he hated so much in the past quickly became someone he pitied. The stories from the Succours he socialised with kept mentioning that losing one’s wings is a big blow to a Succour. They often say that it was one of their biggest fears. That they would rather die than to live a life without being able to fly in the air again. 

Yuupiecca could and couldn’t understand where they were coming from. He always thought that losing their wing was akin to losing a limb for him. But to him, it was like losing a third arm. Sure losing your arm was bad but is it really that bad? That one would rather die than move on? Doesn’t Lina still have the same amount of Limbs that Yuupiecca has?

When asked such a question, the Succours only replied that it was different. Their whole crest is all about the ability to fly. A Succour who can’t fly is just any other demon. Nay, even worse they say. While they still have their powerful magical affinity, they don’t have the inbuilt mana pool that the Analyst has. They can be considered at that point, just weaker than any other demons.

Yuupiecca just couldn't understand. There were things that she could still do. She still has people following her. He just couldn't understand the problem. He then decided to leave that matter for another day and focus on the task at hand.

‘Where would a Succour without wings be hiding, someone who was as prideful as Lina.’ Yuupiecca thought to himself as he walked around the encampment.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of a very annoying Analyst with huge breasts.

“Yuupie! You are out of the triage!” Poi yelled as she ran over and gave Yuupiecca a hug, much to the annoyance of the inventor.

Yuupiecca pushed her away before answering her. “Yeah, I got discharged early.” 

“Ehh? Medica did? No way… that strict Medica did? The last time I got injured and was sent to the ward she slapped me for getting out early without telling her…”  Poi said as she hugged herself, shivering in place.

“I see you’ve met her mighty punishment as well. One of the seven wonders of the Seventh Army, Medica's slap to the face," Yuupiecca replied, a look of resignation on his face.

“A well deserved one if you ask me,” Balestra appeared out of nowhere and commented.

“Senior Balestra!” Yuupiecca gave a salute towards Balestra, surprised by his sudden appearance.

Balestra gave him a friendly wave. “What is it that you seem to be so focused on? It’s rare to see you so into something,” he asked.

“Yeah, what’s it about, Yuupie? You have this look on your face that says, ‘I’m angry!’” Poi said as she imitated Yuupiecca’s grumpy expression.

“... It’s nothing really… I’m looking for Captain Lina. She’s gone missing since this morning. Medica’s been upset ever since she found out.”

“Uwahh… Medica’s upset huh… That’s not a good thing,” Poi commented.

“Indeed,” Balestra nodded at that notion.

An angry Medica is indeed a scary one. There were very few in the Seventh Army who had yet to see her wrath. She runs a strict triage after all.

“How is your progress, Yuupie?”

Yuupiecca shook his head. “Zero, I was just about to start finding her myself.”

“Then we’ll help you find her as well!” Poi said before bolting off into the distance. 

“Oi wait!” Yuupieca tried to call out to her, but she was long gone by then. “... Godammit that girl…”

“She’s gotten faster. Quite the remarkable growth,” Balestra commented as he sees her missing disciple. He then turned around and walked away. “Well then, I have other things I need to attend to. I’ll see you later Yuupiecca. I wish you good luck in your endeavours.”

Yuupiecca gave him another salute and let out a sigh as he was finally left alone again. He then quickly got back into a state of focus. Walking around aimlessly, searching for the Succour while thinking up of places where she could be hiding.

* * * * *

There was a big chance that Lina was probably no longer in the encampment. Yuupiecca had scoured the entire camp and the area surrounding it, even going as far as checking out the other armies’ encampment.

The only place that he could think of where Lina would hide was somewhere where nobody would be able to see her. If losing their wings was just as devastating as the other Succours said, then she would likely not want anybody to see her in that state. Where such a place could be though, he doesn’t know. Prashyufa is a huge place. She could be anywhere.

Having spent almost the entire evening looking for her, Yuupiecca decided to have a small break. He let out a sigh as he witnessed the orange skies, dusk was almost approaching.

“Hmm?”

As he stared out to the skies, he witnessed in the corner of his eye, a bunch of iron boxes lined up in order near the edge of the encampment. These were the armoured vehicles that the Analysts used to great effect at the Battle of Fate. It was the culmination of Yuupiecca’s and the other engineer’s hard work. Although it did what it was supposed to do, there was still a bunch of flaws that he needed to solve before they can be used reliably in battle.

The flaws include the ridiculous mana usage for these iron boxes, how easy it was to knock one of these things over, and random breakdowns that they encountered when operating the vehicle. There was also the fact that it wasn’t as flexible as they would like it to be. Precise manoeuvring of the vehicle turned out to be difficult, making them unable to properly navigate through obstacles and terrain. It was alright in a big wide flat plain, but certainly not viable in the woods or boggy grounds.

The current version of the iron boxes could be considered obsolete. Klauna saw no more use for them and had ordered them to be dismantled and converted back to raw parts. With all these glaring flaws and the fact that they could not afford to bring the iron boxes with them as it was not viable for the Analyst to move them long-distance, it was a no brainer. 

This was a blow to the Analysts, of course. For once in their life, they had the tech to actually turn the tide of battle. Only them and their vast mana capacity can operate these vehicles. They understood where Klauna was coming from, of course, and had begun dismantling works. Though it was stopped when she redirected resources elsewhere, the iron boxes now laid bare and untouched.

There was a big probability that these iron boxes would remain in Prashyufa when the Alliance takes over. Yuupiecca set a reminder in his mind to scrap the remaining vehicles before it happens. He doesn’t want the enemies to steal this invention after all. Though, they probably would have no idea how to make it work.

The prototype design and its first version were in his mind already and written within the Grimoire of the Analyst, so he didn’t really mind the loss of these ones. He could always make new ones, preferably with improvements and upgrades over the older design. Still, it was a little bit sad for one’s hard work to be so easily destroyed.

He walked towards one of the Iron boxes in particular.  “One of these days I’m going to perfect your design.” He said to himself as he gave it a big knock to the side. A rather loud bang occurred as he hit the hollow box.

What came out of the iron box wasn’t just the sound of metal banging, however, “eek…” a tiny soft voice came out together with the sound of ruffling.

‘Is there someone... inside?’ Baffled at the sound, Yuupiecca went to the back of the vehicle and opened the hatch.

What was inside the hatch made Yuupiecca’s eyes widened. It was Lina who was hiding in the corner of the iron box. Her whole body was covered in sheets of blankets. She was shivering at having been found out.  Her eyes filled with paranoia as she looked past the Analyst and outside of the iron box.

‘So this is where she is hiding huh.’

Yuupiecca didn’t miss her paranoia. It seemed that she was afraid of letting others see her in this condition. Letting out another sigh, Yuupiecca went inside and closed the hatch from behind. He then sat at the other corner within the box. “Medica is worried sick about you, you know.”

“...” Lina didn’t respond and just looked away, hiding further within the blankets.

“Why did you run away? You are doing the same thing now as you did in the medical tent anyways. I don’t understand.” Yuupiecca asked a question, wanting to make a conversation with her.

“...I don’t want them to see me… The other generals… I don’t want them to see me like that… I cannot take this humiliation...” Unexpectedly, she responded to Yuupiecca, her teeth rattling against each other.

“...Big deal. I was embarrassed in front of everyone as well you kn— ”

“You won’t understand!” She yelled out before turning her back towards Yuupiecca.

Communication between the two was completely cut and the two spent their time alone in the iron box for a while. Eventually, it was Lina who got up and left the iron box, her grumbling stomach could be heard as she made her way past Yuupiecca.

Lina was right about one thing that day, Yuupieca could not understand the minds of women at all.

Kotohood

Yuupiecca is quite a popular guy, huh.
Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be out on 9th of March.