Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 28: Chapter 20 Muscle Strain

Major Moritz seemingly conjured a small silver coin out of thin air and toyed with it in his hand. The coin moved nimbly between his fingers, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Winters didn't notice this, but Andre was completely captivated by the Major's magical sleight of hand, thinking to himself, "You definitely shouldn't gamble with dice against this upperclassman, or you're sure to lose even your pants."

"You do have some external injuries, but your coma obviously wasn't caused by those wounds; other spellcaster cadets without these injuries fell into comas just the same," Major Moritz mused for a moment before sharing his observations.

It was then that Winters realized that the other unconscious cadets around him were all spellcaster cadets from the same class of Sea Blue. Counting roughly, it seemed like all were present.

"Did all the spellcasters pass out last night?" Winters tentatively asked.

"Not last night, but the night before. You've been unconscious for nearly two days now." Major Moritz unreservedly informed Winters of the current situation, "The Federated Provinces have said that almost all of the spellcasters lost consciousness, but we don't know if what they say is true or false. I can only be sure of one thing; when we came to retrieve the officer cadets yesterday, all the Sea Blue spellcasters were in a deep coma."

Major Moritz chuckled as if he had thought of something, "That's why General Layton was so angry."

"Yeah, Winters, you didn't see it, I was quite enlightened," Andre happily added from the side, "It was my first time seeing Chief Cornelius scolded bloody yet unable to utter a single word."

"If it weren't for Cornelius, why would they send a Major General to escort the cadets?" Major Moritz was also pleased, clearly, Chief Cornelius being scolded by General Layton was a recent source of joy for Major Moritz.

Winters remembered the lashing he received while on duty the night before last, and his appreciation for General Layton surged.

Cornelius was hot-tempered, acted with swift decisiveness, and was aggressive in his dealings. The soldiers respected him but also feared him, and he was certainly not popular in day-to-day interactions. However, his capabilities were strong, and it was rare for him to face a setback. Winters deeply regretted not having witnessed General Cornelius being reprimanded in person.

"Let's talk about your current situation," Major Moritz turned the conversation back to Winters, "I've seen many injured spellcasters, but I've never seen a case like yours."

Major Moritz pointed at Winters and the other unconscious cadets, "You're not in a coma because of external injuries, and we're clueless about the internal injuries you've suffered. However, since you've regained consciousness, the others should also be able to self-repair."

"Hasn't anyone else woken up? I remember waking up once before," Winters hurriedly asked, confident that he had a clear memory of regaining consciousness and it wasn't an illusion.

"Some haven't woken up at all, while others have woken up once just like you. They were fed medicine and went back to sleep," said Major Moritz, twirling the silver coin.

"Medicine! That's right, someone fed me medicine!" Winters suddenly remembered drinking a liquid that had a bitter taste.

"Well, that can't really be called medicine; it's a sleep aid concoction I mixed. I didn't know if it would work. Hoping to help you enter a sleep state, I mixed two sleep-inducing agents and fed you a bit," Major Moritz casually explained the sleep aid he had used to the two lieutenants:

"I suffer from severe insomnia. The Flemish prepare a treatment for insomnia by drying and grinding the rootstock of a plant and consuming it, and I happened to have some of their powdered rootstock here; the natives of the Western Colonies of the Pseudo-Murlo Empire like to chew a certain leaf to enter a calm state, claiming that it allows them to communicate with their ancestors, and I also have some of this dried leaf.

After your first awakening, you were clearly in great pain. Rather than suffer like that, it was better to let you remain unconscious, so I tried to mix these two things together and fed them to you, helping you return to a sleep state. Thankfully, it worked."

It was then that Winters knew who had aided him. The last time he awoke, Winters had been in so much pain he wanted to roll on the ground, whereas now he could bear it. He gratefully said, "The concoction you made must have worked, I feel much better than I did when I woke up last time. Thank you, senior."

"No, no, no, you're mistaken. It wasn't my concoction that helped you; what I made is not a medicine, just a sleep aid," Major Moritz gently waved his hand, laying out his theory, "My sleep aid can't repair your body—it's your body itself that's repairing you."

"Repairing the body?" Winters didn't understand what the Major was talking about.

"I believe that the reason you fell into a coma must be due to a severe injury somewhere in your body. Since there's no external injury visible to others, this invisible damage can only be healed by the body's self-repair mechanism. When does your body do its self-repair? I guess it's when you're unconscious or asleep.

When you lose consciousness, your body is actually busy repairing itself. And when you are conscious, the severe pain from the injury actually hinders the body's self-repair process. So by helping you sleep, I intended to give your body more time for self-repair."