[Skill “Captivating Eloquence (Lv.3)” activates.]
“Attention, everyone!!”
The power of the skill rode on my voice and echoed throughout the entire corridor. The murmuring noise cut off at once, and hundreds of gazes focused on me. The lieutenant colonel’s insignia and the crosses on my shoulders gleamed brilliantly.
“I am Lieutenant Colonel Max Jaeger, commander of the Jaeger Combat Group under the 1st Armored Division. As of this moment, all control over Elancia Central Hospital and the surrounding quarantine facilities will be temporarily assumed by the Jaeger Combat Group!”
The military police who came running to my side at just the right time added to the pressure.
“If anyone has a complaint, take it up with the division commander himself tomorrow morning. From now on, all personnel will follow my orders without question!”
I sliced a finger through the air and fired off commands.
“1st Company military police squad! Assist the medics at once and divide the personnel into three categories! All simple mild cases with only stomach pain and a low fever are to be moved to the temporary tents set up in the hospital courtyard! Only severe trauma patients are to be admitted into the wards!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Engineers! Convert the Elancia Central School gymnasium into Ward Two. Get cots laid out within one hour. Until the water trucks arrive, distribute only water that has been properly boiled!”
Orders as short and direct as possible.
I cut out unnecessary paperwork as much as I could. What we needed now wasn’t approval from above, but bold action on the scene. If we failed to stop the epidemic here as much as possible, a true catastrophe would befall the entire city.
“Move! Any bastard who dithers will be deemed a rioter and summarily executed!”
[Skill “Captivating Eloquence (Lv.3)” grants charisma to your command.]
[The targets comply with your instructions.]
At a single shout from me, the hospital corridor began to organize itself as if by magic.
[Name: Elise von Kleist]
[Emotion: This is impossible…….]
Elise stared at the corridor with a blank expression.
Until just moments ago, that corridor had been hell itself. Patients who had refused to obey control measures no matter how hoarse she made herself pleading all day. Yet once I appeared and shouted at them, they began to move obediently.
[Emotion: They wouldn’t budge even after I begged until my throat went raw all day…….]
Perfect control through authority. Once a renowned hero stepped forward personally, not a single administrative official or officer dared object.
“Sergeant Hanna.”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!”
“Go outside and supervise the engineers. And make sure the patient routes don’t get tangled.”
“Understood!”
Hanna snapped a crisp salute and ran out into the corridor.
Click.
Soon, the examination room door closed, cutting off the noise outside. I slowly moved my feet and approached Elise, who was sitting dazed in the chair before the desk.
“Control has been established. We’ll be screening the mild cases in the outdoor tents now, so Captain, you only need to deal with the severe patients who come into the ward.”
“Lieutenant Colonel….”
She lifted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were mixed with relief and exhaustion.
However, the exhaustion seemed far greater than the relief.
“Status Analysis.”
[Name: Elise von Kleist]
[Condition: Muscle stiffness, overwork, extreme sleep deprivation]
The condition shown in the status analysis window was bad enough that it would not be strange for her to collapse at any moment. If left like this, there was a high chance she would simply go down.
I approached silently and placed both hands over her gown.
“Ah, my? Lieutenant Colonel…?”
“Stay still.”
I grasped her shoulders and the nape of her neck. I could feel muscles that were visibly knotted.
“Touch of Attunement.”
[Skill “Touch of Attunement (Lv.2)” activates.]
[Stabilizes the target’s biological energy and relieves fatigue.]
“Huh, what…?”
A faint ripple traveled down Elise’s spine.
“Aah… ha-eung… What on earth is this….”
For an instant, an excited sound escaped from the mouth of the woman who was always so composed. Her body flinched, then collapsed back against the chair.
I slowly moved my hands down from her shoulders to her shoulder blades, then to the area around her waist, attuning the knotted muscles and mana circuits.
“If the medical officer collapses, this hospital is finished. We’re already short on manpower, so what will happen to the patients if even you end up bedridden, Captain?”
“Hngh…. I-I understand.”
About five minutes passed like that.
Color returned to Elise’s pale cheeks, and her ragged breathing became much calmer. I slowly withdrew my hands.
“Phew… haa….”
Elise lay sprawled over the desk, gasping roughly. Through her disheveled gown, the sight of her glamorous cleavage rising and falling, damp with sweat, was rather stimulating, but now was not the time.
“Do you feel a little more alive?”
“…It’s like magic. Truly.”
Elise unsteadily raised herself up. She tried to compose her still-flushed face and straightened her clothes.
Her eyes, too, had escaped that zombie-like dullness from before and regained a clear, rational light.
“That wasn’t a simple massage.”
Elise said it casually.
“This, too… must be related to the state of your mana, Lieutenant Colonel….”
She had accurately identified the effect of [Touch of Attunement].
I pondered for a moment. Would it be better to pretend I knew nothing as much as possible?
“This much should be fine.”
Captain Elise already knew the state of my mana circuits. It should not be a problem to say vaguely that some unusual changes had occurred in my body.
“Yes. My constitution seems to have changed. Ever since I awakened.”
“……I see.”
Elise frowned and thought for a moment before speaking.
“It is surprising, but it isn’t completely impossible. If we’re going to be precise, the very existence of you, Lieutenant Colonel, someone who forcibly awakened mana, is impossible to begin with.”
Fortunately, she accepted it quickly.
“We’ll have to look into this matter later. For now, the urgent issue is not that….”
“Of course.”
“Yes, thank you. Then let’s brief the situation.”
Elise picked up one of the charts scattered across the desk and spoke.
“The symptoms appearing across the board right now are clearly those of a waterborne disease. Contaminated drinking water is likely the cause.”
I nodded.
“That’s right. I didn’t expect the aftermath of the cathedral terror attack to spread this quickly….”
“It’s because the cathedral was in such an important district. The population density was enormous to begin with.”
“I see.”
“We can’t be optimistic. Salmonella, dysentery, and in the worst case, even cholera cannot be ruled out. Fortunately, the patients gathering here are showing early symptoms without going through an incubation period… but the problem is supplies.”
She pointed at the empty medicine boxes and sighed.
“We are severely lacking water purification tablets and antibiotics. Distributing boiled water alone has its limits. If patients increase at this rate, we’ll run out of medicine by tomorrow morning.”
The shortage of supplies itself could be resolved with my [Material Conversion]. The question was how much my body could endure….
I stared at the [Minimap]. There were countless dots.
“I have to try. What else can I do?”
I let out a sigh and said,
“I’ll see to the medicine and purification tablets myself.”
*
After leaving the examination room, I headed for a closed underground warehouse on the quiet outskirts of the city. It was a place I had scouted in advance while traveling in and out of Elancia.
Creeeak.
Inside the dusty underground warehouse. Just in case, I checked the minimap in the corner of my vision. Within a fifty-meter radius of me, there were no red dots or white dots.
“Phew.”
Letting out a long breath, I gathered together the broken pieces of cement, piles of collapsed plaster, and bits of rusted rebar rolling across the floor.
I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness on the mana circuits I had forcibly opened. Unlike my other cheat skills, [Material Conversion] required my mana.
“Material Conversion.”
[Skill “Material Conversion (Lv.4)” activates.]
[Consumes mana to reconstruct the target’s properties.]
Ziiing!
Blood dripped from my nose, soaking the collar of my military uniform. My vision flashed, dyeing red before my eyes.
“Damn it…?”
For a moment, my consciousness grew distant. It was this much?
“So these count as high-grade supplies in their own way.”
I clenched my teeth and barely maintained consciousness. Antibiotics and water purification tablets. They were relatively small and not very dense, but they were not to be underestimated.
[Target: Plaster, scrap metal fragments -> Boxes of antibiotics and highly concentrated water purification tablets]
The process of simple inorganic matter being rearranged into medicine with a complex molecular structure.
Ziiing—!
“Guh……!”
A vicious headache surged in. My mana circuits, wretched from birth, could not endure and screamed.
Flash—!
[Material Conversion is complete.]
And so, boxes of medical supplies piled up thickly on the floor were complete. There were dozens of them, even with distribution marks cleverly forged.
“Haa, haa…….”
Perfect. This would be enough to put out the immediate fire. The rest could be handled with supplies airlifted from the homeland, so for now, I just had to take these to the medical officers… and shove them into the patients’ mouths….
With that thought, the strength left my legs.
Thud.
As my face struck the ice-cold warehouse floor, my consciousness sank into a deep mire.
……And when I opened my eyes again.
“……Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Max.”
The thick smell of alcohol and disinfectant stung my nose.
And a warm body temperature gently pressed against my chest.
Along with a pure white ceiling, Captain Elise’s worried face came into view.