646,

Taking Yuna’s advice, Cyclone and Yuna headed to the disaster site together.

The moment they stepped down from the carriage, a familiar voice called out.

“You two over there! You can get through behind the tent.”

Standing on a raised platform, a sexy blue-haired beauty was directing the people here.

Although Hilmirya was Cyclone’s wife, she was also a member of the Water Shrine.

Even though control of Kakarl had been transferred to King Allen, the Water Shrine’s church operations were still running.

Aside from her daily work at the church supervising the nurses, Hilmirya also had to help with rescue efforts when disasters struck.

Hilmirya didn’t notice Cyclone and Yuna until they came closer.

“You came?”

In the midst of all this sorrow, Hilmirya smiled with relief.

“Yeah. It took some effort, but I finally got him out here.”

Yuna tossed out a quip, and Cyclone didn’t argue.

Hilmirya nodded several times. She already knew what Yuna was thinking.

Without asking anything, Hilmirya raised her hand and pointed in a certain direction.

“There are still many injured people over there who need surgery. The tools just arrived, but we need more doctors.”

“Hilmirya! Someone else ran into the black zone!”

Suddenly, another nurse shouted.

“G-good grief! I still have to keep things in order here. Lord Alexander is over there.”

In just two brief sentences, Hilmirya gave Yuna the information she needed.

Once Yuna understood, she grabbed Cyclone’s hand and pulled him toward Alexander.

The area had been divided into three zones: yellow, red, and black.

This was the basic system for disaster response. The yellow zone was for the less seriously injured, who could wait for treatment.

The red zone was for the seriously injured, who needed immediate treatment.

And the final category, black, was for cases so severe that treatment had to be abandoned.

After passing through all three zones, Cyclone reached Alexander.

“You came?”

The moment he saw Cyclone, Alexander asked the same question as Hilmirya.

“Yeah.”

The two men were meeting for the first time since the great battle.

“Godeo, do we have room?”

There was no need for more words. Alexander was an excellent leader, and the moment he saw Cyclone, he already knew what to do next.

“We do, big brother!”

“Get a spot ready for him, and reroute some of the red-tagged patients to his area.”

“Understood!”

Godeo nodded at Cyclone, then ran over.

“Come on, Doctor Cyclone! This way!”

Cyclone began working, weaving through the injured.

With the practiced movements he was used to, Cyclone operated on the patients one by one.

With everyone pitching in, the relief effort went smoothly.

After a long stretch of hard work, they finally finished treating the critically injured.

“You’ve worked hard.”

During a break, Alexander brought over some water and held one of the bottles out to Cyclone.

“I’m fine.”

Cyclone took the water from Alexander, his expression calm.

“Fine…?”

Alexander questioned Cyclone’s choice of words.

Cyclone could hear the doubt in Alexander’s voice, but he didn’t offer a real answer.

Even Cyclone himself didn’t know whether he was really fine.

But before Cyclone could answer, Alexander continued.

“Then that’s good.”

That was the conversation between two heroes.

After the battle with the King of Twilight, Cyclone could have blamed Alexander—the man who had promised to come, but hadn’t shown up in person.

But could Cyclone really blame Alexander? Should a great hero who had gone to fight the Great Dragon and protect countless lives have rushed back to save him and his wife?

Cyclone couldn’t bring himself to say it, and Alexander understood how helpless he felt.

If Alexander had come then, perhaps Elyse’s tragedy could have been prevented. He felt guilty about it, too.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say it.”

Cyclone cut in.

“We both understand.”

“I see… So it’s that again…”

Cyclone and Alexander exchanged a smile, then sat together and drank their water.