Chapter 237 – Fighting Begins

I was expecting to come out into a city or something, but instead, we're standing in a giant, open field. Snow blankets everything around us. It's white in every direction that the army isn't in, which, for some reason, is only in front of me.

Geta and my wives are nowhere to be found; it's just Oriphusa and the other healers here. Shyla shows up a second later behind me.

"My Lady," Shyla says.

"What?"

"I'm just greeting you so you know I'm here," Shyla says. "Sorry to annoy you."

"Oh, normally someone orders me to do something," I say. "Do you know if we're marching, or should we set up the tents?"

"We will most likely march," Oriphusa says. "But we can set up the main tent quickly; it may be worth it. It will take a while to get everyone through and organized, even with the Goddess moving us out so far. We can get a bit of extra warmth and practice in."

"I guess," I say. "Then it doesn't matter too much where we put it. The area you all are standing in is relatively clear."

We've gotten pretty fast at setting up the tent. It takes just a few minutes, and I don't bother with all the beds and chairs this time. We can just huddle inside until a messenger or something tells us that we're about to move out.

I thought it would be fast, but after an hour of hugging my maid, we still haven't been told to leave. We've even had someone walk outside to make sure they didn't leave us behind. Oriphusa thought it was stupid, but she also said it wouldn't be long, and it has been, so I want to be careful.

They did come back with some news for us, so I was right to insist on it.

Apparently, they're scouting. The Princess wasn't prepared for us to end up near the front line. I guess my newest wife went above and beyond this time. So, in a few hours, we'll start to move again if they can find a better spot. Otherwise, we will just camp here.

"We should set up our tents," I say. "Then we need to figure out if this is the right place for our tent. I think we'll be staying here till tomorrow."

"I think the tent will be fine," Oriphusa says. "There isn't really a bad place to put it. Well, girls, time to gamble."

"I said we should put out our tents, not gamble," I say.

"Sorry, yes. I'm just saying we are gambling on whether we are staying here or not," Oriphusa says. "I do believe you're right that the Goddess likely chose the best spot, but does Elora agree? Most likely, she's coming to the same conclusion, and the scouts will find out where the enemies are."

"Oh," I say, letting Shyla go. "Well, I'll set out the rest of the medical tent, and you can all start putting up your tents."

"Very well," Oriphusa says.

Shyla keeps to her promise and helps me remember the setup—not that I need it now. Stepping outside, I see we aren't the only group guessing we'll be sticking around for a bit. A bunch of white tents are getting set up throughout the army, mixing in with the fires.

It only took a few minutes until I was cuddled up with Shyla again under the covers in my tent. Shyla convinced me to wear a warm nightgown, though that didn't take much, given how warm it would keep me.

With nothing left to do, I put myself to sleep.

...

"My Lady," Shyla says. "You are needed in the medical tent. A skirmish happened this morning."

"Ok," I groan. "My nightgown doesn't fit me anymore."

Mana switches my clothing to the healer uniform: a dark green fur coat over a green dress, boots to keep my feet warm, and a scarf. I'm skipping the earmuffs so that I can hear others better.

"Yes, having sex with a Goddess would do that, my Lady," Shyla says. "We can worry about that later. People are bleeding out right now."

My tent is right next to the medical tent, which allows me to see the injured women quickly. Twenty beds have already been filled.

A platoon, I think? Something like that.

I head over to the woman that should be the platoon leader. Half of her body is white with frostbite.

"I'm going to have to cut you up," I say to the barely lucid woman. She only groans in response. "Shyla, strip her."

"Yes, my Lady."

With her naked, I start cutting out the dead organs. Which is basically the entire right half of her body. I take my coat and scarf off to give me a bit more mana to work with. I'm going to need women who I can just fuck whenever I need mana soon if more people come back like this.

The cutoff body parts get thrown into a bucket as I focus on regrowing a body for her.

"You shouldn't be doing all of that," Oriphusa says. "Waste of mana. She's too far gone."

"She's alive, and I'll keep her alive," I say. "Shut up, or help."

"You are going to get nobles killed if you try to do this."

"Shut the fuck up! I don't give a shit if nobles die. Help the others, or fuck off."

"Have fun when Princess Elora comes down on your ass. You still have that steel around your neck."

"I am very well aware that I'm a fucking slave, bitch! Do something of value, or leave. I'm trying to save someone's life!"

I don't receive a response, letting me return to regrowing the leader's lung. Her body is still functioning, so I'll fix her.

...

"More wounded are coming in, my Lady," Shyla says. "You need to heal over the platoon leader. She is stable and will live, you know that. Nobles are coming in with this batch."

"Fine," I mutter. It's just her leg and arm that I have left to heal. I'll find time to do that later.

Turning to the entrance, I see a charred body moving past the flaps. Her wails cause the entire tent to wince.

"Is that the noble?" I ask.

"Yes."

Fuck it. I was able to fill a room in the brothel with mana for hours, so I can do it again here. Worst case, I'll force Shyla into a bed and fuck her to keep it going. I can deal with having three pregnant maids.

My mana bursts out, but this time around, I know how to keep it inside the room instead of telling the entire world I'm doing something.

"Alzi, this is a waste of your mana!" Oriphusa says.

"No, it hasn't even been half a day, and almost all the beds are filled, so stop telling me what to do. I would prefer you simply leave if you are going to keep distracting me. I have a lot more mana than you do now."

"I may do just that, Lady Alzi."

I move over to the noble and find that just the basics of her body are still working, and she looks more like a burnt log than a person. She must have been wailing the entire way here, as her vocal cords are now frayed to hell.

Insides first, Alzi.

I close my eyes and get closer to meditating as I try to control my field of mana and a new stream that will work on the noble. The stream is small, but it should be enough. Her lungs are struggling to get any air, her heart is hardly beating, and her brain is firing like crazy. Her lungs and heart can work off the ambient mana I'm giving off, so the stream heads to her brain to see if she is a lost cause or not.

...

"How is she still alive," I gasp. It took thirty minutes for her brain to start working like normal. Opening my eyes, I can see someone cut off the remnants of her limbs, leaving her with just her torso and head.

"You, my Lady," Shyla says. "You have a few more nobles to look at. What would you like to do?"

"Are they stable?"

"Yes, they are in no danger of dying," Shyla says.

"Then I'll finish with her and then go see them. Are more women coming in?"

"No, the fighting should be done for the day."

"Tomorrow, I think I should be naked for this," I mumble, focusing back on the stupid noble.

I open my screen and see I've jumped to level ten, with a few new skills. One makes divine children easier to carry in the womb—not something I thought about when I took two kids into my womb.

Another shows that the Goddess is kind of listening to me. Sexual Cleansing: Having sex creates an aura around you that will cleanse poisons from bodies.

Halfway there!

I'll have to save thinking about the rest for later; I don't think they'll help me right now.

The burnt noble's insides are fine now, but what do I do about her skin? Am I going to need to skin her alive? Maybe I shouldn't have sent Oriphusa away so soon.

I should check on everyone and see if I need to keep my ambient mana going. The noble will still be here later.

Standing up, I start to make my rounds, very aware of the extra weight my belly now bears. I can't tell if I like it or if I'm just used to it.

Many of the beds are empty again. Just women with missing limbs fill them now. Oriphusa is nowhere to be seen, but I did tell her to leave.

"Hello, Lady Alzi, I am Grace," a human says with a bowed head. "I am the leader of the non-mana healers. Everyone that we can heal has been healed. The reports are saying that it was just the scouting parties that fought today. Soon, the real fighting will begin. Thanks to your healing, none were lost that made it into the tent. If you would like, I can have a few women prepare the Captain for you to finish healing her."

"Captain?"

"The burned woman you were working on earlier," Grace says.

"Oh, please. That would be helpful," I say. "Thank you for your help."

"Of course, Lady Alzi. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Ask your women if any of them would be ok with having sex. I have a skill that lets me cleanse poisons in an area by having sex. I do apologize for the crude way, but it will likely be important."

"I will ask. I think most will be fine with that, but what are the chances for pregnancy?"

"Likely."

"Will they get to keep the kids?"

"Yes," I say. "I'm not happy about giving out more kids I won't get to see, but I refuse to take a child from her mother's arms."

"Thank you, they will appreciate that. Is there anything else? Lady Oriphusa was correct about your ambient mana. It may have caused there to be no deaths today, but when the armies clash for real, we will be working well past when the sun retires for the day."

"I have ways to regain mana; I'll work on it. Thank you," I say.

"I will let you know when the Captain is ready for you. You'll need to get to her quickly," Grace says, bowing out.

"Ok, I'll stay in the tent, then," I say.