CHAPTER 852: CHAPTER 852: LIFE AND DEATH COEXIST

It was a petrifying sight that sent chills down his spine.

Images he never wanted to recall flashed in his mind.

The scenery of the repeated deaths of the two ice dragons he raised.

Ferdinand did not want to see it again nor relive the feeling.

The revival spells and rituals he used succeeded but after some time, the more he resurrected them, the harsher their deaths became.

It was as if he was making them live again only to die a much cruel death than they formerly did.

This was exactly why over time, reviving someone who had died stopped happening.

Ferdinand pushed the thoughts aside to stop the gnawing fear growing on him.

But the blood dripping from Alwin’s palm did not allow it.

When was the last time he had seen Alwin bleeding like this?

Ferdinand thought he could let Alwin explore even if the latter got hurt so he could grow. But seeing this reminded Ferdinand of how much he did not like seeing this young elf get hurt.

After Alwin had grown strong enough, Ferdinand thought he could punish Alwin even physically if necessary; but it seems he was a hypocrite.

This bit of blood was already scaring the hell out of him that Alwin might die.

And that this was his fault for not teaching Alwin enough.

Ferdinand had to admit this was exactly why he never stationed Alwin in the frontlines during battle.

He trusted Alwin’s capabilities enough to let him join them but never at the frontlines where he could be injured critically.

No wonder Ferdinand did not feel right about sending Alwin to Crux while he was not in the battlefield himself to know how the latter was doing or protect him when necessary.

This situation was rather infuriating but it was not Alwin’s fault.

It was theirs as Alwin’s elders.

How could they expose Alwin in a situation where he got injured with the same kind of weapon and poison that killed his parents?

They should have protected him more.

Ferdinand could not help but blame himself.

Alwin had grown but still...

"What the hell is he doing?!"

Ferdinand could not help but grimace when he saw Alwin take a bit too much blood as sample for studying the effects of the poison.

They had already repeatedly told Alwin not to use himself as a test subject.

In this situation, it was understandable he needed to take a sample of his poisoned blood. But not this much.

Everyone in the room sighed as Raymond said, "This is just the start."

’What else did he do?!’

Ferdinand frowned and tried to focus on the record.

Just from this, Ferdinand could already figure Raymond was trying to reprimand Alwin.

Alwin delayed healing himself for too long. He could have just gotten a small amount of blood for testing instead of taking two full glasses of his blood.

And he did it right in front of Arabella as well.

Ferdinand watched Arabella’s appalled and shocked expression. He was relieved she did not faint.

Her maid said the sight of blood scared her but Arabella must have been too worried to even think about it.

She already cared about Alwin this much.

Though the two still seemed hostile to each other at times, they seemed to be getting along better now.

Ferdinand understood his comrades’ frustration when he saw Alwin go and heal rescued Prudencians repeatedly even when he had to drink several mana potions in a row.

Raymond had already given Alwin some of his mana to help him heal and recover.

Yet, what Alwin did was push himself to this extent even when he was told to stop and rest.

"I see..."

Ferdinand sighed deeply as the record ended.

"Alwin had gone too far this time, Your Majesty. I believe we need to let him experience the result of his actions. If he woke up fully healed, he might just do this kind of thing again. What if he does it again while none of us are present? Our enemies could swoop in to kill him while he’s vulnerable," Raymond voiced out his concern.

Ferdinand heaved another sigh.

Raymond was right.

It was no wonder even Alvis agreed to this albeit begrudgingly.

"Alright then," Ferdinand agreed.

In fact, Ferdinand wanted to fully heal Alwin or at least give him some mana to hasten his recovery.

But Alvis held back even when he was visibly worried and was staying by Alwin’s side at all times.

Thus, Ferdinand held back as well.

It was better to let Alwin have a taste of pain now than allow him to die in some unknown place from doing this again.

It was more terrifying to allow Alwin to keep being this reckless and possibly end up dying from it.

Further, the poison was already neutralized and the wound on Alwin’s hand was fully healed.

But what puzzled Ferdinand was why would Alwin go to this extent?

Was it because he had never seen people suffering so much like the ones in Safiro and the enslaved Prudencians?

Ferdinand, Raymond, Rendell, Zion, and Alvis had seen so much worse than this so they would not recklessly heal people if they did not have enough mana anymore.

Likewise, they were prohibited from meddling with human lives too much.

They were not allowed to change the fates of too many people.

One thing they learned in their long lives was to let other races with shorter lives die when it was their time to die.

It was a rule even Ferdinand did not understand when he was younger.

Even Ferdinand used to heal and help whenever he could.

But through time, Ferdinand and his fellows learned the hard way that their help could be the cause of a calamity for others.

Thus, they learned to listen to Elrond who was closest to the Dragon God and had told them not to save every single waning life they encountered.

Elrond who was the first to be able to see beyond everyone else, told them:

"Life and death coexist. Allow death to exist or this world will have no meaning."