The same white hospital room, the same white bedsheets.
Whether he saw a bucket brimming with blood-soaked bandages or a severed limb that had been sawed off, Aaron remained expressionless. Neither sight stirred the slightest ripple in his heart.
Aaron was numb inside, utterly devoid of empathy. Slaanesh's avatar had drained all those emotions from him, leaving him in a true state of "sage time," able to consider problems without any personal feelings getting in the way.
He was unexpectedly calm, and naturally just as cold.
"My lord?" The doctor guiding him watched Aaron cautiously. His face was not merely expressionless-even his eyes were utterly hollow and indifferent. The sight filled the doctor with fear.
The battle of Dimlight Village! The Purple Dragon Knight who had called upon a deity and faced an Outer God!
He had challenged a deity with his mortal body, and ultimately summoned another deity to fight alongside him!
The story had already spread through the handful of fishermen who had survived Dimlight Village. Now everyone in Suzail and Marsember knew of Aaron Salian's glorious feat.
When everyone else had teetered on the brink of madness, he alone had still possessed courage. He alone had still believed.
Yet after these past two days of contact, the doctor found this hero of the kingdom truly unfathomable.
Whether facing the profusely grateful fisherman couple, the order's instructor who visited afterward, the Grand Inspector, Suzail's dignitaries, his fellow recruits, or doctors like himself, Viscount Salian always remained expressionless, unsmiling, and inscrutable.
Was this the composure of the truly powerful?
"Sir Reynard? He isn't in his room?" Aaron's voice was flat.
"Yes, he... Not long after Sir Reynard woke up, he insisted that he shouldn't waste the kingdom's funds. He said he was fine and absolutely had to get up