Page 53 of The War God’s Favorite

Cassandra frowned. This was horrible. So many of those men didn’t even get the most basic treatment and were just left here to suffer! She looked around, but this place definitely wasn’t a place to heal. Orwan was right. This was a place to die. It was obvious that no one cared. There were a few men working around, but they only seemed to check on the injured, take out the corpses, and excrements. It was a horrid place, and that only made Cassandra madder. She kept walking inside, surprising Evin.

“Madam, don’t you want to leave? This place is…”

“These people need help,” Cassandra interrupted him. “This place doesn’t even have windows, or water.”

“Wh…why would they need windows?”

“The air needs to circulate! A stagnant place like this will only help the sickness spread around.”

“They will spread it if we take them out!”

“I doubt it. It’s way too cold outside, and the tents are spread far from one another. The cold would kill the viruses and they aren’t spread easily anyway. Not when it’s from these types of infections”

The servant was speechless. How could a mere slave know so much! Even for a concubine, this was truly hard to hear. Moreover, Cassandra didn’t seem to mind the horrid smell, or sight of the injured men, at all. Instead, she kept going from one bed to another, observing the injuries, and checking around as if she was looking for something, or counting.

“Who is working here?”

“Only volunteers…or people who got punished, Madam.”

Cassandra turned to one of the men present, who had been observing her in awe. She addressed him, to his surprise.

“Excuse me, are you working here?”

“I came to check on my friend, Madam. He was injured last week.”

“Do you come every day?”

“Yes, Madam. I come in my free time, but...”

He didn’t end his sentence, but shrugged and sighed helplessly. Cassandra nodded, and started to interrogate the other healthy men that were present. Three of them came of their own will to check on their peers, the six others were sent here as a punishment from their superiors. They didn’t seem to have any precise orders though. The Prince’s concubine listened to every one of them, making them all the more curious to know what made a woman of her status so interested in this cursed place. When they were done, Cassandra turned to Evin.

“Is anyone in charge here?”

“Not that I know of, Madam, this is for the full army.”

“So, it’s fine if I work here, right?”

The servant almost choked.

“If you what? You can’t be serious! You can’t stay here!”

“It’s fine, I have to keep myself busy, and these men need help.”

“Madam, I strongly oppose this. Those men are not for you to take care of! I doubt Our Lord will agree to this either!”

But Cassandra decided to ignore him. She looked down, and tore a bit of her dress, using the fabric to cover her nose and mouth. Then, she turned to the men present.

“Can you help me create a list of how many men are in here and their condition? There should be about…one or two hundred, right?”

The men exchanged looks. Were they supposed to listen to the Commander-in-Chief’s concubine? Her request was so odd and sudden. However, one of the men, who was there voluntarily, took a breath in and stepped forward.

“Yes, Madam. Last week, there were about a hundred and fifty-seven men, but more were brought in than were taken away, in the meantime. Can I ask how much you want us to write?”

Cassandra smiled, a bit happier now that at least one of the men was willing to help her. She took her fur cloak off, which Evin immediately held for her, and readjusted her hair up in a large bun while talking.

“I would like their names and ages, and the details of their injuries, everything you can see. Also, if you can find out how long they have been here for, or when they were brought here, that would be great. I guess it would be best to mark them with numbers also.”

As she kept exchanging with that man, Cassandra noticed the other men were listening too, and nodding from time to time. Even the men who had been sent here against their will actually paid attention, and once they started counting, even helped too. Evin stayed silent, but he was deeply impressed. She hadn’t used her power at all or had forced those men to obey her. She had just asked for help. It was her own behavior, and her will to help those men that had convinced the others to follow a woman’s direction.

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