After a brief moment of thought, the captain asked Hinako,
"How did you two end up here? And why is Kogan in this state?" His tone was gentle; he didn't want to pressure her all of a sudden.
But Hinako barely heard him—she was drowning in sorrow.
Tears continued to stream down her face as she looked at Kogan with pity.
For something like this to happen to someone as strong and intelligent as him—it was truly a waste.
She couldn't help but think that it would have been better if it had happened to her instead. At least Kogan would have been able to take care of things. Maybe he could have even found a way to heal her.
Kogan was staring at the exit of the tent, his gaze empty.
It was as if his body was present, but his consciousness was elsewhere.
The captain couldn't bear it any longer. He had thought he had gained a powerful asset on his side, but his hopes were shattered upon seeing Kogan's terrible state.
Frustration swelled within him.
Roughly, he reached out toward Hinako. "You… what the—"
Just as his hand was about to touch Hinako's, Kogan's hand intercepted, gripping hers instead.
Life returned to his dark eyes, tinged with a faint hint of yellow.
He looked at Hinako and smiled gently.
"Kogan..." Hinako gazed at him with wide eyes, her lips trembling.
Just moments ago, the world had seemed frozen in her eyes, but now she felt as if she had been brought back to life.
The captain's hand remained suspended in the air as he watched the affectionate pair.
With a sigh, he lowered his hand. "You look hungry. Here, have some fruit—it'll help you regain your strength."
He offered him the basket of fruit that was beside him.
Kogan looked at the basket, then at the captain's face, confusion returning to his expression.
"Eat the fruit," the captain gestured toward the basket with his hand. But suddenly, a thought struck him.
"Could it be… you're deaf?" A look of realization crossed his face.
"Deaf?!" Hinako turned to the captain, then back to Kogan.
"Can you hear me?" She pointed to her ear.
Kogan didn't react—his gaze was still fixed on the captain.
Hinako shook his hand, and when he finally looked at her, she repeated the question.
Kogan shook his head, denying it.
Hinako's mouth fell open in shock. This was bad—really bad.
Which was the lesser evil, amnesia or deafness?
Both were just as terrible.
The captain shook Kogan's hand from the other side. "Eat the fruit," he gestured toward the basket and then pointed to his mouth, mimicking the act of eating.
Kogan looked at him before reaching for the basket. He picked up a strange fruit and took a bite.
"Pffft… Aaaah…" He immediately spat it onto the ground, his face contorting in disgust at the awful taste.
He tried to get up from his bed, but the captain stopped him.
"Rest, there's better food," the captain said, gesturing toward the attendees.
They quickly stepped forward and handed him water and soft bread.
Kogan rinsed his mouth with the water to get rid of the bad taste of the fruit, then spat it onto the ground.
The duo who had saved him exchanged glances; they were thinking the same thing: "He's insane."
The captain showed no expression, maintaining his composure.
Kogan began eating.
He took a bite of the bread, drank some water, then continued like that until he finished everything.
"Alright, since you can't speak, we'll communicate through writing then," the captain said with a smile.
Earlier, when they confirmed that Kogan couldn't hear or speak, the woman who had come with the captain returned to their tent and brought back a board, a pen, and an ink bottle.
The captain held the light brown wooden board, filled the pen with black ink, and began writing on it.
"How are you?" The captain turned the board toward Kogan.
Kogan looked at the board, then at the captain, repeating the motion several times.
"What?" The captain widened his eyes in surprise.
He turned the board toward Hinako. "What does it say?"
"It says 'How are you,'" Hinako answered nervously.
"Then why isn't he reacting?" The captain began to feel irritated.
"In fact… he told me before that he can barely read," Hinako spoke in a fearful tone, unsure if this was something Kogan would have admitted or not.
"Barely? … Hahaha… He's completely ignorant," the captain chuckled lightly, but his voice carried a hint of disappointment.
"Ignorant!" Hinako thought to herself.
The captain felt lost; this was the first time he had encountered such a case.
Treating Kogan had already cost more than 200 first-grade essence. He certainly wouldn't spend any more—he didn't have much to begin with. He needed to save some for emergencies.
Moreover, the treatment didn't target specific areas. For example, if a man's leg and arm were broken, there was no way to decide which would heal first—the arm or the leg.
With that in mind, they reached a conclusion: during treatment, the essence naturally prioritized the most severe injuries first.
But this explanation wasn't absolute; there were cases where the treatment didn't follow this logic.
Blindness, deafness, madness—none of these conditions had ever been cured before, or at least not in the memory of the captain, who was in his forties.
Why couldn't these injuries be healed?
The people here had passed down an explanation that seemed logical.
Since the healing essence prioritized severe injuries, perhaps conditions like blindness weren't classified as severe enough.
If the captain attempted to heal Kogan's deafness, there was a high chance that the essence wouldn't target the affected area first.
It would start by healing everything else in his body, and only then would it move toward the intended area.
For example, dead cells—healing essence -- couldn't restore dead cells in the human body. That would require an infinite amount of essence and take an entire lifetime.