Blink.
‘…a familiar ceiling.’
If you can call a ceiling you’ve seen for just a day familiar, then sure.
…Why am I here?
As I grasped my dazed consciousness and fumbled for memories, the already nagging pain tightened around my head even more.
“Ah, I remember…”
Still, I managed to bring my memory back to life. I was groaning pathetically after collapsing due to the backlash from capturing Krumo’s shadow.
Judging by the fact that I have no memory afterward, it seems I fainted and just regained my senses.
No wonder my head hurts; I was forcibly knocked out and just came back.
After lying down for a few hours, I felt a bit better than before I fainted.
Although the feeling of my body being torn apart was still very much present.
I forced myself to stand up, my body hardly cooperating, and made my way toward the commotion I could sense.
“You’re awake!”
Da-eun’s face lit up.
As I tried to pull my feet away, Da-eun, who looked ready to hug me instantly, suddenly halted.
“Does it still hurt…?”
“…It’s not normal.”
I felt no need to lie.
As soon as I spoke, Da-eun’s previously bright face darkened rapidly.
Unable to even touch someone who said they were in pain, Da-eun anxiously paced around me, fussing.
“Well, if that’s the case, you shouldn’t be up and should lie down again! What if your condition gets worse? Let’s hurry back to bed and rest well. Even if it’s a bit stuffy, you should cover yourself with a blanket… Huh? Be good….”
“…”
Watching her antics made it all seem endless.
Thump!
“Yowch!”
“Take it easy.”
When a malfunctioning machine gets hit, it gets fixed.
Fixing a malfunctioning Da-eun wasn’t any different.
After Da-eun clutched her head from the surprise slap, she fell silent, and I nodded alongside her, feeling pleased.
Honestly, maybe I have a talent for this.
I could live off this someday.
Rubbing her head and groaning, Da-eun suddenly jumped up.
“Violence is bad!”
“Sorry. I’ve lived my whole life with this.”
“Hey! You can’t say that! Sudden attacks like that are cheating!”
Da-eun pulled at her hair.
Seeing her pretty hair get ruffled in such a rough manner tugged a bit at my heart…
—It didn’t, actually.
I’ve seen Da-eun act like this for days on end, and since she was obviously overplaying it, I figured it wasn’t worth worrying about.
“You’re awake…”
“Atysha.”
Atysha acknowledged me.
But…
“I feel like there’s a bit of distance between us.”
We weren’t exactly close to begin with, but Atysha was definitely keeping her distance from me now.
It wouldn’t do to dismiss it as a feeling when it was clear she was watching me carefully.
When I stepped forward as a test, she took two steps back.
…What’s going on?
Narrowing my eyes and glaring, Atysha was looking flustered as she stammered.
“I-I’m worried the mana will reach you…”
“Ah.”
So that was it.
I thought she wasn’t coming near because she was scared of me, but that wasn’t it.
Saying this might make me sound a bit self-absorbed, like a teen lost in fantasies, but having gone through something similar, I can’t help but think this way.
I spilled excuses I didn’t even know who to address.
“It’s fine. Even if I’m not in great shape, I shouldn’t be affected by that level of mana.”
“Is that so…?”
“I wouldn’t lie about this.”
Seeing her look at me suspiciously, she seemed to doubt I was just being considerate so that she’d not get hurt.
As I said before, I wouldn’t bother to mess with someone I’m not particularly close to.
“Right, right! Our Kana would never do something nice like that! She must be thinking, ‘There’s no way the mana leaking from a loser like you could affect me!’”
“…”
For a moment, Da-eun, who had regained her composure, malfunctioned again.
Looks like I was too gentle with her, and she broke down again.
How hard do I have to hit her to fix her without breaking her apart?
As I cracked my knuckles, Da-eun noticed and quickly fled.
Surprisingly, it seemed Da-eun’s ridiculous antics had worked, for the suspicious light in Atysha’s eyes faded away.
“I envy you…”
“…What for?”
“Being able to withstand the mana…”
My eyes landed on Atysha’s broken horn.
Atysha longed for Raxia.
If her horn hadn’t been broken, she probably wouldn’t have come to this Ardina Continent.
Yet, she didn’t regret having her horn broken at all.
She took pride in having protected something precious in exchange for her horn.
Offering comfort to someone with pride like that might even be rude.
Especially from someone as clumsy as me.
“If you try hard enough, you can do it.”
“Do you really think so…?”
I hope so…
Atysha gave a faint smile.
“Thank you… Thanks to you and Joanie, we’ve significantly reduced casualties…”
I was able to kill Krumo’s shadow because of my own strength.
And thanks to Joanie, who bustled about for rescue, we were able to lower the number of victims.
That’s what Atysha said.
“Hmm.”
So Da-eun did that.
When I thought it was strange that Da-eun was confronting the shadow, it seemed that her rescue operation annoyed that guy quite a bit.
“You said you were looking for a ship to Raxia… I’ll prepare the best one…”
“It doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t sink.”
“I can’t treat my benefactor that way…”
“Well… do as you wish.”
I detached my body from leaning against the doorframe.
“Don’t we have something to do right now?”
“Something to do…?”
Clink.
“Pest control.”
Lifting the sword in one hand, I spoke.
“I heard monsters are gathering.”
“You’ve heard…?”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted me to hear?”
“Sorry… I might have raised my voice a bit…”
“…You’re completely different from yesterday.”
No, it’s not just different from yesterday.
Even compared to the Atysha from just this morning, the change was obvious.
Seeing how a person can change so quickly, it really seems she’s not just saying thank you out of courtesy; she’s genuinely grateful.
“I’ll handle it myself since it’s my responsibility.”
If it was just monsters storming in, I would’ve left them to deal with it on their own, but this time I couldn’t just ignore it.
After all, the monsters coming were because of me.
“What do you mean by that?”
Thwack!
“Yowch!”
Having forgotten my karma, I smote Da-eun’s head who had sneakily joined the conversation with a heavenly punishment.
“Do you know why there are particularly dangerous monsters near a dragon’s lair?”
No matter how strong the monster, it should know that if it offends a dragon, it’ll become a monster itself.
“…Is it because of its territory instinct?”
“More than its life?”
“Hmm, am I wrong? So, what’s the correct answer, Professor?”
Da-eun, having made a mistake, didn’t show any sign of regret for not getting it right.
At this point, it seemed Da-eun was just having fun.
The correct answer didn’t come from my mouth, but from another source.
“Because of the mana… right…?”
“Correct.”
Nodding my head at Atysha’s inquisitive question, I continued.
Perhaps, like Da-eun said, there might be some monsters that don’t change their habitat due to strong territorial instincts.
However, the most significant reason is the mana that dragons emit.
Pure mana, without even a hint of contamination.
Since such mana continuously flows out, they choose to settle there despite the risks.
Just like humans, mana is the source of life and a means to grow stronger for monsters.
“And this ring contains the dragon’s mana.”
Strictly speaking, it’s not the mana that’s residing in it, but the dragon itself residing in it, yet the result is effectively the same, so I won’t correct it.
“I meant to tell you earlier, but…”
“Tell me earlier?”
“You know why I couldn’t say it.”
At that, Da-eun made an “aha” face.
Looking back, I had indeed overexerted myself.
Feeling off in various ways, I inadvertently let it slip…
I was a bit anxious too.
With that level of creature, I could’ve killed it without activating my blessing, relying purely on my innate strength.
…No, maybe that would’ve caused more damage.
Thinking about it, I supposed my choice wasn’t so bad, but regardless, I had definitely overused Gracis’s power.
With a deep sigh, I staggered forward.
“Uh, where are you going?!”
“I told you. It’s my responsibility, so I—”
“That’s not happening!”
Yap!
As a tiny battle cry echoed, my body was suddenly lifted into the air.
A familiar fragrance and sensation rushed in all at once.
As if to say “Why hesitate?” Da-eun scooped me up in a princess carry and walked back into the room I had come from.
Then she laid me back down on the bed and pulled a cozy blanket over my head.
“Whoop.”
Caught off guard by the smooth process, I finally realized what happened and poked my head out from under the blanket.
“What are you doing…?”
“Leave this job to us, and you should rest as a patient!”
“Yeah, that’s right… We’re not so weak that we need to borrow your hands for this kind of thing…”
Following in, Atysha echoed Da-eun, while Selin nodded in agreement from behind.
I looked at these people, who were so determined to stop me, in disbelief.
“What are you saying?”
“Oh dear, shhh!”
As I tried to ignore them and get up, Da-eun’s hand firmly held me down, forcing me back onto the bed.
“See? Even with my delicate strength, I can knock you down. Kana needs to stabilize right now.”
“…?”
With someone of Da-eun’s level, I felt like I could smash anyone, no matter how many came.
Regardless of whether I found it absurd, Da-eun took the blanket off and tossed it back over me.
This time, just enough for my eyes to peek out.
“Anyway! We’ll handle this ourselves, so you just rest nicely! If you peek out, you’ll get a spank! Scared?”
“…”
…This is really absurd.
I couldn’t even speak as I found her glaring at me hilarious.
Not that she’s a kid, but even if she was, I doubt she would be scared of a threat like that.
Staring dumbfounded as those three closed the curtains and tightly shut the door behind them, I let my body sag.
“…If I ask for help too late, you won’t assist me.”
Yup. Absolutely not.
I nodded and vowed.
“…”
But…
…Well.
It’s not such a bad feeling.
I pulled the blanket up over my head.
“…I’m hot.”
This heat must surely be due to the blanket being tightly wrapped around me.
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