Chapter: 42
Mei was cuddled up in my arms for quite a while until her tears finally stopped.
As the flames that had been igniting from my body gradually settled down, Mei seemed to calm down too. With her face flushed from embarrassment, she gently pulled away from me.
“W-What was that flame just now? It didn’t feel hot, just warm…”
“Sometimes it can burst out like that depending on my emotions. That was because I was happy just now.”
I answered her, sensing she was trying to change the subject from her tears by asking about the flames. She seemed to struggle with understanding my explanation about it being linked to my happiness.
Um… It was a little embarrassing to say it out loud, but wanting to convey how I felt, I held her hand with my right hand and said, “I’m really happy to be friends with you, Mei.”
“…Me too, I’m happy to be friends with you, Scarlet.”
Her small voice replied, and her face glowed with a sunset-like hue reflecting from the window.
Watching her, I thought.
Although we don’t have a deep relationship like family or lovers, what’s essential for living is having friends who can share joys and sorrows, and the presence of a friend made in this unfamiliar world is incredibly precious to me.
Like the friends I had during my school years, she had become somewhat of a support for me.
Just looking at her was enough to forget my worries for a moment.
As I was lost in thought, I noticed the sun setting behind the buildings, and the outside was slowly getting darker.
I couldn’t keep her here too late, so I brought up the question that had been on my mind.
“Could you tell me what happened after I fainted?”
At my question, she blushed and sat still, then flinched before answering.
“Um? Uh… After you fainted, Lord Leon defeated the monster and took you to the hospital. After delivering you, he came back and told us not to inform others about what we saw today. From what I heard, there were orders to keep the details hidden, as the citizens might panic. After the alarm was lifted, they sent the citizens home, and we were also instructed to return.”
She looked at my arm with a wry smile.
“So, the citizens only know that there was a monster, but they have no idea what happened outside. Even though we should be praised for our efforts…”
When I shook my head, indicating I didn’t mind, she chuckled softly.
“Still, it seems the teachers and kids couldn’t keep it under wraps. I guess some news got out under the condition of silence. When they heard about your situation, the kids made quite a racket. If the teachers hadn’t told them you needed rest, it would have been chaos in the room. Today, as the class representative, I came here, but more will come tomorrow. Jessie will probably be here too, so brace yourself. She’s definitely going to cry a lot.”
Just hearing that already painted a vivid picture in my mind, and I chuckled along with her.
“Are the kids who went to help alright?”
“Yeah, nobody was seriously hurt. They were split into two teams, and it seems one side had a really tough time. They looked so exhausted that I didn’t ask for details, but I heard they defeated nearly a hundred monsters with less than ten people. I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration or not.”
As I kept talking and laughing, she seemed relieved, and the atmosphere felt lighter.
By the way, it seems the events unfolded just like in the original story.
Yoon Si-woo must have swept through like a pro.
In the original, even the seasoned hero who had been with him was left in awe of his prowess.
With dinner time approaching, Mei stood up from her seat.
“When do you think you’ll be able to get released?”
Mei asked. Honestly, aside from my uncomfortable arm, I felt like I could get discharged at any moment.
When I answered that it might be soon, she left me with a message to meet at school next time before exiting the hospital room.
.
.
.
Did she go?
After Mei left the room, I waited a moment, then slid my right hand into the left sleeve of my empty hospital gown.
Since I had been sensing something strange for a while, I was curious.
I reached in, but it felt empty.
Naturally, since there should be no arm, it was normal for there to be nothing in the left sleeve.
Just as I was going to dismiss it as my imagination,
Something gripped my right hand.
It felt small, rough, and hard.
I grasped it and pulled it out.
When I opened my hand, I saw a small, charred piece.
It looked like a piece of charcoal with a cracked surface.
And I was sure I had seen something like this before.
With a strange tension, I swallowed hard and focused on the odd sensation that had been feeling off since the flames spilled from my body.
I switched off the sensations from the areas where I felt the flames were emanating.
One in my head, one in my chest, one around my stomach.
Then, I adjusted it at the sources supposedly in my legs and right hand so that no flames would burst forth.
So, of course, even if I tried to summon my anger, there shouldn’t be any flames.
There shouldn’t be, but there were.
The flames were flickering.
From that charred piece in my right hand.
As I gazed at the dancing flames, I became convinced of the thought I was terrified of.
This blazing piece was my left arm,
Incinerated completely in the belly of the monster.
My head began to spin with confusion.
When my arm entered the monster’s belly, I thought it could emit flames since it was just recently severed.
However, for some reason, this black piece kept burning in sync with my emotions, even though it had been detached from my body for quite some time.
I had assumed that my ability was merely to produce flames from my body based on my feelings, so I couldn’t help but be bewildered by this bizarre situation.
What was even more unsettling was that I had no memory of picking it up before I fainted.
There’s no way someone picked it up and gave it to me, and besides, I had been changed into new clothes, so it shouldn’t have been here.
Although there are strange monsters that are hard to deal with, and magic and superpowers obviously exist in this world, I still wasn’t accustomed to such inexplicable occurrences, leaving me lost in thought.
“Patient, your meal is ready.”
“Oh, thank you.”
As I pondered, the door opened, and a nurse brought my dinner.
I quickly stored what I was holding in the pocket of my hospital gown, then unfolded the table attached to my bed as the nurse placed my dinner on it.
Dinner was a porridge.
I didn’t know if it was a considerate gesture or if every patient received this, but the beautifully colorful porridge in the bowl seemed easy to eat with one hand, which was a relief.
Inside, there were all sorts of ingredients.
Could it be vegetables, abalone, or meat?
Maybe all three.
Honestly, it looked too luxurious to be patient food.
Perhaps because I was in a single room, but this porridge was extravagant.
Until now, I’ve only ever had plain white rice porridge.
Of course, eating plain rice porridge with soy sauce is delicious too…
I took a big spoonful of the porridge, feeling an air of anticipation.
Steam was rising, hinting it had just been cooked.
Honestly, even if I was on fire, it didn’t matter if the porridge was hot or not. It was the experience that was important. I blew on the spoon to cool the porridge before carefully putting it into my mouth.
The porridge melted instantly upon touching my tongue, spreading through my mouth without even needing to chew.
Still, I chewed it anyway, savoring the taste.
As I swallowed the porridge, a warm energy spread throughout my body, and I exhaled the residual warmth out loud with a huff.
Just a single spoonful contained a multitude of flavors so complex that I couldn’t even begin to count them.
With so many ingredients, you might expect some imbalance, but it felt surprisingly harmonious.
I felt like a new horizon of porridge had opened up within me.
It was more surprising than when a colleague had bought me a caramel frappuccino at a café, after I had only ever drank instant coffee.
While neither plain rice porridge nor instant coffee is bad, the expensive stuff always has its reasons for being pricey…
Each spoonful seemed to fill me with strength, and it truly felt like hospital food.
When I finally came to my senses, I realized I had completely emptied the bowl and was savoring the lingering taste of porridge in my mouth.
The nurse who came to clear my empty bowl smiled at me.
Eating delicious food made my muddled thoughts settle.
Well, worrying about the unknown won’t yield any answers anyway.
It would be better to enjoy something delicious and fall asleep in a good mood.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face single-handedly in the bathroom, I fell asleep, recalling the conversations I had with Mei and the taste of the porridge I had eaten today.
Ignoring the strange sensation connected to the object in my pocket.
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