“Thanks to you, my mother’s condition has improved a lot.”
Aaah~
“She woke up early this morning, you know? The person who could only move a single finger can now grasp things!”
Aaah~ Aaah~
“I only heard about it from No-eul, so I don’t really know how this happened… but I’m sincerely grateful. I’ll think of you as my lifelong benefactor.”
Aaaah~ Aaaaahhh~ Ahh!
I hurriedly covered Otamatone’s mouth.
“I’m sorry… It’s just so amazing!”
It seemed like the mood was serious, and I felt a bit embarrassed for interrupting.
“Haha, no problem. I’m really glad you like it.”
“I didn’t get the chance to explain, but there should be a semi-permanent healing rune left on her left arm. You’ve seen it too, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about it. I couldn’t see it because of the patient gown, though.”
“It’s designed to work on a rechargeable system, so she needs to inject at least 250kE to 300kE of mana every day. Of course, you can add more, but overcharging will reduce efficiency, so it’s important to do this consistently without skipping a day.”
“But how do you do the injection?”
“It’s just like blowing mana into a magic circle. But I’m the only one with the encryption key, so I’ll engrave it on your palm now. I’ve got two extras, so you can pass it on to No-eul or Yuna too. Can you put your palm here?”
“Like this?”
“Yes. It won’t be very noticeable, so you don’t have to worry about it interfering with daily life.”
Symmetric Key Transmission: Protocol ARIA
It’s rare, but for the safety against destruction or runaway from a third party, incorporating an encryption process for the healing rune was essential, even if it was a bit tedious.
“The healing rune is set to be effective for one year. Even for late-stage Multiple Sclerosis, she will be completely healed within nine months at the latest, or ten at the latest. If she doesn’t receive mana injection for two weeks, it will fade away naturally, so she can come to the hospital for an examination around that time and just leave it be.”
With that, all tasks were completed.
“Thank you… Thank you… So next year really…”
“Yeah, while walking might be too much, at least she should be able to stand on her own two feet.”
“Ugh… I can’t believe it. Everyone at the hospital said it was an incurable disease… They told me to give up, to let go now, to prepare myself… No matter how many times I say thank you, it’s not enough…”
Certainly, it’s not an easy disease to cure.
Didn’t the initial cost of the ‘Akashic Records,’ which can only be used personally, exceed ten million won?
Moreover, if you think about the daily maintenance cost of 100,000 won, it’s not easy either.
Of course, considering it’s a cure for a disease that leans towards being incurable, it’s on the cheaper side.
But compared to a situation filled only with despair, having even a single thread of hope is a hundred, a thousand times better.
Maybe soon Yuna’s family will find a day to smile.
“Don’t skimp on money; it’d be good to get a medical capsule for the house. I heard that No-eul, your older brother, is taking care of her all day. Nowadays, there are many affordable products, so it’ll be easier for your mother to manage things like bedsores or rashes even if she’s alone at home.”
“You’re right; now that we can save on medication costs, we’ll have some extra funds.”
“Yes, and it’d probably be better for your mother to practice moving, even in virtual reality.”
“I got it. Yuna and I just need to hold on a bit longer. Oh, by the way, Yuna should be awake by now. Do you want to call her? She was so clingy when she was sent home yesterday morning, saying she wanted to be by your side.”
“Haha, yes. Just give me her number, and I’ll call her from my phone.”
“Yuna has really good friends at the Academy. And… I heard what you said to No-eul. It’s not an easy thing, but we’ll pay more attention to Yuna from now on. However, in the Academy—”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she has plenty of good friends.”
“No. Just having a friend like Na-me is a real blessing, even more than having ten friends. Please stay close to Yuna.”
Seo Maru left his home phone number on a sticky note.
A friend like me…
I reflect on his last words before he left.
But still, a young child needs friends of the same age.
During a time when social skills are developing, having a narrow circle of relationships can be detrimental.
Talking often with someone like me wouldn’t be very beneficial.
“Is Professor Chun still not here?”
He said he was bringing abalone porridge, but there hadn’t been any news.
Maybe he went to the sea to catch abalone or something.
I turned on my phone and entered the phone number on the screen.
[Dialing: 02-8XX-XXXX]
There were still places using landlines.
A long and tedious hold music played.
As the song looped and began to play its second introduction again, urgent breathing echoed in my ear.
[Hello?]
“Did you get home safely?”
[Who is this… NoName?]
“Yeah, it’s me.”
[Na-me! @#% @%#$&@@$!!!]
With the sound of things crashing, Yuna’s unnameable alien words poured out.
I quickly covered the speaker to prevent my eardrums from breaking, then took my hand away.
“Seems you arrived home well.”
[Na-me, are you okay now? How’s your wrist? And you overused magic yesterday and fainted…!]
“I’m fine, that’s why I’m contacting you, right?”
[Uuuuuh! I’m so sorry… sniff… You’re really okay, right?]
“I told you I’m fine. You came home late yesterday, didn’t you?”
[Whew, um… 3 AM? 4 AM?]
“You must have been tired. Make sure to rest well this weekend.”
[No! Normally, I don’t sleep past midnight, so I’m perfectly fine…!]
“Since it’s your birthday, being home alone isn’t boring, is it?”
[No! I received the birthday present you gave me. Just lying here not doing anything makes me feel happy. But I know I have to catch up on my studies…!]
“Oh right, your older brother gave me this number. He gave me a present too; do you know what an Otamatone is?”
[Yeah, that’s the instrument that’s trending at Tic Tac. I’ve heard my classmates talk about it a few times, so I know what it is.]
“I thought I’d practice this while I’m in the hospital since it’ll be boring. I’ll let you listen to the songs I practiced when we meet at school later.”
[So you can come on Monday, right?]
“Actually, I could discharge right now, but I plan to stay one more day out of respect for Professor Chun.”
[Professor?]
“He’s my stepfather.”
[Ah…! I hope I can see Na-me soon!]
“Well, I’ll hang up now.”
[Wait a second!]
“Yeah?”
Yuna called me back urgently. I turned back my arm that was about to put down the phone.
[We’re friends, right…?]
Her uncertain question was laced with a hint of tears.
[We’re friends, right? You definitely said you were going to be friends with me… yesterday.]
Yuna couldn’t shake the worry of being abandoned until the very last moment.
[I won’t bother you at school. I won’t cling on you to help me with studying. Just let me—]
“What are you talking about?”
[…?]
“By the way, the upcoming ‘Magic Injection’ performance assessment is in pairs, right? Let’s team up.”
[…! Hehe, okay! Let’s do it together!]
*
“I wanted steak, not abalone porridge.”
“If you eat meat on an empty stomach, you’ll get sick. Plus, you like abalone porridge, don’t you?”
Professor Chun took out the abalone porridge he had packed and set it on the dining table.
He tore open the plastic to check the temperature and, finding it a bit cold, he microwaved it for another 30 seconds.
“I don’t eat kkakdugi.”
“Why? Won’t it be bland if you only eat porridge?”
“I used to like it, but now… not so much.”
I wondered how I could eat that back in the day.
Just having rice and kimchi would suffice for a meal… And if I had instant noodle soup on top of that, it was a blessing.
But my taste buds had changed after living away for so long.
Now, rice was less appealing than bread, and kimchi was less appealing than green beans.
However, the reason I liked abalone porridge so much was that abalone is a very precious ingredient.
“Thanks for the meal.”
I sprinkled a pinch of sesame salt and a few drops of sesame oil into the steaming abalone porridge and stirred it well.
With my left hand, I stirred the porridge, which had become too hot, to cool it down, while my right hand grasped the braised beef with chopsticks.
“Ugh, salty!”
But tasty!
“By the way, why did you come so late?”
“Well, I was a bit late because I wanted to get something for Na-me, so I dropped by somewhere.”
“Something you wanted to buy? Ah… I think I know what it is.”
“Haha, I hid it well, but did the smell give it away?”
“It’s crepe, isn’t it? And now that I think about it, I smell strawberries too.”
“You’ve got quite the nose, haven’t you? Does this count as mitigation?”
Truly, he was a person full of sense.
Simply going by age alone, I should have lived longer than him, yet the wisdom that comes with experience should not be dismissed.
Or perhaps he had always been like this since he was younger.
If he had, he must have really made a lot of girls cry.
Sitting in this hospital room, talking gently, gave off the vibe of a close father-son duo.
If only I had a father like this in my past life.
“I’ll let this one slide this time, Professor.”
“Haha, I’m grateful for that.”
“If you mess up next time, it’ll be two of them.”
“Two?”
“Two crepes.”
“You’re too greedy. Now hurry and eat; the porridge will get cold.”
“Yes.”
The warm grains of rice mingled delightfully with the finely chopped abalones, delivering a satisfying texture to my tongue.
The saltiness of the braised beef neutralized the somewhat bland porridge.
Plus, I passed on the yolk of the braised egg because I personally don’t like it.
It would be disheartening to call this a fuss over my side dishes, but hey, I’m a patient after all!
Experiencing mana exhaustion, there was no better restorative meal than abalone porridge.
In truth, mana exhaustion might be a symptom that ordinary people would never experience.
Because generally, magic circles requiring more mana than the caster’s capacity naturally decompose—it’s common sense.
However, there are numerous ways to circumvent this.
By simultaneously proceeding with the injection and activation stages or forcing the extraction of all the mana from the body by lowering the internal concentration of the magic circle’s settings.
Both options are detrimental to the Aura Heart and especially burdensome on the heart, so it’s best to avoid them.
I deployed a relatively mana-efficient rune, yet I still didn’t expect to run short on mana.
It must have been my fault for using magic on Yuna at school already.
Still, I couldn’t just erase the incredibly complicated Akashic Records due to a lack of mana after having completed them.
I had to sacrifice not only the mana in the Aura Heart but also the mana mingled within my blood, completing it all at once.
The more I delayed, the more I had to take into account the mana consumed by casting during the process.
Still, I was really relieved that everything ended successfully.
That’s right.
Ding
[Amount Due: 10,813,019 won]
I have no regrets.
‘Sylvia, Remilia, Klaus. If only I could save you like this back then…’
What am I whispering, longing for names that shall never return?
A bittersweet feeling lingers on my lips.
If I want to eat that sweet crepe, I better finish this porridge quickly!
