When I went all the way with all I had, I would stumble. When I was about to die, I would survive relentlessly. That about summed up my entire life. That kind of vitality would be like a cockroach’s … wait, I should refrain from comparing myself to something unpleasant.
It happened again this time. I was stabbed by a hostile person and almost died. However, just like this, I stubbornly survived.
As I regained consciousness, I felt a gentle caress on my face. I didn’t want to open my eyes because it felt so cozy. I could be dying again, so at least I’d like to enjoy this sweet experience for a while.
Nevertheless, who does this gentle hand belong to?
Iris? Yes, that would be possible enough.
Eli? Could she have beaten the hateful Eliza and come back to my mansion?
… Well, who could it be? It was about time for me to open my eyes.
I slightly opened both eyes as the light peered through from between the cracks of my eyelids. My vision seemed to be still blurry. Or maybe I couldn’t make the distinction from this distance. The owner of this gentle hand was ….
“Rail!”
I slapped his hand away, and an immediate intense pain in my abdomen froze my movement.
“Ouch, ouch ….”
“Could it be that you had mistaken me for Miss Eliza or Miss Iris? Too bad, it was me!”
This bastard! He was targeting me. How malicious of you!
“I came here to do the job I was assigned to, but it was unexpected to see you all bloody. Well, since I’m a genius, I used my surgery skills to fix you up completely.”
“Don’t call yourself a genius.”
“I was trying to make you feel relaxed out of kindness. Your condition should be even better than before after you’ve completely recovered.”
“If that really happens, I’ll give you the title ‘genius’ with the endorsement of Lord of Helan territory.”
“Okay, I accept!”
I would start believing his words if he was that confident. Huh? Would my condition really be better than ever after I recovered? In that case, could I get stabbed one more time? Could I?
“I seem to have lost consciousness for quite some time. I’d like Mr. Lotson to fill me in on what had been happening since the incident. Would you call him for me?”
“Absolutely not. As your attending physician, I can’t let you. Your wound was quite deep. I’ll have you concentrate on recuperating for now. For the same reason, the inauguration of the autonomous lord had been postponed as well. The King also mentioned that it would be imperative to postpone it due to your condition.”
“I see, that sounds good. In that case, I shall rest for a while. By the way, my memories seemed to have mostly been recovered. I can remember the past more clearly.”
“Even the sweet memories we had together?!”
“Not that.”
I remembered everything about my identity, the reason for aiming to be a blacksmith, the days at the academy, and my sacrifice to save Helan territory.
I could perfectly remember about Eliza Deauville as well.
I could remember the fact that both of us were in the same boat, falling into ruin. Due to this similar position, I felt sympathy and gave her flowers as a gift. I also realized that I was fascinated by her.
Now that my memories had returned, it made perfect sense that Eliza Deauville and Eli were the personalities of the same person. Having my memory restored was a good thing after all. I could remember such a precious thing because of it. I had to thank Neko-sensei for the paid course.
“Is Eliza safe?”
“Of course. You saved her, after all. She’s in this mansion. She had a calm expression when I met her this morning.”
“That’s good.”
I felt a lot more comfortable just knowing that.
“I shall recuperate for a while then. Even if you told me to rest completely, you don’t mean I have to stay in bed all the time, do you? Please let me do something that can distract me from boredom.”
“I’ll consider it if you have something in mind.”
“Mmm, right, that would be good. Since my old memories have returned, I’d like to strike a sword.”
“That’s definitely no good.”
“As I thought …. Then let me practice magic. Since my knowledge had returned, I want to hone my skills in magic and learn more ….”
“Absolutely not!!”
S-so strict. What an awfully strict attending physician!
“Fine then. Let me read a book.”
“That would be fine. What do you want to read? Horror? Tragedy?”
“Why am I restricted to only those genres?! Something educational is better. Please get me a book on magic.”
“You can read, but don’t practice it, okay. Absolutely no practice. If I found you practicing even once, I’d be sleeping here to keep watch until you’ve recovered completely.”
“… Yes.”
I should do it in such a way that he would never find out.
The book Rail brought was the one he was reading. It was a quite intense book that aimed to combine magic and medical science. He warned me not to drool on it, but could he have meant to warn me not to read until I fall asleep? I wouldn’t make that kind of silly mistake.
… Huh?!
Soon after I started reading, I fell asleep.
Between the intense knowledge of expertise discussed in the book and my physical strength being sucked dry for recovery, I was attacked by an unimaginable drowsiness.
Huh? The book ….
Argh —!! The book was open under my face! T-this is bad! A drool mark was splendidly spread on it!
He even warned me not to drool on it! I gave him that attitude of ignoring his warning and arrogantly said something like there was no way I would do that!
Shall I rip the page?! No, this was Rail’s favorite book for sure that he had been reading profusely. He would undoubtedly notice if a page was missing. Should I sincerely apologize? That would probably be wise, but there would be a high possibility of Rail making fun of me for drooling on his book for a month, no a year!
It was almost time for Rail to stop by and give me a medical examination. What should I do?
In a panic, I checked the book one more time. In it, there was a very interesting content. That was it, I should go with that. There was no other choice but to go with that.
Rail came at a fixed time, as usual. The only person allowed into my recuperating room was him. He brought food as well. Once in a while, I wanted someone to talk to, but it seemed that a quiet rest was the best for the time being.
“Yo, Rail!”
As soon as he came in, I greeted him cheerfully.
“Your condition seems to be better. Did you sleep well?”
Ugh, it pained me because he seemed to see through the situation.
“I did. All thanks to the book you lent me.”
“Oh? That’s unexpected. I surely thought you would lose interest soon and get bored.”
“That’s not true. This is your favorite book that you’ve read time and again. Everything in it is interesting. It’s a truly wonderful book!”
“Really? If you like the book that much, shall I give you a new copy? It’s quite an expensive book, but I appreciate you reading it because there are some topics in it I’d like to discuss with you. I could learn a lot from your point of view and opinion, Kururi.”