The next morning after bringing up the topic of wanting to be discharged, I got up, had breakfast, and was called by the doctor to undergo various tests.
The test results showed that apart from the absence of my left arm, my physical condition was completely fine, and I received permission to be discharged.
"Since you requested it and your condition is good, we will discharge you, but you must come regularly for check-ups. And as I mentioned before, be careful not to get hurt."
I nodded in response to the doctor's words.
Still, I thought it would take about 2-3 days from the time of the examination to the discharge, but I didn't expect to be discharged the very next day after expressing my desire.
The hospital's incredible speed of processing left me a bit dazed.
To complete the discharge procedures, I went to the administrative office and mentioned my name. The female staff member, who was sitting, handed me my school uniform, which had been washed clean, along with two more new-looking uniforms.
Did she mistake someone else's for mine?
I tilted my head in confusion and picked up only the one uniform that was clearly mine.
Because it had been torn off by the monster, my uniform now had a unique design with no left arm, making it easy to recognize.
I was about to go change when the staff member took the uniform I had picked up and handed me the new one.
"Um... This is my uniform..."
I said, flustered. The staff member smiled and replied,
"These are the clothes the Academy asked us to give you upon discharge, so don't worry. There's no need to wear the damaged one when you have a good one, right?"
Goodness, two of these expensive uniforms!
W...Well, could I sell one of them?
A bad thought crossed my mind, but considering I might need more than one uniform, I decided to keep both.
Just in case, I also asked her not to throw away the damaged uniform with the missing arm.
"Would you like help changing?"
I politely declined her offer and rushed to the bathroom to change.
It took some time to change, but I was too embarrassed to have someone help me, so I definitely refused...
After struggling to change into the uniform, I took out a black piece from the pocket of the hospital gown and carefully placed it in the inner pocket of the uniform.
I felt it would probably end up in my room the next morning if I forgot it, but I didn't want to go through that eerie experience again.
When I returned to the administrative office to return the hospital gown, the staff member attached a small gem to the armband on the left arm of my uniform.
The gem sparkled, and suddenly, my empty left arm sprouted and became normal.
Huh? I was momentarily stunned and tried to move my left arm, but it didn't budge.
It looks like it's only an illusion... I was quite surprised.
"The gem is enchanted with an illusion spell. It's written in the memo that came with the uniform that you should wear it when you go outside to avoid drawing attention."
The staff member handed me a small memo.
Seeing "Ms. Evan" written all over it, I knew it was from Ms. Eve.
It said I should always wear the gem when going outside.
Of course, a girl without an arm would attract a lot of attention.
I thanked her for the consideration and folded the memo, putting it in my pocket.
After completing the discharge procedures and gathering my belongings, I left the hospital. The sun was high in the sky.
I slung the shopping bag containing my uniform over my arm and took out my phone to open the map.
It was a feature I discovered while browsing my phone in the hospital.
If I had known about this, I wouldn't have been late on the first day.
The city, invisible to the naked eye, was surrounded by a hemispherical barrier, making the city on the map a perfect circle.
The circle was divided into 25 sections in a 5x5 grid, with the city center being section 13, the northwest being section 1, and the southeast being section 25.
The hospital in the western 12th section and my home in the eastern 15th section seemed quite far apart.
It didn't feel like a distance I could walk.
So, I decided to try a unique mode of transportation that didn't exist in the real world.
The Transfer Magic, simply put, was teleportation.
A blue building not far from the hospital, called the Transfer Gateway, was like a subway station.
It allowed teleportation between different gateways.
Of course, it was incomparable to a subway in terms of speed.
In front of the gateway, a circular city map, similar to what I had seen on my phone, was drawn.
The only difference was that each section had a blue dot.
These blue dots marked the locations of the gateways in each section.
The gateway in the 15th section, where my home was, was located near Aegis Academy.
The cost of teleportation varied with distance, and it would cost 12,000 gold to go from here to the 15th gateway near the Academy.
While it was a reasonable price considering the time saved and the lack of public transportation, it was a nerve-wracking amount for someone who had never taken a taxi in the real world.
12,000 gold for one trip...
I took out my student ID from my pocket and handed it to the staff member at the ticket counter.
"Excuse me, I want to go to the 15th gateway. It's 12,000 gold, right?"
"Since you're a hero, you can use it for free. Just take the ticket and go to the 15th gate."
"Ah... Thank you."
Not just a discount, but completely free—what great treatment.
I happily took the ticket and student ID back from the staff member and lined up in front of the gate marked "15." The staff member checked and collected my ticket.
As people walked through the gate one by one, I followed them.
I was tense, expecting motion sickness like in novels, but I felt nothing as I passed through the gate.
I was unsure if I had really moved until I saw the evidence in front of me.
The people who had been standing in line with me were now walking out of the building.
I followed them out into the sunlight.
Outside, I could see the large Academy building, a landmark of the 15th section.
The streets were filled with white-collar workers looking for lunch, as it was lunchtime.
Their faces were smiling, a Friday smile.
It was a smile of anticipation for the weekend and a sense of accomplishment for surviving another week.
Seeing this ordinary scene, I felt a lump in my throat and stopped in my tracks.
[After that day, there were no more smiles in the 15th section.]
It was a line from the original story.
If I had done nothing, if things had gone as in the original story,
If the 15th section had lost 12,493 people, these smiles would have been impossible.
I glanced at my empty left arm, which looked normal, and then saw the people smiling again.
The emptiness I had felt was no longer there.
Feeling like I might cry if I stood still, I took a step and smiled hard.
Tears don't fit in an ordinary day.
Another smile was added to the Friday afternoon street.
*
I climbed the stairs of the old two-story building, opened the door, and returned home.
Compared to the hospital room, it was modest, but it felt like home, and I felt at ease.
I put down the shopping bag with my uniform and hummed a tune as I opened the refrigerator to prepare lunch.
"Ah..."
The sight inside the refrigerator made me sigh and lose my smile.
The optimal storage period for hosts was 3-4 days.
To store them longer, they needed to be kept in cold water with regular water changes.
I had bought the hosts last Saturday.
The hosts in the refrigerator were already limp and lifeless.
Such a sad thing...
The limp hosts were too pitiful to throw away, but eating them could really make me sick.
I held the limp hosts and gave them a funeral in the bathroom.
It was a cremation.
I flushed the remains down the toilet.
The only ingredients left were macaron ingredients.
But could I make macarons with one arm?
It would be a bit difficult...
While pondering what to do, I took out some chocolates from the corner of the refrigerator.
I ate a lot of chocolates as a substitute for lunch and sent a text to Leonor.
[I'll participate in the Cooking Club activity today.]
May had said she would make chocolates today, so I decided to go since I was discharged.
I wasn't sure if I could cook, but I decided to take charge of eating.
With that thought, I set off for school, a bit late.
*
It was break time when I opened the door and entered. There was a moment of silence, followed by a commotion.
It seemed no one expected me to return to school.
I nodded to the students who asked if I was okay and was about to sit down when Sylvia hesitantly approached me.
"I'm sorry I couldn't visit you in the hospital..."
It seemed to have bothered her a lot.
When I told her it was okay, she took something out of her pocket.
"I felt really bad for not being able to do anything for you, so I prepared this last weekend... I was going to give it to you on Monday, but... will you take it?"
She held out what she had taken out, and I smiled bitterly.