A Friday Afternoon’s Return
The morning after I brought up the subject of being discharged, I woke up, ate breakfast, and was promptly summoned by the doctor for a battery of tests. The results showed that, aside from the missing left arm, my body was in perfect condition, and I was cleared to leave.
“Since you requested it and your physical condition is stable, we are discharging you, but you must come in for regular check-ups. And as I mentioned before, please be careful not to get injured again.”
I nodded in response to the doctor’s words. Honestly, I had expected the testing and discharge process to take two or three days, so I was a bit dazed by the hospital’s incredible efficiency in processing my discharge the very next day after I asked.
When I went to the administrative office to handle the discharge paperwork and gave my name, the female clerk sitting there pulled out my neatly laundered school uniform, along with two other uniforms that looked brand new, and handed them to me. Did she mistake someone else’s things for mine? I tilted my head and picked up only the one uniform that was clearly mine.
Perhaps because it had been torn off by a Maju along with my arm, the left sleeve was missing, giving it a rather avant-garde design, so it wasn't hard to identify. I was about to go change, but the clerk snatched the uniform I had picked up and pushed the new ones into my arms instead.
“Uh... that one is my uniform, though......”
As I said this in confusion, the clerk replied with a smile.
“The Academy left these for you to receive upon discharge, so don't worry. There’s no reason to wear that one when you have perfectly good ones, right?”
My goodness, not just one, but two of these expensive things! W-well, couldn't I sell one? A wicked thought crossed my mind for a second, but I decided to keep both quietly, just in case having only one uniform caused some trouble. I also asked her not to throw away the uniform with the ruined sleeve, just in case.
“Would you like some help changing?”
I firmly declined the clerk’s offer, grabbed the uniforms, and ran into the restroom to change. It took a while to get dressed, but I absolutely refused any help because I would have had to show my body, and that was just too embarrassing......
After struggling to get into the uniform, I took the black fragment that had been in my patient gown’s pocket and tucked it carefully into the inner pocket of my blazer. I had a feeling that if I left it in the patient gown by mistake, it would just turn up in my room tomorrow morning anyway, and I didn't want to experience that creepy phenomenon twice.
When I returned to return the patient gown, the clerk attached a small, jewel-like object to the armband on the left sleeve of my uniform. The jewel sparkled, and suddenly, a left arm sprouted out, looking perfectly normal.
Huh? I was stunned for a moment, but when I tried to move the left arm, it didn't budge. So, it only *looks* normal on the outside... That startled me.
“It’s a jewel enchanted with Illusion Magic. The note that came with the uniform said that since you’d stand out if you walked around like that, you should wear it whenever you’re out and about.”
The clerk handed me a small memo. Seeing "Ms. Evande" written all over it, it was clearly a note written by Eve. It said I should always wear the jewel when going outside. Well, I suppose if a girl with no arm were walking around, people would stare quite a bit. I thanked her for her consideration, folded the memo, and put it in my pocket.
After finishing the discharge procedures and packing my things, I stepped out of the hospital to find the sun high in the sky. I slung the shopping bag containing my uniforms over my arm, pulled out my phone, and opened the map. It was a feature I’d discovered while aimlessly scrolling through my phone in the hospital because I had nothing else to do. If I’d known this existed, I wouldn't have been late on the first day.
Because of the barrier that surrounded the city in a hemispherical shape—though invisible to the eye—the shape of the city on the map was a perfect circle. The circle was divided into a 5x5 grid, making 25 zones, with Zone 13 at the center of the city; the northwest was Zone 1, and the southeast was Zone 25. It looked like quite a distance from Zone 12 in the west, where the hospital was, to Zone 15 in the east, where my home was. Looking at the map, it didn't feel like a walkable distance.
So, I decided to try out a fascinating mode of transportation that didn't exist in the real world: Transfer Magic, or in simple terms, teleportation.
A blue building located not far from the hospital. The building, named the "Transfer Gateway," was, if I had to describe it, like a subway station. It was a place built to allow teleportation from one gateway to another. Of course, in terms of being teleportation, it couldn't be compared to a subway.
In front of the entrance to the gateway, where people were coming and going, was the same circular city map I had checked on my phone earlier. The only difference was that there were blue dots marked in each zone. Those blue dots were the locations of the gateways existing in each zone.
The gateway for Zone 15, where my home was, was located near Aegis Academy. The fare for teleportation depended on the distance, and the cost to get from here to the Zone 15 gateway near the Academy was 12,000 Gold. While it could be considered a reasonable price if you counted it as a taxi fare and factored in the time saved, it was a price that made my hands tremble, considering I’d never even taken a taxi in my original world because I hated spending money.
This is 12,000 per trip......
To buy a ticket, I took my student ID out of my pocket and handed it to the clerk sitting in the ticket booth.
“Um, I’d like to go to the Zone 15 gateway. It’s 12,000 Gold, right?”
“As you are a Hero, you can use it for free. Please take your ticket and head to Gate 15.”
“Aha... thank you.”
Not just a discount, but completely free? The treatment is certainly thorough. With a joyful heart, I took the student ID and ticket the clerk handed back, and lined up in front of the door marked "15." The clerk checked my ticket and then collected it.
As people walked through the door one by one, I followed them and passed through as well. Since it’s common in novels for people to get motion sickness during teleportation, I was tense, but I didn't feel a thing as I passed through the door. I was wondering if I had really moved at all, when the proof appeared right before my eyes.
The people who had been lining up with me, with their backs to the building entrance, were already walking forward to exit the building. I followed them and stepped out into the sunlight, which was now well past noon.
Once outside, I could see the massive Academy building, the landmark of Zone 15, in the distance. On the street, perhaps because it was lunchtime, I could see white-collar workers out looking for restaurants. A smile, one that could only be worn on a Friday, hung on their lips. It was a smile born of the anticipation for the weekend that would come after working just a little bit more, and the sense of accomplishment from having somehow made it through another week.
At that sight of such an incredibly ordinary daily life, my heart swelled, and I stopped in my tracks.
That was the phrase written in the original novel. If I hadn't done anything, if things had gone according to the original, if Zone 15 had lost 1,2493 people, those were expressions that could never have been worn. I glanced at my left arm, which looked normal but was empty, and then looked back at the people laughing. The emptiness that had remained, even if only slightly, was no longer felt.
I felt like I would burst into tears if I just stood still, so I took a step forward again and smiled as hard as I could. Tears don't suit an ordinary daily life. On the street on a Friday afternoon, one more smile was added.
I climbed the stairs of the dilapidated two-story building, opened the door, and returned home. Compared to the hospital room, it was infinitely shabby, but perhaps I had thought of this place as home, because as soon as I returned, my heart felt at ease. I put down the shopping bag with the uniforms I’d brought from the hospital, and while humming a tune, I opened the refrigerator, thinking I’d make some lunch.
“Ah......”
And with that sight inside the refrigerator, the smile vanished along with a sigh. The proper storage period for bean sprouts was 3 to 4 days. To store them longer, you had to keep them submerged in cold water and change the water. And I had bought the bean sprouts last Saturday. The bean sprouts, neglected in the refrigerator, had already gone soft and met their end.
Such a sad thing... The mushy bean sprouts—it was a waste to throw them away, but they were at a level where eating them could really make me sick. I took the softened bean sprouts to the bathroom and held a funeral. It was a cremation. I flushed the remains, which were barely left, down the toilet.
The only ingredients that survived were the macaron ingredients. But would it be possible to make macarons with one arm? It seemed like it would be a bit difficult... I took out the chocolates that had been stuck in the corner of the refrigerator, wondering what to do now. I unwrapped a bunch of chocolates to eat as a substitute for lunch, picked up my phone, and sent a text to Leonor.
[I’ll be participating in the Cooking Club activity today.]
Since Mei was supposed to make chocolates today, I might as well go eat them now that I’ve been discharged. I’m not sure if I can cook with this hand, but I decided to be in charge of the eating. Thinking that, even though it was a bit late, I headed to school.
It must have been break time, because when I opened the door and walked in, it was quiet for a moment before a commotion erupted. It seemed none of them had expected me to come to school. As I nodded to the kids who asked if I was okay and tried to go sit at my seat, Sylvia approached me, fidgeting.
“I’m sorry I couldn't visit you in the hospital......”
It seemed that had been weighing heavily on her mind. When I told her it was fine, Sylvia pulled something out from her bosom.
“Even though we’re friends, I felt so sorry that I hadn't been able to do anything for you, Scarlet, so I prepared this last weekend... I was originally going to give it to you on Monday, but... would you accept this?”
Seeing what she pulled out as she said that, I gave a bitter smile and thought: *I made a mistake.*
Sylvia seemed to take that smile as a sign of acceptance and reached out her arm. It looked like she had intended to put it on me herself. Sylvia’s hand grabbed my hand, and it passed right through.
“......Eh?”
Sylvia froze with a bewildered expression. What she had pulled out was a ring. A ring with a red jewel set in the center. The left index finger, the finger that signifies friendship. Her hand, wearing a ring of the same design on that finger, had passed through my hand in vain.
Because I had received it today, I had forgotten to take it off by mistake, and this had happened. I had done something terrible to Sylvia. I took off the jewel that had been attached to the armband on my left sleeve and apologized to her.
“I’m sorry, Sylvia......”
The left sleeve of my uniform fluttered, and Sylvia cried.