Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Nursing Care (4)
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Fortunately, it didn't turn into a hellish situation where everyone camped out in my hospital room all day until I woke up.
Indra, the knight overseeing the infirmary, is a stern middle-aged woman.
She's the kind-hearted type who always puts students' health first.
Just how steadfast that heart of hers is became clear the moment the noisy racket started in my room and she came rushing over.
" What are you all doing in a patient's room where they need rest? Get out, all of you!"
That was a bold line to throw at a group including the Tristan Duchess and a saintess—no lacking courage there at all.
"...However, Knight Indra. We are currently making an important decision—"
But even Elnor responded politely rather than picking a fight.
Unlike regular professors, the heads of specific facilities are people with achievements and authority rivaling deans. Inside the academy, even a duchess can't speak carelessly to them.
That's why lines like this come out.
"I've already been plenty lenient, Tristan Duchess. One more word, and I'm banning everyone here from visiting?"
"..."
"Come back tomorrow if you want to visit. Visiting hours are over—disperse, now!"
Under that threat, they all made dissatisfied faces but were ultimately chased out of the room.
Indra is a goddess.
No arguments accepted.
"...I'm saved."
Seeing them file out of the hospital room with clear reluctance, following her orders, those words slipped out naturally.
[Then how about using this chance to skip picking a caregiver and just get discharged quick?]
"...That won't fly."
Indra wouldn't allow it.
She laid down the law that I'd have to rest for at least two days before leaving.
This is someone with the guts to kick out even the Tristan Duchess. No way she'd listen just because I asked.
[So what're you gonna do? The others are gonna flip out.]
"..."
Yeah, true.
It's a situation where the others could rack up corruption points out of jealousy and twisted feelings without it being weird.
'Caring' for someone inherently means close contact over a long period.
So, from the start.
"...Even setting that aside, picking a caregiver is the problem in itself."
[Eh?]
"Whoever becomes the caregiver, it'll be crossing a river I can't come back from."
Just look at what Elnor tried to do.
If the saintess hadn't shown up, in other words.
I'd have been devoured right then.
"Ever since the seal evolved, things feel... way more dangerous?"
Unlocking the restrictions on the Otherworldly Seal and being able to contain all the demons' energies in it is great.
But it feels like unwanted side effects came bundled with it.
Demons and vessels lose control around me way easier than before—it's weirdly intense.
[What're you talking about?]
"So, before, it ended at just wanting to monopolize me... Now, just having me in front of them makes them feel 'extreme' in some way?"
[...]
Take Elnor, for instance.
She was obsessively attached before, sure, but doing stuff like this while loaded with 'guilt' and all that? Definitely abnormal.
Being around the vessels spikes the chance of something 'dangerous' happening way higher than before.
[...So that Yuria girl doing that stuff falls under the same context?]
Kalliban posed that question after hearing me out.
That stuff?
[Why, she's not the type to say stuff like that out of her own mouth normally. 'It feels good when it hurts' or 'put a collar on me and take me for a walk.']
"...High possibility, yeah."
[...You're in deep shit then.]
"...Agreed."
Honestly, what could be worse at this point?
But that masochism that opened up with Yuria before? That might just be the start.
A horrific future where every demon fetish unlocks one by one isn't far off.
In that sense.
"If you tell those types to stick by my side for a whole day, is there anyone who wouldn't cause an incident?"
Better to entrust a cat with a fish.
Kalliban pondered my words for a moment before conceding with a nod.
[No one trustworthy, huh.]
"..."
Sadly, yes.
Yuria, Elnor, Seras—no one I can trust.
"The silver lining is, there are options."
[What options?]
"There's one relatively safe pick."
Exactly one.
The one human completely free from this issue.
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The next day.
An ice-thin silence hung in the hospital room, like walking on thin ice.
More precisely, everyone was extremely displeased with the 'caregiver' I'd chosen.
"...Is this good enough?"
Elnor held out some patient utensils she'd wiped down nearby, her voice icy.
Peynol Lifek responded with a beaming smile.
"No, Tristan Duchess. It'd be better if I just did it myself."
"What part was insufficient—"
"Here, here, this spot isn't clean. Can't give unhygienic utensils to a patient."
"..."
"Hmm, looks like I can't approve that 'caregiver swap' you requested. Skills are just too amateurish."
Elnor was defeated in round one.
Considering her status, she probably never had the chance to do menial tasks like this—natural outcome.
"Ah, cleaning time already."
As Peynol said that and stood, Yuria and Lucienne blocked her.
"We already did that."
Lucienne had that strict, ascetic lifestyle typical of the faithful, and Yuria's long wild survival made them more accustomed to this kind of work than Elnor.
But.
"It's a mess."
Peynol snatched up nearby cleaning tools and swept through the area in a flash.
Magic-like speed. Once done, the surroundings gleamed blindingly compared to what the saintess sisters had managed.
"This is what you call cleaning, right?"
"..."
"..."
Yuria and Lucienne stared blankly.
They looked like they couldn't comprehend how this was the same task.
After crushing three in an instant, Peynol leisurely turned her head.
Toward Seras, who watched the scene in a daze.
"Want to request a caregiver swap too? You'd need to show something better than me, though."
"...What the hell does caregiving even involve?"
"..."
Just get out.
As the game settings showed a few times, she's got this idiot savant thing going—hopeless at everything but assassination.
"Come on, everyone out. Looks like I'm the only one who can properly care for him."
"No, but still...!"
"We can take the best care of Dawood...!"
With that, she herded the protesting others out of the room one by one.
The rest wanted to complain, but the performance gap was too stark—they couldn't muster a proper argument.
"...Good work."
"No big deal."
Under my praise, the one who'd swiftly dispatched all the other vessels flashed a grin.
'...She has no choice but to be good at this.'
Peynol's original job was caring for the weak, shuttling between nursing homes and orphanages.
Her resume could easily qualify her as a professional nurse.
And above all.
She's completely immune to my 'Fatal Charm' skill.
Unlike the other vessels, the odds of her causing an incident with me are extremely low.
As I recalled that background, a system window popped up in front of me.
[System Message]
[ You have selected 'Peynol' as your caregiver. ]
[ Analyzing the target's status... ]
[ 'Favorability' is not yet unlocked. ]
[ An event to unlock the target's favorability will occur soon! ]
[System Message]
[ Intense emotional shifts detected in unselected targets! ]
[ High likelihood of becoming variables in the upcoming main quest! ]
"..."
Seeing those messages brought on cold sweats, but.
I'll deal with the fallout later.
No matter who I picked, my limbs getting torn apart was guaranteed. Better to kick the crisis down the road than die right now...!
"...Still, it's surprising."
In the now-quiet room, Peynol pulled a chair up to my bedside and spoke.
"For someone to know I did that stuff back when I was 'human'—not common knowledge. How did you find out?"
[...Definitely not funny.]
Kalliban muttered in a low, sunken voice.
[A demon vessel who used to work for the heresy inquisitors doing volunteer work? Funnier than a serial killer making donations.]
"..."
I gave a wry smile at Kalliban's sharp tone.
Sure, judging by her actions alone, that assessment isn't off-base.
'...I told you, Kalliban.'
Just like I'd kept telling him about her.
'Peynol is a pitiful one.'
In a way, she's like Valthasar.
She shows up as the chapter's final boss in the scenario, but she didn't deserve that end.
She should've gotten better treatment.
"...And someone with that level of intel would surely remember what I said."
She propped her chin, saying so.
"Time keeps flowing, Dawood Campbell."
Her expression as she spoke was utterly blank, devoid of any emotion.
Like a mannequin or a doll.
"I gave you a one-month deadline. You haven't forgotten, right? If I don't 'die' within that... who knows what'll happen."
"...I know."
Yeah. I remember.
That fact took a big share in why I collapsed from overwork in the first place.
I let out a sigh and responded.
"But there's one thing I want to correct."
"...Pardon?"
She tilted her head quizzically, so I sighed and spoke.
"Peynol Lifek."
At the very least.
That aside.
There's something I need to make clear to her, something I don't like.
"I don't want you to die."
She keeps going on about dying.
Doesn't sit well with me.
"...Pardon?"
Her eyes went wide.
Of course, I get her intentions.
"There's a red demon inside you, forcibly keeping you alive right now, lurking to burst into the material world using you as host soon, and since you feel that timer is one month, you want me to kill you then. Right?"
"..."
She gaped, silent.
She never expected me to know her situation inside out.
But soon, she slowly closed and opened her eyes.
"...If you know that, it makes things easier. If I don't die, disaster hits the material world soon."
Then.
A self-mocking voice followed.
"...You could say you're weeding out the seed of disaster, Dawood Campbell. No need to feel guilty—"
"No."
So.
There's a fact I need to drill into her straight.
"I'll awaken your emotions, sure—but not for that purpose."
The reason I'm granting her request.
"I'm going to make you happy, Peynol."
Is to give her a happy ending.
"You don't get a say in it."
"..."
Her eyes trembled violently at my words.
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