Hospital Vi?sit (3)
Hospital Vi?sit (3)
People sometimes act without thinking.
Swatting a hand away when startled out of deep thought is one example.
For a superhuman, that kind of unconscious action requires particular caution.
Atra was a hero who had reached the top grade in both combat and anti-personnel combat.
Bone density, muscle density and elasticity, instantaneous reflexes, dynamic vision—a superhuman specialized in close-quarters combat possesses a powerful physical body and sharply honed senses.
When Atra unconsciously threw a punch, even one she considered light, the consequences were never light.
Of course, as a superhuman's level rises they gain a measure of control even over unconscious actions, but sometimes that control does not function properly.
That is why training to regulate the level of unconscious action is mandatory.
Just now?
Atra stared blankly down at her hand. Its surface looked smooth.
It was a hand that had suffered countless wounds and scars, but thanks to remarkable regenerative ability, only smooth skin remained now.
Just now...
She had unconsciously wrapped her arm around Lee Ha-yul's waist.
The warmth that had been nestled against her had left—or, more precisely, had tried to leave. The warmth that had been there as if it were perfectly natural had tried to slip away.
So her hand had moved on its own. Atra only realized her hand had moved after the fact, and the realization was a shock.
These days?
Atra cast her mind back over the recent past.
She had been holding Ha-yul and patting him as if from habit, from instinct.
She had been told the results of a detailed diagnosis: not only physical injuries but also psychological stress had accumulated to an extremely dangerous level.
His physical recovery had been progressing smoothly.
More than smoothly, in fact—the speed of recovery was strangely fast.
If his recovery continued as it was, the healing period would be drastically shortened, and before long he would recover to the point where regeneration of the lost arm could begin.
But she had not been able to relax.
His mental state had grown weaker than during the mental-health diagnosis Liana had performed, late as that had been.
Even then, the results had been shocking: every measure of psychological fatigue had spiked sky-high.
Now it was even worse. That was why Ha-yul's consciousness kept flickering in and out, even while he was awake, as if he were drunk on sleep.
So she had been especially attentive to his mental care.
Lee Ha-yul spent most of each day asleep, and when he was awake his mind was hazy, half-dreaming.
She had looked after him constantly. When Ha-yul whimpered in his sleep as if having a nightmare, she drew him deep into her arms and soothed him.
Because he had difficulty moving, she fed him his meals and gave him his medicine.
When staying cooped up in the healing ward felt stifling, she took him around the park in a wheelchair.
When occasional reports of Sipnaha's victims left him despondent, she comforted him, told him he had no reason to be glum.
She had done that almost every day. Except for unavoidable time apart, Lee Ha-yul had always stayed in Atra's arms.
Lee Ha-yul did not reject her. If anything, he nestled soundly against her as if he preferred it that way.
Atra had not felt any particular discomfort either.
Part of it was that Ha-yul's frame was so small he fit lightly in her arms, and there was none of the unpleasantness one might normally feel from skin-to-skin contact.
The feel of him pressing close was soft, and when he was occasionally damp with sweat, his scent was sweet, like honey water...
Now I sound like a total pervert...
Atra shook her head hard. Sinking too deep into her thoughts had dredged up all kinds of strange ideas.
Her mind cleared. Atra exhaled deeply, smoothed back her disheveled hair, and raised her head.
"Hoo... Ha-yul, are you uncomfortable? Are you all right?"
- Shake shake
In Atra's field of vision, she saw Lee Ha-yul, wrapped tightly in Hong Yeon-hwa's arms, shaking his head from side to side.
It was a familiar sight—an image that had grown familiar recently, one that had played out in Atra's own arms.
Now it wasn't.
A sudden emptiness washed over her. Her arms felt hollow, unfilled.
The satisfying sensation of a body that had fit perfectly against her was gone.
The warmth of shared body heat was gone, and so was the scent that had seemed to heal a person's mind and body.
What had been there as if it were a given had vanished.
At that moment.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been patting Lee Ha-yul's back with a somehow satisfied expression, moved her other hand.
"...?"
What followed was something Atra could not have imagined.
Hong Yeon-hwa shifted her posture slightly and extended her hand, groping at the stomach of Lee Ha-yul, still wrapped in his patient gown.
For most living creatures, the abdomen is a fatal weak point.
Injury to the internal organs concentrated in the abdomen leads to death.
And such a critical abdomen was being ruthlessly violated by someone else's hand.
Atra's mouth fell open. Appalled by behavior she had never conceived of, she stammered.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?"
"Hm? Ah... this? I'm maintaining body temperature."
"...Maintaining body temperature?"
By doing that? Atra's eyes asked the question, but Hong Yeon-hwa only looked at her as if she were asking about something utterly mundane. And then she even went so far as to slip her hand inside the clothing.
"Calamity Flame bearers' body temperatures fluctuate when they're in poor condition. Didn't you do this often when you were looking after him?"
Atra did know. She had encountered many members of the Calamity Flame family on the frontlines and knew the side effects they suffered from their unique ability.
She also knew that Lee Ha-yul's body temperature kept fluctuating. That was why she had always covered him carefully with blankets and paid attention to regulating his temperature even while holding him.
The hand did not stop even as the explanation continued. The hand that had slipped inside the patient gown rubbed Lee Ha-yul's belly.
Ha-yul, who had been twisting his body as if it tickled, stopped squirming at the warm energy spreading across his stomach.
Patting him gently all the while, Hong Yeon-hwa continued her explanation.
"So that's why you sometimes transmit the warmth of Calamity Flame through physical contact like this. This is actually the simpler and more reliable version, kind of like first aid."
The explanation ended. Atra did not find it particularly convincing.
She could not bring herself to believe that behavior which looked so inappropriate on the surface was first aid.
But she could not think of a rebuttal.
Atra had seen Lee Ha-yul use Calamity Flame. She did not know why. She did not know how he manifested it either, but what she had witnessed did not disappear.
Hong Yeon-hwa possessed the Calamity Flame.
As the family's heir, who else in the Calamity Flame family would know more about its workings than her? What grounds did Atra have to argue with what she was saying?
But Atra did not like it.
Watching that scene play out before her eyes did not give her pleasant thoughts.
It was not agreeable.
A churning, simmering sense of rejection rose up inside her.
Just then, Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been looking down at Lee Ha-yul, lifted her gaze.
Their eyes met.
"......"
"......"
Pretending otherwise, their gazes still clashed in the air, eyeing each other.
Why?
In that gaze, Atra sensed an emotion similar to her own.
...Should I have come alone?
Caught between them, Baek A-rin broke out in a cold sweat.
* * *
Hong Yeon-hwa and Atra glowered at one another with icy stares.
Sandwiched between them like the filling of a sandwich, having struggled throughout the conversation to somehow salvage the atmosphere, Baek A-rin heaved an inward sigh.
...Should I have just come alone later?
With his small, delicate—pretty—appearance, Lee Ha-yul's gentle and timid disposition only added to his widespread popularity.
But anyone perceptive would have noticed that there was a certain wall in his attitude toward others.
And Baek A-rin was aware that the wall erected specifically toward her was especially thick.
Why? She did not know the reason. It was a wall that had been there from the very first moment Baek A-rin met Lee Ha-yul.
For her own purposes, Baek A-rin needed a great deal of powerful assets.
To that end, she had been building connections and acquaintances among the various cadets.
Among them, the Special Admission Cadet Lee Ha-yul was someone she absolutely had to get close to.
But the person himself was afraid of her, and so Baek A-rin needed somehow to dismantle that psychological barrier.
That shortcut, that cheat code, was Hong Yeon-hwa.
Hong Yeon-hwa's interest in Lee Ha-yul was far from ordinary.
There probably wasn't a single person at Siyoram unaware of that rumor—or rather, that fact.
Hong Yeon-hwa was uniquely soft when it came to Lee Ha-yul.
The reverse was also true.
She had noticed that even Lee Ha-yul, who pretended otherwise and was as wary as a puppy on guard, wagged his tail specifically for Hong Yeon-hwa.
So she had planned to tag along on Hong Yeon-hwa's hospital visit to raise her affection rating...
...but judging by the frosty atmosphere that now pervaded the healing ward, it did not seem to have been the best choice...
Why is he afraid of me?
It had puzzled her from their very first meeting.
Baek A-rin tilted her head.
Could Lee Ha-yul have had a bad experience with the Changhae family?
That would be odd.
The Changhae family's territory did not overlap with the orphanage Lee Ha-yul had belonged to.
No Changhae members were active in that area. In fact, there could not have been any contact involving Baek A-rin.
Yet despite that, a psychological wall stood tall and especially thick toward Baek A-rin.
Every time she worked alongside Lee Ha-yul, Baek A-rin had tried to see through him, but...
Tch...
There had been no real results.
The only thing she could confirm, again and again, was the vague fact that he was frightened of her and found her unnerving.
But at the same time, it also seemed as though he liked Baek A-rin.
At the post-Tower gathering, when she had tried to bring him outside under the pretext of doing Hong Yeon-hwa a favor, she had been certain he would refuse.
But Lee Ha-yul had not refused. Drunk though he was, he had followed behind Baek A-rin without any particular sign of rejection, like an obedient child.
He was scared of Baek A-rin. But there was also a tendency to view her favorably... or to want to view her favorably.
Hmm.
At that point, Baek A-rin sorted through her thoughts.
Lee Ha-yul had no contact with Baek A-rin before Siyoram. Their first meeting had been inside the academy.
And yet that same Lee Ha-yul was afraid of her. In other words, something had occurred at that first meeting that provoked a sense of rejection.
From an objective perspective, outwardly, Baek A-rin considered herself a person with no qualities that invited dislike.
It wasn't narcissism; it was simply the truth.
Her outward appearance was firmly in the beautiful category.
Her figure was full where it should be full and trim where it should be trim.
Her disposition was not the vicious type that tore others down.
Her financial resources were overflowing.
To speak of her family's power would be an understatement.
Her martial strength was growing rapidly, and her growth ceiling was placed very high.
But Lee Ha-yul was afraid of Baek A-rin...
Qualities that would make someone afraid... she had those on the inside.
Baek A-rin hardened her face beneath the "Mask." Even now the chill in her heart was vividly perceptible.
This wretched curse that had clung to her since birth radiated an aura that even she found ominous and utterly spine-chilling.
What if Lee Ha-yul had seen through to this curse? Did his detection ability sense the curse itself? If so, she could understand that sort of rejection.
Without the "Mask," it was a curse that would surely draw ominous looks from countless people.
...Then isn't that just screwed.
From the very start, her first impression had been fixed as an ominous woman carrying a curse in her heart.
No, it's not only that.
Lee Ha-yul was clearly showing rejection, but at the same time he was also showing fondness.
There was hope. If she could successfully work on that fondness, she could surpass the rejection of the curse and establish a friendship.
Wasn't that the very reason she had come here even now, squeezing time out of her academic schedule?
She had not the slightest intention of living with this thing attached to her. She was going to get rid of it, no matter what.
Though I don't know if I'll live that long...
Baek A-rin smiled wryly as she rose to her feet.
Soon she approached the bed.
Lee Ha-yul, who had been sharing warmth in Hong Yeon-hwa's arms, was now lying on the bed, fast asleep.
As for healing... I just need to douse him with plenty of Azure Sea, I suppose.
Baek A-rin had come for a hospital visit, and also to deliver a gift and provide healing at the same time.
The Azure Sea's Water Current was a mana attribute that contained healing properties.
The difference from other healing-type unique abilities was that it did not simply heal and regenerate, but also enhanced the target's innate restorative vitality and had other functions as well.
To put it bluntly, it was no different from a potion that would heal you on its own even if you just splashed it around thoughtlessly.
On top of that, Baek A-rin was equipped with medical knowledge and had also mastered specialized recovery magic and the healing arts passed down in her family that utilized the Azure Sea.
Of course, the effect would not be great on Lee Ha-yul, who was already receiving devoted healing... but it was not as if the effect would be zero, and it would be wise to at least make a show of it for later credit.
- Whooooom...
Azure Sea energy rippled over Baek A-rin's palm.
And then.
Baek A-rin sensed the Azure Sea energy.
...Huh?
Beneath the Mask, Baek A-rin's expression tensed and hardened. Her fingertips went rigid and cold.
She sensed the Azure Sea energy manifesting from her palm. That was only natural—Baek A-rin herself was directly operating it.
...There was more.
Within the healing ward, there was Azure Sea energy besides her own.
It was not being actively operated. It was closer to the residue left after operation.
That energy was... at the place where an arm was unnaturally absent.
It lingered on the stump of Lee Ha-yul's shoulder.
Baek A-rin calmly retraced her thoughts. She recalled the registry of Changhae family members dispatched around the world.
There were no family members assigned to the Association Headquarters' Intensive Care Unit.
There were no family members active in Sipnaha.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Hong Yeon-hwa called out to Baek A-rin, who had stopped stock-still.
"No, it's nothing. I was just concentrating for a moment."
Baek A-rin shook her head. Then she beamed as if nothing had happened and continued to operate the Azure Sea.
Throughout the entire time she poured out the Azure Sea, Baek A-rin's gaze lingered on Lee Ha-yul's shoulder.
- Twitch
As if reacting to her gaze, Lee Ha-yul's body jerked.
- Ding! Ding! Ding!
On one side of his consciousness, dulled by sleep, a strange alarm rang out.
Lee Ha-yul's smartwatch had been collected and was being stored separately.
*
*
*
- Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Savior Correction System: Evil Annihilation Progress]
[｢Curse of Bitter Cold｣ detected!]
[The system expresses intense rejection toward Bitter Cold!]
[Should the Savior confront Bitter Cold, the system will assist the Savior with all its power!]
...
[Savior Correction System: Pioneering Progress]
[Main Quest ｢Tower of Bitter Cold｣ generated!]
[Repel the encroaching Bitter Cold!]