Can't You All Just Leave the Health Office?
Academy Health Office.
We three lay side by side on the sickbeds, having just received a thorough scolding from Irene Rock.
Ritta, looking like she'd just returned from the front lines with dark circles under her eyes, meticulously treated our wounds. With her hair down, she seemed like a completely different person.
She sliced thin pieces from the frozen meat in the pack and placed them over our injuries, then her ability transformed the meat into our own flesh.
Theseus' Ship.
A power that converts one organic material into another, healing the target without any immune rejection.
Ah, now that's enviable.
Han Ye-seo spoke up from beside me.
"Ivy! Did you use your ability this time?"
"Huh?"
"You've never shown it to me once! You haven't even talked about it!"
"Secret."
I've used it a ton, but even if I explained, she wouldn't get it.
I flashed a grin.
Now I could pull off a pretty natural smile. My acting skills had improved a lot too.
"That's not fair!" Han Ye-seo puffed out her cheeks.
So cute.
Lying there and looking up at me, Han Ye-seo was definitely cute.
Her other expressions were cute too.
That was it. Nothing more.
Even from different angles, it was the same.
A girl half a head shorter than me gazing up—no emotions beyond "cute" stirred.
It's such a weird sensation.
I turned my head the other way to look at Ja-an.
He'd been watching me too, so our eyes met immediately.
We stared for a good while, and only then did Ja-an look away.
He opened his mouth.
Awkward. This atmosphere is awkward for him.
"How's your body feeling?"
"Fine. It wasn't that serious anyway."
"...Yeah?"
"The teacher's ability fixed it right up. No minor scratches, no scars. Clean as can be."
Ritta made a V-sign with her fingers from the side.
Her triumphant expression irked me in a strangely petty way.
...Right, she's a heroine too. Trying to look good for Ja-an?
A spinster over thirty trying to appeal to fresh-faced academy cadets barely out of their teens...
Sigh. Well, she's desperate, I guess.
Ever magnanimous, I decided to understand her actions.
She was at that age where the clock was ticking.
I sat up.
Seeing me, Ritta tried to stop me.
"I'm fine."
"No, I'll be the judge of that as the doctor."
"...You're a doctor?"
"No license, but?"
"Pardon?"
Ritta averted her eyes for a moment, then started making excuses.
"I got special permission because I have this ability to heal people...? Something like that?"
"So no license, basically."
"Right?"
"Doesn't using your ability require some understanding of human anatomy?"
Ritta answered in the tiniest voice.
"...It's instinct."
"Instinct?"
"No problems so far!"
Having hit the nail on the head, Ritta let out a shrill squeak.
My ears rang.
Slide. Click. The health office's sliding door opened, revealing two familiar faces.
One was Hero Ham Deok-gyu, and the other...
...Ha.
The moment I saw him, I swallowed hard.
I thought I'd gotten good at hiding my emotions, but apparently not perfect yet.
My expression slipped for an instant.
The Principal eyed my face briefly.
"You cadets who risked your lives to save citizens—you're the academy's greatest pride right now."
Ja-an, I, and Han Ye-seo awkwardly bowed our heads in thanks.
"We adults are the ones who should be bowing."
"Me too?"
"Bow a little. Isn't that temper of yours always getting you in fights with the higher-ups?"
"Tch, fine."
Ham Deok-gyu bowed alongside the Principal.
Ritta stared blankly at the sight, then snapped out of it and tossed in a comment.
"...Can't you all just leave the health office?"
"Hm?"
"Even if my ability seems perfect, we still have to maintain hygiene, you know?"
"I-Is that so?"
"We just disinfected the room, and now we'll have to clean again. Do you know how few ability users specialize in disinfection or cleaning?"
How could an academy health teacher talk to the Principal like that?
Simple reason.
Ritta's ability was one-of-a-kind.
As long as a breath remained, she could restore lost arms, legs, organs—even parts of the head.
As I'd mentioned before, she was why this near-post-apocalyptic world didn't feel like one.
Even the gravest injuries could return to the front lines in an instant.
She was the reason this brutal war of attrition could drag on.
What use are crippled soldiers missing limbs?
With an alchemist who could turn the disabled into able-bodied civilians, this bizarre frontline held.
...Aha.
Right. There'd been one nagging disconnect since way back.
I'd finally figured it out.
Why not kill Ritta?
If I were a monster—with human-level intellect—I'd target her first.
She's the core of the frontline.
The reason half-dead ability users return in a day.
So why?
There has to be a reason.
I glanced at the Principal.
He and Ham Deok-gyu were retreating from Ritta's barrage, heading for the door.
Sensing my gaze, the Principal turned back.
I quickly looked away.
Slide. Click. The door shut again.
"Everyone okay?" Ritta asked us.
Unable to grasp her intent, we just stared at each other's faces for a while.
Impatient, Ritta explained.
"You all hate it when big shots show up, spout platitudes, and pretend to care about morale, right?"
Made sense.
She was a teacher, after all. Teachers protect and teach students—that's their calling.
I'd pegged her as just a ditzy pink gremlin, but she had hidden depths.
Ritta grinned brightly and cracked a joke.
"If you're really bummed, ask for a big statue. Gold one."
"Think that'll actually happen?!"
"...Probably?"
"What if I just ask them to deposit the statue money straight into my account...!"
"That won't fly. It's about the show. Politics."
Ritta patiently answered even Han Ye-seo's dumb questions.
Han Ye-seo, who'd planned to slip out once the mood lightened, started panicking.
She might seem scatterbrained and loudmouthed with no thoughts behind it, but Han Ye-seo was sharper than she looked.
Ritta was probably the first in her life to humor every bit of nonsense she spouted.
Ja-an quietly sat up in bed.
Ah, I was about to do that.
Missed the timing.
I glanced around. Now?
Ritta whipped her head around to look at us.
"Lie down."
"...B-But class today."
"I'll talk to Irene. So just lie down."
Irene Rock. Right.
I'd originally planned to subtly hint at my regressions to her, but things had changed.
She might already know, and outing myself would be stupid.
I hesitated.
Ritta placed a hand on her hip, feigning anger as she warned us.
"Don't even think about leaving the health office today. I'm an A-rank hero too, you know?"
A-rank. Healer type.
In a real fight, I might win.
"I can see what you're all thinking. Planning to sneak out the second I look away?"
Ja-an flinched.
This guy sucks at lying and hiding emotions.
"I won't give you an opening. Just rest quietly today. It's only one day. Even if you grind that hard, hardly anyone notices."
Ja-an spoke up.
"Don't we know?"
"...Huh?"
"If I know I worked hard, that's enough. Better to strive till I can't anymore and fail than slack off and flop."
Ritta fell silent.
She stared at Ja-an's face for a long time.
This flimsy pink gremlin, conquered after just two health office visits, looked like she'd lost her mind completely at his words.
My head throbbed.
For some reason, Han Ye-seo kept glancing at me.
I patted my pocket to check the two syringes were still there.
. . .
About two hours passed, maybe.
Ritta... fell asleep. Hard to believe from someone who'd declared no openings.
We exchanged looks right away.
Nod. We nodded almost in sync.
Staying cooped up here would just invite trouble.
Ham Deok-gyu, the Principal? Then what? Irene Rock, or reporters swarming the "student heroes who saved citizens."
Time to bail.
We slipped out the door and scattered in different directions.
I headed to the dorms; Han Ye-seo and Ja-an to their apartments.
Lots to think about. Monsters don't breed with monsters, but ability users do—with normal humans.
Future me had ordered past me to inject the drugs. A fix for the hallucinations and voices was ready. But not usable yet.
My head throbbed.
The syringes in my pocket asserted their presence loud and clear.
Gulp. ...Tough call.