Chapter 121: An Uncomfortable Daily Life (2)
Chapter 121: An Uncomfortable Daily Life (2)
"Sir Demon, welcome back. I'm relieved you've returned early."
"Ed?"
"Yes. Please hand me your outer coat and have a seat over there."
Ed naturally took the outer coat from me and led me toward a chair that sat conspicuously alone. When I sat down in a daze, Ben, who was already standing in front of me—when did he even get here—began examining me from head to toe.
I stared blankly at what he was doing before I belatedly called out to him with a question in my voice.
"Ben...?"
"Yes, Sir Demon. Pardon me for a moment."
Ben, who had been fiddling with my bandaged wrist, peered at the magic stone hanging from my neck and then frowned, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Would you mind lying down?"
"......?"
"Ed, what are you doing? Hurry up and help Sir Demon onto the bed."
No, but... I just got here, what is all this.......
The situation was so sudden that I zoned out for a second, but when Ed approached me looking ready to scoop me up in his arms, I jumped up in alarm.
I didn't know what this was about, but complying quietly seemed like the best move. If I didn't, those two would just use brute force anyway.
'I'd rather just comply than suffer that humiliation.......'
I trudged slowly over and lay down on the bed. Ben pressed firmly all over my stomach, then tilted his head with a puzzled look.
"There was definitely a signal indicating internal injury earlier... but you've improved significantly now."
"Is that so?"
So that's why he was this serious.
The examination looked like it was over. Well, he said I'd improved a lot, so that was a relief. I tried to stealthily sit up, but I couldn't overcome the force of Ben's hand pressing down on my shoulder and flopped back down.
What's with him, he just said I was fine.... Can I not get up?
"Ah, I was late to mention this. Sir Demon, are you feeling all right?"
"Didn't you just examine me?"
"The problem is that strong signals like hemoptysis come through just fine, but simple things like a spike in blood pressure or a faster heartbeat don't register well. It's as if the signals arrive so weak and fragmented that they're indecipherable......."
"My body is fine. More importantly, is that an error with the device? If so, we should replace it......."
"No, even when we replace it, the signals only come through properly for the very beginning. After that, it goes right back to how it is now......."
So he's already replaced it.
Wasn't that thing made from my blood? From the sound of it, he hadn't just replaced it once or twice. When on earth did he take that much?
I was grumbling internally when a hypothesis suddenly crossed my mind, and I cautiously broached the subject.
"Could it perhaps be a distance issue...."
"Absolutely not. If it were, the signals would be coming through properly right now."
Ah, right.......
I closed my mouth again.
"More to the point, Sir Demon, please, I beg you, take care of your body. Do you have any idea how insane it drives me every time a signal comes in and I can't even go to you, my heart just wringing itself out?"
Now that I thought about it, this guy was my personal physician. And a physician with an ironclad professional conscience, at that. He definitely had reason to be wringing his heart out.
Should I say thank you for that, or should I apologize......?
I was hesitating, not knowing how to answer, when I heard Ed mutter something.
"You already attempted an escape, and still...."
"I was caught once by Lady Lirinel, and once by His Majesty the Demon King. Next time, I will escape without fail!"
Escape, so I can go treat Sir Demon's body!
He shouted that out, but I couldn't even show a reaction and instead recoiled internally. Fuck, you're coming to the human world? Absolutely not! Don't come!
'A hidden hero was right here...!'
I was shocked that a huge crisis had passed without me even knowing. Lirinel and the Demon King. I inwardly showered them with frantic gratitude. Thank you, thank you.
"He's even had a direct audience with His Majesty the Demon King, and he still hasn't come to his senses."
"I am Sir Demon's personal physician. When something abnormal happens to my patient's body, it is my duty to go and check on him."
"There's a limit even to that. You...."
"Ah, shut up. Sir Demon, I have something to ask about your physical condition. Is that all right?"
Ben openly ignored Ed and turned toward me, smiling.
Um, I'm fine, but... are you fine? Ed is glaring daggers at your back right now.
Whether he cared or not, Ben smiled affectionately as if nothing had happened and cautiously posed his question.
"By any chance... have you ever felt a change in your physical condition?"
My physical condition? I'm not really sure.
......Ah, now that he mentioned it, it did seem like the frequency of my hemoptysis had gone down at some point.
But wasn't that just my imagination? The injuries I sustained in various situations also seemed to stop at a lighter level than I had expected, but... my own perception of my physical condition hadn't changed much, so I'd figured it was just in my head.
Partly to confirm whether it was my imagination or real, I shared these facts. Ed shouted with a look of utter joy, practically jumping.
"So the aftereffects can actually heal! That's truly a relief! It seems the day you ride a demon-realm horse, Sir Demon, is not far off!"
"......You remembered that?"
"It's a promise with you, Sir Demon. How could I ever forget it?"
No, forgetting it is fine.
Can't I just... stay sick......?
I just barely stopped my hand from pressing against my forehead and instead clenched and unclenched my fist. Hmm, looking again, I didn't really feel different.... Was I truly getting healthier?
As a test, I lightly jabbed my fist toward the wall.
"Ah, Sir Demon! Just a moment...!"
Crack.
"......."
"......."
...I didn't even put full power into that.
I looked back and forth between my fist, which was throbbing and swelling up, and Ben. Ben, who had run over in alarm and was examining my hand, pronounced with a stiff face.
"It's a fracture."
"......."
But this feels exactly like the physical condition I know.
Weird. Was my condition just fluctuating on and off?
I was staring at my hand where a purple bruise was rising, without any particular emotion, when Ben snatched my hand and rapidly treated it. With a deep sigh, he muttered quietly, as if scolding me.
"That was not the kind of change I meant. I was merely thinking that the reason the magic stone's signal weakens over time seems as though...."
—it might be because something that constitutes your body, Sir Demon, is steadily changing.
Silence descended.
"......What on earth does that...."
It was a chilling statement.
I rubbed my arm where goosebumps had risen.
"Are you saying my body is changing without me even knowing?"
"It's only a hypothesis."
"That's insane. There are things you say and things you don't. How dare you say something like that right now!"
Ah, that last line wasn't me.
It was Ed, his face twisted into a vicious scowl for the first time in front of me, grabbing Ben by the collar and shouting those words.
His menacing demeanor was so fierce that even I flinched, but unfortunately, it didn't work on Ben. The consummate physician, who would never lose to Ed alone, likewise grabbed him by the collar and yelled back.
"Then what! Do you think the spell on the magic stone degraded! In magic, 'dissipation over time' is possible, but 'degradation' is impossible! So what else is left! Nothing but the fact that the blood currently flowing in Sir Demon's body has changed from the blood used to craft the spell!"
"Couldn't it be an error in the magic stone itself, not the spell!"
"Didn't I tell you I've already replaced it over and over! Do you think it's easy to draw Sir Demon's blood! He's turned a blind eye each time so I've managed to get it, but he's already lacking blood, so my conscience stabs me every time!"
...I've never turned a blind eye, though?
When did you draw my blood, you damned physician.
"They all worked perfectly at first! It's just that the signal gradually weakened over time!"
"......."
"This is a reaction that says it's Sir Demon's blood, yet not his blood at the same time!"
Ben won again this time too.
Having shut Ed up, Ben huffed for a moment, then evened his breathing as if trying to calm himself and turned his head to look at me. Our eyes met, and his were filled with a flustered look.
"......I apologize. I dared to raise my voice in front of you, Sir Demon."
"No, well.... More importantly, that story about my body changing...."
As if I'd ever get mad at something like that. So enough with the apologies, hurry up and keep talking.
This is directly related to me; I can't not know about it.
Ben carefully examined my expression to gauge the truth of my reaction, then nodded slightly and spoke.
"I didn't notice it myself at first. I thought it was a mistake. But as this kept repeating...."
"......."
"I'll tell you now, while we're on the subject. Your body, Sir Demon, has been steadily changing since the very first day we met. Something I can't pinpoint precisely is becoming ever so minutely different."
"Couldn't it be that my body is recovering?"
"If it were that sort of thing, I would have identified it immediately."
This guy seems especially prickly toward Ed.......
I rolled my eyes, watching the two of them, then carefully opened my mouth. Under normal circumstances, I would have kept my mouth shut in this kind of situation, but right now I had no choice.
"So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
It is my body, after all.
Even if it's so weak it makes me sigh, it's still my body regardless. I don't know what's happening to it, but if it's a good phenomenon, that's a relief. If it's bad, I need to brace myself.
"For now, it does appear to be good. Nothing in particular has worsened compared to before. Rather, since the frequency of hemoptysis has decreased, it would be correct to view it favorably."
"Well, that's a relief, but......."
Knock, knock.
Everyone's heads in the room turned toward the door. I closed my mouth and looked at it too.
A visit that came right as our conversation was almost over. The timing was perfect. I gave an internal nod of admiration, and Ed, who had been watching my reaction, got up from his spot and opened the door slightly.
The second a gap appeared, a hand shot through it.
"......?!"
Fucking shit, that scared me! A curse came out on reflex. Who is it?
This time, Ed seemed fairly startled too, and he put strength into the hand gripping the door handle to shut it quickly... but then let go.
Having already composed himself in that instant, his voice was calm and subdued as he called the visitor's name.
"Lady Dvelania, your prank goes too far."
"Oh, Ed~. You caught on pretty quick?"
"What business do you have?"
"Sir Demon has returned, so isn't it only polite to come and see him?"
I hadn't even been gone long enough to warrant formal greetings this time, did she really have to?
Dvelania, the 2nd Legion Commander, squeezed her body through the door gap in an instant, patted Ed's shoulders a couple of times, then padded softly over to me and grabbed my hand. Her silent, cockroach-like movement gave me a different kind of chill than before.
"Sir Demon~, why is Ben here? Are you injured somewhere?"
"No, not really."
"Hmm......."
My unhesitating answer didn't seem to convince her, and she narrowed her eyes as she studied me.
If you weren't going to believe me, why even ask? No, more importantly, let go of this hand....
"Oh my god!"
"!"
Why, what now-what.......
A voice filled with pure psychological shock made me flinch, and I looked at her. Dvelania's gaze was fixed on the tips of my fingers.
"Your fingernail is broken!"
"......."
"All that effort I put into maintaining your nails......."
Wow... this is the first time I've seen her scream. And the cause is my fingernail.
Can't she see the bandages wrapped around my other wrist? A fractured hand is a lot more noticeable than a broken nail.
As if she'd felt a rough texture where she held my fingertips, she kept fiddling with my fingernail with a distressed expression, then soon turned on Ed with a sharp look.
"What are you doing if you can't even manage Sir Demon's nails?"
"......My apologies."
Don't apologize. It was weird from the start that you were even doing my nail care.
My nail maintenance was usually handled by Ed and Dvelania. Normally, Ed trimmed them, and Dvelania inspected them and sometimes directly trimmed them herself.
They did it so naturally that I just let it slide, but now that I thought about it, this wasn't normal. Why was my adjutant trimming my nails? Why was someone of the rank of 2nd Legion Commander in charge of my nail care?
"You there, physician. What are you doing? Hurry up and restore Sir Demon's nail."
"......I believe you are confused about the role of a personal physician, Lady Dvelania."
"Sir Demon's nail is in crisis, and you're telling me that's not a physician's role?"
Of course it isn't. Anyone listening would think his life was in danger.
I was looking at Dvelania with slightly cooled eyes when she, seeming to realize she was pushing it, turned her head away sharply and corrected herself as if doing me a favor.
"If you really can't, then at least give him some nutrients or something."
"......Understood."
Ben, realizing that this back-and-forth would never end if he kept resisting, let out a deep sigh and rummaged through his bag.
"Sir Demon, your hand......."
"Ah... yes."
Afraid that he might take offense and do something weird, I had to watch him with anxious eyes the entire time I was entrusting my nail to him.
This all happened less than a day after I arrived back at the Demon Castle.