Rare Disease Treatment “Twenty-three… Twenty-four…!”
“Twenty-three… Twenty-four…!”
Lately, he’d been devoting a lot of time to training.
“Good. Even though it’s only been a short while since you started learning, there’s hardly anything left for me to teach you.”
Under Martin’s guidance, his swordsmanship training focused on refining techniques and building physical strength.
“So… you’re saying I could run electricity through a barrier I cast, or combine water and ice magic to create blades on the spot?”
For magic, he headed into the forest to practice advanced combinations of spells. It was definitely more effective than just reading books and studying theory. As the saying goes, seeing is believing—understanding something from words alone paled in comparison to hands-on training that let it sink into your body. The growth was night and day.
“Hmm.”
And these methods made the progress easy to feel, too.
“You’ve definitely improved a lot compared to when we started.”
Physically speaking, the change was stark. Lean muscles had defined themselves across his arms and shoulders, chest and back, even his abs—his entire body. A sleekness and solidity he couldn’t have imagined before now enveloped him, powering every movement. It wasn’t just bulk; the harmony improved his balance and agility as well.
His magical abilities had leaped to another level, too. Before, he could only focus on one spell at a time, but now casting two or more simultaneously was no problem. He could even chain them together for complex, creative applications.
This was smooth progress even compared to the original Arnold from the story, but he didn’t stop pushing to get stronger.
“But… is it still not enough?”
Of course, ideally he’d shake off the villain label entirely and prevent all those future misfortunes from ever happening.
“To survive, I need to get even stronger.”
He had the talent for it, so there was no downside. If he ended up in an inescapable death flag scenario dictated by fate, he’d have to handle it alone. Plus, in a world without computers or gadgets like back home, without training he’d have nothing to do and get bored stiff.
“Maybe it’s time to schedule a hunt for some strong monsters?”
“I should get proficient at using sword and magic together, too.”
“Might look into a home tutor for magic when I get the chance.”
So, whenever he had downtime, bulking up seemed like the best move.
“For now… like last time, I wanna hunt some monsters to gauge my limits.”
His growth trajectory was steady so far. Timeline-wise, the original story hadn’t even started, and the game’s real prologue kicked off after academy enrollment. Plenty of time left.
“Hello, Master….”
Eily was originally a character who didn’t appear in the game.
But in terms of personality, she was solidly a maid through and through.
“Eily….”
“Is there… something you need me to do, Master…?”
She was clumsy and full of shortcomings, but if you looked on the bright side, her ditzy charm made it all endearing. Always cheerful and full of energy, with that innocent smile—it was personally quite appealing.
“…What’s up with you today?”
“What do you mean?”
But today, her vibe was off.
Normal Eily was like… if you compared her to weather, a clear blue sky without a single cloud. Optimistic, free of worry or anxiety, like a sun shining brightly over the whole world.
“Something wrong?”
“No, nothing at all….”
Today felt like a rainy gloom. The pure, bright girl was gone, replaced by a face clouded with worry and concern.
“You look kinda down, though?”
“Do I? Ha, but I’m fine…”
Her unusually serious, melancholic demeanor raised questions, but Eily just kept insisting nothing was wrong.
“Hmm, really?”
Even if she denied it verbally, her anxious expression screamed for help.
“Yes, I’m really okay….”
Did she have some secret she couldn’t tell anyone? Or was someone holding something over her, mistreating her?
He couldn’t pinpoint the reason.
“Ugh….”
But he could sense instinctively that something bad had happened to Eily.
…………
My name, Eily, was given to me by my mother. I have no memory of my father. At some point, it was just me, Mom, and my little sister—who was frail but always tried to smile through it—living together.
A house without a man was incredibly tough. Three fragile women struggling to make ends meet was no easy feat.
Still, our family was happy in our own way. We had little materially, but we poured out love endlessly, supporting each other as pillars.
Things started looking up when Mom and I began working as maids in a noble household.
But then…
‘Eily… could you come home for a bit today?’
‘Mother? Yes, of course.’
One day, hardship struck.
‘Ugh… Sis—’
‘Ju… Julie?!’
My congenitally weak sister Julie fell ill with some unknown disease. She’d always been sickly—even a cold would leave her suffering for days—and now this mystery ailment threatened her life.
‘Hmm… It seems familiar, but I’m not sure.’
We couldn’t afford a top doctor, so we went to the best we could manage, but even he couldn’t diagnose it within his knowledge.
‘It looks like poisoning, so a high-grade antidote should work. The price is—’
There was a treatment, but it was prohibitively expensive—far beyond what Mom and I could earn.
Still, to save her, we nursed her constantly and saved every penny.
‘Mother, how’s Julie?’
‘She’s okay. Well, not really… same as always. She’s hanging in there.’
Mom visited twice a day to care for her. With hope still alive, we pushed worries aside and kept working.
‘Eily, it’s bad…! Julie’s in danger…!’
Then today—
‘What?! Why?!’
‘Her condition worsened… It’s from leaving it untreated so long…!’
The sister I believed would hold on… couldn’t fight the symptoms anymore and was teetering on the brink.
‘What do we do…?’
We were still so far from scraping together the full amount.
But time wasn’t on our side.
What should we do? God, if my prayers reach you… please help this wretched family. Or anyone—
‘Oh….’
With that thought, a certain man’s face flashed in my mind.
Rumors called him cruel and ruthless.
But in truth, the young master was kinder and warmer than anyone—
‘No, I can’t….’
I quickly dismissed the irreverent idea.
I already owed him an immeasurable debt. He’d shielded me when I was nearly branded a thief, fed my hungry sister, and even risked himself to save my worthless life.
No matter how shameless, I couldn’t burden my master again.
I was just a maid; he was a noble. I should be devoting myself to him, not causing more trouble.
This time, my family and I had to handle it alone.
‘Listen, there’s something I want you to do from now on.’
So the best I could do was—
‘…I’d like you to do it this way.’
‘Y-Yes…?’
‘Ah, I understand….’
Follow Mother’s request.
Eily’s mood was off.
“Ugh….”
She kept glancing at him, like she had something to say, but stomped her feet anxiously, unable to muster the courage.
“Eily, do you have something to tell me?”
So, tired of the vague atmosphere… he approached her first.
“Huh? Oh, no, nothing at all…”
“Liar. You’ve been like this since this morning. Tell me straight.”
But since she wouldn’t open up, he pressed her seriously.
“W-Well, actually—”
Finally relenting, her tense shoulders slumped.
“Master, I have something serious to discuss.”
She forced the words out with a pained expression.
“What is it?”
“Master, I—”
Her first words, spoken with resolved determination, threw his mind into chaos.
“From today onward, I’ll be quitting my maid duties…!”