152. Hospital Visit
152. Hospital Visit
It was around the time the academy was buzzing with rumors that a 'Master' had entered during the night.
A small commotion broke out at the male dormitory.
With the newly updated rules, male students were prohibited from entering the female dormitory, and females were barred from the male dormitory. Yet one female student was attempting to enter the male dormitory.
Naturally, no matter how much the female student tried to open it, the dormitory door would not budge.
One would think she'd give up after a couple of attempts, but the student refused to back down, looking ready to tear the door off.
Given the situation, all the male students were eyeing the female student standing in front of the unyielding door.
-Udeudeuk! Ppadeuk!
A terrifying sound was coming from between the female student and the door.
No one could tell if it was the door making the noise, or her gripping hands.
Even though she was blocking the main entrance and making passage incredibly inconvenient, no student brave enough to tell her to move had yet appeared.
That was because the intensity she radiated while gripping the handle was simply too intimidating.
They wished someone would resolve it, but lacking the courage themselves, they simply detoured to another entrance.
"What's going on here? Female students are prohibited from entering the male dormitory."
What broke the deadlock was a passing Holy Knight.
At the Holy Knight's question, the female student finally raised her head.
"...A friend hasn't been seen all day. I think something might have happened, so I'll just go inside and check if he's okay."
The female student's identity was none other than Lucia Russell.
It was little wonder that no student had the guts to stand in the way of someone who was both one of the Five Pillars supporting the Empire and called the Sword of the Empire.
However, that didn't apply to the Holy Knight.
He tried to persuade Lucia.
"It hasn't even reached noon yet, so calling it 'all day' is a stretch. Please leave it to someone else. If necessary, I can go in and check for you."
"I need to see for myself. Let me in."
The Holy Knight attempted a rational conversation.
He pointed out that if she was worried about one male student not coming out, they could just call someone to check on him, but Russell refused.
It seemed she wouldn't feel at ease unless she saw him with her own eyes.
"That's impossible. If you tell me your business, I will..."
"Let me in."
He kept trying to talk, but Russell refused.
"If you keep this up..."
Left with no choice against Russell, who refused dialogue, the Holy Knight grabbed her wrist.
He intended to make her step aside by force if necessary, but things didn't go as planned.
"Hm?"
Lucia Russell didn't budge an inch.
To a third party, it was unclear whether the Holy Knight was using minimal force, or whether Lucia simply wasn't fazed by the Holy Knight's strength.
"If you keep interfering...."
At some point, Lucia glared at the Holy Knight holding her wrist.
It was a hair-trigger situation that seemed about to erupt into a fight. Just when it looked like friction might truly ignite between the Church and the Empire, someone boldly stepped forward.
"Hey, what's going on in front of the male dormitory?"
It was Edgar Lemnos.
———————————-
The first person to visit him in the hospital was Lucia.
She entered the moment they announced that treatment was finished and visitors were allowed.
That was because, upon hearing Edgar say he would go check on him, she had been waiting in front of the dormitory.
The moment Lucia entered the hospital room, she was horrified to see Atlas, unable to properly hold himself up, lying in bed.
"...Are you a little... okay?"
"Yeah, except for a bad headache, sore throat, muscle aches... stuff like that, I'm fine."
That Atlas was truly sick.
It was a sight she had never seen before.
Even when his stomach had been pierced by a sword and had a hole in it, it wasn't this bad.
His face was flushed and his breathing was ragged, as if he had a truly severe case of the flu.
He couldn't hold himself up, and his voice was lower than usual.
"What happened...?"
"I just... caught the flu or something.... Ugh, I tried to get up but couldn't move a muscle...."
Just looking at him from the outside made it obvious how much he was struggling.
He couldn't even turn his head, and he couldn't open his eyes properly.
"I just need to be hospitalized until the end of this week, so don't worry too much... It's just a temporary downturn in my condition, it's not life-threatening."
He didn't look okay.
The sight of Atlas, who was small but always walked with confidence, lying there collapsed and so weak, was completely unlike his usual self.
He tried to talk like he usually did, but he looked incredibly fragile.
His feeble voice, his flushed, feverish face, his collapsed posture from being unable to support his body—it all made him look like a completely different person.
Seeing Atlas collapsed like that, she had to steady her pounding heart.
Usually, Atlas stimulated her maternal instincts with trivial actions, but the current Atlas, collapsed in weakness, was on a whole other level.
Lucia couldn't clearly express the emotion she felt right now in words, but she did know that her heart was pounding more than usual.
"Thanks, Lucia. For telling Edgar..."
"Ah.. no... Anyone would have done it..."
As Atlas said that, he extended his hand out from under the blanket.
When she took hold of his hand, which looked far more delicate than usual, she felt the searing heat of his body.
So much so that the ice pack on his forehead meant to lower his temperature seemed insufficient.
It was then.
"Atlas!"
"Mister, did you really catch a cold?"
"!!"
The door opened and other people came in.
Riber, Amy, and even Casey came flocking in and sat beside the hospital bed.
They were all people who had been worried after not seeing Atlas emerge this morning.
Startled, Lucia let go of Atlas's hand, which she had been holding.
She hadn't done anything wrong, but her heart was fluttering for no reason.
The first one in, Casey, briefly checked on the ailing Atlas and then spoke.
"Mister, for someone of your realm to get the flu, that's a crime."
"...You..!! What kind of thing is that to say to a sick person..!!"
"It's fine... She's not wrong."
Atlas accepted Casey's words calmly.
Because even though the phrasing was harsh, it was true.
Superhumans who have reached the realm of high-ranking Expert or above do not catch minor illnesses like the flu or a cold.
Their physical abilities, which have dramatically increased compared to ordinary people, strengthen their immune systems to the point where diseases that invade the body are easily crushed.
Therefore, the situation of Atlas lying sick with the so-called flu was clearly abnormal.
"Casey... Just wait until I'm discharged next week..."
"Then get better quickly."
"...Sigh, who did you learn this from."
"I learned it from you, Mister."
Neither was willing to yield a single word to the other.
Even as she said that, Casey's expression was not good.
"Even though I look like this, it's not a fatal illness... so don't...."
Suddenly, Atlas's response stopped.
His eyes, which had been talking until just moments ago, were closed.
"He's asleep."
"He just falls asleep in the middle of talking?"
Like a golem whose power had been cut, he had suddenly dozed off, breathing softly.
Just then, the closed door of the hospital room opened.
"Oh my, I stepped away for a bit and so many people came? Faces I've seen a few times..."
It was Professor Nico Praha, Atlas's attending physician.
Wearing a white coat, she came inside and skillfully checked Atlas's condition.
If it had been any other patient, a nurse would have checked on him instead, but Professor Praha wasn't performing normal duties at this hospital; she had been exclusively assigned to Atlas at his personal request, so it seemed she checked on him personally.
"...This just seems like she's his personal doctor... well, it's not inaccurate."
Nico Praha, who was checking Atlas's condition, let out a laugh of incredulity.
Thinking about it, with the enormous research funding she was receiving all being for the sake of this one person, she couldn't really complain.
Thinking she was getting off cheap, she checked his temperature and other vitals.
"He's sleeping well, so visiting hours are over for today. Everyone come back tomorrow."
"Um... Can't I stay a little longer...?"
"It's better for him to rest quietly alone than to have you all here when he wakes up. I understand how you feel, but there are nurses and I'm here too, so don't worry."
"...Okay."
"Alright, alright, let's come back tomorrow."
"We have no choice..."
When it comes to a patient's condition, the doctor's word is absolute.
Unable to say anything more, everyone left the hospital room as Praha instructed.
"......"
Seeing them all leave with such dejected steps, Praha hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a small voice.
"...If you're that worried, one person staying is fine. Multiple isn't allowed."
""""!!""""
—————————————-
Once outside the hospital, the four of them fell into a strange standoff.
"She permitted one person to stay."
"Shall we decide who will do the nursing?"
"...Then shall we settle this with a duel...?"
"What kind of duel over something like this? I'll drop out, so you three figure it out among yourselves."
"'Something like this'? You don't seem to understand how important this is!"
"Yeah, I don't understand."
Casey gave up first.
It wasn't that she didn't want to nurse Atlas, who had nursed her when she was sick, but she wondered if this really warranted a duel.
If it turned into a duel, controlling her strength would be annoying, so she figured it was better to take a step back.
Besides, not being part of this didn't mean she couldn't visit him.
"Then with three people, do we have to do a 1-on-1-on-1 duel...?"
At the mention of a duel, Riber's eyes sharpened.
It seemed that inwardly, she was starving for a proper duel, having been unable to have one lately.
She had also been curious for a while about how their three skill levels would compare.
Between Lucia, who had proposed the duel, and Riber, whose eyes had sharpened, Amy stepped in to mediate.
"Let's not do that. Atlas wouldn't like it if one person monopolized it anyway."
"Then?"
"Since it's supposed to be a week, how about the three of you rotate, each taking a day?"
It was the method with the least conflict, at least.
There was also the option of a duel to handle the whole week, but if Atlas heard about that, he would obviously scold them for being so childish.
There was a high chance that even if they won, they'd achieve nothing.
"That... sounds good. Then... can I go in first starting today...?"
"You can't just decide that on your own. First...."
"A week is seven days. Inevitably, someone will have to do an extra day. In that case, Ms. Russell can go first, and I'll take the extra day."
"Both of you, stop deciding things arbitrarily."
It took over an hour to properly sort out the order.