Chapter 7. What Do You Mean, 'What a Relief'?
Chapter 7. What Do You Mean, 'What a Relief'?
'Power, huh... That's easier said than done.'
I clenched my fist tightly in front of the mirror.
Revealed beneath the moonlight were not the bulky muscles of a hero, but forearms as thin as chopsticks.
"......Haah."
A sigh leaked out first.
First, swordsmanship.
I have no master, nor do I have money.
Crucially, if I swung a sword with this sickly body, my shoulder would obviously be destroyed first.
Isn't Vivian living proof of that right now?
The living proof whose ligaments turned into rag shreds after self-studying with a perfectly normal body happens to be my regular customer.
'Then magic?'
A mage in this novel's world had to possess the 'talent' to manipulate mana.
Furthermore, a commoner is never given a single opportunity in their entire life to test that talent.
What about a mercenary who gets stronger by building experience?
'...Let's not even think about it. If I become a mercenary in my current state, I'll fucking croak before gaining any experience or strength.'
In the end, there was only one thing left.
An unidentified skill that rolled in along with my restored eyesight.
It was a cheat-like eye that could see right through the target's physical condition and the flow of mana.
'Wait, but can I... use this on myself too?'
Up until now, it was a skill I had only used on customers.
Right now, conveniently, a full-length mirror was right in front of me.
Gulping down my dry saliva, I opened my mouth.
"Eye Opening."
Then, a translucent hologram window popped up toward me in the mirror with a pat.
[Target Information]
Name: Ian
Age: 23
Affiliation: Roswell Territory Commoner
Physical Condition: Optic nerve function restored, whole-body mana circuits un-opened, in an obstructed state due to chronic stiffness.
Current Psychological State: [Anxious] [Nervous] [Desperate]
"......"
My psychological state sure looks miserable.
No, putting that aside.
'Mana circuits un-opened? Obstructed?'
I read down the status window again with trembling eyes.
The mana flow of my body shown by Eye Opening was disastrous.
Because the thin circuits stretching out across my entire body like capillaries were all completely blocked and dead, turned blackish-grey.
But then.
".....Huh?"
The moment I stared blankly at the shape of those obstructed circuits, goosebumps erupted all over my body.
It was familiar.
This clumping, this twisting, this blockage.
'This... has the exact same waveform as clumped fascia, doesn't it?'
The instinct of a physical therapist who had massaged other people's bodies rang alarm bells wildly.
What is clumped up just needs to be unknotted.
Whether it's muscle, or ligament.
'And... whether it's mana.'
Dry saliva trickled down my throat.
I don't know what talent mages are born with, but at least to me, the blocked circuits are clearly 'visible'.
And I have the hand technique to work them out.
'Let's try it.'
Facing the mirror, I looked at the tip of my left pinky finger, the thinnest, blocked terminal circuit.
At the same time, I pressed down hard on the exact obstruction point shown by 'Eye Opening' with my right thumb.
Wududeuk-!
"Kgeeeek...!!"
Sparks flew before my eyes.
It felt like re-experiencing the pain of that night when my optic nerve opened up, but in a finger version.
"F-Fuck... How is this physical therapy... It's torture...!"
Cold sweat dripped heavily down my forehead.
But within Eye Opening's sight, I could see a single strand of the circuit, which had been dead and blackish-grey, wriggling minutely.
'It-It's unknotting... It's loosening up!'
Gritting my teeth, I pushed away the final knot with my thumb.
Paat-!
Tiring-!
[Left hand terminal mana circuit has been opened. (1/100)]
[Whole-body opening rate: 1%]
"Haa... Haa..."
At the tip of my pinky finger, a blue light the size of a firefly blossomed with a pong.
A shabby light so small it seemed like it would go out if I just breathed on it.
Even so, I forgot to breathe for a long time in front of it.
'This is... mana.'
In my life as a physical therapist, this was the first reward obtained by curing my own body instead of someone else's.
Besides, this method didn't require any of that mage 'talent' stuff.
All that was needed was an eye that could see the circuits and fingertips that could unknot the tightness.
Coincidentally, I'm probably the only person in this world who possesses both.
'Barely one out of a hundred. Alright, let's see how far I can go.'
Riding the momentum, just as I brought my thumb to the circuit on my ring finger, it was right at that moment.
Ttok ttok—
".......!"
At this hour?
Who on earth in the dead of night?
'Don't tell me.'
A chilling premonition crawled slowly up my spine.
And that premonition failed to miss even once.
"Ian-nim, are you inside?"
A thin, gentle voice seeped through the gap in the door.
It was Vivian Belmont.
'Why again!! Why again after just two days!!'
Holding back the urge to scream, I hurriedly crumpled the blue light at my fingertips into my fist.
Fortunately, as I relaxed my hand, the light scattered smoothly like smoke.
"....Who is it? At such a late hour."
"It's Vivian. I'm sorry, it's very late, isn't it...?"
As I immediately overlaid my eyes with the empty look unique to blind people and opened the door, Vivian, with her hood pulled down, carefully stepped inside.
Her right arm revealed beneath her robe sagged unnaturally.
"My shoulder... hurts again."
Again?
I definitely treated it last time, didn't I!?
Possessing such a frail body, how on earth did she become a knight in the original novel?
"Please take a seat first."
As I seated Vivian on the bed, pink hair spilled down from under her slipped hood.
The same perfume scent that had wafted to the tip of my nose that night wafted in strongly.
Sweet, and somehow coppery.
"I will place my hands on your shoulder."
"....Yes."
Placing my hands on Vivian's shoulder, I quietly shouted inside.
'Eye Opening.'
[Target Information]
Name: Vivian Belmont
Age: 22
Affiliation: House Belmont
Physical Condition: Worsened damage to right rotator cuff ligament. Numerous micro-tears in muscle fibers.
Current Psychological State: [Happy] [Excited] [Obsessed]
'.....Happy?'
I almost broke my unfocused acting.
Her ligaments are torn and her muscle fibers are ruptured, but she's happy?
The sight of [Happy] floating in the psychological state of a patient who came for treatment, instead of [Pain] and [Anxiety], was sheer goosebumps in itself.
'I can understand the word obsession appearing in her psychological state since Vivian is crazy about swordsmanship, but happy and excited... Something feels terribly wrong here...?'
Furthermore, this degree of damage was outside common sense.
Her shoulder had definitely been restored close to normal during the last treatment.
Probably, according to the flow of the original novel, this would be an injury caused while Vivian secretly practiced swordsmanship behind her father's back to become the successor.
But for her ligaments to get to this state in just two days, how much did she have to abuse her body?
'Don't tell me... on purpose?'
No, it couldn't be.
Where in the world would there be a crazy person who ruins their own body on purpose just to get treatment?
"Eeuut—♥ Ah, it hurts...."
"Your body has been severely damaged. What on earth did you do to reach this state..."
"I-I just... did embroidery a bit too intensely..."
"......Embroidery?"
Where in the world is there a noble lady whose rotator cuff gets ruptured while doing embroidery?
Swallowing the words rising to my throat, I silently began unknotting and releasing the clumped and torn areas.
"Hreuut... Haah... As expected, Ian-nim's hands are...♥"
Vivian's breathing began to relax languidly.
It was around the time when the treatment was almost finished.
"......."
Vivian suddenly fell silent.
And then.
Something slowly entered the edge of my sight, which had been fixed in mid-air.
".......?!"
It was Vivian's white hand.
Her palm was slowly waving side to side without a sound, a span's distance from my eyes.
'Fuck.'
She's testing me.
Right now, my eyes.
"........."
"........."
Vivian's palm moved a little closer.
Close enough that the wind brushed against my eyelashes.
Her gaze, watching me while killing even her breathing, felt stinging as if it were touching my skin.
'If I focus, I can live...'
I was a person who had already practiced this exact thing for three whole days.
Relaxing the tension in my pupils, I stared not at Vivian's hand, but only at the stain on the wallpaper beyond it.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
An eternity-like time passed, and with an innocent face that knew nothing, I tilted my head slightly.
"...Vivian-nim? Why are you suddenly silent? Is somewhere else uncomfortable?"
At that moment, the hologram window at the edge of my sight updated quietly.
[Current Psychological State: [Conviction] [Relief] [Ecstasy]]
Vivian's hand slid down smoothly.
".....No. It's nothing."
For some reason, an unmistakable smile dripped from Vivian's voice.
"The treatment is all finished. Please do not use your right arm under any circumstances for the time being."
"Yes. Thank you... so much."
Vivian squeezed the pouch containing the treatment fee tightly into my hand.
It was twice as heavy as last time.
But still.
What is this feeling of unease every time I receive it?
This feeling as if I'm not receiving a treatment fee, but the price for something else.
Just as I was harbouring doubts, she suddenly stopped in her tracks in front of the door.
"Ian-nim, you really... can't see anything, can you."
"......Pardon? What do you suddenly mean by..."
"I said it's a relief."
A relief.
They were two words a hundred times more chilling than the 'Good night' Vivian left behind yesterday.
"Well then, I'll come again."
Dalkak.
The door closed, and the sound of footsteps completely vanished beyond the alley.
Only then did I slide down, leaning my back against the wall.
"Haaaa... I thought my heart was going to drop out, but..."
What do you mean, it's a relief?
Why is it a relief to you that I can't see in front of me?
'Why are there no normal people among my shop's customers?'
It was a night where the more I thought about it, the more spine-chilling it became.
Shaking my head vigorously to pull myself together, I looked at the mirror once more and grabbed my left ring finger.
'One thing is clear.'
That right now, I cannot protect myself from anything.
Wududeuk-!
"Kgeuk...!!"
Tiring-!
[Left hand ring finger mana circuit has been opened. (2/100)]
[Whole-body opening rate: 2%]
The second blue light that blossomed from my fingertip flickered just a tiny bit larger than before.