First Field Activity (1)
First Field Activity (1)
Big Sis Suyeon. A retired A-rank awakener and a doctor who saved patients with her exceptional healing ability.
The call with her ended surprisingly quickly and without fuss.
[Don't feel pressured. Just give it some thought. It would benefit you too—Code Blue! I have to go!!]
-Click.
'She was working herself to the bone again today.'
Who was Big Sis Suyeon?
A walking trauma center who could save almost anyone as long as they were still alive.
She was the last hope of critical-trauma patients beyond the reach of ordinary emergency care.
Even I myself had come back from the brink of death thanks to her.
Anyway, a call with someone as busy as she was gifted was never going to last long.
I'd wanted to ask how she was doing and exchange pleasantries.
The regret soon flowed out as a sigh.
"Haaah...."
"My disciple, who was that?"
"......?"
Then a voice came from beside me.
I quickly shifted my gaze.
My eyes met Master's. She was holding a broken plate.
'Huh. Since when did Master break plates? Well, not that it mattered.'
"You might be surprised. It was the A-rank awakener Ryu Suyeon—the Angel in White. I was talking to Big Sis Suyeon."
"O-oh. The Angel in White."
She was curious who I'd spoken to, so I explained.
"Let me see it."
"Uh."
-Snatch.
She snatched my phone.
"Big Sis Suyeon, is it? My, how familiar."
"Well, actually, there was a time I was badly hurt. She treated me for free back then."
"...Big Sis. Big Sis Suyeon. Hmm."
Clearly displeased, Master sat across from me and fiddled with my phone.
She looked like a wife confronting her cheating husband, but...
Well, there was no way that was what this was. Not yet.
She was obviously checking that her disciple wasn't associating with the wrong crowd.
"Of course I know her name. When I first entered Pentagon Academy, she was a fourth-year—a famous upperclassman and special student attending the academy and medical school at the same time."
"Oh, so you knew each oth—"
"But Big Sis? She is fifteen years older than you. That is an awfully familiar way to address her."
...So this was about manners, not jealousy.
I quickly cleared my throat.
"Ahem. Well, she has always been very kind to me..."
"I forbid you from calling her Big Sis. As my disciple, you will show your elders proper respect."
"......Yes, ma'am."
Excuse failed.
Just like that, I'd been forbidden from calling Suyeon 'Big Sis.'
I was a little sad.
'Being young was rough... Mentally, Big Sis Suyeon and I were the same age.'
"B-but, I say. Does she really look young enough for you to be that familiar with her?"
"Huh?"
"There is a fifteen-year gap, yet you call her that... Honestly, I found it surprising. You sounded so happy when you answered the phone too... D-do you perhaps love her?"
This was no time to be moping.
Because Master had started getting entirely the wrong idea.
I immediately turned serious.
"No. That is absolutely not it."
'I was no Cao Cao. A married woman was out of the question.'
The Second-Round Hypnosis Breeding Guy.
A man who'd eat almost anything, but had little appetite for another man's leftovers.
Married women were not his type at all.
Maybe it came from the selfish desire to be the only man in the life of the woman I loved.
'Though saying that after building a harem was selfish too.'
"Big Sis Su— Ahem. I will never, ever see her in a romantic light."
I declared it without hesitation.
That would never happen, so she could rest assured.
"I am relieved, but... is it really that impossible? Enough to make you look so serious?"
"Yes. I could swear on my life."
"It can't be...."
My master's expression darkened.
The pout on her lips was a bonus.
"I suppose a fifteen-year gap could keep you from seeing her as a woman... I see."
"No. The age gap is not the issue. She is married, and she even has a daughter. That is a bit much."
"......? A 15-year age gap is acceptable?"
"What does age matter in love? As long as both people feel the same way."
'It'd have been a different story if she were a grandmother like the Chairwoman, though.'
"H-huh, h-huh...? Is that so?"
Her expression brightened again.
...Come to think of it, Master was thirty-two.
She must have briefly compared herself to Big Sis Suyeon, who was only three years older.
In a better mood, Master tapped my phone a few times before handing it back.
"Indeed. What matters is the heart. As your master, I'm pleased that your convictions are so sound."
"Thank y—"
"Still, you will show your elders proper respect."
"......."
The contact saved as 'Big Sis Suyeon' had been changed to 'A-rank Awakener Ryu Suyeon.'
That made me a little sad again.
* * *
There had been a brief commotion over age, but anyway.
The conversation then shifted to why Big Sis Suyeon had called me.
Coincidentally, it tied directly into what Master and I'd been discussing.
"She asked you to visit the hospital?"
"Yes. Big Sis Su— Ms. Ryu said the subject came up at the university hospital where she works. They want to invite me in."
The summary of the call was simple.
After I treated her daughter Hayoung, Big Sis Suyeon had more or less realized that my ability was mental in nature.
Until now, she'd kept it secret out of respect for the unwritten rule among awakeners: never disclose another person's ability.
But now I had openly revealed my hypnosis myself.
That had allowed her to report it to the university hospital without concern.
She told them that my hypnosis had cured her daughter's PTSD,
and that, with my cooperation, it might reach patients modern psychiatry could not treat.
"Is that really possible?"
"For the most part, yes."
"Huh. Since the restriction on external activities was just lifted, it's quite a coincidence."
The restriction on cadets' outside activities had even been lifted the day before.
She had called to ask whether I could stop by that weekend and use hypnosis on some patients.
My master's expression grew grave.
"But, my disciple... this..."
"Yes. In the end, taking it on would just mean I'd get cursed out, right."
My expression was hardly relaxed either.
As Big Sis Suyeon expected, my hypnosis could do almost anything.
I could treat nearly any mental illness.
I didn't understand the mechanism, but as long as even a few brain cells remained alive, I could somehow repair the mind.
However, if I took this on...
I'd be called out for treatment at every opportunity from then on.
Even the people who were grateful at first would eventually complain that I was taking too long.
And if I decided to quit halfway through?
I'd get chewed out.
In short, accepting Big Sis Suyeon's offer would ultimately be a bad move.
It would mean taking the expectations of countless people—an unbearable burden—onto my shoulders.
But,
'But abandoning them entirely would have weighed on my conscience. And there was plenty to gain.'
Pangs of conscience aside, the value to be gained by accepting this was also immense.
The reason I'd been reviled in the First Round: my harem.
Countless people had condemned my wives and me, asking whether raw power put us above the law.
The harassment had been so relentless that even now, after regressing, I avoided the internet and DMs whenever possible.
But if I accepted Big Sis Suyeon's offer?
My moral standing would improve considerably.
To the point of being able to offset even the negative public opinion from the harem to some degree.
I thought it over for a long time.
"Hmm...."
"If you do not want to, refuse. I can ask the Chairwoman to turn them down properly on your behalf."
"Just a moment, hmm."
'Would it be possible?'
A way to reap the benefits while minimizing the costs.
A lot of things came to mind, but...
If possible, I wanted the most efficient option.
Dramatic image-making.
Minimizing the time I spent treating people, and so on.
After considering several options, I shook my head.
"No. I'll accept for now."
"My disciple, kindness is admirable, but awakeners must—"
"It is fine. I have a plan."
"Hm?"
"I'll tell only you, Master. My plan is..."
Then I quietly explained the plan I'd devised.
Master's eyes shone with admiration.
"Such a method?! My disciple, you are clever!"
"Haha. Thank you. Then, I'll...."
"You may accept. I permit it as your master."
Her refreshing, unreserved permission was a bonus.
That put me in a good enough mood to write my reply.
[I've thought it over, and I think it'll be fine. Since tomorrow happens to be the weekend, let's meet then.]
"Big Sis Su— Ms. Ryu..."
"I believe I told you not to call her Big Sis."
"......."
[A-rank Awakener Ryu Suyeon.]
I felt sad all over again.
* * *
Friday passed uneventfully after that.
"They say I must keep my identity hidden, so I shall wait here for you to return."
"What about the Heaven-Sent Spring Water?"
"They say it is difficult to smuggle it in without the bureaucrats noticing. Wait until Sunday."
Bound by her agreement with the Chairwoman, Master remained shut inside my quarters.
"Y-Yujin. Hello...."
"Ah, Alice. How was it? Nothing happened, just like I said, right?"
"Yes. Unexpectedly...."
"You look pale, though. Did you sleep badly? Was I snoring?"
"No, well. I was, um, reading comics all night, so...."
Alice had caused a huge scene the day before about me getting eaten and had eventually compromised by sleeping with our video call running.
Perhaps embarrassed by her ridiculous suspicions, she could barely speak to me.
"You didn't have any kind of incident with that woman, did you?"
"Yeah. I was fine, I mean..."
-Sniff sniff.
"This is only to check whether she did anything to you while you were asleep, okay?"
"Ah, okay."
Other than sniffing me, Sia was her usual self.
As for Haru...
"Dad, Haru has a serious problem."
"Hm? What is it?"
"There is banana milk, but no straw. How is Haru supposed to suck it up?"
"Can't you just peel the lid off and drink it?"
"No. Haru has to suck it."
"Want me to get you a straw from the convenience store?"
"No straw. Big problem."
"......?"
She was agonizing over something utterly pointless.
She was a real kid, a kid.
Anyway, I played with Haru for a while,
then sparred with Master in my quarters,
and that night, I again fell asleep with a video call to Alice running...
———And then Saturday arrived.
-Creak.
"I didn't expect a celebrity to come running after only one day."
"A man always comes running when a pretty woman calls. That is common sense, isn't it?"
"Pfft. You're still the same even after becoming famous. Though I expected as much."
"It's been a while, Yujin."
My first external activity of the Second Round had begun.