Chapter 14
"Sion. It's our first day, so there'll be a lot of explanations. Just follow along carefully."
"Got it! Real training starts now!"
Sion clenched her fists with both hands, striking a fighting pose full of determination. Was she just excited because we were finally starting rehab?
"I'm going to cast a buff now, so don't be too surprised—just sit still for the moment."
"A buff? On me?"
"That's right. On you, Sion."
I stated it clearly, but she still seemed confused, tilting her head.
"There's no way a buff would work on me..."
A buff was magic that amplified the target's abilities. Its effectiveness depended heavily on the caster's proficiency, but even more on the recipient's own stats. Buffs temporarily boosted stats, but unless it was some transcendent spell, they couldn't dramatically alter the target's baseline. Most mainstream buffs raised stats by a fixed percentage of the target's current level. So, for Sion, whose strength had almost completely atrophied, most buffs would indeed be useless, just as she said.
"I said it again—stay still and receive the buff."
"Okay, got it."
With sufficient warning given, I reached out toward Sion and cast the buff.
"Power."
⟨ Power ⟩
"Huh? That spell..."
Not a strength reinforcement like Strength, but the most basic power stat buff. It had abysmal efficiency on anyone strong enough to fight, but
"Whoa?"
for patients who could barely move, it showed near-miraculous results.
Sion felt strength flooding her body and started moving her arms around, her eyes widening more and more.
"This might even let me stand up! How?!"
"Stay still. Don't stand or even lift your arms."
"Oh, right."
She clasped her hands neatly again, focusing intently on the changes throughout her body.
"I adjusted the buff's level, but since your stats are so low, Sion... we'll wait until your body adapts."
"I see. But this... it's a fixed-value buff, right?"
"Exactly."
A fixed-value buff that only shone on those with low stats. Adventurers never bothered learning or leveling it up. But in my case,
"What are these numbers? Does it usually go up this much?!"
I'd mastered even this low-tier buff. And I'd poured everything into pure strength, ignoring other stats—rehab training didn't need them. I wasn't an adventurer, so I didn't level up much or learn tons of skills.
"A fixed-value buff like this can get even someone in your state moving."
All my skill points from working as a specialist had gone into things that aided training and treatment.
"It's like a miracle. If the buff works this well..."
I'd warned her repeatedly not to move, but with strength suddenly surging through her, Sion fidgeted all over, unable to hide her excitement.
"With a buff like this, I could exercise like a normal person! I could build strength fast and rehab in no time..."
"No, you can't."
And that excitement, that euphoria—that was the most dangerous thing for patients rehabbing with buffs.
"Huh? Why not...?"
"Sion. Didn't you ask earlier why training time was so short?"
"Yeah."
"In your current state, training without this buff is impossible. What you need to watch out for most is getting addicted to the buff."
"Addicted... to the buff?"
Buff addiction. To people in this world, it probably sounded like an alien phrase. Buffs weren't poison or harmful—how could you get addicted?
"Making a motionless patient like you able to exercise via buff is a last resort. We're doing it because there's no other way. But it's dangerous for patients precisely because it works so well."
"Dangerous because it works well? I'm getting more confused..."
"Sion. You've already experienced it. What happens when you move your body with a buff's power."
"...!"
Only then did realization dawn on her; her eyes snapped wide, her face turning grave.
"Once a patient who can't move gets used to being able to with buffs, their body starts breaking down even more. They even feel crushing depression without the buff. They grow dependent, can't handle the sudden changes, and their mental state crumbles. In extreme cases, they've threatened or blackmailed me for more buffs."
"I see... But how could someone who can't even move threaten you?"
"By holding a knife to their own throat."
"Ah..."
Overuse of buffs was like a drug for patients. In the modern world, plenty of substances could be medicine or narcotics depending on use. Everything required precise knowledge and proper application. I'd learned the hard way about buff abuse—lessons bought at a steep price. Experiences I never wanted to repeat.
No matter how much I loved broken things, destroying them with my own hands was off-limits. I was... a fixer.
"So we'll build your strength slowly, over time. Rushing for quick, easy gains will just make you fall. You get it, right, Sion? What I'm saying."
The imperial princess Nao I'd met had said something similar when she first heard about rehab—that its difficulty gave her hope. A top-tier mage's insight, spot on. Rehab's rewards came because it was grueling. As someone from the hero party with Nao, Sion would understand.
"I get it fully. Can't repeat the same mistakes."
"Good. Your body seems adapted now, so I'll explain what to watch for when moving."
Treatment via buffs demanded utmost caution, no matter how careful you were. Sion probably itched to move right now, but that itch was the greatest danger, so I had to drill it into her thoroughly.
"Your strength is buff-boosted, but use the minimum necessary. Recall how you used to move at your normal speed, then move just a tiny bit faster. And when moving, focus on sensing where your muscles are, how much force each one uses. Got it?"
"Yep!"
"Good. Now grab the bars on either side."
Sion answered brightly and followed my instructions: a deep breath, then slowly raising her arms to grasp the parallel bars.
"Well done. Now, holding those, stand up. Nice and slo~w."
"Okay."
Sion gripped the bars tight, channeling strength into her arms and legs, rising slowly from her seat. Mirei smoothly pulled the wheelchair back, and Sion stood straight, hands on the bars.
"I'm... standing? This is rehab?"
"No, Sion. Not tiring at all, right?"
"Yeah, not at all. Amazing, Director Hope!"
No matter how many times I said it wasn't rehab if it wasn't hard, or that relying on buffs was dangerous, patients always reacted like this. It made sense, inevitably. Their bodies could move. They were experiencing a miracle. Of course they'd be thrilled.
But the fun part started now...
"From here, I'll gradually lower the buff level. Sion, tell me when you can't stand anymore."
"Wait, why?!"
"Power... Power... Power... Power..."
⟨ Power (Layered) ⟩
You couldn't stack the same buff twice on one person. I exploited that, layering progressively weaker buffs over Sion's body, fine-tuning the intensity bit by bit. She must have felt her strength ebbing gradually.
"Director Hope! I can't...!"
"Can't stand?"
"Y-Yes! I'm about to collapse!"
Sion's arms trembled on the bars. Her clenched fists suggested she still had some strength. For a normal patient, I'd log this as the optimal buff level. But for Sion, even this was too big a gap from her baseline. Dangerous...
"But you're still standing?"
"Huh?"
"Power."
⟨ Power ⟩
"Guh, gyaaah!!"
I dialed it down further, and Sion gritted her teeth, enduring. Her limbs shook violently now; she couldn't keep her eyes open, groaning in agony.
"Ughhhh!!"
She's really giving it her all. This is exactly it...
The hero Sion Laurel, who once bested the Demon King—now dangling from parallel bars, grimacing and trembling. I could've watched longer, but prolonging this state was risky too, so I stopped it quickly.
"Mirei, support her under the arms."
"Yes, Director."
The nurse maid Mirei caught Sion before she fell. Exhausted, Sion released the bars and slumped against Mirei's hands.
"Sion, back to the wheelchair, and log buff reduction at 5.2 on the chart."
"Understood."
Mirei gently shifted Sion back into the chair, noted the chart, and Sion—relieved—snapped her eyes open, gasping for breath.
"Hah, haaaaaah...!!"
"5.2 just to stand... Walking drills are off the table for a while."
Sion's condition was far worse than expected. With buff-assisted training, you had to avoid overbuffing.
"Can't... do it? Then rehab..."
"It's fine, Sion. Lots of exercises. You can train plenty without standing."
Modern medicine's targeted muscle-building routines awaited her.
What to start with~
Sion's rehab would take ages. We'd proceed slowly, over long hours. That's what rehab demanded.
And that meant plenty of fun times ahead together.