The Most Important Thing in the World
"Sion. I'll take some time off and come right back, so just wait a little for me."
"Huh? You're really going to stay with me?"
Sion, who had secretly tried exercising on her own with her still-healing body, ended up with muscle soreness that left her unable to move. There was no way I could leave her stuck in place like that all day, abandoned in the house. The Rehabilitation Center was the kingdom's most vital institution, and my home was conveniently close by, so I could pop over and back in no time.
"You said you didn't want to be left alone."
"But if you're not at the Rehabilitation Center..."
"It managed somehow when I was on that business trip to the empire, right? Just hand things off like last time."
Sion's pleading gaze, fixed on me, had shifted to a worried frown as it dropped to the floor.
Ah, that pattern again.
I handled so many crucial tasks for so many people that sometimes Sion started feeling like she was stealing my time—like it was something bad. She'd always make that exact face in those moments.
"Sigh, Sion. Yeah, I'm a big deal at the center, but it's not like patients are gonna drop dead without me. I'm a rehab specialist, remember?"
"What do you...?"
"I told you, didn't I? Rehab is all about going slow and steady. Every patient at the center is progressing on their own, following the regimens I set up in advance. So..."
Hm... Is this the right way to put it?
I wanted to say it was fine for her to make demands on me since she wasn't hurting anyone else, but somehow, sugarcoating it didn't seem to get through to her. I needed a different angle.
Lately, I'd been leaning toward harsher words more often, and I didn't love that style, but this was her fault for pushing herself with solo workouts. A little punishment couldn't hurt.
"No. I'm just gonna shut down the Rehabilitation Center starting today. I'll go announce it, so wait here."
"What? Why? Is it... because of me?"
"Of course. You already forgot why I even researched rehabilitation medicine in the first place?"
In the end, I fell back on a lie. My cover as a regressor dedicated to fixing Sion had all sorts of uses.
"Rehabilitation medicine was created from the start to rehab you. Treating all those other patients was just to build cases and gather data. Now that your rehab has begun, there's no reason for me to treat anyone else."
"Th-then the other patients...!"
"They'll figure it out. Anyway, if they get in the way of fixing you, I'll send them all packing."
"No! Please don't!!"
Sion hurriedly kicked off the blanket and tried to sit up... but of course,
"Ugh, ahhh!!!"
her muscle pain flared up, leaving her frozen in place with her face twisted in agony.
She inevitably flopped back down, gasping ragged breaths through the pain.
"Hah... No, Hope... not because of me... not shutting down the center..."
Of course, I had zero intention of doing any such thing. It wasn't even possible.
Though I'd founded the Rehabilitation Center, it was established with the kingdom's backing, and now it was part of a global rehabilitation medicine agreement. In the post-war era, with all eyes on caring for retired soldiers and adventurers, even I couldn't just close it on a whim.
"I was wrong, sir! I won't push myself anymore! I won't exercise alone, so please..."
"That's not the point."
"Huh?"
"Sion. Nothing in the world matters more than your rehabilitation right now. Not to me, not to the entire world. You need to internalize that."
"......"
So this declaration was a bit of bravado—a shock therapy tactic. If she kept hesitating to accept my help because of the center and other patients, I wanted to etch into her mind that I could handle it this way.
"You're always putting the center's patients ahead of yourself, even over you. If that keeps up, closing the place really will be the only option."
"Th-that's..."
"Gonna say it's not okay again?"
"How do you always know what I'm gonna say?"
"Come on, Sion. Repeat after me: 'I'm the most important.'"
"I..."
"If you don't say it till I head out, I'll go close the center doors right now."
"Ugh, urk!"
Sion scrunched up her face, mumbling with her lips, then squeezed her eyes shut and parroted my words.
"I... I'm the most... important..."
"Good girl. Now I'll go take that vacation leave..."
Grrrrumble...
"?"
What the—? Before I could even react in disbelief, Sion—the source of the noise—shot her arm out, snatched the blanket she'd tossed aside earlier, and yanked it over her stomach.
"Sir! Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, I heard it. How could I not? It was loud."
"Not at this timing of all times...!"
Grrrrumble...
"Ah, ahaha, must be from exercising all night, right~?"
"I'll grab some bread, so eat up. I'm really heading out now."
"Okaay..."
Anyway, she seemed to get it, so I left a bread basket within her reach and headed out to the center.
'Process my schedule as vacation leave, skip the appointments, and since home's close, swing by for buff and skill needs on key patients—like remote work. It'll work somehow.'
My steps felt quicker than when I'd rushed in late last time. I had to clear my tasks fast to get back and tend to Sion.
'Warm.'
What Sion felt now was warmth.
The warmth of the bread in her hand.
The warmth of the blanket over her belly.
The warmth of the morning sun filtering through the window.
And...
'Why's my face doing this?'
With a chunk of bread in her mouth, Sion pressed both hands to her cheeks, feeling her temperature. They were hotter than ever.
'Must be the pain. Gotta eat quick and rest...'
Her stomach was growling fiercely, and some inexplicable flustered feeling mixed in, so she gulped down the melting bread, pulled the blanket over herself, and lay down.
Her body didn't seem feverish overall. So why were her cheeks burning like this?
"Nothing in the world matters more to me than you, Sion."
Why did those words keep resurfacing?
"...I'm the most important."
She tried repeating what Hope had made her say earlier. A phrase she'd never uttered in her life.
That she was the most important in the world? To Sion, who'd lived entirely for others, it felt utterly foreign.
There were countless things more important than herself. Her whole life had been throwing her body into the fray for something else.
So what was most important to her?
'The most important... If it's gotta be the most, then my comrades, right?'
Her comrades were all that came to mind. Nao, Iri, Hanamana. Just those three.
And those three had always told her she was the most important to them.
Was Hope saying the same because he'd originally been her comrade too?
'Hold on. If comrades are the most important... then the comrades I have left now...'
If there was anyone she could call a comrade these days, there was only one.
The one always by her side, sharing the goal of defeating the future Demon King.
Her cheeks still burned, and her mind grew more tangled.
'Ughhh~ Hope saying I'm his most important person? It's not impossible, but somehow... somehow...!'
After wriggling and grumbling under the covers for a while, Sion drifted off, wrapped in the warm blanket and sunlight.
"Sion. I'm back."
The sudden vacation request threw the center staff for a loop, but I managed all personnel anyway. After instructing them to follow the absence manual I'd prepped for the last trip, I took my leave and headed home.
It wasn't abuse of power or anything—I hadn't taken a single day off in the three years since founding and running the place. The staff just cheered, "Finally taking a break? Leave the center to us and rest easy!"
"Sion?"
No answer, so I opened the door and stepped into her room. There she was, buried under the blanket, not even showing her face.
"Sion~?"
No response no matter how I called, so I gently lifted the blanket. She was fast asleep, eyes closed.
'She exercised almost all night, so of course she's wiped.'
I'd taken vacation to look after her, and now she was out cold. Was the leave for nothing?
"Ughhh... Don't leave me aloneee..."
The thought had barely crossed my mind when she groaned in her sleep, sleep-talking as if reading my heart.
Come to think of it... even while thinking she shouldn't steal my time, when I tried to head to work, she'd begged me not to leave her alone.
'Being left immobile and by herself must have terrified her, huh? Even as the hero who beat the Demon King...'
The world's strongest hero from the tales—strong, beautiful, fearless—now trembling in fear, clinging to me in a fragile voice. It was hard to believe this helpless, whimpering girl lying motionless before me was the same person.
An unbelievable sight. And right now, all I could do was,
'Stay by her side for now?'
Grant the earnest plea of this tiny former hero. That was it.