Sion's Night (1)
"Listen carefully, Sion. Your current physical condition… it looks like you've developed buff addiction."
"…Pardon?"
The first thing I had to do during today's session with Sion was deliver this news. After checking her condition yesterday, I'd run another full examination, and the results confirmed my suspicions: symptoms closely resembling buff addiction.
"Buff addiction?"
Sion's eyes widened in shock.
"That's right. Your body was so frail that we had no choice but to incorporate buffs into your rehab, and you're aware of that, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"For patients who absolutely need buffs for rehab, we have to proceed that way… but if you overuse them, your body starts to 'remember' that enhanced state, leading to all sorts of dangerous symptoms."
Buff addiction was the first rehab failure case I'd encountered since arriving in this world. It didn't exist in modern times, of course. We took every precaution possible, but with limited data, it still cropped up occasionally despite our best efforts. In Sion's case, her body had been so catastrophically weak that we'd needed buffs no matter how low we kept the training intensity. Plus, there was virtually no data on patients as extremely debilitated as her, which made it even worse. The intensity of buffs her body could handle didn't match the calculations derived from our existing records.
"It's all my fault. Once your condition improved, I could have started reducing your buff dependency, but I got ahead of myself, thinking you were just a little more away from walking… and look what happened."
"No, Director Hope. It's not your fault at all. I'm always so grateful to you."
Even now, with things turning out like this, Sion offered a gentle smile and words of thanks. I'd always stressed that rehab should be taken slow, yet I'd been the impatient one, and now I'd ruined her body in the process.
But what was done was done. From here on, we'd have to treat the buff addiction alongside her regular rehab.
"So starting now, we'll train without buffs. The intensity will drop significantly, but you're in a much better state than when we started, so we can still make progress. Got it?"
"Yes, Director."
Sion nodded obediently. But… Sion? Aren't you going to ask me anything? Don't you wonder what symptoms to expect, or what else to watch out for?
"Mirei. Take Sion back to her room and explain the updated rehab program. Oh, and tell Serin I need to see her."
"Understood. This way, Hero."
Sion followed Mirei out without a word. Come to think of it, ever since I'd returned from my trip to the Holy Nation of Praine and met Hanamana, Sion hadn't quite seemed like her old self. She still worked diligently on her rehab, smiled and answered when I called or asked her something, and ate delicious food with that same sense of wonder. But I couldn't recall the last time she'd teasingly started a conversation or tried to draw out our talks. It felt like ages ago.
Had something changed in her mindset? Was the buff addiction making her depressed? I hoped it wasn't anything serious, but as her rehab therapist, I had no intention of just praying it away.
"You called for me?"
Serin entered the exam room after a light knock. I'd summoned her to check on Sion as well.
"Serin."
"Yes, Director?"
"Has there been anything unusual with Sion lately?"
"Unusual how?"
"When I'm not around—has she seemed down, anxious and scanning her surroundings, trembling, spacing out, or having some kind of outburst where she demands something?"
"Hm… nothing like that."
So no odd symptoms. But in situations like this, I couldn't just call it fortunate and move on. When something felt off, I had to sensitively detect the signs early and figure out what was happening before it escalated.
"Then, from your perspective, has anything about Sion seemed different from her usual self? Even the smallest thing."
"Well…"
Serin pushed up her glasses with a finger, then rested her hand on her forehead, thinking. But nothing specific came to mind; she shook her head a couple times at the air before speaking.
"From what I've seen, nothing out of the ordinary. If anything… she seems more like she did back in the Empire. Which might feel 'off' compared to your baseline, Director."
"Like her usual self?"
"Yes. In the Empire, Sion kept her distance from me. It's not like that now, but… normally, she just sits quietly. She spends a lot of time doing nothing but sitting there."
Just sitting quietly…
"Since coming to the kingdom, she's diligent about rehab, but otherwise, she barely moves. She only lets me handle her when I insist it's necessary. Nothing unusual."
So when she's not with me, Sion just sits there. Actually, now that I thought about it, she might not have been much different in front of me during those two weeks after my trip. If her rehab exercises were just obligatory, then the version of her I saw and the one Serin saw probably weren't that different.
In that case, I'd leave the questions about her condition for now.
"Is that enough?"
"Yes. Thank you, Serin. And one more thing I need to ask."
"Go ahead."
Time for the main point. I needed her help to assess Sion's state.
"I'd like you to keep an eye on what Sion's like before bed."
"Before bed?"
"Yes. With her buff addiction, we don't know what emotions she might feel if left alone in the dark. It could be dangerous, so we need to check."
This was a rehab center, after all, and nights sometimes saw patients losing control to their emotions. We always had on-duty staff for that reason. Interns and residents trained in skills like Sleep, Purify, or Pacify were on standby around the clock to calm or restrain patients if needed. We'd never gotten any unusual reports about Sion from them, but you never knew. Silent symptoms were often the most dangerous.
I couldn't ask the monitoring staff to watch her constantly, nor did I want to. So I was turning to the most trustworthy person: Serin.
"I'm sorry, Director… but that's difficult for me."
"Pardon? What?"
To my surprise, Serin refused.
"I want to help since it's your request, and I know it's important, but it's tough for me."
"Why?"
"Even back in the Empire, when I cared for Sion, she insisted—almost threatened me—to stay in the annex once she was asleep. She begged me to keep my distance right before and during her sleep."
Threatened? What kind of tone had she used to make Serin call it a threat?
Did Sion really say something like that? Serin wouldn't lie, but it was hard to believe. Come to think of it, back at my house, when she went to bed, she'd once said, "You wouldn't come in while I'm sleeping and do anything strange, right?" I'd brushed it off as a joke…
"I see. Then there's nothing to be done."
"Sorry I couldn't help."
Serin's unexpected refusal. It was the last thing I'd anticipated, but I couldn't force her if she put it that way.
"It's fine. And just to be safe—don't tell Sion I asked."
"Of course not. No need to worry."
Serin bowed and left.
"Can't watch her before or during sleep, huh…"
Sion apparently had something she didn't want seen. But why? And it wasn't recent; it'd been like that since the Empire…
I couldn't monitor her through Serin anymore, but continuing rehab with so many unknowns wasn't an option. I needed to check if she had depressive symptoms from the buff addiction, any sudden mood swings, and whatever it was she was hiding before bed that made her forbid entry to her room.
If Serin was out, my only choice was to check myself. And if I went to Sion now and said, "I need to monitor your condition, so I'll stay by your side when you sleep," she'd shoot me down flat—just like she'd told Serin.
"I brought the Hero back."
Which left one option…
"Mirei."
"Yes, Director?"
"Who's on night duty today? Not the nurse-maids—the doctors."
"One moment… It's Robert, the intern."
"Go tell Robert right now that he's off. I'll take his shift tonight."
"Pardon?"
Mirei's eyes went wide. Night duty meant pulling an all-nighter with the next day off, so I'd never done it—my daily schedule made it impossible.
Damn, there goes my sleep routine.
But no helping it. I had to see what Sion did before bed.