Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Followers (2)
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"Damn it all."
I couldn't help but curse out loud.
Theodore silently pushed my wheelchair.
We walked quietly through the winter campus as dusk began to fall.
"I don't even know what to say. Sorry. I have no idea how to fix this."
I had considered asking Collette to gather all my followers in one place and give them a stern warning.
But in my view, Collette's group and the ones in the academy who followed me were different.
It was clear from how Collette had dealt with the cadets singing hymns outside my window while I was in a coma.
"For now... maybe post a public notice... no, hold an assembly..."
"Arma Cruise."
"...or maybe ask President Makina... Uh, huh?"
Theodore's clear but dry voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"We've arrived."
"Oh..."
Theodore had already wheeled me right up to the entrance of the hospital building.
I didn't feel right just sending him off like this.
I'd figured out why Theodore seemed so eager to leave me and wash his hands of it.
How could I let him go like this?
"Don't go. Come with me. We need to finish this conversation..."
But Theodore said firmly,
"I'll handle it myself. Any more debate is pointless."
Arthur Usher really needed to see this.
This was how Theodore acted, even though he usually listened to me.
"I'll think of a solution too."
"..."
"So don't just take it lying down. If someone hits you, hit them back."
Theodore let out a scoffing laugh like air escaping a balloon, then pushed me straight into the hospital entrance.
He handed the wheelchair handles to the medical staff without a greeting and vanished like he was fleeing.
'The spring semester starts soon anyway.'
The Full Moon Festival was over, and the seniors had graduated.
In just a few days, my final year at the academy would begin.
It was hard to shake the thought that the [Blood Graduation Ceremony] was approaching.
"Cadet Cruise, please wait a moment and the attending physician will take you to the ICU—"
"No, I can walk. I'm moving to a general ward starting today."
"...Pardon? We need to hear from your attending physician—"
"Tell them I'm checking out of the ICU. I'm not going back."
To be honest, up until now, it had been Collette's overprotectiveness.
Fortunately, I had recovered enough to move around, and luckily the worst injuries were on my feet, so mobility had been the only issue.
If I meekly went back to the ICU now, I'd start the new semester without anyone to discuss this with or ask for help.
"See?"
I stood up abruptly from the wheelchair and strode toward the nurse who had been watching our argument.
'...Ugh...'
To be honest, I still shouldn't be walking around like this.
The searing pain I'd forgotten about started radiating from my bandaged feet.
But I didn't stop there and marched right up to the reception desk.
"Give me a discharge form or a transfer form. Please."
I'd been asking for favors a lot lately.
Sweat began to bead on my palms from the dull, ongoing pain.
My expression could stay calm—that was easy enough to fake.
The nurse, stunned by my antics, stammered in confusion.
"Th-that... Lord Reynolds said to care for Cadet Cruise with utmost diligence until fully recovered."
"Doesn't this look pretty close to fully recovered to you?"
"No, that's impossible."
Of course, no matter how calm I pretended to be, the staff were medical professionals.
Especially in my case, where Lord Reynolds had laid down the law to treat me with extreme care—they all had a rough idea of my condition.
But backing down over something this minor wouldn't befit a member of the Cruise family.
"You know, maybe I should just discharge myself. No need for a transfer."
As I reached for the discharge form, the nurse quickly pulled out a general ward transfer form.
"Those burns couldn't have healed that fast."
"Guess the priest's treatment finally kicked in late."
I kept up the calm facade while signing, and the duty nurse reluctantly processed the transfer form.
"Executor?"
Just then, Collette came down after hearing the commotion, and we came face-to-face.
I bowed my head slightly and said steadily,
"You've been working hard, Collette. As you can see, I'm well enough to walk now. What do you think as my attendant?"
"..."
I'd expected Collette to fiercely oppose my transfer, but instead, she looked at me with bright, sparkling eyes and smiled.
"As you say, you seem sufficiently recovered. The duty nurse will still be me, but unlike the ICU, there won't be constant on-site nursing. That's fine, right?"
"Of course."
At my response, Collette wheeled over the abandoned wheelchair from a bit away and said,
"You didn't put on outdoor shoes, so how about taking this to your room?"
"...Yes."
Collette had clearly seen through my bravado.
I didn't have the confidence to climb stairs on these feet either.
Even now, the bandages were soaking with exudate from the burn wounds.
"Let's go, Executor."
Collette signed a few forms, then took hold of my wheelchair handles again.
Just a few days ago, her decisive judgments like this had terrified me.
And now here I was, accepting her help...
It left me with complicated feelings.
-Click.
Collette opened the door to a nearby room and wheeled me in.
White curtains, white bedding, white wallpaper... It still triggered memories of trauma, but it felt more lived-in and stable than the ICU.
"I'll go grab your things from the ICU storage. Lucky there's lots of empty rooms since it's not semester time."
"Yeah, during term, there's more chances to get hurt."
"Plenty of rascals around too."
"...Thank you, Collette."
"No problem."
While Collette went to fetch my things, I pulled out paper and a pen from the bedside table and jotted down a quick note.
〔Judith, can you bring Shirley and Arthur to the hospital building? There's something I want to talk about before the spring semester ends.〕
After a moment's hesitation, I handed the note to Collette when she returned with my stuff.
The hospital building's structure made it hard to call servants since outsiders except visitors and staff didn't come and go freely.
.
.
.
Judith and Shirley arrived at my new room about thirty minutes later, looking like they'd rushed over.
"Where's Arthur?"
"He's out. It seemed urgent, so I only brought Shirley."
"No, senior—! Is that really the priority right now? Your face is half gone! Have you weighed yourself? You've lost weight!"
"...Really? I've been exercising on and off."
"At this rate, you won't even be able to lift a sack of flour!"
"Shirley, your standards for patients are too high."
Shirley was starting to flare up like she was about to call the medical staff, but fortunately, Judith handled it.
Shirley stared with wide eyes, her face saying *what the hell does that mean?*
"Well, anyway... there's something I wanted to say before the spring semester starts. Shirley? Pay attention."
"I'm listening, so go ahead."
Shirley was inspecting my exposed face, neck, and hands from my patient gown.
"I actually wanted to visit even briefly for the graduation ceremony, but Lord Reynolds absolutely forbade it, right? Isn't this something for the Ethics Committee?"
"Considering the mess of that graduation, it's good you didn't go. I actually thought it was a relief you weren't there."
Absent freshmen, armed retainers, an oppressive atmosphere like a declaration of war. It was a truly insulting ceremony.
Shirley hadn't been required to attend since it wasn't her year, so she got lucky skipping it.
We graduating this year could shrug it off, but Shirley had to keep attending the academy.
Who could watch that fiasco and feel any affection for the place?
"I came to the hospital excited to visit, but they banned it saying you were critical. Then I heard you could have visitors and went, but they said you were with Theodore. How do we keep missing each other when we're at the same academy?"
Shirley's worried grumbling continued for a good ten minutes after that.
I listened quietly to her vent until she finally pledged, *There won't be anything like this in the spring semester,* then spoke up.
"I've been stuck in the ICU since the Full Moon Festival, so I'm late telling you, but it seems like my body—"
—was rejecting holy power. That's what I was about to say.
"..."
Then I wondered if this flow was a trap set by *that thing* creeping into me.
'Isn't this exactly what it wanted?'
At the Full Moon Festival, I fell into the winter sea on the thin ice while my whole body was aflame.
I survived that state and overcame death's door multiple times.
But me jumping into the sea surely wasn't its intent.
Its real plan was to burn me to death in front of a thousand cadets.
To have Aegis's Executor, no less, burn to death at the sacred Full Moon Festival.
And through that incident, instill fear and awe of a dangerous entity in the cadets—that must have been its goal.
"Arma?"
"...Ah—sorry. My wounds suddenly hurt."
The timing of my pause felt unnatural.
Judith was watching me intently, as if trying to peer through something behind me.
'But I came back alive, derailing its original plan. And what happened next...'
Every time holy power touched my body, the color of the magic tool Shirley gave me turned red.
That tool, from Shirley's father, was supposed to share fatal injuries with him.
In other words, every time I accepted holy power, I'd sustained wounds tantamount to life-threatening ones.
-Yes yes yes yes!
-Something's devouring your body, they say.
-Something very ominous and horrific.
-Right now!
I couldn't tell if it was my own thoughts or hallucinations echoing.
Hearing that gloomy resonance made my whole body itch, and I felt an impulse to spill everything to Judith right then.
"Arma, you're right now..."
At that moment, Judith grabbed my shoulder.
Her frowning face and sea-blue eyes were right in front of me.
Judith was looking into my eyes.
That nailed my suspicion.
'It wants everyone to know it's possessing me.'
Secrets keep piling up, and my options narrow.
I chewed the inside of my cheek to pull myself together.
"I'm fine now."
Judith eyed me persistently, as if she couldn't believe me.
I had to be fine. I *needed* to be.
In the end, I swallowed my original words and tossed out the second topic.
"About Theodore. We might need to transfer him to the wooden cross department."