episode_0158

The soft feeling on your back and head, the smell of medicine that makes your nose tingle, and the pure sound of glass lightly touching.

I slowly opened my eyes at the information that allowed me to know that this was the health room without even having to open my eyes.

The pure white ceiling that remained in my memory came into view, and I immediately started acting with a blank expression on my face as I felt a sign of popularity nearby.

“… … This is.”

“Ah, did you wake up?”

Is this the woman with an unusual way of speaking, the woman next to the investigator called ‘junior’?

Although she looks quite young compared to the investigator we saw earlier, this woman is probably an investigator directly under the royal family. It must be clear because the man called this woman his junior.

As I slowly blinked and looked to the side, I felt a tingling pain in my neck and reflexively frowned.

“ugh… … . My throat… … .”

“Ah, that… … . I’m sorry!! Should I call it force majeure, yes… … . I couldn’t help it. The princess’s life was in danger… … .”

He was rambling, but if you listened carefully, he was saying that he was sorry, but it was unavoidable, and that he had no choice but to make a choice to save my life.

No, I couldn’t get used to the fact that a person who had disguised himself and acted so perfectly that at first glance one could be mistaken for a real student, suddenly showed a goofy appearance like he had a few screws missing.

But if you think about it for a moment, if you think about the back and forth of what happened, it wasn’t all that strange for him to be so clueless.

“So… … . Are you saying that to save my life, you struck me in the back of the neck and knocked me unconscious?”

“Yes… … . I am truly, truly sorry… … .”

That woman is also an investigator. As you listened to the conversation between me and the investigator, you probably got an idea of how the situation was going.

I, who thought I was the most likely suspect, turned out to be a third party with no connection whatsoever.

So, this is probably why he is apologizing to me like this.

Well, it’s all an illusion.

“Is that so… … .”

Anyway, one more thing I can tell from the fact that she apologized to me is that although it wasn’t perfect, my sub plan that I had prepared a long time ago worked properly.

It is said that the investigator, who was unaware of the existence of the sub-plan, thoughtlessly approached me to remove the noose he thought I had caught, but was caught in my trap.

Of course, I put her as my watchdog. I had to move carefully because it could be that I was intentionally apologizing, pretending to be overwhelmed by guilt, or acting out to show off my feelings.

‘Well, it seems like it went somewhat according to plan.’

“Are you okay? Is there anything particularly painful or anything like that?”

Was she anxious when she saw me blinking blankly? She slowly approached me and asked me in a trembling voice.

Because it’s a painful place… … . I’m already familiar with the side effects of the curse causing my body to break down as it’s a daily occurrence, but since there’s no way they would know that, I have to act it out…

“Well… … . I can’t say it’s good.”

“Ah… … . I’m really, really sorry… … .”

Seeing her lowering her head again, I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

“It’s okay. I didn’t feel very good when I was suspected and interrogated. If you think about it, that’s the investigator’s job. You were just faithful to your duties, so don’t take it too seriously.”

“Princess Charlotte… … .”

She looked at me and sniffled, looking touched and almost crying.

I smiled softly at her appearance.

“Of course, you will be punished.”

“… … Yes?”

“I like people who are absorbed in their work, so I will write a petition asking for leniency for your sins. You will receive some degree of punishment. Yes… … . Even considering my petition and the fact that the investigation was conducted under the king’s permission, in addition to touching a great nobleman, I also saw blood. One or two pages of poetry may not be enough.”

Seeing her looking at me with a vain look on her face, I smiled faintly and closed my eyes.

“You certainly didn’t think you could just mess with a great nobleman and get away with it, right?”

“Ah… … . I’m sorry… … .”

She was scratching the back of her head with an expression of disapproval, and slowly blinked her eyes as she looked at me.

“Well, I’m fine, so you can talk comfortably.”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s just that you seem a little different from what I saw before.”

I blinked at those words, then chuckled and shook my head.

Thanks to this, my throat and nose were tingling, but I didn’t really care.

“At that time, I thought you were a gangster or a criminal organization trying to kidnap me. They just showed a high-handedness to intimidate to some extent.”

“Ah, then now… … .”

“Yes. Now I know that you and that man are investigators. To harm me… … . You didn’t intend to cause any harm, right?”

“Of course! Investigators are only responsible for investigating crimes and catching criminals, not killing people!”

In response to the words filled with firm determination, I nodded slightly.

“Is that so? Yes, I think it’s a good thing to have pride in your work.”

At my words, she smiled shyly but happily, like a child receiving praise for her favorite toy.

I looked at that for a moment and then opened my mouth to bring the story back to its original point.

“By the way, you have to knock me out… … . What on earth happened――”

“Sleep for a moment! Please wait a moment!”

“Yes? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

As I pretended not to know and asked back, a woman came in with the sound of the door opening.

She was wearing a pure white gown, so at first I thought Priscilla had heard about me and came to visit me, but upon closer inspection, I saw that she was a completely different person.

The person who came in here wearing a pure white gown is a health teacher.

“Hey, are you awake? How are you feeling?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s good.”

To the health teacher’s question, I smiled faintly and gave the same answer as before.

Then the Bogan teacher, who had been quietly looking at me, narrowed his eyes, sighed softly, and shook his head.

“Ha… … . Excuse me, but could you please leave for a moment? Consultation with patients was originally based on a one-on-one basis.”

“Ah, yes. I understand. Please call me when you’re done.”

Despite the obvious invitation to congratulate the guests, she stood up straight away without any sign of hesitation.

Although it may not have been my intention, I was able to obtain good information thanks to the health teacher.

At least she wasn’t there to keep an eye on me.

I cannot let my guard down as it is a possibility that cannot be ruled out that the public health teacher is working with the investigator to try to deceive me, but since that possibility is very unlikely, let’s just keep it in mind.

“Phew… … . Since it’s just the two of us left, you can speak comfortably.”

what? Speak comfortably… … . Could it be that what I thought was the least likely was the right answer?

Do you still suspect me of being the culprit and are trying to get information from me?

“… … I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I smiled calmly and responded to her words that came out of nowhere.

Then, her face hardened, she stretched out her hand towards me, lifted my jacket, and pressed it firmly between my navel and solar plexus.

“Kkeeupp… … !?”

At that moment, I felt a sudden pain in my stomach that felt like it was going to rip, so I gritted my teeth without realizing it and grabbed the teacher’s arm that was pressing on my stomach with both hands.

“My stomach was seriously damaged.”

“Sleep… … !”

“Most organs in the five viscera, including liver, duodenum, and large intestine.”

As she continued talking, she pressed my stomach here and there, and each time she did so, the pain was unbearable.

I was familiar with the pain caused simply as a side effect of the curse, but the pain caused by touching it so directly was the first time in my life.

It was similar to a wound from a fall that doesn’t hurt if you leave it alone, but if you touch it and disinfect it, it hurts badly.

So, every time the health teacher moved his hand, I started shaking and moaning. I wanted to break this arm, but if I used the curse here, the sub-plan I had made would be useless, so I bit my arm to hold back the pain and moaning.

I bit my arm so hard that I could taste blood in my mouth.

“Open your mouth!”

“Ha… … . Hmm… … . Now, it’s over… … . Is it… … ?”

“How hard should I have bitten your arm… … ! please wait for a moment. I will treat this first and then tell you.”

“… … .”

I didn’t have the energy to answer, so I nodded slowly. The health teacher got up, got some disinfectant, and started disinfecting my arm.

As I flinched from the tingling pain in my arm, the health teacher who was disinfecting my arm slowly opened his mouth.

“I will talk to you while disinfecting, so please listen.”

“Yes… … .”

“Most of the five organs and meat were seriously damaged. Literally, really loudly.”

The teacher who looked at me while saying that looked at me with a look of considerable intimidation and continued speaking.

“I have seen many injured people while traveling around the battlefield, but there are very few who have suffered internal injuries as serious as the princess. Even if there was, he died not long after.”

“… … .”

“What on earth happened to you? No, how are you able to move so well in this condition? With this body… … . Didn’t it hurt?”

As her voice became more watery as she finished speaking, I fell silent for a moment.

I wondered if I could just quietly ignore it, but since he seemed like he wouldn’t back down until he answered, I quietly averted my gaze.

“… … What hurts. I’m used to it, because I do it.”

I said that and smiled bitterly.