Ch.126Sleeping Beauty in the Graduate School Forest

“You passed out while writing your thesis?”

“It’s not surprising.”

Professor Stranov continued in a matter-of-fact voice.

“I’ve been running around trying to save you. You must have accumulated quite a bit of fatigue.”

She slowly recited what Eidel had done over the past week.

“You wrote a thesis, invested in resonator research, and got beaten up by people who were at the front of the waiting list. Since you couldn’t abandon those people, you commissioned new research. You even went to an external organization and secured a contract.”

Just hearing it made her head spin. This wasn’t a workload that an ordinary person could handle in a week.

“After writing all that discussion and revising the conclusion section, you suddenly collapsed from hyperventilation.”

“Is, is that okay?”

“The doctor says there’s no danger to your life, but he can’t guarantee when you’ll wake up.”

Stranov patted Ireh’s shoulder and made a request.

“So please keep an eye on him and contact me quickly when Eidel wakes up.”

Stranov left first, saying she had a conference schedule.

Thump.

Her legs gave out.

“Why on earth…”

The more she thought about it, the less sense it made.

How could he bestow such favors on someone who was practically a stranger?

No matter how good his family background might be, how could an eighteen-year-old boy secure such a legendary position in academia?

And moreover.

By what principle had he removed the outer gods?

It was literally incomprehensible. After all my struggling, how could he do it so easily—

“Why are you sitting there blankly?”

From a place where sunlight didn’t reach.

“Sitting in such a place when there are perfectly good chairs is unhygienic. Get up quickly.”

A familiar voice came from there.

An android in a maid outfit with bluish hair emerged from the shadows. She held out a coffee cup over Ireh’s shoulder.

“I don’t need to introduce myself, do I?”

Sonia.

She had been beaten by this android many times. Just thinking about it brought back memories of being hit on the head with a baguette at the Spirit Chamber—

“Huh, thanks.”

Ireh smiled bitterly as she accepted the coffee cup.

Not forgetting debts of gratitude. That was the truth of life she had learned through countless regressions.

Eidel was her lifesaver. So Sonia was the same.

“I’ve been running ragged trying to keep up with the young master’s schedule.”

Sonia leaned against a chair and complained.

“If I don’t at least brew some coffee like this, I’ll really break down.”

“But you’re a robot…”

“We also want to secure our own rights. How about a 110-hour workweek? I’d like to oil myself up in the remaining time.”

Sonia smiled slightly. After downing her coffee in one shot, she grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floor.

“Oh my, my poor body.”

“Wait, why are you using a broom when there’s a perfectly good vacuum cleaner…”

“Is there no well-mannered lady who would help this poor maid?”

Ireh, who had been watching cautiously, got up from her seat.

She owed Eidel her life. She should at least help with this minor cleaning.

Time passed quickly as they swept the floor, polished the windowsills until they shone, and adjusted the humidity of the humidifier.

Eidel still had his eyes closed.

“Now it’s time to give the young master a light massage.”

“Huh?”

“A massage, a massage.”

Sonia narrowed her eyes and questioned Ireh.

“You don’t think I’m asking you to do something perverted, do you?”

“That’s not it…!”

“Muscles deteriorate if they don’t move even for a day. You were also confined to the Spirit Chamber for a long time, weren’t you? That’s why I massaged you often.”

“I know that much! What I mean is!”

Ireh, who was about to raise her voice, shrank back again. Trying to say what came next made her embarrassed, ashamed, and somehow angry.

“…I, I’ve never touched a man’s body before.”

“My, you’re terribly shy.”

“It’s not at that level.”

“Do you have some kind of androphobia?”

Ireh reluctantly nodded.

“…A little.”

She didn’t mind if it was just a brief encounter.

But if a man tried to make advances on her, or if it seemed like a human relationship might form, she would unconsciously avoid him.

Thanks to the Constellation of Patience, it stopped at the level of avoidance, otherwise she would have been unable to breathe just by being near Eidel long ago.

“Why are you like that?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Usually, interpersonal phobias targeting specific genders are caused by abuse, sexual violence, bullying, and so on. So, perhaps…”

“Don’t try to dig into it!”

Strictly speaking, it was because of the outer gods.

The “pheromones of delusion” spread by the Darwin-type outer gods. Men addicted to these pheromones lose their reason and become beasts who unconditionally lust after Ireh.

It was a damn curse.

She hadn’t been defiled. Whenever something happened, Ireh either immediately fled the scene, put an air hole in the head of the would-be rapist, or in the worst case, took her own life to move to the next world line.

But she had lost many good opportunities.

Throwing ashes on a perfectly cooked meal. Even that was the outer gods’ scheme.

And now,

[— The ‘God of Patience and Integrity’ wishes you wouldn’t avoid men.]

The constellation was trying to scheme.

[— Help the android with the massage. Upon success, 1000 coins will be awarded.]

Ireh rubbed her eyes and wiped her face dry.

“Ugh, this!”

Her face flushed hot. Sonia tilted her head.

“So, are you going to do it or not?”

Gulp.

Her Adam’s apple moved involuntarily.

A whole 1,000 coins.

With 1,000 coins, she could buy twenty <Spirit Bullets> capable of killing an EX-class monster in one shot. Also, she could roll the <Dice> as many as five times.

“Why are you hesitating so long?”

“I’ll, I’ll do it!”

Right now, she needed every coin she could get.

Besides, Eidel was her lifesaver. If she didn’t at least do this much, there was no way she could repay his immense kindness.

“I’ll take the left side, you take the right.”

Following the instructions, Ireh moved inside and glanced at Eidel’s face.

He was more handsome than she expected.

More specifically, he looked like a diligent person.

She recalled a distant memory. A time when she could still look at men’s faces without squinting. Back then, Eidel had seemed somewhat cunning.

Ireh bit her lower lip as she pulled back the blanket.

“…”

There was something in his left hand.

“What’s this?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s paper.”

“I mean, why is he holding this while unconscious?”

Sonia poked her head out from the opposite side and checked what was written on the paper. She sighed.

“It’s his thesis. If he keeps holding it, his hand will cramp.”

She glanced at Ireh with a subtle mischievousness in her expression.

“I can’t reach it from here.”

“Fine, I’ll do it!”

Carefully, like defusing a time bomb, she tried to pull the paper out without touching Eidel’s hand.

“…?”

Grip.

There was quite a bit of resistance.

“Touch his hand directly to remove it. That’s the sure way.”

“I got it, please!”

Cold sweat flowed and her heart pounded. Being sober made it worse. Ireh Hazlen was facing the greatest crisis of her life since gaining independence from the outer gods.

Tap.

Contact.

“Ugh…!”

A chill ran down her spine. An instinctive aversion. She quickly took a deep breath.

She had to repay his kindness, even like this. At the very least, she needed to get used to the existence known as Eidel von Rheinland.

“W-why won’t this come out!”

“Can’t you even do that properly? Wait, I’ll come over there. Damn, why won’t this come out?”

The more they tried to open it, the tighter it became.

“Is this a Venus flytrap or what…”

“It’s a thesis trap.”

That was the moment Eidel gained a new nickname.

“Is he actually awake?”

“The young master absolutely hates wasting time like this. If he were conscious, he would have gone out to research already.”

Finally giving up, they decided to just do the massage.

At first, she felt intense aversion, but as she used the <Calm> skill and convinced herself that she was doing volunteer work, she gradually got used to it.

[— You have received 1000 coins as a quest reward!]

It was a difficult battle.

“Eidel! Eidel!”

A blonde girl with a ponytail flew in like a bullet and flung open the door to the hospital room.

“Miss Rustila, you’re here.”

“Eidel, are you okay?!”

It was Rustila, who had rushed over right after finishing her daily training with Naiere. She jumped into Eidel’s arms like she was diving.

Rustila held onto Eidel and cried her eyes out.

Why didn’t he call her when writing his thesis? She had told him to call her whenever he needed help, so why did he try to shoulder everything alone?

“Wake up, wake up soon…”

No answer came. Rustila shed even more tears.

Ireh was bewildered. Rustila had been Ireh’s only sanctuary. Cold to others, but warm to her own people. That was Rustila. How much help had she received from her in previous cycles?

Now that Rustila was snuggling against a man. At the same time, she occasionally shot cold glances at Ireh.

“Sister, it’s just overwork.”

Following her, a beautiful girl with white hair and golden eyes entered.

Seti von Adelbein Rheinland. She patted the whimpering Rustila who was slurping tapioca pearls.

“You there.”

Seti addressed Ireh.

“You made our brother work too hard, so make sure you pay him back properly later.”

Ireh nodded. Of course she intended to.

But brother, brother?

Even Seti, who became nasty when it came to Eidel, used such a term of address. How good were Eidel’s interpersonal relationships in this cycle?

She felt newly grateful.

That this place was the world line she had arrived at last.

“Student! Student! Eidel student!”

A man’s voice was heard. Ireh stiffened.

The one who entered was a tall, middle-aged man. Judging by his clothes, he wasn’t a doctor, but seemed to be an adult connected to Eidel.

He pushed aside Rustila, who had been stroking Eidel’s face, with just a look, and thrust a paper filled with calculations at him.

“You can hear my voice, can’t you, Eidel student! Two days is enough sleep! Get up and look at this! I’ve developed an amazing theory that will change the world right now!”

“I don’t know who you are, but…”

“Discussion, I request a discussion on this! There’s no one else but you who can discuss this topic with me! This is urgent!!”

“That’s not going to wake him up…”

“You promised we’d write papers together for life!!”

Swoosh.

Eidel opened his eyes.

***

“Professor, Professor Feynman! I thought I wouldn’t see you after that time. Wow, this is definitely worthy of the Akea Prize. Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe…!”

“As long as you’re alive! When I thought about losing a student I had just found, everything went dark. It’s fortunate it was just simple overwork; if it had been a stroke, I would have, sob, really…”

“Professor!”

“Student!”

“Professor!”

“Student!”

“Professor!!”

“Student!!”

The two men shared a warm embrace. The scene was so sticky that Ireh momentarily froze.

Rustila and Sonia had similar reactions.

Rustila in particular looked very heartbroken. She muttered, “He didn’t wake up when I tried to wake him…” and looked dejected like an abandoned puppy.

“This guy’s at it again.”

Only Seti made the correct judgment and escaped the hospital room.