Ch.371371. Hospital Visit

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Yuria Greyhaunter and Lucien Greyhounter were currently receiving some extremely perplexing news.

“…He’s been hospitalized?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“…”

Yuria and Lucien’s faces simultaneously went blank as they heard the news delivered by Bella, Elnore’s personal maid.

Well, they weren’t particularly well-informed people to begin with, so they had expected that by the time others discovered their whereabouts, everyone else would have already had their turn. But hearing such news so directly was still beyond their expectations.

“…Oh, you’re here?”

“…”

What made it even more absurd was that Darwood’s condition, as he lay in the mansion, was even more pitiful than the description had suggested—certainly not underwhelming.

If he had cleanly broken something or suffered a major injury, that would have been one thing. But seeing him so pale and barely able to hold himself upright, it was only natural to wonder what on earth had happened to him during their absence…

“Ah, it’s nothing much. Just been completely drained…”

“…”

Yuria and Lucien’s faces flushed simultaneously.

They weren’t so ignorant of worldly matters that they couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Um, how many times did you have to…?”

“…About 500 times over two days?”

What was particularly fatal was being passed around without rest yesterday between the two Violet Demons and the Evatrice sisters.

He said two days and 500 times, but it felt like he’d done at least 200 times in yesterday alone…

“…”

“…”

The Greyhaunter sisters fell silent simultaneously after hearing this.

Good heavens.

At that point, it’s a miracle he wasn’t dead.

People should know when enough is enough…!

As Lucien and Yuria showed their shocked reactions, someone could be seen quietly creeping into the room where Darwood was lying.

“…!”

And the moment he saw who it was, Darwood’s already pale complexion turned even whiter.

He looked like a war veteran whose carefully suppressed PTSD had suddenly resurfaced…

“N-no! I really just came to visit you this time…!”

Riru hastily waved her hands in denial as she placed some fruit beside Darwood.

It was clearly an attempt to show that she truly came only to deliver this, with absolutely no “other intentions.”

“…Miss Riru?”

“Ah, Holy Maiden.”

Lucien uttered with a bewildered voice upon seeing her.

Probably because Riru’s face seemed much more radiant than when they had last seen her.

Radiant might be the word. Her skin overall looked tremendously improved.

“…”

“…”

Yuria and Lucien’s eyes narrowed simultaneously as they watched Riru awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

How should one put it?

She seemed to have become much more feminine compared to before.

Her behavior seemed much more demure, and she appeared to fit the image of “a woman men would like” more than before.

Even her next words demonstrated this.

“…Um, I peeled these myself. Try one. They say it helps with recovery.”

Riru carefully held out a piece of fruit with a fork to Darwood’s mouth.

As Darwood struggled to open his mouth and chew it, a cautious question followed.

“Is it good?”

“It’s nice.”

“…Hmph.”

Covering her mouth with one hand, quietly delighting in such praise—well.

One might call it the demeanor of a refined lady in love.

“…Miss Riru…?”

“…What does that mean?”

Yuria probably unconsciously asked that question wondering if this might actually be the Blue Demon.

It was only natural to be curious, as this behavior was completely unimaginable from someone whose default mode was always violent and aggressive.

“…How did you change so much…?”

“…Do I really seem that different?”

Riru responded with an incredulous expression, then scratched her cheek again before continuing.

“Well, after being embraced once, I experienced some emotional changes.”

“…”

“I-I mean, somehow, I want to, you know, act cute and-“

“…”

Riru immediately closed her mouth as she tried to explain further.

Partly because Darwood’s face turned almost black as soon as she said those words, but also because the homunculus sisters were both giving her sharp looks…

“W-well then! I’ll be going now!”

And feeling the burden of their scrutinizing gazes, Riru immediately dashed out of the sickroom.

A terribly awkward silence fell over the room.

Of all topics to end on, it had to be that one.

Fortunately, as Darwood began glancing nervously at the two of them, Lucien heaved a sigh and said:

“…We won’t do anything.”

“…Really?”

“Really or not, do we look like such barbarians that we would do such things to someone who’s bedridden like this?”

She continued with an incredulous voice.

“Get some rest. We’ll watch over you to make sure others don’t bother you anymore.”

This must be the moment when Lucien truly appeared like a holy maiden.

Of course, she was already a holy maiden, but to Darwood’s eyes right now, she seemed to radiate such holiness that non-existent divine light might as well be shining behind her.

“…But, I don’t see yours with you?”

Suddenly, Darwood, who had been looking at the two with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears, asked such a question.

“What do you mean with us?”

“The demons. All the others are materialized and running around everywhere.”

“…Ah, that.”

Yuria swallowed her words as she looked down at her waist.

The Severer that always followed her like her shadow was positioned there.

“…For now, I’ve managed to ‘seal’ it in this state. That’s how I’m keeping it, but…”

“…Seal?”

After going through the trouble of giving it a human body, what’s this sudden talk about sealing?

As Darwood narrowed his eyes thinking this, Yuria hesitantly reached for the Severer.

“…Well, as for why I’m doing this…”

And as her hand was placed on the sword, a girl who looked exactly like Yuria suddenly poked her face out from inside.

With blazing eyes, equally heated words poured from her mouth.

“I want to eat too-!”

“…”

“I can’t stand just watching the others drool! I also want my companion-!”

Before she could finish, Lucien lightly bonked her on the head.

As if scolding her to stop talking nonsense and get back into the sword.

“…That’s why.”

“…”

There could be no more appropriate explanation than that.

Darwood nodded gloomily in response.

“…Thank you.”

“If you’re grateful, just focus on recovering.”

Lucien said in a caring voice as she gently tucked in his blanket.

“So you can deal with us next time.”

“…”

Ah.

So there’s no option where this doesn’t happen at all.

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“—So I can’t go in?”

A visitor who arrived late in the evening asked with a troubled voice, facing Lucien who was blocking the entrance to Darwood’s sickroom.

“…That’s right.”

Faynol Leiphec and the Red Demon standing beside her simultaneously let out a “hmm” while stroking their cheeks.

While Yuria and Lucien aren’t biologically related sisters, they have so many commonalities that they might be considered even more deeply connected than that. They are humans created through the same “process,” after all.

But these two’s reactions seem even more sisterly than theirs.

They look so similar in their behavior that one might believe the Red Demon to be Faynol’s twin.

“—That’s what she says. What do you want to do?”

“…”

“You’ve been wanting to cuddle with Darwood all this time—”

“Shut up.”

“See? She gets harsh when she’s shy.”

What’s unique is that Faynol seems somewhat more relaxed and big-sister-like compared to the other demons.

“Hmm— but if he’s really that sick, we can’t ignore it. No matter what, we’re not such terrible women that we’d torment him just to have our way, right?”

“…”

That sounds like she’s indirectly calling all the others terrible women.

But Lucien decided to just quietly sigh instead of reprimanding her.

Honestly, it wasn’t entirely wrong. No matter how much Darwood had troubled them before, what happened to him was too much.

Fortunately, the one standing here now is the relatively moderate Faynol, so she probably won’t do anything strange…

“So, I have a way that won’t bother him.”

“…”

“Would you like to hear it?”

Lucien immediately corrected the thought she had just had.

In the end, this one is just the same as the others…

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