Ch.741I’ve Been Found Out

When I returned with my prosthetic arm, Leonore had said something to me. She said I was trying so hard, but there was no way I wouldn’t get caught.

Indeed, she was right.

—-

“Sister, let’s talk.”

On the evening of the day I received my prosthetic arm from Asha’s workshop, Lena approached me with a stern face after I had finished dinner, bathed, and was preparing for bed.

“You don’t look happy. What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

I asked while naturally hiding my left hand, with its unmistakable metallic texture, inside the folds of my gown.

Unlike her usual self, her brows were furrowed and her complexion slightly flushed. It was a subtle expression that made it difficult to tell whether she was angry or worried.

Was she suddenly concerned because we were heading back out to fight again right after returning from the war with the Ka’har, without proper rest?

“If it’s about Nidhogg, there’s nothing to worry—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Sister, let me see that left hand.”

Lena pointed at my left hand hidden under my gown and uttered words that made my heart sink.

“Wh-what? Why suddenly my left hand?”

Was I caught already? Right after getting the prosthetic? I thought I had concealed it well with Frosting, so how could she tell?

“No, more importantly, you should go wash up too, Lena. It’s bedtime now. We have a lot to do tomorrow, so we should sleep early—”

In my panic, I took half a step back and blurted out a series of nonsensical excuses.

“Stop talking nonsense. Show me your left hand, please?”

Of course, such excuses wouldn’t work. Lena walked toward me with a determination I couldn’t have imagined from the person I knew, and grabbed my left arm.

“Ah.”

There was no way to stop her.

When Lena grabbed my left arm, my body reflexively tried to counter, but I had to forcibly suppress the movement because it was obvious that Lena’s body would burst like a pomegranate if I actually did.

I was also caught off guard because I didn’t expect her to be this aggressive.

“…As I thought.”

Lena’s expression hardened as she confirmed the hard, cold metallic texture.

“Sister, what is this arm?”

How strange. It felt like winter had arrived even though we hadn’t even departed for the Sky Mountains yet.

“Um….”

I broke out in a cold sweat as I tried to think of an excuse. Not that I had anything to say even with ten mouths.

“A steel left arm that transcends the weakness of blood and flesh…?”

“Stop joking around!”

…That didn’t work. And I thought it was quite a clever joke.

With my attempt to lighten the mood with humor having failed, the only option left was to confess the truth.

“Haah… so, what happened was….”

I let out a deep sigh and explained everything to Lena.

How my arm got blown off, the process of receiving and equipping the prosthetic, and why I had been hiding this fact from her.

“So… you tried to hide your serious injury because you didn’t want to worry me?”

“…Something like that?”

“What a stupid… no, that’s not it. What kind of nonsense is this! Even five-year-olds don’t hide their injuries because they’re afraid of getting scolded by a healing priest!”

Lena, who had been staring at me with a blank face, suddenly burst out in anger at my unexpected answer.

[I completely agree. This is foolishness of the highest order.]

…I had nothing to say. To think that at my age, I’d be treated like a child hiding an illness because they’re afraid of getting a shot.

“No, well, look. Until now, even with injuries that I considered minor, you would worry excessively. So, I thought if I showed you such a serious injury, you might faint or something….”

“Are you saying it’s my fault?!”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

I frantically waved my hands, trying to calm Lena down with desperate excuses.

What is this situation? Isn’t this like trying to stop a flood with a bucket? I tried to clumsily hide my injury and ended up in several times more trouble.

If I had known this would happen, I should have been honest from the beginning.

—-

“Do you understand, Sister? The reason I got angry every time you returned injured was because I was worried about you. Whether it’s because of the culture you grew up in, or because you overestimate the miracle of healing, you treat your body too carelessly.”

A little while later, Lena, who had calmed down somewhat, sat me on the bed and began a lecture while standing in front of me.

“Even the miracle of healing isn’t omnipotent. If your breath stops before you can recover, or if your life force is completely depleted, neither I nor Lady Elmaine can restore you. And yet, you’ve done this so many times….”

“Um… I’m sorry.”

“Haah… I’ve been so worried about you getting hurt. To think that instead of being careful with your body as I advised, you’d choose to hide serious injuries….”

Lena shook her head in disbelief, still finding it absurd.

“It’s my mistake. I didn’t expect you to be this childish. This way, my concern has actually done more harm than good.”

“Um… I don’t think it’s that bad…?”

Dissatisfied with my response, Lena sighed and grabbed my shoulders.

“Listen carefully, Sister. From now on, I won’t tell you not to get hurt. It’s pointless anyway. Making such promises is meaningless, and you’ll just come back injured again. As you always have.”

That’s unfair. It’s not like I wanted to get hurt. It’s just that all the enemies I’ve faced have been incredibly difficult, so I had no choice but to accept injuries.

“No, I do try not to get hurt, but it’s not easy—”

Lena put her index finger over my mouth to stop me, and continued speaking.

“So, just promise me this one thing. If you’re hurt, tell me right away. Don’t lie to me, and make sure to say you’re injured and need treatment. How about it? Can you promise that?”

Lena’s gaze was so earnest that I had no choice but to nod and promise that I would.

…Come to think of it, I think I was in the wrong. A frontliner hiding injuries from a healer because they don’t want to burden them? If this were a game, I’d be a complete troll.

“Good. That’s all I needed… Now, show me your arm properly. I need to check its condition.”

Lena let out a soft sigh and sat down next to me. I opened the front of my gown and showed her my left arm—the half-span of forearm that remained and the black iron prosthetic that gripped it tightly.

“……”

Lena watched silently as I undid the locking mechanism of the prosthetic, and as soon as I removed it, she grabbed the remaining half-span of my forearm, lifted it up to examine it from various angles, and then drew upon her holy power to cast a healing miracle.

A sun-like crimson holy light descended on my forearm and shoulder, brightly illuminating the exposed skin.

It wouldn’t make my severed arm grow back immediately, but… at least it would speed up the recovery.

“…That’s enough. You can put your clothes back on now.”

Lena finished the treatment, put down my arm, and stood up to look down at me again.

Perhaps because of the soft crimson light emitted by the holy power that hadn’t yet faded, her face looked a bit redder than usual.

“Oh, right. Thanks.”

Since things seemed to have been resolved well, I gave an awkward smile as I tucked my left arm, now free of the prosthetic, and my left breast, which had peeked out from between the open folds of my gown, back inside and tied the strings of my gown.

I didn’t reattach the prosthetic. Now that my arm injury had been discovered, there was no need to wear the heavy metal prosthetic until bedtime.

So I could just sleep like this.

I placed the prosthetic on the table beside the bed, arranged the disheveled blanket with one hand, and crawled in, lying down.

“Are you going to sleep right away?”

“…Yeah. I’m a bit sleepy. It’s quite late too.”

I answered in a slightly drooping voice. Was it because the tension had eased? The accumulated fatigue was weighing heavily on my eyelids.

My half-closed eyes and mumbling response must have seemed quite amusing, as Lena smiled and nodded.

“You’ve been running around all day, so it’s natural to be tired. Go to sleep. I’ll go wash up.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow….”

“Yes. See you tomorrow, Sister.”

After those words, Lena went into the bathroom and returned to the bedroom after nearly an hour had passed.

How did I know that when I had fallen asleep? Because the sound of footsteps coming out of the bathroom suddenly stopped at the head of my bed, reflexively waking me up.

Even though I woke up, I didn’t jump up throwing off the blanket; I just lifted my eyelids that had been closed.

“Uh….”

Through my blurry vision, I met the eyes of a pink-haired girl—no, to be honest, because she had grown quite tall, she looked more like a high school student than a little girl—looking down at me.

Her slightly damp pink hair reflected the moonlight flowing through the window, glimmering dimly.

“Lena…?”

“Ah… are you awake, Sister?”

Lena smiled down at me. Perhaps because of my drowsy mind, her smile seemed somehow dreamlike.

“I’m sorry. You seemed to be having a nightmare, so I was going to check on you, but it looks like I disturbed your sleep.”

“Really…?”

A nightmare… was I having a nightmare…? I don’t know. I can’t remember what dream I was having. If I can’t remember, it probably wasn’t anything significant.

“It’s okay, go to sleep….”

I mumbled, gesturing toward Lena’s bed next to mine.

“Yes. Good night, Sister.”

Lena nodded lightly, then returned to her bed and sat on the edge. She dried the moisture from her hair with the towel around her neck, and then spent time just looking at me without saying anything.

Until her glistening hair was completely dry. Continuously.

…Why is she staring at me like that?

Is she still not over her anger?