Ch.96Chasing After You (6)

For Rustila, there was no woman who could be considered a rival.

Sonia was an android, and Seti was his younger sister. And besides these two, there were no close female acquaintances around Eidel.

She had thought it would be fine to reveal her secretly harbored feelings after entering college.

Until some stray cat snatched him away.

“Stay away from Eidel.”

Rustila said coldly.

“Who are you to tell me that?”

Zernya retorted nonchalantly.

“Young master.”

Sonia made no attempt to hide her discomfort.

Shhh.

A quiet silence fell over the infirmary.

In this tense situation, Eidel suddenly covered his mouth.

“Cough cough cough cough!”

“…!”

“Young master!”

“Eidel!”

It was a long, persistent coughing fit that seemed to choke him.

The three girls were startled. Eidel, who had been eating stew, rolled his eyes and collapsed backward.

“Eidel, Eidel!”

Rustila screamed and rushed to him. Sonia also froze in place with her eyes wide open.

“Wake up, Eidel!”

“Miss, look at the IV line!”

“Blood, there’s blood…”

Blood was flowing back through the IV line.

Zernya frowned.

What a drama queen.

Still, something needed to be done about the blood backflow.

‘The main IV fluid and antibiotics are all gone. The regulator is open too. Air has gone down to below the flow regulator, so I can’t replace the IV with my current skills. In this case…’

“Bring gauze!”

There was no choice but to remove the needle.

Zernya washed her hands as thoroughly as possible and peeled off the tape. Then she put on gloves, pressed the gauze, and carefully removed the needle.

“What are you doing?”

“Go call the school nurse. Quickly!”

“Where is she?”

“In the cafeteria next building!”

Zernya shouted. Rustila, thinking she needed to save Eidel, ran outside.

After Rustila left.

Zernya organized the lunchbox basket and put it away.

“Hey, get up.”

Zernya poked Eidel.

Eidel, who had been rolling his eyes for three minutes, sat up with a smirk as if nothing had happened.

“Young master, are you actually fine…?”

“Cough, yes.”

Sonia slumped down.

“Prepare to be severely scolded when you fully recover.”

“Ugh.”

Zernya put down the stew spoon and packed her things.

“I can’t stay any longer today.”

She felt somewhat disappointed.

Zernya smiled wryly after hearing Eidel tell her to be careful on her way back.

And so she returned to the dormitory.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.

Her heart was racing belatedly.

“Haah.”

Although she immediately noticed it was an act, she had almost been shocked like the other two.

Making accurate judgments when examining a patient.

Even though she was still not a medical student and it wasn’t a real situation, that simple experience greatly shook Zernya’s mind.

After all, hadn’t she calmly done what needed to be done while everyone else was panicking?

“This is… interesting…”

She found herself smiling without realizing it.

She was very much looking forward to next week’s major experience fair.

***

[Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein: 30/1000]

[Psychological state: She is feeling favorable toward you.]

Look at this one, accelerating so quickly.

“Young master, why did you pretend to faint earlier?”

Sonia asked, expressing her displeasure.

“That’s because Rustila and Zernya shouldn’t fight.”

“Miss Adelbein has a bad character. She’s not someone you should keep close, young master. If she wants to fight with Miss Rustila, let them fight.”

I waved my hand dismissively.

“Sonia.”

“Yes.”

“If I advance to graduate school this semester, who do you think will be first in our class?”

“It would be Miss Adelbein.”

“How do you think Zernya will behave if she takes the top spot again in this state?”

“Well… the same as before.”

“Seti and Rustila would have a hard time. Whatever Zernya does, she’ll torment those two, and she might even act rashly toward the teachers. Zernya is excellent in many ways and has her family backing her, so she’ll try to do whatever she wants.”

Ah, Sonia sighed and nodded.

“Currently, only you can keep Miss Adelbein in check, young master. You’re in the same grade and overwhelmingly superior.”

“To put it bluntly, yes.”

“Before that, her behavior…”

“…I’ll correct it.”

Very firmly.

Sonia bowed her head and replied.

“As expected, you see far ahead, young master. You’re not just good at research but also skilled in politics.”

“Politics…”

I burst out laughing. My lungs stung as if covered in thorns, but I didn’t mind.

“I’ve never done politics at this age.”

“Wherever there are people, there’s politics. Learning the art of tolerance and the study of kingship—to become the head of the Rheinland family with its power struggles, you must know how to… Oh!”

I waved my hand dismissively.

“Young master, surely not.”

“Sonia. Do you know how much our family’s assets amount to?”

“I believe it’s a little over 200 trillion credits.”

“If we poured all that in, could we make a gravitational bomb?”

“…Probably not.”

“Would 300 trillion be enough?”

“…It wouldn’t be enough.”

“Then, would 500 trillion be enough?”

“…It wouldn’t be enough.”

“Then how much would be needed?”

I got up from the hospital bed and put on my slippers. I made eye contact with the bewildered Sonia while dragging my exhausted body.

“P-probably around 1,000 trillion would be needed.”

“Really?”

I hugged Sonia. She felt soft and warm, making it hard to believe she was an android.

“Sonia.”

“Ah, y-yes. Please speak.”

“After I’m gone, tell my sister what I just said. Tell her to save money diligently, and siblings should…”

“Eidel?”

“Cough cough!”

Of all times, Rustila returned just then. I pretended to collapse sideways while holding onto Sonia.

“Your cough is severe. We should give you an expectorant and let you rest more.”

Teacher Tierbel replaced the IV and handed over medicine.

Rustila’s eyes were red.

“Where’s that Zernya?”

“She left.”

“Just let her come back. I’ll teach her a lesson.”

It seems it will take time for those two to become close.

That day, Rustila stayed by my side until dawn, watching to see if Zernya would return. I thought my stomach would burst from eating all the food she had brought.

***

The next day.

Zernya came to see me when Rustila wasn’t around.

“Is she gone?”

She looked around cautiously like a vigilant wolf before entering.

She had packed medicine, wet towels, hot packs, and various other things in her basket.

“Since you took care of me, it’s only common sense that I take care of you too. I’m not stupid enough not to know that…”

[Psychological state: She wants to be with you.]

“The bet has already begun. You’d better be prepared.”

[Psychological state: She wants you to get better soon.]

How did things end up like this?

Zernya’s every action made Sonia uncomfortable. This was because Zernya did everything that Sonia was supposed to do, including feeding me and changing my clothes.

She took care of me so attentively that there was nothing I could do about it.

“I admit she’s good at nursing. I can’t find a way to intervene.”

“Well, isn’t that obvious?”

“Zernya. You just need to say thank you in such situations.”

I instructed Zernya on how to use polite speech. Most of it would probably go in one ear and out the other, but something might stick.

“If you were just a little more careful with your words, it would be good.”

“Don’t lecture me.”

“You’re cute, so all you need is humility. Then everyone will like you.”

“I told you not to say such nonsense.”

“I don’t know if I should be the one to say this, but people should be humble.”

“…”

[Psychological state: She is wavering.]

“Have you ever heard of the saying ‘to reform oneself for the public good’?”

“Are you looking down on me right now?”

[Psychological state: She is greatly wavering.]

“If you’ve been harsh until now, you can live more warmly from now on. Then something will definitely change. I hate to say it myself, but take a long-term view of life.”

It was such bland advice that someone might call me an old fogey.

Thanks to Zernya’s devoted care, my illness subsided quickly. By the second day, the fever had gone down, and the main symptoms were residual cough, tongue sores, tonsillitis, and pharyngitis. My head was also slightly foggy.

All those symptoms subsided by the fifth day.

As soon as Teacher Tierbel said I could be discharged, Zernya boasted:

“I took a week, you took five days.”

“So what.”

“I won.”

“What?”

“My medical talent is superior to yours. If you’re thinking of joining the medical school now, you’d better give up. I’ll be better than you there.”

“I’m not going, really not.”

“…”

I asked while packing my things:

“Isn’t today that major thing?”

“It’s the Major Experience Fair, young master. College and graduate students from the college come to let us experience each department’s major. It’s an event.”

“Sounds fun.”

We left the building and climbed the hill.

From early morning, people were gathering and setting up tents.

“I heard it runs all weekend. You can look around at your leisure when you have time.”

“Let’s go now.”

I slowly went down the hill with Sonia.

“The medical school and engineering departments are already crowded with students.”

“That’s because they offer good job prospects.”

“But that alone doesn’t explain that phenomenon.”

Sonia pointed to a booth in a corner.

Under a sign that read [Department of Physics and Astronomy], dozens of people were gathered, engaged in conversation.

“Honestly, we feel wronged.”

“What do you mean?”

“We didn’t even get a chance to introduce our lab to that student. If he’s interested in cosmology, he might also be interested in our solid-state theory lab, right?”

“Eidel came looking for me. He’s a friend who wanted to be my student from the beginning.”

“That seems to be your opinion, professor. Since he’s still young, we should introduce him to various fields of physics and give him opportunities to experience different labs.”

“Excuse me!”

“Professor Frederick is right. At the very least, there should be a period for lab rotation to be fair to everyone.”

It was an argument.

But somehow, all their faces looked familiar.

No, more importantly, there were no college students—they all seemed to be professors.

“By the way, why are professors from other academies here? Eidel has already decided to enroll at Stellarium!”

“That’s assuming he’ll attend the same place for college and graduate school.”

A female professor said with a cunning smile. Her eyes showed more venom than Zernya’s.

“Professor Stranov, why are you doing this to me?”

“I wonder, Professor Feynman.”

Thinking the atmosphere might turn sour if left alone, I moved closer. I approached Professor Feynman and greeted him.

“Hello, Professor.”

“Student Eidel!”

“Rheinland!”

“Student!”

“Student, how’s your cold?”

Why are a dozen people answering when I only called one?

“Professors, what brings you here?”

“Well, we knew you’d come here.”

Does that mean they were openly waiting for me?

I got goosebumps.

Looking closely, the professors’ eyes were ominous.

Sharp and fierce like wolves eyeing their prey.

“Slurp.”

What was that sound just now?

“Student. I’m sorry, but there’s something I must tell Eidel.”

“Go ahead. What is it?”

“It’s…”