Ch.9Obsessed Like This #5

“Kuhack?!”

I spat blood from my throat as I rolled on the ground.

My clothes were soiled from being dragged across the dirt, and the pain throbbing throughout my body only grew with each passing moment. It was a fatal wound that would never heal naturally if left alone.

Even as I crawled on the ground with my face burning red with fever, I forcefully extended my arm and struck the handle of the frying pan as hard as I could.

Unable to withstand the force, the frying pan rolled across the floor with a clamorous noise, and the cookies it contained spilled onto the dirt floor as well.

I did this to prevent Helena from eating the cookies.

“Keu, keuuugh…!”

I instinctively understood that this was what people meant by symptoms of poisoning.

It wasn’t loyalty or quick thinking, but the effect of the steel mentality I had requested from Hypnos.

An Intervener could request and receive a few special privileges as long as they didn’t cross the lines drawn by the gods.

Steel mentality was one of those privileges, and its effect was so modest that it hadn’t been a problem.

So I had asked for a body tough enough to not die easily. That body was a zombie’s flesh.

An unwavering mind and body under any circumstances.

These were the two things I had deemed absolutely necessary to deal with sick women, but now I was reaping the benefits of that blessing in an unexpected way.

With this level of poison, a slight delay in treatment would mean death. But because I had a body that couldn’t die from poisoning, I was only experiencing the pain proportional to death without actually dying.

Just because I couldn’t die didn’t mean I couldn’t feel pain.

No, in this case, not being able to die was actually a disadvantage.

It would have been easier if I had just stopped breathing, but because I couldn’t die, I had fallen into an abyss of pain that I shouldn’t have had to endure.

I felt nauseous as I vividly experienced my internal organs collapsing and regenerating.

“Ugh, uuugh…!”

I think I’ve heard that humans lose consciousness when experiencing pain beyond their limits.

Perhaps that’s why. With red foam tinged with blood rising up my throat, I closed my eyes.

The pain had been too overwhelming.

◎◎◎

“Huu—.”

I’m exhausted.

Helena felt her mental fatigue reaching its peak as she walked toward the tent with a tray of food in her hands.

Though she felt sorry for Zion, she planned to relieve her fatigue by indulging herself with him. Bringing meals for two was part of that plan.

For Helena, who couldn’t even rely on her family, Zion was like a parent figure.

She had been able to endure until now because of that child, and she was gradually getting better. It was proof that everyone needs a sanctuary where they can catch their breath.

“Zion~. I’m back. It’s lunchtime, so let’s eat together…”

However.

The moment she entered the tent with a light complaint, Helena’s arms went limp.

As a result, the tray she was holding plummeted to the floor, and the bowl of stew made a loud noise as it spilled its contents.

“Z-Zi…”

The spilled contents splattered all over her pants and shoes.

But with no time to worry about that, Helena approached the fallen child with trembling hands.

A small boy in servant’s attire lay collapsed.

Bloody foam bubbled from his mouth, and he was still twitching like a dying fish. The fallen child was none other than Zion Altram.

“Zion!!”

It was obvious at a glance that this wasn’t a simple collapse from fatigue.

That’s why Helena screamed loudly, and the mana that had been dormant within her body went berserk, engulfing the entire tent. It was truly a storm.

“Wh-what’s happening?!”

A loud scream echoed throughout the training ground, and mana was running wild.

Naturally, not only the common soldiers helping with chores but also the knights who handled mana sensed that something had happened and drew their swords.

“The rest of you stay on standby! Only my team members follow me!”

Randall, the representative of the knights dispatched this time and the vice-captain, rushed toward the eye of the storm with his sweat-soaked blonde hair fluttering. Five men followed behind him.

“Ah, aaah…!”

The eye of the storm was Helena’s tent. It was also the bedroom of a woman whom every member of the knighthood admired and respected.

Even though she could have stayed at the Krauser mansion without complaint, she symbolized kindness by choosing to share accommodations with them.

However, that tent was now in tatters, scattered throughout the forest. Various items and the field bed were rolling on the ground.

And in the middle of that devastation was Helena, trembling as she held a child in her arms.

“Lady Helena?! What happened?!”

Even though Randall approached as the representative of his group, she didn’t even look back.

It seemed like she was ignoring people, but Randall knew she wasn’t that kind of person.

So he decided to focus on assessing the situation.

“This is…!”

And then he could see it. Zion, the small child who had collapsed with bloody foam at his mouth, cradled in Helena’s arms.

“Two of you go as messengers to the Krauser and Altram main houses, and the rest search the duchy for a mage or apothecary capable of healing magic and bring them to the duke’s mansion! It’s a life-or-death situation! Those with free hands, prepare a carriage and have it ready in front of the knights’ barracks! Hurry!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Randall quickly gave orders to his subordinate knights and had them disperse.

It was clearly a fast-acting poison used to settle matters immediately, not a slow-acting one that gradually builds up with continuous consumption.

And to think that such poison was ingested during outdoor training.

“Lady Helena! Please calm down first. We need to take the child to the Krauser main house as quickly as possible.”

He forcibly helped Helena to her feet as she continued to tremble, insisting they head to the Krauser mansion rather than Altram.

It was a calculated move to increase the child’s chances of survival by taking him to the duke’s residence, which was better equipped in various ways than Altram.

Moreover, he was well aware that the collapsed child was from the Altram family. But he wasn’t giving special treatment because the child was a noble; it was a pure struggle to save a dying child. After all, Randall himself was the son of a count, so he had no need to flatter a viscount.

“Z-Zion…”

Helena seemed to recognize his sincerity and allowed Randall to support her as she walked.

She forcibly held onto her reason, which had hazily returned. She felt that if she collapsed again, she might never see Zion again.

“It will be alright. Although he’s young, as a child of Altram, he must have handled mana and trained his body. His resistance will be much higher than that of ordinary children.”

“Y-yes…”

Despite Randall’s attempt at comfort, it didn’t reach Helena’s heart.

At the moment, her vision and mind were filled only with Zion Altram, leaving no tiny gap for anything else to squeeze in.

The only way to restore Helena’s reason was to heal Zion Altram.

◎◎◎

“My, my goodness…!”

Late at night.

Looking at the child sleeping soundly on the bed, the elderly man let out a sigh of admiration.

He had hurriedly gathered the necessary tools after hearing that a noble child was critically ill, and no sooner had the treatment ended than the child began to breathe steadily. It was markedly different from the state he had been in earlier.

“Elder, how is he?”

Chess, who had been quietly watching, asked with a trembling voice.

His face, illuminated by the flickering candlelight, clearly showed signs of anxiety.

“This is… truly remarkable. The emergency measures taken at the duke’s mansion helped, but beyond that, the child’s life force is incredibly strong. Just the fact that he’s been holding onto his breath until now shows how brave he is, very brave indeed.”

“So Zion is safe?”

“Yes. He will inevitably be weakened by the poison, but he should recover with rest. It’s also fortunate that while the poison was powerful, it wasn’t complex.”

Only after hearing the old man’s words could Chess breathe a sigh of relief.

Though his magical abilities were only at the level of a local mage, the old man was renowned as the territory’s healer, having been granted exceptional knowledge of pharmacy by the duke.

Since such a man had guaranteed safety, it was only natural for Chess to show great relief, his expression crumbling.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Ho ho. It’s surprising to see someone like Chess Altram acting so unpretentiously. I suppose worry for one’s child is unavoidable.”

The old man looked at the man firmly holding his hands with twinkling eyes and laughed as if amused.

He seemed to appreciate the nobleman’s uncharacteristic approachability.

“Ah! My apologies for the rudeness…”

Chess quickly moved away from the old man and cleared his throat awkwardly.

He felt embarrassed by his lack of composure due to excessive excitement.

“Ho ho. It’s quite alright. Anyway, he should wake up in a few days, so don’t worry too much and get some rest. The head of the household must remain strong to prevent other illnesses from arising.”

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”

“Well then, I shall take my leave now. I’ll visit again tomorrow.”

As the old man rose to leave, Chess naturally supported him and escorted him out of the mansion.

As someone respected even by Duke Krauser for his pharmaceutical knowledge, Chess, as the duke’s subordinate, couldn’t treat the old man carelessly.

He had no intention of doing so from the beginning.

“Huu.”

After sending the old man off in a carriage, Chess immediately went to Helena’s room to share the good news.

Though his heart ached at the sight of the woman slumped lifelessly at the edge of the bed, he soon smiled with emotion as he watched her regain her strength and walk.

“Is he really alright?!”

“Yes. He’s sleeping now, but the elder said he’ll wake up in a few days. The poison has also been neutralized.”

“Ah…!”

He wanted to go in with her.

But in the end, he let Helena enter alone.

It was a decision based on the judgment that she needed time to calm her mind on her own.

“Zion…”

As Helena entered the room where Zion was sleeping alone, she murmured the child’s name in a low voice.

Upon closer inspection, there was no sign of pain. His breathing was even and steady. It was markedly different from the state she had seen earlier in the day.

“I’m so, so relieved.”

She held Zion’s small hand tightly and kept bowing her head in prayer. It was a prayer of gratitude to those who had worked hard to save this small child.

Even now, the memory of the child on the verge of death made her hands and feet tremble, so one can imagine how terrible it must have been.

However, now that crisis had been overcome.

Thanks to that, Helena had the leisure to think about what to do next. But it wasn’t just leisure.

Anger. Helena’s heart was burning with an intense anger she had never felt before in her life.

“I won’t… forgive this.”

Having gained composure, Helena gritted her teeth so hard they made a grinding sound.

Her eyes were deep and eerie, as if they contained an abyss. It wasn’t directed at herself, but rather, murderous intent was endlessly welling up against the culprit who had reduced Zion to this state.

The killing intent that harmoniously blended with the darkness of the night was almost artistic.

Someone unaware of the situation might have choked on their breath if they saw it. Zion didn’t notice at all because he was in a deep sleep, but if he hadn’t just recovered from poisoning, he would have noticed it long ago.

I won’t forgive. I won’t forgive. I won’t forgive. I won’t forgive. I won’t forgive.

No, I refuse to forgive.

Helena vowed to punish the culprit herself as she quietly looked down at the sleeping boy’s face with a chilling gaze.