Chapter 42

Chapter 42

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 42: Together, The Three Of Us (4).

Rustila felt water filling her lungs.

She was sinking.

Realizing the danger of drowning, she quickly regained her senses and began to swim.

Then, she noticed something strange. Her body felt unusually light. Shifting her gaze from the surface to the depths below, Rustila spotted two figures, a boy and a girl, descending toward the bottom.

It was Aidel and Zelnya.

Desperately flailing her arms, Rustila reached them and grabbed their clothes with dramatic urgency.

Upon closer inspection, Zelnya had fainted, and Aidel was bleeding from the head, his eyes rolled back in a critical state.

“Puah…!”

Summoning all her strength, Rustila swam to the lake’s edge. The biting cold of early spring chilled her to the bone.

“Both of them show no signs of a heart attack. There is some relief amidst this misfortune.”

Rustila looked up at the sky. Thick clouds suggested imminent rain. Scanning her surroundings, she spotted a large cave and dragged the two towards it.

“There are no carnivores inside. Let’s go in.”

Vega’s voice suggested. Nodding, Rustila entered the cave. As soon as she did, her legs gave out, and she collapsed with a thud, gasping for air.

It was cold.

The atmosphere of the artificial planet was generally cold. Despite undergoing terraforming, temperatures rarely rose above 20 degrees throughout the year. Especially now, during what was classified as winter, nighttime temperatures often dropped below zero.

Her school uniform was waterproof, so it wasn’t wet, but her body was another issue.

“Ugh.”

Her teeth chattered. The cold moisture met the dry cave air, evaporating and repeatedly stealing warmth from her body. If she didn’t dry off soon, she risked dying of hypothermia.

Rustila took Aidel’s and Zelnya’s hands in hers. Zelnya’s were warm, but Aidel’s were as cold as ice.

Like a corpse.

“It cannot be.”

She hurriedly stripped off Aidel’s clothes. Lacking the courage to undo the last button, she pressed her ear against his chest instead.

Faintly, she heard the sound of a heartbeat.

But the rhythm wasn’t normal.

‘Just endure it. I’ll bring some firewood soon.’

Rustila gathered a bunch of dry leaves and twigs and returned to the cave. She arranged the stones in a circle and piled the dry materials inside to prepare a fire.

“Fire…”

She needed to light it.

“How do I light it? I even dropped my plasma sword.”

There was neither time nor experience to attempt old methods like a hand drill now.

Rustila’s gaze wandered to Aidel’s left hand.

‘Calipers…’

An ancient measuring tool said to be used in the distant past.

It was the instrument Aidel had used during the test, when he had defeated the monster earlier. Even as he fainted, he had been clutching it tightly.

It seemed not just to be a measuring tool. Perhaps it was something given by the Outer God. It might even serve as a substitute for a plasma sword.

“Don’t touch it.”

Vega warned.

“If it’s an object of the Outer Gods, just touching it could be lethal.”

But hadn’t Aidel handled it just fine?

“That’s because it recognized the boy as its master. If someone other than the master touches it, they might be punished.”

Despite Vega’s warnings, Rustila shook her head.

‘I was saved by him first.’

Had Aidel not arrived, she would have died.

‘Besides.’

Even if touching the Calipers meant her death, if it could save the other two, it would be worth it. There was nothing more valuable than sacrificing one life to save two.

Just as Rustila reached out for the Calipers, they slipped from Aidel’s hand, spun in the air, and plunged into the bonfire.

Crackle! Sparks flew.

Startled, Rustila fell onto her butt.

The embers began to rise.

Silence hung in the air.

“…That Outer God bastard.”

Vega chuckled.

Unexpected help had enabled them to start a fire successfully. Now, all that remained was to dry off, leave the mountains, and head back to the academy.

However, things didn’t proceed as planned.

Rain began to fall—a torrential downpour.

“…Sigh.”

The chilling energy of the rain made it cold enough to see their breath mist in the air.

As the fire grew stronger, Rustila hurriedly tried to help Aidel and Zelnya out of their wet clothes.

Aidel, being in a more serious condition, required immediate attention.

But it wasn’t easy. Removing the shirt was manageable, but taking off the pants proved to be a difficult task for a girl.

It felt easier to do a thousand push-ups.

Still, she proceeded because she had to; it was a medical necessity. Using that as her excuse, she unbuttoned the shirt and removed the belt. The task made Rustila feel dizzy.

“I-I cannot do this…”

She shook off the moisture on his arms, legs, and upper body, leaving the finer places to the warmth of the fire.

“What are you doing?”

“Ahh…!”

The moment she reached for Zelnya’s scarf, a fierce glare from Zelnya met Rustila.

“Touch that and you die.”

Zelnya swatted Rustila’s hand away as it reached for her scarf. Then, she coughed and spat out water.

After assessing her soaked condition, Zelnya nonchalantly opened her jacket and sat closer to the campfire.

“You won’t take the scarf off?” Rustila asked cautiously.

“It’s waterproof and warm, don’t worry.”

Zelnya responded curtly. Her complexion was off, pale from having fainted and only recently woken up.

“Damn it, my head hurts.”

“It’s because of the cold water. It will get better soon.”

“That isn’t the issue. I had the headache before I even fell into the water. What is happening…”

Zelnya sighed and pressed her forehead.

Rustila blushed as she laid out her jacket and skirt. She wasn’t naked, but it was still embarrassing.

“Uh…”

As Zelnya was removing her stockings, she turned to look at Rustila and twisted her lips.

“Don’t be so dramatic now.”

“…You, even in this situation, are calm.”

“I was trained from childhood.”

Then, Zelnya gently kneaded Aidel’s forearm. Her cheeks, illuminated by the campfire, also looked unusual.

Next, she checked Aidel’s pulse.

“This is bad.”

“What?”

“His pulse is weak, almost undetectable now. Is his heart still beating?”

“Uh, yes, it is beating.”

“No need for CPR then. We should first address the hypothermia.”

With no other option, Zelnya mumbled as she wrapped her arms around Aidel’s left side.

Suddenly, Rustila’s emotions erupted.

“You, you. You…”

“It is medical treatment. Medical treatment.”

Zelnya gritted her teeth. The situation was far from reassuring. Being in such close contact with a man she barely knew!

“Don’t you hate Aidel?”

“Just because I hate him doesn’t mean I wish him dead.”

“…”

“I am going to become a doctor when I grow up. I’ll take control of the Northern Trauma Center. But if I let someone die right before my eyes and can’t do anything… it would tarnish my career. At the very least, I could fail the character test. Since this is a direct descendant of Reinhardt, we might be held responsible if he dies. Yes, that’s right. He has to survive. He definitely will…”

Her rambling continued, abruptly shifting from her future aspirations to the immediate reasons she must save Aidel.

“…A-anyway, I refuse to become the top student just because of his death. First place only shines when there’s a second place. Without him, there might not be anyone worthy of being considered second. Yes, that’s exactly it. That’s the right principle.”

Zelnya’s lips trembled faintly as she spoke. Unaware, Rustila found herself sympathizing with her.

Yes, this is all for the sake of saving people.

Rustila revisited her own dream—to be a distinguished inspector, to surpass S Grade and achieve EX Grade, or even the highest grade, Omega (Ω), to protect the lives and property of the Federation citizens. It was an old dream, one that she had resolved to achieve. Therefore, she couldn’t let herself lose a classmate here.

She suppressed a wave of shame and moved to Aidel’s right side, her cheeks flushing.

Tak. Tak.

Around the crackling bonfire, the two girls wiggled their toes to pass the time, the space around them growing warmer.

As the night deepened, the rain intensified.

As my consciousness, which had been fluctuating like a plank adrift on the ocean, slowly returned, I realized that I hadn’t yet opened my eyes to reality.

“This is…”

I found myself in a dusty space, a place abandoned by sunlight, where gloom and cold mingled and swirled ominously in the air.

I wandered through this dim expanse as if floating, and suddenly, a light flickered on.

Beneath the harsh white glow of the lamp, tentacles curled like willow branches.

My eyes followed those tentacles down to several dark blue balls of yarn rolling around on the floor.

After examining the yarn that had scattered across the ground, I slowly lifted my head. Just then, a woman’s voice echoed through the space.

“To shoot yourself in the head before drowning,” she said with a chuckle. “You are much more interesting than you appear.”

Identifying the owner of the voice wasn’t difficult.

Cartesia.

She had taken the form of an incarnate, manifesting before me.