Episode 13 – A Get-Well Visit

*

Aureo Academy was in shock this morning due to the tragic news.

The Knight Department was as silent as a graveyard.

Daniel, the student council president produced by the Knight Department after a long time, was their pride, having put those arrogant Magic Department students in their place.

Many female students secretly admired him.

The Hero’s son was a reliable comrade and a popular male student, living up to his father’s reputation.

And then, his death.

Not even an accidental death or a noble sacrifice, but the disgraceful news that he drowned while committing a crime left everyone confused, unsure how to react.

No one dared to bring up the topic, nor could they shift to another, so they simply remained silent.

The Magic Department was even more chaotic.

Unlike the Knight Department, everyone here was in a dither.

After all, the cause of this incident was Rose, a Magic Department female student and Daniel’s younger sister, who attempted to poison a baron’s maid.

It was obvious that Daniel’s motive was to save her, who was imprisoned.

Moreover, their mother was currently staying at this academy, wasn’t she?

Jennifer, after confirming her son’s bloated corpse this morning, had not left her room.

The sight of Jennifer, the legendary magician of the Hero’s party, known for her cold and composed demeanor, collapsing with weak legs felt surreal.

Mazière, the headmaster of the academy and a professor in the Magic Department, was restless, unable to decide whether to enter or leave Jennifer’s room.

This evening, Baron Salvie had contacted him to say that he would visit to discuss the incident with Jennifer.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to enter the room and deliver the message.

In an hour or two, Rose would also return to the academy to pack her belongings.

“Why do all the difficult things always come at once…”

Headmaster Mazière sighed, rubbing his throbbing forehead.

To think that inviting Baron Salvie to the academy to get some sponsorship would lead to this.

However, as the headmaster himself knew well, the perpetrators in all of this were ultimately Rose and Daniel.

The baron was the victim.

If Jennifer met the baron, she would be the one who had to apologize.

The Mazière he knew was kind, but in some ways, he was a man who never backed down.

He just hoped that the baron wouldn’t say, ‘It’s your children’s fault’ to a mother who had lost her son.

His head was getting heavier and heavier.

Mazière missed the carefree days of yesterday when he was pondering over what to do with the sponsorship money he received from the baron, like fixing the lawn or repairing the walls.

Just then, someone quietly called out to the headmaster.

‘Um… Headmaster-sensei.’

“…Ah, Vanata-yang.”

She approached the headmaster hesitantly.

Come to think of it, the conflict between her and Rose was the start of everything, and the poisoned refreshments were hers.

Vanata, who saw someone collapse right in front of her after eating the refreshments she brought, was taking a break from classes due to the shock.

Perhaps, Vanata was the one Rose was trying to kill.

Mazière looked at her with pity.

Vanata flinched at even the smallest sounds, looking around nervously.

If she used to look like a chattering squirrel, now she looked like a puppy drenched in the rain, all out of energy.

Having gone through a terrible incident, and possibly almost dying, it was only natural that she, who was once lively but also sensitive, would shrink back so much.

Vanata cautiously opened her mouth.

“I know it’s a bad time, but I have something to tell you.”

*

Before going to the academy, I stopped by the hospital.

Following the nurse’s guidance, I went inside, and the patient lying on the bed waved at me.

“Oh my, Baron-nim! What brings you here?”

“How are you feeling, Hoveba-ssi?”

“I’ve been lying down so much that I’m getting worse. They say I’m fine now, but they won’t let me leave, can you believe it? Hehe, I tell you.”

“Haha, I’m glad you seem to have your energy back. Just think of this as an opportunity to rest.”

“Hehe… Well, I’ll be resting for the rest of my life now, I guess.”

Hoveba’s expression darkened for a moment, but he waved his hand forward, saying, ‘It’s not your fault, Baron-nim, so don’t worry about it.’

The damage to Hoveba’s waist muscles from Daniel’s sword was critical.

Fortunately, he could still walk, but he would no longer be able to carry heavy loads or do the physically demanding work at the harbor like before.

I bowed my head to express my gratitude to Hoveba.

Hoveba was flustered and waved his hands, telling me not to do that.

“Of course, I will cover all the medical expenses.”

“Hehe, thank you! Baron-nim.”

“And… please accept this.”

“What is it?”

“Hoveba-ssi’s new job.”

I took out a paper bag from my pocket and handed it to him.

Hoveba received it, opened the entrance, and looked inside.

Inside were a seal and several paper documents.

“This…?”

“It’s my account at Flavis Bank.”

“But why this?”

“I think I’ll be leaving Flavis soon. And… I probably won’t be back for a long time.”

“Huh, that’s a shame. The meals you provided were delicious.”

I smiled gently and continued.

“From now on, would you like to prepare those meals, Hoveba-ssi?”

“What?”

“I’ve been using the money in that account to maintain a charity. If everything I’ve been doing disappears as soon as I leave, many people will have a hard time, so I hope you can maintain it as much as you can with that money.”

Hoveba checked the balance written on the document.

The amount written was larger than the combined earnings of Hoveba and all the harbor workers for their entire lives.

Hoveba, being uneducated, didn’t even know how to read such a large number, and the long string of digits made him feel unreal.

“Huh,”

“It’s about 30,000 gold coins. I used about 12 gold coins a day for the workers’ meals and about 10 for the meals for the poor.”

“I don’t understand. Why are you entrusting this to me?”

“Hmm, then who else would I trust besides you, Hoveba-ssi?”

“What if I just pocket all of this? What are you thinking?”

“You can do that.”

“What?”

“Either way, if I don’t keep filling it, it will eventually run out and the free meals will end. So, I need someone to manage it while I’m gone,”

I held Hoveba-ssi’s hands.

His broken fingernails and the fingers wrapped in bandages bothered me.

“And even if you take all the money, I won’t complain. Thank you for everything, Hoveba-ssi.”

“…Baron-nim.”

Hoveba looked into my eyes seriously and said quietly.

“You’re not really into guys, are you?”

“Aish, seriously!”

*

I left Hoveba’s hospital room and headed to the adjacent building, which was used for VIP private rooms.

Even the nurses here were more friendly than the nurses in the general wards.

Following the guidance, I arrived in front of the best room in the hospital and slowly opened the door.

Lying on the luxurious bed was Lily, and next to her, sitting blankly, was Lara.

Fortunately, thanks to the quick infusion of divine power, the critical situation had passed, but Lily had not yet woken up.

The shock of the poison destroying her body was said to be too strong.

Lara didn’t take her eyes off Lily even as I approached.

It was clear that she had been like this all night, so I asked her.

“Did you get any sleep?”

“…Yeah.”

“If you’re going to lie, at least try to make it believable. There’s dust all over the caregiver’s bed.”

“No, I really did close my eyes for a bit. I just didn’t lie down.”

“Rose will be arriving at the academy in an hour. You should start getting ready.”

“…Okay.”

Lara took out a longbow, as tall as a person, from under the bed.

It was the bow that shot the terrifying arrow that pierced my body four months ago when I first regained consciousness.

The memory of that day, which was dizzying even with my undead body, flashed through my mind.

Lara checked the condition of the bow, pulling the string a few times.

As the taut bow bent and straightened with a sharp yet heavy sound a few times, Lara suddenly opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Ed.”

“For what?”

“…For everything.”

“…What are you suddenly apologizing for?”

Lara shifted her gaze back to Lily, who was lying down.

“You probably know too. Lily and I were actually trying to ease your desire for revenge.”

“…I thought so.”

“Yeah. We hoped that if you at least had a good time, you would forget about revenge and just live happily with us. We had such expectations.”

“I did have a good time, thanks to you.”

“Since you’re an undead anyway, you’ll live as long as I do, so forget about those guys who will all die in the next 30 years, and live happily with me… and Lily…”

“Lara…”

Lara lowered her head.

Her swaying bobbed hair seemed particularly quiet today.

Lara’s hand holding the bow trembled.

“But I realized that it’s not an emotion that disappears so easily. Just the thought of that bitch breathing somewhere makes my stomach churn.”

“Yeah… I know that feeling.”

“Even I feel like I can’t stand it if I don’t kill her, but for me to try to make you give up your revenge, ha, how ridiculous is that?”

Lara raised the corners of her mouth and ridiculed herself.

The sight was both pitiful and chilling.

I gently held Lara’s trembling hand.

As Lara’s trembling subsided, she looked at me and said.

“Ed. In the end, I was only thinking about myself, and I never considered your feelings.”

“Lara…”

“I’m sorry, Ed. For everything, for not realizing your unfair death, for sleeping with Robin and having a child, and for trying to make you give up your revenge regardless of your feelings.”

Tears like starlight welled up in Lara’s clear gray eyes and fell like comets down her cheeks.

Those star-like tears seemed to flow out of her heart, and I wiped Lara’s cheeks with my thumb, wiping away her tears.

“Thank you. Lara. For everything.”

“…For what?”

“…I think I understand a little now why you wanted me to give up my revenge.”

Lara’s heart sank for a moment.

Could it be that the dull Ed had noticed?

The feeling I harbored, the feeling I shouldn’t harbor if I had any shame. Did Ed know?

Lara waited for Ed’s words with a mix of anxiety and anticipation, staring intently at his lips.

“Revenge is an emotion that wears down the heart. Revenge is something that continues while destroying oneself, and it may be okay in the middle, but when it’s over, nothing will be left, except for the worn-out me and the things I’ve destroyed.”

“…Ed.”

“You didn’t want me to become like that, did you?”

So he didn’t notice, the idiot.

Lara laughed, letting out a sound that was a mix of a hollow laugh and a sigh.

“…Ha, haha. Yeah, that’s right.”

“Thank you for living in the Vortex Forest for so long for me, and for helping me on my journey of revenge while worrying about me.”

Lara stared at her hand that Ed was holding.

It must be a cold hand without blood circulating, but the back of her hand and fingers that touched Ed felt burning hot.

Perhaps that’s why Ed’s next words felt so cold.

“You are, both 20 years ago and now, my best ‘friend’.”

“…Ed.”

“Why, are you touched?”

“Are you… doing this on purpose?”

“Aish- to be so touched by this, you’re really eas…”

“Edward.”

“Uh… why?”

Lara’s voice suddenly dropped.

What, lowering your voice and calling me by my full name is too scary.

Taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere, I looked at her cautiously.

Lara, who was looking at me, suddenly grabbed my arm that was holding her hand and pulled me into her arms.

“Lara?”

“Ed.”

Without knowing why, I was embraced by her.

I tried to break free, but it was impossible.

Even when I was alive, Lara’s strength was much greater than mine.

She turned her head towards my bewildered face and slowly brought her lips close to my ear.

Then she whispered softly.

“When Lily wakes up, go on a date with me.”

“…What?”

“Let’s go.”

Lara quickly let me go and rushed out of the hospital room.

Her face, not fully covered by her short bob, looked slightly red.

It took me a moment to figure out what had just happened.

Could it be… Lara?

…

There’s no way.

“What. Making people misunderstand.”

I muttered and followed her.

‘Ah, I need to say hello to Lily.’

“Lily. I’ll be right back.”

As I said goodbye and the door closed, the hospital room quickly became quiet.

Lara and Ed’s footsteps grew farther and farther away, and soon no sound could be heard in the hospital room.

Seureuk.

“What did I just see as soon as I opened my eyes.”

Lily sat up and muttered, covering her mouth with her hand.

.