episode_0025

Rosalie-nim grumbled in a rather unfamiliar, yet very fitting, sulky tone. She even properly kicked a small pebble rolling on the ground with a *thump*! So incredibly cute…!

“Spending time with Ras is far more enjoyable than I thought. Sigh~ What will I do when Ras goes home, I’ll be so bored ♪ Plus… like yesterday, I keep worrying about your fever.”

Rosalie-nim spoke worriedly and placed her hand on my forehead. Of course, my fever had receded another layer, and my condition was almost completely stabilized. Now, if only the problem with my ‘bowed head’ could be resolved, my body would truly return to perfect condition. It seemed that part, the symbol of a man, where Yang energy strongly concentrated, was still disoriented from the high fever…

“Haha… even so, I didn’t expect you to have booked a double room in advance. But I’m really much better now, so please don’t worry too much. I also feel so bad for continuously troubling Teacher-nim all night…”

Rosalie-nim had even booked a double room, insisting on continuing to look after me, still a patient, but when I said I would go to my family home, there was no reason to stop me. Of course, I actually wanted to continue staying with Rosalie-nim. However, I had a few things to do this time, so I needed to have some personal time.

“You don’t have to think of it as troubling me. Ras is my ‘precious’ student~ Instead… if you have time, how about we go sightseeing here and there with Teacher-nim?”

“Of course. Ah… and there’s a doctor in Sephir who can treat Mirha. Since I’m here, I plan to take her to Livingston to see him. Would you like to accompany us?”

“Of course! Wow… I’ll get to meet the doctor who can treat something so difficult in person!! He must be quite skilled and amazing, right?”

That would be me, actually. Of course, I don’t plan to openly show myself treating her; I’ll use a plausible proxy to be a figurehead. Since I’ve already earmarked someone as a proxy, it would be just right to visit them during my free time.

“Then, shall we go to the Capital Hospital first?”

“Yep!!”

Rosalie-nim and I headed to the Capital Hospital, with me feigning a sickly body. This close proximity, sticking together, had already become familiar.

*

[Father, I know you won’t be coming, but please don’t come just in case. I’m going home next week.]

[Father, I might arrive at the main family home around Tuesday evening. If I’m late, I might arrive Wednesday evening. I’m stopping by a large hospital first. My body is fine.]

The fiery handsome middle-aged man, Logier Etgard, sat in his study and carefully read the messages his son had sent via the magic communicator. He had planned to finish his busy work and immediately go to Leone because his son, who had been completely preoccupied with his fiancée, was severely injured, but now his son was coming directly to the main family home.

“Hmph…”

*Puff!*~ *Puff!*

He used ignition magic on his finger to light a cigar, then let out a heavy puff. This cigar, for which Etgard had just secured exclusive import and sales rights, was already a huge hit in Kashmir. It was a high-quality product, boasting a harmonious blend of a rough initial taste and a smooth aftertaste as its special feature, so it was evident that it would sell well in Sephir as well.

Acquiring exclusive sales rights and import rights like this, closing large deals, and striving to forge connections with noble families in any way possible… He hated that his family, despite earning a lot of money, could never escape the status of being just above commoners, yet below nobles, always on the fringes of nobility.

‘In the end, all you have is money, isn’t it? Aren’t you just a lowly merchant guild with no dignity, power, or strength?’

He had devoted himself to ‘noble pursuits’ and ‘gaining power’ to change the way the upper echelons looked at him and the Etgard family, at least for his children’s generation. Logier, who had worked diligently and tirelessly his entire life, had gained many connections, and recently, he had finally succeeded in aligning himself with a family that would be a truly powerful backing. A mere moderately successful merchant guild had formally joined hands with Valencia, the Empire’s foremost ducal family, said to be second only to the Emperor.

“Now, once Ras graduates from the academy and successfully marries Lizley… we’ll be treated as nobles wherever we go…”

However, instead of feeling joy, a complicated mix of emotions and guilt washed over him upon seeing his son’s message. His son had suffered a sudden misfortune that almost killed him, and as a father, he felt truly sorry and conflicted about not being able to go down immediately due to work. Logier Etgard was a merchant, but he was still a father who cared for his sons. Such things happen when one cherishes family and one’s house… Logier swallowed the bitter smoke, making excuses.

“Still… from the way he sent the message, it seems his body has recovered somewhat. But was Ras’s way of speaking always like that?”

Though his tone had become strangely odd, he brushed it off, thinking that children at that age often spoke that way. As he continued scrolling through the magic communicator, he came across the message that first informed him of his son’s accident.

[Logier Etgard-nim. This is Rosalie, the health professor of Leone, and currently the doctor in charge of Ras-gun’s condition. Your son’s physical condition is…(excerpt)]

Amidst this, he was displeased that it was not Lizley, who was to be his daughter-in-law, who informed him of Ras’s condition, but a professor from Leone. While it was perfectly natural for the attending physician to contact the parents, regardless of that, Lizley did not contact him about Ras’s matter, even belatedly. In every one of these small details, he could see how Lizley, and by extension Gracia, subtly regarded the Etgard family. They bowed their heads because they owed a lot, but that was all. Nonetheless, the reason Logier didn’t try to find any fault with Gracia was simply because Ras liked Lizley so much.

“Is he even keeping his woman in check? That soft-hearted fool… And he’s supposed to inherit the family…”

Logier exhaled cigar smoke and a sigh simultaneously. He thought he should ask his son about how his romantic relationship was progressing once he arrived. Expensive product or not, the cigar tasted particularly unpleasant today.

*

“Your body temperature is higher than an average person’s, but this can happen if you have a constitution where Yang energy circulates strongly. Originally, your body temperature wasn’t this high… it’s presumed to be an aftereffect of consuming a tainted potion…”

The gentle-looking doctor finished the blood drawing and mana extraction procedures meticulously, then rattled off an explanation. Befitting Sephir’s Capital Hospital, the facilities were excellent, and the detailed examination results came out quickly. As expected, his constitution itself had changed into one with strong Yang energy, but it didn’t seem to be an extreme Yang body like before his regression, which was beyond control.

“Now… if you look at this, the mana factors are *heavily* biased towards the Pyrogenic-type. What does that mean~ It means beware of baldness. If you’re an academy student, you might want to try developing an aptitude in the Pyrogenic-type… and also…”

After giving me the golden tip to beware of baldness, the doctor gave various other explanations and then neatly organized and handed over the examination chart and medical opinion on my physical condition. Rosalie-nim and I bowed respectfully to the gentle doctor and left the hospital.

“As I suspected, Ras’s Yang energy seems to have started manifesting strongly. That’s a relief though… if Yang energy is too strong, it can greatly harm the body.”

Rosalie-nim lowered her head, her gaze filled with a mix of slight pity and something akin to anxiety.

“I-It’s fine. Once I adapt to mana control to some extent, my… my life as a man can start anew, you know.”

The medical opinion written by the doctor kindly included a comment about my ‘bowed head’ situation.

‘It’s merely a temporary symptom from going through a period of adaptation. Since it’s the part where Yang energy is most concentrated and saturated, it is expected to take a little time.’

From that short comment, full of belief and reassurance, I felt an extreme sense of relief. In my previous life, my body itself was severely damaged, so I genuinely lived as impotent for 10 years. However, this time, my condition has been mildly well-regulated, so the day of enlightenment for me? It’s not far off…!!!

“R-Right… Ras, you know Teacher-nim isn’t thinking anything strange, right? Teacher-nim is a doctor, that’s all.”

“Oh my… you know Teacher-nim worries about me a lot, right? Where would you find such an excellent doctor like Teacher-nim? I like Teacher-nim more than that gentle doctor from before. You’re the best~”

I gently bantered and acted cute towards Rosalie-nim, who was slightly embarrassed. Because Rosalie-nim quite liked it when I acted cute like that.

Anyway, after eating lunch with a hopeful feeling, I now had some personal matters to take care of.

“Um… Teacher-nim. Could I… attend to some personal business for a moment?”

“Personal business? Can’t Teacher-nim come with you~?”

The place I’m going now is a bit… unsuitable for bringing Rosalie-nim along. It’s simply not right to bring such a beautiful and noble lady to the Empire’s, no, the continent’s, greatest garbage dump. The back alleys of Sephir, the imperial capital of Sephiroth. I was the king of the bottom-dwellers, where the world’s greatest scum gathered, and since I had returned to the past, I decided to establish the pecking order a bit earlier.

“Ah! I need to go fetch the doctor who will cure Mirha… but he really dislikes revealing his whereabouts… He’s a bit of a mystic, annoyingly so.”

“Hmm..! Well, I guess it can’t be helped then. But you have to eat dinner with me, okay? Ah!! Ras, give me your communicator.”

Rosalie-nim took my magic communicator and instantly registered her own on it. I smiled faintly, looking at the name she had saved so prettily, with a heart emoji: ‘Rosalie♥’. Indeed, bringing her to the back alleys would not sit well with me.

“Alright, then I’ll be going. I’ll probably be back before six.”

“Okay~ Ras! Don’t go picking fights anywhere, alright? Behave yourself and I’ll see you later.”

“Yes!”

That day, for the first time, I told Rosalie-nim a lie. For the first time since returning to the past, I felt as if I had truly come home.