episode_0035

3 days. 72 hours. 4320 minutes. 259200 seconds.

The time Mei Luina must endure to meet with Stay once again.

For Mei Luina, who was left with nothing but her wits, even sleep was not permitted, so these 3 days were a time she had to endure entirely in her right mind. Unable to sleep in the pitch darkness, all she could do was think and imagine, making these 3 days an excruciatingly long time for her.

“······Do I really have to wait 3 whole days to meet Mr. Stay? Do I have to be alone for 3 whole days?”

If she hadn’t met Stay, if Stay’s status window hadn’t made conversation with Mei Luina possible, if she had been alone just like she had experienced for nearly a month, she wouldn’t have felt this way.

She would cry for a long time, and then cry some more, until at some point, she could stop the tears.

If there’s nothing to do, no hope of getting better, most people’s end always concludes with resignation.

But Mei Luina now knew there was a cure, had received treatment directly from Stay, and had regained communication with others whom she thought she had lost forever.

“3 days, 3 whole days······. 72 hours, 4320 minutes, 259200 seconds. Alone······?”

Hope had arisen through conversation and treatment with Stay.

Hope prevents a person from resigning forcibly and prevents them from adapting to the dreadful situation they are in.

Because the hope of improvement is akin to the desire to escape the current situation.

Someone who knows how to escape from a situation while being in that unwanted situation cannot adapt to it, and therefore cannot resign either.

Mei Luina had to rely entirely on Stay for her issues to be resolved.

He had to infuse her with the essence contained within him to bring her to the peak in order to lift the curse.

There was no other way, and therefore, Mei Luina had no choice but to wait for Stay.

In this case, hope was never a hopeful word.

Mei Luina had practically nothing she could do to solve the problem she faced.

“Ugh, ugh… I hate this. Three days is too long. I can’t sleep, I can’t do anything, and I have to endure every single minute in the darkness all by myself. Having to wait three days for a brief treatment. This isn’t right!”

Mei Luina, who knew better than anyone that there was nothing else she could do besides waiting, was furious at the fact that she had to wait a whole three days just to feel the warmth and reassuring touch of human hands, of Stay’s hands.

“Yes, that’s it. I should be firm about this. Three days is too much. Divide the care into morning, afternoon, and evening. No, since I was Stay’s first patient, just treat me first and then attend to others. I should suggest doing that.”

The simultaneous awakening of the three people and Stay’s disappearance from the sickroom were the conditions of the contract Mei Luina had made with Stay.

The decision to treat one person per day instead of dividing it into morning, afternoon, and evening was due to the limited amount of energy available. Of course, in the current situation, it had been revealed that a full charge of energy would be obtained after a good night’s sleep, and the total amount of energy was so abundant that it would hardly ever run out. However, Mei Luina did not know this fact.

Despite not knowing, she was thinking only of herself, ignoring Stay’s conditions, and trying to create a favorable situation for herself by breaking the contract with Stay within a day.

“Okay. This is the right thing to do. First, get myself out of this dreadful place, and then others can come next…”

The inevitable selfishness that emerged from the extreme situation Mei Luina found herself in.

Blinded by this selfishness, Mei Luina wanted to convey her desires to Stay right away.

‘After that, please ask for treatment······. If I were to say it······.’

However, she soon realized the situation she was in and her excitement turned as cold as if her head had been doused in icy water.

‘······It will take three days.’

Yes. Whether she wanted something, no matter how selfish that desire might be, it didn’t matter.

At this moment, Mei Luina couldn’t even convey such words unless Sté was present.

‘Even asking for something just for myself, I can’t do it the way I want to unless Sté comes······ Only then can I say what I want to say······.’

The moment she realized this fact, a sense of helplessness, as pitiful and overwhelming as she had felt every day, every hour, every minute, every second for 30 days, swallowed Mei Luina as completely as when she was with Sté and could forget everything.

‘Ugh, ughhh······. I’m lonelyyy······. So, so lonelyyy······.’

The tears that had stopped when she met Sté slowly, sluggishly began to flow again.

‘I don’t want to be aloneee······. I-I can wait for a dayyy······. Three days······· Three days is too longggg·······. Huuuhhh······.’

But now, the only one who could hear Mei Luina’s desolate sobbing was Mei Luina herself······.

Oooh-

‘Huuueee······. Ugh, uugh. Uuung?’

Just as Mei Luina was despairing over the hope relentlessly drifting away and weeping endlessly at the thought of not being able to meet again until three days later, a sensation, as if something were connecting, reached her heart.

A warm and affectionate connection that seemed to reassure her that she wasn’t alone in this world, a feeling she had first experienced yesterday.

‘I-Is it real······. Huk, hik. Why do I feel like this······. Even though there’s no one here······ Sté has gone. I can’t hear anything, and I can’t feel any presence, so why do I feel like thisss······.’

Mei Luina, tears and snot streaming silently down her face, questioned the sensation she was experiencing within herself.

The question was soon dispelled by the voice of a man, one that I could never forget nor did I want to. “Huh? What’s wrong, are you awake? But why are you crying? I even made sure you fainted beautifully.”

It not only made me feel like I wasn’t alone, but it was also clear that the owner of the voice who spoke had apparently finished treatment and left, as I thought.

※

I slowly activated my telepathy to see if she was waking up, and sure enough, Meiruina’s mind was awake from her faint. She seemed fine until then, but for some reason, Meiruina was crying. Even though there was no reason for her to cry at all.

[Uh-uh…! If you’re there, please give me some sign! I thought Mr. Stay had left without a trace!]

As soon as I asked why she was crying, Meiruina stopped crying and instead got angry. Indeed, it would be rude to just sit next to someone who is sleeping without giving any indication. Just imagining if I fainted and Meiruina sat next to me without giving any sign? It gave me chills just thinking about it. Of course, Meiruina wouldn’t just sit next to me while I was fainting and do nothing, just staring at me. Looking at it from another perspective, it could seem like a crazy creepy thing to do.

But I had something to say about this matter, so I explained to the brave Meiruina why I had no choice. “I couldn’t help it. I wanted to get to know Ms. Meiruina better.”

“Wha… what? What did you just say? You wanted to get to know me better?”

“Yes.”

I nodded to Meiruina, who listened carefully, and answered that it was true, even though I had said it once before.

[Sta, Stay. Are you really that interested in me? Well, I suppose there isn’t anyone in this world who wouldn’t be interested in me. After all, I am the world’s one and only saint, revered and adored by everyone. It’s only natural for someone as ordinary as you, Stay, to be captivated by me and focus on me without even daring to breathe.]

In response to my answer, Maylina, who had just been pitifully despondent moments ago, now boasted so vigorously that it was hard to believe. I wanted to immediately dismiss it as a delusion or an overestimation, but since what Maylina said wasn’t entirely nonsense, I couldn’t help but momentarily forget what I was about to say.

Uh… yeah. It’s true, even though I absolutely don’t want to admit it. I was indeed captivated by Maylina, to the point where I didn’t even dare to breathe.

“Um… yes. I’ll admit that I was captivated by Ms. Maylina. I forgot to breathe while looking at Ms. Maylina.”

So, I admitted that I was truly captivated by Maylina.

[Uh… R-really? You’re saying that so openly. That’s quite brave…]

“But, you know, isn’t it praiseworthy to closely observe the area of the patient that needs treatment?”

[…Area that needs treatment…?]

“Yes, I was thinking about how to concentrate on treating the next time. But once I actually had Ms. Maylina in front of me, I couldn’t help but be captivated. So I looked. But, well, what can I do? It would make the treatment faster.”

“A-are you saying that you forgot about making any sound from your body and focused instead… is that what you’re saying?”

Feeling joy at Maylina’s correct answer, I pointed to her completely exposed chest outside the blanket and said,

“Yes, because Ms. Maylina’s royal bosom is the best bosom that a man can’t help but focus on!”

[Uh, uh?! I-I’m naked?! You undressed me?!]

“Ah, but don’t worry, I didn’t take off your pants. Just squeezing the chest is enough to treat Miss Meiruina.”

[Ah! W-What kind of heart are you using to say such things in that tone! Do you expect me to be grateful for that?!]

My words startled Meiruina, and she screamed with embarrassment and anger.

Why is she getting angry? I explained everything about the treatment in front of her. She even said she wanted to wake up as soon as possible.

She really was a split personality.

“N-No, I can’t forgive this! I absolutely can’t let this go! So, please, help me release my anger quickly! Even just pat my cheek!”

See? She’s totally insane.