episode_0044

“Sigh. It still hurts as much. Feels even worse than yesterday.”

Even after a good night’s sleep in the best bed of my life, my wrist hadn’t improved. Given the nature of joint pain, it was natural for the day after an injury to be more painful than the day it occurred. At this point, I felt like I couldn’t even slap my own butt like I did yesterday.

Staying still and resting was the quickest path to recovery. In other words, it meant I couldn’t use my wrist until it healed. As someone who had tried every treatment through these hands, the lack of improvement in my injured wrist felt like a major setback.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

But what made this injury feel like a big deal was the story leading up to realizing the solution yesterday. When I heard the solution from Mir Ryuin, it stimulated my creativity that had been stiffened by the shock of the injury, leading me to devise a new method of treatment… no, affection. It was a completely new form of treatment that differed from the on-the-spot treatments I had seen results from so far, but for some reason, it seemed convincing. There wasn’t clear evidence, just a confidence that I could do well no matter what I did at the moment.

“I raised the curse removal percentage by 25% in just one day. It’s okay to start feeling confident little by little.”

Through two fainting spells yesterday, the curse removal percentage of Mir Ryuin reached 36%. Going from 11% to 36% meant that I had completed 25% of all treatments in just one day.

Just a simple calculation showed that with three treatments similar to yesterday’s, Mir Ryuin would be cured. To eliminate a quarter of the worst curse that no one else could remove, or even find the cause of, in just one day—confidence was inevitable.

“Alright, shall we go?”

That’s why, even in a situation where I had no choice but to forcibly use this entirely new treatment, I could confidently move forward.

In front of Da-in Adamas’s hospital room, I grabbed the doorknob without any hesitation, unlike the first day, and twisted it open. “I’m here! You’ve been waiting for a long time!” A lively morning greeting was a crucial element in creating the vitality to endure the day. When I worked as an emergency room attendant, both physically and mentally exhausted, I couldn’t manage it, but in the current situation where I could get plenty of rest and didn’t have much strenuous work, I could offer a bright morning greeting at any time. “Good morning!” I greeted Da-in Adamas, who lay with his eyes closed, just as he did three days ago, activating my inner listening function. [User’s will confirmed. You can now listen to the target’s inner thoughts within a certain distance.] The notification, which I had become completely accustomed to, appeared on one side of my vision and disappeared, and Da-in Adamas, who received my greeting, responded. [Morning? Ah, so it’s morning now. Time really doesn’t pass quickly. I thought it would be evening by now. Well, since you’re here, it’s fine. Whether it’s a good morning or not, I don’t know, so none of that matters; just start the treatment.] It was a cynical response unlike anything I had experienced before.

※

Mei Luina wept at the mere thought of enduring three days with nothing, and Mir Ryuin spent two days precisely counting each second until his treatment day, gradually wearing himself out. The complete isolation from the world was so dreadful that it could shatter anyone’s mind, no matter how remarkable they were. However, Da-in Adamas was a bit different. Despite enduring the excruciatingly long three days alone, a time that would make Mei Luina burst into tears just by imagining it, her mind was quite intact. The reason for this was simple: Da-in Adamas had always been accustomed to solitude. She had been alone even before becoming a plant human, never fitting in with anyone. Being able to do everything alone, she was the world’s strongest human who effortlessly obliterated numerous S-rank gates all by herself.

Da In Adamas only allowed others to tend to her wounds when she needed it, and she had never formed any connections with anyone. Whether it was followers enamored by her strength or schemers trying to exploit it, she paid them no mind. All of Da In Adamas’s relationships were divided based on whether the person needed her, and even those who did were merely tools to be discarded once their usefulness expired. Despite enduring a month alone, unable to adapt to the darkness due to the hope that Stae’s presence might make things better, Da In Adamas felt only boredom and listlessness, not deteriorating like others. Rather than loneliness tormenting her, it was a sense of helplessness arising from the fact that she could do nothing herself. She had adapted to solitude.

The loneliness stemmed from being the world’s top-ranked human, experiencing an inevitable isolation due to the lack of anyone compatible with her. While individuals like Mir Ryuin or Mei Lui seemed to match her, their expertise lay in entirely different fields, rendering compatibility impossible. Thus, Da In Adamas was destined to be lonely, a situation she had faced since a very young age, an unavoidable consequence of her first awakening.

Da In Adamas didn’t particularly enjoy being lonely, but it had become an inherent part of her life, so she didn’t feel especially burdened by it.

[······What are you doing? Why aren’t you getting treatment quickly?]

That was until just three days ago.

“Oh? Uh, yeah. Okay. But are you sure you’re okay? You seem worse than last time I saw you.”

Mixed with concern, Stae’s words made Da In Adamas feel a pang in her stomach.

“Ugh, here we go again. This time it’s worse. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I was fine being alone, so why is this suddenly happening?”

Three days ago, after receiving treatment, she began experiencing an unprecedented discomfort.

Having grown accustomed to loneliness, Dain Adamas had been feeling uncomfortable for the past three days due to an unexpected sense of emptiness. However, not knowing why things had turned out this way, she simply felt a bit empty and irritated, but it wasn’t so severe that it was unbearable. Ultimately, resigned to the fact that there was nothing decisive she could do about it.

“Three days ago, when they said the frail Stay was leaving, I almost blurted out a warning without even knowing why. Anyway, the problem lies with the frail Stay. As soon as that kid returned, my lower abdomen started churning again.”

Enduring the three days in resignation, which seemed longer than any other three days she had experienced, she believed that once she met Stay again and received treatment, she would finally be able to understand the reason properly, so she endured. And now, as she faced Stay entering the hospital room, she felt her lower abdomen churning like a dog’s tail wagging to greet its owner, and she was convinced that Stay was the cause.

“It’s okay. Everything’s fine now. And if you get your treatment now, you’ll be even better. So hurry up and get treated!”

The moment she realized her deduction was correct, Dain Adamas could no longer wait. It was only natural for her, who had endured the long three days, to respond roughly to Stay’s concern and urge his treatment.

“Really? Well then… if you say it’s fine, I’ll think it’s fine.”

It was quite shameless to plead with the person who came to treat him in this manner, but Stay, including Dain Adamas, had never expected anything from the three patients, so he brushed aside her shamelessness and leaned in close.

As Stay approached right beside her, by the bedside, Dain Adamas involuntarily swallowed dry saliva.

Well, actually, as a plant-human who couldn’t even swallow a single drop of saliva on her own, she didn’t actually swallow anything. She just felt that way.

Anyway, I felt a surge of tension and excitement as if I had swallowed dry saliva unknowingly. My whole body was tingling, and my lower abdomen… or more precisely, the uterus inside my lower abdomen, started to feel moist with a sensation I had never experienced before.

“Why is this happening? Why is my body reacting like this?” Da-in Adamas complained at feeling such sensations and emotions just because Stai had come close.

But at the same time, she found herself swallowing dry saliva repeatedly in anticipation of being able to undergo the Portio Sensory Development Therapy that had once again brought her to the brink of ecstasy.

[Haah, haah, oh, oh really? Are you coming? Will you make me surrender without even allowing my uterus to resist by rhythmically tapping my lower abdomen like last time? But this time it’s different. I’m not the same as before. I didn’t know then, so I succumbed so easily, but not this time! I’ve experienced it! I won’t be defeated easily like last time!]

Da-in Adamas couldn’t hold back any longer from Stai’s approach and burst out with a sincere resolve not to be easily defeated. In truth, to Stai who was eagerly anticipating the manipulation of Portio, it sounded pitiful. However, since Da-in herself thought of it as a firm resolve, Stai didn’t bother mentioning that fact.

“I’m not going to do that today. I got too excited hitting Mir Ryuin’s buttocks yesterday and ended up injuring both my wrists. So, I can’t use my hands today.”

[What?]

Instead, she expressed it in a different way.

“You got so excited hitting Mir Ryuin’s buttocks? You enjoyed it enough to hurt your wrists?”

The moment Da-in Adamas heard Stai’s words, she felt an inexplicable anger welling up inside her.

“Why am I getting angry? Oh, right. Because I can’t receive proper treatment for my injuries. That’s why I’m angry. I’m the only one at a loss here, so of course, I’m angry. Yes, that’s it. That’s why I’m angry.”

Somehow, Dain Adamas found a reason to be angry, though it didn’t make him feel any better. Nevertheless, he opened his mouth to express his anger at Stay with a fierce growl.

[“Are you going to say that with a smile? Shouldn’t you first apologize for causing harm…”]

“Instead, today I’m going to try a different treatment.”

But Dain Adamas’s anger did not subside. It was because something large, firm, and soft had come into his bed and embraced her tightly.

“Huh, huh?”

In an instant, the imminent explosion of anger was replaced by an unexpected warmth, so affectionate that it almost disappeared in an instant. Experiencing this kind of warmth for the first time in her life, Dain Adamas forgot what she had been about to say and simply became dazed.

While holding her in his arms, Stay explained today’s treatment in her ear.

“I heard the hospital bed has healing effects. So today, I’ll lie next to you to treat my wrist and give you a hug to administer the medicine. How does that sound? Okay?”

Stay’s voice was so confident, as if she hadn’t even considered that it might not be okay. For Dain Adamas, it was absurd that someone as weak as Stay, an F-class weakling, would lie next to her on the same bed, embracing her, and say, “This is treatment. Is it okay?”

Therefore, she seriously frowned and was about to coldly warn, “Get away from me right now. What’s an F-class weakling doing coming up here?”

“Is it okaaay♥”

…But Stay’s warmth was too warm to give a cold warning.