episode_0085

Artra had never taken care of anyone in her life.

When she had parents, she was the one being taken care of, and she didn’t have any family members like a younger sibling that she had to look after.

Since losing her parents, she had always been alone. She was alone in the orphanage, and she didn’t bother to make friends at the academy because she was too focused on her studies.

After graduating from the academy, she headed to the front lines of the Ma Kingdom, and after rolling around there for a few years, she came to Nejilo.

Even after coming to Nejilo, she didn’t make any new friends. She only knew people to a certain extent. The only student she had somewhat bonded with had passed away.

In short, Artra wasn’t the type to actively make friends, and she wasn’t sociable.

“…”

So she didn’t know how to deal with this situation.

Hayul was in the healing room.

In the warm atmosphere, warmed by the clear sunlight streaming through the large window.

Artra let out a deep sigh. She looked down at her chest with a troubled expression.

– Grrr…

There was Hayul, peacefully sleeping in her arms.

There was also a contented purring sound that could be expected from a pet.

‘…What do you want me to do…’

Artra awkwardly patted Hayul’s back, reminiscing about yesterday.

After Hayul regained consciousness.

She was afraid that Hayul might suddenly cling to her, mistaking her for someone else due to a seizure.

Feeling the heart-wrenching sensation of tears welling up in her eyes, she instinctively hugged Hayul.

She hugged her tightly, feeling sorry for her weak and fragile arms that couldn’t move properly.

– Sniff…

Artra tried to comfort Hayul by patting her back, but her gaze was drawn to Hayul, who was sobbing in her arms.

Hayul, who already had a delicate and fragile appearance, seemed even more vulnerable due to her illness. She exuded a fragility and a need for protection that made her seem like she could break at any moment.

Her usual dignified demeanor was nowhere to be seen as she clung to Artra, whimpering.

After comforting her for a while, the healers entered.

Artra tried to pull away. Shouldn’t she receive treatment in a proper manner? With that thought in mind, she tried to gently push Hayul away.

– Eeek…

…But she couldn’t bring herself to push her away. When she showed a hint of doing so, Hayul clung to her, whimpering and burying her face in her chest.

The whimpering, the inarticulate sound of longing, and the movement filled with sorrow and grief made Artra unable to push her away. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

In the end, somehow, the treatment proceeded with Hayul still clinging to Artra.

“Damn.”

Artra couldn’t forget the gaze of the healer who was looking at her…

But she couldn’t bring herself to push Hayul away. Was it her conscience? Or maybe it was something about human emotions that prevented her from making that choice.

She ended up holding her close.

And that’s how it had been since yesterday.

Once she held her, Hayul didn’t try to let go even for a moment. She slept soundly, as if Artra’s arms were her home.

As a result, Artra couldn’t bring herself to move, and she ended up lying on the bed next to Hayul’s sickbed.

Luckily, the bed was wide enough for both of them to lie down comfortably.

Since Hayul was already snuggled up in Artra’s arms, she didn’t use much space.

As she came back to her senses.

Artra let out a deep sigh. As her chest rose and fell with her breath, Hayul’s cheek pressed against her chest, then pulled away.

“…”

Artla looked at him with awkward eyes and cautiously reached out his arm.

His fingers buried in the hair. A sensation that didn’t feel like it belonged in this world was transmitted.

He slowly moved his arm.

Scratch… the hair rustled. Still, after patting and comforting it all day, it became somewhat familiar.

Then Ihayul’s mouth twitched. His face relaxed lazily, and with a groan, he rubbed his head on Artla’s palm.

His face relaxed, and a soft smile filled his expression, contrasting with the face that had been in pain, pushing back against the monsters to protect people. It overlapped with the face that was now sniffling and being embraced in his arms.

Also, the image of Ihayul demanding to be petted like a playful puppy overlapped.

Artla regretted it.

He shouldn’t have ignored Ihayul when he went out. He shouldn’t have ignored the vague sense of unease. He shouldn’t have thought it wasn’t his place to interfere just because he couldn’t live with him forever.

There were many other regrets, too.

He had been too caught up in the past. He hadn’t properly seen the Ihayul that existed in the present. He regretted his attitude. He thought he had been too harsh and cold.

He did his best in other aspects, but… he should have taught him better. He should have taught him how to endure better.

Artla felt guilty that his teaching was too inadequate and led to this injury.

He could have been a little gentler as well, but he couldn’t.

He repeated the mistakes he had once regretted and hit the ground in frustration.

He almost couldn’t turn back like he did back then.

Luckily, Ihayul somehow survived. Thankfully, he was clearly breathing in his arms.

Artla got up. His movements to make sure Ihayul was comfortable in his arms.

Ihayul flinched at the sudden movement, burying himself deeper into his embrace.

A moist breath suddenly touched his chest.

“Ah…”

His shoulders shrank at the unfamiliar, almost strange sensation.

While he had somewhat adapted to holding him, he couldn’t adapt to this breath that was tapping his body.

Artla calmed his trembling body.

After the trembling stopped, he took a deep breath, not knowing how many times it had been.

Trying to calm down Ihayul, who was mistakenly whimpering, he adjusted his posture.

He turned Ihayul around and supported his back with one hand.

With his other hand, he picked up the spoon placed nearby.

It was the porridge and utensils that the healer had left behind with a strange look.

He scooped the porridge with the spoon. After checking the temperature, he brought the spoon to Ihayul’s lips.

Ihayul was currently uncomfortable moving. Above all, one of his arms was missing, and the other arm, which was relatively intact, couldn’t move properly because it was wrapped in a thick cast.

In other words, he was a patient who needed someone to feed him from the side.

Ihayul’s nose twitched at the sudden change in posture.

When Artla tapped his lips with the spoon, he finally opened his mouth slightly, as if he understood.

As the spoon went into his mouth, he closed it abruptly.

Watching his mouth twitch for a moment, Artla took out the spoon.

The porridge in the spoon disappeared in an instant.

It was the first time he had fed someone, but it wasn’t that difficult. The truly difficult part was the healers who helped with magic and assisted.

There wasn’t much else that Artra had to do.

Comforting Iha Yul, who clung to him, feeding him medicine despite his refusal, patting his back as he dozed off after his stomach warmed up… That was it.

Looking at it this way, taking care of a child wasn’t all that different. His actions and appearance were just like a child’s.

It was a different attitude from his usual self. The usual Iha Yul didn’t play around like this or whine.

But considering what Iha Yul had been through, it was understandable.

A child who had never experienced real combat, standing alone in an isolated space, facing off against monsters to save people.

How many times had he faced death in the process? Every moment an attack came, death must have brushed past him.

And towards the end, he must have truly been in a dire situation… It wouldn’t be strange if trauma was deeply engraved in him.

It might hinder his future activities as a hero. Even after growing from the experience of being weak, there were many cases where it still held him back.

“…If that’s the case, I should take him back to my house.”

Would Iha Yul keep following Shi Yoram? Perhaps after recovering his senses, he might not want to and whine about it.

In that case, Artra planned to take him back and look after him.

He hadn’t retired yet, but that was easy to do at the Association, and he had saved up a lot of money, enough to live a carefree life.

Even with just Iha Yul in his arms, he could live a life of leisure.

Feeling a strange empathy, Artra extended his hand once again.

* * *

He couldn’t see ahead. The pitch-black darkness had taken over in all directions.

He didn’t use the power of observation. The power of space was the same.

If he tried to use it, his head felt like it would split open in pain.

Perhaps he had used the power he realized too much, or maybe the circuits and core themselves were injured from the start.

Power. Not his inherent ability, but a power bestowed from the outside.

The right one has as a Tower Lord after conquering the Tower and being recognized.

Why did I have that? Why did I have the power of space and observation?

“Ah.”

His head hurt. He didn’t want to think…

He cut off the reasoning that was trying to continue on its own. He didn’t want to think about anything right now.

He emptied his mind and pushed his body into Professor Artra’s embrace.

Something soft and squishy wrapped around his body tightly.

The warm body temperature of a person vividly transmitted through the layers.

The warmth and touch felt on his face were particularly warm and cozy, so he liked it.

Perhaps due to the injuries, his senses were relatively dull, but it was still nice.

“Nice…”

He cleared his mind. Thoughts flowed easily.

Warm. Soft and nice. The hand that stroked his head and patted his back felt nice too.

Just nice.

He postponed his thoughts for later. Anyway, his body felt like it was going to tear apart in pain, and his head felt like it was going to split.

He just wanted to stay like this until he fully recovered.

* * *

[Player Adjustment System: Affection]

Iha Yul → Artra Clyde

●●●●●●○○○○(65/100)

“Affection” “Fear” “Expectation” “Worry”

▼(Dramatic Change)▼

Iha Yul → Artra Clyde

●●●●●●●○○○(65▷70/100)

“Adult” “Guardian” “Expectation” “Sense of Security” “Yearning for Affection”

…

●●●●●●●○○○(70▷71/100)

…

●●●●●●●○○○(71▷72/100)

…

●●●●●●●○○○(72▷73/100)

…

[Did not meet the conditions for lifting the “Curse of Silence”]

[Did not meet the conditions for lifting the “Curse of Solitude”]