Side Story 23. The Story After (23)

I came outside with Liliana from the morning.

Today is Friday, but I refreshingly skipped the Academy.

‘Anyway, the Academy doesn’t need me….’

Even if I go to class, I’ll just get kicked out.

Too outstanding talent is bound to cause jealousy.

“A genius like me has no choice but to step aside for the common folk.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing.”

The place I brought Liliana to was a hospital.

This building, called the Tower of Medicine, housed all sorts of hospitals.

Among them, I went to a less crowded place.

“Let’s go. Liliana.”

“Ugh, ugh. A hospital? You’re trying to dissect me, the ace among succubi.”

“Stop talking nonsense and follow me.”

The place I’m taking Liliana is the psychiatry department.

Last night I had plenty of sex, which is a direct hit for succubus treatment, but still, modern medicine cannot be ignored.

‘I thought of Ahyoung-ssi too…. I guarantee the power of modern medicine.’

The medicine Baek Ahyoung prepared came to mind, which was the biggest reason.

Whenever I was feeling out of it, I used to get better after taking the medicine she prepared.

Liliana looks okay, but still, you never know, so I’m taking her to the hospital.

“Foreign patients must show a copy of their ID.”

“Here you go.”

The fake IDs Rebecca and Scarlet made for me were high quality.

If they can pass at the hospital, they’ll work anywhere.

“Lily-nim. Please come into the consultation room.”

“Am I really going in alone…?”

Liliana made a face like a cow being led to the slaughter.

But if you can’t even do this much, how will you live in the future?

“Yeah. You remember what I told you? You went into a dungeon and lost your memory due to the shock, but your memory returned recently. You can say you’re confused because of that. As for the past story… figure it out yourself.”

“Lily-nim?”

“Ugh….”

I waved as I watched Liliana go into the consultation room.

Liliana looked back at me until the end before going inside, but seeing her like that made me worry again.

‘No. I can’t let her be a troublemaker forever.’

She’ll live for decades more, so she can’t stay cooped up in her room forever.

I need to help Liliana develop independence.

‘… Still, it’s her first visit, maybe I should have gone in with her?’

Feeling a strange sense of unease, I waited for Liliana’s consultation to end.

I know the saying ‘no news is good news’, but I can’t help but worry.

Is this what a father’s heart feels like…?

“Guardian. Please come into the consultation room.”

About 30 minutes later.

At the nurse’s words, I jumped up and entered the consultation room.

“Hello. Guardian.”

“Ah. Yes. Hello.”

Liliana was sitting facing the doctor.

Seeing Liliana’s relaxed expression, it seems thankfully nothing strange happened.

“Um, first of all, after talking with the patient, it seems like dissociative amnesia… It’s a symptom where memories of specific events are lost overall due to trauma. It seems your memories disappeared because of what happened during the dungeon exploration.”

Liliana told the story well, according to the setup.

Of course, since her memory was sealed, it’s a bit different, but the symptoms are similar.

“However, there aren’t any related PTSD symptoms, nor does there seem to be identity confusion due to dissociative personality disorder. Usually, the reason such a phenomenon occurs is a self-defense mechanism where one believes another person experienced the event, not oneself. The patient didn’t have that reaction, and there were no abnormalities during the consultation process.”

“I see… Then what is Liliana’s current condition?”

“Her sense of self seems strong, so she seems like she’ll get better as time passes. Her confusing memories or personality will gradually merge into one, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“Ah, really?”

“Yes. Just in case, I’ll prescribe a tranquilizer. It’s medicine you can take only when needed, so there’s no need to force yourself to take it.”

The doctor tapped away on the keyboard and wrote the prescription, and I took Liliana out of the consultation room.

Liliana looked at me with a dazed expression.

“I didn’t understand a single word they said.”

“It’s completely normal, so they said not to worry. They said things will get better just by living life.”

“Huk. That’s unbelievable.”

I finished paying and came out of the hospital with Liliana.

Even after getting the medicine from the pharmacy right in front, Liliana still had a shocked expression.

“My condition is normal? Then all my efforts and wandering hours spent in my room until now….”

“You were just making a fuss over something trivial.”

Lee Hoyeon chuckled and walked, holding Liliana’s hand.

Although I heard the expert’s opinion, I won’t leave it as is.

The memories that suddenly entered my head because of Geumje might be different from dissociative amnesia or whatever.

“Liliana.”

“Yeah…?”

“On the way, let’s buy some chicken and go home. Since no one’s home today, only the two of us can eat it.”

“… Oh, I see! There are no competitors?”

Liliana licked her lips and stuck out her tongue.

To see such a smile for one chicken, no matter how I think about it, it’s worth it.

“Still, my head feels clearer since last night. As expected, a succubus shouldn’t worry over useless things.”

“If your head is clearer, you can stop doing lewd things, right?”

“Ah, my head hurts….”

Liliana naturally clung to my arm.

‘At this point, she seems normal already.’

Honestly, I don’t know if it’s thanks to the modern medicine expert’s consultation or thanks to sex.

Still, since she’s a succubus, the latter must have been better, right?

I nodded and headed towards the chicken place, dragging Liliana clinging to my arm.

*

After tearing into chicken with Liliana and while she enjoyed her nap,

I came out of the house and entered the Academy.

I’m not trying to belatedly join class.

Today is the day I meet Professor Im Sol alone.

The two greatest mages in the world are going to have an in-depth discussion about magic.

‘We decided to spar today.’

Usually, we show each other magic circles, discuss them, and then use them in practice.

However, today I suddenly received a message saying we should spar first.

As for me, it didn’t matter which way, so I replied that I understood and headed towards Im Sol’s lab.

Entering the familiar lobby of the magic academy building, I conveyed my intention to the person in charge.

“You can board the elevator right away.”

“Thank you.”

I stood in front of the elevator to go up to the second floor.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen Sol alone.’

It seems like the first time since I’ve had more free time.

Today, after a long time, should I have a passionate encounter during the day…?

“Huh?”

While lost in thought waiting for the elevator, some cadets lowered their heads to the floor as soon as they made eye contact with me.

Seeing the words [Magic Research Club] written on their backs, they aren’t people I know… why are they acting like that?

Anyway, they don’t seem like important people, so I didn’t bother paying attention.

Ting dong-

[Second floor.]

As I took the elevator up to the second floor, a familiar scent greeted me.

It was the scent of magic reagents and Im Sol emanating from the lab.

“… Hmm?”

But I thought I smelled someone else inside too.

I tilted my head and entered the lab.

The source of the scent was quickly apparent.

“Y-… Hoyeon-ah. It’s been a while.”

“Ahyoung-ssi? Why are you here, Ahyoung-ssi?”

“… Can’t I be here with you?”

“No. It’s not that you can’t. It’s just surprising.”

Baek Ahyoung was sitting in Im Sol’s lab.

Seeing her dressed in a doctor’s coat, she must have worked this morning.

Seeing her face after a long time was nice, but I didn’t expect to see her here.

“Ahyoung said she wanted to watch us discuss, so I called her. Is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s okay with me. But for Ahyoung-ssi to watch, it might be boring.”

“That’s why I suggested we spar. Ahyoung can also watch a sparring match, right?”

“Ah… I see.”

Only then did I roughly understand the situation and sat next to Baek Ahyoung.

“Ahyoung-ssi. Give me a sip of tea too. I’m thirsty.”

“Yeah. It’s the one I was drinking, is that okay?”

“… My disciple. Don’t do anything weird, drink the new one I make for you.”

Deolkeok- Deolkeok-

As Im Sol snapped her fingers, a teapot that approached at incredible speed bustled about and poured a cup of tea.

I savored the taste and drank the new tea.

Honestly, I wanted to drink the one Baek Ahyoung was drinking….

“Anyway, since Ahyoung-ssi is here too, let’s have a sparring match without penalties today.”

“… Huh?”

Im Sol’s expression hardened as she sipped tea across from me.

“Lately, we’ve been fighting with restrictions every day, haven’t we? Since Ahyoung-ssi is here too, we should go all out.”

Since the battle with the Demon King, my magical capabilities have essentially surpassed human limits.

Even when fighting Sol, it wouldn’t be a fair match unless I imposed certain restrictions.

For example, not using Sky Piercer, or not using Eye Opening.

It meant sealing one of my ultimate moves, so Im Sol had a higher win rate in spars, but personally, it was also quite a good training method for me, so I had no complaints.

‘Still, since Ahyoung-ssi is here, I should try to look cool.’

Im Sol probably wouldn’t mind either.

From her perspective too, sparring against a strong opponent would be more helpful.

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s do that……”

But why did Im Sol’s expression look so sad?

I couldn’t grasp the situation, so I blinked.