novelraw Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174 - How Not to Stray from the Path (1)
Repeating the same time is more tedious than one can imagine.
The things that will happen as a result of my actions are no longer in the realm of the unknown, a feeling as if everything is in my hands.
I wasn't ignorant of that feeling, but it was the first time I had repeated a regression in units of weeks, so my feelings were different this time.
I understand that in this process, my actions scatter a sense of unease around.
I try to act normal so as not to seem that way, but well. There are too many people with good intuition around.
Ttubeok.
Well, let's put the rambling aside.
I was now at the affiliated hospital of the Knight Order, located in the center of Endinium.
I had been in and out of hospitals often, but in this case, it wasn't my problem.
I was just visiting.
Well.
Yes, as you might have guessed, I was repeating this act for the fourth or fifth time. It was something I did before going to the place where I expected Grændal to be.
Actually, if I think about it, it was something I could have done after everything was over, and in a way, it seemed like something I had no reason to repeat… but I wonder.
Even though I judged so, I was here.
Hwiik-
Teok.
Hwiik-
Teok.
The sound of something rising in a stable straight line, and then descending along that same trajectory to be caught by something.
That repetitive and monotonous sound filled the silence of the lonely space of a hospital room for a knight of the order.
“I’m so stiff I could die.”
It was because the masked knight lying there, Acaite, was repeating the falling motion with an apple from the fruit he had received as a get-well gift to overcome his boredom.
The things people brought as get-well gifts were usually such fruits, and given his position as a sociable Master Knight, quite a lot of people had visited, so the result was that all that was in the room were fruits, including apples.
“Why are they all so lacking in creativity? Why is everything fruit?”
Such a mutter was a bonus.
Well, anyway, in conclusion, he was able to survive the fight with Grændal.
Against Grændal, who possessed the skills of a high-ranking Master Knight on his own, and whose power had been further enhanced as The One's influence on this world had grown.
It might not be an exaggeration to say that it was the best result an ordinary person who couldn't come back to life after dying and couldn't repeatedly see that combat style could achieve.
Teok.
Even if it meant giving up his right arm and his left leg below the knee as a price.
‘This much is, well, still excellent, I guess?’
A knight's activities are fundamentally based on the power of the body.
Even though such an injury would be fatal for a knight, Acaite was able to be quite satisfied with this situation.
“It's a miracle I even kept my life.”
As reflected in his mutter, just surviving in that situation was close to a miracle.
Hwiik-
Teok.
Throwing and catching the apple. Acaite was just repeating that action to relieve his boredom.
Perhaps it was his own way of overcoming his sense of loss.
In any case, as that time was repeated.
Knock, knock.
A careful knock sounded on the hospital room door once again.
“Come in or whatever.”
Acaite's reply to the knock was such a flippant one.
Such a reply in a situation where he didn't even know who was behind the door.
It might be just like him.
Kkiik-
And, what appeared from behind the door was…….
“Uh, um. Hello……”
A familiar short black hair, a girl with golden eyes.
It was Yuna, one of the students he was in charge of as a guidance professor.
“Yeah.”
Acaite, as usual, raised his hand with a 'cheok' and gave a light greeting.
And Yuna's first reaction upon seeing Acaite was.
“……Wow, you’re wearing a mask even here……”
An unconscious impression or a gasp that came out due to his strange obsession with the mask.
“Is that what you say as soon as you come to visit someone?”
“Ah.”
She quickly came to her senses and bowed her head.
“Whatever. By the way, you didn't happen to bring anything as a get-well gift, did you? Don't tell me……”
“Huh? I just brought a fruit set since it’s the safe option.”
“Ah, please.”
Acaite put a hand to the forehead of his mask and thought.
The lack of creativity among knights these days is showing even in things like this.
After that, various conversations followed.
The usual get-well conversations about his well-being, where he got hurt, and so on.
Although it wasn't a trivial matter enough to use the dependent noun 'thingy', Acaite was treating it as if it were quite trivial.
As much as he understood what a miracle it was to have even survived with his life.
Anyway.
“……He was that strong.”
“Yeah, I told you so many times that the gap in information determines the direction of a fight, but his combat power itself was different.”
“…….”
But as the conversation progressed, it was inevitable that the atmosphere would become darker. It was mainly Yuna's atmosphere, though.
How could she continue the conversation with a bright atmosphere when her teacher had lost an arm and a leg below the knee?
However, there was one thing Yuna had overlooked.
“Speaking of which.”
That was the fact that Acaite was a more proper adult than she had thought.
“You don't look so good lately. Did something happen?”
***
As a guidance professor at Archenia Academy, Acaite guided several students, but among them, Yuna was a student who required more attention.
This was because she was fundamentally from a commoner background with no connection to noble society, a rarity at the academy, so there were many things he had to take care of for her.
Although there were commoner students at Archenia Academy, they were also usually from wealthy families and were accustomed to high society.
Besides, she didn't have a past of learning any proper martial arts before.
‘Well, but because of that, it was actually quite rewarding to teach her.’
As she was not accustomed to high society, she didn't show the annoying attitude that was subtly revealed among the academy students.
The fact that her foundation was a complete blank slate was also a pleasure to teach.
Even though Yuna had a dazed side, she was quite intelligent, and her senses were even better.
A student who, when taught one thing, showed a growth rate close to a hundred or a thousand, not just ten.
Prodigy, genius? Even those words were not enough to describe her, and it was quite fun to nurture such a raw stone with his own hands.
Perhaps if he were a person living in modern times, he might have compared it to the fun of a nurturing simulation game.
Anyway, the digression was long, but the point was that for Acaite, Yuna was a rather special disciple.
That's why Acaite had asked.
“You don't look so good lately. Did something happen?”
Even though a worse thing had happened to him.
Conversely, from Yuna’s perspective, Acaite was also a reliable adult.
He certainly had a slightly flippant and frivolous side, but his teachings were solid, and he even had a side that treated her without any barriers.
For a girl who had come to the big city of Endinium with only her body and had been thrown into Archenia Academy, it was certainly a great help.
Just like her other friends, including Rain, Shasha, and Kaylee, who had willingly extended a hand to her.
Until she formed a connection with Pleta, he was about the only reliable ‘adult’ in Yuna’s vicinity, so she might have relied on him even more.
Of course, there was a separate existence that occupied the largest place in the girl's mind, but that was another story.
Anyway, that's why Yuna would have spoken.
“……No, are you saying that in this situation……?”
Actually, it was probably just a bewildered reaction.
A person whose one arm and leg below the knee had been blown off was offering to counsel her about what was wrong.
“What, am I not a professor anymore just because I’m in this state?”
“No. That’s not it……”
“Wow, our Yuna, I didn’t see you like that, but you’re quite heartless, aren't you? My heart is so wounded that this cut is going to get infected and kill me~”
“What on earth are you talking about……!”
Yuna’s unique personality, which was easy to tease, was a good plaything for Acaite.
Yuna, as always, was swept up in Acaite's playfulness.
“Haa…… ugh, I'll talk. I'll talk.”
As a result, Yuna, who had returned to her usual tension, began to confess her worries.
Although Yuna was relatively mature for her age, her mind was still within the boundaries of an average girl of her age.
Because of this, the ordinary reason that she wanted to confess the worries that had been weighing on her heart to someone might have been greater.
“……I’m just helping my friend with her worries.”
“I’ve never seen anyone actually use that excuse.”
“Ugh, it’s true…… anyway.”
Although there was a bit of a happening, Yuna, in any case, confessed what she had been thinking about.
And that topic was, of course, about the recent changes in Rain Enlight.
The boy's actions, in which a noticeable sense of unease was felt after the Exchange Meeting incident, and her worries about him.
The short story Yuna told was all there was to it.
“Rain, Rain Enlight……”
And Acaite, who had heard the whole story, would have muttered, repeating that name.
For him, Rain Enlight was a student who he felt the need to watch as much as, or even more than, Yuna.
Unlike the rumors of his past as a shut-in, his actions seemed so accustomed to combat that it was as if he had been through it all.
And the things he was hiding in his fierce eyes, which were hard to feel from other students.
“That extremely suspicious guy……”
Acaite briefly reviewed his actions over the past year.
And, he would have recalled his previous thoughts.
-Which side is he on?
Did the suspicion he harbored mean a danger that would harm the world, or did it imply another meaning?
Taking this situation as an excuse, a judgment was about to be made based on his experiences so far.