SWNOVELXO Chapter 305: Bread and Dagger (3)
Well, to be precise, it had only been two months, but since I used to frequent this place so often, even that felt long.
Wasn’t this a place I used to rely on once or twice a month just last semester?
Looking back, those were times when I really pushed my body recklessly.
I wondered what would have happened if the Saintess hadn’t been at the academy.
At the very least, I would have either lost my life or become disabled by now.
Being admitted to the intensive care unit was a significant matter.
Ordinary injuries didn’t require hospitalisation. Perhaps in temples elsewhere, but the academy’s temple was a place where all sorts of high-ranking priests were on standby.
Usually, outpatient care after emergency treatment was the norm.
Nevertheless, if one had to stay at the temple for several days to receive intensive care, there was only one reason.
It meant their injury was extremely severe.Take myself from last semester, for example.
I was going through all kinds of struggles back then.
There were many times when I was covered in fractures and bruises all over my body, fainted from serious injuries or literally almost died.
So naturally, I had no choice but to frequent the intensive care unit.
But this was, after all, an exceptional case.
The majority of academy students never visit the intensive care unit. Even when they do, it’s mostly to visit a patient.
No matter how tough the academy was said to be, it was still an educational institution.
Situations where students’ safety was severely threatened weren’t that common.
Yes, generally speaking, that was the case.
Unless there was some lunatic going around swinging a sword or hatchet, that is.
Unfortunately, such a lunatic was freely roaming around the academy these days. The reason I visited the intensive care unit today was to check on his victim.
Because that ‘lunatic’ was none other than me.
To be precise, it was ‘me’ from the future.
I listened to the Saintess’s complaints with a gloomy expression.
“…They’re both insane.”
That was the first remark she made to me.
Having become Seria’s attending priest, she seemed to have suffered considerable mental anguish for some time.
Her sunken eyes testified to her accumulated fatigue.
The reason was obvious.
As always, it was because the patients didn’t listen to her.
I, too, couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, so I could only give an awkward cough.
However, there was something puzzling about the Saintess’s lament.
“Both? Who are you referring to?”
To be honest, I had a guess about one of them.
But I couldn’t figure out who else she could be calling insane, so I asked.
At my words, the Saintess raised her voice as if she’d been waiting for this.
“Of course, it’s the ‘you’ from the future, and Sister Seria!”
Her whole body trembled as she spoke.
It was a clear sign that she was fed up.
It seemed that Seria also had a share in the mental anguish the Saintess had experienced.
“That man who wrecked her every day like he’s got a personal grudge is one thing, but Sister Seria who kept challenging him no matter what I say was also a problem! I’ve tried to stop her several times, but she’s just so stubborn…”
“…Seria initiated the challenges?”
That gentle Seria?
The Saintess’s voice was quivering. If she weren’t sincere, that wouldn’t have been the case.
I knew it, but even so, it was a story I found hard to believe.
Moreover, I heard that Seria was getting seriously injured every day.
It was hard to fathom why she would go to such lengths to challenge ‘me’. Even the Saintess didn’t seem to know much about this.
She, too, as if frustrated, eventually let out a sigh.
“Well, Sister Seria did say it was part of her training, but….”
Training, huh.
I suddenly recalled the technique Dame Irene had been taught.
That swordsmanship looked formidable at a glance. I had been speculating that it might be a secret technique from a renowned organisation.
Perhaps, if one could learn such a technique, it might be worth risking serious injury.
Any warrior would feel the same.
After all, warriors by nature are beings who can’t help but yearn for strength. No matter how gentle Seria was, she couldn’t be an exception.
And yet, there was still something that puzzled me.
Specifically, it was about the teaching method used by my future self.
I couldn’t comprehend it.
Dame Irene regarded her memories of learning the technique as fond ones. In other words, it meant that excessive violence hadn’t been inflicted.
Convey the essence and let them train on their own.
That was the teaching method of the ‘me’ revealed in Dame Irene’s story.
But the image portrayed in the Saintess’ testimony was the exact opposite.
He continues to inflict violence until he can no longer do so, even if the other person suffers serious injuries.
It was an utterly simple and brutish training method.
He was someone who imparted the core teachings to Dame Irene with just a brief lesson. There was no need for him to resort to such brutal violence.
Of course, the Saintess also seemed unable to resolve this question.
Her faint sigh proved that.
It signalled that she had nothing more to add, and that perhaps Seria was hiding something as well.
In that case, there was only one thing I had to do.
A sigh naturally escaped my lips.
“…I’ll try talking to her once.”
“Please do.”
The Saintess’s complexion, as she replied, was clearly worn out.
I silently patted her on the shoulder.
Then the Saintess subtly buried her face in my chest and let out a deep sigh.
“What kind of hardship is this, all because I got tangled up with some guy…”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not exactly my fault, is it?”
“Hmph, if it weren’t for you, would I have gone this far?”
She probably would have.
Though she pretended to be indifferent, the Saintess was always sincere with her patients.
But I didn’t bother to point that out.
I wasn’t so clueless as to not realise that her words were a signal for me to indulge her.
So I simply patted the back of the woman who had buried her face in my chest.
After a while, the Saintess looked up at me with a slightly sulky expression.
Meanwhile, I felt the soft sensation of her breasts pressing against me, but chose not to mention it.
After all, if the Saintess was offering her grace, there was no reason to refuse.
Instead, I simply gazed down at her flushed face.
She was annoyingly beautiful.
Her gaunt complexion only served to accentuate her beauty.
Whether she realised my thoughts or not, the Saintess pouted and declared to me,
“…I will make you repay this debt over your entire lifetime.”
Do as you wish.
I let out a wry smile and roughly tousled her hair.
In response, the Saintess, slightly annoyed, grumbled about having to fix her hair again.
I, of course, didn’t care one bit. After all, even her annoyed expression was cute.
With that, I finished my private conversation with the Saintess and was able to meet Seria.
**
When I finally came face to face with Seria, her appearance was dreadful.
Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, with barely a spot left uncovered. Even her beautiful face was covered by stark white bandages.
But that wasn’t all.
Blood and pus oozing from various places filled my vision. It meant her wounds hadn’t fully healed yet.
The fact that the girl’s pain was still ongoing made my heart ache even more.
She looked far worse than I had imagined.
I froze on the spot as I entered.
Noticing my presence, her deep blue eyes slowly shifted toward me.
Seria silently stared at me for a while, then soon showed signs of restlessness.
It was the moment when light returned to her eyes, which had been filled only with shadows.
Seria bit her lip and avoided my gaze.
As if embarrassed to show such a sorry state.
Yet unable to ignore me completely, Seria timidly murmured.
“…S-Senior Ian?”
I didn’t respond to Seria’s call.
Instead, I walked over and knelt down with a bewildered expression.
That’s when the scars covering Seria’s entire body became even more apparent.
Wounds that looked painful just to see made me unconsciously grit my teeth.
Up until now, I thought the Saintess’s description was exaggerated.
I misunderstood her use of ‘wrecked’ as merely a figure of speech.
But the moment I faced Seria directly, I had to admit that was a misjudgment.
She was literally ‘wrecked.’
He must have deliberately crushed her body thoroughly. Otherwise, she couldn’t have sustained such injuries.
How much pain and suffering must Seria have endured at that time?
Imagining the suffering my precious junior must have gone through, my body trembled with rage.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back and burst into an angry shout.
“No, that son of a bitch really…!”
“P-Please calm down, Senior Ian!”
Seria urgently grabbed my arm and cried out.
Her frail touch made me hesitate; I couldn’t bring myself to shake her off.
Before I knew it, Seria was on the verge of tears.
“I-It’s my fault! I was the one being stubborn for no reason… S-So please, don’t harm yourself…!”
Only then did I snap back to my senses.
Ah, that’s right.
It was ‘me’ who made Seria end up like this.
Even if I wanted to help, there was nothing I could do. At most, it would only result in self-harm, just as Seria feared.
In the end, I could only sigh and calm myself down.
Though the anger still simmered within me, there was no immediate way to act on it.
I’ll make sure to repay this debt thoroughly later.
With that determination, I sat down. It was a chair next to the bed.
Seria continued to gaze at me with a look of unease.
Who was worrying about whom here? I held back a wry smile and asked,
“…What? Are you worried I might actually hurt myself?”
“Yes.”
It was a reply that came without the slightest hesitation.
I hadn’t expected Seria to think of me that way.
I felt a little hurt, but I only cleared my throat, choosing not to express my displeasure.
Rather, it was time to hear her side of the story.
She still seemed flustered by my dramatic reaction, which likely meant she’d have a hard time lying to me right now.
I asked her bluntly.
“…So, what happened?”
At my question, Seria clamped her mouth shut.
Judging by the way she subtly avoided my gaze, it seemed she had something she wanted to keep hidden from me.
Of course, I had no intention of giving up just like that.
“Anyway, I’d find out if I asked Celine, Seria… Can’t you just tell me yourself?”
In the end, Seria couldn’t resist my continued urging.
After hesitating for a long time, a sigh escaped from her lips.
It was a signal that she was about to confide in me.
“Well, the thing is…”
And so, Seria’s story began.
**
“…Don’t follow me.”
It was an abrupt remark.
He was a man with an unusually tired gaze.
That day, as usual, Celine and Seria were walking together, bickering along the way.
Their bewildered gazes met in midair.
But the man simply watched them with indifferent eyes. At that point, Celine and Seria couldn’t help but realise his identity.
It was ‘him’ from the future.
The senior whom both of them secretly admired could never wear such a cold-hearted expression.
They wondered what was going on.
After all, it seemed there were specific conditions under which the ‘him’ from the future possessed the man they loved.
But Celine voiced the immediate question on her mind.
“Why?”
There was no need to ask ‘Where to?’ specifically.
If he went as far as to say that, then it meant he would leave, no matter where.
That left only one question.
Why?
Why couldn’t the two of them go along?
The man’s answer to that question was simple.
“Because you won’t be of any help.”
It was a truly blunt and cruel reply.
At those words, Seria felt a surge of emotion, and that became the starting point of her ordeal.
Seria still didn’t know.
What kind of person the ‘him’ from the future truly was.
He was far more of a lunatic than she could ever have imagined.