Chapter 726 - Stinging in the wound

Eisen took a deep breath and stared into the distance. He was tired. His eyes were so heavy that it felt like they were made of lead.

"Is everything alright, your Majesty?" Girland inquired with a worried expression, looking at the old man. Eisen was just watching Caria, Melissa and Sal mess around in the Gardens a bit while sitting on a chair that he prepared for himself. It took him a while to even register that Girland spoke to him.

"Hm?" The old man asked, but the moment that he did, he finally realized what the question he was just asked actually was, "Oh, right... Erm, yeah, everything is fine. I just don't want to sleep yet."

"...You have been awake for the past four days, your Majesty. I know that you could go full months without sleep in your prime, but you do not have the same capabilities as you did then. You have also been relentlessly working ever since you woke up from your transformative slumber." The core Guardian, and state secretary, pointed out. 

Eisen rubbed the bridge of his nose and slowly nodded his head, "I know. And I'm aware that I need to sleep soon. My stats have already temporarily fallen by half their score, and they only keep dropping faster and faster. If I don't sleep soon, I'll just end up dying out of exhaustion anyway. I'll sleep before that happens, so don't worry about that."

Girland lightly closed her eyes and looked into the distance, "Do you wish for me to call Lady Kirisho? She probably would like to give her opinion on this topic as well."

"Haha, please don't, I'll just be scolded if you do that." Eisen explained with an awkward laugh. He looked at the horizon, "How long have you known me now, Girland?"

"You have created me 3859 years ago, your Majesty." She replied immediately.

"That long ago, huh? Then I'm sure you know me quite well at this point. Do you-"

"Do I think you're a good person? This is a question that you've asked quite a few times already, your Majesty. And to put it bluntly, my answer might not be the one that you're looking for." Girland replied, "But it doesn't matter anyway, does it? As you will simply keep asking people until you find the answer you're most comfortable with. The answer that helps you settle your mind down instead of helping you actually improve." The Guardian explained, and Eisen looked into the distance.

"...Am I that predictable?"

"Of course. But so is everyone. This is in the nature of every sentient being. At the end of the day, all they wish is to be comforted in a way that fits their own image of themselves." Girland stated in a blunt manner. Eisen knew what she meant, although he didn't particularly want to admit it. He did so anyway, though, "You're probably right. But... Thanks. In a weird way, this helped me calm my mind down." Eisen pointed out, before letting out a quick whistle, "You three, you can keep playing around for a while, but I'm going to head to sleep for now." The old man pointed out. Caria, Melissa and Sal focused on Eisen for a moment while Girland created a gate that Eisen could take to head to his bedchambers, that have of course been fully reconstructed by now.

The three of them said goodnight to Eisen and said that they would head to bed soon enough as well. Those three took the chance to sleep properly during these past few days, however, so they weren't even nearly as tired as Eisen was. Or well, they weren't all that tired at all, really.

Slowly, Eisen stepped through the gate that had been prepared by Girland and slowly took off the suit that he had been wearing quite a lot lately. He handed it to Girland who proceeded to place it onto the Mannequin Golem that was supposed to wear the suit while Eisen didn't.

And then, Eisen climbed into bed and looked at the ceiling, before anxiously closing his eyes. He could hear the soft sound of wind that always appeared whenever Guardians teleported away, and slowly drifted off into sleep.

This time around, Eisen didn't take the chance to actively remember any of his leftover memories. The reason why he had been feeling this anxious was because he had no idea what his body would be like after reaching a total of 65 recovered memories.

--- 

Slowly, Benjamin felt himself come to. But... nothing happened. He looked at the roof of the capsule, anxious for that pain that he felt last time to return to him again. However, for now, nothing happened. The old man pushed the capsule open and stepped outside, pressing his feet down onto the ground.

It's been especially hot outside these past few days, apparently, so Benjamin was just a sweaty mess right now. He should really take a shower. Since nothing was feeling off for him, he slowly made his way to the bathroom and undressed. Although for some reason, the whole place seemed a bit... stuffier. It was hard to explain, really.

But either way, Benjamin stepped into the shower and let the water run. The cold shock immediately woke him up, although something was different. Usually the water hit the back of his neck first, but now it was hitting the center of his back.

The old man looked around and at the mirror on the other side of the bathroom, and there he realized what the issue really was.

Benjamin was taller than he was before. By nearly a foot. But... He was pretty that he didn't have to crouch while walking through the doors. If he stood on his tip-toes, he would usually hit the top of the frame with his head already though. So if he had been a foot taller while walking through there, he would have hurt himself for sure.

"That must mean..." The old man muttered quietly, and slowly concentrated. And when he did, the water no longer his the center of his back, but hit him right on top of his head.

So basically, Benjamin confirmed it like this. This change that his body undertook now made it official. He gained this particular racial ability of Giants now as well. He was able to change his size. Seemingly by a foot in either direction at max, but still.

He could definitely no longer be called human now. Benjamin let out a deep sigh, although he was kind of relieved. At least he could control this ability anyway, it would have been a bother if he had just grown a foot taller without any way to change this fact. The old man clearly couldn't just go and try to convince others that he suddenly entered puberty and grew this much, after all.

But beside that... Benjamin's body felt better than it did in years. Or rather, he felt fitter than he ever did. There was only a small issue... Blood was flowing down the right side of his body, accompanied with deep stinging whenever Benjamin changed his size. He already had a rough idea why, but he still had to take care of this.

He swiftly stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, quickly putting on a bathrobe, although he obviously pulled his right shoulder out of it so that his blood didn't soak into the bathrobe.

With quick steps, Benjamin made his way to Jasmin's room and knocked on the door. It was early morning right now, so those two should still be sleeping in there.

"Jyuuk, I need your help with something." The old man explained in a clear and loud voice. He heard a bit of shifting behind the door before footsteps came closer, and Haruo quickly opened the door up. And the first thing he saw was an old, dripping wet man with half his chest exposed and only loosely wearing bathrobes, pressing a towel against his shoulder where an arm was missing.

That was not something that you saw every single day, but Haruo wasn't shaken up in the slightest, "Don't tell me you arm is regrowing..."

"Ah, no... After waking up, I gained the ability to change my size. But as you probably recall, I still have stitches in my arm. I'm pretty sure that is kind of cutting into my skin. It's nothing too major, but... I would still like you to take a look before it gets infected." Benjamin pointed out.

Haruo slowly nodded his head and rubbed his eyes, "Sure, I'll quickly wash my hands and meet you in the kitchen then." The young man suggested. Benjamin quickly nodded his head and did as suggested while Haruo headed into the bathroom to thoroughly clean his hands with proper soap so that he wouldn't give the wounds on the old man's arm an infection of some sort.

A few minutes later, Haruo was ready to help Benjamin out and proceeded to quickly take a look at the wound. It wasn't bleeding too badly, but due to the fact that this was an area that had only recently undergone surgery, it was still a risky business. And of course, since the threads used for the stitches would bury themselves deeper in Benjamin's flesh, due to his unnatural regenerative abilities that he now had due to the changes in his body, this whole situation wouldn't turn out too well in the future.

So, Haruo just chose to pull the threads altogether. Everything was healed anyway, so there was no need for them to be there any longer anyway.

"Sorry for waking you up so early... It's barely 5am." Benjamin pointed out, but Haruo quickly shook his head, "Don't worry about it. We went to bed at like... 8pm anyway. So we would have woken up very soon anyway. And this was an emergency. Even if we had only gotten an hour of sleep you could have woken us up." Haruo pointed out. He still seemed quiet tired though, since he wasn't particularly a morning person. Even then, Benjamin trusted him to do his work properly.

"Oh, by the way, do you need me to make some tail-holes in a few of your pants? It seems like you have issue dealing with your new Tail." Benjamin pointed out, and Haruo let out a deep sigh.

"That would be greatly appreciated. It's not like it feels weird to have a tail, I've grown used to it through my memories, but it is rather weird not to have clothes that fit my new body. Although..." Haruo pointed out as he rubbed his chin, "It doesn't feel all too bad to finally be able to grow some facial hair."

With a quiet laugh, Haruo pulled the last thread in Benjamin's arm and just helped the old man clean it up while the wound was already closing up.