CH 33

─Rodo’s side─

Kou kept crying in my arms.

Seeing this scene must be unbearable to him.

I heard that he already subdued monsters when practicing magic.

But no one ever showed him an injured person.

I knew he could heal, but I didn’t know to what extent.

I thought he can only heal a slight wound.

Maybe something like healing the minor injuries of some injured magicians.

So he obviously never saw someone this seriously injured.

Perhaps shocked, Kou started shedding tears.

I wiped his tears and told him to stop if it was painful, but Kou shook his head.

“Dwop.” (Put me down.)

When I put him down, he approached a seriously injured person wrapped in bandages.

He looked the person over, then unwrapped the bandage on the left arm which has relatively few scratches.

“Dishappear.”

When he held that arm, the cuts disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Leaving no traces at all.

Even the healers can’t heal such an injury so cleanly.

Traces will surely remain, along with the stiffness on the skin.

How can he heal it so beautifully?

But Kou just said, “disappear”.

I only know that he did something different from how a healer heals.

The flesh of the other arm was scraped and a miserable state to see.

However, he also healed that one.

“I’m shorry. Kou, mowe, can, no.” (Sorry, I can’t do anything else.)

And yet, he shed tears and apologized to the patient.

Those arms are now so beautiful that no one would think it was ever injured.

Kou can’t seem to heal either his crushed leg or his burnt face and body.

…but why?

After healing the tiredness of the healers, Kou headed to the gathering place of the minorly injured.

Kou healed them silently.

Seems like minor injuries can be healed, and left no traces at all.

With such power, he didn’t have to heal the seriously injured from the Sixth Corps.

However, I can’t say that to Kou, who was crying and had swollen eyes from the tears.

Kou, who’s healing patients one after another, had a face like he’s going to cry at any moment.

He looked so pained that I picked him up and stopped him from healing others.

Immediately after that, those held back tears began to flow again.

“Kou, don’t cry.”

Even when I hugged him and stroked his head, Kou didn’t stop crying.

How long did we stay like this?

Kou, who finally stopped crying, put his head on my shoulder and kept his body taut.

Since he’s not crying at seeing a seriously injured person, why is he crying?

Is he tired from crying? Why won’t he tell me anything?

We then went to eat dinner, but Kou had no appetite.

He stopped crying, but he still looked like he’s about to cry, and I can’t say anything because of the mood.

“Kou.”

When I called out, he kept his head on my shoulder and didn’t even try to raise his face.

What made you cry so much?

“Kou, you have to eat.”

Even when I recommended a meal to Kou, who still didn’t say anything, he didn’t raise his head.

On the contrary, he started crying again after a while.

“Kou…Kou, what’s wrong?”

At the crying Kou, I could only be flustered.

Is it something he can’t tell me?

“…Kou, heal, can’t. Hwealer, shtudy, do, no. Kou, dishappear, only. Avoid, thwink, do, hurt, dishappear…Ryodo, that’s why, dishappear, cwan. Hwand, dishappear, also, wegs, can’t dishapear, alsho, Ryodo, in that cashe, dishappear, can…bwut, injuwy, hab, avoid, Kou, shee, capable, no. Thwink, can, no.” (I can’t heal and I also didn’t study as a healer. I can only make it disappear. If I think that it’s not there or that it doesn’t hurt, it’ll disappear. …that’s why I can heal Rodo. I can heal the arms but not the legs, but if it happens to Rodo, I can make it all disappear. …but, if I don’t know their appearance before the injury, I don’t think I can do it.) (T/N: This part is horrifying, I tell you.)

Kou tried hard to convey it to me through his tears.

I thought he could heal without studying as a healer, but apparently, he couldn’t.

“Meet, person, then, heal, can?” (If you’ve met the person, can you heal them?)

From the context, I predicted that he wanted to say something like that, so when I asked, Kou nodded.

The fact that he hadn’t met everyone from the Sixth Corps seemed to hinder the healing.

Seems like he needed to see them in a healthy state first.

So that even if they’re missing arms or legs, they can be healed… that seemed to be the case.

But that is not “healing”.

I finally understood the meaning of “disappear”.

I think it meant that the injury disappeared.

In that case, no wonder it left no traces.

Since it doesn’t exist, scars are unnecessary.

But Kou didn’t have to cry.

Was he sad that he couldn’t heal them?

However, Kou is an apprentice magician in the first place, not a healer.

He said from the beginning that he would only “help”, so it shouldn’t bother Kou.

He knew how hard it was to heal and not everyone could do it.

“Kou, you don’t have to cry. Kou healed a lot of people. You did your best, so you don’t have to cry.”

Where does his sense of responsibility come from?

Seems like he can cure the Third Corps, but he looked pained that he cannot cure the Sixth Corps that he’d never seen before…

I hope he didn’t develop any strange feelings of guilt.

“Kou, you don’t have to cry.”

Kou seemed to be still studying in Niho.

Anyway, in Niho, most people study from 7 to 22 years old.

He said he had never worked before…many of Niho’s habits are difficult for me to understand.

Kou acted “adult-like” at present, but even compared to the adults in this world, I think Kou had a more mature point of view.

He often cries, but given Kou’s position, having a lot of anxiety and impatience can’t be helped.

What’s more, he’s weeping for others this time.

For Kou, how did he perceive that scene?

“Kou, meal, eat.”

“…shtumach, empwy, no.”

He hugged me and didn’t even try to raise his head.

He said he didn’t need food.

I’ve completely lost my energy.

Even though Kou isn’t bothering me.

Not only the Third Corps, but everyone in the Sixth Corps also turned worried faces to Kou.

Especially the soldiers from the Sixth Corps. They didn’t say it, but, they might be dissatisfied with Kou, who only healed minor injuries, and I think they blamed him.

Seems like they regretted expressing their dissatisfaction at seeing Kou so anxious and shedding tears.

“Kou, worry, need, no. Kou, Rodo, magician. Healer, no.” (Kou don’t have to worry. You will become my magician, not a healer.)

Kou didn’t learn how to use his power to be a healer, so he didn’t have to worry about it.

And even before that, Kou had nothing to worry about.

The fact that he can speak so much is like a miracle to me.

Besides, he was healing until I stopped him.

“…Kou, shee, do, hweal, can, do. …bwut, whole, before, remember, can, no. Kou, remember, appwear, no.” (I can heal them if I’ve seen them before, but if I can’t remember their appearance, then I can’t.)

But Kou still cared.

What’s more, he said that he could cure them by knowing their appearance, but he couldn’t remember everyone.

That would be the case.

Even I, who had lived for 156 years, don’t remember all the people who live in Marihect.

Kou, who’s only been in this world for about two months, can’t possibly remember everyone.

There’s no way he could remember someone he hadn’t even met.

In his daily life, he just went back and forth between the Tower of Trik, the barracks, and my house, so he met few new people.

When we went to the Royal Castle, we returned immediately, and when we went to see my parents, we only stayed for a short time and didn’t wander around the town.

I didn’t introduce Kou to anyone other than the people I’m close to, so no one else would call out to Kou.

Kou, who had only been learning magic for about a month since he started learning magic, is special when he can do something like healing.

So I won’t let anyone blame him.

In this world where he couldn’t understand the language and possess a lot of magical power, communicating this much and utilizing such power in just a few months was all thanks to Kou’s efforts.

No one can do the same thing.

And yet, if someone still complained to Kou, I’ll take them on.

“Kou’s care, no need. Complain, say, guy, Rodo, kill.” (You don’t have to care about them. If someone complains, I’ll kill them.)

“You can’t! Ryodo, that, shtop it! No!!”

He hurriedly looked at me and shook his head.

Seems like he found that very unpleasant.

However, I can’t forgive anyone who hurt Kou.

I have to give the other person many times more than the pain they gave Kou.

“Forgive me, I can’t.”

“…Ryodo, shcary, become, no. Kou, alsho, no, do, no. Amazhing, become.” (Rodo, don’t do such a scary thing. I won’t do it anymore. I’ll become amazing.)

“You don’t have to hold back your tears. Kou, if you get hurt, Rodo, get angry.” (You don’t have to endure it. If Kou ever gets hurt, I’ll become angry.)

“…”

If their mates were hurt, anyone would be angry.

Not just me.

…but why does Kou look like he’s about to cry?

“Kou, awone, become, no.” (I don’t want to be alone.)

(Do you think I’ll be caught and leave you alone?)

Retaliating for hurting my mate wouldn’t make me innocent, but because of our habits, the punishment would be light.

It’s not that I won’t be caught, but that it’s relatively easy to get out.

Because it would be taken as self-defense.

“Kou, alone, no. Rodo, forever, together.” (Kou won’t be alone. I’ll be with you forever.)

When I hugged him, I finally saw a smile on Kou’s face when he looked up.

Only then did Kou started to move energetically.

I relaxed my arms and he stood between my legs while I sit down.

“Ryodo, thwank you. …wikes.” (Ryodo, thank you. …I like you.)

He smiled and kissed my cheek.

Immediately after that──

“Hya!?”

Surprised, he leaned back and I supported his body in a hurry and pulled him to sit on my lap.

I hugged him like this since I don’t want him to fall.

Suddenly, light wrapped around Kou’s body.

He might return to his original world like this.

I’m afraid so I hugged him to the point that Kou could bear.

However, it seemed to be in vain.

At the same time as the clothes were torn, the body in my arms became bigger.

The weight on my knees increased and the light softened.

(This is…humanization?)

As expected, was that young figure his beast form?

The light went out and I saw a grown-up Kou sitting on my lap.

As soon as I realized that Kou was naked, I hurriedly took off my clothes and put them on Kou.

Perhaps he didn’t understand as he had a confused look.

I feel that his facial expressions aren’t that much different from his child form.

After a while, he seemed to have finally noticed the change as he looked at his hand and touched his body.

Seems like he finally realized the change.

“Kou, bwig, become!?”

In his former appearance, he felt uncomfortable with his lisping, but when he humanized, that way of speaking didn’t change.

“Ryodo, shorry. Clothes, shoes, shmall.” (Rodo, sorry, I ruined the clothes and shoes.)

Indeed, the torn clothes and torn shoes are scattered all over the floor.

But──

“Don’t care, don’t need it.”

There are many replacements for such things.

What’s more, he didn’t need those things anymore.

It’s necessary to prepare new clothes and shoes for Kou.

Kou, who grew up, had delicate skin and a moderately muscled body.

I knew he has muscles, but he’s thin.

Any woman would have a thicker waist than him.

I really wanted to hide those supple white legs.

He also seemed to be shorter than a woman.

I knew he had a pretty face, but the grown-up Kou was beautiful and bewitching.

I don’t want him to smile with such a face.

He already unguardedly entrusted his body to me, but how much more can I endure…

For the time being──

I intimidated the ones staring at Kou.

For looking at my mate with such sexual eyes…I want to kill you.