CH 79

“How are you feeling?” I asked Mayer, who was slowly getting up. He suddenly looked my way, startled. Had he not expected me to still be here? In a low, hoarse voice, he asked, “…You stayed?”

“I had to watch until you stabilized, alright?”

It was almost dawn. Considering how we had started in broad daylight, I guessed it had taken almost 12 hours. I was able to face him more rationally than I thought. Maybe it was thanks to running a mental simulation on how I would treat Mayer while he was out cold. “How do you feel?”

“…Not bad. I feel refreshed, in fact,” he said.

Getting up from the chair near the bed, I walked over to survey Mayer’s mana circuit. I felt his hand stiffen for a second when I grabbed it, but I pretended not to notice. “It’s fine if you don’t feel bad. Looks like the mana has properly melted in. You can feel it, right?”

Mayer clenched and opened his hands a few times. I deliberately draw out a thin thread of mana for him, but it seemed enough for Mayer as a deep smile appeared on his lips. “I owe you.”

“I’ll keep it on your tab. Now, it’s late so I think I’ll be going now.” I attempted to leave at once, but just as I was about to turn away, Mayer grabbed my arm. Unlike the time he had clung to me in desperation while twisting in pain, his grip was cautious. I looked at him, puzzled. “Is there anything else?”

“I…” Mayer hesitated, unable to continue. Oddly enough, he seemed embarrassed. It couldn’t be that he remembered our lips touching, right? Despite my efforts to suppress it, my heart began to race again as if set on fire. Mayer failed to find the words to say for a long while. “Did I happen to do anything wrong to you?”

“Wrong?” I echoed, confused.

“It is shameful to say, but I do not remember anything that happened in the middle.”

Fortunately, Mayer seemed to have no memory of what happened. That was so reassuring that I secretly let out a big sigh of relief. Yet, somehow, Mayer seemed to take my brief silence of relief as affirmation. His complexion worsened. “Was I violent, or….”

“No, there was nothing like that. Don’t worry about it.” I wasn’t being completely honest, of course, but I figured it was best to give him a white lie. Mayer would probably panic and start banging his head against a stone wall if I revealed it. I was the one who pressed my lips against his, to begin with. Mayer didn’t seem to trust my words though, as he persisted in asking me if he did anything wrong. He seemed very suspicious of what he could have done during the blank period in his memory.

It was obvious things would become tiring if he ever spotted the bruise on my hand. He would say something about how he had been against doing it with only the two of us from the start and so on… The very thought of it was frustrating. I pulled down my sleeve to hide the bruise and put my hand behind my back as I said, “In any case, rest well. We’ll have to expand the circuit again once your mana settles.”

“Again?” Mayer frowned, and I supposed he had reason to feel bothered. For example, it was annoying to have to go to the dentist many times, what with how painful it was. The pain that came with unblocking a mana circuit could only be worse; I understood his reaction.

“Once your circuit has settled enough and is capable of drawing enough mana to cast spells, you’ll be able to do it yourself, Captain. For the time being, however, I have to continue helping.”

“What a burden I am being,” he murmured.

“Not at all. Then I will be going now.”

“Ah, yes. I have been keeping you too long.”

As soon as Mayer let go of my arm, I gave an awkward smile and almost fled from his bedroom. I was lucky to not have come across any servants on the way. Woe is me, needing to scarper back unnoticed after all that hardship… But what could be done about it? The matter wasn’t something to go public with. If there was no helping it, then it was better to get used to it. I let out a small sigh.

* * *

I must have been very tired as I woke up later than usual the next day. If it wasn’t for Mary, I would have woken up in the middle of the day.

“Vice-captain, you must wake up—what happened to your hand?” Mary was startled at the sight of my bruise. Rubbing my eyes after waking up, I eyed my throbbing hand and saw it was black and blue. My shoulder looked just as bad too, and I had seen that one coming. But that was not all; I was bruised on every spot that I made contact with Mayer as if I had some rock accident. “You didn’t happen to fall out the window yesterday, did you?”

I mumbled an excuse, “Mm… I do think I hit the bedpost hard while asleep.” I did feel a bit of throbbing while I was falling asleep, but I didn’t expect it to be this terrible. I wondered how Mayer managed his daily life, like shaking hands with someone. Was he always controlling his strength? That alone struck me as having an uncomfortable life. Considering how my current situation was a product of him forgetting to control his strength while unconscious, I could see why Mayer felt so unsettled at the idea of being alone with me.

“Shall I call for Reverend August?” The professional Mary came up with a speedy and sensible solution. I felt it a bit embarrassing to call the priest into my bedroom, though. Better that I go find August instead. “No, I’ll just… Ack!” I tried to get up, but a piercing pain shot through my body as if I’d been in a car accident. I didn’t know how I knew what that felt like, but that didn’t matter right now. Tears welled in my eyes before I knew it and, in the end, I had no choice but to make a request of Mary. “Please do that for me, then.”

Mary left with quick steps and before long, she was back with August in tow. Truly quick! Meanwhile, I had forced my trembling arms to put on my clothes, barely managing to avoid greeting August from the bed. Cold sweat covered my body due to the sharp pain, but that was easy enough to hide. I adopted a placid smile and met August in the office. “Good morning, Reverend.”

“The sun is already high in the sky,” August pointed out, looking displeased. I understood his mood. As a high-ranking priest, to come and go for a personal matter was a stretch of authority, even if the one asking was the vice-captain. “You did not attend the morning meeting either. It’s not enough you woke up in the middle of the day, you are calling me to your private roo—Wait. What in the world happened?” As August was firing off words, he happened to catch sight of my hand. He strode over with creased brows.

I explained lamely, “I bumped against the bedposts while sleeping.”

August fixed his narrowed eyes on me, the disbelief in them very obvious. “…You must have a violent sleep posture. If you were to sleep in a dungeon, not a single monster would dare to even come close.”

“I think I discovered another talent in me.” I passed over the sarcasm in his voice. August sighed then touched my bruised hand and chanted a spell. “[Healing Touch].” Light spread from his palm and enveloped my bruise. Soon enough, it disappeared, taking my injury along with it. I held out another part of me that was hurt as I expressed pure admiration. “Wow. Works like a charm every time I see it. Oh, here too.”

August silently healed me. “And here as well,” I added, pointing at another spot.

“…Is there any part of you that is fine?”

“My face, I suppose?” I smiled, but the atmosphere only turned colder. August scowled before smoothing his expression as he healed my body. Despite the numerous injuries, it didn’t take long to treat them all. After fixing me up in mere moments, he advised me. “From now on, I recommend that you sleep with your limbs bound,” he said stiffly, tone almost cold.

“Overkill was the state of your body a minute ago, Sister.” August clicked his tongue and I could feel his evaluation of me drop a notch lower.

That day, I had to listen to the priest’s nagging non-stop. My mouth itched to retaliate, but it wasn’t like I could reveal what had happened with Mayer. I harbored dark thoughts as I endured August’s lecturing. I vowed to make the captain pay for this day.