Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 27

Day 1 of the Trip to the Sacred Law Country

Since this trip was only scheduled for three days, I had to move quickly.

After having dinner with the Pope at the Papal Palace, the plan for today was to head to the Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Center and check on its situation.

Now, with dinner finished, I was heading to the entrance of the Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Center alongside Zion.

“Teacher Hop.”

“Yes?”

“What did the Pope mean by a pleasant meeting?”

“Hmm… Perhaps it’s someone related to Zion?”

“Me?”

“I don’t have that many connections.”

“A pleasant meeting, huh…”

Unlike me, who had jumped straight into medical volunteer work back home and spent my whole life devoted to rehabilitation medicine with no time to socialize, Zion had numerous acquaintances from many adventures.

“I have too many to know.”

“Right? We’ll find out when we meet them.”

The wagon arrived at the center, and after getting off first, I helped Zion into his wheelchair.

The Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Center wasn’t as large or systematic as the Empire but had a solemn atmosphere fitting for the Sacred Law Country.

“Just a moment, and I’ll bring the director.”

As I arrived, the nurse maids approached; one stuck to me to guide me around the center while the other went down to the gym to fetch the director.

The director appeared right away, following the nurse maid’s guidance, and she turned out to be a petite woman, even smaller than the nurse maid who brought her.

Wearing white clerical robes and a high-ranking cleric’s hat, her long brown twin braids hung down, and she had pale green eyes…

“Ah, hello…”

‘An elf?’

“I’m Hanamana, the director of the Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Medicine Center…”

“Hanamana!!”

“Eh? Zion?!”

Surprisingly, the director of the Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Medicine Center was none other than Hanamana, the cleric from the Hero Party.

Was the pleasant person the Pope mentioned actually Hanamana?

Zion raised his right hand vigorously in greeting, causing the wheelchair to shake.

“Why is Zion here with you?”

“I’m helping with Zion’s rehabilitation.”

“Oh, and you are…?”

“I’m Hop Harvey, director of the Kingdom Rehabilitation Medicine Center.”

“W-what! I’m so sorry for not recognizing you!!”

Hanamana’s personality was unmistakably just as it was depicted in the books.

An elf, yet uniquely treading the path of a cleric, Hanamana had talents in all forms of magic, including divine and dark. Despite her obvious skill, she lacked confidence and stumbled over herself, being prone to errors.

And like always, she was pessimistic, claiming she couldn’t do anything, yet she was an incredibly hardworking individual who never gave up, all while being one of Zion’s companions.

“Hanamana, you’re the director?”

“Y-yes, somehow I managed to…”

“That’s amazing! Were you studying rehabilitation medicine?”

“Y-yes… I heard that Zion was sick, you see… from Naou…”

“……”

So, Hanamana… she learned rehabilitation medicine to heal Zion after hearing about his condition from Naou and even managed to become the director of the Sacred Law Country Rehabilitation Center?

“So, when I became the director, I was planning to go to the Empire to bring Zion back… but, um…”

As the story continued, Hanamana’s expression increasingly resembled someone about to cry.

“H-Hanamana?”

“I always thought there was no way I could be the director since I’m Hanamana, but somehow I worked hard and managed to get the position…”

Before I knew it, tears were welling up in her small, round pale green eyes.

“But, I can’t believe Zion is already rehabilitating in the Kingdom…”

Her tears were just about to spill over. It was amazing to see Hanamana react like this, just like I read in the book, but somehow, I had a bad feeling that the conversation was heading in a negative direction for me.

And the words she let slip through her tears were…

“I’m really happy~~!”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t anything blaming me or anything like that.

“The director of rehabilitation in the Kingdom is someone far more amazing than me, so you will absolutely be able to heal Zion! After all, being Hanamana means it was bound to be tough for me to give him proper treatment, so this is actually great~~ Hwaaah~~!”

Saying she was glad while crying out loud? Thanks to Hanamana’s wailing, attention became entirely focused on us.

It was hugely embarrassing, yet no one dared to approach Hanamana.

In the midst of this chaotic situation, Zion, sitting next to me, tapped my back to get my attention.

“Zion?”

“Teacher Hop, could you give me a buff for a moment? I want to stand up just for a bit.”

A buff? Based on the measurements taken last time, if it was just enough to help him stand with some support, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

“Power.”

“Thanks, Teacher.”

“Hold my hand to get up. It’s still too hard for you to stand up by yourself.”

“Okay.”

As he held my outstretched hand, Zion managed to pull himself up from the seat, his trembling limbs barely managing it.

“Could you take me over to Hanamana?”

Nodding at Zion’s request, I led him by the hand over to the crying Hanamana.

Once in front of her, Zion threw himself forward, leaning into Hanamana and hugging her.

“Z-ion?!”

Since Hanamana was smaller than Zion, it looked like he was engulfing her in a bear hug.

“Hanamana, you really put in the effort to heal me again. It makes me so happy.”

“But it’s just because I’m Hanamana…”

“Even saying that, Hanamana always heals me. I’m sure you would have done well this time, too.”

“Zion…”

“I’ve been rescued countless times by you, Hanamana. While everyone should be thanking me for being saved, the one who’s always saved my life has been you, right?”

Zion spoke calmly, eyes closed, and it felt like Hanamana was calming down too.

Before long, her crying subsided, and she was only occasionally sniffing due to her hiccups.

“You save me, you save everyone… and now you’re the director of the rehabilitation center. It really is a relief having you as my companion, Hanamana. I always think you’re amazing.”

“Ziooon…”

“So please don’t cry, okay? You’re a hero just like me, so how many times do I have to tell you to be strong?”

“Ugh…”

Bearing back her tears with great difficulty, Hanamana lifted her arms and embraced the Zion in her arms.

“I’ll listen because it’s you, Zion…”

“Hehe, even though you’re over 200 years old, you’re still such a child, Hanamana.”

“D-don’t mention my age, Zion!!”

Just over 200 years old. Young for an elf, but as soon as her age was mentioned, Hanamana looked hugely embarrassed, flailing about like a girl teasing another girl, she lightly tapped Zion’s back.

“!?”

What the heck was that…!

“Haha, Hanamana, really.”

“Don’t hit me!! What if I hurt the patient?! Do you know how weak Zion is right now?”

“W-whoa!!”

Startled, I yelled out without thinking, and Hanamana quickly began rubbing the area of Zion’s back she had just hit.

“I’m sorry!!”

“Don’t rub it!!”

“Ahhh!!!”

“Teacher, I’m fine…”

“Zion, just stay put!”

In an instant, the atmosphere grew tense, and Hanamana trembled, eyes tightly shut, clutching Zion.

How on earth did it come to this…

“Hanamana, didn’t you say you were the director of this center?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Then how could you do that! What will you do if Zion gets hurt?!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I guess it was too much for Hanamana to be a proper director… I’ll resign right now and leave, so please forgive me…”

“W-what did you say?”

My chest felt heavy, and my mind went blank. I couldn’t think of what to say anymore.

So this was how Hanamana’s personality felt in real life?

Both Zion and Hanamana had such infuriating traits, and the novel described them in such a different light.

It seemed the members of the Hero Party each had one trait that made them unbearably frustrating to those around them when they were in the company of others.

“If Hanamana resigns because of me, the Pope would definitely be thrilled.”

“It’s not because of you, but because Hanamana isn’t up to par…”

“Senior?”

“Because Hanamana… is a junior in rehabilitation… isn’t that just right?”

“Sigh…”

Being suddenly called a senior by an elf over 200 years old made my head throb even more. But I needed to regain my composure somehow.

‘Stay calm. If I get swept up in this atmosphere, it’ll be the end.’

Right, Hanamana, you want to be my junior, is that it?

“Hanamana.”

“Y-yes!”

“I’m here to check on this center and fix any problems that arise, you know that, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“I agree with you that Hanamana isn’t a proper director. Do you think it’s reasonable to treat patients like that?”

“I knew it would be like this… since I’m Hanamana…”

While I was cornering Hanamana like this, I felt memories from my past life stirring back to me.

“Um… Teacher Hop? Maybe you shouldn’t be that hard on Hanamana…”

“Zion, just stay quiet. This is all for Hanamana’s sake.”

“Huh?”

“Zion, you coddling her like this is what causes all these problems. Understand?”

“W-well…”

In medical school, medical hierarchy was more important than grades.

Memories flooded back of struggling to correct underperforming interns during my residency.

Sure, I missed those days but definitely didn’t want to go back there.

“Hanamana.”

“Y-yes, senior!”

“I think the issues with this center stem from you, so for the three days I’m here, I’ll turn you into a proper rehabilitation expert. Got it?”

“Wahh~”

Crying at this point was pointless.

Now that she called me her senior, she must understand what it means to become my junior.