Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 133

“Ugh, these clothes are so uncomfortable…”

Coming home all dressed up and doing various things was no easy task.

Don’t noble ladies do housework? How do they wear these outfits every day?

Ah, come to think of it, they don’t. They have maids, right.

‘Should we hire a maid too?’

I considered seriously hiring someone to do housework, but I decided against it.

No need to live so extravagantly.

People say an retired hero walks around with a maid, right?

Actually, if Hop Harvey requests a title from the king again…

Wouldn’t I not have to worry about being seen with a maid?

Well, anyway, I’ll think about that later.

‘Since I’m all dressed up nicely, Hop Harvey will like it, right? I’ve even got proper underwear on, so tonight… hee hee hee.’

Yesterday was nice~

It was definitely nice, but because the teacher lost his memory, I couldn’t confirm our love, and I’ve been holding back for too long, so it feels a bit lacking, you know?

Ah, why is the night so short?

But there’s tonight, tomorrow, and the day after as well.

Maybe I couldn’t eat properly yesterday because of it.

So tonight’s dinner will be~ hee hee hee…

“Mom, mom…!”

I was deep in happy thoughts when suddenly I heard Risen’s voice from somewhere.

It seems Little Academy has already ended.

I bow my head to the Little Academy escort knight who always brings Risen back and warmly welcomed the busy little Risen.

“Did you do well at Little Academy?”

“Mom, something big has happened! Dad, Dad…!”

“?”

With a desperate expression and a bright red face, Risen said something terrible had happened.

What in the world could it be?

“Dad, um…!”

“Can you calm down and talk slowly? What happened to Dad?”

“Uh, Dad… Dad is a Palkas!!”

“What?”

What? What did he just say?

What is this kid saying right now?

“Today, the teacher said that if someone suddenly looks weak and acts differently, they are a Palkas… being controlled by a monster! What do we do? Is Dad going to stay like that forever?”

Risen seemed to genuinely think it was a huge deal as he spoke with tears welling up in his eyes.

Who did this kid take after to cry this much?

It’s hard to understand what he’s saying, but it seems he’s talking about Vargas.

Since Risen isn’t even 7 yet, it was too complicated for him, so I hadn’t mentioned that Hop Harvey lost his memory.

It looks like the teacher returning to his memories seemed suspicious to him.

Suddenly acting like someone else…

“I see. Dad might be under the control of a monster.”

“Yeah. Dad might be controlled by a monster. What do we do? Dad…”

“Don’t worry, Risen. You know Mom is a hero, right?”

“Yeah…”

“So I’ll take out the monster controlling Dad.”

“Really?”

“Of course. No one is better at getting rid of monsters than me.”

“…….”

Even when the hero mom says she’ll take care of it, Risen still looked worried, keeping a serious expression.

This might not be resolved easily, huh?

I thought it might be better to talk to Hop Harvey for a bit.

“So can you wait at home for a moment? I’ll go check on Dad to see if he really is being controlled by a monster.”

“Okay. You have to save Dad, okay?”

“Got it. Leave it to Mom.”

I succeeded in coming up with a reasonable excuse to slip away, so now I just need to head to the Rehabilitation Center and ask Hop Harvey how to solve this problem.

***

“Vargas, you say?”

“Yes. It seems the teacher suddenly acting differently made them think he is being controlled by a monster.”

“Um…”

The story I heard from Zion, who suddenly came to the Rehabilitation Center, was quite serious.

“By the way, you’re dressed like a noble lady! What’s going on?”

“All the parents at Little Academy dress like this.”

“But Zion didn’t.”

“Hehe, well, it’s a day for delivering good news, so…”

Zion came forward with a sinister smile and placed his finger on my collarbone, looking up at me.

It was definitely alluring and beautiful, but somehow, it gave me chills.

“Don’t you wonder what I’m wearing underneath?”

Ah, I knew it would be something like that. So tonight, I too…

It seemed the staff and patients at the center were quite concerned about my unusually dressed appearance.

We moved to a place where there weren’t many people and continued our conversation about Risen.

“By the way, accusing someone of being a monster just because they’ve changed a bit. Is that something coming from being Zion’s child?”

“It seems they actually taught about Vargas at Little Academy.”

“What a strange coincidence. They had that lesson today?”

“What should we do, teacher? Should we just go back and tell them there’s no monster?”

“Hmm…”

While that might be good to say, since I was actually acting differently than usual, I had no idea if Risen would believe me immediately.

Rather…

“Let’s do this.”

I came up with a fun idea and told Zion my plan.

It wouldn’t hurt to play with Risen a little during this.

***

“I’m back.”

“You’re here?”

When I returned home after finishing up at the Rehabilitation Center, Zion greeted me.

“Isn’t Risen going to greet me?”

“…….”

But, the little Risen who would normally rush to me, saying Dad is the best, was hiding behind Zion’s legs, not moving at all.

He looked suspicious, thinking that I might be possessed by a monster.

Seems like I really have to execute the plan.

‘Zion.’

‘Understood.’

After exchanging glances, Zion took the initiative to act.

“Holy Sword, summon!”

In response to Zion’s call, the Holy Sword appeared. He took the sword and posed facing me.

“Zion? Why… why are you doing this?”

“Don’t play innocent, reveal your true identity!”

– Woong…

The Holy Sword resonated with a light, as if it were in sync with a monster.

Of course, this was intentional light and sound coming from Zion.

“The sword is reacting! So you really are a monster!”

“Ugh. I didn’t expect to be found out so quickly.”

I put on the maximum amount of shocked expression while trying to retreat with a wicked grin.

Is this actually going well?

“Ah?! So Dad is a monster!!”

With a shocked expression, Risen pointed a finger at me.

Fortunately, it seemed the act was working.

“What a nuisance! Since this has happened, I’ll take my leave with this body!”

“Not a chance!”

Just as I tried to turn around and leave the house, the Holy Sword whipped past me.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Dad!”

“It’s okay, Risen. The Holy Sword only cuts the wicked. It just took care of the monster that possessed Dad.”

“Really?”

Actually, I hadn’t received any injury, but I collapsed to my knees and fell forward.

“Dad, are you okay? Wake up!”

While I was lying down with my eyes closed, Risen came over and shook me desperately to wake me.

After pretending to lose consciousness for a while,

“Ugh…”

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Risen with tears welling up and pulling and pushing my body frantically as he shook me.

“Dad!”

“What… what happened?”

Pretending to have just regained consciousness, I sat back down on the floor, and Risen cautiously approached, trembling, but then stepped back in surprise.

“Ugh…”

Is he still not convinced?

To be honest, I hadn’t prepared for what to do next, so if this didn’t work, I really wouldn’t have any other way.

I really hope this works…

“Oh…!”

Suddenly realizing something, Risen ran up to the second floor.

“?”

I looked at Zion, who also had a clueless expression.

Making a flurry of sounds, Risen hurried up, then sped back down as fast as the wind.

In Risen’s hand was a piece of broken adventurer equipment I had left upstairs.

It was a little dented helmet that Risen could hold.

“Look at this, Dad!”

– Thud!

And Risen threw it down to the floor.

“Risen!”

Startled, I quickly stood up, went over to Risen, and checked on him.

“What do you do when you throw things? Are you okay?”

“…….”

Looking closely at Risen, thankfully he didn’t seem to be hurt, but his mouth was slowly opening, and his expression started changing back to fear.

And then, Risen shoved my hand away and jumped back behind Zion.

“That’s not Dad! He’s still a Palkas!!”

Risen pointed at me while urging Zion on.

Oh, no. Was that just a test?

Looking at Zion, he too wore a troubled expression, but soon after, he pointed the sword toward me again.

“You pesky creature! Hah!”

Once again, the Holy Sword zoomed past my body.

“Ugh…!”

And I collapsed again, clutching my chest, then had to keep pretending to lose consciousness.

“This… this is…”

Now that I somewhat understood the feeling, when I opened my eyes again, I headed towards the helmet Risen had thrown down.

“The cracks in the equipment are evenly distributed, it’s beautiful. Did Risen do this?”

“Ugh… yeah.”

Risen was still snugly hiding behind Zion.

“Hehe, look, Risen. It seems it got dented just now. Our Risen must be strong! Must be because you’re the daughter of a hero?”

Since there was no other option, I continued to put on my best act.

Is this not working? I think this is how it used to be before I lost my memory?

“…….”

With watery eyes, Risen slowly approached from Zion’s side.

“Dad?”

This seemed to be the final hurdle.

Ignoring Risen on purpose and continuing to stroke the dented helmet, I focused until Risen had come right up to me.

“Dad! Dad is back!”

I caught Risen as he jumped into my arms, and he began to cry heavily while tightly hugging me.

“Ahhhh~ I’m so relieved~”

Is it the tears that makes him resemble Zion?

“What happened? Why is my pretty Risen crying like this?”

“Ugh… it’s nothing. I’m just relieved. Really relieved….”

As I comforted the crying Risen and glanced at Zion, he was giving me a thumbs up with a smile, saying well done.

For now, it seems like I’ve managed to deal with it somehow, but I feel like it’ll be tough for a while.

If I suddenly act differently again, Risen might suspect I’m possessed by a monster.

Since I’ve just regained my memory, I need to slowly adapt back to this family.

Our family’s happiness…

The real beginning must be now.

***

“Ughhh…”

Holding my dizzy head, I finally got up from bed.

This happening again…

I braced myself when dinner was full of foods good for males, but satisfying Zion is no easy feat.

As I surveyed the bed I had been lying in, it was soaked like a water bed, changing colors.

I might have to change the bed more often at our house.

No, if days like this keep happening, will I really be able to remain unscathed?

“Aahhh…”

Shaking my head, I left the room and found Risen in the living room.

“You woke up early again today, Risen?”

I greeted Risen, who seemed to be wandering the living room still half asleep, but Risen looked up at me, blinking.

“Ah, Dad…?”

But suddenly Risen’s eyes widened in shock.

“Dad… are you sick again?”

“Uh?”

Sick?

Ah, I see. What does my appearance look like right now…

“AAAH! MOMMMMMM!”

Risen finally screamed and dashed into the bedroom where Zion was.

‘Ugh, not this again!’

Although I felt a bit startled,

‘Haha, this is so…’

Some sort of laughter escaped my lips.

It seems it’ll take a little longer for me to fully adapt to the many changes in this household that happened while I lost my memory.