Chapter 171

Chapter 171

With dazed eyes staring at the floor, Lin saw Baikon’s front paw in front of him. Lin quickly snapped to attention, stood up, and bowed.

“How is the teacher?”

“It seems they need a bit of rest. Besides the injuries, they have expended too much magic power and appear to still be asleep.”

It wasn’t long before Seere returned. The warrior with the staff who had appeared on Citri’s side had fled as soon as Nahun’s power disappeared. They didn’t hesitate at all, leaving Citri’s troops with no chance to capture them.

“Your Majesty, what is that?”

“Gremony conveyed it.”

To say it was in exchange might be a stretch, but there was a warrior who had been captured by Gremony’s side. Specifically, they were picked up after being overwhelmed by Nahun and left trembling due to Nahun regaining power.

“Is it a warrior?”

“It seems so, though one of their arms is broken.”

Due to the arm that Nahun had broken not being treated promptly and left unattended until the war ended, the muscle tissue had already necrosed.

“Lin, show this to the medical staff and have them take appropriate measures.”

“Are we treating the warrior?”

“The fact that they survived means the teacher chose not to kill them in battle. There must be a reason for sparing them.”

“I understand.”

Lin helped the injured Iris to stand and took her to where the medical staff was. After dismounting from Baikon, Seere entered the barracks where Lin was guarding the entrance.

“…Teacher.”

On the bed inside the barracks lay Nahun. Their breathing was steady and there seemed to be no significant issues with their body, but they were still asleep. As Lin mentioned, it appeared that the depletion of magic power was the problem.

When Seere pulled a chair next to her and quietly watched Nahun, someone entered the barracks.

“Oh, Your Majesty.”

It was the medic.

“What’s the matter?”

“I came to check on Nahun’s condition.”

“Ah…”

Seere stepped aside for a moment. The medic slightly bowed in thanks and began examining Nahun’s state.

“Is their condition still bad enough that we need to keep monitoring it?”

“The wounds were quite deep. If we don’t disinfect them regularly, they will become infected. We must also consider the magic power recovery situation.”

“How badly depleted is their magic power?”

“Hmm, I don’t think that they will recover properly even after lying down for several days. You saw the kind of events that occurred, right?”

Seere nodded slightly at the medic’s words. The formidable magic power that influenced the entire 72nd floor. It was an amazing force that even Seere, from a distance, had felt overwhelmed by.

“Our medical staff expects at least a month for recovery.”

“That long?”

“Yes. If they can lie down in a better environment, recovery may happen faster, but the facilities here…”

“…We need to get back as soon as possible.”

While handling post-war matters would be necessary, it seemed it could be entrusted to Citri and Gremony. The medic finished disinfecting Nahun’s wounds, wrapped fresh bandages around them, and then greeted them before leaving.

Seere glanced at the freshly wrapped bandages, recalling the wounds she had seen just moments ago while the medic was disinfecting them.

“Teacher…”

Seere quietly called out to Nahun, but there was no response. The Nahun who used to respond with a faint smile and ask “What is it?” was silent.

“I’m… anxious.”

This time, it had ended with Nahun not dying, but what would happen next?

What if, next time, something even worse happened, leading to Nahun’s death? Seere had no clue what to do.

“I think I can just barely keep your heart in place…”

Seere carefully took Nahun’s hand. Even holding hands openly, there was no usual flinching reaction. It felt as if she were holding a doll’s hand.

“What would happen if something occurred and you just left…?”

Seere’s question was not one that sought a response from Nahun. It was impossible for the asleep Nahun to answer.

The question that slipped from Seere’s lips felt closer to asking herself. What would you do if Nahun left unexpectedly due to an accident?

“…”

Seere squeezed Nahun’s hand tightly with both of hers. And at that moment, the red strands of hair visible between Seere’s own hair shimmered noticeably.

“I’m too anxious to wait any longer, teacher.”

#

It was calm.

It felt as if there was nothing around, like being alone deep in the sea.

Where am I? It’s too easy to breathe to call it the sea.

Yet it was too dark to be anywhere else. There were no stars or moon in the sky to simply call it night.

Even without thinking deeply, I could somewhat guess. Commonly, people express it as “dreamland” with childlike wonder, but to speak coldly, this is…

A world of unconsciousness called a dream.

The barren world drawn with nothing around must be because I am close to fainting right now.

It’s quiet. It was a long-awaited sense of comfort.

A comfortable world where I don’t need to worry about anything and can just lie there. The more I indulge in this comfort, the more my body sinks downwards.

While basking in this comfort, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Is it really alright to just lie here?

Although it is pleasant to be here…

I couldn’t stay for long.

‘Why?’

Someone asks. Why is that?

The answer to that question is so simple that it elicits a laugh. In fact, even “I,” who is questioning it, know this too well.

Because my precious disciple is waiting.

I had already unintentionally made them wait for 8 years, and if I am late again, they will surely get angry. I don’t have the confidence to bear my disciple’s anger, so I had to wake up soon.

Just then, my body, which had been sinking endlessly, began to rise again. They say dreams are realized when you become aware that it’s a dream. Thanks to realizing that this place is a dream, I was gradually waking up.

‘I hope they didn’t cry.’

I hope that child didn’t cry. I don’t want to see that child crying because of me.

The speed at which my body was rising increased.

“Yes, hurry back.”

I have to return soon. They will be waiting.

#

“It’s already been a month, right? Is the wound healed?”

“Yes. The magic recovery will take a bit longer…”

The surroundings were noisy. Having come from a quiet place, even though the sounds weren’t particularly loud, they felt bothersome.

“Ugh…”

I thought it would be better to show that I was awake, so I tried to speak. My voice came out as if soaked like a pot of soup.

Of course, my intention got through. Both people around me jumped in surprise and looked at me.

“T-Teacher…!!”

“Nahun! Are you okay? Is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable?”

I opened my eyes sluggishly and then closed them repeatedly. My vision hadn’t returned to where I wanted it to be yet. Each time I opened and closed my eyes, the hazy vision gradually clarified.

There was someone who appeared to be a medic. Next to them was Seere…

‘…I worried her again.’

Seere’s eyes were red. Her expression revealed all the emotions she was feeling right now without concealing anything.

Joy, sorrow, regret, guilt, longing, delight, and relief.

As I took in the complex expressions of my disciple right after waking up, I slowly parted my dry lips.

“Uh… uh…”

I intended to comfort her, but my voice barely came out. Then the medic quickly brought me some water and said.

“Drink slowly. If you drink too fast, you might end up dehydrated.”

I nodded slightly. Although there wasn’t much strength in my body, I forced myself to sit up. Seere hurriedly supported me to help me rise.

“T-Teacher, are you okay?”

There was so much worry in this child’s voice. As I received the water from the medic, I gently nodded my head.

Then Seere’s expression eased significantly. I slowly let the water the medic handed me flow down my throat. As I felt the refreshing sweetness of the water, an urge to gulp it down all at once welled up within me, but… I held back since I was told not to.

It was less than half a cup of water. It seemed they had given a small amount considering the risk of dehydration. Feeling regretful, I smacked my lips together, and the medic spoke to Seere.

“Your Majesty, you can give them half a cup more after about an hour, like before. Don’t give too much at once.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll take my leave now. I need to report Nahun’s condition to the officers.”

“Alright.”

The medic bowed his head and left, leaving only Seere and me in this place. It seemed I was in the Demon King Castle. It wasn’t inside the barracks.

With my thirst somewhat quenched, I asked Seere with a much more comfortable voice.

“…Are we on the 50th floor?”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Alright, it ended safely.”

As I said that it ended safely, Seere’s expression turned slightly fierce. I may have chosen my words poorly.

“Safely? How can you say it ended safely when you’ve ended up like this?”

As expected.

If someone else heard my words, they would probably agree with me, but to this child, who cares about me more than anyone else, it was not a good thing to say. It was a mistake.

“You were lying down for a month!”

“…I did lie down for quite a while.”

I hadn’t expected it to take a month. While I anticipated some aftereffects from rampaging after the seal was lifted and expending my magic power…

‘That was quite long.’

Seeing me smile awkwardly as if to express my remorse, Seere did not get angrier. Instead, she just held my hand with a somewhat pitiful expression.

“It’s alright. Except for being slightly weak, I don’t think there’s any problem.”

“…I’m glad.”

“I made you wait for so long. I’m sorry.”

As I spoke my apologies, Seere’s eyes reddened once more. I hadn’t intended for her to cry, yet here we were.

Fortunately, her eyes simply turned red, and she didn’t actually cry. In a soft voice, she spoke to me.

“…I was anxious.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not saying this because I want to hear you apologize.”

I simply kept my mouth shut. Each time I opened it, I felt as though I was being scolded by Seere, so I decided it was better to quietly listen. It seemed like I wasn’t thinking clearly since I had just woken up.

“Seeing you get hurt so badly made me think that you might leave just like my father.”

I see. I made this child feel very uneasy.

Internally, I reflected on that quite a bit. While it was something beyond my control, it was still a mistake. I had inadvertently caused Seere to be filled with worry due to my injuries.

“I can’t wait any longer because I’m anxious.”

But what is it that she can’t wait for? I wasn’t sure. Seere simply explained it in brief.

“I’ll skip it since you just woke up today.”

What does she mean by skip…?

“I’ll prepare and come back tomorrow.”

“…What are you preparing?”

In the end, I couldn’t help my curiosity and asked. Seere spoke with vague, ambiguous words.

“…Look forward to it.”

“Huh?”

Seere then left the room, as if she felt she shouldn’t be looking at me any longer. I felt a slight uneasiness from her behavior.

“…Huh???”

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