54~ He’s Actually Quite Stubborn
Tillysha remembered nothing. She only recalled that her mind had eventually been unable to process thoughts, her willpower hanging on to a single principle: don’t surrender.
Until the pain numbed her nerves, there were some changes on the battlefield. It was the sound of an arrow, which swept her hair with a refreshing breeze.
The cacophony suddenly stopped, but she had already lost consciousness and couldn’t feel anything. The ground expanded rapidly in her vision, everything went black, and she knew nothing.
When consciousness returned, the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. She lay in a bright, well-lit room on a soft, pale yellow bed. Sunlight streamed in through the window, painting a glittering pool of golden sand on the floor, while the golden-cloud flowers swayed gently near the window, filling the drifting breeze with a faint fragrance.
The architecture and furnishings in the room were bathed in warm tones, creating a sense of calm and ease.
Tillysha didn’t recognize this strange place. She clearly remembered that she was just at the divine competition arena……
“……” Slightly frowning, Tillysha attempted to move her body and strained the still-healing wounds, causing a fiery pain that slightly moved her.
“You can’t do that. You’re not supposed to move around yet,” a gentle hand softly pressed her back onto the bed.
Following the unfamiliar voice, Tillysha saw a young girl with green hair wearing a uniform miniskirt.
The girl had clear eyes like a brook, an unattainable beauty for humans, and those signature elf ears.
“……Are you?” Tillysha was sure she had never seen this green-haired elf girl before. She moved a little and realized she was tied up with many bandages.
“Facing an invincible opponent and refusing to surrender, Miss Tillysha, you’re truly brave.” The green-haired elf girl sat on a bench, one hand supporting her chin, her beautiful leg wrapped in student black stockings crossed, sincerely praising.
“However, excessive and irrational stubbornness gives off the vibe of overdoing things.” Miss Brice adjusted the glasses on her nose.
“Miss Brice? Why are you here?”
“Can’t help it. I heard from your mentor that you don’t have many friends at the academy and that the responsible divine student couldn’t be reached.” Miss Brice shrugged her shoulders, then added somewhat discontentedly,
“To not show up for your own divine match and then not contact you when you’re injured and sent to the Rehabilitation Institute—that team leader of yours is pretty irresponsible.”
“……I think Mr. Divine probably had something important and that’s why he couldn’t come in time.” Tillysha knew very well that her divine one obviously wouldn’t come, and it would be strange if they did.
“Am I in the Rehabilitation Institute?” Tillysha subtly changed the subject. She had heard of the Rehabilitation Institute; it was similar to the health room of schools from her previous life, though the ‘health room’ at Coleman Academy was clearly way more professional.
The daily outings and practical drills of the students create a high demand for medical supplies, so Coleman Academy hires highly skilled trauma doctors and senior alchemy practitioners from the medical department.
“Isn’t that obvious?” Miss Brice replied, not in a good mood. “With your life-or-d*ath tactics, did you really think you wouldn’t end up in the Rehabilitation Institute? Don’t do such reckless things in the future, got it?”
“I understand that you’re eager to prove yourself, but this was just a drill for data collection. Winning or losing doesn’t matter at all. What if you had suffered some aftereffects from the blows? Why push yourself so hard? You really don’t care about your body, do you?”
“Sorry.” Tillysha lowered her head to apologize. This wasn’t about her trying too hard. She actually found it strange herself. Once she stepped onto the arena, her whole mindset had changed.
Initially, she just planned to go through the motions and give up at the first sign of trouble, but once she stepped onto the field, a desire not to lose took over.
It wasn’t so much about being upset as it was about this being more of a prideful thing rather than a matter of principle.
This arrogance drove her to never bow down to any enemy.
Wanted her to kneel and surrender? They’d have to break her kneecaps first. Otherwise, forget about it.
So, she ended up at the Rehabilitation Institute.
“So, who are you, Miss Elf?” After touching her ears and being sure her crown was still there, Tillysha sighed in relief and shifted her gaze to the unfamiliar elf girl sitting next to her bed.
“I, on behalf of the academy, am here to visit the injured.” The green-haired elf flashed dimples like pearls, pulling out two bottles filled with an orange-red liquid contained in exquisite glass bottles from her bag. Just from the packaging and appearance, you could tell they were incredibly valuable.
“The academy?” Looking at the bottles, a hint of doubt passed through Tillysha’s eyes. “The bandages all over my body show that the academy has already handled my injuries, do they not?”
“But, it will take too long to recover this way.” The elf girl tilted her head cutely and teasingly, usually retaining some barriers when interacting with humans. Yet, this gold-haired girl made her feel no barriers, even leading her to subconsciously become closer, something that puzzled the elf girl herself.
“With this restorative potion, your surface wounds can heal instantly.”
“……Miss Elf, this potion wasn’t really given by the academy, was it?” Tillysha had a bit of knowledge in alchemy. Judging by the quality, it was definitely one of those top-tier alchemy drugs. To give those out for every injury would even be too extravagant for the wealthy Coleman Academy.
Miss Brice sighed exasperatedly as she glanced at the elf girl, and the elf girl also lightly sighed.
“Ah, you’re right, but it doesn’t really matter, does it? Just consider it a gift from the academy.”
“Is it from that Miss Aistride who asked you to deliver it to me?”
“……” Looking at the elf girl’s shocked expression, the answer was already obvious.
“……Uh, indeed, how did you know?” The elf girl, having been found out, gave up pretending but couldn’t help but ask.
“Then why all the roundabout ways?” Tillysha didn’t answer directly but threw out another question instead.
“Ah, mainly because we were worried you’d refuse to accept it if you knew……” The elf girl awkwardly smiled. “Since Miss Tillysha figured it out, you might as well accept these two bottles. Otherwise, I won’t be able to give my report to my princess.”
“……I understand.” Tillysha averted her gaze. With the Crown Cup approaching and its great significance, she really needed these two bottles to quickly restore her condition. Thus, she didn’t resist despite the awkwardness of it being a gift, but still felt a bit uneasy after knowing it wasn’t hers.
“Tell your princess that I’ll return it to her.” Tillysha muttered this sentence while covering her face with her hair, feeling a bit abashed about receiving gifts from others for free.
“Don’t fret about it…… Oh, by the way, please don’t mention that you received these two bottles to your divine companion, alright?”
“Why is that?”
“Princess says that although that Divine Dillin appears quite laid-back, he’s actually quite stubborn. If he knew it was her present, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t accept it,” the elf girl explained.
