Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 56

Integrated Year 986, July.

A place for Zion to live was arranged on the outskirts of the capital.

Although it was near a graveyard and people were hesitant to live there, Zion actually liked it because it was peaceful with fewer people, and he could frequently visit Iris.

I feel it was a good decision to have come after hearing the divine revelation.

It seems that what Zion really wanted to find was his lingering purpose, but I still think finding a treatment is more urgent.

When I told him that healing his body was the priority to fulfill any role, Zion agreed.

So I decided to find a treatment, and Zion would focus on finding his purpose.

He mentioned that he was worried I was too busy and didn’t want me to spend time on him, but—

After all, no one expects me to perform my role as a princess anymore.

When I said I would search for a treatment alongside him, he reluctantly agreed.

Looking ahead with Zion felt like a good thing.

I sincerely hope Zion doesn’t lose hope.

***

Integrated Year 986, September.

Zion visited the orphanage in the northern village where he grew up, thinking there might still be a place for him to contribute.

He must have thought he could at least care for the children while undergoing rehabilitation there.

However, it turned out that the entire village had been annihilated by a demon attack during the war.

Zion had no family there, but it was still where he spent his childhood.

What must Zion have felt seeing the desolation of his hometown?

Fortunately, Zion still held onto hope, believing his purpose existed somewhere.

It’s a relief that he didn’t seem to be deeply shocked, but—

Maybe to Zion, finding a reason to live was the only thing that mattered?

The treatment is still nowhere to be found.

At the holy kingdom, disabled adventurers gather every day to hold prayer sessions, which is quite pitiful.

The Creator doesn’t tend to what’s broken. Fixing something isn’t the same as making it anew.

Most people don’t even realize that’s why we call our deity the “Creator.”

***

Integrated Year 986, December.

An incident occurred where the caretaker assigned to Zion was seriously injured by him.

Zion mistook a wizard by the roadside for a witch and tried to attack, resulting in the injury while trying to stop him.

When Zion finally came to his senses, he began to have seizures again, saying it might be better if he didn’t exist in this world.

I attempted to bind him with wind, but he vanished faster than the wind, and once again, he was found collapsed in front of Iris’s grave.

After moving his body with no resistance, Zion complained of pain all over, yelling from his bed all day.

After that, I couldn’t leave Zion in the care of the maid nurses, and eventually, Serin, a retired special agent, volunteered to take care of him.

With Serin, I figured she could manage to subdue Zion, even in his incoherent state.

I would probably spend my entire life grateful for her stepping up to this task.

***

Integrated Year 987, April.

I had the opportunity to talk to a sage who could transcend time.

Through correspondence with Hanamana, we discussed the idea of using time magic for our treatment.

We proposed that by reversing time on specific parts of the body, we might achieve effects similar to healing.

However, to practically apply this method, we needed someone with aptitude in time magic, and since the life of such a person is uncertain due to the expertise required, the likelihood of realization was slim.

Nevertheless, the conclusion from my discussion with Hanamana was startlingly that it might be magically feasible.

The sage who read all our correspondence also shared a similar opinion.

It’s an intriguing idea and could be possible, but who would sacrifice their memories for the revival of another?

Moreover, finding someone with aptitude in time magic is as rare as finding a needle in a haystack.

It seems better to forget this approach and spend time seeking alternatives.

***

Integrated Year 987, May.

Up until last year, Zion wandered around looking for things he could do, but this year, he hasn’t gone anywhere even once.

Reflecting back, it all changed after the incident where the caretaker was severely injured.

After he used teleportation from the magic tower to go overseas, he likely had to hire a caretaker to travel. Now he couldn’t do that anymore.

Since that incident, Zion’s enthusiasm significantly dropped, and if he gives up on finding his purpose, he would only deteriorate faster.

After seriously contemplating this issue, I concluded that if Zion could move on his own, it could solve the problem.

I requested a workshop to create a pressure wheelchair for him and gave it as a gift.

The result, however, was not good.

The complexly designed pressure wheelchair was too difficult to maneuver, causing Zion to be flung off and seriously injured.

But Zion didn’t give up; he worked hard to get accustomed to the wheelchair, and witnessing this, Serin volunteered to catch him whenever he was thrown off to prevent him from hurting himself, only to end up injured by the wheelchair herself, leading Zion to cry all day, saying he hurt someone again.

Yet still, Zion refused to give up. Even in situations where it wouldn’t be strange to see him break, he kept moving forward.

That’s the Zion I know.

***

Integrated Year 987, July.

After a tremendous amount of practice, Zion finally became somewhat accustomed to the pressure wheelchair. He confidently declared he was going somewhere alone and returned three days later.

I thought he might have finally found a reason to live since he came back with a very satisfied expression, but according to Serin’s report, he had spent days in bed complaining of full-body pain again.

Upon investigation, it turned out Zion had engaged in a monster extermination request. Despite his condition, he had managed to grab a sword and fought against demons before returning.

I thought if he continued that reckless behavior, his body would be battered beyond repair, so I called to warn him against fighting.

Yet Zion replied that he still didn’t know what he was living for, questioning what he was supposed to do if it wasn’t fighting.

I couldn’t provide him with any answer while seeing him on the verge of tears.

Ultimately, I asked the adventurer’s guild of the empire to refrain from providing any information to Zion. Since I did it, he would probably interpret it as a command.

In any case… Zion won’t be going out to fight anymore.

***

Integrated Year 987, November.

News began to emerge about a doctor in the Noden Kingdom who heals broken adventurers.

By this time, I was growing increasingly weary of caring for Zion.

After the fighting ban, Zion seemed to have completely lost his motivation.

He no longer wished to do anything or attempted anything.

Instead, he frequently had seizures, talking nonsense about seeing Iris and the Demon King.

At least it was a relief that the incidents where he would move his body with no resistance no longer occurred.

Now, when he has a seizure, Zion simply covers his head and trembles, shivering.

Is the feeling of powerlessness to do anything also manifesting during his seizures?

The efforts Zion and I had put into the last year and four months yielded no results.

In the end, we were passing meaningless time, having given up on both treatment and the purpose of life.

***

Integrated Year 988, January.

A letter arrived stating that Hanamana wishes to learn rehabilitation medicine directly from the kingdom.

She believes this can cure Zion and me.

The materials she sent concerning rehabilitation medicine were astonishing.

The recovery of bodily functions from the beginning through repetitive exercise and consistent management suggests that miracles or artifacts are not the answer to our treatment.

I introduced rehabilitation treatment to Zion, but he expressed negativity, asserting he couldn’t even lift his arms or legs, feeling that a buff wouldn’t work on him either.

To give up even before trying… Zion didn’t seem like the person I once knew.

***

Integrated Year 988, April.

I managed to acquire all documentation related to rehabilitation training from the kingdom, utilizing every means at my disposal.

After much searching, I did find an expert in basic strength buffs and, somehow, I began rehabilitation training.

Zion, still, hasn’t done anything other than visit Iris’s grave.

I could see Serin’s expression growing darker with each passing day.

She must be getting exhausted too. I decided to focus on my rehabilitation rather than thinking about Zion.

What if I complete my rehabilitation first and show Zion how to walk? Maybe he would regain a sense of hope.

If I didn’t think like that, I felt I wouldn’t be able to shake off the guilt of distancing myself from Zion.

***

Integrated Year 988, August.

I started to feel the sensation gradually returning to my legs, which had completely felt nothing.

Excited, I rushed to tell Zion about rehabilitation medicine, but he didn’t react at all.

After chatting enthusiastically for a while, I suddenly realized he wasn’t listening to me and was staring blankly at the ground with soulless eyes.

A terrifying and gloomy feeling washed over me, leaving me speechless as I simply said goodbye and left.

Being around Zion made me feel like I was slowly being engulfed by negativity.

Serin, who seemed to be gradually losing her sanity, began treating Zion as if he were a doll she was responsible for managing.

She was distancing herself emotionally and only providing minimal care, managing to maintain her sanity.

Would I end up treating Zion like Serin does?

If Zion has truly given up on himself, then I have no reasons not to give up on him as well…

***

Integrated Year 989, February.

Zion’s holy sword ceased to shine.

It seemed as though Zion had completely lost the last remaining shred of hope.

Even so, divine revelations reinforced that Zion still had something to do in this world, and I had been enduring until now.

The holy sword losing its light was akin to declaring that Zion was no longer acknowledged as a hero.

Staring blankly at the holy sword, Zion brought it to his neck, and Serin quickly snatched it away and threw it far away.

The holy sword is something that cannot be touched by anyone except the chosen hero.

Zion was so shocked by the fact that Serin took the holy sword away from him that he could only stare into the void while bursting into tears.

I began to wonder if I should separate Zion from the holy sword, but given how precious it was to him, I couldn’t do that.

Serin mentioned she felt a fear of her own thoughts—that if Zion were to kill himself in the moment, she might find herself at peace.

I found myself feeling the same way, and feared for myself as well.

Could the three of us ever find salvation?

***

Integrated Year 989, June.

The day the kingdom’s leading physician, the founder of rehabilitation medicine, was to arrive.

I was contemplating whether I could possibly entrust Zion to him.

Perhaps I just wanted to offload Zion onto someone else.

Now, I… now I can no longer bear this anymore…

*****************

“This is…”

After hearing all the stories, my reflection was, wasn’t this more the tale of how Naoi is falling apart rather than Zion?

Zion… I was right. She has been broken from the very beginning.

Someone who can’t live in a peaceful world without a purpose.

That means, for me… and what I gave to her…

“Director Hop. Have your feelings settled now?”

“Yes. It must have been difficult to speak of all this, and I appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing. In fact, this story is quite embarrassing, but it was too heavy a burden to carry alone. I feel a little… liberated now.”

Naoi let out a long sigh, looking at the sky as if she had just put down a huge weight.

“Hop-senpai. Now, go see Zion.”

“I should. But first, I need to check where Zion is…”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Hanamana quietly took out a small sphere from inside her chest.

A transparent sphere shining with three beams of light. This is…

“The blue light is pointing toward you, senpai. You have it too, right?”

Just as Hanamana said, I was indeed holding Iris’s sphere. I promised Zion to keep it with me at all times.

When I took the sphere out of the pouch at my waist, I could see the yellow light directing toward Naoi and the green light pointing toward the sphere in Hanamana’s palm.

Everyone has a sphere with them now.

When Zion showed the sphere to me before, he took it out from under his bed. So it’s not there now?

Checking, the light leading to Zion wasn’t pointing beneath the bed but somewhere else.

“Zion holding this means that she wishes for you to come find her, doesn’t it?”

With the story done, there was no reason left to stay.

Despite having gotten up, Naoi and Hanamana remained silently gazing at me.

I left the ward and headed toward the direction indicated by the light.

At last, I felt clearly aware of what I needed to do.

Right now, I just need to find Zion. And then after that…