“Come in.”

Luman winked at me, telling me he’d finish explaining later.

“Whew. It’s morning, but it somehow feels colder than dawn.”

Jepeto came in sounding breezy.

Huh? Come to think of it, the clusters of light had disappeared before I even noticed. Weird.

“If it hurts, please say that it hurts. If it’s bad, I even have painkillers.”

“Sounds like you carry quite a lot around with you.”

“I think I’ll be carrying even more from now on!”

Jepeto grinned confidently and patted his bulging pocket.

“All right, from this point on, please refrain from talking for a moment.”

Jepeto’s face turned serious again in an instant, and he began disinfecting Luman’s wound.

It looked painful just to stare at it, but Luman didn’t so much as blink.

After disinfecting it thoroughly, Jepeto poured a generous amount of white powder over Luman’s split-open wound and the area around it, then patted it in. After that, he took out herbs he’d already ground up and pressed them on, spreading them carefully. Once he’d applied it everywhere without missing a spot, Jepeto finally pulled out a clean new bandage.

It looked like it ought to hurt... but Luman stayed calm.

By the time Jepeto finished wrapping it neatly and pulled his hands away, sweat had formed on his forehead.

He must’ve been concentrating hard.

“You’re a Hero, so there’s probably no need to worry about infection or anything else, but please still be careful! Absolutely do not touch it, and if the pain gets severe, you must tell me. Understood?”

“Understood, Doctor.”

“Haha. Please don’t say it like that again, it’s embarrassing.”

Jepeto rubbed the back of his neck.

“Now then, shall we look at the next patient?”

“I can just do it myself—”

“That won’t do. It should be handled by a professional.”

Jepeto was smiling cheerfully, but he didn’t look like he had any intention of backing off.

I gave up and took off the layers I had on. When I stripped off my top, goosebumps rose on the arm that was still wrapped in bandages.

“I’ll do «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» it quickly. It’s very cold, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine. Cold? It’s nothing.”

Honestly, it was cold, but what was a little chill like this?

I may not look it, but I’m really strong!

Ahem.

Jepeto carefully unwrapped the bandages.

Thinking of it as treatment and picturing the old apothecary helped me endure it well enough.

Jepeto was so delicate that he barely brushed my skin at all as he undid the bandages. The loosened bandages slipped down with a soft rustle and fell onto the floor of the carriage.

“Hmm...”

Jepeto narrowed his eyes. Luman also stared at my wound with focused attention.

Why the hell are you looking at it like that?!

“Ren. You mustn’t talk.”

I nodded sullenly.

How did he know I was about to say something?!

“Ren. Don’t get agitated. Do you happen to have something like a snack? Of course you don’t... oh!”

“Here.”

“Please give it to Ren.”

“Here, Ren. Ahh—”

“Ahh—. The fuck, I’m not some—!”

“Shh.”

“Shh!”

Why the hell do you even have snacks?!

Jepeto’s face brightened even though he’d asked without expecting anything. Luman took a candy from his inner pocket and popped it into my mouth. What am I, a little kid?! I was about to snap at them, but Jepeto and Luman both went “Shh!” at the same time, and I shut my mouth without meaning to.

Damn it. That’s humiliating!

But the candy is sweet.

Mm. Really sweet.

It’s melting in my mouth... don’t you have another one?

When I snuck a glance at Luman, he turned his head away. His shoulders shook.

Goddammit!

“How is it?”

“There’s no inflammation. It’s very clean, but... the recovery is a little slow. Hm. Was there something special smeared on that person’s weapon?”

“...I’ll go look into it. If you see it, would you be able to tell?”

“I think I could make an educated guess. You don’t need to worry too much. Priest Kirky treated it, so it’ll probably be fine. Wounds heal differently depending on a person’s constitution to begin with. Ren seems to have a rather frail body. Even if it heals slowly, as long as there’s no inflammation, there’s no problem. It’s just a bit of a nuisance, that’s all. There, all done.”

Even while talking a mile a minute, Jepeto’s hands moved so quickly that he had medicine on it and a fresh bandage wrapped around it before I knew it.

“There, done.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, it was nothing!”

When I thanked Jepeto, Luman smiled with obvious satisfaction.

Was Luman under the impression that I was some kind of complete personality disaster?

There’s no need to make that face just because I said thank you!

“Ugh.”

As I was putting my shirt back on and slipped my arm through the sleeve, a sudden stiff ache ran through my shoulder. What the hell? Did I bump it in my sleep?

“Ren! What is it? Does it hurt somewhere?”

“Is your shoulder bothering you?”

I figured it was probably nothing and tried to put my shirt back on again, but Jepeto, who’d been tidying the medicine and bandages, hurried right over.

“It’s fine. It just feels stiff.”

“Let me take a look for a moment.”

“No, I said it’s fine—”

“Ren.”

Luman called my name with absolute firmness. He was watching me closely too.

I gave up and moved my arm to take the half-on shirt back off, but Jepeto shook his head.

“I’m going to cut the shirt a little. Is that all right?”

“Why are you cutting the shirt?! My arm’s fine, I can just take it off!!”

I shouted in shock!

Why the hell would you ruin a perfectly good shirt?! Do clothes come out of the ground for free if you dig for them?!

“We don’t have a spare.”

Luman answered after a moment of thought.

“I forgot and left behind the luggage Lady Coco packed for us.”

Luman let out a sigh and clicked his tongue.

“Ah! Don’t worry about that. I have sewing supplies. If you don’t mind me stitching it up... may I tear it?”

At Jepeto’s question, Luman looked back at me.

“Ren, is that okay? Is it a shirt you’re attached to?”

“Not really, but—”

“Excuse me!”

“Aaagh!”

Riiip!

“No, why are you doing it so violently, why?!”

Aaaah! What the hell is this?! Did I say I was going to run away?!

I jumped straight up in place!

Jepeto recoiled in horror, scissors in hand, leaning his body back.

He’d ripped my shirt open nice and thoroughly!

When I flailed my arm in surprise, a sharp pain shot up through it, and my body naturally hunched over.

“Ugh...”

Wow. It hurt enough that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before.

Still, it was bearable. Ugh, if I’d just managed not to make a sound, they never would’ve noticed. Great. Now I’ve gone and added one more annoying problem on top of everything else. At this rate, I’m going to turn into a pain in the ass of a person, aren’t I? Fuck!

“On the surface it looks fine...”

Jepeto examined my shoulder this way and that.

That was right. Just like Jepeto said, my shoulder looked perfectly clean. I’m not faking it...! Still, if it’s fine, then isn’t that a good thing? I covered my shoulder with one hand and drew back.

“See? I told you, I’m fine!”

“Hmm. It didn’t look strange back at the castle either... huh?”

“A bruise...”

Luman frowned.

“A bruise?”

I blinked, moved my hand away, and looked at my shoulder again.

“Huh?!”

Whoa! Holy shit, what is that?

A bluish bruise was slowly surfacing on my shoulder.

Like it had been hiding somewhere and only just now come out! All of a sudden! The mark spread upward like paint bleeding across the surface. Huh? It kind of looks like a handprint. Wow.

I was blurting out my amazement because it was so weird, when Luman’s face turned vicious.

“This looks like the sort of injury I should examine myself.”

“How are you supposed to examine it when you’re not a doctor, Luman?”

“It’s the kind of wound a doctor can’t detect. This.”

“What is it?”

Luman only smiled instead of answering, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

I was the one who got hurt, so I had no idea why Luman was the one in a bad mood... but I decided to respect his mood anyway. I should sit quietly.

Luman inspected my shoulder carefully.

“Ren. If it hurts, make a sound. Don’t hold it in.”

“It’s bearable...”

I’m not talking back.

I didn’t want to go against him when he was in such a rotten mood for no reason, so I made my eyes look as gentle as possible.

The second our eyes met, Luman faltered. He looked at me with a very strange expression, like he might be frowning or might not be, then sighed. He kept seeming like he was about to say something for a long while, then stopping himself, and in the end all he did was sigh again.

What the hell! I didn’t do anything that deserves a sigh...! This is so unfair, seriously unfair!

“Ah!”

“It’ll sting a little.”

You could’ve warned me first, you know. Were you doing that on purpose? You scared me!

I shot Luman a sidelong glare.

“Does it still hurt?”

“A little.”

“Lord Luman. What is this? Priest Kirky treated him, so why is there still an injury left on his shoulder? No, more importantly, how is a bruise suddenly appearing like this?!”

Jepeto cried out, full of agitation.

“...To think I’d actually see this in person.”

What does he mean, see this in person?

Even while Jepeto fussed beside us, dying of curiosity, Luman only kept his eyes narrowed at my shoulder.

“Is it serious? I’m fine.”

“Really? Is it because you’re a Hero’s younger brother that you’re fine? I don’t know whether I should call that fortunate or not.”

Luman clicked his tongue.

“Jepeto. Do you have a wide variety of medicines?”

“Yes. I received quite a lot from the young lady’s household, so I think there should be enough. But more than that, this bruise that suddenly surfaced—”

“Give him something to strengthen the body, and something that helps bones knit well.”

“That shoulder—” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“That will be enough. Ren. For the next few months, be careful how you use that shoulder. The pain is going to last a long time.”

“Okay. But why is it like that?”

Jepeto clenched his fist and went, “Exactly!”

He was dying to know.

I wanted to know too!

What the hell was this bruise that appeared out of nowhere? My heart started fluttering uneasily. It can’t be because of my illness... right! That’s never happened before, has it? If it were that, Luman would’ve been making a huge fuss! That face was the face of someone who knew something. Luman definitely knew why my shoulder was like this. So what is it? I want to know! It’s my body, I have the right to know!

“I don’t really feel like telling you. If you’re curious, Ren, try guessing.”

“What? No, what kind of answer is that?”

“That’s right. A patient has the right to know about his own body—!”

“Doctor Jepeto.”

“Yes...?”

“Sometimes ignorance is medicine. Don’t try so hard to know too much. Isn’t once or twice of being tactless enough? Whether it’s an act or not.”