11 - I Healed the Male Lead's Trauma
Episode 11
2. Even Extras Don't Need Obsession (6)
Even if he was someone I just met yesterday, if he collapsed after helping me…
'I'd be flustered…'
And then there's all the cleanup.
Like the sudden visit from the Management Bureau inspector, or explaining the reason for the unauthorized Guiding, all sorts of annoying things.
'Just thinking about it is exhausting.'
Calmly chewing over his position, I pressed my forehead.
I even expected a situation where I'd be chased out for daring to Guide a member of Brondearne with a mere B-rank.
'Thankfully… it seems to have worked out not too badly.'
Only then relieved, I could calmly answer Akteon's question.
"Yeah, sorry for acting as I pleased."
"I don't want an apology, but…"
"But thanks to me, you got through a dangerous moment too. It's better to be thanked than scolded, if possible."
By helping Akteon's First Manifestation, the future might have changed uncertainly.
I took a big risk to help him.
I glared at him as if asking if that wasn't the case, and Akteon flinched.
"Am I wrong?"
"……."
After a moment of silence, he answered.
"No, Liphy-sunbaenim is right."
Akteon, who readily admitted it, was strangely docile.
Why is he acting so meek?
I was taken aback by his immediate submission. Remembering my first encounter with him, the sense of disparity was that great.
Not to mention right before he collapsed.
"Still, it seems like there's no major problem, so wouldn't it be okay?"
However, before Akteon's expression could improve, Hiakin next to me interjected.
His eyes were raised like I had done earlier.
Like a mother-in-law who cherishes her son so much that she mistreats her daughter-in-law.
"If you understand, give a proper thank you? Don't think you can just get away with this."
Hey, I didn't glare that intensely.
Fortunately, Akteon didn't care how Hiakin treated him.
Instead, he stared at me.
Our eyes met, but only for a moment. He subtly avoided my gaze.
"The Management Bureau said it was an unusual First Manifestation. More like an abnormal magical reaction. It's proof that my expected rank is high, but there could have been problems in the process of accepting the mana."
Akteon hesitated for a moment before adding.
"...I could have become disabled, or in the worst case, the absorbed mana could have backfired and my heart could have exploded."
…I thought it was a serious situation, but I never imagined it was that dangerous.
If I hadn't saved Akteon…
'I would have earned Brondearne's resentment…?'
The person closest to him happened to be a Guide, but I didn't take any action and stood by.
'Given the Duke's personality, he would have blamed me without hesitation.'
Akteon's abnormal First Manifestation should be considered an accident, but the Duke would have blamed me for everything in his anger at losing a valuable Transcendent Being.
Saving him was the right choice.
I felt strange.
Like the dizzying sense of crisis after a precarious tightrope walk, looking back at the path I had taken,
And the relief that I had safely overcome that danger rippled together from below my neck.
After a moment of silence, Akteon extended his hand.
Is he relieved that he's regained his senses safely?
Just as I was about to place my hand over his, as if wanting to confirm it himself.
"It's thanks to Liphy-sunbaenim. I'm alive and well because of you."
Akteon, expressing his gratitude, kissed the back of my hand.
A noble-like greeting. I was about to brush it off when I felt a fierce gaze from the side.
"Hey! You can just say thank you, why are you putting your lips there!"
Faster than me, Hiakin tried to slap Akteon's hand away.
But before that, Akteon withdrew his hand, narrowed his eyes, and stood up.
"I'll tell my father that I've regained my senses. See you later."
And Akteon ignored the raging Hiakin and left the room in a flash.
"Liphy, that guy is a bit strange. It's better not to get close to him."
"Why are you making such a fuss? Nothing will happen."
"I-Is this a fuss? Can't you see his fox-like behavior?"
I can see it, very clearly.
But even if Akteon has feelings for me, me of all people? For that guy?
Because of the rank difference, I'll have to stand by while a high-ranking Guide Guides Akteon.
Why would I deliberately cause myself heartache?
Hiakin, who was worrying unnecessarily, was so noisy that I ended up kicking him out as well.
Only then, looking around the quiet room, I sighed.
'It seems like this incident has been covered up well.'
But the real challenge hasn't been resolved yet.
Akteon's Second Manifestation at the entrance ceremony.
Unless I completely heal Akteon's trauma, I can't be sure that I won't die, and the future of me, Hiakin, and Akteon will continue to be precarious.
Now that I've already twisted the flow of the original story, it wouldn't be strange for any variables to appear.
'Since the game has already been overturned, it's better to completely change Akteon's path so that it doesn't follow the original story.'
The first step.
Akteon's Second Manifestation on the day of the academy entrance ceremony, half a year later.
I can't step in and die like in the original story, so a high-ranking Guide who can stabilize Akteon must step forward.
'Milia's Manifestation is late, so she won't be able to step in then.'
Unless I quickly have Milia Manifest as a Guide.
I have to recruit another high-ranking Guide in advance for Akteon's Second Manifestation.
Then I can safely avoid an early death.
"...But why do I feel so uneasy?"
Just as I was feeling strangely anxious, the image of Akteon kissing the back of my hand came to mind.
…I hope there aren't any variables in a different sense.
I shook my head, trying to stop thinking, but the unsettling feeling didn't easily disappear.
* * *
Hiakin, who quickly returned and stayed by my side all afternoon, finally left around dinner time to get food.
I was left alone in the room, checking here and there to see if there were any other abnormalities in my body.
Knock knock.
"Ortiz-yang? May I be excused for a moment?"
A knock and an unfamiliar voice were heard.
I hurriedly went to the door and asked.
"Who is it?"
"I heard you've woken up. The Duchess sent me to check if you're okay. May I come in?"
The Duchess?
If it were the Duke, I would have been wary, but since the Duchess sent him, I could dispel my suspicion.
'Well, it should be okay.'
I opened the door, and a tall man greeted me with a bright smile.
The man I saw was a handsome individual with dark green long hair half-tied up with a hairpin.
He was truly radiant.
"I'm Beled. I'm from Brondearne… what am I?"
"...Pardon?"
"It wouldn't be fun if I just told you. Try to guess."
He smiled cheerfully and suddenly gave me a riddle.
No, you haven't even introduced yourself, how am I supposed to know that?
Suddenly, my first encounter with Prince Isidor came to mind.
I'm getting déjà vu….
I stared at him, who was clearly of the same type as Prince Isidor, without hiding my bewildered expression.
He didn't seem embarrassed at all, so it seemed like he really intended to stay like this until I guessed.
Despite my blatant expression, he waited for my answer with an even brighter smile, and I pressed my forehead.
'If he's someone who does something at Brondearne…'
He must have some kind of position.
Then it would be best to be polite first.
I shouldn't make a mistake like I did with Prince Isidor, so I pretended to be thinking while flattering him with nice words.
"First of all, he exudes nobility…"
"...Ahem."
"Your hair is nice. What soap do you use?"
"Ahem, I make it myself. Would you like a few?"
What is this guy, making his own soap?
"I'm not that interested."
No matter how well you take care of your hair.
I'll be rolling around on the grass and dirt when I go back to the academy anyway.
I scanned this uninteresting visitor from head to toe, observing him closely.
Then I noticed that his hair, despite being long, was carefully styled so that it wouldn't fall down.
'His outfit is the same.'
The wrist-tightening sleeves and buttons were noticeable, and a pair of prescription monocles hung in the pocket near his chest.
He's very careful about impurities and hygiene, and the fact that he's deliberately leaving the monocles out means…
'His eyesight isn't bad, but… he needs them for work.'
He goes to the trouble of making his own soap, and Brondearne has to use his manpower even to the point of keeping him affiliated with the family.
'Furthermore, if the Duchess thought he was necessary for me now and sent him…'
He's not a doctor. Then the answer came easily.
"Do pharmacists give examinations these days?"
"You're very quick. Do you still smell medicine on me?"
"No, I only smell good things."
Beled, who smelled his own scent by lifting his sleeve, smiled awkwardly and then entered the room.
"Our current attending physician, Algreim-ssi, is absent due to attending a seminar. It's a bit much to say I'm a replacement, but I have some medical knowledge, so I came to see you."
How strange. I feel like I'm being tested?
Beled, who had asked for my understanding, first told me to sit down and then examined my complexion.
"Isn't this illegal?"
"Hey, if it's really necessary, I'll go get a medical license."
"That's what you're supposed to do. Usually, people like that are called 'quacks'."
"Still, I'm a high-quality workforce that's different from Estra's pharmacists, so please turn a blind eye."
His nonchalance is off the charts. He's a difficult person in a different sense.
Even though I was sending him a look of disbelief without hiding it, he didn't care.
Taking out a couple of medicine bottles from the bag he brought, he said.
"This will help you regain your depleted energy. You can take it right away."
"What about the other medicine?"
"It's a headache medicine. Just in case you have any aftereffects from Guiding later. I brought it for you to have and take if you need it."
I stared at the small pill he handed me before swallowing it with water.
I won't die, right?
"Does Brondearne have enough resources to have a dedicated pharmacist?"
"It's also thanks to the royal family's willingness to allow it. This is the cradle of Transcendent Beings, after all."
The cradle of Transcendent Beings.
Ugh, what a disgusting nickname.
In this time of war, where the power of Transcendent Beings is particularly highlighted, pharmacists and doctors are treated as valuable resources as high-ranking Guides.
Pharmacists, in particular, received attention for a slightly more important role.
It wasn't just because they handled all kinds of medicinal herbs, took care of the injured, and prescribed medicine.
Mana that only exists in Transcendent Beings.
Pharmacists refined it into pill form, allowing Guides to manipulate the mana of Transcendent Beings as well.
Guides can arbitrarily use the mana of Transcendent Beings.
The most groundbreaking and unbelievable human miracle of this era.
The reason I, who had not even a speck of mana, was able to illegally manipulate mana and give Lorraine a blow was thanks to that pill, 'Nexium'.
Since the mana of Transcendent Beings is needed to make Nexium, the royal family must have allowed Brondearne to have a pharmacist for that reason.
'But there are also troublesome aspects.'
Eating Nexium means consuming someone else's mana.
No matter how intangible the power is, Transcendent Beings recognize mana and the circulation of mana as part of their own bodies.
In other words, consuming something that others consider their own body.
'No…. It's creepy to think about, so let's not.'
In any case, pharmacists were essential in this era in that they could change and use mana, which was originally impossible, in a new form.
Common pharmacists are common, but the number of people who can make Nexium is probably less than 30 in this entire country.
One of them is in front of me.
"Even though it would have been faster to reveal who you are directly, the reason you made me guess was because you were curious about me?"
"Well, that's right."
He readily admitted it, revealing his curiosity blatantly.
"I heard that a Guide who caused an accident after taking Nexium tried to do excessive Guiding less than a day after being forcibly suppressed. And he collapsed because he couldn't handle a higher rank than himself, so I can't help but be curious, right?"
He smiled and subtly mocked me.
I was honored that he was curious about a fool who made a series of unusually foolish mistakes.
