noveltune Chapter 58
Chapter 58
In a small room with one transparent wall.
Although the room was empty, my past experiences had taught me enough.
Beyond that transparent wall, there were two people: one who caused me pain, and one who alleviated it.
The man with silver hair was the one who made me hurt.
His very deadpan voice gave orders that led to various parts of my body getting wrecked.
He was the one who jabbed me with syringes that caused a horrific pain, as if my insides were melting away.
Every time the silver-haired man did something, I had to endure excruciating pain.
With each bout of suffering, flames would involuntarily erupt from my body, and with every instance, those flames grew hotter and hotter.
Then, the silver-haired man would smile with joy.
I hated the pain, and so I hated that man who took pleasure in inflicting it.
However, unlike him, there was someone I didn’t dislike.
It was a man whose hair wasn’t silver and who didn’t have pointy ears.
I knew that this man was the one who eased my pain.
So, I didn’t dislike him at all.
The silver-haired man wasn’t visible; only the other man stood beyond the transparent wall.
Once more today, he had managed to prevent my suffering.
Wanting to do something for him, I decided for the first time to try to communicate with him.
I plastered myself against the wall and knocked to get his attention. He looked inside the room.
I stared straight at him, recalling how the silver-haired man had smiled when flames erupted from my body.
So, I unleashed flames from my body.
It was something I had just learned to do, something I hadn’t shown to anyone else yet.
The man looked surprised, staring at me with an expression that wasn’t the delighted smile I had expected. So, I extinguished the flames.
[10, what did you just do?]
His voice echoed in the room, prompting me to fire up the flames again and then snuff them out.
[You can control your abilities now? By the way, were you trying to show that to me?]
I nodded my head.
He looked bewildered.
[...Why?]
I pointed at him.
Then, I gestured to the spot where I had received a shot earlier that day.
It hurt like crazy, but after he’d come and gone, it didn’t hurt anymore.
I couldn’t remember it well due to the strange mist I had inhaled.
[So, you’re showing me that as thanks for healing you?]
I nodded again.
For some reason, he looked very pained.
From that day forth, every time he healed me, he started to apologize.
—
“Are you okay? If you’re not feeling well, don’t push yourself and go take a rest in the infirmary.”
Mei, who was sitting to my right, spoke up worriedly when she noticed I had zoned out for a moment during lunch.
Sylvia, sitting to my left, nodded along with her in agreement.
Mei and Sylvia watched Jessie, who spoke in an almost deranged tone, with resigned expressions.
It seemed like I was the only one bewildered by the situation.
Moments like this made me acutely feel the reality of my changed gender.
After all, I hadn’t experienced it directly yet...
“Just thinking about it makes it hard to bear. Ah! I want to work on the prosthetic!”
“...You really don’t look good at all. I’ll have to force you to lie down. Jessie, I’m taking you to the infirmary, so come along.”
“Ughhyaaak!”
Mei quickly finished her meal, grabbed Jessie, who had barely touched hers, and dragged her to the infirmary.
As I stared at the bizarre scene of Jessie being pulled away while letting out strange screams, Sylvia glanced at me and said,
“...Elves don’t really have such peculiar quirks. I can manage that with spirit magic, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
...I found it a bit odd that she could block visits from spirits with spirit magic, I thought.
—
After finishing my meal, I was a bit anxious about everything, so I headed to the infirmary for some counsel.
“Are you going to the infirmary? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yoon Si-woo, coming in through the main entrance as if returning from outside, looked at me with a worried expression.
Maybe because of my arm, it seemed like everyone was concerned about me in various ways.
“...It’s nothing serious. I just have some concerns I want to talk about.”
Still feeling a bit awkward facing Yoon Si-woo, I answered stiffly.
“...Um, if it’s bothering you, I could listen.”
He seemed to have been acting a bit uneasy around me lately, so I wondered what had changed in his feelings.
Yoon Si-woo looked at me with a slightly hopeful expression and asked.
“It’s fine; it’s not something you could help me with anyway.”
“You never know. I might be of some help. Since you listened to my worries last time, I could listen to yours too.”
He seemed to have referenced what I had said in front of the supermarket.
Knowing that it was obviously a concern he wouldn’t help with, I still decided to give a vague answer.
“I haven’t gotten my period this month, and that’s what I’m worried about.”
It had been about a month since I turned female.
It was not something I particularly wanted to experience, but the fact that it hadn’t come made me think there could be a problem with my body, which was precisely why I was heading to the infirmary.
Since he was a guy, it was clearly apparent that he couldn’t offer help regarding this topic.
Leaving behind the now tense Yoon Si-woo, I entered the infirmary.
After explaining the situation to the nurse, she said there could be various reasons for it, but it seemed likely that I had overexerted myself.
“I doubt it’s due to a nutritional imbalance.”
As I heard that, I started contemplating whether I should eat a bit more than just instant noodles.
After advising Jessie, who was resting in the infirmary, to take care of herself, I stepped outside to find Yoon Si-woo still standing there like a statue.
What an odd guy.
—
[This is Sator Astra.]
[I contacted you to see if I could obtain some containers filled with the magic from the body disposal company.]
[For what purpose? Of course, it’s for research. What other use would someone like me have for it?]
[You will allow it? Thank you. I hope Dolos always thrives.]