Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Iris
“Alright… I’m going to do it, okay?”
Reiji-san’s voice was laden with tension.
The only other sound that could be heard was the cackling of the fireplace and the dripping from the soaking wet clothes hanging nearby.
By “soaking wet clothes”, I mean all of them, even the underwear. The only thing covering my body right now was a single blanket.
Truth be told, I was really tempted to run away in embarrassment at the thought of exposing myself so shamelessly, but that’s simply not an option… because it’s something that has to be done.
I lay down on the bunk at Reiji-san’s instruction. My heart was thumping so much that it threatened to jump out of my chest when I thought about what’s going to happen.
Reiji-san’s hand laid gently on mine, though he was as nervous as I was… My body shivered at his touch.
Although I was prepared for this, I was still a little scared. But Reiji-san silently accepted my feelings and gently held my stiffened hand to reassure me.
“I know how to do this, more or less… but I’ve never actually done anything like this before, so this might really hurt, you know?”
“Please do it… I can take a bit of pain…”
“Alright, chew on this.”
He handed me a piece of cloth… a handkerchief, to be exact. I folded it to the proper thickness and clenched it in my mouth.
Once it’s done, I gave him a small nod to tell him that I’m prepared.
“Okay, I’m gonna do it… Brace yourself.”
Gently, Reiji-san’s hand rested on my shoulder as I lay down.
“…Eek?! ~~~~~~~?!”
CRACK
It felt numb for a moment, then a sharp pain immediately followed as my dislocated joint was returned to its original position. At the same time, some freedom had returned to my shoulder.
“Hah…hah…”
“…You alright there? Sorry if I was too rough.”
“No… I just didn’t expect it to hurt this much, that’s all.”
I raised myself up, wiping the tears that dripped from the corners of my eyes.
My shoulder had its normal smooth curve, but it was reddish-black and swollen. When I finally saw it, I was devastated.
“I see… Well then, get it fixed, will you?.”
I nodded my head and chanted a spell while enduring the dull pain that was creeping up my spine.
“’Heal’…!”
The healing light gathered on the reddish-black area where there’s internal bleeding… In a blink of an eye, the pain and swelling vanished.
“Thank goodness… it’s finally gone…”
At last, the pain that had been tormenting me for so long was gone, and I lightly grasped and opened my hands and rotated my shoulders to check on my condition… All good now.
“Sorry for troubling you… Reiji-san? Why are you looking that way?”
Reiji-san, though, was turning his head more than 90 degrees as if he wanted to avoid looking at me as much as possible.
“…Look at your ‘attire’ first before asking, idiot!”
“Ah… I-I’m sorry!!!”
…Oh no, I forgot about that.
I hugged my knees, shrank down as much as I could and wrapped the blanket that had dangerously slipped down all over my body.
A tremendous amount of blood must have gathered in my face by now. I couldn’t even look directly at Reiji-san anymore.
Why…? Why does it have to be so embarrassing? It was totally fine when we took a bath together before.
But the moment I recalled about the bath, my heart started racing nonstop.
“Can I turn back now?”
“Hiiiii?! Y-Yes!”
I made an unladylike noise again…
Afterward, we sat back to back in front of the cackling fireplace to warm ourselves up.
With nothing to say to each other after the previous embarrassment… we could only stare at the flame and feel the warmth of each other’s back in silence.
I find this silence unbearable, though…
“…Ah.”
“W-What’s the matter?!”
“Not really… I’m just thinking about how convenient it is. Healing arts, I mean. Normally, I would never allow an amateur like myself to fix your joint so roughly, considering the risks.”
Said Reiji-san bitterly.
What he did was nowhere near the proper medical procedure because of the possibility of damaging the surrounding tissues.
But I just regenerated them all with “Heal” and now my arm worked perfectly as it should.
“…It’s convenient, indeed, but we’ll be in trouble if it can’t be used.”
“Right…”
Now that we were out of the effect area of the magic nullification stones, our recovery was going smoothly, but the feeling of being stuck at that time made me shudder when I thought back on it.
What would have happened if the goblin who speaks human language and calls himself Gantz-san hadn’t come to our rescue?
With his help and guidance, we had somehow made our way to this nearby rest stop.
Goblins and hobgoblins alike usually speak in some “monster language” that humans can no way understand.
Apparently Gantz-san had lived among humans for so many years that he could now speak our language without problem.
It’s common for humans to hire hobgoblins as mercenaries… many of them serve as baggage carriers, rear guard shielders and other kinds of auxiliary troop.
Back in the game, the highest goblin-type monster you could employ as your familiar was called “Hobgoblin Hero”, said to be a seasoned veteran who fought in many battles… I think this Gantz-san might be one of those.
“So, did you notice something’s off?”
I understood what Reiji-san was talking about.
On the way here, to a certain extent, the entire wall surface was a large hollow covered with magic nullification stones. However, the ores were no longer to be found, and what appeared instead were wooden scaffolds that appeared to have been constructed only recently.
“This tunnel was supposed to be closed off due to danger of collapsing… right?”
“And yet we found no trace of a collapse, well, up until the battle at least.”
…What we found instead, were signs of a mining operation that just took place recently.
The peddler from before once said that the trading of magic nullification stones in this country was strictly controlled by the state, because those stones could fetch a very high price thanks to high demand from their newly discovered use.
“…This is illegal, isn’t it?”
“No wonder that mayor got rich so quickly. He must have been behind all this.”
“Correct.”
The next moment, the door to the rest stop opened with a clang.
Gantz-san, the hobgoblin in full body armor who rescued us, entered.
“Talk later. When everyone’s gathered. For now, rest.”
He (thankfully) paid no heed to our current state of undress, walked past us to the fireplace, placed the small pot he was holding on top of it and began to stir its contents.
“No worries. These emergency rations, humans left them behind.”
The aroma of… spice and consommé (?) tickled my nostrils, and my stomach rumbled.
………
Why?!!!!!!!!!!
Without the barrier of clothing, the sound of my stomach echoed throughout the room.
In embarrassment, I stole a glance at Reiji-san… I could tell that “I didn’t hear anything” was written on his face.
“Gnnnnnnnnnnh!!”
“Frustrated, not good. Here, take a sip.”
“Ah, thank you very much.”
A cup of steamy soup was offered to me.
Even though he’s a goblin, why is Gantz-san so gentlemanly? He even sounds like one.
As I sipped on the soup, the spices left a lingering taste on my tongue, and I felt my body warming up a little.
“HOT?!”
Reiji-san, on the other hand, seemed to get burned by the hot soup, and spewed out a puff of smoke. That’s payback for earlier.
“Ugh… can I get healed?”
“Pfft… Yes, please turn your head this way… ‘Heal’.”
“Thanks…”
After he turned to look at me, I touched his cheek and cast a spell. The small glow lit up and disappeared.
As Reiji-san once again gorged himself on the soup once his burn was healed, a giggle escaped my mouth.
“May I ask something?”
“Hmm? Yes, go ahead.”
I was taking a mouthful of the soup, which had cooled down nicely when Gantz-san suddenly spoke.
“You both, so young… A couple, by any chance? Shall I, excuse myself?”
“?!!!!!!!!”
Both of us choked on our soup and coughed.
“Wrong? You get along, so well. It’s in plain sight.”
““We aren’t a couple!!””
Why does everyone I meet ask that question?!
“Leaving that aside… Who are you, actually?”
“Me…? I suppose, I can tell. The Count, employed me. In this region, I mainly oversee monsters. I’m a ‘secret agent’, in human speech.”
“That’s kind of amazing…”
I marveled at the fact that the Count entrusted such an important matter to a demihuman, who was technically a monster even though he was friendly. But I guess he’s the perfect candidate for the job if he proves to be trustworthy.
“…Um, did you happen to accompany a human woman to this place?”
I asked a question that just occurred to me.
“Miss Aini? If you’re thinking about her, you’re right.”
“I see… So she wasn’t in any danger after all…”
I was relieved to confirm that she wasn’t brought here by force.
“……Actually, no. ‘That thing’, blocked the exit. We had a hard time. Getting him, out of the way, you have my thanks.”
So the reason they couldn’t come back was because of that troll… It seemed that our effort was not in vain.
“Apologies, I got a call.”
Gantz-san suddenly covered his ear with his hand and started talking to someone.
“…Understood. We shall, remain here.”
“Did something happen?”
“Good news. Miss Aini, found your companions. They’re heading here, to meet us.”
““Really?!””
“They’ll come, in a moment. Until then, please take a rest.”
With that, Gantz-san walked out of the door.
“Those two… they’re safe… ah…”
My vision grew shaky. For some reason, I felt strangely sluggish, and my head was getting dizzy.
“…Looks like you’re in need of sleep. I’ll watch the fire, you go back to bed.”
“Yes… Sorry for the trouble…”
I didn’t manage to finish my sentence when my consciousness sank into darkness, as if it had reached its limits-
APM - Translation 