Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Snow Ball (1)

When I regained consciousness, there was a large object before my eyes.

No, it was a chest, akin to a large bread bun.

An unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar size and shape led me to utter a word unknowingly.

“Ca…rla?”

“Master…? Are you awake?!”

Carla, who had been silently staring intently at my face, leaped from her seat.

Ah, I understood.

She was so close that all I could see from my perspective was her lower chest.

I momentarily lost myself in such thoughts.

Suddenly, Carla began to caress my face while whimpering.

“Master…it’s such a relief… I’m so glad you’re safe. The priests said you would be fine, but I was so worried… so…”

From my forehead to my eyebrows, nose, and cheeks.

The sensation of Carla’s slender fingers gently stroking my face from top to bottom.

It made me feel like a child, and was ticklish in every part she touched, causing me to squirm… but I couldn’t avoid her touch.

Her expression was too sorrowful to do so.

“I can’t… be without you, Master… It can’t be….”

“……”

Now, she even started shedding tears, like a chick.

Seeing her sob quietly instantly cleared my foggy mind.

“Come here.”

I reflexively pulled her slender arm towards me, and Carla climbed onto the bed without any resistance.

I laid her next to me and slowly stroked her from the back of her head down to her back.

“I just woke up, so I’m still a bit out of it, but seeing as I’m lying in bed like this, everything seems to have been resolved. Why are you crying?”

“… It has been resolved. But you were hurt.”

“Hey, I took some high-grade potions before I passed out. Others must’ve treated me, and by the time I got here, there wouldn’t have been many wounds left.”

“That’s true. The wounds have healed. But potions aren’t omnipotent, Master. Normally, when you get injured to this extent, there are usually aftereffects.”

Carla, who whispered so, buried her face in my neck.

I had learned about this in a lesson. The difference between healing through divine power and healing using potions.

If there was a severe fracture, the bone had to be aligned before healing, and there could be phantom pain after healing….

“I’m fine, aren’t I?”

“That’s because you received the best treatment in the academy’s intensive care unit for three days.”

“…….”

So, this was the intensive care unit. No wonder the ceiling seemed unfamiliar.

According to Carla, professors from the Divinity Department poured in divine power in turns, professors from the Magic Department cast all sorts of mental stability magic, and professors from the Crafting Department fed me expensive potions.

I seemingly received VIP treatment.

Well…I roughly understood the reason.

I was the first-year student who defeated the Archbishop of God of Tainted Unity Church.

Of course, I didn’t fight alone, but I was the main player, which was an unchangeable fact.

In an academy, an educational institution for exterminating cultists and monsters, they wouldn’t treat me lightly.

Above all, I had already revealed to Elisha that Edmerek’s target was me.

Even if not, other students would have seen Edmerek obsessively targeting only me.

For an investigation into this matter, they had to treat me properly and keep me in one piece.

…and having seen all this process, Carla must have been terribly frightened.

Just how badly was I hurt to need such extensive treatment?

I gently stroked Carla, whom I held in my arms, and said,

“It’s alright. I fought a bit aggressively and got hurt here and there, but there wasn’t a life-threatening injury. It seems like the academy made a fuss over it.”

“Making a fuss? I… saw everything when I changed Master into patient clothes. Your back was completely torn open, other parts had severe wounds, and your side was soaked in blood, you know? And despite that, you say they were making a fuss…?”

Her eyes were stern, as if demanding to know everything that had transpired.

Yet her eyes were soaked with tears, looking pitiful.

To lighten the mood a bit, I touched my forehead to Carla’s and grinned.

“So, what will you do about it?”

“…I will sob until Master properly explains everything to me.”

“You are already crying, aren’t you?”

“I will wail loudly.”

“Then, there’s no helping it.”

Seeing Carla pouting, I chuckled and leaned in.

Smooch.

It was a short kiss. But it left a lingering sensation.

Perhaps I quite liked the tingling feeling that remained like an afterimage.

Carla, who had been sulking, was smiling a bit now.

“Eee… Master is unfair. Now I can’t say anything…”

“It’s alright. Even if you aren’t curious, Carla, I planned on telling you what happened. It was incredibly awesome. Let’s see… The party members I met there were unusual for starters…”

.

.

.

.

.

“Well, it roughly went like that. I thought I was screwed at one point, but somehow everything was resolved.”

“Huh? Master, did you become stiff? It’s still soft… Oh, it became hard.”

“Sshh! This is the intensive care unit. If we do anything here, everyone will find out. So, stop tempting me.”

“Ok.”

Now understanding that I was severely injured but not critically, Carla nodded her head.

Her voice sounded more relieved. At least, it didn’t sound as anxious as before.

This should be fine now.

While gently stroking Carla’s platinum hair, I continued.

“Now it’s my turn to ask. What happened while I was unconscious? What about the dungeon? What happened to Edmerek?”

“Oh. Master just woke up, so he doesn’t know.”

In response to my questions, Carla started explaining what had happened.

Firstly, when I brought down Edmerek’s main body, all his avatars also fell.

It was natural, since they were just avatars.

The peculiar thing was that even the regular monsters in the dungeon disappeared… Which meant that the practice dungeon was cleared.

Perhaps Edmerek, after consuming the boss, created avatars and assumed the boss’s role?

While the students celebrated their victory and tended to the wounded, they quickly left the dungeon upon realizing it had been cleared.

No one wished to remain in that accursed dungeon any longer.

The reward for clearing the dungeon was given to me, the one who contributed the most, but all I saw was a white light absorbed into my body. Thus, I was unsure of the exact nature of the reward.

So I decided to check the status window later.

In fact, even now, several notifications were blinking in the corner of my vision, awaiting confirmation.

Regardless, the students who barely escaped did not find welcoming professors but a chaotic base.

The professors had also been attacked.

Fortunately, by the time the students began to escape, the battle had temporarily ceased.

Just as I had suspected, there was a reason they weren’t able to help us.

Afterward… those who realized their plan had failed started to retreat. Instead of chasing after them, Iona opened a teleportation gate leading to the academy.

And the dungeon practice ended there.

The injured, including myself, were immediately transported to the medical facilities, and that was how we ended up here.

“Heh… to think they would engage in battle and buy time when Professor Iona is present. Who exactly came?”

“I’m not entirely sure…”

Indeed. As a slave and servant, Carla could only access information to the extent of rumors.

Regardless, it wasn’t something I should worry about at the moment. If necessary, I could ask Iona later.

“Oh, and also, Class A has been temporarily suspended for about two weeks, Master.”

“What? For that long?”

“Yes. Quite a few students died this time, and many were injured, though not as severely as you, Master. Additionally, there have been complaints from the students’ families.”

“Well… That’s unavoidable. Alright.”

After sending their children to school only for them to die or nearly die, not many parents would remain silent about it.

I thwarted an ambush during the entrance exam, only for a larger, full-scale battle to break out.

Should I refer to this as the butterfly effect? It was truly an unexpected snowball effect.

Nevertheless, Elisha and I were able to react swiftly, minimizing the number of casualties.

I also treated all the wounded with potions.

Moreover, if such an event happened just after I thwarted an ambush during the entrance exam, what could occur in the future?

Capturing Edmerek, who had been particularly troublesome among the cultists, and the damage this time were not minor incidents. They could trigger events that greatly deviated from the H&A scenario.

Well… with this incident, I painfully realized I didn’t have the ability to predict what would happen to me in the future.

I could only become stronger by being alert in various situations and doing my best.

Nodding at the conclusion I had reached internally didn’t last long.

Carla, who had been quiet, started to breathe regularly.

“She must be very tired.”

I don’t know exactly what time it is now, but considering the darkness around, it seems to be quite late.

I made an arm pillow for Carla to sleep more comfortably and blankly stared at the ceiling.

It would be alright to sleep a little more like this… but there was something I wanted to confirm before that.

‘Status Window.’

Why had it been flashing since earlier?