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“Ugh, uuhhh…”

The next morning.

When I opened my eyes, I somehow felt like I had no strength in my entire body.

How many things did I even do yesterday? I couldn’t remember anything from the middle onwards.

Is Zion feeling anxious all this time? She kept asking for endless confirmations, and I had poured all my love into her with whatever strength I had left.

Probably until I lost consciousness…

“I’m going crazy. It’s too cold…”

The bed I was lying on had turned completely into a waterbed from all the tossing and turning during the night.

It was cold and damp, and I thought I needed to get out of here, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.

“Ugh, ughh!?”

In the end, I had no choice but to roll off the bed with all my might.

And in the process, the blanket I was covered with got all tangled around me, making me look like a rolled-up sushi.

“Well, this is better. Hah…”

Unlike the bed, the blanket felt nice and warm… What happened? Did someone cover me with a new one?

‘By the way, where’s Zion?’

As I remembered, Zion hadn’t been in sight since I first opened my eyes.

I twisted my head around, all wrapped up in the blanket, looking for Zion, but she was nowhere to be found.

Instead, what caught my eye was…

‘A wheelchair?’

Zion’s wheelchair was set underneath the bed.

If Zion got up first and went out, she would have used that, right? But how?

“Uh? You’re awake?”

Suddenly, the cabin door opened, and a well-groomed Zion came inside.

Had she already bathed and changed into fresh clothes?

And most importantly…

“Zion? How on earth…”

“What is it? Is there a problem?”

“You’re standing just fine!”

She was standing perfectly using her two legs.

She walked in casually as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Guess I received a lot of love, huh?”

Seeing my astonished expression, Zion replied playfully with a smile.

To say she got up because of all the love she received…

So, does that mean the reason Zion had been unable to stand all this time was that she was anxious I wouldn’t love her if she got up?

In that moment, the act of confirming our love had somehow turned into a medical procedure.

“By the way, what happened to you? Did you fall while sleeping?”

“Well, it was so cold…”

“Cold?”

“Just look at the bed, Zion. It’s completely soaked and changed color.”

“Oh.”

Zion nodded as if she understood after checking the bed.

“Ugh, Hop Harvey really, how could you make the bed like that?”

“I don’t think I did that!”

“Of course it’s you! Logically speaking, isn’t it the men who spew liquids like that?”

“That little? If that were true, I’d already be…”

“Right! I thought that was really going to happen.”

“…….”

That left me flabbergasted.

Is that why I felt so weak all over and was shivering? Did I really do that much last night?

What on earth happened to me yesterday…

“Anyway, I’ve prepared breakfast, so get ready and come out.”

“Ugh, right.”

Zion walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.

I managed to pull my heavy body up, dressed, and went outside, where I found Zion sitting in front of the campfire.

“Did you come out? Come sit quickly.”

The meal Zion had prepared was none other than…

“Fish? Did you catch it?”

“Yep. Looks delicious, right?”

On metal skewers strung with fish was laid over the campfire.

True to Zion’s cooking, they were all large and plump.

They had brought enough food, yet she still insisted on catching fish?

“Besides, isn’t it a bit odd to eat fish…”

“I’ve changed my mind a little.”

After hearing my question, Zion briefly looked down, her gaze dropping, before she turned to stare at the fish roasting over the fire with a somewhat distant look.

“When you say you’d give everything and then get turned down, do you know how sad it feels…?”

“…….”

I had no idea if fish felt that way, but it was clear she was saying it for me to hear.

“There won’t be such things anymore.”

I then moved closer to sit beside Zion, trying to hug her, but…

“Wait! You’re sticking to me without even washing up?”

“Ah…”

“Seriously, while these are cooking, hurry up and wash yourself.”

“Got it.”

I returned to the cabin, grabbed a towel, and headed down to the stream to wash my entire body briefly before returning to where Zion was.

Once I sat back down in front of the campfire, the skewered fish were piled high on the plate, and Zion was holding a knife, neatly arranging the fish.

“Hurry and eat. I’ve seasoned it well.”

“You’re great at cooking, Zion.”

“Can you even call this cooking? Compared to Iris, it’s nothing.”

Zion spoke about Iris as if it was no big deal.

Indeed, in the original hero party, Iris had almost solely handled cooking.

Hanamana didn’t even get to touch any ingredients.

“Is it okay to talk about Iris?”

“I think it’s fine. Just reminiscing about the good times.”

Now that my body was getting better, it seemed to affect my mind as well.

With Zion in the present situation, she probably wouldn’t have any issues living her daily life normally.

It’s now just a matter of triggering her seizures at pinpoint levels to determine if it would happen.

I hadn’t seen her fall into panic states recently, except for the day before.

Still difficult, but she could walk normally, and with this much…

“Oh~! It’s delicious. You should try it too, teacher…”

“Zion.”

“Yes?”

Before long, Zion had finished filleting the fish and took the first bite herself.

When I called her name, she looked my way while chewing her fish.

“I guess I can be discharged now.”

“Discharged…?”

“Yeah, discharged. You’ve recovered to a level where you can live everyday life normally, so there’s no need to stay hospitalized anymore.”

“…….”

Upon hearing the word ‘discharged,’ Zion seemed deep in thought, quietly chewing what was almost entirely mashed in her mouth while she gazed at the campfire.

“Even if I’m discharged, I still need to continue rehabilitation. Just because it’s okay for daily life doesn’t mean you can go into battle. But for you, Zion, since strength should come back, you’ll probably get back to average levels after about a month of rehabilitation. Then…”

Nai, who had neurological damage, took over 18 months to walk again.

For Zion, suffering from muscle strength loss, it took nearly a year…

Strength gains tend to accelerate once it starts building up, so it could have ended the rehabilitation quickly, but there were issues like buff addiction and various psychological factors that greatly prolonged the rehabilitation.

However, I was able to get here slowly and steadily through proper rehabilitation.

Since Zion’s body was almost completely healed, her rehabilitation would soon be done. After that, Zion would…

“Then, it would mean I can move on from treatment to training. That’s where my role ends. After that, you can do whatever you want, whether to go on adventures or not.”

Zion would leave my side. Of course, that didn’t mean she would leave me.

“Where would I even go?”

It seems like she wasn’t keen on the idea of going on adventures first, denying my words while offering me her fork with fish on it.

As I took a piece of fish and popped it in my mouth, it was large, plump, rich, and soft, and as Zion had said, perfectly seasoned—slipping down my throat easily.

“I can’t leave my favorite teacher behind. I wouldn’t be anything without you. Of course, when that time you mentioned comes around, I’ll stand there waiting to head north as soon as the gate opens.”

Zion’s plan made sense if she knew the location and time the gate would open.

That was a logical plan utilizing the advantage of hosting a time-traveling regressor, a system for predicting based on time frames.

What Zion didn’t know was that the gate wouldn’t open.

I’m not a regressor, and I can’t know the future.

I was lying to give Zion a reason to receive rehabilitation, and moreover, a reason to live.

“Is the fish any good?”

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

“That’s great to hear. Make sure to fill up on quality protein, okay?”

“P-Protein? Does that mean you caught the fish just for that…”

“Hehe. Did I get caught?”

Zion gave a sly and meaningful smile.

Protein supplementation, and surely that means we might repeat last night’s escapade…

As those memories resurfaced, I suddenly felt weak all over again, as if my energy was draining out of my body.

But now wasn’t the time to be lost in such thoughts.

Hero Zion is someone who cannot live without a reason for her existence in this world.

We had sufficiently reaffirmed our feelings for each other yesterday.

So, could I now provide her with a solid reason to live in a world where the Demon King doesn’t appear?

My conclusion on this question now is… I absolutely think I can.

I trust Zion. Her love for me is real.

Even if she found out that the Demon King wouldn’t appear, she would probably continue to live for my sake.

But that’s a story for ‘now.’

Zion’s affection for me depends on the reason I’ve provided her for living.

Would she continue to love me even after realizing that reason was a lie?

Would she still trust me when she found out I had deceived her?

“What are you thinking so seriously about? With such a solemn expression.”

“Ah… it’s nothing.”

“Surely you’re not afraid of protein supplementation? I’m not eating you.”

“Haha…”

Zion loved me regardless of who I was, yet this could change.

My tendency to love only what’s broken might have been forgivable, but my actions of deceiving Zion may never be forgiven.

Before I knew it, the dynamic of our relationship had reversed.

Now, the one trembling, fearing that the other might not love me, was not Zion, but…

It was me.

 

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