Chương 240: Chapter 23: “Yu Suffers Serious Injury”

'Waaaaah! Mommmmmy!'

'Oh dear. You fell and came back again. Let me see.'

'Yeah... Hey. Will the pain go away?'

'It'll be fine. Just this much. Pain, pain, go away! Right?'

'Mom. Isn't it "pain, pain, fly away"?'

'Was it? But Yu, you stopped crying properly.'

'Ah, it's true.' Mom.

'I have urgent work. I'll be back by dinner at the latest, so be a good boy.'

'Okaaay. Have a safe trip.'

'If you're a good boy, I'll buy you a souvenir.'

'Yaaay!' Always strong, and bright.

'Hold on tight to my back. I'll finish this in three minutes.'

'Okay!' To me, Mom was dazzling.

'How is it. My masterpiece!'

'Ugh. W-Well... it's v-v-very delicious. Right, Dad!'

'Y-Yeah. Yuna's cooking is always the best!'

'Fufun. Right? Oh my. I might be a genius.'... Though her cooking skills alone were hopeless.

'Hey, Mom. Why is my name Yu?'

'Hmm? What's wrong suddenly? Making a troubled face like a grown-up.'

'Everyone says I'm excellent (Yu -shu). That I'm a superior child. See, the characters are the same, right? So I thought maybe that's why.'

'Hohou. So you were asked by a friend and got troubled?'

'Y-Yeah...'

'There, there. Of course, if you grow up to be an excellent and splendid child, I'm a parent too. I'd boast about it~''Hmm. So it is like that?'

'Indeed. But not just that, we—oops. Sorry. Jeez, don't call me for work at a time like this.' In the end, I couldn't hear the words after that while Mom was alive. In reality, it might not have had much meaning. Ever since Dad and Mom died. As per my name, I was constantly required to be excellent. If I showed an opening, I was happily abused by my relatives. Even if I cried, there was no one in that facility who would reach out a hand. If I wasn't strong, I couldn't have survived those filthy days.

'Yu. This world is unreasonable. There are great difficulties. There are opponents against whom ordinary methods won't work.' Right. This world is endlessly unreasonable.

'Even so, when you have to confront them. When you absolutely cannot lose. What do you think is needed first to truly not lose?'

'Hmm... what is it. I don't know.'

'Listen. It's here. To have a head that never loses. If you have that—' Then, why. Why did Mom lose? Why did you lose to someone like me?... I know that, don't I? Mom couldn't shoot. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Only I could. That day. In my hand, a gun was held. Something I should never have had. Before I knew it, I was. I was... —Right. That sensation back then. A sensation like being controlled by something. Vitterweitz.

Something different from his [Domination]. Something bigger.

'That's right. That is your fate.' Dimly, my eyes opened. The cold and hard feel of the soil. Warm. The sensation of fire hitting me.

"You're awake...!" Karla. She was reflected as if peering in.

"Thank goodness...! If you died too, I...!" She couldn't continue her words and started crying clinging to me. She's a woman who cries often. I thought of comforting her, but my hand didn't move as I wished. Letting her do as she pleases, I feel her warmth. I thought it was warm since a while ago, and a fire was floating next to me. Now it is flickering unstable.

"Where is this...?"

"This is." 『My dwelling. 』 What resonated in my mind was the voice of the Fire Dragon, which ordinary humans cannot hear. My neck doesn't move well, but I certainly feel his presence over there. 『You were about to be eaten by beasts. Roughly, but I carried you in my mouth. Also, since you were dying. I shared a little of my Qi with you. 』 『I see. That helped. I thank you. 』 『What. No need to thank me. The one who nursed you desperately was that little girl there. 』 Being told so, I look at Karla. I see.

The fire next to me was something she created to warm me. It's this winter season. Without her help, I might have frozen to death. It must have been hard to maintain the magic all the time. Quite a dedication. Good grief.

"Karla. You were the one who treated me, right?"

"Yes. I had to save you, I was just desperate..."

"Thank you. You really saved me." She opened her eyes wide in surprise. With tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, she nodded with a genuinely happy face.

"Y-Yes! Of course. I am your serva—no, collaborator." Karla strokes her chest with a somewhat enchanted expression. Just having the will to live, she has become a little better compared to a while ago. I tried to sit up, but intense pain ran just by moving a little.

"... Guh."

"Better not push yourself. You have such a serious injury that it's strange you're alive. I really thought you were going to die." Karla is staring at me with worried eyes.

"How long has it been since I parted with you?"

"One week."

"Was I out for such a long time?"

"Yu. Why do you have such an injury..."

"I got beaten." She was surprised and covered her mouth with her hand.

"No way. Someone like you, being beaten so badly... I can't believe it."

"The opponent was also the same as me—no, even more outside the norm." Different from the guys I've dealt with so far. He is a real monster. Destructive hedonist. A man who makes trampling on people his purpose in life. The type I hate the most. Reminds me of my relatives and the underworld folks who used me hard. I want to vomit. I can't hand over 《Chroluender》 to a guy like that. I can easily imagine what kind of disgusting things will happen. Besides, I have a bad feeling.

If left as is, damage will definitely reach my acquaintances too. And I am the only one who has a possibility to stop him.

"Vitterweitz. I must kill him." Putting strength into my body, I try to get up forcibly. Karla hugged me to stop me.

"No! Please. Don't be reckless."... True enough. Even if I move immediately, there is no chance of winning. Rather, the odds are even worse. What to do with this injury. Treatment by Qi ultimately uses my own Qi to heal, after all. Consumed by injury to this extent, treating it as first aid might only delay complete recovery. Should I knead Qi inside my body and wait for natural recovery? At this rate, it will take another week just to be able to move at least. I'm in a bind.

"Understood. I'll concentrate on healing my injury for a while." Hearing that I wouldn't push myself, Karla's face brightened up.

"Yes. That's good. I'll stay with you all the time too." 『Fire Dragon. Sorry, but can I borrow this place for a while? 』 『I don't mind. Stay as long as you like. 』 Karla puffed out her chest and patted it ton.

"Leave the care while you can't move to me. From meals to care below, I'll do everything." I see. I have to be taken care of. Pathetic.

"Come to think of it, for this past week."

"Of course, I did." Karla blushes happily and a little shyly. I'm starting to feel embarrassed too. 『It was quite... well, amazing. 』 The Fire Dragon turns his head away in an awkward tone. I inadvertently cleared my throat and asked.

"Karla. What were you doing?"

"What, you ask? Everything." Seeing her showing an ecstatic expression, I sighed. It often happens that a woman who looks sadistic and aggressive on the outside is actually... Even so, I didn't think she was such a devoted and masochistic woman. It seems there was a big hole in my shoulder. According to Karla, the damage was so great I was dying, and it was actually ten days later that I could move properly. She made three meals a day by hand and fed me who couldn't move.

She gave me water, and took care of my excretion. Since I couldn't do anything myself, honestly, it was very helpful. Since there was nothing else to do, conversation and physical contact naturally increased. I might have inadvertently talked about things I haven't told others. Carelessly, I felt happy somewhere. It was a dense ten days that felt quite long. Also, it turned out that my ability to read minds seems to be more effective the more the other person opens their heart to me.

It transmits even if I don't want it to. Karla's favor directed at me, various memories, and so on. Although not as much as her ex-boyfriend, there is no doubt I made her fall for me. Why did it turn out like this. Why me. I almost killed her, and I should have been cold to her all the time. While I couldn't move, I was thinking about how to fight him all the time. I managed to hide my abilities and trump cards somehow.

If he was more interested in me, I wouldn't have known, but the reason is probably that he didn't care much about me as someone far below him. Actually, at this point, the levels are too different. There is not a single factor to win yet. But don't underestimate my growth potential. I learned your ability [Domination] I received in this body, and that movement—the power of the kick. For a while, I'll pretend to be dead. I'll accumulate countermeasures and training in this forest to my heart's content.

For showing composure and not killing me on the spot, I'll definitely make you regret it.