Chương 46: Did You Not Hear Me?

Kichan's voice was not loud. But the pens moving inside the treatment center stopped first. The sound of paper being scratched, the low water-like flow inside the glass pipes, even the clerks' whispered breaths vanished at once. The royal mage did not answer right away. He kept a thin smile and looked down at his recording board. On it, in order, were the child's breathing, Kichan's hand, the holy water reaction, the light, and the small clauses at the bottom of the document.

"I will report it to my superiors." Ren translated. Kichan did not look at Ren. He looked at the royal mage.

"Not superiors." Ren's throat moved once.

"Call the highest person." The royal mage's smile stiffened a little. Only for a moment. He soon made his face soft again. His eyes were not soft. He spoke at length. Treatment center authority. Royal permission. Public interest. Many patients. Protection procedure. Need for research. Ren translated with cold sweat on his face. A few terms became rounder. Kichan knew immediately.

"Don't leave things out." Ren's mouth stopped. The investigator looked at Ren. One clerk also raised his head. Ren clenched and unclenched his fingers once, then this time translated Kichan's words almost exactly. The royal mage's mouth grew thinner. Kichan placed a finger on the document.

"I'll say it." Ren waited for him.

"Do not touch anyone connected to me." Ren followed a little late.

"If you want to take a patient, ask the patient, and ask the guardian too. If they say no, it ends there." The royal mage drew in a very small breath. Kichan continued.

"Don't try to make me do anything either." The fragment inside his clothes was hot. Kichan pressed his throat once. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"And the village document. The village people. Don't pretend to care while touching them." Before translating the last sentence, Ren looked at Kichan briefly. Kichan did not look away.

"As is." Ren said it as it was. The air inside the treatment center grew colder. The royal mage did not politely refuse. He politely delayed. Confirming the responsible officer, formal procedure, patient safety, record preservation. The words were soft, but the words inside the document did not change. At that moment, the child's mother stood up at the end of the corridor. She was the woman who had been sitting beside the child until just now. Her hands were still stiff in the shape of holding the child's hand.

But two clerks were guiding her toward a side room. The child's father was with her. They said it was a procedure for leaving statements after the child woke. A small plaque beside the door had different words on it. He could not read the ordinary writing clearly, but several words caught inside Kichan's throat. Guardian reaction. Confirmation of consent. Separate record. Kichan stopped.

"What are you doing right now?" Before Ren could translate, Kichan walked over. At the records room door, one clerk lifted an arm. A blocking gesture. Ink stained the clerk's fingers. Kichan set the wake-up rod upright on the floor. Thud. The floor rang low. The old grain on the rod's surface came alive in gold. Thin light rose from inside the old wood. The blue mana inside the treatment center's glass pipes pushed back for one instant. The clerk's ink spread in a circle over the paper.

The royal mage lifted his hand. Kichan grabbed the doorknob. Cold metal touched his palm. The next moment, the inside of the lock caught at his fingertips. Three teeth. The lower one was rusted but could move. The sealing pin was hollow inside, unlike its surface. Kichan grimaced.

"Why does it feel like I can open this? Annoying." He pressed lightly under the knob with the end of the wake-up rod. Click. The sealing pin slipped out. The door opened. The child's parents inside looked at Kichan. The mother stood frozen with her hands gathered to her chest. The father bit his lip. Both wore faces that did not know what they were supposed to say. Kichan did not ask. He gestured for them to come out. A clerk shouted something. Ren said something too.

The recording cord around the investigator's wrist shook briefly. Kichan led the child's parents back to the child's bed. The child's fingers were still moving slightly. The mother took that hand. The father knelt beside the bed. Kichan said shortly,"Stay beside the child." The mother immediately sank down beside the bed. The father knelt with her. The royal mage tried to follow. Kichan set the wake-up rod on the floor again. The gold light still remained on its surface. The royal mage's feet stopped.

In that gap, Dust moved. Dust slid down from Kichan's shoulder and went to the far end of the corridor. There was a corner where discarded cloth scraps and broken wooden supports had been piled up. The treatment center people still had their eyes stolen by the records room door and the child's parents. Dust dragged something out from inside the pile. A small, old key. Kichan narrowed his eyes.

"What did you pick up this time?" Dust flicked its legs once. The moment Kichan picked up the key, the inside of the metal spread open at his fingertips. A lattice holding the flow of mana. Not simple teeth for opening and closing, but a small device that fixed some current somewhere. Kichan looked down at the key, then at Dust.

"Where... did you get this?" Dust flicked its legs once. Yes. Then it pointed toward the deep corridor of the treatment center. There was one more closed door in that direction. The blue light inside the glass pipe above the door swayed. At first, very slightly. Soon, every glass pipe in the treatment center began to hum low. The red mark on the sealed box in the inner corridor went out. Below it, the shutoff device leading down to the underground mana storage shook.