IRHWSDD 21

Suspicious Nurse

The temple located in the capital.

The high priest offering evening prayers suddenly jolted, his body staggering.

The silver hair brushing his shoulder swayed slightly behind the motion.

Next to him, the chief priest guarding the high priest tilted his head in concern.

“Are you all right, Your Excellency?”

“This is serious. The barrier sealing the Demon’s Egg has just faltered.”

“Oh my! Could it be the work of the Red Eagle again?”

“Most likely. I don’t know how they managed to send a curse of this magnitude!”

The high priest hurried out of the prayer room and made his way to his chambers.

Opening his wardrobe, he began rifling through piles of clothing.

“Shall I summon the other priests immediately?”

“No. At first light tomorrow, I’ll visit the cadet school. I need to meet Prince Wigretz as well… In any case, it has to be done secretly, so prepare for a covert operation.”

He mumbled to himself, “While I’m at it, I should meet the Holy Sword’s master too.”

Then he began taking out thick glasses, a postal uniform, and other miscellaneous items from the wardrobe.

“When did you even prepare all this?”

Among the clothes, a strange uniform marked with universe code M612 and written in Ertha’s language was visible.

Even the chief priest, who had mastered hundreds of foreign languages, could not fully read it but roughly understood it said something like “dawn delivery.”

“But Your Excellency, the missing Holy Sword is still being searched for by the royal family. You plan to meet its owner?”

“I never said that.”

“You just muttered it.”

“Jerome, your hearing is impressive. You must have misheard.”

The high priest, speaking inconsistently, handed Jerome a shabby postal uniform.

“What is this, Your Excellency?”

“You know, Jerome. Cadets at the academy are hardly students—they’re like wild beasts. I can’t go to such a dangerous place alone.”

“You manage fine alone all the time, so why the sudden caution? Did one of the cadets try to stab you or something?”

“Of course not. Haha. I just feel safer with you around, that’s all.”

“……”

“Really, it’s true. Tomorrow morning, we’ll sneak out the back door. I’ll tell the other priests we’re entering fasting prayers together.”

“Haah…”

Jerome, the chief priest, let out a long sigh as he accepted the uniform. Serving such an unpredictable superior, he realized he might meet the goddess before his boss did.

At the same time, following the guidance of the Holy Sword, Lukna arrived at Closet College and found Matian collapsed in the alley.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Could it be that he had been affected by the ominous energy the Holy Sword sensed?

Seeing such a strong figure powerless on the ground was shocking—and frightening.

“Hi, Bisby. Hey, Bisby!”

She called out desperately to the Holy Sword, but it didn’t respond—likely because Matian was present.

“This won’t work. I need to get someone to help.”

There was no way she could carry his body alone.

As Lukna stepped out into the alley again, something suddenly grabbed her ankle.

“Ah!”

Startled, she fell backward. It was Matian’s hand holding onto her ankle.

“Matian? Are you conscious?”

Judging by his silence, he had probably reached out unconsciously.

‘Did he hold me back to make sure I don’t get help?’

Well, of course—Matian hated being seen like this.

He was like a swan: graceful above the water but frantically struggling below the surface.

Lukna adjusted her grip, slinging his solid arm over her shoulder.

Then, crouching slightly, she lifted him onto her back, grunting as she struggled to stand.

‘He’s strong, but he’s really heavy.’

He looked like a sculpted figure, but felt like marble—beautiful to look at, yet cold and rigid to touch.

‘If he hadn’t trained every dawn, I wouldn’t have been able to lift even one of his legs.’

She finally arrived at the infirmary.

Saint Cadet School’s infirmary was infamous for its poor care. Even serious wounds would only receive basic bleeding control and a splash of red medicine.

Rumors suggested that frequent duels and overworked cadets drove the nurse mad—or maybe she had been incompetent from the start.

‘But right now, I don’t have another option.’

Lukna carried Matian inside. His body, completely unconscious, felt even heavier as it sagged.

‘Ugh, this is hard. Too heavy!’

Her legs trembled like a newborn giraffe as she reached the infirmary.

Fortunately, the lights were on—so the nurse was still there.

At that moment, the infirmary door slid open, revealing a middle-aged woman with black glasses poking her head out.

The red droplets splattered over her old dress looked like blood.

“Who came looking for me?”

She smiled gently, but initially looked in the wrong direction—ignoring Lukna.

“Oh, that’s not it. My mistake.”

Then she quickly turned her head toward Lukna. Startling her.

“Who… are you?”

“I’m the one who watched you fall.”

Hmm? Lukna didn’t understand, but apparently, the woman could see after all.

“Don’t worry. You were pretending not to know me, so I played a little trick too. Come on in, Cadet Lukna.”

She indicated inside the infirmary, using a white staff to guide herself.

‘So she can see me… or not?’

The staff, topped with an opaque crystal, seemed less like a blind cane and more like a mage’s tool.

The woman casually draped a white coat over her shoulders.

On her chest, “Health Teacher Gale” was embroidered in blue thread.

A dandelion tucked into her pocket hinted at a romantic streak.

“You’ve been quiet. Did you lose some old memories, Lukna?”

As she rifled through drawers for medicines, the nurse accurately guessed Lukna’s thoughts.

“How… how did you know?”

“I could tell by your lost-memory feelings. You seem to have forgotten about me as well. My diagnosis is spot on, right?”

Lost-memory feelings? Lukna glanced at her reflection in the glass doors, showing her usual neutral expression.

‘Does the nurse have some supernatural ability?’

“Don’t treat me like a ghost. First, let’s get Matian onto the bed. I may be blind, but I have a spiritual sight, so don’t ask the same question twice.”

The nurse pointed to the neatly prepared patient bed with her staff.

Lukna, surprised that her thoughts were “read,” stared at her.

“Even with spiritual sight, I can’t hear your inner voice. So stop worrying—just put Matian on the bed, quickly.”

“Uh, yes, yes.”

Flustered, Lukna roughly laid Matian on the bed.

His black hair, soaked with sweat, was spread across his forehead.

Even that looked picturesque, and Lukna quickly averted her eyes.

His pants and shoes were covered in dust, clearly from dragging his long legs along the ground all the way here.

‘That’s because his legs are long, not my fault.’

She brushed off her hands, but suddenly froze.

“Ah! Scared me!”

The nurse, holding a red medicine bottle, had stepped right behind her.

“His long legs dragged along the ground. What can you do? Matian will understand too.”

“……!”

“Stop being so jumpy. As I said before, your emotions always show on your face. Learn to hide them, like Matian does.”

“You’re the first person who could read my mind this well.”

“Well, that’s what mothers do. Even if a child just moves their eyes, they can tell what they’re thinking.”

“Oh… are you my mom?”

The question slipped out before she could process it.

Hearing the word “mother” naturally reminded her of Sister Agnes, who had cared for her devotedly in her past life.

Though she had no regrets about her past life, Sister Agnes remained in her thoughts.

‘She would be sad if she heard I died from overwork. I’d rather she not know.’

The nurse’s lips stretched in a long, bitter smile.

“Unfortunately, I’m not your mother. I’m more like a guardian who takes care of you like a mother.”

Guardian. Lukna recalled the Holy Sword saying that the academy had someone looking out for her.

“Sorry. I don’t remember any of this.”

“No need to apologize. Looks like you’ve trained hard. You’ve grown strong—carried even a big guy like him with ease.”

The nurse placed her palm on Matian’s chest, scanning him roughly.

Then she opened the red medicine bottle and applied some to his forehead.

Wait, isn’t that the ointment for scrapes?

“Wait, teacher. Why are you putting that on his forehead?”

“Since he lost consciousness, his head probably hurt.”

She answered confidently. Though she seemed mystical, she was just… a bit eccentric.

“Lukna, can you take off Matian’s shirt?”

“…What?”

“I have medicine in both hands. Well, maybe it’s a bit much to ask a girl to do this.”