Tomorrow's Ark

Chapter 14: Starting Scheme

"A-ah..."

The pain seared through her leg like a hot knife, making Angelina trembled. Her grip on the staff loosened as the Vulpo fell forward

But before she hit the ground, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her just shy of impact

"Careful there" A voice said beside her. The next moment, it pulled her back upright and handed the staff back to her

"T-thanks"

"It's not an easy job recovering from a fatal wound. Take your time to rest"

He gently guided her to the bed. Angelina blushed, but could not complain as he tucked her exhausted body in

The boy took a day from his job to take care of her

Even if she had insisted otherwise, in the end Angelina could only sit there embarrassed as he stared at her like a petulant kid

Especially right now, she felt those worries were more correct than she thought. The pain had prevented her from going up the stair or do any kind of strenuous activities that might stress her out

Looks like she won't be able to walk normally for a while

Right now, she is sitting on the bed, letting herself being tended by him. Angelina tried to hide a whimper as he took off the bloodied bandage around her leg

"It looks to be a flesh wound. The burn is not too severe. I'd reckon this will heal in a day or two"

Inspecting the shiny red patch under her ankle, the boy remarked

"However, there are also worrying symptoms. In the past 24 hours, you experience trouble breathing, muscle pain, and blurry vision. Has this happened before?"

"Sometime. I just don't they're worth mentioning" She chuckled "After all, I was almost reduced to a pile of ash just the night before. What's a little more pain compared to that?"

"Angelina, those are symptoms of Oripathy in the middle stage"

"..."

The interval at which it is happening is less than one hour. The severity is intense. The cause, most likely because of Art overusage

As somebody who abused his Isekai cancer power on a weekly basis, the boy know best what kind of pain she went through.

The chase with Meteorite must have caused her to exert all her strength to arrive here, causing the dormant crystal in her body to experience an abrupt acceleration in growth

In short, this is an issue he had overlooked. The disease had always been there. It only became apparent after she had exhausted herself

"I'm sorry"

Unexpectedly, such words came out of his mouth

"N-no, you're the one treating my wound. Why are you apologizing?"

"For all my medical experience, even I couldn't deal with Oripathy. You should have been administered treatment so as to prevent further episodes from happening"

"Don't be ridiculous" Angelina jumped from her bed. She winced in pain, but pushed on "Most hospital wouldn't accept people like me. No need to beat yourself up about it"

He stare at her

He stare at her for a long time, and wonder if this girl know about his knowledge of the lore, whether she would blame him