Awakening (2)

Inner Demons such as worry, anxiety, waiting, conjecture, and fear bring suffering to the patient.
Treat patients who will not listen in the manner of the E-Mei Sisters Order.
-The Abbess With The Lamp, Florence Nightingale-

When I came to, it was already dark outside the window.

My body was lying on the sofa, and a wet cloth had been placed on my forehead.

“Good heavens…….”

At the sound of a voice I turned my head and saw Watson and Mrs. Hudson looking down at me with worried faces.

“You suddenly collapsed, so I wondered what it was, and yet it was Qi Deviation.”

Watson murmured as she replaced the wet cloth.

“Still, it’s a relief you came to. It’s only because the symptoms weren’t severe. If they were, it would have been a disaster.”
“……I’ve unintentionally caused you and Mrs. Hudson worry. I’m sorry.”

At first my vision was blurry so I didn’t notice, but little by little the pure-silver fine needles stuck densely into my limbs came into view.

It seemed Watson had attempted treatment while I was unconscious.

Looking closely, the corners of Watson’s eyes were stained red.
Had she been crying until just a moment ago.

“Since Mr. Holmes seems to have stabilized, I’ll go down now. The two of you talk at your leisure. If you’re hungry, I’ve prepared gruel, so have some.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”

Perhaps she felt Watson might burst into tears at any moment, because Mrs. Hudson left a brief farewell and went down to the first floor.

She had seen several times before that I fell into mild Qi Deviation during training and recovered, so she must have been reassured, thinking this was similar.

In truth it had been far worse than what I experienced then, but I didn’t feel any need to convey that now through Direct Messaging.

Rather than needlessly worrying the lady now, it would be better for Watson and me to resolve this matter ourselves.

More than anything, the lady already knew well that I trained demonic Kung-Fu.
Because we had already spoken of it several times.

“Truly……what is happening to your body?”

Meanwhile, Watson examined my complexion with a deepened, darker expression, but I merely smiled quietly.

“Mild Qi Deviation is something everyone experiences when they train demonic Kung-Fu.”

Compared to what I suffered today, that day when my brain nearly burst while treating Watson was far more dangerous.

Of course, if I told Watson this, she would never entrust me with treating meridian blockage disorder again, so I had no intention of speaking of it.

“To take Qi Deviation lightly, what dangerous talk. Why are you training such perilous Kung-Fu principles?”
“If I keep to my master’s method, I can manage all risks and take only the benefits.”
“……An extreme way of thinking is it? Still, it is a choice befitting you.”

Watson said it with a face that looked fed up.

She was right.

The demonic path my master and I chose was no different from tightrope walking.
But if I had the confidence and ability to walk this road to the end, was there any reason to refuse it?

“You are one of the foremost masters among the Super Juniors, so I know well I am in no position to order you about. And I also know it is not proper to add commentary to the choice a duelist has made. But—”
“…….”
“Sometimes I imagine it. That you might die on your own somewhere in Europe, and that later, when I have been living knowing nothing, a notice of your death might come flying to me. Such worries come.”

I couldn’t answer at all.
Because in my previous life, I did exactly what Watson had just described, and then crossed over to London Murim.

“……There will be no such thing again.”
“Again?”
“No. A slip of the tongue.”

Thus I ended up telling Watson yet another lie.

Doctors say this. That the area where the most pain points are distributed is the tips of the fingers.
In my view, they must have forgotten the existence of conscience.
Otherwise, it couldn’t hurt like this.

“For now, there is no need to worry too much about my body. Thanks to your care, it has stabilized greatly.”

This was not a lie.

I observed my blood paths and elixir field, but the only abnormality I could feel immediately was that I could not move my left arm.

The Renewal Lionheart Method had many excellent functions, but among them, the one that greatly aided training was that recovery was fast even if one fell into Qi Deviation.

In the process of training demonic Kung-Fu, Qi Deviation is like a companion one cannot separate from.

In the first place, most demonic Kung-Fu take as their identity the creation of an intended imbalance, going against the heavenly principle.

Therefore, no matter even if one is a peerless genius like me, experiencing Qi Deviation several times while learning demonic Kung-Fu is not due to lacking talent or effort, but something utterly natural.

However, in the case of the Renewal Lionheart Method, which my master completed by improving the original Lionheart Method after seeing the scenes of a vast empire exploiting its colonies, it could minimize damage even if Qi Deviation occurred, because it poured all turbid Qi and madness into the doctor persona and built pure internal energy beyond even orthodox inner cultivation methods.

In this Qi Deviation, the direct cause was that I committed the nonsensical act of putting my fingers into my blood paths and detonating Essence, but considering there were no notable symptoms besides a bit of nonsense and fainting, I could not help but be grateful for the existence of a superb inner cultivation method.

‘If the time the doctor persona had been corroding my body became longer, the symptoms would have been far worse than this.’

I used a second-best option and avoided the worst outcome, but it felt as if a thunder bomb had been planted in my body, and I didn’t feel good at all.

If someday I fought a demonic Kung-Fu cultivator again, I might run into a similar problem.

My master likely had the same worries before reaching the realm of Detoxified.

What ingenious method did he use to get through this predicament?

At times like this, I could not help but resent the master who left without any word for an entire year.

“If as you say there is no major issue, then that is fortunate……but preventing recurrence is urgent.”
“This one was a somewhat special situation, though.”
“So, are you going to refuse to spill what has happened to your body to the end?”
“My, look at my state. How far had I gotten?”
“You said up to the part that you are a demonic Kung-Fu cultivator. Does Mrs. Hudson already know this fact?”
“Yes.”
“……Once again, I alone have become the fool.”

Watson’s tone grew sharper, as if sulking.

“It was not intended. I planned to tell you soon. Truly.”

I could not keep avoiding an answer, so I decided to speak proactively about the situation I was in.

“The truth is…….”

Though it is strictly forbidden to transmit the Renewal Lionheart Method to anyone besides a disciple, my master had never forbidden speaking about the method’s existence.

I told Watson the main functions of the Lionheart Method and what sort of person my master was, and Watson listened to my story with a serious face for a full ten minutes.

“……To sum it up, you’re saying there are two personalities inside your head.”
“That seems a bit over-abbreviated, but it is as you say.”

She looked as if she couldn’t believe it, but Watson seemed to be forcing herself to accept my story as fact.

“And the wicked personality that bears the side effects of demonic Kung-Fu is sealed, so it cannot do any harm at all to you or the outside world?”
“Exactly.”
“And the price needed to maintain that seal is a massive amount of elixir, and the reason you consume expensive elixir without rest is also to suppress the side effects of the inner cultivation method, is that it.”
“Yes. Precisely.”
“Haa…….”

After finishing the summary, Watson covered her eyes with both hands and sighed as if the earth would cave in.

“You’re insane. Both that man you call your master, and you. I only thought you were simply impressive people, and to think you were training such absurd Kung-Fu principles. Why are you only bringing up something this important now?”
“Don’t say something so hurtful. Is it not because I trust you that I have spoken in such detail? More than anything, recall how frantically we have been living these past few months.”
“……If you put it like that, I have nothing to say either.”

Watson stood and wandered the sitting room for a moment, then suddenly flopped down onto the sofa across from me.

She seemed to have realized that she wanted to be angry, but nothing would change even if she vented it.

“To think a created personality moved your left arm at will and tried to harm the true owner of the body. It’s unbelievable.”

Even so, perhaps her curiosity as a doctor was stirred, because Watson propped her chin with her right hand and fell into deep thought.

Fortunately, it seemed her focus began to turn toward someplace other than the reply from The Strand Magazine’s editorial office.

I absolutely could not allow John Watson’s secret to be exposed to her.

When the magazine editor soon realized the original manuscript had been delivered wrongly and came here, Watson would again take an interest in the mysterious person who submitted a manuscript almost identical to hers, but then I could employ another method and turn Watson’s gaze elsewhere.

For now, the priority was to resolve Watson’s suspicions today and fix the distrust that had formed between us.

To do that, it did not matter even if I revealed the secret I had been saving.

“Now that it has come to this, I will spill everything I have been hiding from you.”
“Good thinking. If you truly consider me your assistant, I want you to tell me without leaving anything out.”

I nodded.

“First, I will tell you the Vatican’s secret you have been so curious about.”

Before I even finished speaking, Watson’s expression brightened, if only slightly.

The secret tied to the Vatican’s indulgence talisman would never have left Watson’s interests.

Ever since she witnessed the clash of nerves at the Buckingham ball between the Lily Swordsman, me, and Her Majesty Queen Victoria, it must have stayed on her mind.

If this one tempting bait satisfied Watson, we would be able to enjoy our daily life once more.

Thinking so, I rose from my seat and took out a box hidden in the secret drawer inside the bookshelf.

The dust-covered box was far too small to hold a secret manual, but that was precisely my aim.

When one hears it is the secret of the Indulgence Talisman, anyone naturally imagines a grand book with a thick leather cover, so the one who leaked the Vatican’s secret must have chosen a method beyond their expectations.

Bypassing the keyhole sealed with lead, I used Poltergeist to interfere with the inside of the lock and release it.

“This is the treasure the Vatican lost.”

When I opened the box, a small music box revealed itself.

The time had come at last to reveal one of my precious secrets to Watson.