Chapter 133

I still didn’t fully understand this situation.

“Is something happening in the capital?”

“No.”

“The Crown Prince didn’t do anything, did he?”

“Not yet.”

“There must be a reason you came all the way out here so late.”

Ren lightly tapped my cheek with his large index finger.

“I told you I came to see you—don’t you believe me?”

“…Really?”

He smiled at the corner of his eyes and nodded.

He came from the capital to the eastern plague zone to see me? A man so busy he works overtime almost every day? Even using a private gate, he would have had to travel nonstop for a full day.

Seeing my face, he let out a short laugh as if to say, “What’s so surprising?”

“Why are you so surprised? Is that something I couldn’t do?”

“Ah, no…! You’re tired. I know how busy you are…”

“That’s why I came.”

“Huh?”

The finger that had been tapping my cheek slowly and gently cupped it.

“To recharge.”

“…!”

No sooner had he spoken than his face drew close. His soft lips met mine without a gap. He sucked my lips like a breathing machine.

“Mmm…”

Every time my lips parted for air, a suppressed moan slipped out. He dug in more insistently as if it were some stimulant. My fleeing tongue was captured, and every corner of my mouth was quickly occupied by his saliva and warmth.

I couldn’t even think where we were. It had been a while since we’d kissed, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to press closer. The heat pouring from his mouth passed my cheek and traveled down my neckline. An instinctive alarm light went off in my head.

“Ren.”

He seemed half out of his senses and like he didn’t hear me. When I tugged his shirt and planted a kiss on the nape of his neck, he suddenly jerked back in surprise.

“…”

“…”

That feels like something dangerous just passed, right?

An awkward air full of heat. No doubt about it.

When our eyes met, an embarrassed little laugh escaped.

He took a handkerchief from his chest pocket and carefully wiped my neck and lips. The funny thing was he still kept leaving kiss marks all over my face as he did it.

“You’re tickling me.”

He straightened my appearance one last time and escorted me back to the barracks. I was wrapped tightly in a robe, and luckily it was late at night so nobody recognized him.

“What if you bring the plague back?”

“Then I’ll take it away faster. Colds heal faster if you pass them to someone else, don’t they?”

At least it was fortunate we met after I’d washed up at the river.

“But are you really leaving like this?”

We had only met for about ten minutes, and he said he had to go.

He lightly nodded as if it were nothing.

“I’ve seen you, so I must go. Don’t worry, there’s nothing unusual in the capital. The food supply issue… can’t I take care of that?”

“If he puts his mind to it, Prince Raven can handle it easily. If we fail this time, it will come back on us badly. Please just make sure the Crown Prince doesn’t intercept the prince’s communications.”

Because lives were at stake, I couldn’t stand by and let the Crown Prince toy with things.

He nodded as if he understood.

“Ria, promise me you’ll return in good health.”

His worry didn’t stop until he left.

“I said you don’t have to worry. All right?”

He kissed me one last time, mounted his horse, and though he seemed to fade slowly, he was gone like an arrow.

No matter how expensive a gate he used, he couldn’t be coming and going this far like it was his own house. He’ll have to go to work without a moment’s sleep…

Ministry of Justice employees could never imagine where he’d been.

“Maybe the one who got recharged was me.”

Knowing how absurd it was, I felt like I’d never forget that ten-minute encounter.

After that short, dreamlike time, reality rushed back as always.

The clinic cleanup was finished. Isolation and triage of patients had been managed well enough that things ran smoothly even if I stepped away briefly. Limiting visits reduced family infections, and the clinic was less crowded than before, allowing us to take more patients.

After confirming things were somewhat under control, I announced the shift rotation schedule.

“You’ll take turns resting in 30-minute increments. When you rest, don’t do pointless tasks—sleep, take a walk, and rest no matter what. Except in emergencies, this isn’t a suggestion—it’s mandatory.”

Because the situation was serious, control mattered more than freedom. There wasn’t time to persuade and accommodate each person. The medical staff also needed rest to maintain sustained activity.

Over the murmurs of people, Nicola taped the duty roster to the wall.

“Check your own schedules and proceed. If there’s a problem, report it right away.”

I left the communal barracks and walked through the clinic to check the overall situation.

Something scurried past my foot.

“Eek!”

A rat.

I’ve seen so many rats since coming here—far more than in my past life, maybe a hundred times more. Not hamsters, but field rats. Field rats.

Ugh.

“It’s gotten pretty clean, but they won’t decrease.”

Huh… Thinking back to high school history lessons, rats were often called the source of epidemics. They live in filth and are hardy, so they carry pathogens.

I called Nora, the cleric.

“Bring a few cats here.”

“Yes…?”

“There are too many rats. It’s unhygienic. Don’t release a whole horde—just enough that the soldiers can catch field rats with them.”

“What do rats have to do with the plague?”

“Even if I explain, you wouldn’t believe me, would you? Since our bet continues, just do as I say. If it fails, I’ll take responsibility like you suggested.”

“…All right.”

Then I requested a few more things.

Boil garlic, ginger, and onion in purified water and have people drink the infusion.

It was weak, but it would induce antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. With no cure yet, we were grasping at straws. We still hadn’t solved the food and medicine shortages. We were physically strained, too.

“My body feels fragile…”

I didn’t exercise normally, and since arriving here I hadn’t had proper sleep, so it made sense.

It would be a lie to say I never wanted to give up, but thinking of the Crown Prince’s face stirred a stubbornness in me.

“I won’t watch you become the Emperor…”

If it came to endurance, I had plenty of experience as a K-company worker.

More time passed.

Three weeks after issuing the strong top-down orders I had never tried in my previous life, despite everyone’s distrust, noticeable changes began to appear.

“The number of infected patients is gradually decreasing.”

“It’s down 30% compared to last week!”

“Deaths are down 15% from last week, too!”

The physician/clinic staff were astonished.

“No, how could this be…”

I turned my head and took in Nora the cleric’s face, contorting with disbelief.

“It’s still too early to conclude. We can’t be sure it’s due to the Chancellor’s orders. It might be a temporary phenomenon, so we need to watch longer.”

Seeing him strain to deny it made my fatigue lift for a moment.

“I know.”

But after changing the system, the effect only increased rather than decreased.

I took advantage of this to pull as many medical staff as possible into the lab. Making a treatment was the top priority; we had increased personnel from the start, but time was short.

With some breathing room, we focused on development.

“Coco, rest a bit now.”

The chief contributor who had continually led the clerics to purify water and maintain a clean medical outpost was Aidan. With his looks he managed to elicit cooperation from people of all ages.

“Just let me finish this.”

“You’ll get yourself in big trouble like this!”

Aidan shouted in frustration.

But there was no time to relax.

I want to rest too! But if I rest now, there’ll be even more work later!

“I’m still young, so I’m fine. Aidan, you should be careful; you go among the patients often.”

At least my work was more about sitting, giving orders, and paperwork than physical labor.

“Now that we’re finally starting to see improvement, it’s not the time to slack off.”

Even if the medical staff could rest, I couldn’t. In companies, the CEO is always the busiest.

Wait, I’m not the CEO. Isn’t Prince Raven the CEO?

I reminded myself once again that this world was one where status bullied people and laughed bitterly.

“Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

“Just… a brief moment of reality check, I guess.”

Aidan, who couldn’t possibly know why, tilted his head. He clicked his tongue, thinking I was spacing out from tiredness.

“You’re not cool anymore…”

“This is the reality of working life, Magic Tower Master. You haven’t been in your post long, so it might not sink in yet. Soon you’ll understand why the former master wanted to hand things to Aidan so quickly.”

“So that’s it? That old man…”

Aidan’s voice trembled as if shocked by betrayal.

“He kept telling me that once he passed it on, he’d never take it back…”

He trudged out of the barracks. He still had a long way to go before tasting life’s bitterness.

“Maybe I’ll listen to Aidan today.”

Even a little change lightened my heart.

With hopeful feelings, I picked up my fountain pen. A custom couple item from Ren and Yuno—I always carried it. For some reason I longed to see him today; our last meeting felt distant.

“Finish quickly and go back to Resera! You can do it, right?”

Fueled with motivation, I dove back into work. Sadly, it was much later than expected when I finally finished. I stood, stretched, and loosened my stiff body.

“Ugh, I’m dead.”

But something felt strange.

Drip.

“Huh?”

I reached instinctively to touch.

Blood.

A nosebleed.

My whole body went cold.

At some point, the brooch Aidan had given me had turned red.

“Maybe it’s because I stayed up all night too many nights.”

My heart was pounding like crazy, but I had to check.

I rolled up my sleeve.

“Ah, I’m screwed.”

A faint rash appeared on my forearm.