CH 25

"......"

Tenji woke up in a hospital room.

When he woke up, he found a strange white ceiling and smelled a distinctive scent, slightly like disinfectant. Tenji, who usually shares the bed with other people, felt strange that he was sleeping alone in a bed.

He hears a rustling noise right next to him, and turns his head abruptly to look in that direction.

"Maharu?"

"Big brother, you're awake!"

There she was, Tenji's younger sister, Maharu Amagi.

Apparently, she had brought a bag full of Tenji's clothes before she went to school, and Maharu, dressed in her middle school uniform, looked at Tenji in surprise.

"You mean I woke up? ...... Oh, that's what I.... I must have passed out."

Tenji saw the strange bed, the ceiling, the smell, his sister bringing him a change of clothes, and he understood that he was in a hospital.

[I remember that I met a zero-level explorer in the dungeon and I collapsed after sometime.]

"Are you okay?　Big brother!"

Maharu vigorously picked up the button to call the nurse and pressed it. She looked into her brother's face. Tenji felt ticklish as he was touched all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm glad I am alive."

"Thank God!　When I heard that you suddenly went missing from the association, I was worried ...... that you might have died like mother and father. ......"

Tears begin to pool in Maharu's eyes.

Seeing this, Tenji smiled and gently wiped his sister's tears, trying to comfort her that everything was okay.

"Don't worry Maharu, I'll never die. I'll try my best to feed you more delicious food."

"I'm more worried about you than I am about the food!"

The words struck a chord with Tenji, and he involuntarily became teary-eyed.

[This is the first time that my sister, who is so important to me, has told me her true feelings. Perhaps that fact made me irresistibly happy. Recently, I had suspected that my sister was in a rebellious phase, but it seems that I don't have to worry about that.]

And that's when Tenji came to his senses.

[I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for the hospital stay. And it's a private room. ......]

Not too thrilled, poor Tenji started to think about how he should pay for the hospitalization.

Seeing her brother as he was, Maharu's face involuntarily clears up.

"He really is my big brother."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

The siblings laughed at each other when they met again after 21 days.

That's when it happened.

They heard a knock on the entrance door.

"Are we done?"

Leaning against the open door was the hospital's doctor, Nanasei Kazuha, who was waiting for him.

Her short brown hair made her look cute and her white coat made her look smart.

"Uh, yes."

Tenji gawked at the cuteness for just a moment.

To Tenji, who had never thought about liking older or younger people in particular, Nanasei looked beautiful, both smart and cute.

Nanasei slowly walks up to Tenji.

"I'm your doctor, Nanasei Kazuha. Nice to meet you."

"Yes! I'm Tenji Amagi!"

Tenji couldn't help but rub his voice as he replied.

Seeing how it went up, Maharu and Nanasei giggled in amusement.

"I know. I said I am your doctor.　How could I not know the name of my patient?"

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry."

"You've just woken up and your brain is still in shock. I'm sure you'll be fine, but I've got the money from Leon in advance. I tried to contact your parents, but ...... I heard that you two siblings are taking it pretty hard."

"Who's Leon ......? Is that him!"

"Yeah, that's probably the right Leon."

He was afraid to reveal his surprise that that Zero-grade explorer had not only saved him, but had even paid for his hospitalization.

To Tenji, Leon was a professional explorer far above him. He didn't know how to thank such a person for helping him.

"Brother, who's Mr. Leon?"

Then Maharu asked who the person was that she had never heard of.

Recalling their conversation in the dungeon, Tenji decided to answer by limiting his information, remembering that Leon disliked excessive interference.

"He's a great guy who rescued me from the dungeon."

"Oh, and. Leon gave me this and told me to give it to you. So, here it is. Hide it in your pocket or bag right away, okay?　And don't tell anyone I gave you this, okay?"

Nanasei put her index finger on her purse and made a cute gesture. Then she secretly handed Tenji the business card that Leon had entrusted to her.

Tenji didn't understand what it meant, but he was impressed by the "averse to excessive interference," so he figured that was what it meant.

He quickly took it and tucked it into the pocket of the bag that Maharu was carrying.

"Am I allowed to get a business card?"

"I don't know what's going on with the explorer, I'm sorry. I'm only a doctor."

"Yes, that's right."

Tenji remembered Leon's words at this point.

--I'll at least talk to you about it.

That's certainly what he had said when they met in the dungeon.

The meaning of this business card was also interpreted by Tenji that if he has any problems, he should contact him.

"Oh, and... Here's the thing."

"Yes."

Those eyes of Nanasei had the serious color of a doctor.

"Luckily it didn't look like you were going to get an infection. The amount of blood you lost was not so good, but fortunately we had transfusion packs for your blood type in stock, so it didn't turn out to be a problem. So, in short, you're fine. But you're going to be in the hospital for a little while longer for tests, okay?"

Nanasei gave a wink, a gesture that completely locked on to Tenji.

"That's good, that's a relief. How long will I be in the hospital?"

'Well, I guess it's about a week. The association has told me to do detailed inspections, so it looks like I'll be doing nothing but inspections every day from now on."

"Association?"

"That's right. You are one of the few survivors of the Ochanomizu Dungeon, and the association has been obsessively concerned about you. Ughh..It's disgusting."

Hearing those words, Tenji's mind flashed to the image of Asagiri.

"Oh, um, ...... were there any other survivors named Asagiri?"

"Aika Asagiri? From the Chariot raid you were participating in, it was confirmed that 25 people, including you, were safe."

"25 people."

Eight people were killed by the  unknown spider-shaped monster, Queen Spider, and one person was killed by Black Keroberos. The fact that there were 34 participants reassured me that everyone else was safe except for them. From that, Tenji guessed that Asagiri was safe.

And that Inagaki Rui, who had knocked him down, was also safe.

"By the way, the rest of the raiders are at ......"

"Almost wiped out, they said on the news. Your raid is lucky. I heard that Godo was in it with you, and thanks to him, 25 people survived, and the mass media is hauling him up as a hero. I don't like it when they are blatant about it, even though it's a kind of popularity business for explorers, too. .........Well then, I'm going back to work."

After telling them what she was going to tell them, Nanasei turned on her heel to leave the hospital room, letting her white coat hang down in the air.

Tenji's mouth dropped open when he saw Nanasei's surprisingly slender back as she suddenly turned to leave.

"Thank you!"

"Yeah, good luck with recovering. Oh, and... If you ever need help downstairs, feel free to call me, okay?"

Nanasei left the hospital room. The two siblings were alone in the hospital room when she said those words, and the room froze.

"Big brother?"

"No, I won't need any help."

After this, Tenji took his time to try to clear up his sister's misunderstanding.

Maharu left the hospital before eight o'clock, saying she had school.

Tenji, left alone in the hospital room, stares at the 'Book of Enma', which has been floating above Tenji's head for a long time.

[I see, this 'Book of Enma' is not visible to others?]

Neither Nanasei nor Maharu looked at the 'Book of Enma', which was unnaturally floating in the air, not even once.

That was what Tenji had analyzed by observing the situation.

At the same time, he is reminded that it was not a dream that he was given a calling.

He went on to look over the 'Book of Enma' to see if there were any changes.

Hey Guys!.

Sorry for the delay, I had an emergency.

Please let me know in the comments if you like this chatper.