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nA longer chapter, about 2.5k. I did not really want to release it one by one so I put it into one.

nPlease support me on P atreon!

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n***

nWhile Barbara was recovering favorably and there wasn’t much longer before she would be able to meet with her family, the Cholera symptoms suddenly appeared on Yomite.

nAlthough he understood the symptoms due to his knowledge, the intense pain and diarrhea that gave no leeway for any resistance wasn’t something endurable even for Yomite’s body created by a goddess.

nHis body did not have immunity or resistance against diseases or poisons and that was one of the greatest weaknesses and the main flaw of his body, as of now at least.

nBecause the treatment method had been taught to the doctors and maids, the six patients including Yomite were provided with oral rehydration solutions, and steps were taken similar to Barbara’s case in order to prevent them from getting dehydrated.

nBut in a stroke of misfortune, and irony, Yomite’s condition was far more severe than everybody else.

nThe savior had it the worst of them all, such was the cruel irony of fate…

nA day later, after Yomite fell ill, the disease caused disturbances within Yomite’s consciousness, and he was wandering between the abyss of life and death.

nThe majority of Cholera germs would commonly be destroyed by stomach acid, while the surviving germs would breed rapidly in the small intestine.

nHowever, sometimes the symptoms could become heavier with a marked difference in case the patient didn’t produce sufficient stomach acid.

nIn such a serious case, the patient wouldn’t just get stomachache and diarrhea, their body would also convulse, and their consciousness would be disturbed.

nIn most cases, this was caused by the cholera germs proliferating at an abnormal rate.

nThe problem was that the death rate of such serious patients was extremely high compared to other patients whose condition wasn’t that serious.

n(My body feels heavy…)

nTo Yomite, it felt like his body didn’t belong to him anymore.

nUnknown amounts of time had passed…

nThere was a heavy sense of fatigue as though gravity had been tripled. His throat was hurting, parched and in need of water, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

n(This might be bad…Is my life really about to end? Again? Like this?)

nHis consciousness had been disappearing several times since last night, so he understood that his symptoms were really bad.

nEven his willpower was hitting rock bottom.

nHe couldn’t do anything.

nFor his life to meet its end in less than a few months after he was reincarnated; moreover, with him being unable to even move a single finger of his satisfactorily, as expected, even for someone like him, that was something he was unwilling to accept.

nEven so, now that he was in this state where he couldn’t do a thing, the willpower of his absolute refusal of death was vanishing like water that was spilling from his palm.

n(Not good, this might be seriously bad…Someone…)

nHumans would be beyond saving if they lost their willpower.

nThe only reason Barbara got out of the worst was because Yomite was there for her.

nPutting it another way, humans were creatures that wouldn’t die that easily as long as their willpower held on to the embers of life.

nEven after their stomach was cut up, limbs were broken, and their bowels burst out from the stomach pressure, humans had a hard time dying if they didn’t accept their death.

nConversely, someone without the will to live would easily die like a burnt-out candle, even if they were just lying down peacefully on a mat.

nUnseen, invisible hands of the abyss were pulling Yomite down into a dark underground, as though to sap the vitality, stamina, and willpower that he needed the most to live.

nHe felt a feeling of weightlessness, as though he was falling forever.

nYomite resigned himself for his time to end, prematurely, in this world of Teyvat.

nHe remembered this feeling from when he died and appeared in front of the goddess. He felt the same.

nThat drunk-like feeling. As if he was floating away…

nHis end was near…

n(Hu Tao…always said to accept death with open arms… Everything hurts…every movement I make, even if I lay still…maybe it won’t be too bad, to just let go…again…)

nThe will to resist or the will to stand up were already gone from him.

nWhen he was about to entrust himself to this flow of falling down forever and closing his eyes for good, the moment all the tension left his body…

nThere was a soft feeling that liberated him from gravity, and he felt his body being lifted up.

nIt was a nostalgic warmth…it was as though a cradle that rescued him up to the ceiling and was protecting him.

nYomite noticed that within the warmth, there was a pleasantly sweet fragrance tickling his nose. It was a scent that he knew better than anything in ‘this’ world.

n(This scent…It can’t be…)

nThe first girl he met ever since coming to this world. She was always at his side from the moment he came here.

nShe was always there when he turned around. Making dry jokes, teasing him and annoying him at every moment.

nThe instant he was aware of that familiar body scent, Yomite recovered his consciousness and willpower that were melting into nothingness.

nThere were people who were waiting impatiently for his return. He shouldn’t forget that. Hu Tao, Lumine, Fischl, Paimon, Iris, Jean, Kaeya, Diluc, Amber and many more…

nThere was no way he could allow himself to be defeated by a disease like this without fighting back.

nAt the same time, Yomite couldn’t help but feel a sense of danger within his consciousness that was finally clearing up.

nThat was, for him to be able to feel Hu Tao’s scent like this, didn’t that mean she was near him right now?

n(Or is it just a hallucination? Yeah…There is no way Jean would let anyone in, I gave her orders after all…)

nYomite’s consciousness was slowly awakening along with the sensation of pain that was spreading from the back of his head to his whole body.

n“Are you awake~? Assistant-kun~!?”

nYomite opened his eyes. The familiar but breathtakingly beautiful face of Hu Tao whose flower-shaped eyes were wet with tears filled his sight.

n( …Say…this has got to be a dream…Hu Tao would never cry, her eccentric personality and the way she doesn’t understand human emotions is just too much…)

nHe wanted to yell loudly, but his lips could only make a hoarse voice.

n(Please don’t be here…Please…Why is Hu Tao in this kind of place!? Even though only maids should be allowed to come near. What if she gets infected!? What were you thinking, Jean!?)

n“Please open your mouth and drink this. You haven’t been taking water since some time ago because you would always vomit it right away~!”

nIt seemed he was in a very dangerous condition while he was unconscious.

nHe had also resigned himself to death once inside that dream, so Yomite gave up questioning her and obediently drank the oral rehydration solution.

nThe sweet taste passed from his tongue to his throat.

nHe could clearly feel it moistening his body from the inside.

nRejuvenating him…

n“Uu…uu…Yomite…*Hic* finally…”

nHu Tao seemed to feel spent when she saw Yomite gulping down the drink. She sat down and started sobbing.

nWhen he looked closer, she looked like she had wept her eyes out from the swelling around her eyes.

nHer hair was also looking messy and her white skin was also losing its luster. Perhaps she hadn’t gotten any sleep.

n(Surely she wasn’t crying all this time while I was unconscious, right…?)

nYomite recalled Hu Tao’s warmth that he suddenly felt the instant he gave up living inside the dream.

nHe weakly glanced at her, fidgeting in her seat, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me…what is this feeling in my chest?”

nShe placed the hand where her heart was located and it was violently beating.

n“I…I don’t want you to die…” her lips trembled as she spoke.

nFor her to say something like that despite being the director of a funeral parlor was dangerous and prohibited.

nEspecially if someone important from the elders of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had heard her, she would be stripped of her position immediately.

nShe was taught that if it was someone’s time to go, then there was nothing she could do about it and should accept it with a straight face and without showing any emotions…as that was simply fate.

nEven during her grandpa’s funeral, she didn’t cry and couldn’t.

nNot being able to do anything, only to prepare a departing ceremony for him.

nEach person of Teyvat had a certain destiny, certain fate, such was one of the rules stated by the Gods.

nYet right now, she was clearly having a panic attack, being conflicted about the sense of values of life she was taught ever since she was small and the new suffocating feeling in her chest.

nThere was no way she could accept if Yomite had died like that, but that would be going against the teachings of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

nIn a way, she had already gone against her teachings as she was just supposed to be watching until he died and his soul left his body, then to perform a ritual.

nHer presence…was enough for Yomite to slightly recover from the clutches of death, thereby going against the flow of life and death.

nYomite was fated to die here today, yet he didn’t.

nHe felt touched after seeing someone like Hu Tao act so emotional…

nHe couldn’t help but feel grateful for her devotion that saved his life.

nYou know…

nHe really just…

n“Thank…you…Hu…Tao…I lo…ve you…”

nHe didn’t want to let go of her and wanted her to be with him after all.

nHu Tao widened her eyes at the sudden confession.

nShe was too overwhelmed with so many emotions in the past few days, that she just stared at him with a blank look.

nFrom anger to sorrow to now, happiness and confusion, she didn’t know she could feel something like this.

nShe never did.

nThe hand that touched her cheek was hot. Her eyes, gazing at Yomite from up close, were moist.

nBut she had decided.

nHer answer was clear.

nThe first person to have ever accepted her for who she was other than her grandpa, deserved a huge place in her heart.

nShe had known this for a long time, that he became a huge part of her life.

nYet she was afraid, ironically of a similar thing Yomite was afraid of.

nShe was afraid that if she told him about these newfound and never before explored feelings, he as the only person that accepted her would feel weirded out by her behavior, and might potentially even leave her, just like everyone else did.

nAnd she couldn’t stomach that…but now the answer was loud and clear, shouting within her mind.

n“Mhm…I feel the same way. My chest feels tingly~.”

nShe was finally ready to face what’s to come.

nYomite opened his mouth once again, but she put her finger on his lips.

n“You need to rest now!~ Once you are cured, we can talk about this and enjoy ourselves, kay~? Kay kay kay~? Fischl is also waiting for you and wants to tell you something…”

nThat look, everything about her, made him feel very warm inside.

nIn his old world, he had dated quite a few women, but during the entirety of those relationships, none of them ever looked at him like she did just now.

nThey were all just friends with benefits in a sense, but Hu Tao was someone he could genuinely imagine staying with till he grew old.

nYomite wanted to hug her. He wanted to hug Hu Tao’s trembling small body tightly and caress her head while consoling her.

nHe really loved this girl after all.

nHe couldn’t lie to himself any further.

n(She isn’t the type to cry…she shouldn’t cry…make a smile, Hu Tao…tell some jokes…)

n“Make…a smi…le.”

nYomite was vexed by his exhausted body that couldn’t do anything and only barely managed to lower his head.

nHu Tao shook her head before she clung onto Yomite’s neck and wept again.

nThere was a bright sweetness like a sunny place from Hu Tao’s long dark brown hair that lost its glossiness from exhaustion. It was a scent that was a characteristic of hers.

nYomite mustered all his strength and somehow managed to hug Hu Tao’s head. The loveliness that was different from what he felt until now was filling his chest.

n“Hug…Tao..” Yomite gave her a weak smile.

nHu Tao widened her eyes and snuggled even closer into his embrace. “So you do know…how to tell dry jokes…dummy~…”

n***

nOriginally, Yomite’s stamina far surpassed Barbara.

nAfter he recovered his consciousness and the worst of the illness was over, his recovery was quick.

nSurprisingly, a week later, Yomite had recovered to the degree that he could wake up and walk around if he felt like it.

n(I’ve defeated it…The disease that stole my mother…)

nYomite thought as he gazed out of the window, still sitting on the bed.

nHe knew that somewhere out there, in the soul stream where the soul of his mom was resting, she was deeply proud of him.

n“Still, how did you enter the Knights’ Headquarters?”

nHe questioned Hu Tao’s presence. Jean was told to not let anyone in and stationed many Knights outside.

n“Ah, yes, it wasn’t that difficult…When I hurriedly rushed to the Headquarters, the knights wouldn’t let me pass. They wouldn’t tell me anything about your condition either. You told me not to hurt anyone from Mondstadt, so I waited patiently outside for five days straight, but once Fischl returned to Mondstadt from her long quest and heard what happened, she kind of just electrocuted everyone in the vicinity and we freely entered through the front door…there, we met with Acting Grand Master, who told us she would make an exception for one of us, but that certain someone would also have to stay in the quarantine.”

n“…”

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