It had been a while.

An unfamiliar ceiling?

No, that should’ve been a familiar ceiling by then, right?

It was the ceiling of our dormitory’s recovery room. It felt like I was always waking up there in similar patterns, so I was used to it by then.

It wasn’t because I fainted often but because I needed treatment from the on-call priest quite frequently.

“…Ugh ”

And then I felt it—pain, as if all the blood vessels in my whole body were getting torn apart.

It hurt so much that I couldn’t speak properly. I didn’t know if that was what it felt like having my blood vessels torn, but my whole body felt like it was on fire.

-Flinch

And it seemed like I greatly startled someone next to me with my soft moan, making them jump up. It looked like they had fallen asleep at my bedside.

“Y-Y-Y-You’re awake! You’re awake!”

Not knowing whether she was surprised or happy, Harriet de Saint-Owan let out a shout and hugged me.

“A-arg! H-hey! I-it hurts, dude!”

“I thought you were deeeeaaaaad! You! Yoou! You bad guy! You evil bastard!”

Harriet suddenly clung to me, crying, and the more she did that, the more I felt like my whole body was hurting and burning up

“Hic! Hic, sob! Y-you bad guy!”

“I-it hurts, It hurts. Hey…”

I felt like I was going to faint again.

Still, I somehow managed to pat Harriet on the back.

* * *

Ellen had also ended up vomiting blood when she’d been forced to use Magic Body Strengthening for the first time. It was a side effect that occured if one used it without having learned the proper way.

I’d done the same thing.

It was successful, and I was able to make use of some explosive power for some time, but the price I had to pay was a lot higher than in Ellen’s case.

Ellen just vomited up blood but didn’t faint.

I vomited up blood and ended up fainting.

Four days…

That was how long I had been unconscious.

I’d fainted, and while in that state, I was moved to the Orbis Class’ recovery room. After that, I believe I was transferred to the Royal Class’ recovery room.

Not only the other students, but the faculty members were in a mess as well. It was already enough that I’d stormed into the Orbis Class dorms and fought with students, but then I’d suddenly used Magic Body Strengthening and had even ended up fainting while vomiting blood.

The results of that fight, so to speak, could either be deemed as my victory or a draw.

Oscar de Gardias had only fainted for a moment and stood back up, whereas I was truly unconscious.

I felt like I’d won, but I also felt like I’d lost.

It was really vague.

Of course, I didn’t really care whether I won or lost, but anyway, as I made that guy pass out with my last hit, I’d say I won mentally, though I didn’t really win.

It seemed that the Grand Yoga Master who took care of Ellen’s condition before was summoned once again to check out my condition.

He reassured the others that, while it would take some time for me to regain my consciousness, my life wasn’t in danger, however, I was told that the others still came to visit me to check on me from time to time.

Harriet looked after me and ended up falling asleep on my bedside—that was when I’d regained my consciousness.

At the news that I had woken up. all the others flocked in.

“…”

Ellen was looking at me with an angry expression etched on her face.

Harriet was so surprised when I woke up that she ended up hugging me. Realizing what she had done, she couldn’t even look me in the eyes, her face bright red.

“…Junior. Do you know how worried I was?”

Adriana seemed glad that I had woken up. It looked like she was insanely worried as well as slightly happy after she heard that I had done something so outrageous again.

“I was so worried that you might die and leave me behind!”

Olivia also came to visit, making a fuss.

“…What a sight. Do you have to do things like that to learn new tricks or something?”

Liana de Grantz shook her head. She probably said that because I’d ended up awakening my supernatural power in a duel and also managed to use Magic Body Strengthening during something similar to a duel. Adelia carefully hid behind Liana’s back and asked me if I was okay in a mumble.

“…I’m really getting tired of getting surprised by these things. Are you okay?”

Charlotte also stood there with her arms crossed, clicking her tongue.

Surprisingly the three idiot brothers and Cliffman also came to see me.

Everyone came to speak to me.

What the hell?

It felt like I was a good kid who was the center of everyone’s attention.

However, in reality, I was just a guy who’d passed out after fighting with another class.

But actually, rather than only worrying about me, they also said things like “Did you cause trouble again, you punk…?”

Ellen in particular seemed really angry. She might have been worried about me while I was unconscious, but once I’d woken up again, she was angry.

‘B-but I’m a patient right now, so she won’t hit me…’

“If you have any excuses, give it your best shot.”

Ellen came at me with ferocious force.

I really had no excuses to give because I’d ended up unconscious for four days after I’d suddenly felt like picking a fight with the Orbis Class.

I had to say something.

“It…”

“What?”

“It hurts so much…”

I couldn’t think of anything else, but I really felt like I was going to die there!

I didn’t know if it would hurt like that if all my blood vessels ruptured, but it hurt a whole damn lot.

It didn’t hurt that much when I passed out before I died of high blood pressure!

So, to be exact, it felt like the tendons in my whole body just crumbled. Although I’d never felt anything like that before.

If I had to describe the type of pain, it was a burning and bruising pain.

While it felt like I was getting roasted in fire, I also felt really sore at the same time.

However, that pain wasn’t external, but internal.

What I did was really crazy. When I said that I was in that much pain, the on-call priest sent all of them back.

As soon as he heard the news that I’d woken up, that Grand Yoga Master came to the recovery room. The man, who I usually saw as a hypnotist, then appeared like a god to me.

He was the teacher who’d also treated Ellen.

“Teacher… It hurts so bad…”

It hurt so much that manners and such all flew out of the window.

Do something!

“Do you know how bad it burns?” At my direct complaint of the intense pain, the Yoga Master smiled as softly as he did during class.

“It’s no wonder that you are in pain, Reinhardt.”

“Th-the level of this pain isn’t normal… Seriously… I think I’m going crazy…”

“It’s a relief that you only ended up in pain. In Ellen’s case, her excellent qualities protected her. However, that doesn’t apply to you, Reinhardt. You almost destroyed all your magic circuits in your body.”

“…What?”

“You almost became unable to use Magic Body Strengthening for your whole life. If what Ellen did could be compared to her trying to drive a much too big wagon on a narrow forest trail, then what you did would be like trying to drive one straight through the forest, Reinhardt.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say…”

“What I’m saying is that you almost destroyed the whole forest by trying to drive on a nonexistent road.”

I could understand what he was trying to convey to some extent.

Ellen had already been prepared to use Magic Body Strengthening, but she just put in too much power, which was why the road she built got destroyed—she’d used force beyond what the road could handle.

Ellen’s magical power was ranked A .

It’d probably ended up like that because the situation was really urgent and she’d put in everything she had.

However, although the amount of magical power itself was lower, I’d tried to strengthen myself when I wasn’t ready yet.

It was inevitable that my body would be damaged even more in that condition.

I’d tried to drive my wagon prematurely and while completely unprepared.

Furthermore, I’d tried to drive it through a forest with no roads going through it, so I’d ended up breaking the trees in my way as I drove through.

Basically, the forest was a metaphor for my body.

Ellen’s wagon was simply too large for her forest road.

And I’d just driven my wagon into a forest with no road and cut down all the trees around.

What I was doing was a lot more dangerous than I’d initially thought. I could have become unable to strengthen myself with magical power for the rest of my life.

* * *

* * *

If put in martial arts terms, I almost went into qi deviation. If I used just a bit more power, I might have gotten crippled.

I was glad that it only ended with that pain.

“Fortunately, you awakened your new talent, Mana Control. That’s why things ended up the way they did.”

“That’s… right.”

Mana Control…

Because of that talent, my condition wasn’t any more serious than it could have been.

Without that talent, I would have had to pay a much greater price for using Magic Body Strengthening through Self-Suggestion.

If I hadn’t awakened Mana Control by spending a lot of achievement points, I wouldn’t have thought of fighting with the Orbis Class either, so that was what it was.

I’d lived thanks to that talent. If it wasn’t for Mana Control, wouldn’t it have been completely impossible for me to use Magic Body Strengthening in the first place? I had no idea.

In Ellen’s case, thanks to her highest-level magic-related talent ‘Mana Domination’, she’d only ended up vomiting some blood and feeling dizzy.

I’d fainted because I had a lower-ranked talent and was then in intense pain.

In the end, I took a risk and managed to break through, huh?

“Then… Am I also going to learn… Magic Body Strengthening now?”

“That’s right. For now, you should observe Ellen’s private lessons. I’m sorry, Reinhardt, but your qualities are far inferior to Ellen’s. Don’t be too disappointed. Ellen is just far too talented. It’s dangerous to learn how to control mana in a clumsy way. I’ll be a little more careful with you.”

The Grand Yoga Master patted my head lightly.

Just like Ellen had managed to realize how to strengthen herself with magical power through her own power, I’d managed to do that as well.

However, it was still different.

Ellen had managed to use Magic Body strengthening for quite a long time the first time she’d used it while I could only use it for a short while—less than five seconds, in fact.

No, it was even questionable to say that I’d awoken the ability. I didn’t really know what I’d done, after all.

So I would just observe them rather than actually learn to strengthen myself with my magical power. My qualities were far inferior to Ellen’s, so it was too early for me to actually learn it.

“First you have to recuperate. It will be rather difficult for you to move around for now.”

The Yoga Master teacher rolled me over for some time, then sat me up and gave me some sort of therapy. In fact, the pain seemed to let up a little at that moment.

The aftereffects of Magic Body Strengthening couldn’t be healed with divine power. Therefore, that Grand Yoga Master was the best teacher and therapist in the field.

If not for that man, I might have been unconscious for much longer or really ended up crippled.

“…How long will it take?”

“It will take some time for you to fully recover.”

Anyway…

It seemed like I had to stay in bed for a while in exchange for having used Magic Body Strengthening.

* * *

After the Yoga Master went back, I just lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The priest on duty said that there was nothing they could do for me, but still told me to call for them if I needed anything. Divine powers couldn’t do anything about my condition.

There was always someone stationed in the priest’s room in front of the recovery room 24

/7, so it couldn’t be said that there was a shortage of personnel.

The pain let up a little, but it was still awfully intense. Every time I moved my body, my muscles and tendons seemed to scream as if to tell me ‘You’ll die if you move even an inch.’

To eat, I had to set up my bed to do so, and the only thing I could eat was porridge.

Let’s forget the pain.

Fucking hell!

Self-suggestion didn’t work either.

Why didn’t it work?! It worked when I was fighting Oscar!

If I looked at it that way, it seemed that the effect of my self-suggestion was obviously amplified in actual battles. Of course, the fight with Oscar couldn’t be called a real battle.

It seemed rather logical that one unleashed greater powers in emotionally intense situations. No matter how many doubts I held, I was able to use Magic Body Strengthening, which I couldn’t even fathom using in the training with Ellen, in the battle against Oscar.

In the end, from a writing standpoint, that was the type of supernatural power I liked.

Exploding with power in extreme situations… or something like that

Getting stronger when one gets angry… That kind of thing.

I liked those kinds of tropes when I’d written stories, however, if one actually had to use those powers, it was utter crap! Like, why couldn’t I just use it to its fullest at any given time?

Although I was the second one who’d managed to successfully strengthen myself with magic power by myself, I didn’t think it’d be that big an issue.

“While he did manage to strengthen himself with magical power, he almost ended up crippled.“

That would be it. After all, there was the very overwhelming case of Ellen.

I thought that people would just think I was some idiot who’d flown too close to the sun and gotten burned or something, that I was nothing but a cheap imitation, that I was just a cat trying to be a lion and got hurt while tying. (HELP…)

‘Pft, he goes around with Ellen all the time, and now that idiot thinks he’s the same as Ellen.’

Would I hear things like that?

Anyway…

I did a lot more than anticipated and got rewarded with 500 points for that achievement.

Achievement Points : 3430

I earned 500 points for finishing the challenge, and gained 500 additional points for managing to strengthen myself with magical power.

I earned 500 points more than I’d expected.

Still, I didn’t know yet if that was a good or bad thing. It seemed like I would be bound to the bed for a while, so I won’t be able to go to class.

Not only that…

It was clear that the conflict between the kids would grow more intense.

No matter how much I thought about it, I would face disciplinary actions. I wondered whether the merit points would be enough to offset that.

But I’d just leave future problems to future me.

Right then, I was in pain and about to go crazy!

“Teacher…”

“Oh, Reinhardt. Do you need anything?”

Eventually, I called a teacher with my communication device.

“I’m sorry… but could you call Harriet de Saint-Owan of my class…?”

“Hm? Do you have something to say to her?”

“Yes, Sir. I have a big favor… to ask of her…”

In the end, I decided to use a cheat.

* * *

I couldn’t move on my own, so I asked the priest on duty to help me out. It was already evening, so Harriet went straight to the recovery room.

Harriet seemed a little puzzled that I’d called her there.

“Idiot… You came…”

“Didn’t you call me…? Sigh. Seriously. I’ll let it slide this once.”

She seemed about to get angry, but when she saw my pained face, she sealed that anger inside of her. Was she letting me off the hook because I was in that state?

What the hell?

Wasn’t she even cuter than usual?

Should I just get hurt every day?

No, well, I didn’t want to be in that much pain, though. Instead of being in pain for the rest of my life, wouldn’t it be better if Harriet acted like that every day?

Well…

I was in so much pain that I’d rather die.

I didn’t know whether that was normal or something, but I couldn’t really focus on anything because of the **ing pain.

“Are you in pain?”

I felt like I was dying, so I was breathing quite heavily, making myself seem rather small.

If I had been fully there, I might have thought of another way to answer, but I was in so much pain that I felt like I might faint again.

“I feel like I’m dying…”

“Oh no…Then why did you do something so crazy…? Just for some petty revenge…”

“Not only because of that… there were.. circumstances…”

I was like that, so I couldn’t really rebuke. Harriet sat down on the chair located close to the bed and looked at me.

“So, what favor do you have to ask of me? Can I get you anything? Do you need something?”

Ah…

Although I really didn’t like being in pain…

This might be surprisingly good.

That kid who always acted prickly towards me looked at me with eyes filled with worry.

It felt like she would do anything I asked of her—that was good.

Although she acted like that because I was in pain, I was 100% sure that it wasn’t good to be in pain.

That waxing and waning mental state of mine was the clearest proof of that.

I didn’t mean to ask anything hard of Harriet when I’d called her.

“Make me sleep…”

“…Huh?” Harriet asked, rather perplexed by my sudden request.

“I really want to sleep, but I can’t because I’m in too much pain. So I have to somehow force myself to sleep…”

It was just too painful to stay awake, so I wanted to sleep. It didn’t matter whether it was through sleep magic, sleeping pills, or narcotic painkillers. I wouldn’t be in pain if I was asleep.

“Th-that… That’s all?”

“That’s right…”

I really hoped that I would just sleep until I got better, waking up in a much better condition. Sleep magic could be cast on enemies in Fantasy worlds like this, but there were no rules that stated that she couldn’t cast it on me.

Sleep was a good thing.

—There was nothing better than that when you were sick. However, I couldn’t sleep because I was in too much pain.

“Ah, that’s… I… I’ve never done anything like that before… okay…?”

For some reason, Harriet’s face turned red, and she seemed to hesitate a little, then she suddenly put her hands on my chest.

“L-lullaby… And good night…”

“…?”

-Pat, pat

I was completely speechless as I watched Harriet patting my chest. She was so ashamed of what she was doing that she couldn’t even look at me, her face dyed crimson.

No, are you an idiot?

I was utterly blown away by her sudden, idiotic actions.

If I was in my usual state, I would have teased her, saying, “Oh. my, you idiot. Did you not get it or something?” but she seemed so embarrassed that I felt suffocated as well.

I never imagined she would do that. No, putting the misunderstanding aside, she actually went through with that?

“Th-that’s… Not what I meant by… Sleep magic…”

“!!!!”

Harriet seemed like she would die sitting in that chair.