{Well, we’ll stop the first information trade here. I was quite satisfied, but I don’t know about the Legion Commander.}
“......Same for me.”
{I’m fairly confident when it comes to research. I know far more information that the Legion Commander doesn’t know as well. And......}
“I also know information you don’t know.”
At those words.
It looked at me, the corners of its mouth splitting wide.
{Like I said, my research had stagnated due to the extinction of my collaborators. But...... if a collaborator who shares my purpose appears, then I’ll be able to find out much more from here on.}
And.
That monster held out its crude, massive hand to me and spoke.
{In my opinion, it seems we.}
I stared at that hand for a moment.
Then, with a small bitter smile, I gripped it and said—
“......Looks like we can make some good deals.”
*****
After that, too.
The treatment continued.
The fact that I could exchange information about the system with it.
That alone was encouraging enough, but—
a joint research like that was something to discuss after the treatment was finished.
{Try moving your body.}
“Mm. Yeah. It’s definitely better.”
But that conversation didn’t change nothing.
Up until then, not just during treatment—every time I talked with it, I’d been on guard to some extent.
But after realizing it had no intention of lying to me—
“Thanks.”
{I’m glad there’s no problem.}
I could go through the treatment a little more comfortably.
Even our back-and-forth conversation had clearly gotten gentler.
{For now, this treatment ends here. It became quite a long treatment...... but I’ve almost finished everything I can do. Endure just a little more.}
“Yeah, so that means.”
If the treatment was almost done,
then—
“In just a little while, my body will be completely healed?”
{Completely healed.}
I thought it meant I wasn’t far from being fully healed, but—
at my words,
it shook its head.
{With my power alone, completely healing the Legion Commander right away...... will be a little difficult.}
“......Is that so?”
I knew my condition was serious, but—
to the point even this thing couldn’t treat it.
{Just so you know, it’s not because my medical skill is lacking.}
“Ah, yeah? Then why.”
{To be precise, it’s more accurate to say I lack the materials needed for treatment.}
Right.
It had been treating me without trouble up to now, but—
as the price, it had been asking me to procure the materials needed for my treatment myself.
Since it wasn’t a combat-type,
that meant it was having difficulty procuring the materials needed for treatment on its own.
{If it’s damaged organs, I can treat them somehow with the materials the Legion Commander brought. But.}
Up to now,
bringing materials had solved the problem.
{Not [vital energy] that disappeared.}
“Vital energy.......”
At that, I opened my [Status Window] and checked.
[Penalty]
[Severe aftereffects]
[Vital energy loss]
After returning from Gyeonggi,
those words were always stuck at the very bottom of my [Status Window].
And now, after its treatment had progressed—
[Minor aftereffects]
Severe aftereffects
had changed into minor aftereffects.
A lot of the creaking I felt in my body was gone, too.
Once the treatment it was talking about ended, that aftereffects penalty would probably disappear completely.
On the other hand—
[Vital energy loss]
“.......”
That penalty
was still there, unchanged.
{Even if only my treatment ends, you won’t feel discomfort in daily life. But in combat, you may still feel lacking. And...... that isn’t a domain a doctor can resolve alone.}
“Then?”
{It’s closer to something a pharmacist would handle.}
A pharmacist.
Meaning—
{The method to resolve that problem is extremely simple. You consume an elixir—something that contains power strong enough to fill the vital energy you lost.}
An elixir.
{The Legion Commander’s vessel...... is larger than the Legion Commander knows. To me, it’s puzzling how the native species can possess a vessel this large. And right now, most of that large vessel is empty.}
“Hm.”
{Unfortunately, I don’t have an elixir capable of filling the space the Legion Commander has emptied. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say I’ve never had one....... I’m sorry.}
At that—
“Well, I’ve got a conscience too.”
With a snort of laughter, I rose to my feet.
“I’m not shameless enough to ask you to brew medicine too. I’m just grateful you got my body into this shape.”
{It’s not something to be grateful for. I did receive treatment fees too.}
“Even so, it’s also true you gave me a big discount on those fees, isn’t it?”
{Well...... that is true. It was, in any case, an intention to curry favor with the Legion Commander.}
“Then congratulations. It’s working exactly like you intended.”
{......Hah.}
That monster laughed again like its mouth was about to split.
At first it was a little...... no, a lot disgusting.
But once I realized that was its smiling expression, it was at least bearable now.
“Then I’ll see you at the next treatment.”
{Have a safe trip.}
I let out a small laugh and left the hospital room.
Then—
“......Benefactor!”
The ones waiting outside the hospital room.
The soldiers assigned to my protection widened their eyes and rushed toward me in a fluster.
“Legion Commander! Are you alright!”
“Did the treatment go well? That monster didn’t do anything weird—”
They made a huge fuss while checking my condition.
“......Are you going to do this every time? I’m fine again this time.”
“Ah, ah......! Thank goodness, truly, truly!”
Every soldier looked relieved to an excessive degree.
At first, I thought, they really care about me.
But since they did this every single time after treatment ended, it was getting ridiculous now.
{......It seems your guardians cherish the Legion Commander greatly.}
And.
The monster watching that scene slipped closer to me and spoke.
{I understand your guardians’ worries as well. But I’m treating the patient with all I have.}
As if it was explaining something,
the monster tried to come closer to me in a friendly way.
But—
{You don’t have to worry so mu—}
“Stop!”
The one who blocked it
was—
the same soldiers who had been worrying over my condition just a moment ago.
“Don’t come any closer, monster.”
{......Hm.}
{I wasn’t intending to do anything strange.}
“It doesn’t matter what you intended to do. This treatment is over, so you won’t have any business with the Legion Commander anymore.”
{.......}
“Approaching this casually even after treatment is over is uncomfortable.”
At the soldiers’ sharp words,
the “doctor” looked a little flustered, then—
{......You’re right.}
It carefully stepped back and said—
{I was rude. It seems I misjudged the distance between patient and doctor.}
From it,
I could taste the same hurt feelings it had shown toward me last time.
*****
{......As the Legion Commander said, it seems the Legion Commander’s comrades also guard against me a great deal.}
When the next treatment ended,
it said that to me.
“......I’m sorry about that last time. I should’ve stopped them.”
{No, it isn’t something the Legion Commander needs to apologize for.}
It talked like that, but—
I could still feel the hurt.
“If it really bothers you, next time I’ll issue an order so they can’t be rude to you. Since they’re my subordinates, even if they don’t like it, they’ll obey.”
{......No. I don’t want that kind of solution.}
Since I remembered how it had looked hurt because of me last time,
I thought I should respond somehow, but—
it shook its head.
{Like I said, I want to build a friendly relationship with the Legion.}
“You did.”
{I’m grateful the Legion Commander seems to understand me to some extent, but if the solution is ordering the Legion Commander’s men to show me courtesy...... then it will be difficult for my relationship with the other Legion members to improve.}
Yeah, just like it said.
If I ordered them not to be rude to it,
Jeong Sua and that group would obey my command.
But that’s all.
Even if they stopped acting rude on the outside,
they’d still keep hostility toward it on the inside.
{To be honest.......}
It glanced at me, then spoke cautiously, as if it wanted to talk through a worry.
{As the Legion Commander did, so did the ones I met and {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} traded with before. Most natives guarded against me a great deal.}
“......Mm. Yeah, they would.”
{They would, huh......?}
At my offhand answer,
it tilted its head.
{Are the native species originally a species with such severe wariness?}
“.......”
{To be this guarded right away even though I haven’t shown any hostile behavior.}
And.
I stared blankly at it as it said that.
{Ah. Of course, this world is ruled by the law of the jungle. I understand guarding against someone who might be stronger than you, but.......}
KRRRRGH......!
{Even after a trade relationship with me is established, displaying hostility like this is a little hard to understand.}
KWE-EEEHK.......
{Hah. If I at least knew the cause of that wariness, I could try to respond. Honestly, it’s a little stifling.}
“......You really don’t know?”
{Hm?}
Its voice was ringing directly inside my mind.
Since what it was saying was fairly rational and reasonable,
it was easy to forget, without thinking......
{What do you mean?}
KWEEEERK.......
That terminal of its, where the voice was coming from......
that monster is truly horrifically ugly.
Like every kind of monster had been grotesquely stitched together.
Bizarre pus oozed from its entire body.
And it couldn’t even open its mouth properly, so drool mixed with green phlegm kept dripping down.
‘.......’
Looking at it, I hesitated for a moment.
Then I let out a sigh and opened my mouth.
“The reason humans guard against you is.......”
{Oh! As expected......! The Legion Commander knows the reason!}
It was honest with me, without any lies.
Then—
“You’re...... ugly.”
I also
had to be honest with it.
{......Huh?}
Hearing me, the doctor—
as if shocked by something it never expected, stumbled back.
*****
{My god.......}
After I told it the truth,
the “doctor” spoke, filled with despair.
{All that hostility was because of my appearance......?}
“......Yeah, it’s probably for sure.”
{But you wouldn’t have seen my true body.}
“Even if we haven’t seen your true body, the monsters we’ve seen were extremely hideous.”
{If it’s the monster the Legion Commander saw.......}
It
pointed at its own body and said—
{Do you mean this child?}
“Yeah.”
{To me...... it looks like a beautiful body created from the culmination of all my research.}
“.......”
{Ah, of course, I admit there are somewhat inefficient and unsanitary parts. But...... this isn’t a child directly投入ed into surgery, it’s only a child for conversation. I didn’t think hygiene mattered. No, I don’t even know why I’m making excuses like this.}
As if it had a headache, it grabbed its head with both hands.
Then it said in a tone like it couldn’t believe it.
{Judging others by appearance...... isn’t that a bad thing?}
“.......”
I couldn’t even refute it.
It was far too correct.
‘That stings.’
But.
What can you do.
“That’s just how humans are. We try to grasp someone by their first impression first.”
{I see...... is this what you call a cultural difference.}
It looked utterly flustered by something it never expected.
But only for a moment.
{......Still, thank you for telling me.}
“Thanks for what.”
It thanked me.
“......You’re not hurt, are you?”
{Hm? No, not like that. I was just flustered because I didn’t expect it. This body isn’t my true body anyway.}
......Its true body.
I was a little curious where its true body was.
And what it actually looked like.
{Still, appearance....... appearance.}
And.
While I was wondering about its true body—
{Then it might actually be good news.}
“Huh?”
{I was worried there might be some serious reason they guard against me like this, but to think it was such a trivial reason! Then.}
As if it had a realization,
it split its mouth wide—
and said, wearing what passed for a smile for it.
{I think I may have a solution.}
