Chapter 41: A Naked Figure In His Room
[The Academy Infirmary — One Week Later]
A low groan escaped Ethan’s lips as consciousness slowly returned to him.
His head throbbed mercilessly, each pulse sending another wave of pain through his skull until he almost wanted to shut his eyes again and continue sleeping.
Unfortunately...
The throbbing pain didn’t let that happen. The moment his eyelids fluttered open, they met another pair of eyes quietly watching him from above.
"Ugh...Where am I?" he asked hoarsely, his voice sounding rough from not speaking for days.
The woman smiled warmly before stepping away from the bedside to give him some room. "Ethan Ashford, right?" she asked gently. "You’re in the academy infirmary. You were brought here after losing consciousness."
"Oh..."
His memories immediately came flooding back.
The Rampage. Drey. Entering his Mental Sea.
The terrifying corruption...
And finally forcing out every last drop of spiritual energy he possessed to purify it. He had practically drained himself dry and nearly lost his life in the process.
He only hoped—desperately hoped—that everything had somehow gone unnoticed.
If everyone had actually seen and believed what happened...
He was in deep shit.
There was no way the academy wouldn’t investigate him after something like that.
The nurse observed the conflicted look on his face before smiling knowingly. "You still seem to be in shock from everything that happened. You look rather dazed."
Ethan simply nodded absentmindedly.
Only then did he lower his gaze to inspect himself. Bandages wrapped around several parts of his body.
Odd...
Those injuries...
They were exactly where the vines had struck him inside Drey’s mental sea.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. So the injuries sustained in a Sentinel’s mental sea really did manifest on the physical body...
Interesting.
His eyes wandered around the quiet ward before he looked back at the nurse. "And... what about Drey? Is he fine? Am I the only one suffering here?" He clicked his tongue dramatically before adding, "Where is he anyway?"
The nurse couldn’t help letting out a small snort. "Oh, Lord Drey?"
"He was discharged several days ago."
Ethan blinked.
"So soon?"
She folded her arms with obvious dissatisfaction. "You know he was selected for deployment with the Sentinel Response Unit to deal with the Rift incident. Apparently, some principals don’t consider students’ health important enough to let them recover properly."
She clicked her tongue.
"Hmph."
Ethan scoffed inwardly.
Knowing Drey, It was equally possible that the man had willingly chosen to leave.
After all, battling monsters probably sounded far more appealing than staying behind and waiting for the person who had accidentally saved his life to wake up.
It wasn’t as though Ethan expected a heartfelt thank-you.
...Although...
A little appreciation for risking his life wouldn’t have killed the man.
Still...
None of that mattered. What mattered far more was whether Drey remembered everything that had happened inside his mental sea.
Hopefully...
He didn’t.
Although Ethan knew that was probably nothing more than wishful thinking.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ethan glanced back toward the nurse.
"Umm..."
"Stella." She smiled. "My name is Stella."
"Oh."
Ethan nodded before continuing.
"Stella... what exactly was said to be the reason I fainted?"
She stared at him for a few seconds. "You don’t remember your heroic act?"
Heroic act?
Ethan’s eyelid twitched.
Stella continued with an amused smile. "Although many people are still shocked and some refuse to believe it, everyone says you successfully Guided the berserk S-rank Sentinel Drey back to sanity."
She shook her head in admiration. "Honestly, it’s unbelievable. Especially considering everyone believed you are an F-Rank Guide."
"But whether they believe it or not..."
"It happened."
Ethan suddenly felt unbearably warm despite the pleasantly cool room.
His wishful thinking had truly remained nothing more than wishful thinking.
They saw him.
Everyone had seen him.
He forced an awkward laugh.
"...And you believe that? They all believe that?"
"I... I really didn’t do anything."
Stella quietly walked over before placing the back of her hand against his forehead.
Then she checked his neck.
Her brows slowly furrowed.
"Ethan..."
"Are you feeling alright? The fact that you don’t remember something that significant is honestly a little concerning."
She looked at him thoughtfully. "It seems we’ll have to run another full examination."
Ethan’s eyes widened.
"No!"
"I mean..."
He hurriedly waved both hands.
"I’m perfectly fine."
"Really. Please don’t!"
"There’s absolutely no need for another examination."
Stella couldn’t help laughing softly at his obvious reluctance. She had never met Ethan Ashford before today.
Everything she knew about him came from academy gossip. According to the rumors, Ethan was supposedly obsessed with Lord Drey and had shamelessly chased after him countless times.
Naturally...
She had expected someone like that to proudly boast about saving the strongest Sentinel in the Empire.
Instead...
The young man sitting before her looked as though he desperately wished everyone would simply forget the incident ever happened.
It was... strangely refreshing.
"I’ll be back." She smiled gently. "I need to inform the healers and doctors that you’ve finally regained consciousness."
"They’ll perform one last examination before deciding whether you’re fit for discharge."
With that, Stella quietly left the ward.
The moment the door closed behind her, Ethan slowly adjusted himself into a more comfortable sitting position.
Surprisingly...
Apart from the pounding headache refusing to leave him alone, he wasn’t experiencing much physical pain anymore. His body didn’t actually hurt very much anymore. Most of the wounds seemed to have healed.
Almost instinctively, he tried extending his consciousness toward his own mental sea.
Nothing.
He frowned.
Once again, he tried.
Still nothing.
It was as though his Mental Sea had completely shut him out.
Was it because he had just woken up?
Or had forcing so much spiritual energy damaged something?
Unable to reach any conclusion, Ethan eventually gave up. "...I’ll check again after I return to my room."
Not long afterward, Stella returned alongside several academy healers and doctors.
After conducting another thorough examination and asking him countless questions regarding his condition, they finally concluded that his recovery had progressed well enough for him to leave.
Before discharging him, they handed him a small container of medicinal ointment.
"Apply this twice a day."
"It’ll help the remaining scars fade."
"And return to the infirmary one week from now for another check-up."
Ethan thanked everyone sincerely before leaving the infirmary.
His first stop was naturally the dormitory office. After explaining the unfortunate incident involving accidentally locking himself out during the monster attack, the front desk staff quickly issued him a replacement key card.
Problem solved.
Finally...
After what felt like forever...
He was going back to his room. Just thinking about lying down on his own bed again made him feel like crying tears of joy.
He had only taken a few more steps before arriving outside his room. Just as he reached for the door...
He froze.
Voices.
There were voices coming from inside.
His expression immediately stiffened.
Someone...
Someone was inside his room.
His first thought was the academy. Had Principal Ronan finally decided to search his room?
Or worse...
A burglar?
His eyes rapidly swept across the corridor before settling on a wooden mop leaning against the wall.
Without hesitation, he grabbed it. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ethan tightened his grip around the door handle before quietly inserting the keycard.
Beep.
The door unlocked.
He slowly pushed it open.
"Who the hell is in my—"
His voice stopped abruptly.
Ethan’s eyes widened until they were almost comically round as his entire brain froze on the spot.
Standing inside his room...
Was the unmistakable figure of an incredibly well built man.
A very, very naked man.