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“Thank you, Director.”

“I’ll be counting on you today as well.”

When I entered the duty room, the nurse maids were surprisingly calm and greeted me, as if the news about me being in charge today had spread properly.

“But, teacher. Is there a special reason you’re on duty all of a sudden?”

“About Room 104…”

I hesitated to answer their curious questions about why I was taking on the duty, realizing I might have spoken too soon.

What I was really trying to do was check on Zion before he fell asleep.

There had been strange rumors about my relationship with Zion before, so if I spoke about it too freely, it might lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

“If it’s Room 104… Is it the hero?”

Ugh, it seems I was too slow to stop my words.

I should really think before I speak…

But then again, reflecting on it, what I was about to do was strictly a medical activity.

There was no reason to feel guilty, so I decided to just say it.

After all, the Rehabilitation Medicine Center doesn’t run an emergency room, so when on duty, the nurse maids do the work, and the doctors just remain on standby for emergencies.

Spending a lot of time checking on Zion while on duty wouldn’t be an issue, which is why I had decided to do both.

However, if I left my post for too long to see Zion, the staff might start to wonder, so it might be better to clarify.

“Yes, it’s about Zion. I think he might be suffering from Buff Addiction, so I’ll monitor his psychological changes at night.”

“Oh… I see.”

In the end, I had spoken honestly, but the nurse maids looked puzzled, tilting their heads in confusion.

“But, teacher, can’t you just ask him? Can’t you just inquire if he’s feeling depressed…?”

“It seems he doesn’t really want to answer.”

“Oh my, is it the hero?”

I had never directly asked Zion, but I wasn’t lying either.

‘It seems he doesn’t want to respond’ is just my assumption.

“The hero even says he doesn’t want to?”

“Isn’t that surprising? I would never have thought there would be things the hero wouldn’t want to talk about.”

The fact that Zion had declined to answer appeared to be incredibly unexpected for the nurse maids, who began reminiscing about the times they had seen him.

“He’s always so nice, smiling and chatting even when the patients or staff bother him.”

“Right? Everyone wants to see the hero at least once, but from the hero’s perspective, he’s having to deal with tons of people every single day, yet he never shows any signs of dislike.”

“I hear requests to meet the hero come in all day long, just asking to see him.”

“He said it was okay to decline visitors, but they still insisted…”

“The director says the hero’s condition is quite serious when requesting staff cooperation. But from what we see, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.”

“I’m just relieved to know he can even say no.”

The nurse maids’ stories were a series of accounts I hadn’t heard from Zion.

To think that such things had happened while I was treating him.

I knew that since his admission to the center, Zion had become quite close with the patients and staff, but I never imagined he was also receiving visits from them.

“Luni, Maya.”

“Yes, Director.”

“From now on, refuse all requests to meet Zion. Just say it’s an order from me.”

“Ah, understood…”

“Should we inform the hero about this as well?”

“No, I’ll tell Zion myself.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Until now, there had been no signs of Zion having agoraphobia, but I didn’t intend to allow situations that could continuously stress him out to continue.

Visitors from civilians? Ridiculous.

Well, now that I’ve informed the staff I’m on duty, what should I do next?

It wouldn’t be long before the lights across the hospital would turn off. Should I head to see Zion after the lights go out?

The aim of this duty was to see whether any dangerous changes in Zion’s emotions would happen when it got dark and he was left alone.

If I went to see him after he was asleep, it would lose its meaning.

So, I really did need to visit before he fell asleep.

‘Is there a way to check on Zion without him noticing?’

Since Zion was in a single room, my only options to check on him would either be to go into his room or look through the window.

His bed was near the window, and since he was on the first floor, it would be nice to look in from outside.

But if he caught me peering through the window, what would I even say?

Looking in from outside would be totally stalking, and if caught, I’d be out immediately.

In that case… since I needed to see Zion before he slept, I might as well make up a good reason for entering his ward without getting caught.

“We’ll be turning off the lights soon~”

The nurse maids went down the hallway of the ward, announcing the end-of-day lighting, and then swiftly, all the lights in the hospital except for the bare minimum went dark.

I had to hurry to Room 104 before Zion fell asleep, so I headed straight there, planning to quietly slip in and check on him.

“Whoa…”

I took a breath and grasped the doorknob for 104.

I was currently on duty. I was checking on patients, so entering Zion’s room was just part of my job.

No one had told me not to enter, like Serin had, so it should be fine.

– Click.

I turned the doorknob and entered Zion’s room effortlessly.

Zion was unresponsive.

He either hadn’t noticed me or had already fallen asleep.

– Clunk, clank, bang, thud…

‘Huh?’

I heard what seemed like metal clattering from his bed.

It was extremely irregular and fast.

What kind of noise was that?

As I watched closely, Zion still showed no signs of reaction, and only the irregular clanging continued to echo.

“…Zion?”

I called out cautiously, but there was still no response.

Oh no, had he really already fallen asleep?

With this, the purpose of my duty…

– Clunk, clunk, thud thud…

When I approached to take a closer look, I saw Zion curled up, blankets covering him, turned away from the window, clutching something tightly, and trembling.

And the continuous metallic sounds seemed to be coming from the object he was holding.

‘What’s going on? What does he have in his arms while he sleeps?’

Did he always sleep with a sound like this? If this habit was interfering with his sleep, I wanted to help him somehow.

I couldn’t see what he was holding; it was hidden under the blankets.

“Teacher… no… Hop Harvey… please…”

Unmoving, Zion mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

Could it be he was dreaming about me? What could I have done in his dream to make him repeatedly say no…?

As his mumbling intensified, Zion’s trembling increased, and the metallic sound he held started to grow louder. Would he wake up at this rate?

I had no idea what he was holding, but I wanted to pull it from him to stop the sound.

‘What in the world is it that he’s clinging to?’

I cautiously lifted the blanket to see what was inside Zion’s embrace, and there it was…

‘Ah, this is…’

A sword. Most likely the Holy Sword.

The sword in its sheath was trembling in his arms, causing that clanging sound.

Zion’s habit of sleeping while clutching the Holy Sword. It was a habit he carried since the original work.

When one never knew when demons might attack while sleeping on the battlefield, this behavior was essential.

If his sleeping habit had persisted from the war days, the reason why he told others not to approach while he was asleep was simply…

‘If I take this away from him, he will definitely kill me. I need to get out of here right now.’

The idea of suddenly touching him while he was sleeping could very well get me attacked by Zion.

I gently placed the blanket back down and quietly slipped out of the ward.

Although I couldn’t see Zion just before he fell asleep as planned, at least I was lucky to gather valuable information about his condition.

‘Now I’ve got more work to do. After the lights go out, if something strange happens to Zion, I’ll need to add to the duty communication to tell them to call me without touching him. And also…’

I had to figure out a way to make that noise stop.

At his prime, Zion wouldn’t have shivered while holding the Holy Sword, which means no noise would come from it, but now it seemed like it might be disturbing his sleep.

It felt like he was having a strange dream as well.

‘How can I solve this…’

I had to somehow help Zion sleep comfortably, while also ensuring not to get caught that I’d been watching over him, so I decided to think carefully about it during my remaining duty hours.

********************

“Zion. Take this.”

As we entered the weekend marking the 8th week of Hero Zion’s Rehabilitation, I presented a large gift wrapped in a paper bag, and Zion’s eyes widened in surprise as he accepted it.

“What? What is this?”

“It’s a gift, so take it.”

“A gift? Out of the blue?”

“Today marks the 50th day since I met you.”

The prepared gift was something that would help Zion sleep soundly. I had taken special care in choosing it.

Since it was true that today was the 50th day since we met, there was no awkwardness in giving a gift.

“Suddenly a milestone… I haven’t prepared anything.”

“The one receiving the gift doesn’t need to prepare anything.”

“But I’ve always just received from you, so I should have been the one to prepare something today.”

Zion’s personality made it difficult for me to give him things.

But soothing and persuading Zion like that was now something I was familiar with.

“Normally, people don’t celebrate milestones like this. Just accept it comfortably.”

“You’re right, I honestly didn’t think of it…”

“If it makes you happy, then that’s all that matters. I thought you would enjoy something unexpected.”

“Then should I… accept it as such?”

Finally, a genuine smile appeared on Zion’s face.

Carefully, she grasped the wrapped paper and began to unwrap it to see what was inside.

“A doll?”

“More precisely, it’s a cushion. An item you can hug while sleeping.”

“Oh my, how cute! Is it a ladybug?”

A round half-moon-shaped ladybug cushion.

After much consideration on how to help with Zion’s sleeping habit, this was my conclusion.

“In my hometown, there’s a legend that ladybugs land on sick people and fly off with their illness. So I want you to use it when you sleep, so you can recover soon, okay?”

“Hop Harvey…”

For the record, the legend about ladybugs is said to have originated in France.

Although France isn’t my hometown, I can refer to my previous life which is now considered my hometown in this world.

“Thank you. Really… this is such an unexpected gift.”

Zion hug the ladybug cushion tightly, speaking with sincerity.

I wondered if she was a bit touched? I hoped this gift would hold a special meaning for her, even if it couldn’t replace the Holy Sword.

At the very least, if she hugged it while sleeping, it would lessen the noise.

I imagined it would be more comfortable than hugging something hard.

Overall, I was relieved to see Zion looking happy.

More than that, I wanted to check if she was indeed using it while she slept, but did that mean I had to pull another duty shift?

“Wow, this is so soft!”

Zion seemed to love the cushion immensely, raising it high to make eye contact with the ladybug, pressing it to feel its texture, and hugging it closely, exploring it in various ways.

Watching how truly joyful Zion looked made me feel like it wasn’t necessary to check after all.

I had developed a strong conviction that she would use the gift as I had suggested.