Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 285



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 285

White and pure (1)

It’s pure white.

Everything my eyes can see is pure white.

But it’s not cozy.

Quite the opposite.

It’s very cold and freezing.

The whirling winds seem to slice through my skin, and the cold like a hammer hits my bones.

It’s an extreme environment.

“… … It’s really interesting.”

Of course I’m fine. I say this over and over again, but the ‘outside’ of my body is pretty strong.

“You really do have a lot of money.”

This is a large magical space created by Edsilla National University just to evaluate students. It’s a bit expensive, but whatever.

I am walking through the snowy field as a rescue worker.

The equipment consists only of a detector, compass, radio, telescope, rope, climbing gear and three days’ worth of food.

The scenery is not much different from that of the South and North Poles.

The situations faced by the survival unit and the rescue unit are different, but they share an environment. Somewhere here, there are knights trapped waiting to survive.

I turned on the “SZX-9500”. I looked quite far away, but there was no signal.

If survival was the goal, they would have been frantic and sent out signals.

“Is it wide?”

It seems likely. Considering the size of the passageway through which it entered, it could be as large as a city.

Rustle─ rustle─

I walked along the road mixed with ice and snow, using a compass to determine direction and a map in my head.

Then suddenly it stopped.

Phew… … .

The snowfield was pushed along the footsteps. There was a mysterious slope right in front of me. I looked at it closely.

It was a crack, a crevasse, on the surface of the glacier.

“… … It’s suspicious.”

I squeezed my eyes hard and made them look like rocks.

Whoosh─ he threw it down.

“… … .”

I listened quietly.

No matter how long I waited, there was no sound.

“It’s definitely suspicious.”

There must be at least one person at the bottom. I had a feeling, so I tied a rope to my waist. I tied the rope to a nail in the solid ice nearby.

And then, straight down.

Srrrrrrrrrr───!

I jumped down the crevasse.

* * *

Kwak. Jahanna unconsciously grabbed the tablet. Her heart thumped at the sight of the guy falling. Her mood suddenly worsened.

“… … Are you injured?”

This guy is throwing himself around for no reason. If he did a rough evaluation like this, no one would say anything.

There is no footage even from underground. Drones can’t follow it.

“I took the money and ate it-”

Jahanna was furious. If they were going to take money to make the exam process public, they should have anticipated this situation. They should have planted cameras underground.

She just tapped her tablet for no reason.

“We have arrived.”

Meanwhile, we arrived at the hospital. Jahanna clicked her tongue and got out of the car.

[Sammul Hospital], with Professor Yoo Ha-ins as the director.

“… …Is this the right place?”

The exterior of the building, located in a rural area, is also very shabby.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jahanna went inside first. There were quite a few patients waiting, but she went straight to the director’s office.

“Hey, I, Doctor! The director is still in the middle of treatment-”

“I’m not a teacher.”

I opened the door to the director’s office without saying a word. Director Yu Ha-ins was examining another patient.

Jahanna glared at him without saying a word.

“… … Are you here?”

Yuhains responded calmly. As if he had known you would come.

It was a very irritating expression on Jahanna’s face.

* * *

The bottom of the crevasse was like a cave.

……hmm.

I walked with my head tilted. The inside was completely dark, and I couldn’t even hear a sound.

It seemed like the magical power accumulated at the bottom was causing a phenomenon similar to a barrier.

……iced coffee.

No matter how much I move my mouth, no sound comes out.

Fortunately, the eyes are still visible. The night vision mode of the 「SZX-9500」 is in operation.

… … There should be at least one person here.

I walked forward, muttering to myself in vain.

Thud thud, thud thud.

I spent several dozen minutes trying to imagine sounds I couldn’t hear.

Suddenly a person was discovered.

A woman in the dark, with her arms and legs tied.

ah!

I ran towards her. I woke her up first by shaking her shoulders, and then I cut the ropes on her arms and legs.

Are you okay?

I was about to say that when I stopped in my tracks. It was because of her face.

I muttered blankly.

… … Tae?

Tay.

An old friend I’ve lost and forgotten. His face, whose name I don’t even know why I remember…

No?

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t Tay.

It was Teia.

I blankly stared at Teia, who was slowly getting up.

Why was this professor tied up here?

The moment I was thinking about it.

Exactly─!

She snapped her fingers. Then all the darkness cleared and the sound returned.

“Congratulations… … .”

Teia, who turned to look at me, also had a slightly surprised expression on her face. She pursed her lips and then nodded with a serious expression.

“Congratulations. You have rescued a man trapped in a dark crevasse. Bonus points for your courage in risking your life and your ability to navigate through a place where you lost your hearing and sight. Plus 10 points.”

I blinked. It was a rather sudden event.

“Ah… … Yes. There were bonus points too. Is this why you’ve been hiding all this time?”

“okay.”

“I thought it was Tayne.”

Words that came out unconsciously without me knowing.

Teia frowned slightly.

“Who is that? Every time you see me, you say ‘Tay.’”

“Ah… … Well, we’re friends.”

I shrugged.

“A friend whose whereabouts I don’t even know.”

Then, a faint sigh escaped Teia’s lips. It was a sigh for which I had no idea why.

Tsk- she clicked her tongue.

“Do you want to find that friend?”

“… … Yes? Do you know Tae?”

“I’ll explain the details after the test. For now, just finish the rescue. How do you plan on going up?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Rescue doesn’t end with just getting down.

We must rise together.

“The method is… … .”

I untied the rope around my waist. I held it, hesitated, and cautiously asked Teia.

“… … The rope is short, so we might have to hug each other. Is that okay?”

* * *

At the same time, Jahanna waited for Yuhanes’ examination to end and then sat down.

“… … .”

“… … .”

The doctor and the patient looked at each other in silence.

A simple staring contest, or a fight for control of the situation.

Finally, Yuhains spoke first.

“What’s the matter?”

“… … Don’t you know everything?”

Jahanna clicked her tongue and crossed her legs.

“You said to come and confess when you get there.”

“hmm.”

Yuhans made a strange sound. He looked through the charts in the drawer and took one out.

Jahanna found all his reactions unnecessarily irritating.

“Hey. Director Yuhains. If you reveal this-”

“Patients’ personal information will not be leaked.”

“… … .”

Yuhanes spoke stiffly, like some NPC.

Well, I guess so. This guy is so old-fashioned that it’s frustrating.

Simply put, it’s a poisonous species that will kill you if you put a knife to its throat. Jahanna knows that, having killed quite a few people.

“All right.”

Yuhanes checked something on the chart.

“It is said that Princess Jahanna fell in love with Sion Askar─”

“─No.”

Jahanna blushed and quickly reached out her hand.

“Hey, shouldn’t you use words so directly?”

“Yes. I understand that Princess Jahanna has developed special feelings for Zion.”

“… … .”

I don’t like it one bit, but it’s acceptable enough.

“But I am a doctor. Of course, there is systematic knowledge in almost all medical fields, but my specialty is cancer. In the psychiatric and psychological areas, I can only give you prescriptions that are close to advice.”

“……so.”

Jahanna rested her chin on her hand.

He said that if I admit to my love, he will come to me, but when the situation actually becomes like this, he starts talking nonsense.

“I’m becoming increasingly dissatisfied, Director Yuhains.”

“As a doctor, all I can do is prescribe. I would like to prescribe two prescriptions for Lord Jahanna, so Lord Jahanna, choose.”

Yuhains handed me a paper bag.

“This is your first prescription.”

“… … What is it?”

“If you wish to let go of the ‘special feelings’ that Lady Jahanna has for Sion Askar, use it.”

“Abandon your emotions?”

Yuhans took a deep breath and nodded.

“I say this over and over again, but the easiest way is to just erase the feelings.”

“The easiest?”

“Yes, Princess Jahanna, admitting love is a difficult path. You will surely regret it.”

Yuhanes’ words were meaningful, but Jahanna didn’t think deeply about them.

It will definitely be a tough road. She is the eldest daughter of a great family, while Zion is a man with nothing.

That fact alone would be painful to both of them. Maybe they would get married, or maybe they would get divorced.

“… … .”

Jahanna looked inside the envelope. There were some pills inside.

His brow furrowed.

“It’s a pill. This kind of medicine doesn’t work.”

My feelings for Zion Ascal are now breaking through this tranquilizer. They have grown so much without me even realizing it.

“This is a completely different medicine than the previous ones. It’s a medicine made with my “Spectrum.”

“… … Other medicine?”

Jahanna took out the pill.

However, it is impossible to distinguish something by its appearance alone.

I looked up at Professor Yuhains again.

“What kind of medicine is it?”

Poison… … It won’t be like that. There’s probably no doctor with as much professional consciousness as this professor.

“It’s an emotional blocker.”

“How does it work?”

“It precisely blocks the parts of the brain that are activated and the neurohormones that are secreted when Princess Jahanna sees Zion Askar. It is a drug that I have applied for a patent for and have even completed verification.”

That is, it means that the current Jahanna will be turned into the original Jahanna.

It’s quite an amazing drug.

Jahanna shook her hands, holding the envelope in her hands.

“… …Why did you make this medicine?”

“I told you, it’s hard and painful to admit love.”

As the saying goes, Yuhains is a man who has been bereaved. He must have tried to forget it even with medicine.

Jahanna asked back curtly.

“Yeah, block your emotions with medicine?”

“Yes. But it’s not a permanent medication, so you have to take it whenever you feel pain.”

At that moment, a question suddenly occurred to me.

“But why did you stop taking it? Wasn’t it medicine made for you to take?”

Jahanna looked into Yuhans’ eyes.

Yuhanes answered with a transparent expression.

“… …because I acknowledged my love.”

“… … .”

What a crazy thing to say. This guy, at first glance, seems the most rational, but in some strange way, he is ridiculously emotional.

Jahanna asked as she packed her medicine.

“What’s the second prescription?”

“Here it is.”

This time it was an envelope again.

“This prescription is not for now, but for a later time-”

Yuhans was about to say something, but Jahanna opened the envelope right away.

There was only a note inside.

“ha.”

Yuhans let out a faint sigh. Jahanna looked at the two letters written on it.

Disgrace – The blood vessels on my temples popped out.

“… … Are you kidding me?”

Jahanna showed the note to Yuhans.

[confession]

Her gaze turned fierce, but Yuhans faced it calmly.

“Yes, this is more of an advisory thing, because I can’t give out my patients’ personal information.”

“Then there’s no reason for me to come here, you idiot.”

“No. There are. There are two options left.”

Yuhans pointed to Jahanna’s envelope of medicine.

“If you don’t want to confess, take the medicine. It will be the easy way. But if you want to hear the ‘truth’ from Sion Askar.”

He pointed to a note that said [Confession].

“Confess your love to Zion Ascal.”

“… … Are you crazy?”

“There is no way around it. I guarantee it, Sion Ascal will never tell Jahanna that he loves her.”

In an instant, Jahanna’s eyes narrowed sharply. A small wave rose in her heart.

She asked back in a low, hushed voice.

“Does that mean he doesn’t like me?”

“Because it’s the opposite.”

Yuhanes said something unintelligible. But that unintelligible word was probably the best he could do for now.

Because of that fucking ‘no patient information can be leaked’ condition.

“However, if Lord Jahanna confesses his true feelings first, Sion Askar will surely tell the truth as well.”

“… … .”

Jahanna listened quietly.

I can’t know what this guy knows or how much he knows. It’s such an annoying information asymmetry.

“The prescription has been given. Now the choice is yours, Princess Jahanna.”

“… … Okay.”

Jahanna put both prescriptions in her pocket. She turned around and took out the tablet.

Right now, I was wondering if Zion Ascal had escaped the crevasse.

──But.

“… … What is this.”

He was with some woman.

“Who is this crazy bitch?”

Suddenly, a fierce flame burst out from Jahanna’s palm.