Chapter Two: Shock, the Young Man Forces Himself Upon the Girl, Ignoring Her Tears and Pleas...

“This room…” Moyuna was stunned by what she saw. Even though it was underground and devoid of light magic, it was still very bright. Long, white objects on the ceiling emitted a glow, but it was nothing like the light of magic crystals.

“You’re ill. If my assessment is correct, you have a severe case of tetanus and are on the verge of death.”

The young man placed Moyuna onto a sofa he had made himself, then opened a cabinet on the wall and took out a clear bottle filled with liquid, followed by a sealed syringe.

Of course, Moyuna didn’t know the name of that cylindrical object. She only found it odd that she didn’t recognize anything in his hands. So she began to examine the underground room. Though it was an artificially dug-out space, it was nothing like the chaotic burrows she’d seen before. The floor was covered in gleaming white tiles that, upon closer inspection, reflected her own face. The walls were painted white and decorated with warm-toned wallpaper. In short, it was so clean it didn’t resemble a basement at all.

“How do you know? Are you a healer?” She hadn’t understood what tetanus meant, but the part about being close to death was spot on. Moyuna turned her gaze back to the strange young man.

“Don’t lump me in with those people—people who can’t even cure minor illnesses.” His tone was full of disdain, as if he looked down on the holy healers. His arrogance made Moyuna frown, but she quickly caught something else in his words. “They can’t cure me, but you can?”

“Of course. That’s why I say there’s a fundamental problem with this world’s system. They’ve focused too much on developing magic and completely abandoned science.”

“You’re trying to deceive me. This is a curse that even ninth-level healing magic can’t cure.”

Even on the brink of death, Moyuna wasn’t desperate enough to clutch at straws. She remained deeply suspicious of what this person wanted to do to her.

“What curse? Think carefully—have you been pricked by anything sharp recently?”

“Hm? About a month ago, I came across a strange dagger in the Grand Library. While I was examining it, I was cut by the blade, but I healed myself right away.”

Moyuna thought for a moment and realized she had indeed been injured. No one paid any attention to it; such minor wounds hardly required a healer.

“That’s it. You mages are powerful with magic, but your bodies are remarkably fragile. That’s why you nearly died over something like this. This is a matter of science—can magic cure it? Those healing spells take days just to cure a common cold.”

The young man surmised that the dagger was probably rusty, but people in this world were unaware of the dangers of rust. He didn’t bother explaining the scientific principles to these unscientific mages.

“You seem to really dislike magic.”

“Absolutely. Now, take off your clothes.”

He admitted his aversion to all things unscientific without hesitation, then raised the syringe, now filled with medicine, and approached Moyuna. The silver needle glinted ominously under the light.

“What are you trying to do?” She’d never seen such a strange tool, but her feminine intuition told her that this was dangerous—far more dangerous than his request to undress.

“I’m going to give you an injection, introducing the liquid into your body.”

“Undress… which part?”

Moyuna shrank back into the sofa. She didn’t see any lust or twisted desire in the young man’s eyes, but she almost wished she did—at least then she would have a valid reason to kill him!

“Your backside. Your buttocks.”

“No, no, surely you can’t expect me to bare my backside for you?”

“Hm… I made a mistake. This isn’t my world, after all.”

The young man reconsidered and gave up, not wishing to deal with the consequences of modesty—he had no desire to be held responsible or silenced once Moyuna recovered.

“Let’s do a slow intravenous injection instead of an intramuscular one. Hold out your arm.”

He put aside the syringe and picked up another needle attached to a tube, which led down to the transparent bottle. It seemed less threatening than the previous instrument.

“So you’re still going to stab me! What makes you confident that I’d let a stranger do whatever he wants with my body?”

Moyuna thought she should try reason rather than force—certainly not because her magic was too depleted to deal with him.

“Basic trust between people. I believe I can cure you, so you must believe you can be cured by me. If you give up, you’ll just die.”

Hearing his earnest words, Moyuna felt a rare sense of frustration—something she hadn’t experienced since her teacher had sealed her magic and thrown her into the Forest of Magical Beasts. After much hesitation, she made the biggest decision of her life: she chose to trust him, and with courage, extended her left hand.

“Don’t… touch me like that.”

The young man took her hand, pressing and rubbing it as he searched. Poor Moyuna had never been touched by a man like this—not even the emperor dared show her anything but the utmost respect, let alone handle her hand so freely.

“Found the vein.”

A sharp cry escaped her lips.

What exactly was a vein? Moyuna hadn’t figured out what he meant before a sudden, intense pain shot across the back of her hand. Caught off guard, tears welled up in her eyes and she screamed.

“Sound magic? That’s a first,” the young man muttered, wincing as he covered his ears. But he persevered, hanging the bottle high so the medicine would drip smoothly down the tube. He pressed a cotton ball to hold the needle in place, then secured it with tape.

“Is it just my imagination, or do I actually feel a little better?”

Moyuna quickly recovered from the pain. Only the initial prick hurt; the cool medicine flowing into her body felt soothing, and her nausea lessened considerably.

“Of course it’s just your imagination. The illness was discovered too late. It’ll be at least half a month before you recover.”

“Half a month? Do I have to be pricked like this every day?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe dying would be better after all… By the way, did you really save me so simply?”

Moyuna gazed at the bottle suspended from the ceiling and sighed, then looked at the expressionless young man. She had only wanted a quiet place to sleep, yet she never imagined she would meet someone like him in a remote mountain town. Perhaps this was a miracle.

“Of course.”

“What’s your name? Mine is Moyuna.”

“I’m Ruby. Profession: scientist.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: As always, please add to your favorites and recommend the new book!