Chapter 56

“Your wrist has mostly healed. You can be discharged now. Just be careful when using scissors, okay?”

As soon as I received permission from the attending physician early Sunday morning, I went to the payment window to settle the bill.

There, I was greeted by familiar faces.

“Hello.”

“‘Nameya!’”

Yuna’s two older brothers, Semaaru and Seonoel, waved to me happily.

“Are you being discharged?”

“Yep. I was moved to a double room yesterday, but still, 900,000 won in just two days. My mother insisted she didn’t want to stay in the hospital. Mom, this is Yuna’s friend. She’s the one who treated you.”

“Hello.”

Yuna’s mother looked significantly better compared to before.

She operated the buttons with her fingers and wheeled herself closer to me.

For a while, she just stared at me silently.

Her fingers moved up from the buttons.

Then her hand, her wrist, and eventually her whole arm shakily reached out to touch mine.

“Thank you… student…”

The joints that had seemed immobile were moving again.

The previously unreachable distance was beginning to close.

“Thank you… really, thank you…”

And I caught her hand, which was starting to lose strength and droop.

“If you want to hold Yuna’s hand too, you’ll need to work hard on your rehabilitation exercises.”

Since she wasn’t fully recovered yet.

It would probably take quite a bit of time to readjust as she was using muscles she hadn’t for a long time.

I had already conveyed all the precautions to Semaaru, but just in case, I felt I should remind her as well.

“While you’re settling the bill, can I take your mother for a walk in the garden right outside? It took quite a while, probably because it’s the weekend.”

“Oh, that should be nice for Mom.”

Despite being a hospital built in the middle of the city, the garden was beautifully adorned with blooming cherry blossoms, creating a picturesque scene.

I took in the fragrance of spring flowers as I strolled with her along the garden path.

“Can you see a bit ahead? Don’t push yourself too hard trying to see too many things at once; it might give you a headache.”

“I used to see only light and darkness, but now I can make out shapes a little…”

“That tattoo on your left arm is a semi-permanent magic seal. Don’t forget to refuel your mana with Semaaru or Seonoel every day. Don’t overcharge or undercharge. The right amount is when all circuits of the seal glow after injecting mana.”

What was I about to say next?

“In about a month, you might be able to sit by yourself. But don’t hesitate to buy a medical capsule soon for your treatment, thinking of it as something for Yuna.”

“Yuna has a really amazing friend…”

“Haha… yeah.”

“My Semaaru and Seonoel, and I feel so sorry that I’m like this to Yuna.”

“No one will think that way.”

“I thought at one point that dying would be better than living. Just seeing my kids suffer…”

“It’s rude to say something like that in front of the person who helped save you.”

“Haha, you sound just like their father.”

“Excuse me?”

A cherry blossom petal fell and landed on the wheelchair.

She picked up the thin leaf with her fingers and held it up to the sunlight.

“I am truly a blessed person.”

Even though all her senses were still awkward, even the clumsy act of picking up a leaf was an overwhelming moment for her.

“Don’t you think there are truly many mysterious things in the world?”

Her sudden comment made me tilt my head slightly.

She smiled and rolled up the other sleeve of her shirt.

“You’ve been saved by the same magic twice like this. It’s the Akashic Record.”

On her other arm, a magic seal similar to the one I had engraved was operating at a smaller size.

She already knew about this magic.

“It’s a secret from the kids.”

As the injected mana dispersed, the magic seal faded away.

“How…? Moreover, that magic seal was over 20 years old.”

“Well, their father engraved it for me a long time ago. I’ve kept it without unsealing it as a memento.”

“Fentanyl…”

“What? You figured that out already in just the glimpse I showed you? You really are amazing, Yuna’s friend!”

There was a small amount of fentanyl left in her body.

The Akashic Record on her right arm contained a formula for breaking down fentanyl.

Now everything was coming together.

“I was a student at the academy too, you know? It was Nahit Academy, which no longer exists, but I was fairly bright back then, just like Yuna.”

“How did you end up getting into drugs?”

“Well… at first, it was just a mistake. When I was young and didn’t know any better, I drank a drink that someone mistakenly gave me at a club I went to with an older sister.”

She explained that the academy had a rigorous focus on education back then, just as it does now.

After running hard for ten years without looking back, she encountered severe burnout at the age of eighteen and began planning her first deviation from the path.

The club she entered by lying about her age was a new world, and just watching people dance made her happy.

She had no idea it would send her life spiraling down.

“I realized that the world isn’t just about the academy… But since I started taking fentanyl, my life slowly fell apart.”

One day, during a magic practice assessment, she couldn’t inject mana.

She couldn’t concentrate on studying as she usually did, and her grades fell to the point of receiving an academic warning after just one semester.

When she drank the same beverage at the club again, it was then that she realized this was a drug.

“But you know how drugs are. Even if you want to quit, you can’t. Even knowing that if I drink this, I won’t be able to use magic anymore, I just couldn’t stop.”

Although the club was eventually shut down for drug distribution, her life was thoroughly ruined, beyond what her parents could fix.

After several years of living in a psychiatric hospital suffering from withdrawal symptoms, she said she fortuitously met Yuna’s father.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as miserable as during that time. I was so young and foolish. I was stuck in a swamp of regret, reminiscing only about my glorious moments from the past, feeling so ashamed to show this to a classmate. I often said hurtful things because of that.”

She mentioned that during the KGSAT mock test, she had always ranked in the top 100 nationally, with a bright future ahead, while her husband was just an ordinary mid-rank student at the academy when they met, albeit with their roles reversed.

“Then did your husband design the Akashic Record by himself?”

“Yuna’s dad, if he didn’t know anything else, was really stubborn about that. For two years, even after his alternative service ended, he kept coming back for six more months to complete the magic seal, without a day missed. Honestly, with his university studies, he must have been really busy…”

How could she not fall for him?

As she sank into her memories, she mumbled, trailing off with her words.

“You have a wonderful partner. It’s romantic.”

“Yeah, he really was that great…”

Suddenly, Yuna’s words came to mind.

“I’m sorry… I don’t have a dad either, so let’s just leave it at that.”

And as if to confirm my suspicion, her mother spoke again.

“Yuna’s father passed away when she was very young, so raising three kids as a woman without a high school diploma is no easy feat. In Korea, it’s true that if you can’t use magic and have low education, there are very few opportunities.”

“It must have been very tough for you.”

“It’s comforting to think of it as my unfulfilled atonement. I thought I might never achieve that and would pass away before meeting my husband.”

“Did you have dreams? You must have had many things you wanted to do.”

“A dream? Yeah… a dream.”

A gentle breeze began to blow.

Now, without needing to desperately catch cherry blossom petals, many petals casually fell onto her lap.

“I wanted to be a university student. Any university would do… I wanted to attend classes with my husband and go on dates on campus, holding hands on this cherry blossom-lined street.”

She smiled softly while sorting through the pile of pink leaves.

“Because of that, at first, I hoped Yuna wouldn’t go to the academy. I didn’t want her to walk the same path I did. Still, it’s not wrong for the kid to inherit some good from her parents, is it? Yuna probably isn’t struggling too much at the academy, right?”

“Does she often pout about it?”

Yuna’s mother shook her head.

“Not even once. But I know it without her saying it. Nameya, I hope you take good care of our daughter. It’s shameless, but I’m asking you.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I want Yuna to know that the world is not just what she sees. I hope she enjoys a fun school life with her friends without being fixated solely on her grades.”

“Fun school life… Yes, I’ll make sure of it.”

“And about the Akashic Record, I’ll save some money after I recover my health and-”

“Shh. You don’t need to.”

After finishing our walk in the garden, Semaaru and Seonoel were waiting for us at the hospital entrance.

Each of them was holding a cake they bought from a bakery.

“Here you go.”

“What’s this?”

“What do you think it is? It’s a birthday cake. Yuna’s birthday cake. Here, Nameya, take one to share with your family.”

“Mom, let’s hurry home and celebrate mom’s discharge and Yuna’s birthday party that we missed yesterday.”

“Why did you buy something so expensive?”

“Shhh! Today, let’s not talk about money. I brought Yuna and mom’s favorite strawberry cream cake, so you can look forward to it!”

“How are you getting home, Name?”

“I’ll be picked up by Professor Cheon… I mean, my dad.”

“Then we’ll go ahead. Thank you so much, I owe you a lot.”

Semaaru helped her mother get into a taxi first and folded the wheelchair so it could fit in the trunk.

“Don’t you need to help, Seonoel? The eldest should handle this.”

“I’m holding the cake, though. Plus, I’m stronger than you now, right? He may look weak, but he has crazy muscles.”

“Ah, yeah, I see.”

“Anyway, thank you really. You’ll definitely become an impressive person in the future, no doubt about it. Just don’t forget us later.”

“Maybe not Yuna, but I might forget Seonoel. I’ll consider it if you become a basketball player.”

“Hahaha, you don’t hold back.”

He patted my back with a thud.

Even with a light touch, his hand was so large and heavy that my skin tingled.

Truly tall people have incredibly big hands.

* * *

“What’s that?”

“I received it as a gift. Just to say thank you.”

“Oh, I see. Is your wrist okay now?”

“Of course. It doesn’t even count as a wound.”

“…”

“I’ll be careful from now on! No, I’ll make sure something like this never happens again!”

“Haha, let’s hurry home, Name. You must be hungry. I’ve already prepared the meat.”

“Chateaubriand?”

“Of course! It’s what you wanted.”

“Professor Cheon.”

“What is it?”

“Do you happen to have any red wine…?”

“…?”

“Never mind… let’s hurry, I’m hungry!”