The next morning, after a relatively normal breakfast—outside of Carine’s soup, which had more meat chunks than Feyt’s—we were trying to move around slowly under the Doctor’s guidance.

We were told to do a few simple stretches, the doctor jotted a few lines on the paper on his clipboard as we did so.

“Both of you are improving faster than I thought. When you two were brought in, your muscles were so strained I thought they might break your bones.”

He said such a horrifying thing so casually, that’s a doctor for you.

After a few more checks, the doctor nodded with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Both of you should be able to move about the village now. I think you can go home now, boy. Just make sure you visit here once a day so I could check up on ya’.” He turned his head to Carine. “As for Lady Sareid, I’m afraid I cannot let you go just yet. The carriage home will be long and bumpy, I’m sure. I ask that you consider staying with us for a bit longer until you’re fully recovered.”

He sure changed his tone when he addressed Carine. I was starting to get fed up with this unequal treatment.

It didn’t feel good to be ignored as Feyt, and being treated differently as Carine didn’t feel good as well… Okay, maybe a bit, but surely it was not worth being ignored on the other end!

“Lady Sareid?” he asked, probably concerned as to why I was staring him down. “H-Has my service been unsatisfying so far?! P-Please, tell me! What can I do?!”

He went into instant full–panic mode. Just how much do these guys fear nobles and aristocrats? Were they that bad to garner this much “respect”?

I decided to just be blunt with my feelings. “Look, I appreciate that you are taking special care of me. But, there’s no need to pay this much attention to me. I won’t scream ‘Off with your head!’ or anything.” I faced the other me. “Instead, take equal care of both of us, please. I’m sure he felt lonely being ignored by the only doctor here…”

The doctor’s eyes widened, silently staring at me. Did I say something wrong?

“F-Forgive me, Lady Sareid! I was just grateful for the donation your father made to the clinic, I couldn’t help but feel it would be rude of me to not make you as comfortable as possible!”

Donation?

These soft new clothes, the comfortable bed sheets and pillows… It all made sense. The clinic could afford them due to Father’s donation.

So they weren’t singling me out of fear, but gratitude? Well, no, I still did detect a tinge of fear in their voices whenever I addressed them. That was still a factor.

At least they didn’t fully see me as a snobbish spoiled kid.

“I would appreciate it if you treat me the same as you would any other patient, Doctor.”

The doctor hastily nodded. “O-Of course! I’ll do my best!”

…

Now that I was permitted to take a walk around the village, I pondered whether I should take a breath of fresh air outside or not. Then, I heard gentle footsteps approaching the door.

The door opened, revealing a blonde woman and a brown-haired boy.

“Feyt!” Ricent shouted from the doorway. He rushed to my bedside with a wide smile on his face.

I was relieved to see his face. I hadn’t seen him in a while. I was busy with farmwork, and he was busy helping his mom at the bar.

I was grateful to see him visiting me, he must’ve been worried sick for me… or so I thought.

“So! How was it?! Fighting bandits, I mean!”

“What kind of question is that?!”

“How was the escape?! Did you do parkour on the trees as they chase you around?!”

“I’m not a ninja! Also, it wasn’t that thrilling!”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

What is up with him? It was as if he was fun first, safety second.

Ignoring his constant barrage of questions, I turned my eye to the other visitor, standing by the doorway with a solemn expression.

“Mom?” I called out to her.

I figured she would rush over and hug me right away, but she was just standing there, as if unsure what to do.

Finally, she raised her head and walked towards my bedside, standing behind Ricent. With watery eyes, she spoke in a nasal tone. “I’m sorry, Feyt!”

She went into a surprise hug, tears streaming down her face.

“S-Sorry?! For what?!” I asked, confused.

“I—sniff—I was the one who sent you to the market! I—sniff—I made you get kidnapped!! I’m sorryyyyy!!!~~”

Her tears and snot were going everywhere as she shook uncontrollably with me in her arms. And most of all, there was an unmistakable smell of alcohol around her.

Gah?! Is she drunk?!

“And—sniff—and!! I didn’t visit you yesterday because—sniff—because I’m scared you’re mad!!~”

I tried my best to pull Mom away, trying to calm her down. “M-Mom! Calm down! It’s not your fault, really! I’m not mad!!”

Mom continued her drunken sob as she clung to me. “B-But I was sooooo scared!!” She wailed, her face buried in my shoulder. “W-What if something happened?! And—sniff—and I was the one at fault!! I’m such a terrible mother!!”

“M-Mom, really!” I groaned, giving Ricent a helpless look, hoping he'd jump in and save me.

Instead, Ricent just stood there, his face curious. “So that’s why Mom stayed up late last night…”

My instincts told me Aunt Diane was tending to Mom all night long. I probably should head to the bar and apologize on her behalf as soon as I got out of the clinic.

Finally, after much struggle, I managed to wiggle free enough to grab a handkerchief from the bedside table, offering it to Mom in the hopes she’d at least mop up the flood of tears and… other things. “Here! Please just… take a deep breath, okay?”

She took the handkerchief and blew her nose loudly. “You’re not—sniff—mad at me?”

“No, of course not. I’m fine, I’m home, and I’m not mad at all.” I gently patted her head, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

Wait no, I feel like our roles as parent and child are reversed somehow…

“I-In any case! I’m safe! You didn’t do anything wrong to me, Mom. So let’s just forget about it, kay’?”

Mom pulled away slightly, her teary eyes wide. “You… you forgive me? My baby’s growing up so fast!!” And before I knew it, she went straight back to hugging me. No sobbing this time, thankfully.

Great, how long will this last, now?

Despite how uncomfortable being hugged for long periods of time, I felt calm and warm. I truly felt like I was finally safe.

Ricent, meanwhile, leaned in close and whispered, “So, so… can you teach me how to beat up bandits?”

I gave him a sharp look. “Dude, can you read the room?”

Ricent raised his eyebrows. “What’s there to read? I don’t see any books.”

I stared dumbfoundedly at him, but I had a feeling reprimanding this dense piece of rock would be futile, so I decided to just ignore him for the time being as I tried to calm down Mom.

—

In an abandoned wooden shack, nestled inside the forest bordering Setus and Ortensia, Kiren sat on a wooden chair as a hooded woman knelt before him.

“So, have you breached the archive?”

The hooded woman nodded silently. She pulled out a small scroll from her pouch, handing it over to Kiren with both hands.

“And this is…?”

“A Talent Scroll belonging to the person named Carine Sareid, as you requested, sir.”

“Ah, didn’t realize you could get it in one day! Nice!”

He admitted he had underestimated the spies HQ had sent him. The fact they managed to breach into the Royal Archive and steal the thing he wanted in a single day amazed him.

Were these spies just that good? Or was Setus too lax with their security? Either way, he got what he wanted, it didn’t matter.

Kiren grabbed the scroll out of the spy’s hands and unceremoniously unfurled it, his eyes dilated as he examined the scroll before him.

Then, a horrifying fact trembled him in his seat.

“W-What?! She only has two symbols?!” He shouted in surprise.

Only two Talent Symbols... At best, that would mean she has two Talents, but the more likely scenario was that Carine only has one Talent. An average Joe would have three to four Talents the moment they were born, which meant…

“She’s useless?!” Kiren shouted at the top of his lungs.

Kiren, his hair already balding, began to thin his hair out even more as he began scratching them furiously.

“W-W-What do I do?! I already contacted the HQs for these spies… they even sent them in three hours… I-If I told them the target was a bust…”

He couldn’t imagine what would happen to him if he didn’t bring home any results. This whole operation, which hadn’t even started yet, was the beginning of his slow painful death, his instinct was sure.

But then, he realized. His instincts were never wrong before. He was sure that this Carine girl had a Unique Talent. Capturing her would mean an instant promotion.

He began cooking up a plan. To convince the HQ—and most importantly Sir Sergio—of his plan, he could fabricate this Talent Scroll.

After all, a Talent Scroll, once activated, was just a normal scroll with random symbols scribbled onto it. Faking one shouldn’t be hard, right?

Why hadn’t others thought of this? He thought of himself as a genius, puffing up his chest.

The three spies circling Kiren, they won’t snitch on him, he thought. Their orders—given by the HQ—were only to listen to his orders, nothing more, nothing less.

Thus, Kiren entrusted the task of creating a believable Talent Scroll, one containing a fake Unique Symbol, to the spies. After that would be all about convincing Sir Sergio to help capture Carine Sareid.

HQ might be mad if they found out about the fabrication, but Kiren was sure they would understand that his intention was for the betterment of the organization. Then, they would praise him for his creativity and independence!

A small grin crept onto his face.

“I’ll be a Right Hand member, for sure!”

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image [https://i.imgur.com/RdC5Gde.png]