"Mmm… Where am I?"
When Kars woke up, he looked confusedly at the unfamiliar ceiling. After glancing around, he recognized the surroundings as what looked like a hospital room.
"You're awake? Is there anything uncomfortable?" Kars looked at Eirin Yagokoro entering the room from the doorway. From her attire, he recognized her as medical staff. After checking his body slightly, confirming that besides a feeling of weakness, he felt nothing unusual, he silently shook his head.
"Hmm, is that so? It seems the recovery effect is quite good." Eirin Yagokoro's gaze, as if she were looking at something interesting, made Kars feel uneasy, like a lab rat on an operating table.
"Speaking of which, your body is very special. It's the first time I've seen someone like you, whose every cell, even the very bones, is filled with astonishing energy. How did you do it?" Eirin Yagokoro was certain that if Kars used all the energy inside him, the effect would be incredibly astonishing. To what extent, she couldn't fully confirm and needed to get some information from Kars to be sure.
"The energy in my body? Sunbathing."
Eirin Yagokoro looked thoroughly confused, wondering if she had misheard.
"Are you referring to standing in the sunlight and being exposed to it? Aren't you a vampire? Why would you sunbathe?"
"Yes. Besides, why can't a vampire enjoy sunbathing? Who made that rule?"
Eirin Yagokoro was silent. She felt this was neither scientific nor magical. How could the source of such incredible energy be merely sunbathing? That seemed utterly ridiculous. But the child in front of her didn't seem to be lying, which meant that if this was true, the reason for this peculiarity must lie in his body. His body must absorb sunlight and autonomously convert it into that special energy.
Realizing this, Eirin Yagokoro's gaze at Kars became even more intrigued, which made Kars instinctively pull the blanket higher to cover his face, as he felt the doctor in front of him suddenly gave off a very dangerous vibe.
Seemingly noticing that her gaze had scared Kars, Eirin Yagokoro quickly smiled to reassure him.
"Don't worry about anything. I'm just concerned about your physical condition and want to examine you to make sure there are no after-effects. Also, remember not to randomly eat things given by strangers again, okay?"
"Oh, right! I forgot about that! That rabbit actually poisoned my candy! That's unforgivable! If I wasn't a vampire, I might have died!" Speaking of this, Kars was furious. To treat him like this just because he didn't listen to a lecture—it was truly evil!
"That matter was a misunderstanding. Reisen is my apprentice, and that candy was secretly poisoned by someone else as a prank on Reisen. It's just that we didn't expect you to eat the candy in the end."
"A… a prank?" Kars looked incredulous. That kind of agonizing poison, and they called it a prank? How much hatred was involved to pull off a prank like that?
While Kars was bewildered by this, Eirin Yagokoro had already lifted the blanket and reached out to take off Kars's hospital gown.
"W-wait a minute! Doctor! What are you doing!"
"Didn't I tell you? I need to check your physical condition."
"But your smile, Doctor, is very strange! It really doesn't look like you're trying to examine me!" Kars, however, was currently too weak to stop Eirin Yagokoro's actions. Seeing her undoing his clothes gave him a subtle sense of déjà vu.
"Good children need to be obedient. It will be over soon, alright? Hmm?" Eirin Yagokoro suddenly stopped and turned her head towards the door, where she saw Reisen standing with a stunned expression, as well as Keine and Mokou who had come to visit Kars.
"Sorry to interrupt!" Reisen quickly closed the door, then exchanged glances with Keine and Mokou outside the room.
"Shall we come back later?"
"Yes, let's come back later. Kars looked quite spirited just now, and we can also explain to the Scarlet Devil Mansion that Remilia doesn't need to worry about Kars." The three hurried away, and a thought popped into all their minds: Eirin Yagokoro might be a shotacon (one who likes young boys).
"You seem to be causing me quite a bit of trouble." Eirin Yagokoro redirected her gaze towards Kars. She didn't need to worry about the recent incident. After all, it wasn't what they thought, and they wouldn't carelessly gossip, so there was no need to be concerned.
"I apologize… but your actions, Doctor, were clearly inviting a misunderstanding."
"Then, if you say so, does that mean I can be a little rougher?" Faced with Eirin Yagokoro's increasingly inscrutable smile, Kars quickly shook his head to decline. Although he didn't know what being "rougher" would entail, it definitely sounded unpleasant. If so, it was better to accept the current situation.
"That's what a good child does. Then, let me draw some blood first." After performing an examination and drawing blood, Eirin Yagokoro left the hospital room to conduct her research, leaving Kars alone on the bed silently putting his clothes back on.
Reisen returned later and came before Kars to apologize.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault that you had to go through this. I'm truly sorry." Kars looked at Reisen's guilty expression. After learning that she wasn't the culprit, he chose to forgive her.
"It's alright. It wasn't your fault. But can you tell me who the culprit is? I think I need to properly repay her."
At that moment, Tewi Inaba, who was setting a trap elsewhere, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if something had targeted her.