Rhodes Island, Second Infirmary.
On duty: Folinic.
Clack.
The pen slipped from Folinic's hand and hit the floor.
Her face went paper-white. The glasses she only wore while handling paperwork slid crooked across her nose.
She stared at the doorway, pointing with a trembling hand.
"L-Lucian...? The person on your back... is...!?"
"Hm? It's Gavial. Your Gavial."
Lucian shifted sideways so she could see the woman slumped over his back.
Gavial mumbled weakly, still dazed. "Hurts... hurts so much..."
After Lucian's underhanded trick, Gavial was completely drained. The usual menace of the medical department's tyrant was nowhere to be seen.
Originium Crystals reacting to his blood were simply too much for first-timers.
And Gavial's Oripathy was more advanced than Blaze's, so the effect hit even harder.
He couldn't just leave her collapsed in an empty room to be "picked up" by someone else, so Lucian took responsibility and carried her himself.
To keep her long tail from dragging on the floor, he even wrapped it around his waist.
And, well... a crocodile tail actually felt pretty nice.
The outside was rough, armored with hard scales and spiky ridges like some kind of mace.
But the underside was a completely different story.
The rarely-seen inner side was covered in tiny, soft scales—warm and pliant to the touch, almost like skin. It felt incredible.
After one try, Lucian couldn't help himself and gave it an occasional squeeze.
Which made Gavial tense up each time, letting out muffled little noises.
Folinic had no idea what had happened.
It was the first time she'd ever seen Gavial so defenseless. The shock stole all words from her.
"You... you beat Gavial? This is all... because of you...?"
Lucian puffed out his chest, brimming with pride.
"That's right. I totally (cheated) won."
As far as he was concerned, his blood was a positive buff—basically a max-tier healing item out of some game.
That made it a medical tool, not an attack.
He healed Gavial for free, then beat her. That meant the victory was entirely his own ability.
But Folinic didn't understand that at all.
She only saw the woman who'd wiped the floor with every fighter on Rhodes Island brought back slack and helpless on someone's back for the first time ever.
Fear jolted through her legs. She trembled uncontrollably.
And after recalling Lucian's performance during the combat exam, she had to accept the truth:
This man was Rhodes Island's new living legend.
Lucian asked, "Where should I put her? Is there a resting room?"
"Y-yes—yesyesyes!"
Folinic, already on her tenth tongue-tied stammer of the day, scrambled to lead him.
Lucian followed her into a private resting room and set Gavial down on the bed.
Gavial instantly shrieked.
"It hurts—! " she whimpered."
Lucian winced. "Ah—sorry, forgot."
He flipped her over so she lay face-down like a salted fish.
The Originium Crystals on her backside had already been neutralized by his blood. What remained was newly-formed flesh—tender, sore, like she'd just taken fifty strikes on the rear.
It looked normal, but she was still effectively "blossomed" back there.
But it was healthy. She'd be fine in a few days. Lucian knew the process well.
Folinic, however, was horrified.
The moment she saw the lower half of Gavial's body, she screamed:
"B-blood—blood! So much blood!?"
Lucian said calmly, "Relax. She's not injured."
"Just wipe her clean and change her clothes. She'll adjust in a couple days."
Folinic's face flushed crimson. "A... a couple days... to adjust...? You—you're this experienced... with Gavial... a woman you just met...?"
Fear and embarrassment swirled in her. She kept stealing glances at Gavial.
The skirt and safety shorts were stained with dark red. Her pale thighs were dotted with drops of blood—impossible to ignore.
Folinic had no idea what had actually happened.
But that didn't stop her imagination.
Gavial, who had never lost to anyone on Rhodes Island, finally met a man who defeated her. It sounded almost romantic.
And the man in question was a complete scoundrel.
He'd arrived with three young women at his side and had the audacity to flirt with Kal'tsit on sight.
Gavial, undefeated until now, fighting a man who could match her blow for blow, the heat of battle still lingering...
Locked together in a small room... tensions rising... until finally—
A teenager's imagination sprinted straight off a cliff.
Lucian waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey, Folinic? You daydreaming?"
He tilted his head, genuinely confused. "What's weird about this? Of course I'm experienced. I've been doing this my whole life. What's it matter if it was our first time meeting?"
"...M-monster—! You monster!!"
Folinic finally snapped. She screamed, burst into tears, and ran for her life.
If she stayed one more second, he'd definitely "eat her," just like he did Gavial!
Lucian blinked at her retreating back. "Hey, wait—what if someone comes to the infirmary...? Weird kid."
He completely failed to grasp her thoughts. Repressed honor-students were truly a mystery.
He pulled the blanket over Gavial.
When it brushed her backside, Gavial stiffened and groaned.
"Hurts... don't touch it... animal..."
"I'm not an animal, much less a beast. You're the beast here."
He snorted and lifted the blanket so it only covered her waist.
Pulling up a chair, he sat beside the bed and chatted with the exhausted Gavial.
"How do you feel? Anything besides your butt hurting? I can massage something else."
"...drop dead."
She didn't even have the strength to insult him properly.
Face buried in the pillow, she murmured weakly:
"I didn't know pain could drain this much energy... So embarrassing... Even an Originium slug could eat me right now..."
"That's humans for you. Pretty fragile."
Lucian rested his cheek on his hand.
"You're used to fighting, right? But pain you choose through battle is different from pain you can't fight back against. That helpless feeling... right?"
"...hmph."
She didn't answer, but she definitely agreed.
Forcing the tyrant of Rhodes Island to submit... was pretty satisfying.
Lucian chuckled. "Don't worry. This won't harm your body. Once you're used to it, come find me if you want to continue treating your Oripathy."
"Oh, but it depends on future scheduling. I have to talk with the little rabbit and the iron empress about mass-producing medicine from my blood."
"...freak," Gavial muttered.
She stretched out her left hand, pointed forward with a trembling finger, and forced herself to speak:
"When I'm not in pain anymore... we're fighting again... And then I'll teach you medicine. Until then... you're not allowed to run— g-gh..."
Trying to stay defiant, Gavial finally lost consciousness.
A low, rumbling snore filled the room. Forget crocodile—she was practically a dinosaur.
Lucian grinned. "Rhodes Island really is full of fun people. Never gets boring."
With nothing better to do, he wandered around the room, waiting for Folinic to return—or for Kal'tsit to drag him back.
Three incense sticks' worth of time passed...
The infirmary door creaked open, and a frail voice drifted inside.
"Is... anyone here...?"
The voice was thinner than Gavial's had been, yet carried a strange note of joy.
"I... I did it...! I finally swallowed the sugar! Even though I lost more water than I could ever drink back, I will not stop! This is the resolve of a blood fiend—"
The white-haired woman muttering nonsense—Warfarin—lifted her head.
She saw Lucian alone in the room.
Lucian glanced around—no one else was there—so he spoke kindly:
"Hello. I'm not even a temp here. Want some sugar first?"
He pulled out an entire bowl of Red Sugar and set it before her.
"—"
The dignified vampire princess buckled at the knees.
She collapsed with a smack.
Her eyes rolled back—
and she face-planted straight into the floor, passing out instantly.