"Where ar— Wait… are we in a hospital?"
ryo interrupted Freina with a raspy voice, laced with the hoarseness of pain. He tensed his shoulders slightly as if preparing to defend himself despite the obvious exhaustion in his body. His left hand was still on his head, and his eyes moved rapidly across the room, taking in the details: the calm green light, the strange devices, and the clean scent that resembled herbs and metal.
Freina raised her palm calmly, signaling him to stop.
"Calm down, boy."
She spoke with a steady, expert tone.
"Yes… you are in a hospital."
ryo froze for two seconds, then let out a long exhale. His shoulders dropped slightly, but his eyes remained alert.
"…And where is he?"
He didn't need to mention the name. His gaze shifted directly to the other bed.
Freina followed his gaze, then answered calmly:
"Still alive. His condition is stable, but his injuries were much more serious than yours."
ryo clenched his fist subconsciously, then tried to stand, but his body betrayed him for a moment. A faint groan escaped him.
Freina took a step closer.
"Don't move violently. Your body is severely exhausted, even if the injuries don't appear on the surface."
ryo went silent, then said in a less sharp voice:
"What happened after… after we fell?"
Then he whispered to himself inaudibly:
"How pathetic I am.. an idiot."
Freina sat on the chair near the bed and crossed one leg over the other. Her tone became more formal, as if she were starting a report.
"The two of you arrived at the gate of Green Earthia at dawn. You were in a very bad state. One of you," she glanced toward shimoro, "was bleeding profusely, and we learned that you were barely standing yourself."
She paused for a moment, then added:
"The guards summoned a team from the Central Processing Unit immediately. You were transported here, to the main hospital."
ryo swallowed, trying to be polite enough to get the information he wanted and also as a form of thanks.
"…And the monster?"
Freina raised her eyebrow.
"The monster?"
ryo nodded as his voice left his mouth.
"The giant red scale fish."
A short silence followed, broken only by the sound of a device pulsing with a steady rhythm.
"So that's what it was…"
Freina said slowly.
"We found traces of water on your clothes, and red scales in your bag."
She paused, then looked at him with a direct gaze.
"By my assessment, your survival from a fight like that is… close to a miracle, boy."
A trace of bitterness appeared in ryo's smile as he tried to suppress his curses.
"It wasn't a miracle."
She tilted her head slightly.
"But it was, especially for him."
She pointed again to shimoro.
"His wound was fatal. The bleeding, the torn flesh, and a partial collapse in the energy balance."
ryo breathed slowly. The medical scent—a mixture of sterilized metals and green herbs—entered his lungs clearly now.
"…How did he survive?"
Freina gave a slight smile, but it carried genuine puzzlement.
"That is the strange part, boy."
She continued:
"When I examined him, I found that most of his energy channels were closed… not by an external force, but on their own."
ryo's eyes froze for a moment.
"On their own?"
"Yes."
She said it confidently.
"As if his body decided to sacrifice energy flow for the sake of survival. This is rare… unless his energy channels had already been closed for a while..."
Freina leaned in slightly, lowering her voice.
"The energy inside him… is dense. But it is locked. Closed. Had it been open at the time of the injury… the bleeding would have killed him within minutes."
ryo remained silent. Images of the fight, the blood, shimoro's scream, the fall… all passed through his mind like a painful flash.
"We also found traces of a green healing substance in his body," Freina added.
"A high-quality healing potion. Its interaction with the EIU helped slow the bleeding and maintain his consciousness."
Her eyes widened slightly here.
"Honestly… I don't know how he got it, or how it was used at the perfect moment. Its timing was perfect in a way that is… illogical." Then she smiled a slightly mischievous smile. "You certainly don't know how that happened?"
ryo swallowed again and turned his face slightly toward the ceiling.
"No… his luck was good."
Freina looked at him for a second longer than she should have, then said:
"Perhaps."
She added with a professional smile:
"As for you, your situation is different. Your energy channels are exhausted but intact, and your body is used to extreme stress. You will need only one day to regain full consciousness."
"One day…"
ryo murmured.
Then he suddenly turned to her.
"My name is ryo, and I thank you for helping us, you idio—... Doctor."
Freina was slightly taken aback, then smiled.
"Pleased to meet you, ryo. I am Freina… leader of Team 099 from the Central Processing Unit here."
ryo paused for a moment, then asked in a softer voice:
"…And when will he wake up?"
Freina looked at shimoro, then replied:
"If things go as I expect… certainly not today."
Then she said in a reassuring tone:
"But he will live."
ryo closed his eyes slowly.
The sound of the devices, the smell of the hospital, the calm green light…
For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to relax.
"…That's enough for now."