The Conscript Wants to Be Discharged!

Fortunately, the self-propelled gun in my lower body had no functional problems.

“Priest, then why can’t I feel my lower body?”

“That’s because I used a prayer to temporarily numb the sensation to reduce your pain, Hundred-man Captain.”

“Ah… I see.”

It felt strange to hear the word “killed” from the mouth of a kindly smiling priest, but I let it pass for now.

“Priest Roberg, what problem do I have?”

“Before I answer your question, did you by any chance use a potion?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then, were you aware of any problems with your leg when you used the potion?”

“No, the situation was so urgent at the time that I didn’t have the leisure to carefully examine my condition.”

After hearing my story up to that point, Roberg slowly nodded.

“There are a few things to be cautious about when using potions. One is not to consume it unless there’s an internal injury, and another is that in cases of fractures, you need to set the bone correctly before using the potion.”

Priest Roberg said this while placing his hand on my right leg, which I couldn’t feel.

“When you used the potion, there was a fracture in your right leg, and during the process of regenerating the wound using the potion, the bone healed in a twisted state.”

“What? Then how did I manage to walk back to the fortress?”

“That’s probably because the potion you used was of very high quality. The potion’s effects likely included pain reduction different from anesthesia, and as its effects wore off during your return to the fortress the next day, you must have felt tremendous pain.”

How should I put this? The potion Eliza gifted me was so effective that I not only endured a day with my right leg bone twisted, but even walked back to the fortress on two feet.

I had personally proven that the potion’s price of 10 gold coins wasn’t for nothing, but now wasn’t the time to marvel at its impressive performance.

“Then, what should I do? Do I have to live the rest of my life with a disability?”

“Generally, it’s difficult for the temple to treat such a situation. We work to fight off diseases and curses with the power of faith, but we can’t fix someone’s disability.”

At Roberg’s dejected words, I lowered my head.

‘Am I going to live the rest of my life as a cripple?’

At the thought of living as a lame person for the rest of my life, I was reminded of my father back home with the family.

My father had also broken his leg falling on a mountain path, and unable to recover properly, he ended up living with a limp in one leg.

‘Father and son, both lame.’

My mind was filled with thoughts about how unpredictable life can be, and at that moment, I realized something.

“Life is like the old man who lost his horse…”

This was a proverb I had heard quite often in my previous world. Its meaning is that good fortune in life might turn into misfortune, or misfortune might turn into good fortune. In other words, you never know what butterfly effect the current problem might have on your life.

My father became unsuitable as a soldier due to his limp, which is why I volunteered to become a conscript.

Lame person = Unsuitable as a soldier.

In other words, me, Yujin, who has become lame = Unsuitable as a soldier. This miraculous equation was established!

“Shit, this is an opportunity.”

Was it an effect of momentary intelligence increase as all the energy that should have gone to my lower body rushed to my head when I lost sensation there? With this somewhat strange thought, I asked Priest Roberg to quickly restore sensation to my legs.

“You’re asking me to lift the prayer?”

“Yes, Priest. I have an important matter to report to the Defense Captain right now, so I need to go up to the command post.”

“Hmm… but how can I withdraw the prayer from a patient whose body is not well?”

“No, this is an important matter that I need to convey right away!”

‘I need to ask for discharge as soon as possible!’

As my request to be allowed to go up to the command post immediately and Roberg’s refusal for the sake of the patient’s stability echoed softly through the quiet ward, a familiar voice was heard from somewhere.

“Yujin, no matter how urgent the matter is, don’t neglect your own stability.”

Walking with a neat gait, Eliza, her flowing red hair tucked behind her ear with delicate fingers, approached me with an expression full of worry and sadness in her red eyes.

Approaching the bed where I was sitting, Eliza slightly bowed her head to Priest Roberg beside me, greeting him, then took a step closer to me and asked about my well-being.

“Yujin, I heard you suddenly collapsed and were urgently brought to the ward. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m sorry for causing you worry.”

At my words that I was fine, Eliza’s expression became a bit sadder, and she fidgeted with her fingers that were slightly peeking out from between her red cloak.

“Could it be… that you ended up like this trying to save me?”

“Pardon?”

“After blocking the Aura Knight’s attack and becoming battered, did your body end up damaged like this because you pushed yourself to save me?”

With her slightly sharp eyes glistening with a hint of tears, Eliza softly whispered as she gently extended her delicate hand and placed it on top of mine.

“La-Lady Roterschuden?”

Because Priest Roberg was beside us, I didn’t call her by her name as she had asked before, but I was very flustered and couldn’t organize my thoughts properly.

‘Why is a noble lady reacting like this just because a commoner collapsed?’

Even though I had saved Eliza in the middle of the battlefield, it was strange no matter how I thought about it for her, with the title of the youngest daughter of Count Roterschuden, to approach like this without caring about others’ eyes.

‘Don’t do this, the old man might misunderstand? He might really misunderstand!’

Excluding my physical age, with a mental estimated age in my 40s, I had never been in a specific relationship with anyone romantically.

Female friends, girlfriends, childhood friends or classmates with crushes on me, or oddly kind and proactive superiors or colleagues at work – these were like fantasy creatures such as unicorns or pegasi to me, and I had lived like this for over 40 years. Such an approach without any signals was not good for me mentally.

‘A red-haired noble lady having a crush on me? That’s impossible! Even delusions should have limits!’

Although she’s 18 years old and considered an adult in this world, there’s a wall of social status between her and me.

As much as I, a commoner, am mindful of this, Eliza, a noble lady, should be even more careful about her actions. Somehow, her unusual behavior was shaking my 40-year-trained ability to prevent getting excited, and the thought of ‘maybe?’ started to dominate my mind.

“W-wait a moment, Lady Roterschuden, first let go of my hand.”

“Answer me, Yujin. Did you get hurt like this while trying to save me?”

Eliza’s eyes became even more moist as she brought her face closer.

She had heard it, the fact that there was a problem with Yujin’s lower body and that he would have to live as a lame person from now on.

‘What should I do? To think he drank a potion and became disabled because he pushed himself too hard trying to save me.’

When Eliza heard the news that Yujin had collapsed and been taken to the ward, she rushed out of her office and ran straight to the ward. Someone might have seen her running urgently, but at that time she didn’t even think about such things. When she entered the ward, she froze on the spot hearing the priest’s words as he was arguing with Yujin for some reason.

How can you say you’re going somewhere when you can’t move your legs?

Even if I have to live as a lame person, I have an important matter that I must report.

Can’t move his legs, have to live as a lame person.

‘Be-because of me? Did he develop a problem with his legs because he pushed himself too hard trying to save me?’

There was more conversation between the two, but only two facts were clearly imprinted in Eliza’s mind. And other scenes flashed through her mind.

The sight of Yujin, an ordinary person, blocking the Aura Knight’s attack with his bare body, and Yujin staggering towards her to save her when she had collapsed from mana depletion. And although she hadn’t directly confirmed it because she was unconscious, there was a rumor circulating among the soldiers who had returned early last night that Yujin had convulsed on the ground when they had hidden in the forest.

As various battle situations interlocked, one conclusion was formed in her mind:

Yujin, trying to save her, had come running with a body on the verge of breaking down, rescued her, and barely escaped, but in the process, his body, which had reached its limit, finally couldn’t endure and collapsed, resulting in a permanent disability.

This was the most likely possibility given the circumstances, and it had already become established theory in Eliza’s mind.

“Sn-sniff.”

Her eyes grew hot and tears welled up in droplets.

At Yujin’s words that he needed to go report something to the Defense Captain without caring for his own body, she hurriedly moved towards him. After giving a small bow to the priest standing next to him, she took another step closer and, with lips that wouldn’t easily part, tormented her innocent fingers before gently overlapping her hand on his large hand and asked.

If he had ended up like this trying to save her.

‘If that’s really the case, Yujin, I will take responsibility for you.’

How could she turn her back on a man who had become permanently disabled for her sake? If it was really because of her, no, even if it wasn’t because of her, she would take responsibility for the rest of his life, the man who had saved her life.

“Don’t worry, Yujin. Even if my father opposes and my family refuses, I’ll stake everything I have and take responsibility for you.”

“Pardon?”

As he couldn’t keep up with her solemnly whispered dialogue and his eyes were spinning for some reason, as if overloaded, she opened her mouth again to convey her determination and sincerity once more.

“Everyone’s gathered here, I see.”

“Huh? Defense Captain?”

“Defense Captain? What brings you here?”

Thinking of teasing his subordinate, Franz Beringer, who had been on his way to post the large notice he had worked hard on, heard the news that Yujin was lying in the ward and came to find him.