Chapter 116 - My Knee…Hurts
Chapter 116 – My Knee…Hurts
Translator: ranzan
It was the night of when Shiggy killed its first prey.
I woke from the pain of my left knee throbbing.
「Uggghhhhh…」
It was a lot of pain.
Femm, Moofy, and Shiggy were in the same bed. I keep from yelling from the pain so they wouldn’t wake up.
「…with my knee hurting like this, it means…」
I said it quietly to cover up the pain, but there was no covering pain like this.
It was the immortal-killer arrow the Demon Lord shot at my knee in his final attack.
I thought that because of the hot spring’s effect that the pain was pretty much gone, but I was wrong.
I grabbed my left knee with both hands. I could feel it throbbing hotly.
「…dammit, what is this? It’s scary.」
I never had a symptom like this before. Maybe I ate something bad. That’s what I thought.
I guess the pain had altered my way of thinking.
「rya?」
Shiggy woke up. It looked at me with what I guessed was worry.
It looked very cute as it did. I rubbed its head.
「I’m fine!」
「ryaa」
No reason to make a baby like Shiggy worry over me. I just had to grin and bear it.
That’s part of being an adult.
「ryaa ryaa?」
Shiggy still looked worried.
I took some meat from the bag beside my bed, and fed Shiggy with it.
「ryaa…hmmhmmm, ryaa」
It looked worried, but ate it all the same. It ate cute too.
As I watched it, my pain seemed to disappate.
Now that it was full, it looked sleepy again. I began to rub its head gently.
Shiggy fell back asleep. My knee still hurt quite a bit.
Just then, my door opened quietly. Cruz crept in, though I thought she was asleep with Yureena.
「Al, are you okay?」
「Yeah, what is it, Cruz?」
Cruz crept up to me, worried.
「For some reason, I felt unsettled about you.」
「You felt unsettled?」
「YES!」
Cruz was serious. As a hero, she had a mysterious power.
Since Cruz came in the room, now Femm and Moofy awoke.
They looked around confused, and then at me.
「I’m fine. Go to bed.」
I said this, but now Femm and Moofy sniffed at me, worried.
Since I was covered in sweat from the pain, it was a bit embarrassing to sniff me like this.
Femm and Moofy had excellent smell, too. Shiggy had decent smell, but since I was sweating heavily, the other animal knew something was wrong.
Cruz rubbed my left knee, worriedly…
「Hm…so it does hurt?」
「Yeah, the most I’ve felt so far.」
「Even more than when you were shot?」
「Well, that was the middle of battle. It didn’t hurt so much then.」
「I see.」
Cruz nodded to herself. I guess she remembered it as well.
In the middle or just after a battle, you don’t feel the pain from your injuries. You’re so geared up from the fight.
This hurt as much as the day after the fight.
Cruz then said, while continuing to rub my knee,
「You want me to call Yureena?」
「No, it’s not an injury. I don’t think she can restore it.」
「Well, then how about Millet?」
「Pain killer? Nah…」
Pain killer was a powerful medicine. You could get addicted and lose yourself to the powerful effects of it.
After many countries complete a war, there are problems where the war-injured become addicts from the stuff.
You should only use it to alleviate the pain of those slipping off into death or to help those that are seriously injured.
For example, someone who just pulled out an arrow. It will take the pain from that wound.
My pain was chronic. I couldn’t just use pain-killer over and over again.
「Well, what am I supposed to do?」
「Sorry for making you worry.」
She kept rubbing my knee and looking worried.
「Wuff」「Moo」
Femm and Moofy both licked my face in worry. My face was getting covered in sweat mixed with slobber.
I knew that they were worried, and was thankful. However, getting sticky all over my face sucked.
「When you rub it, Cruz, it feels a bit better.」
「Really? Okay, then…」
It wasn’t just me saying that. It clearly did feel less painful.
Strange. There was no logical explanation. It was…well, she was a hero.
「ryaa fwwuuu fwwuuu」
On the other hand, Shiggy was sleeping soundly.
Cruz kept rubbing my knee and the pain seemed to go away.
As I listened to Shiggy sleeping, I suddenly fell back to sleep again.
◇◇◇
I awoke in the morning. My knee hurt about twice as much as it did before.
However, it was nowhere as bad as it was last night.
「Yaawwwwnnnn」
Cruz had fallen asleep clinging to my left knee.
I had probably fallen asleep with her still rubbing it. What a good girl.
Just then, Yureena came into the room.
「Ah, Cruz, there you are. Can help this girl at ALL.」
She must have come searching for Cruz when she woke up and couldn’t find her. Yureena really liked Cruz a bit too much.
I rubbed Cruz’ head while I said to Yureena,
「My knee started to really ache last night.」
「Wha, are you okay?」
Yureena shoved Cruz’ hand aside and looked at my knee.
「Honestly, I couldn’t take it. It hurt like crazy, but Cruz came, rubbed it, and the pain kind of left.」
「Hm…」
Yureena examined my knee magically.
「There doesn’t seem to be a wound or any illness…」
「That’s good…I guess?」
「It seems you have a loose body inside your joint. You need to refrain from any sudden movements.」
「Loose body?」
「Yeah, something broke off from your joint and is trapped inside. It prevents the smooth motion of the joint. Once it finally separates from your joint, we can cut it open and take it out.」
「…sounds painful.」
「Of course it hurts to cut it open. Unless you take it out, it’s going to keep grinding against the joint and hurt like the dickens.」
Each way sounded painful. Not a good thing to hear.
Since I was an adventurer with a long history, I thought I was used to pain. But pain is still pain.
Pain sucks…that’s obvious. At least I would have to keep the thing from moving.
I was a bit scared, so Yureena said to me,
「Well, it hasn’t separated yet. I don’t think this pain is related either. Just relax.」
「Really? Well, I’ll just keep it from moving.」
Yureena nodded, and then continued.
「This is most probably from the immortal-killer arrow.」
「…I knew it.」
We both knew that was it.
「I researched the immortal-killer arrow for you too.」
「Really? Thank you…」
Yureena was very kind. She loved Cruz, but she also was kind of Luka and I as well.
A good girl.
「I only did it when I had free time, okay?」
Now Yureena seemed a bit embarrassed. She was kind of a tsundere.
Since she was always so busy, that meant she probably had little free time.
「Thanks.」
「Don’t worry about it.」
Yureena now patted Cruz’ soft hair as well.
Sometimes, Yureena really babied Cruz. Even though they were the same age, Yureena treated Cruz like a little sister.
「Even if you survive the immortal-killer arrow, there are many books that say the pain is so severe, that you’ll wish to be dead. There were many warriors struck with it that chose death instead of pain.」
「Damn, that’s scary.」
「Well, that’s why I think they’re wrong…and didn’t tell you.」
I was glad she didn’t tell me for a while. If I would have heard of that, I would have been too afraid to live a normal life until now.
「There are a few examples of people struck with that arrow surviving, so I can’t say anything. I think it is good that we can keep the pain down like you’ve been able to lately.」
That reminded me that the dragon parent of Shiggy spent pained night after night when it was shot with the same arrow.
I thought that was the pain of being zombified, but it might have been the arrow’s effect as well.
「How much pain do the books say?」
「More pain then passing a kidney stone.」
「Whoa…」
You wouldn’t think it was that bad if someone just said that to you.
After all, I didn’t know what a kidney stone was. No one ever told me.
「So, you don’t think that sounds that bad, right?」
「Yeah, I don’t.」
「Some people say that passing one is worse than having a child.」
「No way…」
That’s scary. Maybe that pain from last night was just the beginning.
「ryaaa?」
I rubbed Shiggy’s head, now that it was awake, and looked at my knee in worry.