Chapter 375: Let's Make a Bet!
After Kiriko's explanation, Luke and Shizuku learned about a certain incident Moroboshi had once encountered.
And judging from the expressions on Ikki, Touka, and Arisuin's faces, they had probably heard about this matter long ago.
Moroboshi Yudai had been a genius since childhood.
Back then, aside from Ouma, who could surpass him, none of his peers were his opponent.
Logically speaking, someone like that should have displayed his abilities on the Seven Star Sword Art Festival stage long ago.
But in reality, last year was Moroboshi's first time appearing at the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
As a second-year, he had seized the title of Seven Star Sword King in his very first participation.
But in that case, where had he been during his first year?
"A train accident."
Kiriko looked at Luke and spoke while recalling the information in her mind.
"It was a large-scale disaster. At the time, it was said that more than a hundred people died because of it."
"In that incident, Moroboshi suffered extremely severe injuries. Afterward, he was judged to be incapable of ever walking again."
At this point, Kiriko frowned, as though she had remembered something unpleasant.
Luke also felt somewhat puzzled by this.
Because according to Kiriko, with Moroboshi's strength at the time, even if he encountered an incident like a train derailment, as long as he was not hit head-on by the train, theoretically, he should not have been injured too badly.
At the very least, he should have had enough time to run.
However, Luke did not interrupt Kiriko.
Kiriko also saw the doubt on Luke's face.
She gently sighed and continued,
"You saw Moroboshi's younger sister, right?"
"In that incident, Moroboshi's location was close to the very center. At the time, his parents and his younger sister Koume were also with him."
"…By the end of the incident, almost everyone in the area where Moroboshi was had died. Nearly all of the more than one hundred dead came from that area."
"But miraculously, four people survived."
"Moroboshi's parents and his younger sister Koume only suffered minor impacts and scratches, while Moroboshi himself suffered injuries so severe that, with the medical conditions at the time, recovery was absolutely impossible."
"His legs were completely mangled."
As Kiriko's words fell, Luke and Shizuku fell silent.
Even Ikki and the others, who knew a little about this matter, also fell into silence.
As a Blazer, Moroboshi should definitely have had the ability to escape from the disaster.
There was no need to say why he had ended up in that state.
Everyone understood.
That incident had happened almost six years ago.
Moroboshi at the time was probably only an eleven- or twelve-year-old child.
This world's medical technology was advanced, but at most, it could reattach severed limbs.
It could not regrow new limbs.
Without a doubt, Moroboshi at that time could be said to have been ruined.
"However, looking at Moroboshi-senpai now, he doesn't seem to show any signs of having been injured."
"In other words, he was ultimately healed? And there's an eighty-percent chance that was your work, right, Yakushi-senpai?"
The one who broke the silence was Luke.
He glanced briefly at Moroboshi, who was working hard to make food not far away, then turned to Kiriko and said,
"So this story has a continuation, right?"
Kiriko nodded.
She acknowledged Luke's words, but her expression did not look good.
It was as though there was something she did not want to recall.
But after sighing, Kiriko still continued telling the story.
"Moroboshi actually accepted his fate after that."
"No matter how unwilling he was, no matter how much regret he felt, as someone who could not walk, he had no choice but to give up the path of becoming a Mage-Knight."
"He was very strong, and very optimistic. He quickly adjusted his mentality and planned to move toward a new life."
"However, there was one person who couldn't do that."
At that instant, Luke, Ikki, and the others all realized something.
As one, they looked toward the girl who was currently greeting customers.
Moroboshi's younger sister, Koume.
"On the day of the accident… the one who begged her family and said, 'I want to go to the amusement park,' was Koume."
"To her, it was equivalent to personally destroying the future of the older brother she admired."
"…You've already seen the final result. Because of a voice loss caused by a mental disorder, there is still no way to treat her even now."
"There is no medicine that can cure mental illness. Even I am powerless against it. However, someone intended to cure Koume's illness."
Even without saying it, Luke knew who that person was.
"Koume's problem reignited Moroboshi's belief in becoming a Mage-Knight."
As the story continued, Kiriko's tone also became somewhat emotional.
"At the time, I was in a state where I believed I could do anything. So I accepted this experimental subject, who had heard rumors from who knows where and came to find me, without hesitation."
"And then, I succeeded with ease. I shaved tissue from all over his body, broke it down to the molecular level, and then reshaped his legs for him."
Hearing this, Ikki and the others were all stunned.
Shizuku, who was also a water user, felt an even greater shock.
Surpassing the entire world's medical standards with her own power was simply unimaginable.
However, there was only one person who was not shocked.
Luke sighed slightly, then said,
"Yakushi-senpai, what you did was quite cruel."
Although he was not as proficient as Kiriko, Luke also had a considerable understanding of the human body.
His nine long years as an adventurer had allowed him to learn all kinds of miscellaneous knowledge.
"Legs make up a significant proportion of the human body. If materials were shaved from tissues all over his body… after it ended, his entire body must have been in a near-death state, right?"
"And to create thigh bones, his bone density across his entire body must have dropped drastically… I see. I think I understand why you look like you don't want to remember the past, Senpai."
If severed limbs were restored using this method, the person's entire body would become weakened to the extreme.
And Moroboshi's goal was to return to the battlefield, so he definitely could not stop there.
What awaited him was dragging that rotten-wood-like body through cruel, destructive training.
Even the slightest exercise would cause Moroboshi's fragile body to collapse instantly.
Then Kiriko would use her peak-level healing magic to repair the damaged parts.
Afterward, Moroboshi would continue dragging his repaired, fragile body through training.
Just remembering that hellish scene made Kiriko feel nauseous.
She looked at Luke, then spoke with a complicated tone.
"Just as you said… I regretted it immediately after the treatment was completed."
"After that, in only three months, I felt like I was about to go insane."
"Every day, I watched a creature with the same shape as myself struggle in pain. I listened to his screams as his whole body broke down."
"In the end, I chose to run away."
At the time, Kiriko had planned to stop the rehabilitation, perform surgery on Moroboshi again, and return the tissue from his legs to the rest of his body.
But Moroboshi rejected her.
"Do you know how Moroboshi convinced me back then?"
"He used that withered-tree-like body to stand upright and face me."
[It's all my fault. This happened because I was too useless.]
[Koume only wanted to go to the amusement park, but because of my serious injury, she ended up carrying an unnecessary sense of guilt.]
[I can't give up like this.]
[I have to let her know that she doesn't need to apologize, and she doesn't need to care.]
[Everything I lost in that accident—my legs, my strength, my honor, my future!]
[I'm going to take all of it back, without missing a single thing.]
[Not with words, but with results.]
[I'll tell her, "I'm already fine!"]
[Otherwise, I will never forgive this useless self!]
(PS: This guy sounds like a main character.)
"After that, I ran away. Every day, I would only calculate the timing and return to the research site to treat him."
"…That was the only time in my life that I chose to run away from a patient."
Even now, after the treatment had ended, this matter remained a knot in Kiriko's heart.
Originally, she had already planned to give up and seal this matter deep in her heart.
Then Luke appeared.
Luke appeared before her with a physique that was different from ordinary people.
If she could study him, if she could understand the reason behind that qualitative transformation in his physical ability…
Then the medical technique of reconstructing severed limbs, which she had lost the courage to continue researching, might have a chance to be studied once again.
Therefore, as she finished telling the story, Kiriko looked at Luke and said firmly,
"Let's make a bet."
…
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