7 Chapter 7: Recovering, Recovering

"Eddie Frankenstein. Age, 12. Race, Human-Elf Hybrid."

"What…

…did you just say to me!?"

Eddie's wooden sword pointed sharp and true; its point, almost touching the bridge of Adam's nose. Even with this obviously violent threat, however, Adam's eyes just became crossed as they looked at the words floating in front of him.

[Measuring Threat Level…]

[...]

[Zero. No necessary actions to take.]

"Eddie, no threat," Adam's breaths touched the trembling wooden sword. And as soon as his words reached Eddie's ears, his grip on his sword tightened. In truth, he was trying his hardest not to let out a tear—being bumped by Adam made it feel like an entire cabinet fell on him. The worst part of it all was that Adam didn't even seem to notice or care, the broom in his hand, still slightly brushing the floor.

"W—"

"Adam!? As in Adam Frankenstein!? The Healing God's son!?"

But alas, before Eddie could release any more of his frustrations, the other 3 people he was with suddenly approached Adam and started checking him; looking at him from head to toe, one of the girls was even touching his long red hair.

"Ack, ew. You smell!" The girl then quickly let go of Adam's hair while sticking out her tongue. Still, she didn't step away and just stared at his face, "You look like a doll… you're not secretly a girl, are you? You're small too."

"Emi!"

"What? It's true!" The girl with a slightly short light brown hair, Emi, just shrugged her shoulders as she once again stared at Adam's face, "Look! His skin is even smoother than your butt, Erika!"

"Emi, your vernacular!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. His face is smoother than your posterior, Lady Erika."

Erika's hair, like Emi, shared the color of the desert; and their similarities did not stop there. If it wasn't for Emi having her hair short and her overall brashness compared to Erika, the two would be absolutely identical to each other.

[Erika Zobel | Age: 13 | Race: Human]

[Emilia Zobel | Age: 13 | Race: Human]

Adam could really only look back and forth between the two, wondering why they looked alike.

"Fuck, it's true. You look like a sissy." This time, a boy also carrying the same red hair as the Frankenstein family looked at Adam's face.

[Diego Frankenstein | Age: 14 | Race: Human]

"Are you sure your name isn't… Adame? Ha? Eh?" Diego then looked at the others, seemingly trying to get approval for his joke. But alas, all he got was a sneer from Emi, while Erika just very slowly looked away, clearly embarrassed for him.

"So, you guys are going to do me like this? Is that it? We—"

"What are you idiots babbling about!?" And before Diego could word out his laments, Eddie started waving his sword at him and the two girls—his arm was already tired from having his weapon raised at Adam for more than an entire minute, and yet his three companions seemed to be completely oblivious to his demise,

"Kill him! Didn't you see him push me earlier!?"

"Well, technically you weren't—"

"Just attack him!"

"..." Diego, Emi, and Erika could really only look at each other, before letting out a sigh and surrounding Adam.

"I'm sorry, we can't really disobey," Diego then placed his hand on Adam's shoulder. And before Adam could look at his hand, Diego suddenly punched him in the face.

"Fuck!"

"Diego!?" Emi and Erika quickly backed away as they saw Diego immediately holding his hand as soon as his fist made contact with Adam's face, "What happened!?"

"It… it feels like I punched a wall!"

"That hurts."

"W… what?"

Everyone then turned their eyes toward Adam, who was now holding his cheek as tears trailed down them.

"Are… you actually crying?" Emi raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Adam then turned to face Diego, "Why do you like hurting others?"

[Recovering Functional Memory 14%]

Adam then tilted his head to the side as he started approaching him very slowly,

"I would like to understand this behaviour."

"Understand this!" And before Adam could fully approach him, Diego gritted his teeth and rushed towards him, hugging him by the waist to push him down. But alas, Adam remained completely unfazed.

"W… why the fuck is this shrimp so heavy!? A little help he—Kh!"

And before the others could move, Adam finally let go of the broom he was holding and suddenly grabbed Diego by the neck and shoulder.

[Recovering Functional Memory 17%]

"Perhaps I would understand if I also remove your head," Adam then blinked a couple of times as he started putting pressure in his hands, pulling Diego's head and shoulder slowly, but forcefully.

"Ouch, ouch! Guys!? Guys!"

"L… Let go of him!"

"!!!"

[Body is receiving damage. Necessary action needed.]

Adam quickly pushed away Diego, before turning his head toward his left sleeve, only to see it burning.

"..." Even with the violent flames dancing and threatening to raze his arm, Adam just stared at it,

"It's… warm."

[Warning: Please do not force the recovery of Core Memory. Data Corruption is possible and imminent.]

[Body is receiving damage. Necessary action needed.]

"...Warm."

"Kill him while he's distracted!"

And while Adam's mind was in complete turmoil, Eddie took this chance to strike true and strike him straight in the head, causing Adam to slightly tumble to the side.

"Go, beat him—"

[Body shutting down to prevent Data Loss.]

And all of a sudden, the seemingly impregnable Adam just dropped to the floor like a wet sack of hay; his burning sleeve, slowly scattering to the rest of his clothes and skin.

"Shit!" Emi quickly rushed to Adam and started violently stepping on the flames until they were completely extinguished. Adam, however, remained completely still.

"..."

"..."

"I…" Emi took in a small gulp as she saw Adam's pale and almost frozen face, "...I think you really did kill him, Ed. I don't think he's breathing."

"W… what?" Eddie's eyes started to widen; his breath, becoming heavier by the second. He then turned to look at the maids and servants in the hallway, only to see them staring at him, "I… I didn't… she did this!"

"Me!?" Erika quickly yelped as Eddie suddenly pointed at her.

"You're the one who used flame magic on him! You—"

"What is the meaning of this!?"

And before Eddie could place the blame on someone else, Ernest's steps thundered through the hallway.

"Father, I—"

"I told you not to bring your friends here! What kind of mess did you—isn't this Adam?" The tone of Ernest's voice quickly mellowed down as soon as he saw the little boy lying on the floor, "What… what in the seven hells did you do?"

"Father, we were just—"

"Go to your room."

"But—"

"Go!"

And with a stomp of his foot, Eddie and his friends all just rushed to run away. Ernest quickly checked if Adam was still breathing, and as soon he felt a weak warmth from his nose, Ernest too, was able to breathe in relief.

"And you!? What do all of you think you're looking at!? Get back to work!"

The maids and servants too had no choice but to all just scatter away with their heads down as Ernest shouted at them; well, all except for one.

"You," Ernest pointed at the maid nearest to him, which so just happened to be the maid that Adam borrowed his broom from, Lina.

"Y…Yes, Lord Ernest?"

"Throw him back to his room…" Ernest then let out a small scoff before just walking away,

"...and make sure he stays there until I say so."

"Yes, Lord Ernest."

And of course, as a maid, the only thing Lina could really do was bow her head and follow her master's orders. And so, Lina placed the broken broom in her hand and began lifting Adam up…

…only to almost break her back.

"How…

…how do I even do this!?"