E-Release

"Ugh…"

Slowly opening his eyes, Luke looked around him.

'…Where am I?'

Luke has directed that very same question to himself many times before now.

On the other hand, considering that he was still alive without having to regress, he could roughly guess that he was in a relatively safe place.

He was lying down on a bed and was covered by a blanket in a relatively small room.

Sunshine trickled into the room and onto Luke's bed through a small window.

Still lying down, Luke furrowed his brow as a strong migraine assaulted him.

'I thought that I'd remember the rest of the fight against that strange man after waking up, but I'm still drawing a blank…'

With a strained breath, Luke pushed himself upward and managed to sit up on the bed.

The blanket covering him slipped down from his chest and onto his lap, leaving Luke surprised.

'I'm naked…'

But that wasn't the reason he was surprised.

Luke touched his chest and stomach and then examined his arms and legs as well.

'…Not even a scratch. How…?'

Not leaving him any time to figure out what had happened, the wooden door on the other side of the room slowly opened.

A lone person entered the room and crookedly smiled at Luke.

'This woman… She gives me goosebumps…'

The appearance of the woman made Luke instantly raise his guard, even though it was his first time seeing her.

'Maybe it's just me, but this person smells like trouble.'

After the woman closed the door, she wordlessly sat down right next to Luke's bed, her crooked smile never leaving her face, not even for a moment.

'Gray hair and sharp, clear eyes. A hunched back, but no wrinkles. Her appearance is a bit contradictory, but she doesn't seem to be that old.'

Remembering Ellios saying how he had lived for centuries when they first met, Luke knew that people in this world could be much older than they appeared to be.

But he had the feeling that it wasn't the case for the woman sitting next to him. It was something about her eyes.

Luke felt uncomfortable maintaining eye contact with this strange woman, and instead, he shifted his gaze to the small window, which was on the opposite side of where she was sitting.

"You were very fortunate to be brought to me. No one else would've been able to save your life, considering the amount of blood you had lost."

The one who broke the silence was Norma. She seemed to have had a knack for doing that.

'Better keep it short. I'm sure that Ellios will tell me about everything that happened.'

Still looking at the window, Luke replied.

"Where's Ellios?"

A very dry chuckle slipped through Norma's lips as she ignored Luke's question completely.

"Not even a 'thank you'? I'm a bit disappointed now, y'know?"

Luke moved his gaze towards Norma slightly but was still looking at nothing in particular while focusing on the woman in the corner of his vision.

"I'm sure you've been compensated already, so my thanks are unnecessary. Please answer my question."

Norma's crooked smile warped into a more sinister one, with a hint of amusement showing on her face.

"That is the exact reason I'm here, my dear boy. To reap my reward."

Prompted by his curiosity, Luke turned his head towards Norma.

He felt a sudden shiver run across the back of his neck when he was met by her expression.

'Creepy…'

Standing his ground, Luke replied with a furrowed brow.

"I have nothing to give you."

In Luke's mind, he had nothing of value that he could give to the woman.

'Maybe my phone could be worth something, but I doubt it. Come to think of it, did my new robe even survive the fight? And what about the rest of my stuff?'

Waving her index finger from left to right and clicking her tongue multiple times, Norma recaptured Luke's attention.

"Oh, you may not know it, but yes, yes you do."

Norma bit her lip with a sinister expression.

"Luke… What I want… is your blood!"

She knew Luke's name. She had obviously heard it from Ellios. On the other hand, Luke could guess that this person had something to do with the treatment he had received, but he didn't know anything about her, including her name.

After hearing such a request from a complete stranger who was unnaturally creepy, the natural response was obvious.

Luke bolted out of his bed and ran out of the room without a second thought.

He was in no shape to fight, as he was still dizzy after being treated and because of the aftereffects of the medicinal herbs that were fed to him. But running was something he was still capable of.

Norma didn't even try chasing him; instead, she chuckled in her seat.

"This should be amusing…"

Just outside the room Luke was previously in was what appeared to be a living room.

Around the table in the corner of the room sat Ellios and Anastasia.

While Ellios seemed a bit surprised to see Luke, Anastasia's face went beet red, and she covered her eyes as soon as she saw him.

Before Luke could even say anything to the two of them, Anastasia muttered out.

"L-Luke… A-at least cover yourself first…"

"Huh?"

'What is she babbling on about?'

Ellios sighed with a slightly saddened expression and motioned with his eyes to Luke that he should look downward.

And once Luke did…

"AH!"

He moved his hands to cover his privates in a heartbeat.

'Goddamn it, I forgot that I'm completely naked!'

"Nice ass you got there, Luke."

Luke heard Norma's sarcastic voice behind him and instinctively used one of his hands to cover his rear as well. His cheeks were as red as a tomato.

'…Fuck. Is this what exhibitionists feel like?'

Trying to suppress his embarrassment, Luke spoke.

"E-Ellios! We need to talk."

With a somewhat pitying smile on his face, he replied.

"I told you to call me 'Master', haven't I?"

Luke closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear the current situation, and his lips twitched slightly.

"M-master… Let's talk. Please."

Him bowing his head as he said that was enough for Ellios to accept Luke's request.

The two of them went into the room that Luke ran out of.

Norma tried following the two of them in, but Luke insisted that he needed to speak with Ellios alone.

Anastasia didn't want to stay in the same room as Norma, so she decided to go out while Luke and Ellios had their chat.

Luke was now back on the bed, covered with a blanket, with Ellios sitting on the chair next to the bed that Norma was previously sitting on.

With the awkward situation now behind them, Ellios was the first one to speak.

"I'm all ears."

Naturally, Luke nodded at Ellios.

The patient smile on Ellios' face was enough for Luke to start speaking.

"Who was that creepy woman?"

"She… Let's just say that she's an old acquaintance. Her name's Norma, and despite her appearance, she's around the same age as Anastasia."

Seeing Norma's wrinkles and hunched back earlier, Luke's curiosity was piqued.

"Exactly how old are we talking about here?"

"Here's an important new lesson from your Master. Don't ask women about their age."

Ellios shrugged his shoulders with a carefree expression.

"But I'm no woman."

Luke couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Ellios' antics.

"So?"

"They're in their early thirties."

'Huh… Well, it about matches up with the appearance of the undisguised Anastasia that I've previously seen. On the other hand, that woman, Norma, looks at least ten years older than her…'

With a tinge of curiosity on his face, Ellios continued.

"Honestly, I'm surprised that your first question wasn't about how you're still alive."

"It's kinda obvious…" said Luke with a blank expression.

"Norma had to do something with it, seeing how she came to check up on me. But how she treated me is not that important right now."

What Norma said before Luke ran away from the room was still on his mind.

"She… asked me for my blood. That's why I ran away naked in the first place."

Ellios' patient smile remained unchanged, but his eyes were no longer smiling.

"About that… You are correct. She was the one who treated you. But there was the issue of payment for the treatment."

His gaze was locked on Luke as he spoke.

"Me, but especially Anastasia, have…" Ellios stopped and seemed to be in thought for a moment before continuing his explanation: "Let's just say that we have bad blood with that woman because of a past event."

Luke raised an eyebrow and tried probing for an answer.

"What does this have to do with my blood? Did she try to rip you off or something?"

Ellios slightly shook his head to the left and then to the right.

"She is among the best when it comes to emergency treatments. It's why we had no choice but to bring you to her, with the limited time we had left."

Sighing, he continued, his patient smile slowly disappearing from his lips as he spoke.

"That being said, the payment she requested was a small sample of your blood."

This revelation made Luke furrow his brow.

'…My blood is nothing special, though. It's not even a rare blood type or anything.'

"I was a bit surprised at the time," said Ellios as he put his hand on his chin.

"She wouldn't tell me why she requested such a thing, but seeing how she saved your life, I took the liberty of agreeing to those terms as your Master. It's a very small price to pay for treating your nearly fatal wounds."

'I mean, even if I died, I'd probably regress. Probably… But Wilfred did say to bear through my wounds, even though they're already gone. Maybe he meant that in a figurative sense?'

Nodding to Ellios' explanation, Luke spoke.

"I guess it's fine if it's just a small sample."

'Why did she have to word it in such a creepy way though?'

Putting the weird woman aside, Luke changed the topic.

"Anyways, where exactly are we? How long was I out for?"

"Well…"

Ellios proceeded to explain to Luke how he and Anastasia brought him to Naiccos and that he was out for around thirteen hours.

'A bit longer than half a day… With that many broken bones and wounds? The medicine in this world's got to be on an entirely higher level than back on Earth.'

And after explaining, this time it was Ellios who had something to ask.

Ellios stared at Luke with a serious expression, causing Luke to slightly tense up.

"Luke, since when were you capable of executing an E-Release?"

Luke stared blankly at Ellios.

"…E-Release?"