The heroine

A brown-haired young man looking older than his actual age holding a schoolbag and a sizable worn-out suitcase entered a small, cluttered room at the very back of the private hospital in a village a few miles away from the Diamondium kingdom's Brylant Academy.

He wasn't a patient but a visitor.

And the person he came to see was a white-haired girl.

A white-haired girl stopped in time, frozen in the awkward position of someone who tried to get back on their feet after a big fall.

Her expression showed more of a spunky annoyance than pain or worry, with one eye closed and the other opened just slightly.

Placed on a simple hospital bed with a hard mattress, she looked like a sculpture, more an object than a living being.

"Hello, it's me again."

The young man breathed out and smiled, approaching the bed and grabbing one of the old chairs stacked in the corner.

"Teachers seemed to forget today was only the first day of the second semester! Our class got so much homework that it's not even funny!"

The brown-haired youngster breathed out as he got himself seated, putting down his schoolbag and taking out books and pieces of parchment - turning part of the bed into a study desk.

The white-haired girl couldn't react. It was doubtful whether she could even perceive her surroundings in the state she was in, but that didn't stop the young man from talking out loud.

"Staff has apparently checked your belongings in search of a clue, but they found nothing that could give them a lead - so I got your things back. I'm told that everything is here, but it's not like I would know even if I checked myself… Not that I would! I wouldn't dare snooping through another person's belongings without their permission!"

The young man pointed out while lifting the suitcase and holding it in the line of sight of the slightly open eye of the motionless girl before blushing and hurriedly defending himself from the idea of an accusation that could not be stated.

"I'm putting it under the bed, just so you know."

The young man added, sliding the suitcase under the bedframe.

"It was unexpectedly difficult to get any information on you out of the people in charge of the investigation, but I've been told that if things didn't end up like this, we would have been classmates~. Therefore, I have selfishly decided to get you caught up with the lectures by reading all of my notes out loud. It will serve a secondary purpose of helping me memorize the knowledge - especially the parts that I have trouble with, so it will be like cooking two roasts over a single fire~"

He declared triumphantly, only slightly embarrassed over admitting to his shortcomings.

"It just so happens that most of today's homework is about the subjects we've already learned, so it's a perfect starting point. I hope that the usefulness of doing that will outweigh the annoyance and discomfort I'm probably causing you so that you will not be too angry with me after you get better."

The brown-haired youngster added.

"Although, you would have to get creative with how you would want to make me pay for it… I'll have you know that my All-rebound is a royal-type ability that blocks all forms of damage inflicted on me by others!"

He quickly recovered from that, though, and puffed up his chest.

"...well… damage from intentional actions that count as attacks, that is… You might remember that I only learned about you because that very ability ended up bypassed easily, and I ended up admitted here, so it's not like my ability provides perfect coverage from everything…"

The brown-haired young man sighed, lowering his head while blushing.

"It was a rather embarrassing and painful lesson, but in the end, I do have to thank young lord Fenrioette for it. I am ashamed to admit, but I have been boastfully complacent with my ability, writing of its weak points as insignificant. What would my older brother say about that? He was really something! A real hero in the making. Funnily enough, he was the only person in the family who looked younger than he really was! And he was similar to you. White-haired and all, candidate for the goddess's champion... Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to start blabbing about my family."

His gray eyes filled with sadness for a moment before he shook his head and scolded himself.

"After the shameful display, I put out during the duel between the crown prince and young lord Fenrioette, I did the proper research and… whew… let me just say that I got my work cut out for me! But I guess that's enough gossiping, and it's time to do the homework… hmm?"

The youngster sighed, lowering his head even more and letting out an awkward chuckle when his monologue was interrupted when someone opened the door without any semblance of care about the privacy of anyone inside.

"Huh…?"

"..."

The person turned out to be one of the helpers working in the hospital - the dark-brown-haired man stepped into the room just to flinch and gasp at the sight of the brown-haired young man glaring at him with a face full of disapproval.

"...it's not my place to instruct anyone about their work ethics… Please, do what you came here to do and be on your way."

The youth took a deep breath, holding back some choice words that he had at the tip of his tongue, before declaring as he turned his back to the man.

"A-and you are…?"

The man furrowed his brows and asked after gulping down his saliva.

"Victor Graniteis. Do not bother yourself with me. The hospital head has approved my presence. Don't let me hinder your work."

The boy introduced himself without looking back at the baffled man and simply picked up one of the books he was going to read out loud form.

"But… but Chief Lenrieas told me to tidy up this room and cover the girl because she bothers the rest of the staff…"

"...excuse me…?"

The man grumbled awkwardly while shifting a folded, worn-out bedsheet from one hand to the other, causing Victor to tense up and speak up in a cold voice.

"The girl… she has been like that for about half a year. She doesn't move, react to any stimulation, defecate, or even breathe, but checking her status shows that she is alive. She doesn't get covered in dust even if left alone for days. She is surrounded by strong demonic energy, but no cleansing or dispel-type spells work on her. It's… creepy. Some people say that it's not an actual person but some cursed object planted by demons."

"..."

The man explained, slightly encouraged by the brown-haired youngster silently nodding his head to his words.

"...you're telling me that this is supposed to be this hospital's stance on people afflicted by unknown demonic curses…? Instead of doing the necessary research, you all just label the victim as a cursed object and shove her in a storage room out of sight?"

Victor clenched his fists and spoke, trembling as he was doing his best to control himself.

"N-no…! Of course not…! I just…"

The staff member gasped and hurriedly shook his head, denying his own words out of fear of getting in trouble with the hospital head's acquaintance.

"It's okay. I understand. I have to go arrange something. If you would be so kind, please hold on to messing with this room until I return. Is that alright with you?"

"A… Yes, of course. I-I guess…?"

The young man managed to compose himself and spoke up, hurriedly gathering his books and notes from the bed, causing the other man to breathe out in relief awkwardly.

"Forgive me this change of plans. Everything will be fine, I promise."

"...?"

Victor stood up and bowed his head towards the motionless white-haired girl, making the hospital staff member raise his brows in confusion.

"I will not make you wait too long."

The youngster, looking older than he was, added and walked out of the cluttered room.

"..."

The dark-brown-haired man looked between the leaving quest and the statue-like girl before backing out of the room and closing the door.

"Luca!"

"Chief medic?!"

Suddenly, someone called out while running towards the dark-brown-haired staff member, and he let out a surprised gasp at the sight of a lanky balding man dressed in blue and white running towards him from the hallway running perpendicular to the one which the youngster from earlier walked through.

"Luca! Do not mess with the storage room! If anything, move that cursed girl to a proper room!"

"Cheif…?"

The balding man rushed up to the dark-brown-haired man and wheezed, trying to catch his breath after the short sprint.

"I was just told that young Lord Graniteis began to pay attention to her! Any mistreatments may result in everyone getting fired!"

"Wh-what…?!"

The medic declared with a desperate expression, making Luca flinch and become even paler than the worn-out bedsheet he was holding on to.

"Young lord Graniteis! Son of General Graniteis! First, his older brother got kidnapped by demon followers almost a decade ago, and then both his mother and younger sister died because of a demonic curse that no medic or cleric could properly identify and treat! You can't even imagine the amount of money the Graniteis family has been pouring into researching and developing counter methods to demonic curses ever since! If that boy learns that we just stuffed someone afflicted with a demonic curse in the storage room just because the crown prince told us he doesn't care anymore, everyone is going to get fired because of malpractice and negligence! You! Me! Hospital head! Even the cleaners! Everyone! No exceptions!"

"!!!"

The medic declared, getting red in the face, causing the dark-brown-haired man to tense up as his eyes bulged out.

"Blast that crown prince! The curse was definitely aimed at him, but it got deflected somehow and struck the girl that his carriage almost ran over! But instead of taking full responsibility and putting her in the care of the royal medic back in the royal castle, he dropped her on us just because he didn't want to make it public! Ugh! It's a scandal waiting to happen. That's what it is…! Remember, Luca, young lord Graniteis, is a brown-haired sixteen-year-old, but he looks older because he has the same muscular body type as his father, general Graniteis. You cannot, under any circumstances, even suggest to him in any way, shape, or form that we aren't putting as much effort into dispelling that girl's curse as humanly possible! Are we clear on that?!"

"..."

The balding man shook his hand decisively before staring the completely silent man in the face.

"Luca? What's going on? A checkup seems in place if you ask me."

The unaware medic leaned back, furrowing his brows, and advised the ghastly pale dark-brown-haired man…

"..."

"Luca?!"

…before calling out in shock, catching the other man as he lost consciousness and was about to hit his head against the wall…