-1682- A normal, peaceful life

"Come on, let's take a walk over there."

In the hospital in Tokorozawa, in the courtyard outside, Rozen spoke as he supported Asuna.

"Ha..."

Asuna, wearing a hospital gown, let out a tired and labored sigh as she was helped by Rozen. Despite her exhaustion, she still nodded firmly and took slow steps forward.

Asuna's pace was slow, but she was indeed walking with Rozen's support.

Seeing this, the doctors and nurses around them couldn't help but marvel.

"That's amazing."

"Yeah."

"I can't believe, just in half a month, she can already walk without a cane like this."

"Miss Yuuki's rehabilitation was very successful."

"Not just successful—it's a miracle!"

"Exactly."

The voices around them came one after another.

Hearing this, Asuna also sighed in relief.

"Thankfully, I managed to recover to this extent in just half a month. If it had been like before, with such long and painful rehab, I think I would have given up."

Asuna spoke with a look of lingering fear.

Rozen couldn't help but laugh.

However, Rozen understood that rehabilitation was a difficult process. After lying in bed for two years without being able to move, the atrophy and weakening of her muscles were severe. To train them back, enduring great pain was a completely normal thing.

"Do you remember the first time you tried rehabilitation? You were so exhausted that you cried just trying to stand. Being able to recover to the point of walking on your own in just half a month is already a remarkable achievement."

Rozen smiled at Asuna.

"Though, it's still a bit tough."

Asuna sighed.

Looking at Asuna, Rozen couldn't help but feel a bit wistful.

In fact, with Rozen's abilities, he could have easily restored Asuna's health without her needing to go through such painful rehabilitation.

This wasn't a big issue; a simple healing spell would solve it easily. A single rune could instantly restore Asuna's body to full health. For Rozen now, that would be child's play.

If he really wanted to, with the techniques he had accumulated from countless worlds, Rozen could easily control people's brains, just like Sugou Nobuyuki desired. Even without magic, Rozen's mind contained knowledge of dozens of related techniques from various worlds. None of it was difficult.

But this was a different matter for Rozen; for the people of this world, such technology was incredibly precious. If it weren't for this kind of knowledge, Sugou wouldn't be so eager to pursue his ambitions. This showed just how valuable knowledge could be.

Rozen had more knowledge than anyone in this world, possibly more than any nation or the entire world itself. Even though most of it was related to the mystical, his knowledge of science, though limited, surpassed any scientific knowledge on Earth, which was why Rozen could easily influence countries to work for him.

From Rozen's perspective, there was basically nothing impossible in this world for him to accomplish. If it weren't for his respect for the world's laws, for the mysteries, for miracles, and for the preciousness of life, and his own principles, he could easily turn this world into his own playground in just a few days.

What Sugou desperately sought was nothing to Rozen—a bitter irony, in a way.

In conclusion, if Rozen wanted Asuna to recover, it would be a trivial matter. Even without relying on any mystical abilities, Rozen had enough methods from his knowledge to heal her.

The problem was that if Rozen did that, it would not only surprise Asuna, but everyone around her would also be shocked by her miraculous recovery. This would draw the attention of countries already observing Rozen, and it could easily escalate into a worldwide issue, creating massive ripples.

This was the butterfly effect—just the slightest push could lead to unpredictable and grand consequences.

Rozen wasn't afraid of such a situation, but he didn't want to deal with the subsequent mess. He didn't want to get involved in power struggles with the influential people behind the scenes. It wasn't that he couldn't win, but it would be too exhausting.

Moreover, if he did that, explaining it to Asuna would be difficult, and Rozen didn't want to complicate things.

After all, Asuna was just an ordinary girl. To involve her in such extraordinary matters that could shatter her worldview wasn't something Rozen wanted to do, even if she could accept it.

Having been imprisoned for two years in SAO and confined for two months in ALO, Rozen had seen how hard Asuna had worked to return to a normal world. He didn't want to subject her to any more shocks.

A peaceful life, ordinary days—those were the things Asuna truly wanted. Or rather, those were the things she deserved.

Therefore, Rozen thought, if he wanted to enter her world, he should not disturb it. He only needed to present a perfect version of "Kirigaya Aoka" to her, without needing "Rozen's" intervention.

Perhaps, one day, Rozen would tell Asuna everything about himself.

But that would only be after everything had settled down, when Rozen no longer needed to worry about anything, and he could live a peaceful, fulfilling life with Asuna.

Of course, by then, Asuna would meet those who Rozen treasured.

Like Mash.

Like Edweiss.

And perhaps other characters Rozen had met across different worlds.

At that point, Rozen might have to figure out how to handle the relationships between all these people.

But Rozen considered that a kind of happiness.

It was better than worrying about the salvation of humanity or the survival of any particular race. Rozen would rather deal with those small concerns than get caught up in the larger, more exhausting issues.

For now, this was enough.

That said, Rozen was still secretly doing some things behind the scenes without drawing attention.

Just like now, while he appeared to be chatting casually with Asuna, Rozen was secretly injecting magic into her body, and inscribing small runes to continuously replenish her vitality, speeding up her recovery, sparing her from the most painful process.

Without this, Asuna wouldn't have recovered to this point in just half a month.

Even with all that, the people in the hospital were still in awe. If Rozen went too far, it would cause a huge stir—just thinking about it was enough to understand.

This strengthened Rozen's resolve: in this world, this level of intervention was sufficient, and he didn't want to do too much.

"In a little while, I think you'll be able to leave the hospital," Rozen said with a smile. "If Kirito finds out, he'll probably be so jealous."

After all, Kirito took a whole month to be discharged, while Asuna did it in just half a month—pretty discouraging for him.

Asuna didn't think about this.

"Actually, everyone has worked really hard."

Asuna spoke sincerely, causing Rozen to shrug.