Ch 28: Discharge from the hospital

Luca's presence in the room made Emily hold her breath. She was not ready for anyone else to join the room.

"Stop beating around the bush, Luca. I am not in a mood to entertain you. I heard from the others that you faced an annoying opponent. I want to know who that was."

Elias asked, and Luca sighed. He knew he had to spill as much as he knew.

"I don't know who that demon was, but he held back. I felt the human body was fighting to hold a huge amount of power back. I know that this person was not human."

Luca's words were met with blank faces. He tried his best to tell the others what he felt, but he needed to do an excellent job. 

It was hard for him to explain his feelings in words, especially since he did not know much about what happened.

"He said his name was Rook, and he wanted to eat me for my power."

Rachael admitted, and that caused Elias and Luca to fall quiet. Out of everyone in the room, they were most privy to knowing who Rook was.

Rook was one of the highest-ranking demons one could come across in a dungeon. But that was only for the higher-level dungeons.

"Hey, are you sure he said his name was Rook? If he was not lying, then this is a big deal. We need to report this to the higher-ups right now! Fuck, I knew that demon was trouble."

Luca instantly stood up as soon as he heard the name Rook. Out of everyone in the room, he was the one who had the most to lose at Rooks's hand. 

Many of his students used the low-level dungeons as their testing ground. To have them run into Rook was different from his idea of fun.

"No, we will not be telling the higher-ups what happened. Luca, you keep your mouth shut about this incident and make sure the others keep their mouth shut as well."

"As far as we know, a low-level demon slipped past the barrier. Let's not make it a big deal."

Elias instantly shot Luca down. Luca was about to ask him what he was thinking, but then he stopped and considered what Elias was likely thinking. 

His young master had not stopped looking at Rachael this whole time, so this decision was likely made with her in mind.

"U-Uhm, that monster will not come after Rachael, right? I-I need to know so that I can make preparations."

Emily asked, but Luca could read through her. The female likely wanted to know whether she needed to run away.

Rachael, meanwhile, remained quiet. Her eyes met Luca's, and he had a feeling that Rachael would not keep quiet about this incident. 

Whether his young master knew it or not, the young miss in front of him would surely be trouble.

"Don't worry. We will ensure that nothing happens to young Miss Rachael. I will even act as her bodyguard if I have to to ensure your security."

Luca admitted and instantly felt the rage flowing out of his young master's body. 

'Ugh, I should watch what I speak about. How dare I propose protection to Young Miss Rachael when my young master is already here?'

Luca did not want to contest with young master Elias and waited to be scolded. But surprisingly enough, Elias did not scold him.

And it was all because Rachael decided to attract his young master's attention.

"Elias, I hate to say this, but thank you for helping me. And also, get out now. I need to change and head back home."

Rachael made it apparent that she wanted Elias to head back. And usually, he would have pushed for more time with her. But this time, he backed away.

Luca knew that it was mainly for Rachael's benefit. Grandmaster of Dark Matter had called forth a meeting to discuss what Elias's actions had meant. This was a meeting Elias could not afford to miss.

But most of all, Luca could see that his young master needed to gather himself. There was a red flush on his face that betrayed how excited Elias felt at that moment. 

'Young master is beyond ecstatic at being thanked by someone he has fallen for. Should I tease him about it?'

As soon as that thought had crossed Luca's mind, he had to close his mouth. His young master gave him a death glare, daring him to open his mouth and make fun of him.

'On second thought, I should just keep my mouth quiet. I do not want my young master to kill me.'

"A-Anyway, it is too late now, so I should also head back home. It was nice meeting you all. I hope you recover soon and our next meeting is a pleasant one."

Elias quickly escaped before he could be asked any more questions. Luca decided to head out with the next head of Dark Matter, leaving Emily and Rachael alone in the room.

"Well, it looks like I will be heading back home now. You better think of something to cook back home."

Emily groaned at having to cook dinner for two once more. She wanted to relax and not have to worry about such a thing.

Fortunately for her, a nurse chose that moment to enter, and she looked at Rachael's health chart.

"Looks like everything is normal. But I would still like you to stay for a final check-up after dinner. Oh, and both of your dinners are paid for by the gentlemen from before. So you do not have to pay for food."

Rachael looked at Emily, knowing the decision had already been made for her. 

Emily had already wanted Rachael to stay behind and to avoid wasting money on food. Now, with definitive free food on the table, she would remain behind for sure.

And that was what Emily decided as well. After all, if she was in debt anyway, she might as well enjoy it.

...

"Ugh, that was some satisfactory food. I now know why this hospital has such a high demand on the market. The food here was too tasty."

Emily praised the food she had eaten. Her slender belly was bulging out as she asked for a second and a third serving.

Rachael was sure that the nurse must be cursing Emily in her mind when she brought out the fourth serving of food for her to eat. On the other hand, Emily did not even show a sign of remorse.

Finally, after an hour of stuffing her face, Emily decided to call it quits. She was not even able to stand up.

After that, the old doctor who entered the room looked surprised to see Emily's stuffed appearance, and he shook his head.

"It is difficult to tell who the patient is right now. Dear lady, you better be careful. I have heard people falling into a food coma due to over-eating. We recently had a case similar to it."

The doctor warned Emily, which immediately made her snap back to attention. She only realized how much she had eaten once she looked down at her plate.

Emily's face was red, making most people think she was ashamed of her actions. But Rachael knew that Emily had turned red because she knew she had hit an end wall and could not ask for more food.

'I am sure Emily would ask for leftovers before returning home. I can read her quite easily now.'

"A-Ah, is that so? The food was so delicious that I did not even notice it. Hahaha…"

Emily laughed and cringed at the same time. She also tried to push back the plates in her hand as if they would hide the evidence of what she had just done.

"It's not a problem. But you should watch yourself all the time. Especially your reflexes as well as your fitness. The world is not a safe place, and a dungeon can appear to swallow you at any given time."

The doctor warned the duo as he observed Rachael's health. Rachael looked relatively fine, which made the doctor sigh in relief.

If anything was wrong with Rachael's body, then the doctor was sure his head would fly off at that moment.

"You both are relatively healthy to go back. You should look into some vitamin supplements, and you should also look after your nutrition chart. But otherwise, you are physically fine. Do you feel mentally fine?"

The doctor asked Rachael, and she was sure that there were scientific terms related to mental disorders that could apply to her condition. But since she did not want to be labeled (or label herself) as crazy, she denied it all.

"No, I feel fine. Emily, can we head home now? And can I take a day off tomorrow from school?"

Rachael asked, almost appearing her age now that she had started to act. 

Emily did not want to agree to keep Rachael back home, but she did not want to get into someone else's lousy book. For all she knew, the doctor could call social security on her.

"Of course, you can stay home. Now, be a good girl and get up. We need to head home now."

Rachael did as she was told and quickly placed her hand in Emily's. Emily pretended to be a good person until they were out of the public eye.

"Rachael, you are not having a day off tomorrow. I do not care what you do and how you manage it, but you are heading to school tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Emily asked the question, but Rachael knew she could convince Emily to let her stay home. 

As much as Rachael liked school, she knew it was wise to stay home the next day.