I was heading straight towards the infirmary while holding the unconscious elf princess in my arms.
The way to the infirmary was fortunately close to the combat facility maybe due to the fact that some students tend to go overboard sometimes.
I slid open the door as the smell of alcohol and all kinds of sanitizers assaulted my nose. The room was already familiar to me since I had already visited once.
"Oh visitors?...Ah it's you again and hmmmm?"
The nurse sitting on the chair turned her attention to us.
She had short wavy black hair and wore a nurse's outfit. Her name was Mica Tinver and a cleric.
"Hello once again Ma'am. This girl needs some examination from you"
"Here I thought you ran into trouble again. Emily did you check her condition already?" Mica then asked Emily who was following right behind me.
"Yes I already did Ma'am. I just thought that it's better to be sure to make you look after her"
Emily said as she smiled while I headed towards an empty bed and lied Amana down.
"Well~I'm pretty sure that your healing prowess is better than mine though"
The nurse then proceeded to check Amana's condition. After a while, she was done with her examination as she told us that she just needed some rest to recover from the shock.
"Well Ray and Emily, can I ask to look after her for a while? I need to stock up on some materials"
"Well....I can do that"
'I still need to ask her my request afterall'
"We will"
"Thanks, well I'll be going then"
The nurse then left the room quickly which made me look at the girl on my side who was fiddling with her fingers in silence.
"Hey did you really need to come with me?" I asked for the second time today.
"I was just...worried you know.." she said meekly, turning her head away from me.
"Worried? I won't do questionable things to her" I said nonchalantly.
Her eyes widened from my remarks as she waved her hands frantically.
"I-I'm not worried about that!?"
'You're not?'
"Huh....then why did you even pester our professor that much then?"
I remembered the exact scene where even Garret had to give up from her unrelenting pleading which was a sight to see honestly.
Emily hung her head low. The wind from the curtains brushing by the window in the room.
She then looked right at me as she pointed towards my right arm.
"I just wanted to heal your arm,... at least let me make the pain go away"
"....."
'How the hell did she notice that?'
"It's noth-"
Emily then quickly grabbed my right hand as I winced from the sudden stimulation. Emily the looked at me with a fierce glare that I felt had a mix of worry in it.
"Please don't say it doesn't hurt. I watched your fight closely. Those wind blades are not to be shrugged off recklessly"
"I don't know why you try to hide it but it just doesn't sit right with me, specially when.."
The tone of her voice was really heavy which was really surprising since most of the time, she tries to be softspoken when it come to injuries and wounds.
'What is up with this girl? I just tried to play it off on a whim. Moreover showing weakness during that fight might have ruined my chances of winning' I mused.
Despite my thoughts, she still wasn't letting go of my arm. Honestly it was still hurting.
'...If she insist then..'
"...Then maybe just for a bit" I said while I scratched my cheeks.
Emily's suddenly brightened up as she let go of my arms.
"Un! I'll get right to it, wait a bit [Saint's Light]" she sat closer to me as she activated her skill.
Golden lights spread from her arms as the usual warm feeling invaded my aching right arm. After a little while, my arm was good as new as Emily let out a relieved sigh.
"...So how does it feel?"
"Yeah, my arm is all good now, thanks"
"..No problem.."
Right after her reply, only the ticking sound of the wall clock was reverbating in the room.
It was an awkward silence between the two us.
Most importantly she was already done with what she aimed to do here already.
'C'mon, please leave. I don't want others to hear my business dealings out in the open'
"...Hey Ray" she called out.
"Hmmm what?"
"...Do you think that the reason Professor Garret let me come with you was because he didn't really need to teach me offensive manuevers"
I furrowed my brows at her abrupt question.
"Well you see, he seemed really eager to teach everyone on the class but still gave me an excuse to leave"
"However I also know that he emphasized the importance of playing our roles right"
She gripped her shoulders as she continued.
"....I've been thinking that maybe it's not enough for me to just be on the backlines anymore"
"That day when I couldn't do anything....I-I don't want to feel like that back then ever again..." she was looking down all this time.
'...So she was really affected by it then. I honestly can't blame her. In the original, Jun and Emily were able to escape but unfortunately, that didn't exactly go as it was supposed to'
"...Have you told them yet? your party I mean"
"...I...haven't yet. I'm afraid that they would blame themselves that I'm thinking about this stuff all of a sudden"
"Hmmm then why ask me? I'm not even in your party in the first place" I bluntly said.
"...That's.." Emily couldn't answer right away as I saw her clench her hands atop her skirt.
'I'm pretty sure that Jun and the others would literally say that she's just fine as it is and that would solve her problem right away but..' I took another glimpse at her disheartened profile as I sighed inwardly.
'Talking about this kind of stuff...seems like I still haven't grown out of it after all that. I'm really stupid as they always said...' I ridiculed inside my mind while sorting of what to say.
"..Ray, I'm sorry, I shouln't have-"
"Do you feel that it's not enough?"
She paused as she turned her head to me and away from the floor.
"Many would say it's foolish for people to go against their own roles,...to go against the expectations and wishes of people dear to you is....selfishness"
I paused as I touched my google atop my head.
"But is it selfish for us to strive for better, to reach out for new possibilities and break away from the expectations that people...that fate forces us to take"
"It's indeed selfish and that's the truth. I won't say that it's not because what you're aiming to do is an example of that"
"...So I..am.." she mumbled in a heavy tone.
"However do we need to give a damn about any of that? No we don't, not...one bit"
"Huh?..."
"At least in my case, I'm the one who's going to decide what my role is, no one else including fate itself" I said with my eyes unknowingly giving a fierce glare into empty space.
"...But the others.."
I then instictively flicked her forehead.
"Ow! W-what was that for?" she said while rubbing her forehead.
"No buts, you should stop looking down on your party members so much"
"I-I'm not looking down on them!" she said in a hurry.
"You are. They're not that weak you know. If you think that having a role in offense is for the best then do it, not because they expect for you to do it but because you want to"
She went quiet for a few seconds right before staring right into my eyes as she leaned closer to me.
".....Can I let myself, can I really be selfish like that?.."
I grinned unkowingly, more like it was a habit of mine since it's been a long time that I've given advice like this. I didn't know what to feel doing this type of thing again.
"You're a saint for god's sake. I think you get a pass for being selfish for once"
As the wind blew and the curtains in the room flowed with it, so did Emily's beautiful blue hair as she showed an endearing smile that was far from the smile she usually showed to others.
A cute giggle then escaped from her lips as she fixed her flowing hair in place.
"So I get a pass for that huh, you say some ridiculous things...Ray"
"Well sue me~"
"Fufufu I promise I won't"
She paused for a bit and suddenly inched a little closer to me.
'What the?' I turned to her but her face wasn't facing mine for some reason.
"Ray....Thank you..really" a soft voice emerged from her lips.
"....You're welcome I guess?.." I replied.
This was the third time there was an awkward silence between us but for some weird reason, I felt that the mood was very different from before.
With our bodies close to each other, it felt like another inch would make us touch. It unconsciously made me tense up in the moment.
It felt like there was only the two of us in that room until-
"Ughh..."
I felt the bed rustle as I heard painful groans from behind me.
I quickly looked behind to see that Amana was finally waking up.
"Hey Emily, Reandelle's finally-"
"R-Ray I need to go! I'm sorry!" Emily said flustered as she quickly left the bed and ran out of the room.
"...What was that about? Well I guess it was great that I was able to give her advice about her party"
'Her getting stronger is a great plus because it would increase the chance of the protagonist of evading death flags in the future'
If Emily really decides to opt for offensive options then it would likely max out her potential based on what I know from her role only as a healer.
'Well that's up to her in the end though' I mused.
I shook away my lingering thoughts about Emily as I turned my attention to the royal elf staring daggers right at me.
"Where...am I?....and you..." she said begrudgingly.
She was sitting right up in the bed, seemingly still half recovered from the shock and pain of being shot.
"You're in the infirmary. The nurse already said that you just need to rest"
"....You didn't do anything to me did you?"
'...This prick...'
"No I didn't. Anyway shouldn't you be worrying about something else"
"Something else?" she had a confused look on her face.
I on the other hand, grinned as I saw the elf princess as another great patron for my items.
"The bet, It's time for my reward"