A few minutes had passed since Raziel entered the hospital, yet he still hadn't come back. Clarice waited outside, anxious for his return.
She thought about going inside but held back, worried he might get upset and change his mind.
While Clarice was lost in thought, a familiar figure walked out of the building.
Upon realizing it was Raziel, she sprinted toward him. However, just as she was about to reach him, she tripped, causing her to stumble and lose her balance.
The girl knew she was about to hit the ground and closed her eyes, preparing for the fall.
Instead of feeling any pain in her body, Clarice instead felt a gentle embrace, comforting and warm.
As she opened her eyes, a familiar handsome face stared at her, wearing a slightly concerned expression.
"Are you alright?" Raziel asked, holding her firmly.
"Y-yes, t-thank you, young master," Clarice stammered, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.
After helping Clarice to stand and confirming she wasn't hurt, Raziel shared the news with her.
He explained that her mother would be transferred to another hospital to begin immediate treatment for Mana Evaporation (Etheria Blight), a rare disease that destabilizes a mana user's energy, causing severe leaks and gradually damaging the body over time.
No one knows exactly what causes the infection, and while treatment offers a chance of survival, the difficulty of curing the disease increases significantly in its late stages.
"Tomorrow, your mother will be transferred to Haisenvel Imperial Hospital, as it's the only place with healers capable of providing effective treatment," Raziel explained, passing on the information he had received from the hospital director.
Clarice listened intently, suppressing her urge to cry with happiness.
She knew that the Haisenvel Imperial Hospital was renowned as the best on the entire Éden Continent, and renting even a simple room there was undoubtedly very expensive.
While the girl's hope was renewed, Raziel, on the other hand, was thinking about something else.
Raziel's mind was occupied with the rainbow stone he had retrieved from Jasir. The man had no idea that the stone he believed to be worthless was actually a hidden treasure.
The people wouldn't discover how to properly use it until much later, when the mages from the capital's Wizard Tower in the Gravantia empire unveiled its potential around episode five.
This discovery would coincide with the appearance of a High-Level monster zone known as Rainbow Hell.
After some adventurers bring samples to the Mage Tower, researchers will discover that it is possible to enhance mana using these stones.
Such news shocked the mana users of the continent, causing each stone to be worth around two hundred Liridios coins, a price too expensive for common people and poor adventurers.
Moreover, sometime later, around episode seven, someone will discover a technique to use these rainbow stones for medicinal purposes, specifically to treat certain diseases.
One of these diseases was Mana Evaporation.
The rainbow stone could cure it with a one hundred percent success rate, unlike the expensive traditional treatment, which only had a thirty-two percent chance of success.
Raziel knew how the treatment using rainbow stones worked, thanks to one of the heroines explaining it in the game.
She was the same person who discovered how to use them to treat Mana Evaporation because her father had fallen ill with the same disease.
Later, she was even able to fulfill her ambition of becoming the sole heir of her family and dominating the medicinal market.
All of that was thanks to Erick, who was a key factor in her success.
So, this meant Raziel lied about the Haisenvel Imperial Hospital being able to cure Clarice's mother.
But he didn't lie about wanting to save her, because later, Raziel would secretly visit the ill woman and administer the correct treatment, leading Clarice to believe her mother's cure was due to the hospital's treatment.
'I hope that when Clarice sees I fulfilled my deal and sees her mother well, she won't hold any grudge against me or my family,' Raziel thought, hoping his plan would go as planned.
He knew the plot would be greatly affected by this, but Raziel didn't mind; his peaceful life mattered more.
As Raziel lost himself in thoughts of a bright future, he noticed Clarice gazing at him with a relieved expression, causing a slight flush of embarrassment.
His embarrassment came from the fact that he was deceiving the poor girl, but he justified it as necessary to ensure everything went smoothly.
"Cough... Clarice, let's go back home. Please call a carriage for us," Raziel ordered, trying to mask his guilt.
"We're not returning on foot?"
"Only if you want to kill me," he replied with a hint of humor.
She smiled briefly before retrieving an adorned green stone from her pocket to call for a carriage service.
Watching from the side, Raziel was once again amazed by the convenience of magic.
In this world, the fantasy setting blends medieval themes seamlessly with essential modern facilities, such as sewage systems.
Some houses in this world have a modern appearance but retain an archaic charm, making Raziel feel both at home and oddly disconnected due to the absence of pollution and reliable technologies.
Once again lost in thought, Raziel ended up ignoring Clarice calling him and muttered to himself, "I will miss using smartphones and the internet."
"Smartphone? Internet? Is that some kind of spell?" Clarice asked, hearing him mutter and looking at him with confusion.
Raziel then noticed Clarice was standing close to him and quickly said, "Forget what you heard. It's nothing important."
Clarice nodded her head, thinking it might be something she shouldn't know.
However, she didn't notice Raziel's confused gaze, as he was surprised by her approaching that close to him.
Even her cold attitude and expressionless face softened significantly, giving the girl a more cheerful appearance.
To Raziel, this change likely stemmed from him fulfilling the deal, though it only made him feel more awkward.
Still, he couldn't deny that her sincere smile was truly charming.
* * *
The sun rose once again, marking the start of a new day. Raziel lay in his bed, sleeping peacefully like an infant.
There's even a small trail of drool slipping from his mouth as he curled up against his pillow.
As he enjoyed a peaceful dream, a soft, feminine voice said, "Young master, it's time to wake up!"
"Zzzzz...."
The boy didn't respond; instead, he turned his back to the voice, hoping for just a few more moments of sleep.
"Young master, wake up! Are you planning to skip classes again?"
"Just five more minutes, Mom... zzzz..." Raziel mumbled sleepily.
When Clarice saw that he wouldn't wake, she let out a frustrated sigh. This was the first time she had entered his room voluntarily.
Since yesterday, she had decided to be a little more collaborative with him and try to adopt a less wary attitude, at least now that his behavior changed considerably.
He was acting less bossy than before, only asking her to do simple tasks like preparing food or handling small chores.
"Well, young master, if you don't wake up, your breakfast is going to be cold," she said nonchalantly, not believing it would work.
Surprisingly, at the mention of "breakfast," Raziel jumped out of bed, and his eyes fell on Clarice as she stared at him with her captivating purple eyes.
"Oh... good morning..." Raziel said, questioning whether this was a dream or reality.
"Good morning, young master," Clarice replied, offering a slight smile.
Raziel was puzzled as to why Clarice had come to wake him up, since he was sure she never done it before.
Upon seeing that he was truly awake, Clarice left the room, leaving a bewildered Raziel behind.
After changing into his academy uniform and finishing breakfast, Raziel decided to walk to the academy, as it was only a fifteen-minute stroll from his home.
As he enjoyed the peaceful, quiet stroll, Raziel couldn't help but think that things were going well.
A few minutes later, Raziel arrived at the academy and made his way to his classroom to take his seat. Just as he pulled out the chair to sit, a familiar voice called out, irritated.
"Raziel, what are you doing here?"
The moment he turned toward the voice, Raziel saw a girl standing beside him.
She was a stunning silver-haired girl, her hair falling just below her shoulders and her bright yellow eyes were radiant like amber gems.
Her delicate, fair figure was almost perfectly proportioned, with B-cup breasts that complemented her frame.
"I study here, Sylfi," Raziel replied coldly, avoiding eye contact.
This surprised Sylfi, as Raziel was acting differently since he usually went to great lengths to earn her favor.
Yet she seemed uninterested and said, "I still don't want you next to me!"
"Good, I think the same," Raziel said, putting on a sarcastic smile.
Without wasting any time, he asked a classmate to swap seats, and the boy didn't dare refuse, complying with his request.
Sylfi was astonished by the scene before her eyes. Even after swapping seats, Raziel didn't even bother to say anything.
With no reason to continue her scene, Sylfi sat down in her seat, feeling increasingly confused. She couldn't shake the feeling that Raziel was acting very different from usual.
'This guy is up to something, I can sense it. He's probably plotting revenge for what we did to him,' she thought, unable to believe that Raziel would give up so easily.
The silver-haired girl was convinced she understood Raziel's intentions, but in reality, he simply wanted to distance himself from her and anyone connected to the protagonist.