Stigma Effect

Proofreader: kuroneko_chan

The hand of the princess that had touched Yuriel's shoulder disappeared. As if the illusion was over, the princess' appearance was scattered, and Yuriel was left alone.

It was hard to tell if what she had just seen was an illusion or the real princess. Yuriel rubbed her shoulder and looked in front of her. Her shoulders tingled where the princess had held her tight. It felt real.

It seems to have been real.

The landscape changed and Yuriel once again saw the black landscape.

There was a hand lightly touching Yuriel's shoulder, as she took a deep breath, thinking that she would have to walk for a long time like before.

“Miss Yuriel.”

This time it was Helio.

Helio greeted Yuriel with a smile. Yuriel squinted her eyes to determine whether he was an illusion or reality, then she pinched her cheeks, slightly.

“Miss Yuriel?”

Helio looked at Yuriel pinching her cheeks with a puzzled expression. Yuriel rubbed her cheeks that were throbbing in pain and looked at him.

Her black vision brightened after Helio touched her shoulder, just like when the princess appeared. . The place where the illusion started was again inside the building.

“All of a sudden, only the two of us are here…. Miss Yuriel is quite calm, aren’t you?”

She had already seen something strange once, she had no energy left to be surprised.

Rather, she seemed to be a little out of energy. Yuriel staggered as she took a step.

"Are you sick?"

Helio asked, grabbing Yuriel's staggering body. He grabbed her shoulder and opened his eyes wide.

“Miss Yuriel. You have a bad fever.”

Come to think of it, when she just pinched her cheeks, her face seemed hotter than usual. Yuriel blinked her eyes blankly and thought so.

Helio placed his hand on Yuriel's face. He said embarrassedly, covering her forehead with his palm.

“It’s pretty bad. We'd better find out what's going on later and find a medic first. Don't worry, I'll come back to find the princess and the knights."

“Sir Helio, slow down….”

Yuriel, who was being dragged by Helio's hand, shuddered without strength in her legs.

Yuriel blinked her eyes that were hazy from the heat and said.

“Please go a little slower. It's hard to walk, so....”

The green eyes glistened with moisture. Helio said, after confirming that Yuriel was unable to move properly due to the fever.

“Is it okay if I carry Miss Yuriel?”

"Ah yes…. I’d appreciate it if you could.”

Yuriel answered slowly. Helio listened to Yuriel's response, then turned and presented his back. When Yuriel was on his back, he could feel the heat. The chest that touched him was going up and down violently.

“I don't know what happened all of a sudden. Miss Yuriel, you are on the healthy side.”

"Yes…. I am healthy.”

“I don’t think you’re very healthy right now.”

Helio said worriedly. He was worried because suddenly a perfectly fine person seemed like they were dying.

Although the disappearance of the princess and her knights were bothering him, for now, he thought it would be best to bring Yuriel back to the barracks.

The fever was severe. At this rate, if he delayed anymore, the aftereffects could remain even after the fever subsided.

Helio, who came out of the building carrying Yuriel, looked at the scene unfolding in front of him and muttered blankly.

“I need to go see the medical officer right now... .”

“Here, where is it? Miss Yuriel.”

An awkward question leaked from his lips. Yuriel opened her eyes and checked the situation.

It was the same place as where she came out with the princess, but now it was a different environment. She couldn't see the monsters who were working, but people were passing through the streets.

"Here is….”

Yuriel drooped as she tried to speak. Helio said while fixing Yuriel's sagging body.

“I don’t know where it is, but I’m going to find a doctor. Miss Yuriel is going to die like this. Then Commander Raphlet won’t leave me alone.”

"Ah….”

“You must not die, Miss Yuriel. I hate Commander Raphlet, but I like Miss Yuriel.”

“No, I’m not dying.”

Helio spoke nonsense and moved quickly. He seemed to be talking to her to determine if she had fainted or not.

Yuriel barely looked around, hanging on his back.

It has the same structure as the Krug Ruins. It was like this before, and it is now.

Yuriel mustered her strength and said.

“Sir Helio, when looking at the map of the Krug Ruins….”

"Yes."

“I think there was a treatment center in the building of the Ruins….”

"Ah yes. There was. What about it?”

“If you follow the map, you will find the medical center.”

Only then did Helio realize where they were. Helio let out a low sigh. Looking around, he recognized familiar structures.

This was the Krug Ruins.

Helio, who knew the structure of the ruins better than Yuriel, replied yes, and then turned around.

He didn't know what was going on, but people were walking around and all the shops were open. If this was the case, the medical center should also be open.

As expected, the medical center was open.

No one was seen entering or leaving the medical center. An old man who appeared to be a doctor was guarding the building. Helio bowed his head to the doctor and went into the nearby treatment room and laid Yuriel on the medical bed.

The doctor followed him at a slow pace.

Helio touched Yuriel's forehead to check the fever again and frowned. The fever was getting worse.

“She has a bad fever. First, get the fever down....”

“Identification.”

"Yes?"

“We have to confirm your identity before we do anything, don’t you know? Where is this woman from?”

“What do you mean….”

Lying on the bed, Yuriel exhaled heavily as she listened to Helio's conversation with the doctor. It was getting harder to breathe.

Hearing the words of the doctor who was badgering Helio to confirm his identity, Yuriel recalled the first dream she had when she came to the Krug Ruins.

In that dream, people were using something like a fragment of a monster core as their identification.

There was no sympathy for those who did not have an identification.

As she recalled it, she felt the rising heat cooling down. Of course, it was just a feeling, and the fever continued to rise.

Helio was bewildered, and he held out the Albraka crest he had.

“Can you accept this instead of an identification?”

“Can I? Are you crazy?”

"No….”

“Sir Helio….”

The doctor was handed the crest, looked carefully, and threw it away. Helio blinked blankly as he saw the doctor throwing out an important crest that he received as a Commander.

The moment he was about to say something to the doctor, Yuriel grabbed Helio's hem. Since he couldn't hear her murmur, Helio put his ear to Yuriel's lips.

Yuriel whispered in a small voice.

“Sir Helio, show the monster core on your shoulder…. Don't say I don't have it, ask him to replace my identification with that....”

"What? Show him the monster core? It's not open to the public....”

Helio replied flustered. The monster core transplant was not disclosed to civilians. Even he can't show that to a doctor.

But Yuriel was holding Helio’s robe’s hem as if to do so.

Helio, who had hesitated, unbuttoned his shirt and showed his shoulder to the doctor. The doctor did not show any signs of avoidance even when he saw the darkened skin.

“Is this okay?”

"Oh my gosh. You were a precious man. Where is her core?”

Rather, the doctor looked at his shoulder and admired it. The doctor who confirmed Helio's core said in a polite tone.

Helio, who frowned at the difficult situation, pointed to Yuriel.

“Please replace hers with the one you have identified. I can't show you hers."

“Oh, yes. You might be. All right. I will bring you a fever-reducing injection.”

The doctor was absent for a while. Helio bent near Yuriel again and asked,

“How did this happen?”

“I don’t know either…. Perhaps, you must have that core to be treated as a citizen. I've heard that most of them are on the back of the hand or arm, but if not.... They’ll try to kill you, so you can't say I don't have....”

Yuriel answered vaguely. She vividly remembers the moment she was shot by a child in her dream. In the illusion she saw with the princess earlier, it wasn't like this.

“What the hell is this place….”

Helio mumbled blankly, but she was in no mood to answer.

The doctor returned shortly and injected medicine into Yuriel's arm. His eyes roamed back and forth on Yuriel as he injected her arm. His eyes were looking for Yuriel's core.

Helio noticed his gaze and said,

“Will it be a while?”

“Oh, no. It will be over soon.”

Helio didn't believe everything Yuriel said, but just in case, he didn’t want the doctor to discover Yuriel did not have a core. He urged the doctor to hurry.

“The fever will go down soon.”

"Thank you."

After completing all the medicine in the syringe, the doctor got up and glanced at Yuriel's body. Helio secured Yuriel's collar tightly and said to the doctor,

“I want to rest for a while, so would you please leave?”

It was a request, but the tone was close to a command. The doctor walked out of the treatment room, glancing at Yuriel again and again.