Chapter 8, Leosley, reminiscing about his brotherhood in a dream...
Leosley has been in prison for many years.
But every time he went into the infirmary, he felt helpless.
The young man sat in a chair in the infirmary, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Head Nurse, do you think my face looks like a Liyue ink painting? The bruises are the ink, and the bloodstains are the colors. It has a lot of artistic value... It just hurts a bit."
Although he was complaining about the pain, what truly frustrated Leosley at this moment was not the bruises and wounds—
"Right, sir?"
—But it was the seemingly harmless Melusin in front of her.
With his legs spread wide and his elbows pressing against his knees, Leosley was too tall, so he could only try to bend down to show the small figure in front of him the wounds on his face.
"I suggest you draw it directly on paper next time. After all, the medical budget in Mero Petersburg is not for framing 'body art'."
A faint black aura lingered on Siegfried's smiling face as a cotton swab dipped in iodine precisely pierced the wound on his cheekbone.
"I've been bedridden for a month, my genius artist~"
Leosley shuddered at the poking.
"Ah...this reaction...are you angry, for a troublemaking prisoner? Haha, Ms. Siegwen, you are truly compassionate."
How could that be?
A cotton swab, soaked in iodine, was held in a childlike, tiny hand and pressed against the wound on the man's face with a hint of anger.
"There are so many wounded prisoners in Mello Petersburg. If I were to get angry at each and every one of them, how could I possibly keep up? Mello is not a wind slime."
"......"
The subtle complaints and concern from others that arose because of his own injury left young Leosley somewhat bewildered.
"Feel sorry?"
Even a skilled healer like Siegfried would experience great pain when treating a wound on a sensitive face.
But Leosley remained seated, letting her do as she pleased without uttering a single complaint.
Some people forget to cry out in pain when they really should.
The iodine was carefully applied. Mello Petersburg had been shrouded in darkness for a long time, and the young man's fair face was unusually stained with other colors—perhaps due to Mello's unique perspective, even the smudged brownish-black looked better to Siegwen than a blank expanse of white, like the spots on a puppy or the stripes on a cat, all of which were lovely.
But this cuteness couldn't cheer Melusin up.
"I'm not angry at all, not angry at all."
Little Meiluxin sighed, her face showing a motherly sorrow.
"Leosley is no longer the naive little boy who first arrived in Mero Petersburg. He's grown taller, more mature, and has his own ideas. He no longer needs the head nurse's useless nagging and instructions... Even if he suddenly appears covered in injuries, he doesn't need to explain to me. After all, all he wants is a merciless bandaging machine."
"Ah...this..."
Leosley remained calm on the surface, but a shiver ran through his body. He knew that he wouldn't recover from this injury without an explanation.
“I didn’t take it on purpose, after all, you know, head nurse.”
The young man hastily came up with an excuse, which was not very sound, but it was precisely the unsettling situation in Melo Petersburg.
"The overlord of this underwater prison, the insatiable warden, has recently swallowed too many supplies from above."
Leosley spread out one arm, clenched his fist, and shook his taut muscles.
"If I don't put in more effort and throw more punches, how can I satisfy this increasingly greedy body and maintain the physique of a victor?"
“Nonsense, Leosley.”
Higewen bluntly stated her opinion.
"Although the number of vouchers required to purchase food has doubled, it is definitely not something that you, the 'uncrowned champion,' can't afford."
"And here, here and here."
The head nurse's fingers traced patterns on Leosley's naked body, pressing her advantage:
“These areas are connected to internal organs and lungs, which are vital parts of the human body. Boxers must defend these areas well. You never injured these areas when you were a child... Tell me, Leosley.”
"When did you develop self-harm tendencies?"
Higgin remembered what Leosley looked like when he first arrived:
Teenagers, gripping homemade boxing gloves, never complain of pain or fatigue, gallop like young wolves in this underwater arena, eventually growing into completely reliable and powerful individuals.
This big guy, once he's an adult, he'll never even break a sweat, let alone get injured while boxing and end up in the infirmary!
So it's no wonder that Siegwen gave the patient a hard time, because these wounds—it's obvious that she deliberately injured herself!
"...Self-harm? It doesn't have to be that extreme."
Despite being just a young man in his twenties, Leosley pointed his toes almost imperceptibly toward the exit of the infirmary.
"Even old sea otters have times when they can't crack open a shell. I just accidentally took a few punches today. You're overthinking it."
"The Merus are a race skilled in reconnaissance, little one. If you keep making excuses, you'll become a bad kid."
"......"
If Melousin's anger can be ignited, the initial problem may be overlooked.
"...You often call me 'child,' is it to remind me to treat you with the respect due to a centenarian, cough, senior?"
"How ungentlemanly! But I'm not a human lady, and I won't get offended or angry because of my age. If you want to distract me, why not increase your attack power?"
"......"
After an unknown amount of time, the young man's slightly stressed reaction was all taken in by Meilushin with a soft voice and a smile.
Until the muscles in his neck stopped twitching slightly from tension, until the turmoil in his blue eyes returned to calm.
"Don't be nervous, Leosley."
Meiluxin tiptoed and patted the young man's head, like a little girl comforting a frightened puppy.
Or perhaps, in her eyes, humans are no different from puppies?
"You should know that everything I do is for one purpose."
"Your health."
Looking at the prisoner whose wounds had been bandaged, Siegwen smiled contentedly:
"It is my duty to heal you, but getting to the bottom of things is to prevent the injury from happening again."
"I would never hurt you or betray you, so please tell me—what has caused you such turmoil and so much pain?"
That's really strange.
Leosley looked into the non-human creature's pink eyes, which held no greed, desire, feigned care, or anything else.
In the eyes forged by this abyss, he couldn't even see his own reflection.
Okay, Siegwen really won't hurt me.
Because in her eyes, I might not even seem like a person... literally.
It was all for naught.
Leosley lost his nerve and stopped putting up a desperate fight.
"If you really want to get to the bottom of this, I'll tell you."
He stretched his neck and looked up at the bright light, avoiding looking at Siegfried's face—he needed a little discomfort to keep himself awake, and the light was blinding, which was good.
"My opponent in the ring today is my former brother."
"Brother?" The voice drifted through the air.
"Yes, brother, I think you still remember why I came in."
“Those so-called parents adopted us, gave us brothers and sisters, love and a home, raised us, and then sold us.”
Facing the glaring lights, covered in wounds, Leosley slowly recounted the past he thought he would never tell anyone.
“That brother was a few years older than me, so he was sold earlier than me.... Of course, we all thought he was just adopted by a kind person, and we happily congratulated him and said goodbye.”
But now that I think about it carefully, what kind of adoptive parents would not choose infants who are still in swaddling clothes and do not know what they are doing, but would choose to adopt teenagers who are already close to maturity?
Ugh, disgusting.
"......."
Meiluxin remained silent for a while.
"Then why did he hit...his brother?"
The gentle voice suddenly became ethereal and childlike.
Leosley, already feeling conflicted, assumed that Siegfried was asking why brothers fought if they were brothers.
"...I was laughing so hard the day he left that when he suddenly saw me, he was reminded of the past and got a little agitated, which is normal."
A hidden sense of guilt, knotted together, spread like a spider web in the boxing ring, binding Leosley's evasive steps.
“He used to let me win when we played games—today I’m finally paying back the debt.”
“I don’t understand…” A small hand reached out and pressed against the adult’s leg, the sharp nails hooking into the fabric.
Strange, are Siegfried's nails really that sharp?
The lights are too dazzling; they're making me hallucinate.
"Anyway... I can't blame him, I was just laughing too hard at the time."
He was cheerfully handed over to the devil by his brothers... How would he feel after learning the truth?
If we had discovered them sooner, and killed those beasts sooner... wouldn't our reunion have been even more heartwarming?
......
"No matter what, even though I got beaten up, I was still happy to see him."
Raising his hand to wipe his eyes, Leosley gave up on torturing himself with the lights.
"Although the location of the reunion wasn't perfect, he's still alive, even has the freedom to commit crimes, and a healthy body to beat people up... Ha, that doesn't conform to universal values."
Leosley's demands were low, but he knew they were actually difficult to meet.
"This is already an unexpected surprise. Ah, what a pleasant day it has been."
The young man lowered his head, wanting to give the head nurse who cared about him a smile:
"Speaking of which, you've been so quiet just now, were you sad because of me...? Wait, you!???"
The person who just listened to me wasn't some Siegwen!
The boy with fluffy ears and a fluffy tail, who looked about five or six years old, was delighted to see Leosley finally spare his gaze for him. He immediately raised his fluffy silver-gray tail and his cat-like golden vertical pupils widened slightly.
"elder brother!"
A thin tongue covered in barbs curled between sharp teeth, and the child jumped onto Leo's lap with laughter, rubbing his head against his chest and chin.
"Will you be happy when we meet again?"
!!
May, Mayin-Kuhn! You're alive too?
Leosley instinctively reached out and hugged his brother, just like before.
The baby's body was burning hot, with the high temperature typical of infants, and their cheeks were itchy from being scratched by lynx fur. Everything felt so real.
......
Something's not right.
"He was so young and so slow-witted when he was sold; he couldn't even speak clearly, and it was difficult for him to please anyone."
How could someone like him survive under the control of those buyers?
『......』
It's fake.
Holding the child, Leosley closed his eyes.
When the icy blue eyes opened again, all that remained in their field of vision was the blinding light of the infirmary.
The warm sensation disappeared.
"Little Maine?"
Leo lay on his back on the hospital bed and called out in a daze.
"What Maine? Are you still half asleep? That's rare~"
A medical record was promptly thrust in front of Leosley's eyes, thoughtfully blocking the light.
The young man turned his head in a daze, staring blankly at Meilushin beside the bed:
"Dream?"
"uh-huh?"
Siegwen let out a questioning nasal sound:
"Now that you're awake, get up quickly. Don't keep taking up the beds in the infirmary. A patient will be coming soon."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Leosley touched his face; there were no wounds. He got up; there was no swelling or pain in his body.
There was no gauze or bruise.
...and he has no brothers, not even one.
It's like a dream.
That's true, I've never had the habit of confiding my pain to others.
......
I wouldn't even confide in Hisewen.
It was a truly illogical dream.
"Wow! It's Boss Leo!"
As he reflected on his actions, the prisoner who entered the infirmary exclaimed with delight:
"What are you doing here? Are you injured? Oh no, no, look at me, who could possibly hurt you!"
He lightly slapped himself across the face as a form of punishment:
"You must be here to discuss something important with the head nurse! I won't disturb you, I'll be going now!"
Important matter...what important matter?
Leosley was just taking a nap in the infirmary; after all, the soundproofing in the cells was getting worse and worse, and they were damp, unlike the warmth here.
The prisoner's companion, upon hearing this, was extremely excited:
"Important matter? Could it be that the head nurse will join us too? Haha! That damn warden won't have many good days left. Just wait until the boss challenges him—hmm!"
"Shut up! This is classified information—"
The two prisoners ran away in a panic, giving Leosley no time to explain.
"Oh dear, you've scared my patient away."
Hise Wen, feigning ignorance, jokingly teased the young man next to her.
"Another hospital bed is available. Are you going to keep sleeping, Boss Leo?"
Ah, that title is just too awful.
"Supreme Judge, this is by no means my intention."
Once he regained consciousness, Leosley was calm and powerful, moving with ease and grace.
"They won't add to my sentence, will they? That would be so unfair."
"Alright, alright, I'll forgive you this time since you're about to be released from prison."
Higgin waved her hand, instructing the others to bring the two reckless individuals back for treatment, while simultaneously lowering her voice to ask Leosley:
"So what important matter do you want to discuss with me? Do you need me to find an opportunity to clear out the infirmary?"
Ah, it was a misunderstanding after all.
However, instead of pretending to be ignorant and protecting herself, she wants to lend a helping hand to the prisoners. She truly lives up to her title as head nurse.
But there's no need for such a dangerous act as rebellion to affect well-meaning medical staff.
"No need, it's nothing important, I just came to rest."
Let's just find some excuse to change the subject.
"...By the way, don't you really like kittens?"
"...right?"
Higgin thought it was some kind of code, so she held her breath and listened intently.
"After all, they are just as cute as humans."
"That would be wonderful! I really hope I'll have the chance in the future to introduce you to a little gentleman who's twice as adorable..."
Leosley sighed, recalling Mainkuen's unusual appearance.
Hise Wen, perhaps, wouldn't discriminate against him because of his appearance...
Well, considering his age, if he were still alive, it wouldn't be quite appropriate to call a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy "little teacher."
Haha... It's been so long since I dreamed of him, I almost forgot that the child has grown up too.
"Huh?" Little Cat?
Melusin didn't understand the implication, so she shook her antennae in confusion and tried to interpret it literally.
"...Then I'll be really looking forward to it! I hope to see it soon?"
"Thank you for your kind words."
"?"
*
Mainkuhn, my youngest brother.
I hope you are still alive.
I know you must be suffering because of living.
But I still hope you live.
A note from the author:
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