I drove down the familiar path that has changed a lot in the past four years, just like the rest of the neighborhood.
Today, just like every month, I chose to close my forge and go visit an old friend. Taking the chance of Jinwoo being busy with his Hunter work and Jinah being busy with school, to unwind a little bit and fill my friend in on what was going on in the lives of her children.
Soon, I arrived at the relatively large hospital.
Walking out of the car, I pulled out a large bundle of flowers from the trunk.
As I arrived at the front desk for check-in as a visitor, the nurse recognized me and smiled.
"Hello, Mr. James. You brought Daisies today?"
"Hello, Minseo. Yeah, I thought she would like a change from the usual tulips."
The nurse chuckled at my words and swiftly walked around the desk, guiding me down the familiar path as required by her job.
"She really will. However, the housekeeping staff will be a little upset since they just changed the flowers this morning."
"Eh, it's fine. You can just change them back when these ones become old, right?"
"That we can. Well, here we are. Like always, if you need anything, just ring the bell, and I'll be here."
"Thank you, Minseo."
The nurse gave me one last smile and left me alone as I opened the door to the VIP room and closed it behind me.
My body moved on autopilot, slowly and methodically walking around the room towards the windowsill and changing the flowers, as it had become a habit for me.
As I changed the flowers and sprinkled a little water on them, I started casting my spells on the emancipated, comatose woman on the bed just like always do.
"Great Heal." "Soothing Sunlight." "Replenishment." "Bountiful Sunlight."
And just like always, disappointment filled my heart as my spells washed over her, but had no effect whatsoever.
However, as I have become used to this disappointment, I leaned back into the chair and stared at the woman.
"Hello, Kyung-He. It has been a while."
Park Kyung-He, the wife of the man who once saved me from myself, and the mother of Jinwoo and Jinah, stayed still. And yet, I continued speaking just like I always do, hoping beyond hope that somehow her brain might be able to hear my words and store them in her memory, despite the clear insistence made by the doctor that she is basically in a vegetative state.
"A lot has happened in the past month since I've seen you. Jinwoo is still the responsible young man that you raised him as. He has become a very responsible young man that any parent would be proud of. Although he could do with lowering his pride a little bit when it comes to accepting help. At least from me."
I chuckled a little as I remembered how he always rebuffed my efforts to steer him clear of the Hunter path and help him attend a University instead.
It is a shame, really. He has one hell of a mind that could take him very far in any career of his choosing.
"Recently, he has started to get closer to one of his usual party members. Her name is Lee Joohee. She is a very gentle girl. Jinah approves of her, and so do I. I think you and Il-Hwan would have been very satisfied with her as well. Don't worry, I've already thoroughly investigated her background. I think she will be very good for Jinwoo."
I felt a smile appear on my face as I stared out of the window.
"While nothing is confirmed yet, I think they have feelings for each other. Jinah and I are just waiting for the day when they officiate it. Speaking of"
I gave a tired sigh and a wry smile.
"Jinah has been a real handful these days. I was called by her teacher yesterday due to suspicions that I was overworking the girl to achieve the academic success she was aiming for. Did you know how much I had to explain to the teacher that I had nothing to do with her workaholic nature? Honestly, it's like dealing with a mini-you."
"And then there are the tantrums she throws when I deny her antics. Her love for chicken, sweets, and violence, when she is embarrassed, are definitely traits of Il-Hwan. I worry for mine and Jinwoo's feet when we are in her vicinity."
Once again, I chuckled as I stared bitterly at the woman.
It felt like yesterday, when Park Kyung-He fell into Eternal Slumber, a strange disease that is based on mana and impossible to cure, even for my miracles.
It was a terrible blow for me to lose another close friend just four years after Il-Hwan disappeared inside an S-Rank dungeon and was presumed dead.
While it was a major blow for me, for the children, it was a devastating calamity that uprooted their lives completely.
I still remember a twenty-year-old Jinwoo holding onto his mother tightly, his body trembling as his twelve-year-old sister sobbed uncontrollably.
Thankfully, Il-Hwan and Kyung-He had named me the Legal Guardian of the children way before any of this happened, allowing me to make decisions for the children that Jinwoo was not allowed to due to both his status as a student at that time and an emotionally unstable young adult.
Even after four long years, the shadow cast on their hearts that day still lingers.
There is a reason why Jinah studies tirelessly to get a scholarship and progress on her own, without needing to draw any funds from their parents' bank accounts, while Jinwoo refuses to accept any help from anyone. Not his distant relatives on his mother's side, and not even me. Choosing to support himself and his sister through his hunting career.
It is not because he and his sister did not trust me, but because of their pride. Their pride, which they both inherited from Il-Hwan.
I closed my eyes and sighed once again.
If I had not run out of tears countless lifetimes ago, I am sure my eyes would be welling up with what I feel every time I see Kyung-He's state and the children's hidden sorrow at their missing parents.
I tried my best to make up for the absence of their parents, but a family friend like me can only do so much to fill the hollowness that they must be feeling.
"….I wish you and Il-Hwan were here, to share in the joys and sorrows of your children. Especially you, Kyung-He. You are missing Jinah's best years in her life."
"But, don't worry too much. Take your time to recover. I will make sure to capture every important moment of your children, both in my heart and through photos and videos for you to see when you wake up."
I don't know how long I spent in that seat, talking continuously about everything that had happened in the past month, from the smallest details, such as the high-school punks that tried to assert their dominance in the neighborhood of my shop, only to run with their tails between their legs the moment I flared my mana, To the biggest events happening in Korea right now, I did not leave out any details.
By the time I brought myself out of my emotional state, it was already deep into the evening with the sky darkening considerably.
"….Time flies when we talk. Well, I guess I'll see you next month, Kyung-he. Hopefully, by then, you will be awake to actually hear what I am saying if you are not hearing me already. I have to go now. I need to pick up Jinah from her school and prepare dinner for the kids."
Picking up my stuff and the discarded old flowers to dispose of, I turned to look at the comatose woman one last time before walking out of the room.
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James was unaware that the moment he left the hospital, the nurse who always greeted him, Kim Minseo, ran to the doctor's office and knocked on his door.
"Come in."
"Dr. Lee. The visitor for Patient Park is gone."
The man known as Dr. Lee's eyes lit up in excitement at those words.
"Then, let's go and check on her!"
The two medical staff quickly arrived at the room where Park Kyung-He is kept and quickly went through the logs of the computer and monitor systems.
"Doctor, look here. As expected, there is a rather significant jump in her Beta Waves for at least a few hours before it starts to go back down, while the rest of her waves remain flat. The reports are consistent with every time Mr. James visits her."
Dr. Lee looked thoughtfully at the reports and contemplated the details.
"Mr. James is not a hunter, right?"
"No. While he is an Awakened, he is registered as a Blacksmith and artifact maker by the Association."
"Then, it would seem Mr. James is keeping his skills hidden for whatever reason."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the mana detectors."
As the nurse looked at the graph, she noticed an exaggerated spike in mana being detected shortly after the man's arrival.
"….Do you think this could be explained by his mana leaking out of his body?"
Dr. Lee shook his head.
"No. Unlike the regular mana detectors spread across the city and most of the world to alert us in case of a Gate manifesting in the vicinity, medical mana detectors are tuned to the patient's body specifically. They will only pick up mana fluctuations within the body of the patient. And since Mrs. Park is clearly an unweakened person with the standard mana signature originating from the Eternal Slumber disease, the only logical source of this mana spike is Mr. James."
"Then, do you want to meet him the next time he visits? Whatever skill he is using is clearly doing something. We could gain some insight into curing this disease."
Once again, Dr. Lee shook his head.
"No. At least, not until we are absolutely certain and have conclusive evidence to prove our claims to him. The worst thing we, as the medical staff, can do to the family of a patient is give them false hope. And like it or not, despite these anomalies, the chances of Mrs. Park ever waking up are near zero. For now, at least."
Kim Minseo nodded sadly as Dr. Lee somberly looked at the data, and they headed out of the room to continue their duties.
Unaware that the monitoring systems had once again detected a brief spike in Beta waves of Park Kyung-He before they went flat again.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1