"I don’t think I can stand for another hour..."
I muttered, rolling onto my back as I stared up at the clear blue sky. Guess even my muscle memory and pain tolerance got reset.
Something like this shouldn’t even be a problem. Before I became a general, I’d taken more than a few bullets to the helmet. My head should’ve been tough enough to handle this.
Not superhuman, but definitely tougher than this.
Unless, of course, there was a gaping wound on my head now.
I really shouldn’t underestimate knuckle dusters. At close range, the difference between a bullet and a fist was just one clean hit.
"G-Goddammit!"
Without a mirror, I couldn’t even tell how bad the damage was. Worst-case scenario, I was actively dying.
Waiting an hour didn’t seem like an option anymore.
"S-Stand up, you bastard...!"
I forced myself to sit up, focusing my mind on the memories I’d inherited.
Then a small warmth bloomed where the pain was strongest.
This body was worthless, and its mind was even worse. But magic was magic. I couldn’t really complain.
My mind began to clear as the warmth continued to spread, slowly helping me regain control of my body until I managed to stand.
I had no idea where I was. But considering students were the most likely culprits behind what had happened to me...
Surely, I couldn’t be that far from civilization.
"Come on..."
✧ ✦ ✧
After limping for a good minute or so, I finally reached the edge of the treeline, using a nearby tree to support myself as I saw the first glimpse of the city just a few hundred more steps away.
Or well, probably thousands if I considered the old host of this body.
"Got to make it back home, or at least the infirmary..."
I swore, biting my tongue as I continued to limp forward. The small healing magic I conjured using this body’s talent was good, but it wasn’t enough.
I couldn’t even cast something stronger. This person barely swiped to the fifth page of a light attribute textbook.
"I’m not dying here!"
I forced myself forward. As long as I reached the edge of the city, or at least a storefront or the middle of a crowded street, I’d be saved.
But... I was definitely losing energy.
"C-Can’t move anymore—"
I blacked out.
THUD!
RUSTLE!
But wait, is that fabric rustling?
H-Huh?
I swore I fell to my feet. So shouldn’t I be face-first on the dirt right now? Yet... why do I feel like my face had just hit something soft?
And... the hands holding me up by my waist... they’re slender. Is this a woman?
"A-Are you okay!?"
The sweet voice echoed inside my head, and in an instant I felt a stronger warmth bloom at the area I healed with my own magic before.
But this one was effective. Far more effective. I could even hear it humming.
I opened my eyes, and found myself lying back-first on the ground, my head on someone’s lap.
A woman’s lap.
A pink-haired, pink-eyed woman’s lap. Her face filled with sheer and utter confusion and worry as she scrambled to heal my head.
Just from her reaction alone, it definitely wasn’t a normal head injury like I originally thought.
"L-Lord Brimstone!? What were you doing in the forest!? What happened to you!?"
She said, though her voice was strained, her brow furrowing as she poured most of her focus on healing me.
And while I should be thankful for the heal, I was focusing on something else entirely. I have found my first insane villainess.
Well... pre-insane villainess. This one still hadn’t been rejected by her childhood friend, the protagonist, to go insane yet.
Annabele Thorne Rose.
At first, I wanted to compliment her. But stopped myself, remembering I was still in the body of Reyn Brimstone. And while I have no idea how I looked, considering my reputation, I should be fairly ugly. So bold compliments should be held back for now.
Even if I did inherit this body’s memories, guess brain damage made it hard to access most of it for now...
"T-Thank you, Lady Rose... c-can you bring me to a physician before I answer your question?"
Insane villainesses were important. But when it came to a major head injury, they definitely came second. Only by a percent, though.
Even a sight like this was probably enough to get me to die happy if I wasn’t any more ambitious.
"O-Of course! But let me stabilize your condition first; you’d die before I could even bring you to help!"
"M-Much appreciated, my lady..."
✧ ✦ ✧
The hospital bed creaked under me like it was one bad sneeze away from collapse. Fitting, really. This body probably couldn’t afford better without the allowance of his, well... my parents,
Annabele had hauled me halfway across the city herself to the nearest hospital she could find. Healers, apparently, were stronger than they looked. Or maybe this body was just that pathetic. Either way, I owed her.
She stood by the bed now, hands clasped while the physician, a balding man who smelled like antiseptic and disappointment, poked at my skull.
"You’ll live."
He said flatly.
"Rest for two days. No strenuous activity. I’ll send the bill directly to the Brimstone estate."
The physician left without another word, and Annabele finally let out a relaxed breath.
"Thank the stars..."
Annabele Thorne Rose. Childhood friend to the protagonist. Her role in the original story was simple: heal his wounds, believe in his potential, then watch him fall for a commoner.
She tried to smile through it. Bury everything. Then snap so spectacularly she’d try to "purify" the entire capital.
A goddamn waste of a perfectly good woman.
And here she was. Still in her pre-insanity phase. Pink hair, pink eyes, face still soft with genuine concern for a man whose reputation was dirt.
"Lady Rose."
She startled.
"Y-Yes? Do you need water? Should I—"
"Thank you. You didn’t have to stay."
Her cheeks went pink. Matched the hair.
"Of course I had to! What kind of healer would I be if I just left you there?"
"Not that, I mean, you’ve already brought me help, you’ve already done your job as a good citizen."
"B-But, what if you get worse while the physician is gone? I can’t have that..."
I almost laughed; she really is a saint. I think even this form of her was already quite appeasing. Still doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see her insane side though.
But for now, time will tell.
"Lord Brimstone... you were alone in the forest with a wound like that. Did someone attack you? Should I report this?"
I weighed my options. The truth was simpler, better than trying to build a bond with her first, only for it to crumble the moment she heard the rumors.
"I groped someone’s girlfriend. Got punched with steel knuckles. Deserved it."
Annabele blinked.
Then, instead of disgust, her brow furrowed.
"That doesn’t mean they should have left you to die."
E-Eh...?
No matter how many benevolent gods existed in this world, they definitely weren’t paying her enough attention.