Ben sighed as he looked at the unconscious woman.
Meanwhile, Vanessa was also thinking.
I was right.
He’s just an ordinary mortal.
The Cerberus must have released enough mana for him to temporarily awaken his senses.
Soon he’ll lose the ability to see the hidden world, and then I can leave without any trouble.
She remained perfectly still.
Then she sensed Ben walking closer.
Wait...
Don’t tell me this mortal is some kind of pervert.
Is he planning to take advantage of me while I’m unconscious?
She secretly prepared the little magic she had left.
Even if it cost her the last of her strength, she was ready to freeze him if he crossed the line.
Instead, Ben simply leaned forward and placed the back of his hand against her forehead.
"Hmm..."
"She doesn’t have a fever."
"So she probably isn’t sick."
"It’s just her injuries."
Vanessa relaxed inwardly.
At least he isn’t a pervert.
A moment later, she almost laughed.
As if mortal viruses or bacteria could affect me anyway.
Ben frowned.
"But she has so many injuries."
"How am I supposed to help her?"
Unable to think of anything, he left the room.
The moment the door closed, Vanessa slowly opened one eye.
Seeing he was not here, she stood up looking down at her injuries.
Outside the room, Ben quietly peeked through the small gap before stepping away.
"Fuck... I knew it."
"She’s awake."
When he had carried her from the car, he had noticed one of her fingers twitch for a brief moment.
That was why he had tested her by touching her forehead.
Now he was certain.
She doesn’t want me to know she’s awake.
Ben thought for a moment.
I was going to give her one of my healing potions...
But if she’s pretending, I’d better wait.
She’ll probably leave on her own once she recovers.
A minute later, Ben returned carrying a glass jug filled with water and an empty cup.
He placed them on the bedside table before pulling a chair over and sitting down.
Looking at the "unconscious" Vanessa, he spoke in a normal voice.
"Should I call an ambulance?"
Vanessa remained completely still, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing.
Ben waited for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"Calling an ambulance won’t matter."
"They won’t even be able to see her."
He looked at the cuts covering her arms and the blood staining parts of her clothes.
"I should at least clean the wounds."
Ben stood up and walked to the bathroom connected to the guest room.
A moment later, he returned with a first-aid box.
He opened it and took out a bottle of antiseptic, some cotton, and several rolls of bandages.
"I’m sorry in advance," he muttered.
"I don’t really have a choice."
Vanessa, who was pretending to be unconscious, almost opened her eyes.
You’d better have a good reason...
Ben carefully cleaned the blood around the cuts on her arms before applying antiseptic to the wounds.
He worked as gently as he could, trying not to cause her any unnecessary pain.
Next, he wrapped clean bandages around her forearm.
After finishing with her arm, he moved to the injuries on her shoulder and upper back.
Fortunately, the armor around those areas had already been torn open during the battle, making it possible for him to treat the wounds without removing any of her clothing.
He carefully cleaned the injuries before wrapping fresh bandages around them as well.
Finally, he stepped back and looked over his work.
"I hope she doesn’t get mad at me for touching her."
"I was only trying to stop the bleeding."
Vanessa listened silently.
Mad?
I’m already angry enough to kill you.
She remembered him touching her hair earlier and carrying her around without permission.
But...
She glanced at the neatly wrapped bandages.
Everything you’ve done was to save me.
I’ll let it go this once.
She quietly closed her eyes again and continued pretending to be unconscious while Ben packed the first-aid box and placed it back on the table.
After making sure everything was in place, Ben stood up.
"If you wake up, there’s water on the table."
He glanced at Vanessa one last time before walking toward the door.
"I’ll be downstairs if you need anything."
With that, he left the guest room and quietly closed the door behind him.
A few seconds later, Vanessa slowly opened her eyes.
After confirming that Ben had really left, she sat up on the bed.
She looked down at the clean bandages wrapped around her arms and shoulder.
"Hmph."
"At least this mortal knows basic first aid."
She gently touched one of the bandages.
Although they couldn’t heal magical injuries, they had stopped the bleeding and prevented dirt from entering the wounds.
For a mortal, it wasn’t bad.
Vanessa raised her right hand.
A faint silver glow appeared above her palm.
The light flickered weakly before condensing into a small crystal bottle filled with pale blue liquid.
It was one of the emergency healing elixirs she always carried inside her spatial storage.
Fortunately, her storage artifact was linked to her soul rather than her body, allowing her to access it even in her weakened state.
She uncorked the bottle and drank the contents in one gulp.
The cool liquid spread through her body.
A gentle blue glow surrounded her for several seconds.
Under the bandages, her wounds began healing at a visible pace.
The deep cuts slowly closed.
The damaged flesh repaired itself.
Within a minute, every external injury had completely disappeared.
Only a few dried bloodstains on her clothes remained, showing that she had ever been injured.
Vanessa flexed her fingers and rolled her shoulders.
"Much better."
Although her physical injuries had healed, the loss of magical energy remained.
She was still far from recovering her full strength.
"It will take at least a few days before I recover enough mana to use teleportation magic and return."
With a sigh, she leaned back against the headboard.
"For now..."
"I’ll have to stay here."
After waiting for a few more minutes, Vanessa decided to stop pretending.