At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 125
One day, Callan suddenly asked,
“Seo Jiwoo, you have a fever?”
“Is that so?”
Jiwoo touched her forehead. He was right; she was slightly warmer than usual.
“You’re right.”
Recently, the weather had warmed up a bit, and Jiwoo had come to the nearby waterfall with several of her husbands to enjoy the day. They had been playing in the water, catching crayfish, and taking breaks.
Jiwoo was watching her husbands, who were skilled at gardening, as they worked together to create a campsite in nature. In Caranazion, they would typically cut or process the wood, but here, the trees grew flat and were often used as wooden tables.
They claimed this wasn’t magic, but no matter how she looked at it, it was fascinating.
In the midst of all this, Callan had touched her forehead and made that comment.
“Seo Jiwoo, you have a fever!”
“What? Right.”
It seemed the heat had absorbed into her. Wondering if she should at least dip her feet in the water, Jiwoo walked towards the waterfall. However, Callan discarded the decorative bouquet he was holding and rushed over to block her path.
“You’re saying you’re sick.”
“I’m just joking.”
“What do you mean, joking?”
“Akarna doesn’t feel pain.”
Callan wiped the smile from his face and shook his head.
“Really? For someone who says that, you’ve shown me you’re in pain way too often. Didn’t you get sick while at the temple?”
“That was just my own pain. Akarna only feels pain when they’re mentally burdened. I was under a lot of stress at the temple.”
Originally, Akarna were immune to physical injuries, but when they were stressed alone, their abilities and self-healing capabilities would diminish. Since their strength was based on mental resilience, it was heavily influenced by their state of mind.
But because of this, she couldn’t be in pain right now.
“Then that means you can still get sick. You have examples to prove it. Let’s clean up here and head back to rest.”
“Wait a moment.”
As Callan turned to tidy up the campsite, he paused when Jiwoo held him back and looked down.
“So, Callan, I told you. I’m happy right now, so I can’t be in pain.”
“Really? Hearing you say that makes me happy too.”
Callan beamed.
“But pain is still pain. Come on, let’s head inside.”
“Oh, oh…”
With a firmness like a doctor, Callan lifted Jiwoo off the ground when she refused to move and quickly made his way over to the other husbands setting up the campsite. Without giving them a chance to respond, he stated,
“Let’s head back for today. I think Seo Jiwoo is unwell.”
Surely one of the husbands would try to convince him otherwise. Everyone knew that Akarna didn’t get sick, and they often compared Akarna to the female counterparts.
Jiwoo looked fine; she had a slight fever but didn’t see any reason to cut short their fun gathering. The beautiful campsite was nearly complete…
“Unwell?”
“That won’t do… We should head back.”
“No, I’m really fine.”
“Let’s come back another time, Jiwoo.”
A few of them touched her forehead or the back of her neck, shaking their heads.
‘I’m really fine…’
Yet, she couldn’t muster enough resistance against Callan’s determination and had no choice but to follow.
* * *
Although she thought she was fine, once she returned and lay down, she felt the effects of her condition. Her head felt fuzzy and clouded, a physical reaction she recognized from having a fever. Her mouth felt warm, and lying down, she noticed the ceiling seemed to sway slightly.
As she kept her eyes closed, a cool hand brushed her forehead and rearranged her hair.
“You have a cold.”
Lanceil examined Jiwoo who was lying there, and arrived at a clear conclusion.
“…Akarna can’t catch a cold.”
After all, her body couldn’t get sick, especially not from something so trivial.
However, Lanceil spoke sternly in a low voice.
“Arguing like that won’t change anything.”
“Mm.”
Jiwoo realized her voice had become somewhat hoarse.
“What kind of reckless fun did you have to catch a cold?”
“I’m not sure? It wasn’t that reckless.”
Lanceil gave a sidelong glance at Callan, who was speaking nonchalantly.
“I don’t believe you when you say that.”
“Is that unfair? I just played a little by the water.”
“What kind of play?”
“Tickling and scratching for fun…”
“Callan, stop. Cough cough.”
Feeling embarrassed, Jiwoo attempted to halt the conversation but ended up coughing. The sound of her cough caused them to look at her with concern, effectively ending their discussion.
Anyway, since they said it was a cold, it felt like a cold. Lanceil sighed, clearly frustrated.
“I guess you need to take some medicine.”
“…Yes.”
Feeling that she indeed had the early signs of a cold, Jiwoo nodded and suddenly remembered something.
“Lanceil. Callan.”
“Yes?”
“What is it?”
“Could it be… that Akarna’s powers are temporarily weakened again? It happened a few times before, right? Helka mentioned it happens frequently.”
“That’s because you overexerted yourself. You haven’t been out to heal any trees recently…”
Lanceil stared at her intently before switching to their language.
[Jiwoo, do you not understand what I mean?]
“I understand.”
Akarna doesn’t get sick, which is why medicine doesn’t work well. But now, for some reason, she felt unwell, as if her body had become susceptible to poison or medication. Jiwoo asked with concern,
“Should I take some medicine?”
“I don’t know. But it’s better than doing nothing.”
“…Then I’ll call Enci. It would be great if he has cold medicine.”
Callan stood up from his spot. Jiwoo had expected him to be the first to notice her illness and offer to care for her. Instead, he smiled gently, gave the spot to Lanceil, and left to fetch Enci
Jiwoo and Lanceil watched him walk away. Lanceil especially waited until Callan was completely out of sight before letting out a small sigh.
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