Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior

“Airi… Airi…”

The scene of Airi’s death was, in my opinion, the most memorable, a scene where I could certainly recite the exact lines and also the scene that could most definitively prove my words.

Since it was an idea that came to mind while I was thinking in front of Airi’s grave, I thought it was a natural flow of thought…

‘Is this reaction natural for someone who witnessed Airi’s death firsthand?’

Is this scene such a trauma for her that she would collapse in tears and be unable to get up?

Perhaps this accounts for a significant part of the reason why Sion is in this state…

‘I’ll have to do something about this trauma someday.’

Watching Sion’s pain from the sidelines is what I desire, but her pain is also something I must heal.

And the only method I can use in this situation as the world’s leading rehabilitation specialist is…

“…….”

There was nothing else to do but watch. Just wait.

The trauma of war, especially the memory of losing a comrade right before your eyes, was not something a complete stranger like me could fix with a few words.

As a rehabilitation specialist, I did learn psychotherapy, but I’m not a psychological counselor who specializes in counseling.

“Huuuk, huuuuk… Airi…”

The ragged breaths and the air vibrating with heat gradually subsided over time.

Humans, even if they have pain they can never forget, are creatures who cannot grieve for more than 20 minutes at a time.

It’s natural that emotions, the bigger and more intensely they burn, the faster they burn out.

“Huuuuh…”

And when the outpouring of sorrow dries up, people become bewildered.

The heart cries out to grieve, but strangely, the head becomes calm.

I had to wait for that moment to come.

Sion, who was barely holding in her body and was soaking the carpet with her tears as she sobbed.

As I watched her broken form, the excitement I had felt eventually subsided, and my head began to work more rationally.

Her emotions would soon be exhausted as well.

“Huuuk…”

‘The forced crying is starting.’

When sorrow dries up in a state of extreme excitement, one naturally seeks other emotions to replace it.

If that sorrow is based on guilt, the newly emerging emotion is usually self-depreciation that one is not even able to grieve properly.

For now, I have to prevent that.

I can’t read other people’s emotions, so I can’t know the exact timing, of course, but roughly judging the timing…

“Are you done crying? It’s okay to cry more.”

I tell her she doesn’t need to cry anymore.

On the surface, I’m saying it’s okay to cry more, but there’s no case where someone would hear this and think, ‘No, I have to cry more.’

“…….”

Sion remained face down and didn’t answer.

It was a relief that she wasn’t trying to force herself to cry more.

“Hope… Hope Harvey.”

“I’m here.”

Her back was rising and falling greatly with her breathing.

Without being told, she seemed to be taking deep breaths to calm herself.

Even when broken, a hero is still a hero. I only helped her a little, but she’s calming herself down on her own.

“You saw it too, didn’t you? The moment Airi died.”

“You believe me?”

“How could I not believe you? You recited the words I always hear in my dreams right in front of me.”

Sion moved the arm that was covering her face, roughly wiping away the tears, then propped herself up again with her arms and buried her face, hiding it.

“Airi, thank you always. I’m always sorry. I’ll never forget you. Ever…”

A mantra to calm herself.

Honestly, if she could just forget, she wouldn’t have to suffer.

But Sion wouldn’t do that.

Airi was a precious comrade to her.

The more precious, the more it hurts, but because she’s precious, she can’t be forgotten.

How pitiful and contradictory humans are!

I waited for quite a long time, but Sion took a little more time.

And after some time had passed, Sion raised her head again and looked at me.

“You’re a regressor, right? Judging by the way you were talking about whether there would be a next time, it doesn’t seem like it’s just once or twice.”

“That’s right.”

Has she regained her composure?

Although her voice was choked, Sion began to speak calmly again.

“Couldn’t you have saved Airi?”

A question I couldn’t answer immediately. Since it was a lie that I was a regressor, I always needed time to fabricate an answer when I received related questions.

One lie begets endless lies. But since I’ve already started, I absolutely must not get caught.

“If I had saved Airi, we wouldn’t have been able to win that war.”

“I see. It’s all because I was incompetent, then. If it weren’t for her sacrifice, I…”

Was she reliving that moment again?

I was worried that Sion might start crying again, but she didn’t cry and instead composed herself, then placed her hands on the ground to get up.

“Ugh…”

Sion lifted her waist with all her might, pushing off the floor with her arms, but her arms only trembled and wouldn’t straighten, and in the end, Sion’s whole body lost strength and she collapsed back onto the floor.

“Shall I call that employee from earlier?”

“Why? Is it such a sight that you don’t want to see it alone?”

Now that I hear it, it does feel like that…

“You have to get up, don’t you?”

“…….”

Hearing my response, Sion raised her head and glared at me once with a thoroughly displeased expression, then squeezed her eyes shut as if she had no choice, and slowly extended her arm towards me.

“…You can just help me.”

Sion was asking for help.

When I tried to help her at the national cemetery earlier, she got angry and told me not to touch her, so I couldn’t help her, but now that I had proven I was a comrade, had she decided to open her heart to some extent?

“Okay.”

To put Sion back in the wheelchair, I passed by her outstretched arm, went behind her, put my hands under both armpits, and lifted her up in one swift motion.

“Wh-what are you doing!!!”

“You asked for help.”

And then I placed Sion back in the wheelchair. Thanks to me, Sion was able to sit stably in the wheelchair again, but she still glared at me sharply, as if she still had complaints.

“Aren’t you treating me too roughly?”

“I just took the most efficient method.”

“From now on, please include my feelings in that efficiency.”

“Feelings? What feelings?”

“It’s embarrassing! Lifting me up like that!”

“Hmm~ It certainly was a sight I didn’t want to see alone.”

“More than that, it’s kind of annoying that I’m the only one speaking formally.”

“Is that so?”

“You said you were my comrade, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Comrade…”

Sion looked at me with a deeply serious expression, as if she could figure out who I was just by looking.

“Hope. Hope Harvey…”

Sion muttered my name, not even calling out to me.

Then, after agonizing for a while, Sion finally sighed and shook her head.

“I thought I’d try to treat you comfortably too, but it’s impossible. To me, you’re someone I’ve met for the first time today.”

“You don’t have to force yourself.”

“And Hope, please stop calling me Director.”

“…Huh?”

“Do you treat patients so roughly? Please treat me the same as other patients.”

Suddenly, my title had been established as Director. Furthermore, the request to be treated like a patient meant…

“So, that means… you’ve decided to receive rehabilitation treatment.”

“At least, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying.”

It was fortunate in many ways.

Not only had Sion decided to receive rehabilitation treatment, but I had also managed to barely pull off the awkward act of treating her like a comrade.

“That’s a relief. Now that you’ve decided to receive rehabilitation treatment, I’ll definitely make you better.”

“Heal me…”

Sion sighed deeply again and lowered her head.

“That’s even harder to believe than the fact that you’re a regressor, Director Hope, and that you were my colleague in a previous life. Can I get better?”

The limit I had set for the treatment was 2 years. I had to make her able to fight like before within 2 years.

Of course, it was a lie that the war would start again, so even if the rehabilitation failed, the world wouldn’t be destroyed, but…

If the rehabilitation goals seemed unrealistic, then things would spiral out of control.

In the worst case, judging by her attitude earlier, she might kill me for deceiving her.

“That’s something we’ll have to determine after examining your condition.”

“You’re a Regressor, aren’t you? Is confirmation necessary?”

“The situation is different from when Sion was my comrade. This body is broken from the aftereffects of injuries sustained in war. You fought more fiercely without me, and your condition may be different from the previous cycle.”

Am I more quick-witted than I thought?

It’s amazing how smoothly the excuses are falling into place.

“Hmm… Then, does that mean our party still managed to defeat the Demon King and saved the world even though we lost a comrade from the original composition?”

Oops, so that’s how it turns out. My excuses aren’t fitting together at all.

“That’s right.”

Could it be that I’ll get caught because of that? Is there some contradiction…?

“Wow, Director Hope was a useless comrade.”

It seems I was worried for nothing.

“Let’s proceed with the examination.”

Now it’s time to check the condition of Hero Sion.

What is Sion’s current condition, and why is her whole body so broken?

To find that out, I first needed to touch her whole body.