Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior

“Take care, Sion.”

“Yeah.”

Sion and Nao exchanged farewells at the teleportation gate in the center of the Magic Tower.

Both of them were sitting side by side in wheelchairs, unable to embrace each other, so they could only nod their heads to each other as a greeting.

“And please take good care of Sion, Director Hope.”

“Yes, of course.”

“But really, persuading Sion and bringing her… How did you do it?”

“Psychological treatment is also part of rehabilitation.”

Sion decided to keep the reason for her rehabilitation a secret from Nao.

This was because Sion didn’t want Nao to participate in the battle two years later.

It was a lie that the gate would open again and the Demon King would invade, but

It wasn’t good for many people to know about that lie, so it was better to keep it a secret.

“Nao, Nao…”

“Huh? Sion?”

Sion suddenly tried to get up, reaching out to Nao.

Nao barely managed to grab Sion, who was precariously popping out of her wheelchair, and pulled her into her arms.

“Nao… I’ll get better, I’ll definitely get better… Hwaaaahng~”

Sion, held in Nao’s arms, suddenly started rubbing her face against Nao’s chest and crying like a child.

“Yes, you should. Let’s cheer up together.”

And Nao, accepting Sion, didn’t show any signs of embarrassment.

She just held Sion tightly and stroked her head.

‘It seems like this isn’t the first time she’s seen this symptom.’

Usually, Sion was lethargic and didn’t show much emotion.

However, sometimes she showed excessive emotional outbursts.

It had only been two days since I met Sion, so I needed to observe her a little more,

But that’s why I had to pay attention and catch all the various reactions Sion showed.

“When your body is fully recovered, let’s walk together on the five-colored flower path, the pride of the Imperial Palace.

We’ll bask in the scattering petals and enjoy the spring of the Empire.

We’ll laugh and greet people we meet, listen to songs praising the hero, and reclaim everything you should have enjoyed.

Someday, we’ll definitely face that day together.

Okay? Sion?”

“Nao…”

Nao smiled warmly and spoke calmly of a hopeful future.

Perhaps feeling reassured by her touch and voice, Sion didn’t make any more sound and spent a quiet moment, then calmly entrusted herself to Nao’s guiding hand and returned to sit in her wheelchair.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yeah.”

A short but seemingly long moment of parting.

When Nao signaled the mages of the Magic Tower, the teleportation gate surrounding Nao and Sion began to shine.

And before we knew it, we had left the Empire and returned to the kingdom.

“Hero Sion Lorel and Hope Harvey, Director of the Kingdom’s Rehabilitation Medicine Center, have completed their transfer.”

It was good to bring Sion back to the kingdom,

But how should I handle the fact that I suddenly became in charge of the hero’s treatment…

“Sion.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll be hospitalized from now on, but do you want to hide your identity?”

“My identity?”

“If Hero Sion Lorel is hospitalized at the center, it could cause a stir.”

After the war ended, nothing was known about the whereabouts and well-being of Hero Sion.

In this situation, wouldn’t it be troublesome if Sion suddenly got hospitalized at the center?

“If you want, you can use a pseudonym…”

“It’s okay. I am who I am.”

Perhaps it was unnecessary worry, as Sion showed a firm and confident demeanor.

“Even in the Empire, everyone just didn’t recognize me, I never hid my identity, you know?”

“Then I’ll proceed with that in mind. There’ll be a lot of work to do.”

“Work to do?”

“Since I have to be fully in charge of you, I’ll have to adjust the schedule after your hospitalization, and then I’ll have to report to the Monarch…”

Thinking about it, it was fortunate for me that Sion, as a hero, came to the center.

As the Monarch said, I am one of the most important and busy people in the world,

So, in order to dedicate myself to Sion and spend a lot of time with her, she had to be worth it.

Not simply because she was the hero who saved the world, but it would be more efficient to report it by considering ways to utilize her existence in the treatment of other patients.

Even if I didn’t do that, everyone living in this world owes a debt of gratitude to Sion, so they would surely approve of anything necessary for her treatment.

“Besides, I’ve been away from the center for three days. I’ll be very busy when I get back.”

“Now that I think about it, I was curious, are you very busy, Director Hope?”

Am I busy? Now that I think about it, Sion said she didn’t know what Rehabilitation Medicine was.

“I told you I was a Regressor, right?”

“You did.”

“I am busier now than all the lives I’ve lived and all the people I’ve seen in those lives.”

“Huh? Really?”

Actually, I’ve only lived two lives, including this one.

Still, my past life was a life of a resident and intern.

It was by no means an easy life, so I wasn’t exaggerating too much.

“That can’t be true?”

But Sion didn’t seem to sympathize much with my story.

“You said you lived the life of my companion! You’re busier now than you were then?”

Was that why it was hard to believe me?

The life of Hero Sion and her companion.

According to the book, they certainly went through a difficult time during the war, but…

“I wasn’t busy then. It was hard, but not busy.”

“No way! We fought all day long, kept watch, looked for shelters, pitched tents, and hid!”

“You rested properly when you had a shelter. I can’t rest even if I have a decent house.”

“We couldn’t sleep at night because we had to be on guard!!”

“I’ve only been able to sleep 3 hours a day for the past 3 years, 6 days a week.”

“Huh? Really?”

Since I became the director of the center, I’ve really only been able to sleep 3 hours a day.

It’s natural that the hero party that made a solo breakthrough to the Demon King’s Castle had a grueling march, but that was different from having a busy life.

Even a special forces unit that breaks through enemy lines and attacks alone has plenty of ways to secure rest.

Taking a detour to a village, setting up a camp, and reorganizing the party and relieving fatigue were essential elements of the journey.

In war, if there is no rest, there is immediate death. It’s definitely a different story from having a busy daily life.

“Ugh… 3 hours a day for 3 years, are you serious?”

“Why would I lie?”

“How can a person live like that…”

“It works when one wants to do it.”

The Napoleon sleep method, which I studied during my residency to reduce my sleep time as much as possible, makes 3-4 hours of sleep a day a biological rhythm.

Thanks to that, I was able to run the center while sleeping about 3 hours a day.

Should I call this a past-life perk? There’s no Napoleon in the history of this world, so no one else would know this method.

“Director Hope, you go that far. To bring back people who were broken by the war…”

“Not necessarily.”

I do this work because I like it, not just for other people. I’m just doing good things for others as a bonus.

“…….”

Sion suddenly became silent.

What was she thinking?

Did she finally understand that I was really busy and amazing?

*********

‘I see, it wasn’t for others.’

Sion recalled the story Hope had told her at first.

He was her companion, a Regressor.

He told her that he needed her strength to prepare for the gate that would open again in two years.

Then, the reason he chose Rehabilitation Medicine was…

‘It’s for me. He needed me…’

Whether it was to defeat the Demon King or for some other reason,

To Sion, Hope had become a person who had devoted several lives for her and created a medicine that didn’t exist in the world.

*********

When we left the room with the teleportation gate and went down to the lobby of the Magic Tower, a maid-uniformed staff member of the center was walking briskly towards us from the waiting area, lifting her skirt as if she had been waiting.

“Director!! You’re finally back!”

Judging by the urgent way she was running, it seemed that the situation I had feared had occurred.

“It’s good to see you. There’s no problem at the center, right?”

“Oh, there’s no way there’s no problem. Please come quickly, it’s chaos right now.”

I did my best to hand over the work carefully, but as expected.

The training of rehabilitation personnel was just beginning,

The operation and treatment of the center relied heavily on my experience and skills as the only specialist.

It seemed that it was just my wish that the center would run properly without me.

“So I have to go to work as soon as I get back.”

“Ah!”

When I complained a little, the maid-nurse seemed startled.

“Would you like to rest? Are you tired from your business trip?”

“No, let’s go right away. There are some things I need to check as well.”

“If you need to check…”

“Room 205 is empty, right? The patient was discharged right before I left for the business trip.”

The center is always full of patients. It’s fortunate that there’s a place for Sion to be hospitalized…

“Where do we have an empty room?”

“What? I’m sure before I left for my business trip…”

“Of course, we filled it with people on the waiting list. Have you forgotten how many hospitalization reservations we have?”

“Ah…”

That’s right. There’s no way there’s an empty room at our center.

Then where should Sion stay?

I brought her here with the intention of hospitalizing her at the center, so I didn’t arrange a separate place to stay…

‘If it’s a place where Sion can stay right away…’

Turning to Sion, who was sitting next to me, to organize my thoughts,

“?”

Sion just tilted her head, not knowing what was going on.

“Um… Sion.”

“Yes?”

If she can’t be hospitalized right away, then the place where Sion has to stay is, after all,

“It looks like you’ll have to stay at my house for a while.”

It was only my house.

It wasn’t difficult to arrange accommodation, but the problem was Sion’s current condition.

She was almost immobile, so she couldn’t live a normal life without a caregiver.

“Wha-What are you saying??”

Sion said, looking disgusted with a bewildered face.

Well, it’s a sudden story, so I understand how she feels, but I don’t think she needs to make such a disgusted face…