Ah, this is a dream.
Sometimes, I can observe the world of dreams with clear consciousness.
This is what they call a lucid dream.
During those times, I invariably find myself revisiting past dreams.
…See, just as I thought.
There I was as a child, about ten years old—”Kiwi Alaya.”
That Kiwi boy was pressing the end of a scavenged stethoscope against the window glass of a certain building in the royal capital, eavesdropping on the conversations inside.
“—Lab chief, it smells of magical power. Look, especially from around here it’s reeking.”
I heard those words from within, and just after that, the window above swung open with a forceful motion.
The Kiwi boy looked up in surprise.
A beautiful girl, shining white and around the same age as the Kiwi boy, was looking down at me.
“Indeed, there you are, demon child.”
The girl distorted her beautiful features and looked at the Kiwi boy with eyes that resembled those of someone viewing a rotten apple.
“Hey, how many times must I tell you? You cannot participate in the healer association’s research presentation anymore. Not while I, a faithful servant of God, am here.”
“Why not?”
“The healer association should be sacred. It is unacceptable for a tainted orphan with magical power to come here.”
“Why is that?”
The Kiwi boy tilted his head.
The girl clicked her tongue.
“Isn’t it obvious? The healing holy art is a ‘blessing from God,’ and the teachings of God say, ‘Live pure and just’! Therefore, we cannot share God’s knowledge with someone like you who cannot receive His grace!”
The girl roughly snatched the stethoscope from the Kiwi boy and slammed it against the window sill, breaking the old and brittle ear piece.
“Ah, that was still usable…”
“Be quiet. If you understood your place, you should stop clinging to something you cannot become, like a healer. At least be grateful that you were born into the good aspect of humanity, and live humbly, hiding that magical power.”
“Understanding my place? Ah, is that what you meant by ‘pure and just’? But in that case, I believe I can write a ‘purer’ and ‘more just’ paper than you.”
Puffing out his chest proudly, the Kiwi boy offered a piece of paper he had tucked under his arm to the girl.
“This is a forty-page paper on ‘The Fastest Heal for Lung Injuries’ that you presented last week, but I’ve summarized it into one page with my own thoughts on how I would approach it.”
“…Huh?”
“First, you listed lengthy template theories regarding patient safety during healing, similar to other internal injury cases, which was incredibly stressful to listen to. That part could be replaced with the new healing theory proposed in the paper on ‘Oxygen Administration Healing During Asthma,’ presented about two months ago, allowing for a faster healing while avoiding the patient’s respiratory distress, right? Moreover, the subsequent procedures could be simplified like this…”
“This is…”
The girl turned pale as she read the paper.
“…Ugh! What is this?!”
“Ah!”
The girl tore the paper and threw it at the Kiwi boy.
Then she twisted her lips into a distorted smile.
“Don’t feel good just because of something like this, okay?”
“B-but it was beautifully summarized…”
“Shut up. Could you please not show up in front of me again? Even if you are just a pesky insect, wouldn’t it be unpleasant if it flew in front of you? That’s how I feel right now!”
With that fierce remark, the girl slammed the window shut.
The curtains were also drawn.
From inside came the sounds of her shouting,
“Oh, this is disgusting! I feel nauseous in this overly tolerant world! Nobles and the wealthy who keep monsters out of mere curiosity! Politicians trying to interact with evil demons and subhumans! Demon children who don’t even know their own place! There are too many fools! I must quickly rise above the kingdom’s church and restore the people’s faith…”
I could hear the girl being gently admonished by the adults around her.
Left alone, the Kiwi boy placed his hand on his chin and thought,
“…Hmmm. A pesky insect, huh? It’s true that pesky flying insects can be annoying.”
He decided to change his perspective.
If he appeared to that girl as a pesky insect, it was understandable that she felt stressed.
Speaking of pesky insects, I heard they spend most of their time not flying but sticking to walls. It seems they do that because it’s less likely to get squashed than when they’re buzzing around. It’s a kind of survival strategy.
Thus, the Kiwi boy decided to stick to the wooden beams intersecting the ceiling of the laboratory from the following week to listen to the presentations.
If he couldn’t wander around in the girl’s field of vision, he could just remain still outside of it.
Moreover, this way, he could take notes while listening to the presentation, which was quite good.
Once again, the Kiwi boy lent an ear to the presentation voice of the nameless girl who was treating him coldly.
…
…
…
Hmmm, she seems quite capable, but it’s still overly verbose, and I feel there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Well, she’s only ten years old, so I suppose a few mistakes should be forgiven.
To nurture talent, sometimes praise is necessary.
So, the Kiwi boy wrote the following in his notes.
“I thought it was quite a novel and interesting idea. However, the thrombolytic heal used in the middle still hasn’t undergone clinical trials. Would it really be acceptable to incorporate it into part of the foundational theory? I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to directly destroy the thrombus with divine power after pinpointing its location during examination?”
“Hey!”
The Kiwi boy crumpled the note and dropped it toward the girl from the beam.
However, it was caught by the wind blowing in through the open window and landed on the lab chief’s desk.
“Hmm?”
The lab chief discovered the note. As he opened it and read through it, he burst into laughter.
“Hohoho! Who threw this at me? Well, I suppose that’s true. I thought the same during the presentation, but… well, Artemis is still young. It’s better to encourage her with praise for these things. Pointing it out would be rude.”
“Eh, what do you mean—”
The girl called Artemis also came around behind the chief and read the note.
Immediately, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Then Artemis looked around and found the Kiwi boy perched on the beam near the ceiling.
With narrowed eyes, as if she might kill him, Artemis glared at him.
“You… you always show up in front of me!”
With that, the Kiwi boy left the laboratory while being thoroughly scolded by Artemis.
After that, she completely avoided him, and he could no longer hear the research presentations from the ceiling or the windows, so the Kiwi boy had to eavesdrop from below the lab via the hole next to the well.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…Munya.”
I woke up.
It seems I had fallen asleep on the second floor of Alaya General Hospital after today’s consultation.
I must have had that nostalgic dream because of this.
“Ha!”
I concentrated my magical power and reached behind my neck to grab it.
“Indeed, there you are, the monster that leads me to nightmares, ‘Nightmare.’”
It was a ghost monster the size of a child, a translucent black rag with yellow triangular eyes drawn on it.
This monster attaches itself to sleeping demons or humans, causing them to have nightmares and feeding off negative emotions.
The Nightmare squirmed to escape from my hand, but it was already too late.
“You’re a weak monster… You can’t escape from someone with my level of strength.”
I leaned forward on my desk with my arm holding the Nightmare as a pillow.
“The research presentation I was listening to in that dream was only halfway done. Show me the rest…”
With the Nightmare, I fell back asleep.
