Chapter 42: Ashera Part 3

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Translator: Soafp

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We arrived at the Gran Knight Baron’s residence. Harva knocked on the door and called out in front of the gate.

“Excuse me, is anyone there? It’s Harva, the husband of Lush. My daughter, Ashera, is with me. Is anyone available?”

After taking a breath to prepare for another call, the door opened.

“Baron Gran! Please meet with Lush.”

“Long time no see, Harva. This way, Lush is here. Come in.”

We followed behind Harva. We were guided to a room on the second floor.

“Please, come inside.”

As urged by the Baron, we entered the room. There lay a woman with silver hair similar to Ashera’s, but lacking vitality, resting on the bed. When Harva and Ashera approached the bed, the woman slowly opened her eyes.

“Is that you, Ashera?”

“Yes, it’s me… Mother…”

Ashera held Lush’s hand, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You’ve grown so much… I’m sorry for leaving you for eight years…”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Ashera… I love you…”

“I love you too…”

Both cried as they embraced each other lovingly. After embracing Ashera enough, Lush turned to Harva.

“Thank you for coming, Harva.”

“L-Lush… I… I…”

“Harva, it’s okay now. You came. I’m happy to see the grown-up Ashera.”

“Lush… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, Harva. I was happy. So please smile for me.”

There was Harva, crying but smiling.

“By the way… who might he be?”

She looked at me with curiosity, then muttered softly. I couldn’t afford to appear undignified in front of my fiancée’s mother. Stepping forward, I straightened my posture, attempting to appear as elegant as possible, and performed the best noble greeting I could.

“Nice to meet you. I am Aldo von Blue Ring. I am… Ashera’s, um, b-boyfriend… or should I say, fiancé…”

My response seemed unexpected to Lush. She stared at me wide-eyed, surprised by the unexpected answer.

Here is the English translation:

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“A-Ashera’s…”

This single word reverberated through the room.

“Aldo, my fiancé. He came to follow me.”

“Well, well. I’d love to hear that story.”

Ashera began talking happily, as if trying to fill in the gaps of the past few years. Seeing the two of them, both Harva and I exchanged glances and quietly left the room.

“Lush seems energetic, but is she really that unwell?”

“I only knew from the letters, but it seems she’s having difficulty urinating and experiencing swelling…”

“Urination… Could it be the kidneys? Never mind later. Can I take a look?”

“Aldo-sama? Do you have medical expertise?”

“No, I’m an amateur, but something worries me.”

“I see… I’ll ask Lush later then.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s for Ashera and Lush. Thank you.”

I intended to sit and rest for a while, but perhaps due to the fatigue from our march, I had drifted off to sleep.

Gradually awakening to the sounds around me, I noticed Ashera leaning against me, also asleep. Watching her sleeping face, Harva approached and spoke up.

“Aldo-sama, Lush says it’s okay now. What should we do?”

“Show me.”

“Understood. Follow me then.”

I followed Harva into Lush’s sickroom.

“I’m sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s fine. Having my future son-in-law examine me, how wonderful.”

“…”

Uncertain how to respond to such a sudden statement, I found myself at a loss for words.

“I’d like to touch your back. Preferably directly …….”

“Got it.”

Facing away, she slowly raised her clothing to expose her skin.

Though feeling apologetic, I placed my hand on her back.

Activate sonar. Carefully observing the reflection of magical energy, it seemed the right kidney wasn’t functioning.

Another round of sonar. Once again, it was the right kidney. There was hardly any reflection of magical energy… Likely, the kidney was nearing failure.

(Kidneys come in pairs… Removing the non-functioning one might save her… But can I do it? Which blood vessel should I cut to perform the extraction? What are the steps? Anesthesia? I can’t even properly sterilize… In this situation, it’s impossible…)

I slowly withdrew my hand from her back.

“Did you find something?”

I didn’t know how to respond to Lush’s question. After a moment of hesitation, I gave the answer I could muster…

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t find anything…”

“I see…”

It seemed I had raised expectations. The room became slightly tense, so I excused myself and stepped outside. Unbeknownst to me, it had grown completely dark around us.

(If I keep silent, Lush might pass away in a few days… But how do I explain? “You might survive if we remove the right kidney due to renal failure”? How can I say that….)

If I had medical knowledge and could perform surgery to save her, the decision would be easy. But most likely, even with surgery, she would still pass away.

In that case, maybe it’s better not to say anything and let her spend every last moment peacefully, even if it’s just a second longer…

(Why didn’t they use healing magic in the first place? Or perhaps, was it due to healing magic that she managed to hold on until now? If I had used sonar earlier to directly treat the kidneys before it completely stopped functioning, would the outcome have been different? I don’t know…)

I couldn’t help but mutter to the unanswered question.

“I’ve been pondering too much lately…”

These were not words I said to anyone. They just came out of my mouth.

“What are you troubled about?”

Startled by the voice from behind, I turned around. It was Ashera.

“What’s bothering you?”

“It’s about Lush’s illness…”

Wait, what am I about to say? I might end up causing harm to her family. As a precaution for an unlikely event, I sealed my lips.

“Nothing.…… I ran sonar to see what I could find out, but I couldn’t.”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“You are hiding something, Aldo.”

“I’m not hiding anything…”

“Mom won’t last a few more days… In such a state, even if the sonar failed, there’s no need to fret… The only reason to worry is if you know how to cure it.”

“You, who’s usually a scatterbrain…”

“The scatterbrain is you, Aldo. Tell me, what’s the way to help Mom? Please, Aldo!”

At Ashera’s desperate plea, I gazed up at the sky. Perhaps it was the winter, the stars looked unusually beautiful.

“Alright… But I’ll need to talk to Halva as well.”

“Understood.”

Ashera headed to explain to Halva. Soon after, I was taken to Lush’s room.

“Aldo, Mom wants to hear it too.”

“We shouldn’t involve a sick person…”

I hesitated… truthfully, there’s almost no chance of a cure. It’d be too cruel to present hope when there’s practically none.

“Could I address you as Aldo-kun?”

“Yes…”

“Aldo-kun, I’m happy. I got to meet Halva, whom I thought I wouldn’t see again. I saw Ashera all grown up. And as a bonus, I met her fiancé. I never thought I’d get to talk about love with Ashera…”

“…”

“I’m content with everything. I’ve unexpectedly found happiness until yesterday…”

“… “

“Even if I were to die now, I could go feeling happy. If, by some chance, it succeeds… I would feel a little more happiness for a bit longer. Either way, I’ll be happy.”

“… “

“So, could you tell me, Aldo-kun?”

“… “

“…”

“Alright…”

“Thank you…”

I revealed everything I knew. I lied, saying I had this medical knowledge from a treasured book in the mansion. I talked about the results of the sonar, the condition of the right kidney, the function of the kidney, the potential cure by extraction, but the lack of such skill, everything, openly and honestly.

“Aldo-kun, thank you for sharing.”

“Well… but I don’t have the expertise… Knowing the treatment won’t help if I can’t perform it.”

“It’s not entirely true.”

“Eh?”

“Sometimes it’s okay to rely on adults.”

“…”

As I was bewildered by Lush’s words, Halva rushed out of the room. Soon after, recovery mages gathered in the room, a total of four.

“Are you Aldo-kun?”

“Yes… that’s me.”

“I have a few questions I’d like to ask…”

They inquired in detail about kidney function, bladder positioning, and surrounding organs. For what I didn’t know, I used sonar on myself, Lush, and Ashera to supplement the information.

After about an hour of continuous questioning, I was finally released. When I looked outside, it was pitch black.

“In an hour from now, we will begin the kidney removal procedure on Lush. Each of you must be ready.”

“””Yes.”””

The recovery mage from earlier walked over.

“Aldo-kun, if possible, we’d like you to be present and help out. But at the age of 12, it might not be feasible. Can you wait here in the mansion in case something happens and we need advice?”

“Understood.”

“Appreciate it. I’m Chris.”

“Eh?”

“Chris von Gran. I’m Lush’s brother and Ashera’s uncle. Technically, I’m the next in line to lead the Gran family.”

“I’m Aldo von Blue Ring. Nice to meet you. About Ashera…”

“Don’t worry about formalities.”

“Y-Yes…”

“Thank you for this. Even if Lush doesn’t make it, my gratitude won’t change.”

“Don’t be…”

“I’ll get ready now. Counting on you to wait here.”

“Yes.”

Saying that, Chris disappeared into Lush’s room.