I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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34

Chapter 9. Things Are Getting Out of Hand? Then (2)

As soon as we came out of the basement, Raven came running over.

“Raven, you came?”

“…You…”

“Hm?”

“…Never mind.”

Raven looked at me being held by Father with a complicated expression, then let out a deep sigh. He pressed his forehead and shook his head.

It was the unfair skill of a handsome man who looked picturesque even with simple gestures.

His rarely anxious expression and sweaty forehead created an atmosphere that didn’t match his age.

He looked good, but his pale complexion was concerning. I asked with pure good intentions.

“What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”

“…”

“Seeing that the clay isn’t reacting, it’s not a stomachache… Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“…Duke Wentworth, did you catch the culprit?”

Father adjusted his hold on me and answered. That kid just ignored me.

“We let him escape.”

“What?”

“Let’s say we let him escape.”

“You mobilized the Guard Knights to catch him and now you want to say you let him escape?”

“What can I do when I couldn’t catch and kill him? My daughter begged me not to.”

“As a parent, shouldn’t you know how to teach strictly!”

“You want me to be strict with a kidnapping victim?”

“Today, the Wentworths are all being irritating.”

Raven exploded. Father just laughed heartily, paying no mind to Raven’s outburst. He was clearly trying to irritate Raven even more.

“What about the Duchess?”

“Ah, she collapsed from the shock of letting the culprit escape.”

“…”

Even I wouldn’t believe that.

“The servants helped her and returned to the manor first.”

“…I’m seriously annoyed, so Duke, please go home with Shana now.”

“Why? There are still patients left. I’m perfectly fine…”

“Thanks to you, there are no more critical patients now. I’ll handle the rest, so you can go back.”

But since we had caused this situation together, I felt bad about leaving only Raven to handle the cleanup. Seeing me hesitate, Raven said:

“Are you planning to make me someone who exploits a kidnapping victim?”

“…Sorry.”

“…I was an idiot for worrying.”

Had he been more worried than I thought? But before I could ask again, Raven turned and walked away, leaving me to look awkwardly at Father. Father said:

“Leave him be. It’s because he’s going through puberty.”

I recalled Raven’s urgent expression when he came running to me and got lost in sentiment for a moment, then brushed it off.

I’ll write him a letter later. For rich kids who don’t act their age, a letter full of flattering comments was most effective.

I can’t buy him a game console. I’d have to sell something to buy one. That kid has more money than me anyway.

I’ll just write something like “Raven, you’re cool and awesome and amazing, and I’m very proud of you. The end.” but phrase it more smoothly. It’s never failed to work.

Raven has a more sensitive personality than me and often gets sulky for incomprehensible reasons, and I write him a letter each time.

Then he pretends not to like it but accepts it anyway… He was like a prickly cat of a friend.

“Shall we go, Shana?”

“Yes!”

Since Father’s cheek was right in front of me, I gave him a loud kiss.

“Thank you for coming to rescue me, Dad.”

“Shana…”

Father started tearing up. When I hugged his neck and patted him, he sobbed “My precious daughter!”

“Did I see something wrong…?”

“Was I standing and dreaming…?”

A few Guard Knights who remained near us whispered while looking at Father. Seeing them turn pale as if they’d witnessed something terrifying, I decided not to move Father to tears in public for the sake of his dignity.

“Dad… you shouldn’t cry carelessly in public.”

“Y-yes.”

We returned to the manor after a long time.

***

Oh, my beloved home!

I don’t know how many days it’s been since I returned. Staying out wasn’t bad since it felt like traveling, but home was still the best.

I washed up cleanly and changed into pajamas.

“Home is the best…”

My parents and Evelyn tried to persuade me several times to sleep at home, but I refused, saying it would be unfair for me to go back when Raven wasn’t going back either.

Of course, I could only be so stubborn because the facilities Raven had prepared weren’t too bad.

Though they couldn’t match the facilities I enjoyed at home or the Imperial Palace, the DNA of a poor worker within me felt more comfortable with the modestly equipped facilities.

‘What’s the point of being born and raised as the only daughter of a ducal family… The memories of struggling and living frugally for 24 years are deeply rooted in my soul…’

I didn’t mean it in a bad way. My previous life was hard, but it wasn’t filled with only bad memories.

There were precious and good memories too, which is why I worked hard enough to die from overwork.

“My bed!”

I dove in and rubbed my face all over the blanket. That fluffy sunlight scent…

They say it’s the smell of dead microorganisms…

‘Ignorance is bliss, they say.’

My mood was ruined. I lifted my face from the blanket and sat up.

“Shana, may we come in?”

“Yes, Mother!”

I scurried over and opened the door myself. My parents were standing there.

“Your face looks so clean.”

“Pretty, right?”

“Of course, you’re my daughter.”

Mother smiled brightly.

“Sit down, Shana. We have something to talk about, don’t we?”

I quickly sat down.

“Shana, building a hospital isn’t difficult.”

Look at that scale… I could see something like a halo around Father’s head.

“But do you really have to build it on that street?”

“A street with better security would be better.”

“Apothecaries, healers, and mages won’t want to work on streets with poor security.”

“It’s not impossible, but it won’t be easy… It’ll take a long time to find people willing to work there.”

I realized what they were trying to say.

‘Well, this would be normal…’

They wouldn’t think a 7-year-old would actually run a hospital. My parents readily agreed to build the hospital because they couldn’t even imagine I would do anything there.

“Since we’ve learned that beastmen can also be infected with diseases, we’ll make arrangements so they can receive medicine too. So you don’t need to worry about that.”

“I saw today that many of the children looked very sick…”

I acknowledged that whatever I wanted to say would sound admirable anyway, so I decided to go with the admirable concept.

Should I clasp my hands together? If I poke my eyes, will my eyeballs get a bit moist…

If this had been someone else’s business, I might have thought, “Wow, what a remarkable and meddlesome child for being only 7!”

Only I can help my beastmen friends, so I absolutely must do it! I will save everyone!

They probably thought I was thinking like that.

But I’m not quite like that…

It just feels wrong to leave patients behind when we’ve finally contained the epidemic.

Although I’m still small in stature, I thought of myself as no different from an adult (Raven and my parents would be flabbergasted if they heard this…).

Now I speak well! I run well too! I’ve studied common knowledge quite a bit. My tutor said I’m “an excellent student with outstanding learning ability, if only I didn’t like to slack off.”

I’m all grown up, that’s what I’m saying.

But since there would be plenty of people who’d treat me like an idiot if I said this (for example, Raven, Raven, or Raven), I didn’t voice it out loud.

If we’re going to open a hospital anyway, wouldn’t now be the perfect time when we can immediately treat the epidemic and have beastmen as customers?

Since beastmen are said to have excellent recovery and immunity, they probably won’t visit hospitals much unless they’re sick.

Then there wouldn’t be many opportunities to appeal, would there? Isn’t this a good chance to appeal that we can treat beastmen too… I also had such calculating thoughts.

See, I’m an adult who can make dirty calculations too.

“Shana, that’s…”

“I can help those people. But I can’t just do nothing.”

“Shana, you’re only 7 years old.”

“I know.”

“Do you want to become a hero or something?”

Mother asked somewhat coldly. I shook my head.

“I just want to do what I can, as much as I can.”

“…Alright. Then let’s do this.”

In the end, my parents were weak when it came to me.

“First, you will diligently attend classes until Prince Raven enters the Academy. Second, not only Evelyn, but at least one of Maria or Ella must always accompany you.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Not only the necklace Mother gave you, but you’ll also wear every single security item we give you without exception.”

“Yes!”

You’re giving me more…? How much would that be? My heart swelled with half anticipation and half fear.

“We’re also thinking of hiring bodyguards you won’t even know about.”

“As many as you want!”

“And one more thing. This is the most important. You must not reveal your identity.”

Huh? Why is that?

“Shana, you might not understand yet, but there are many people in this world who act out of petty spite and stubbornness. There’s no need to become a target for no reason.”

Father spoke quite maturely.

“There are also complicated matters related to the Temple, so it would be better to keep treating beastmen as patients a secret.”

“Can you do that?”

Why shouldn’t I treat beastmen as patients? When I asked, Mother said coldly.

“Those adults don’t like admitting they can’t do something. Isn’t that childish? Our Shana is much more mature.”

“Ah.”

“Mages are the same way, but we’re good at other things too, so we don’t worry about it.”

So admitting they can’t treat beastmen hurts their pride? If it were a matter of ‘not doing it,’ that might be one thing, but they can’t admit to ‘being unable to do it,’ so they might think the way to protect their pride is to dismiss the other side as ‘not worthy of treatment.’

Mother elaborated, lifting her chin and saying, “Mages are competent in other areas besides healing, so it’s fine!”

Mother, who had looked handsome earlier, now looked cute. Before I knew it, I had snuggled into her arms, and Mother embraced me too.

Mother held me close, showering my forehead and the top of my head with little kisses as she murmured.

“It would have been better if you had grown up to be a selfish child…”

“My heart is completely black inside. I’m totally selfish and calculating and it’s no joke!”

You’d be shocked if you knew. It was too embarrassing to explain everything in detail, so I just confessed the truth.

It’s a bit awkward to put everything into words. You see, I’m very money-minded because I’ve seen people die from making money… I’m also good at calculating… It’s too long-winded.

“Shana, you are?”

“I’m on par with Raven! Birds of a feather, you know.”

This concludes all explanations.

“Hahaha!”

“Yes, haha, hahaha…”

“I’ll believe you, Shana. Hahaha.”

Why does it feel like you’re laughing at me?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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