There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 51
Having a doctor among the Ravens was genuinely convenient.
On days like today, I didn’t need to trek all the way to the Medical Ward—I could simply return to the Nest, see Noah Benton, and receive treatment on the spot.
What I appreciated most was not having to explain how I’d gotten hurt in the first place.
“Noah.”
“Injured again?!”
By now, Noah Benton understood my business the moment I spoke his name.
He pulled medicine and bandages from a drawer and pointed to the sofa by the window.
It was where Konrad always took his afternoon nap.
“Sit there, Rookie.”
“You don’t really need to—just changing the bandage is enough…….”
“Sit.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Noah got like this, there was a quiet authority that couldn’t be brushed aside.
I settled obediently onto the sofa, and his careful hands began unwrapping the layers of bandage already wound there.
While no wound looks pleasant, the knuckles that had been torn and patched repeatedly over and over did strike me as somewhat grotesque.
“Ugh.”
I assumed that was why Noah Benton’s expression grew pained.
Because it didn’t look good.
But then Noah said something different.
“How awful…… You must be in so much pain.”
Even as he applied the medicine he’d brought, repeating the same words over, I asked him:
“Doesn’t it disgust you?”
“That’s not the issue. Your pain is.”
A strange person, really.
We’d known each other for about a month now.
We saw each other almost every day, but unlike with Gisella Rot, there was no deep connection between us.
Yet here he was, worrying over a simple training injury like this.
Perhaps he was born with an abundance of compassion—the kind of person who felt others’ suffering as his own.
“Doesn’t working in the Medical Ward wear you down, Noah?”
“It does, sure. Ward work turns out to be more physically demanding than you’d think.”
“That’s not what I mean. You see patients in critical condition all the time, don’t you? So every time, you’d worry and ache the way you’re doing now.”
After applying all the medicine, Noah had begun to gently blow on the wound—puff, puff—when he let out a soft laugh.
“Seeing someone suffer makes me want to help them.”
“I see.”
Was this the professional philosophy of a doctor who faced life and death every day?
Though I’d taken lives plenty, I’d never saved one—so to me, Noah Benton belonged to a world I couldn’t fathom.
“Listen, Rookie. If the training is really too much, should I have a word with Konrad?”
After wrapping the bandage with expert precision, he hesitated before speaking.
“It’s the hand that holds your sword, and this is already the second time the same spot’s torn open. Look, I know Konrad can seem scary, but he’s actually a really good person.”
“That’s true. I think he’s a good senior.”
Thanks to Konrad Aichner, I was recovering my former form at a rapid pace.
It was all because he’d trained me with genuine devotion.
“R, really?”
Noah Benton’s face suddenly brightened.
His cheeks flushed red, and he spoke with visible excitement.
“Konrad is absolutely, incredibly strong! Insanely strong, actually! He has power, he fights brilliantly, and he’s so composed and confident—it’s amazing! He’s not weak-willed like me! And besides……!”
Noah, who had been launching into a passionate eulogy of Konrad Aichner’s virtues, suddenly fell silent.
“S, sorry. I got too loud again, didn’t I? What I was trying to say was…….”
Noah Benton mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
‘Here he goes again.’
He did this occasionally.
Usually when he realized his emotions had escalated, that he’d gotten excited.
His swings might be wider than most people’s, but there was nothing unusual about it.
Whatever frightened him about it, Noah in these moments resembled a malfunctioning machine.
I deliberately gathered up the old bandages and closed the medicine bottle, speaking as if I hadn’t been listening.
“Just a second, let me clean this up for you, Noah.”
“O, okay.”
Noah glanced at me, then took a small, deliberate breath to calm himself.
As though the world might collapse if he lost his composure.
After tidying the table, I sat back down.
“Sorry for interrupting. I got a bit flustered. What were you saying before?”
“Well, it’s just that Konrad is such a strong person, he might not realize how hard this is for you. So if you’re too scared to tell him, I could speak up for you instead?”
“But you’re scared of Konrad too. You never refuse when he asks you to write reports instead of him.”
“I, I’m not scared of him. It’s just because he’s a senior…….”
Even a newcomer like me could see that Noah Benton found Konrad intimidating.
Yet he was offering to relay to him that the training was too hard.
It must be like watching a fluffy puppy bark defiantly, determined to protect you.
“It’s okay, Noah.”
I couldn’t burden a puppy with such rough work.
“Besides, Konrad already knows the training is difficult and hard for me right now.”
“You, really? But then why…… Konrad would never…….”
In Noah’s mind, Konrad Aichner was unmistakably a half-sanctified hero.
‘If only he could see how unhinged Konrad becomes in the Underground Training Ground.’
But I decided to protect Noah Benton’s innocent admiration.
“Because Konrad understands it well. That you learn by colliding with obstacles and breaking through them. That’s why he does it that way.”
“Ah.”
Noah Benton’s lips parted slightly.
“To learn a lot quickly, you have to be willing to get hurt.”
“Rookie…… you.”
He spoke with evident reverence.
“You’re truly a strong person.”
“Me?”
“Yes! Being able to collide and break—that’s strength!”
Suddenly I recalled the praise Noah had just offered for Konrad.
“So composed and confident—it’s amazing! Not weak-willed like me!”
So was Noah Benton saying he himself wasn’t composed, that his willpower was weak?
It struck me as more than just the self-deprecation of a timid person.
Perhaps it had something to do with why he couldn’t take field assignments.
“A sturdy body is my advantage, I suppose.”
When I deflected, Noah Benton laughed softly.
Then, as always, Gisella Rot’s resonant voice rang out through the quiet Nest.
“What?! Rookie, did you get hurt again?!”
“Welcome back, ma’am.”
She must have come straight from the Kitchen today—still in her everyday appearance as Lena, she approached and examined my newly bandaged hand.
“That Konrad! I told him to train you, not wear you down like this!”
Gisella Rot glared daggers at Konrad’s desk, since he wasn’t in the Nest, and let out an indignant huff.
She looked ready to cancel the mentorship on the spot, so I quickly addressed her.
“I’m fine, really. I’m learning a lot.”
“You’re fine because you’re learning?”
With a dismissive laugh, Gisella Rot’s demeanor suddenly turned cold.
“Did I do something wrong……?”
Her composed expression was far more frightening than if she’d been fuming and stomping around.
As I stood there blinking in alarm, she stared at me for a moment, then spoke.
“Noah, step outside for a bit.”
“W, where should I……? Understood!”
Noah Benton, whose only crime was treating my hand, was expelled from the Nest.
He turned back to look at me with apologetic eyes as he headed toward the Disguised Reception Room, but that was all.
Gisella Rot’s aura was too ominous to ignore.
“Um, ma’am. I humbly ask for your forgiveness…….”
Whatever it was, I’d clearly made a grave mistake.
I decided to start by bowing my head in apology.
But even that attempt to defuse the situation was blocked.
“Ow!”
Just as I was struggling to stand, Gisella Rot kicked at my legs, sending me crashing back onto the sofa.
“Ma’am! Let’s talk about this, please……!”
It was when I cried out in panic, trying to placate her as she slowly approached.
“Fine. Let’s talk about it.”
“……Yes?”
I stared at her stupidly as Gisella Rot, still looking displeased, simply sat down on the low table in front of the sofa.
So she meant I should sit, not that she was going to hit me.
Right—no matter how fierce Gisella was, she wouldn’t strike an injured person…….
“Rookie Aelynth.”
“Yes!”
“Who are you running from?”

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