"Student Vallhall! What in the world happened!? Give me that! How long has it been since your limbs were severed?!"
But against all odds, or at least against everything that Rotsard expected to happen, the nurse rushed towards him and reached out for both of the dismembered body parts in his possession.
"I… I messed up a spell… and… and… I… I came here as soon as I could…"
Rotsard let go of his left hand onto the nurse's offered hands and then passed his right arm onto her too as he explained, deeply ashamed of himself.
"...both are clean cuts… If we're fast enough, we should be able to reattach them without much mobility loss in the future… Hmph, at least this time you showed up with something that IS within my area of expertise."
"...wh-what…?"
The nurse immediately examined both limbs and grabbed a clean gauze from a stack that the new nurse seemed to be restocking the shelves with before Rotsard showed up, and cleaned the youth's wounds, nodding to herself… completely taking Rotsard by surprise.
"Hmm…? Oh, don't mind me. Let's go… Can you walk on your own? When the shock and adrenaline start to wear off, you might just drop on the spot, so let's get you on a bed… or at least a chair."
The nurse raised her brows as if surprised that her mumbling was heard but she only shook her head and guided the injured youth to one of the private rooms…
The treatment itself was a long one…
"And, are you sure that just putting it together and using the healing crystals won't work…?"
…long enough for Rotsard to grumble while shifting on the bed turned into an operating table.
"Sure, we can use the healing crystals, and we will be using them. The thing is, for it to work properly, we have to at least make some guidelines... Unless you want your nervous system and veins to not connect back to where they should. Healing will just weld it shut, whether in a usable state or not. You surely do prefer full mobility in exchange for a bit of your time, don't you?"
"...oh… I'm sorry. Please continue."
The nurse spoke up, barely glancing at the youth from over his wounds she worked on, and easily made him apologize with just a brief explanation.
"Yes, but this will… Eh…? Wait a moment… Hmmm? Why doesn't it…?"
*ting*
The nurse tried to poke through the flesh of the severed arm with a needle but ended up failing, getting troubled and frowning before putting more strength into the attempt which only resulted in her needle snapping in half with a tiny sound.
"...what is your body made out of exactly…?"
"I think I know what's the problem… Do you have another one of those?"
She asked with a bewildered expression, but Rotsard merely smirked and asked, holding up his hand.
"..."
After a brief moment of hesitation, the woman stood up and walked away, returning with a fresh needle. She then first placed a clean gauze on Rotsard's palm and put the needle on top of it.
"!!!"
To the woman's great surprise, the room filled with whitish blue light as a circle of light spread out from beneath the bleached-blond-haired youth and ephemeral wings appeared above his back, but only for a second as he focused on the needle…
"Done, it should be fine now."
The next moment, the light, circle, and wings disappeared and Rotsard was reaching the hand with the needle back to the nurse while nodding.
She picked it up hesitantly, cautiously trying the same maneuver she did before…
"AH! Wait!"
"?!?!"
Rotsard suddenly called out, making the woman flinch nad stop, looking at him with widened eyes.
"If we're doing it properly... I kind of have to be in my real form."
"...?"
He said with an awkward smile, causing the nurse's brows to shoot up.
"Being a healer and all, you can keep a secret, right? Because it is something that cannot be known to the public."
"???"
While he was trying his best to be as vague as possible, the woman's confusion only increased.
"This appearance... has been an illusion for some time already. I will remove the spell now, so a proper treatment can be done, but please... do not acknowledge my actual looks. Please."
"...okay...?"
Rotsard took a deep breath and asked, tilting his head and looking at the nurse with pleading eyes, making her blink a few times before slowly nodding her head.
"...here goes... There. That's the real look. Sew me up."
"!!!"
The next moment, Rotsard's body was engulfed in a bluish-white light... and when that light faded, the nurse flinched, straightening her back and shutting her mouth as her eyes were darting all over the place.
"I...! I see...! That... whoa... that would cause quite the stir...!"
"Haha... Well, anyway, there is a need for everyone to believe I'm a pathetic trash and this appearance wouldn't be helpful... Once again, please, keep it a secret."
The blushing woman gasped, causing her patient to chuckle awkwardly.
"Ehem! B-but you're certain that the needle won't break now...?"
She needed a little bit of time, but the nurse managed to compose herself and asked after clearing her throat.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Here goes..."
Rotsard nodded encouragingly, and the woman leaned in closer, her face turning serious and...
That time, the needle sank into the flesh with almost no effort whatsoever.
With that, the treatment could proceed.