Click-clack-click-clack ....

  The sound of typing was still loud in Olivia’s consultation room.

  As if she had finished a difficult task, Olivia leaned back in her chair and took off her glasses. Once again, she checked what she had just done on the laptop in front of her.

  The document on the screen was titled, [Report Number: 35. Patient Name: Ernest Ralstone.] In addition to Ernest’s name and the suspicious report number, there was also a statement that the document had been successfully sent to someone.

  After checking the document, Olivia saw that it was time to leave work, so she wanted to leave quickly and go to where she lived.

  Just as she got up, for the second time, there was suddenly someone who came casually into her consultation room. That person came without knocking; opened the door, and without any orders, sat down on the chair in front of her office desk.

  He was not dressed like a patient who wanted to consult, nor was he wearing a white robe like a doctor who wanted to see Olivia for a chat. He instead wore a suit like a state official.

  “Olivia, a doctor specializing in diseases related to mana, right?!”

  “W-what is the purpose of your visit, Mr. Audamaro?”

  Although Olivia felt uncomfortable when she saw Audamaro, an old man with a big belly and thin hair that was almost bald, Olivia still showed basic respect because Audamaro was a hospital director who ran this Circle of Hope Hospital.

  “It seems like there aren’t many patients for you to take care of. Are doctors like you still needed in this hospital?”

  Audamaro’s words seemed intended to provoke Olivia blatantly.

  He came with a bit of emotion because earlier, Dr. Dicky, someone from the DuPont family, came to his room while holding his back in pain like an accident victim. After checking, it turned out that his back was broken.

  While whining, Dicky asked Audamaro to fire Olivia. However, there was an order from the mysterious hospital owner to carry out the main function of the hospital. That’s why the hospital still needed a doctor like Olivia.

  “I’ll get straight to the point. I hope you can stay in the emergency room for one week.”

  Having said what needed to be said, Audamaro simply left. He walked while trying to button up the suit he was wearing. Instead of looking cool, he looked weird because he had trouble doing it due to his big belly.

  Everything that happened was like a flash of lightning that came and went quickly, leaving Olivia alone, who still had her eyes and mouth open as if she didn’t understand what had just happened.

  ‘Is this because I slammed Dr. DuPont before?’

  With an upset face, Olivia resigned herself to accepting her punishment.

  ***

  The city of Orlando, United States.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  As the automatic glass doors opened, Ernest was welcomed by the air without the smell of blood in it, blowing all over him.

  The afternoon sun was almost hidden from people’s view when Ernest stepped out of the hospital entrance.

  The sight of the early evening full of human activity who had just returned from work was a sight he hadn’t seen for two years.

  There were no more dragons flying in the sky or battles between demons on the streets of the city. The horrible monsters that Ernest often encountered in the Netherworld were also gone.

  Obviously, he felt at peace, and unconsciously, he spread his arms wide.

  Now, there were no more magical events happening on Earth, although the Earth had already experienced The Great Catastrophe. So, there were no longer people carrying swords around their waists or armor wrapped around their bodies.

  Indeed, there were still many dungeons, gates, sky castles, or some other places where there were still many monsters inside. Some areas of the Earth were also home to monsters.

  Although magical places were scattered all over the world, they were not where the general public lived.

  In general, since the Earth had regained peace, people’s lives within the major cities of other major countries had returned to normal.

  Walking on the sidewalk, Ernest looked north towards the Central Business District, the place he was heading to. It turned out that the Circle of Hope hospital where he was being treated was not too far from the Central Business District.

  As Ernest continued to walk on the sidewalk, he received strange looks from people.

  “Mommy, why is that person dressed like that?”

  “Shush! He’s just a man in distress, honey. Don’t get too close, ok.”

  There was a mother holding a daughter. The girl asked a question while putting a finger in her mouth. The girl was clearly asking about Ernest because the other finger was pointed at him.

  Unlike Ernest, who was focused on the cityscape, the people passing by were looking at his appearance. Their gazes were the same. Disgusted. Hence, many of them ran away or just avoided him.

  Although he was considered a beggar by people who saw his appearance, smiling was the answer Ernest gave to them.

  Ernest didn’t care about the views of people who looked down on him. As long as it didn’t threaten his life, everything was fine. Moreover, he understood the reason why people behaved this way.

  Ernest was not wearing neat patient clothes anymore, but wrinkled, dull clothes, and even had mold on some parts of his clothes. It was natural because the clothes he was wearing were his personal clothes from two years ago.

  When he was about to leave the hospital earlier, he received those clothes from Olivia.

  “These are the clothes you wore when you were brought here. Your personal belongings are already in this sling bag of yours. You can check the contents later.”

  When Ernest asked why Olivia still kept the clothes that were already worn out, she only replied because it was hospital procedure to keep the patient’s personal belongings.

  If it was just a sling bag filled with his personal documents, then he would believe it. But to store clothes too? Ernest was sure that there was no procedure for storing patients’ damaged clothes.

  Actually, Ernest wanted to tell Olivia to just throw away his clothes, however, he then realized that he didn’t have the money to buy new clothes.

  “Did she predict my condition when I regained consciousness? Or is she afraid that these clothes are important and meaningful to me?”

  Taking the wallet that was inside his sling bag, Ernest opened it in the hope of finding some money left over from the debt to buy food to celebrate his small life that was still continuing.

  However, apart from finding his identity card, he also found...

  “Some money?”

  In total, there were about five of 100 bucks.

  As far as his memory could recall, he only had a few dollars and cents? Because, after all, he had spent all the money from the debt on getting drunk and gambling.

  ‘Is this all Olivia’s gift?’

  Ernest turned his lips into a U-shape as he thought of Olivia’s nature, which was almost similar to ... dandere?