CH 19

Chapter 19 – Whitebeard-sensei’s Hope

“Ryosuke-kun, let me examine you for a moment.” (Whitebeard-sensei)

I gave the boy a careful medical examination. His eye color and tongue color were normal, and his temperature was normal, too.

“Ryosuke-kun, does anywhere hurt?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Nope, nowhere hurts! Here, look at me!” (Ryosuke)

Ryosuke began to run around with the rest of the kids. He didn’t seem to be pushing himself or anything.

…I was beginning to understand it less and less. Would an adult be able to move around immediately after a high fever? Even if they could, would they be able to run around like this?

No, that was definitely impossible. Even athletes who trained their bodies wouldn’t be able to move like this and would be confined to their bed for several days.

What in the world happened to Ryosuke-kun?

“…It’s miraculous, isn’t it? But some person cured Ryosuke-kun. After that, he was already like this.” (Kindergarten Principal)

“Some person? …Cured? Is that person still here?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Ah, he left as soon as he cured Ryosuke-kun. He said he would come back tomorrow around noon to check on him.” (Kindergarten Principal)

“…Tomorrow at noon, huh?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

I watched as Ryosuke-kun frolicked and played around. Children… and especially toddlers, had a tremendous ability to recuperate. But even still, this was an unbelievable power of recovery.

It was extremely rare, but I had seen a case where a child was able to run around a few hours after recovering from a high fever. However, that was a case of spontaneous recovery without relying on the effects of medicine. Their symptoms had been something like food poisoning, and the child had recovered immediately after passing stool. That was a near-miracle case.

However, in Ryosuke’s case, he was so ill that he had to stay in bed for several days. If he had had a high fever again today, I would’ve already been thinking about taking him to the hospital for treatment.

And just as I had feared, he developed a high fever this evening. In other words, it wasn’t just a cold, but a more troublesome illness.

But instantly curing that and allowing him to immediately run around with such vigor?

I didn’t know of a doctor that was capable of that. Even if there was a cure, he would have to rest for a day since his stamina wouldn’t have been fully recovered. Still, this person even restored Ryosuke’s stamina? …What kind of joke is this?

There was no drug that could restore a wounded or ill person’s strength in a few hours. For a moment, I was afraid that he might have been given a narcotic or dangerous drug, but I heard that it had already been 3 hours since Ryosuke regained his strength.

If such a drug was used, there would always be proportionate side effects. And yet, Ryosuke showed no signs of such side effects.

“U-Um, Sensei?” (Kindergarten Principal)

“Huh?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Is something the matter? Is there something wrong with Ryosuke-kun? Don’t tell me he hasn’t actually recovered!” (Kindergarten Principal)

“Ah, no. I think there’s nothing wrong as far as I can see. However, I’m curious about this person who cured Ryosuke-kun.” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“ I see… that’s good. The person who cured Ryosuke-kun was a very kind-looking young man, I think?” (Kindergarten Principal)

“…A young man.” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Yes. He was playing with the kids. But he didn’t seem to be a doctor.” (Kindergarten Principal)

“He wasn’t a doctor…?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“He introduced himself as a profession that I had never heard of before.” (Kindergarten Principal)

—

As soon as I got home, I began to flip through books to look up that term, ‘Restorer’, that I had heard back at Kikyou Kindergarten. But it didn’t seem to be recorded in the dictionary that I had.

In times like these, it would be nice if I could use the internet, but alas, I could only rely on analog.

“Restorer… Simply put, it’s just returning something to its previous state, but…!”

Ryosuke’s restoration was truly a surprise, as if he had been resurrected. However, I had never heard of the profession ‘Restorer’ before. In the first place, was there anyone who could even do such a thing?

No, I had no choice but to acknowledge it, since there was a precedent with Ryosuke’s case. But as a doctor with a background in science, I was still skeptical of anything that couldn’t be explained by theory.

“Sigh… It’s pointless. In the end, the research material I have on hand is insufficient. A Restorer, huh…?

Then I heard a knock at my door. When I answered, I heard a lovely voice from the other side of the door.

“Papa, can I come in?”

“Oh, Kanna. Come on in.” (Whitebeard-sensei)

It was the graceful descent of our family’s angel. She was short enough that it was hard to believe that she was 12 years old, and though she seemed to have a complex about it, our family felt that it was cute.

“You still haven’t gone to sleep?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Yeah, I just wanted to say good night, Papa.” (Kanna)

“Today, when I was taking a walk in the garden with Shinomiya-san, I saw a bird around the pond.” (Kanna)

“Hoh, a bird?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

On a side note, Shinomiya was the servant assigned exclusively to her.

“Yeah, it was an owl!” (Kanna)

“Eh… an o-owl? That’s quite… rare, but did it run away from somewhere?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

I was thinking that this owl had probably been kept as a pet but was released due to a lack of food.

“It was a really friendly little fellow, you know? About the size of my head? Or something like that.” (Kanna)

“I see. But you shouldn’t go near wild animals if you can help it.” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“Yeah… Papa, thanks… for everything.” (Kanna)

“W-What’s this all of a sudden?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“You’ve been working so hard from early in the morning until late at night to help me fix my legs.” (Kanna)

“Kanna…” (Whitebeard-sensei)

“You see, I…! I don’t mind living in a wheelchair, you know? I’m used to it now, and besides, the world is like this now. Even if I could walk… I wouldn’t be able to go outside easily… So… That’s why…?!” (Kanna)

Before I realized it myself, I found myself hugging Kanna.

“…Papa?” (Kanna)

“Without a doubt… Papa will definitely make sure that you walk again. So wait just a little bit longer, alright?” (Whitebeard-sensei)

Kanna eventually fell asleep while crying in my arms, so I carried her back to her room and tucked her into bed before going back to my own room. Without thinking, I slammed my hands on the desk.

Damn it, what did that girl do wrong to deserve this?! God… If things were going to be like this, it would have been better to have me shoulder her burden instead…!

All I wanted was for her legs to work again!

That’s right―‘again’?!

“….Restore…”

I unintentionally found myself uttering the word. Yes, to restore also meant reviving a lost function. Of course, I couldn’t have absolute confidence in this.

This disability was something that even the most renowned authorities on the subject couldn’t solve. It would normally be unthinkable that some unknown youngster would be able to solve something that even they couldn’t.

But… I wondered if it might be possible. If it was that person, I thought that maybe they would be able to bring back that child’s radiance.

“…If I recall correctly, I was told he would be at the kindergarten tomorrow at noon.”

I was determined to meet this young man who called himself a Restorer.