Chapter 146: Death Coin’s Inconvenience
Cillian knew he needed to rest.
After grabbing both Arthur’s Half Possessive Piece and a Piece that almost looked like a thunderstrike, with a thunderstorm above it, he immediately went beside Oliver to wait for someone to rescue them.
He was feeling fatigued all over his body, yet for some reason, his brain was still working fine, forcing him to remain ’awake’ and leaving him vigilant and hypersensitive to everything around him. This, however, had already made his poor condition worse.
Because he was able to feel it.
Eventually, Cale from Star Breaker found them and brought both of them to a makeshift camp they had just set up. Then, they began rescuing more people who had been affected by the aftermath of the battle and hadn’t managed to evacuate themselves.
Twelve hours had already passed since then, yet Cillian, who was still wide awake, couldn’t help but laugh in ridicule.
’I want to fucking rest! I want to sleep, too! Oliver and Aster sure as hell seem to be having fun sleeping, something I can’t even do! Ugh, you’re telling me this is the negative effect I received from the Death Coin’s luck boost?’
Cillian really tried to lie down and close his eyes, yet his brain continued to force him to stay awake rather than let him sleep.
He felt like he was about to go crazy because of how this had turned out, wishing he could close his eyes and feel the warmth of the bed, even though it was half-destroyed and slightly smelly. It was something that had to be made fast hence it made sense.
It’s not really Cillian was complaining about.
Of course, Cillian knew the reason for his situation.
[Death Coin’s Inconvenience: Your body will feel heavy for the next twenty-four hours, yet your mind will remain in peak condition even after the Death Coin’s stroke of luck runs out.]
At first, it seemed to be the best inconvenience to have in his current situation, but it could turn out to be the worst thing Cillian could have right now.
After all, Cillian’s mental load had reached a staggering forty-nine percent, and the only way he could lower it was by sleeping.
Like, clearly, by resting.
But as if the Death Coin understood his circumstances and had chosen the right thing to give him, Cillian had been awake for the past twelve hours without even taking a nap.
He tried, but his mind simply wouldn’t allow it, as he kept recalling the scenes from the past few hours, which were filled with action, reliving them as if it were the best thing Cillian could do.
Even though Cillian didn’t mind it since he was satisfied with how everything had turned out, it was slowly driving him crazy because of how exhausted he was.
’Thankfully, some people had already given me first aid after I was brought here to this makeshift camp. Ugh, there should be some healers out there who can completely heal my injuries. Yeah, just like when I was at Hensel after the bombing at the Ball of Honors. Someone came to heal us, even treating Vin and Phillip, who had suffered major injuries back then.’
If there are already healers who can do the jobs of doctors using sorcery and Ruiner powers, then what’s the point of having hospitals?
Obviously, because healing sorcery still has its limits. The same goes for those specific Pieces that are very adept at these types of things.
In a way, if put in such a situation, a healer could only cast so many spells before becoming exhausted. Instead of healing hundreds of wounded soldiers individually, hospitals would stabilize the patients while healers prioritized the most critical cases.
Heck, if Cillian imagined a healer healing people left and right using their Piece, they might eventually just straight-up die from overexerting their powers, especially if they were Improper Ruiners who didn’t know how to stabilize themselves.
"Why the fuck am I thinking about healers? Have I gone insane already? I want to be healed completely! I don’t care whether these healers drop dead or not! Heal me!"
"Cillian, you’re so loud!"
Suddenly, Cillian heard Aster waking up beside him while scratching his head. This main character, who had been sleeping like a princess for a good amount of time, had been woken up by Cillian’s complaints.
Even though Cillian was still using the face of a woman, Aster knew it was him just by the sound of his voice. Well, he had to double-check again, something he had already done when they were brought into the same room with different beds. Right beside him was his master.
If not for the fact that Cillian specifically said it was him, he might not have convinced himself.
Now, he had to double-check again before calmly letting out a sigh.
’It’s him, all right.’
There’s no way a beautiful woman would complain like that in such a dragging and annoying voice, even if he were just pulling a prank or playing a joke on someone.
’Ugh, why did this main character’s features become even more striking when he’s injured? I see, it’s "that," right? That "I may be injured, but I’m still handsome" passive ability?’
Cillian got jealous of Aster’s dashing features, which were still on full display even with his ruffled hair and a few bandages on his face after having a good rest.
Unlike Aster, Cillian’s eyes quivered from time to time as he stared at the wall, hoping his eyelids would close even for a tiny bit and finally let him sleep.
Alas...
[11:57:26]
There were still close to twelve hours before Cillian could return to normal and finally get the long-awaited sleep he deeply wished for.
Just... close to twelve more hours.
"Fuck!! I want to sleep!"
Aster, who was starting to get annoyed by his antics, wanted to retort and simply ask, "Why not just sleep?" until he stopped himself.
Just from the way Cillian was complaining about things, and because Aster wasn’t stupid, he knew it probably had something to do with the negative effects of using his copy that he had seen back at the Academy.
’Is he unable to sleep because of it?’
Aster was right about the effect, but the cause was something he got lost. However, he couldn’t care less about Cillian’s condition since he was tired too.
Cillian might not have been aware, but Aster had done his very best to do the heavy lifting, protecting people from the Shepherds who had tried to attack them.
However, if there was one thing Aster had failed to account for when he barged his way through the Shepherds, it was the fact that he was unable to go all out.
That’s right. If Aster were to go all out, he might be able to kill a few more Shepherds. Even a White Shepherd might fall to his blade.
However, because of the people he had to look after, Aster was forced to stay in a position where he had to take the brunt of the Shepherds’ attacks to keep their focus on him.
"Heal me! Anyone there?!"
Aster stared blankly at Cillian’s crazy antics before ignoring him and going completely back to sleep.
But he really had to press both hands against his ears to do it.