SRS 70

An alarm rang in his head. Yohan watched the professor say what he wanted and return to the podium, then turned his head. Mikael was watching Yohan with an interested look, like he wanted to see what choice Yohan would make in this situation. Which also meant there was a choice Mikael hoped Yohan would pick.

And Yohan felt like he understood very, very clearly what that choice was.

He hesitated, then opened his mouth.

You’ll help me, right?

He mouthed the words so the angel professor wouldn’t hear. Mikael’s eyes curved in a smile. Then he stretched the hand holding his pen and wrote something in the margin of Yohan’s spirit studies textbook.

If I help you, will you repay me again this time?

Yohan immediately nodded. Mikael’s expression changed a little, like he had just seen something strange.

Yohan grabbed his own pen and wrote a question under Mikael’s words.

Do you need help with something?

The student paused. After a moment, Mikael moved the pen.

Yes.

“……?”

Normally, he would’ve smiled meaningfully and said it was a secret, but he actually answered honestly this time.

Yohan looked at him with curiosity, and Mikael slowly wrote what he wanted.

They started regrowing. I need to scrape them off.

“…….”

After general class today, come to the place we met before. Let’s try it.

He didn’t explicitly said it, but Yohan immediately understood what started regrowing and what they would try.

Now that he thought about it, it didn’t show much this week.

He guessed Mikael skipped class often lately because the time was approaching, but he didn’t expect it to come this fast. Yohan remembered the last treatment where all his divine power was useless, and he nodded with a bit of nervousness.

His use of divine power improved so much this past week that he didn’t seem like the same person anymore.

Maybe this time he could actually help Mikael even a little.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Welcome. You aren’t wandering around this time, at least.”

After class ended, Yohan rode his griffin straight to the Sky Garden. He looked for the hidden place covered by that strange aura, stepped inside, and faced the white haired student.

Mikael looked completely different from how he looked during the day. His face was soaked in cold sweat.

Yohan hurried over in shock.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It’s because they started regrowing.”

“Why? Did you use divine power?”

“I said it regrows naturally over time even if I don’t use anything. Today is that time.”

“Then the reason you were missing class this week…”

“As the time approaches, the pain will get worse and it’ll be difficult to attend class. Once the wings fully grow, I’ll need to tear them off. They haven’t reached that stage yet, so there’s no need to do that. Today’s pain will be less severe than the last time.”

Mikael’s fingertips trembled a little from the pain. Even so, his tone was calm, and Yohan’s eyes dimmed.

Because this situation seemed so familiar to him, Mikael, who was acting calmly, seemed to be gradually worn down by this pain.

“…Let’s start.”

Yohan swallowed his bitterness and spoke. Mikael hesitated, then unbuttoned his shirt.

“…You only need to help with the treatment, so you don’t have to look.”

He stopped out of embarrassment. Yohan blinked, then an idea lit up in his eyes.

“When you say scraping the wings, you mean you scrape the feathers as they start growing?”

“Something like that. After doing that, then searing the skin with fire, it’s fine for a while.”

“…Searing the skin?”

“Leaving it scraped without treatment is dangerous in a lot of ways.”

This was the first time Yohan heard that. He dropped his jaw in shock.

“…I guess numbing spells won’t work.”

“When removing or scraping the wings, anesthesia, numbing magic, drugs, even knocking myself out doesn’t work.”

It looked like Mikael already tried every method he could to lessen the pain. Yohan thought that no matter what sins Mikael committed, spending years… or maybe decades in this state was too cruel, and he wondered briefly if the gods were too merciless. He shook that thought away and knelt in front of him.

“Then… what if I help with the scraping part. It’ll be easier than doing it alone.”

“That’s fine.”

“Why?”

“…Hm?”

“If you do it alone, it’ll be slow and hard. I can help.”

He knew Mikael well enough now to tell the difference between his stubborn facade and the expression he made when he really was fine.

His current expression was typical of a stubborn person. Yohan insisted more strongly than usual, making Mikael feel awkward. Normally, Yohan would have backed down at this point, but after hearing about how Mikael’s wings fell off and healed, he didn’t want his friend to endure any more pain than necessary.

Mikael, who had been groaning for a moment as he met Yohan’s desperate gaze, wanting to help him as much as he could, and then sighed with an unwilling expression.

“You won’t give up, right?”

“Yes.”

“…You answered very quickly.”

“If the situation was reversed, you’d do the same.”

“……”

Yohan said it so certainly that Mikael went quiet. After thinking for a moment, he turned around and showed Yohan his back as he took off his shirt, accepting Yohan’s offer.

Just like Mikael said, the wings started growing a little. Soft white feathers had grown half a joint long from his back. Yohan took a breath. Last time, Mikael was covered in blood so he didn’t get a clear look, but now Yohan could see scars all over his back.

Burn marks like old scars and nail marks so deep they remained as ridges looked like traces of the long years this punishment continued.

“…So that’s why you never let anyone see you change clothes.”

They shared the same room, but he never once changed clothes in front of Yohan, Suhyeok, or Kylus. Whenever he undressed, he always used the bathroom.

Yohan, being a priest, sometimes used the bathroom as a changing room because he couldn’t show his bare body to just anyone. But when Mikael did the same, Suhyeok and Kylus always looked confused. Seeing these scars, Yohan felt like he finally understood and murmured softly as he carefully reached his hand out. Mikael flinched the moment Yohan touched the place where the wings were growing.

“I’m sorry. Did it hurt?”

“……”

“Mikael?”

“…It’s not like wings are a weak point or anything. They don’t hurt just because someone touches them.”

“Then why…?”

“It’s just unfamiliar when someone else touches them.”

He really wasn’t used to it, because even after he said that, Mikael shivered every time Yohan touched his wings. Yohan apologized again and pulled his hand away from the wings. He wanted to check them to see where he should scrape and how much, but it must’ve been overwhelming for Mikael.

“How do I scrape it exactly? How did you usually do it?”

“…With my nails?”

“……”

Not only is it unsanitary, isn’t it just too crude?

Yohan was taken aback for a moment, then cleared his throat.

“When I treated you before and nothing reacted, that means divine power touching your body is fine, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Then I’ll try scraping with divine power.”

Mikael had to use tools or his hands because using his own divine power made his wings grow again, but that wasn’t the case for Yohan.

Yohan shaped his divine power into something sharp but not enough to cut flesh if it slipped. He took a breath and guided his energy to scrape Mikael’s wings. A tearing sound rang, a feather slowly rose, then snapped and fell with a soft drop.

“……!”

Mikael’s body jerked once. He didn’t groan, but the trembling suggested the pain was intense.

“…Sorry.”

Even though it was something he had to do, he couldn’t shake off his feelings of guilt, so he apologized softly and moved his divine power again.

For Mikael’s sake, he felt it would be better to work quickly, so he picked up the pace. However, the more he tore off the wings, the more the student’s body fell forward, and before he knew it, he was folded in half.

Yohan’s expression darkened as he saw Mikael trembling, almost face down on the floor.

He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even speak, and he had to go through this kind of pain every time.

Yohan, whose face had been gloomy for a moment, took a deep breath and grabbed his shoulder.

“Mikael.”

“……”

The student couldn’t lift his head.

“Mikael. Are you alright?”

He called out cautiously, worried. After a while, Mikael barely managed to raise his head. He stared at the floor and shook his head. It meant he was fine.

Yohan, who felt uncomfortable because the answer didn’t seem right, slightly tightened his grip on his shoulder and turned Mikael’s body.

Then, reflexively, Mikael lifted his head looked at John.

“…You.”

Yohan, momentarily shocked by the tears welling up in Mikael’s eyes, bit his lip, then turned him completely around and grabbed his arm, placing it over his shoulder. Mikael followed his hand, his expression bewildered. His slumped limp body revealed that he was too weak to resist.

Yohan made him take a position where he could hug him and then used divine power.

“I once saw a physician come to treat the wounded on the battlefield. There were no priests or healers, so he had to rely on technology to treat the wounded. Anesthesia wasn’t working. The doctor was talking to the patient, trying to bring him back to consciousness from the pain. I plan to try that method from now on.”

Yohan spoke calmly, moved his divine power. He scraped feathers again, and Mikael instinctively curled up, hugging him tightly.

Yohan felt briefly relieved.

I’m glad you did as I intended.

When he was sick or in extreme pain, he naturally wanted to grab something to soothe the pain. If that were human body heat, it might offer some comfort to Mikael, who had always endured this pain alone. It didn’t seem like a bad idea. Yohan slowly channeled his divine power and spoke to the student.

“I think I saw a squirrel up in a tree when I came into this forest earlier. Can you help me find it?”

He felt Mikael raise his head, his body trembling. Yohan took advantage of his distraction to touch his wing again.