His fever went up even further.
Even though the office still needed to be cleaned, Rosenta was stuck in bed.
At first, he tried several times to go to the office, saying he was okay.
Whenever that happened, he was blocked by Enoch.
A few scuffles later...
Enoch eventually made him an offer.
"Do you remember when I asked you to spend the day with me?"
He remembered.
This was his way of telling Rosenta to stay put.
Strictly speaking, Rosenta had never explicitly agreed to his request.
"…… yes."
However, he felt like he should listen to Enoch.
‘Yeah. I think my brain may not be working properly due to the fever,’ he concluded.
"Lie down."
Rosenta immediately quietly laid on the bed.
He covered himself with the blanket and stared blankly at the white canopy of the bed.
It was boring.
As he was staring at the white piece of cloth, a thought suddenly came to him.
"Enoch."
Rosenta turned his head slightly.
Enoch was sitting in a chair beside him with his eyes closed and legs crossed.
He opened his eyes at Rosenta’s call and looked at him.
He asked Enoch.
"Can't I recover using mana?"
Since he was able to treat the bruises on his neck, wouldn't it be possible to treat a cold?
It was a simple thought, but Enoch's answer was far from simple.
"In that case, they were external wounds that mana could treat directly, but internal conditions like colds...."
The more he spoke, the deeper Enoch's brow became wrinkled.
"It’s very difficult to heal someone. Killing someone is easy but healing them requires ability beyond magic."
‘What is he thinking?’
Enoch's face looked pained as he spoke.
Rosenta couldn't believe this was the same Enoch who enjoyed pain.
It was amazing.
"May I ask what you're thinking?"
So, he wanted to know more.
What were these thoughts that were able to shake Enoch like this?
"I’m thinking about you being in pain."
The response to the question Rosenta had asked out of simple curiosity suddenly slammed into him.
He was taken aback.
"What…"
But Enoch continued as if he didn't care whether Rosenta was overwhelmed or not.
"What if I’m unable to save you? I thought about it. I feel helpless in front of your pain."
"Why are you thinking that..."
Rosenta’s eyes moistened.
‘Did I have a higher fever than I thought?’
He touched his forehead.
Then he looked at Enoch again.
Enoch was still frowning as if in pain.
"Don't get sick. Don’t leave me alone..."
Rosenta felt like something was bearing down on his chest.
The heat of his head suddenly became as cold as ice, yet his eyes grew hotter and hotter.
It was a strange feeling.
He quickly turned his head. He stared at the ceiling again and covered his eyes with his hands.
"Was being in pain this suffocatingly difficult? I struggle even imagining it."
It was Rosenta’s first time hearing something like this.
Usually, Rosenta was the one worrying about everyone else. This was his first time having someone worry for him.
This person was struggling in pain as if his heart had been torn apart.
"So, get well soon..."
This blind love for him was both burdensome and overwhelming.
Rosenta closed his eyes.
Yeah. It was the fever.
All these strange emotions today must be because of the fever.
***
As soon as Rosenta opened his eyes, he saw Enoch.
Enoch's skin, which was normally white, looked exceptionally pale today.
‘Did he not sleep?’
In fact, Enoch had been looking at him since he’d opened his eyes.
"… Did you sleep?"
"No. How are you feeling, Duke?"
Just as Rosenta thought. ‘Let’s think of my own health first.’
“Tsk.”
As Rosenta was clicking his tongue, Enoch suddenly reached out to him.
He glanced at Enoch.
But Enoch only pointed at his forehead. He then quickly backed away.
He sat back in his chair and lowered his head as he sighed with relief.
"That's a relief."
Even the way he spoke was very weak, as if he had finally relaxed.
In fact, Rosenta’s physical condition was different from the moment he woke up that morning.
Maybe because he had slept all day yesterday, he didn't feel any fever today.
He stepped out of bed.
When he started pulling himself up to get out, Enoch overreacted.
"Where are you going?"
Rosenta was flustered and blinking.
‘My cold is almost over now; I think I can move around.’
However, Enoch's response was like that of an adult caring for a child who’d wandered a little too close to the water.
"Ha."
Rosenta couldn't believe it, so he laughed.
"I'm going to the office."
He listened to Enoch because he was sick yesterday, but he didn't want to rest again today.
It didn't make sense to rest when there was still a mountain of work left.
If Enoch stopped him again, he would have no choice but to use his curse powers.
He was ready to shout 'Provitio' at any moment.
But that spell never left Rosenta’s mouth because of Enoch's next words.
"…… I've organized it."
"What?"
"I finished it."
Enoch stood up, ready to follow him.
But he seemed a bit unstable getting up. He stumbled and almost immediately fell.
"Be careful…"
Rosenta was quick to support Enoch.
He wasn't acting. Enoch was really having a hard time balancing.
This was definitely proof that something was wrong. Even so, Enoch kept acting like he was going to follow him.
Rosenta pushed Enoch onto his bed.
Perhaps, due to his lack of strength, Enoch couldn't resist much and just flopped back.
Rosenta tugged hard on the rope by the bed.
***
Enoch, who was on the verge of losing his mind, was carried away on his back by the other servants.
After seeing Enoch off safely, Rosenta headed to the office.
The moment he looked inside the office, he was speechless.
"You really did..."
It was neat and tidy.
He didn’t know if he used magic or if he really organized it all by himself.
Whichever it was, it was certain that Enoch would have suffered considerably.
That's why Rosenta was even more embarrassed.
"What is this?"
‘Perhaps Enoch was exhausted after cleaning up this place. Moreover, he even took care of me.’
He ran his index finger along the desk for no particular reason.
"…… it's neat."
No dust was picked up. Rather, it seemed to be cleaner than before.
He looked at the documents, too.
Maybe because he was always next to him when he worked on them, even the documents were filed well.
"Good job."
He cleaned it so well. This made him both angry and frustrated at Enoch.
It was obvious how hard it must have been.
Enoch knew him well.
If things happened in front of him, he couldn’t just leave them alone. He felt more at ease just handling things right away.
So, he must have known that as soon as Rosenta woke up he was going to run to his office.
"Silly guy."
Instead, he decided to stay up here all night, thinking that he would finish it all up before Rosenta woke up.
It was a scene that was easy to deduce.
It was hilarious, indeed. As much as Enoch knew him, the fact that he could see through Enoch as well.
"… what am I to say?"
It was clear that this blindly loyal wolf would continue to pursue him, even if it meant hurting himself.
Something soared in his heart.
He wiped his face as if he were drying it.
Knock, knock.
As he was blankly standing in the middle of the office, someone came up and knocked on the door.
Aphra's voice was heard.
"Duke? Are you there?"
***
Aphra took him to the 'delivery' warehouse.
But they didn't use the front door.
"It's all ready?"
"Yes, I've been using plants to dig out a space for the last few days. Is that okay?"
"That's fine."
Aphra had stayed out for the last few days to do this work.
It was all because of Rosenta that he’d struggled so hard, to be exact, to hide his skeletons.
He needed space for them.
Even employees who were working under restriction may find working with skeletons to be uncomfortable.
This was a solution to that problem.
"I dug inside as wide as I could... will this work?"
Even now, the roots of a tree were wiggling and expanding the underground cave.
Aphra was anxious, but Rosenta felt it to be enough.
He nodded.
"Yes, it's spacious."
Only then did the roots of the tree recede, moving back like snakes.
After that, the tunnel became completely empty. Rosenta glanced at the magic spatial ring.
He cried out,
"Magic space."
A black portal appeared in the air. At the same time, Aphra's excitement exploded.
"Wow!"
That side of Aphra was cute, so Rosenta burst into laughter.
Aphra looked at him with his eyes opened wide, perhaps unused to hearing his laughter.
Rosenta quickly turned his head.
He summoned the skeletons as if he had never laughed.
"Skeleton."
In the beginning, it was difficult to maintain one skeleton.
But it was different now.
As the number of days increased that the mana restriction was released, there was less strain.
Even if skeletons poured down like waterfalls as they did now.
"Oh, my. It's always scary."
Aphra hid behind him with both admiration and fear.
Indeed, hundreds of white skeletons were moving before his eyes, so it was scary.
But it would be less scary if they wore armor.
Rosenta turned his upper body slightly and looked at Aphra hiding behind me.
He then asked him,
"Where did you put the armor that was completed?"
"Ah! Not all the armor was finished, but I have about a dozen or so sets over there."
"I see."
If so, it seemed that there was no need to summon so many skeletons.
Rosenta recited another order.
"Ten of you stay here, the rest go back."
This time there were more words, but he was also giving orders twice in a row.
This time it was quite draining.
He pressed hard near his heart as he watched the skeletons stampede back into the black hole.
Aphra's hand suddenly popped out in front of him.
"Eat this."
Aphra held out a small bottle with a light green label.
Rosenta was handed the bottle.
"What's this?"
"Ah! This is something Wolf told me to give to you whenever you have a hard time, when he’s not around."
"… while he’s not around?"
"Yes!"
Rosenta rubbed his finger over the light green label, which resembled the color of Enoch's eyes.
On the label, the words "fatigue recovery pills" seemed to have been handwritten by Enoch.
"When did he give you this?"
"This? He gave it to me once we started preparing. He told me to carry them when I see the duke."
‘You've prepared very thoroughly.’
Was Enoch originally this meticulous? He didn't know.
Rosenta tried to be as calm as he could, but he felt tickled.
It's not like anyone was actually tickling him, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching.
Maybe he looked strange, so Aphra poked his head out from behind and called him.
"Duke?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
He quickly took a fatigue recovery pill.
Then he ordered the remaining skeletons, pointing to the area Aphra had indicated earlier.
"Put on your armor."
The Skeletons strolled one by one toward where he pointed.
Aphra kept hold of Rosenta’s clothes while turning his head back and forth as he wondered if the armor would fit them.
It was a little annoying, but Rosenta just let it go.
"Oh! It’s wearing the armor! Argh! It’s knee just dropped off!"
Because Aphra, who chattered as if he were broadcasting updates, was cute.
"Wow! It’s all dressed."
As the skeletons safely put on their armor, Aphra strode forward as if he had never been frightened.
However, he hesitated as though he didn't have the courage to touch them.
‘As expected, you're cute.’
Silva's coming-of-age age was younger than other places.
Maybe that's why Aphra looked like a teenage boy to him no matter how much he pretended to be an adult.
But he didn't treat Aphra like a child, because he was an adult and a competent partner.
"What is the production speed of the armor?"
Aphra was unfazed by his sudden question.
He answered right away, like a person with all the data in his head.
"The blacksmith has good hands, so he can complete one every three days. I think it's an appropriate pace since we’re starting small."
"I see. Would it be difficult to complete one every two days?"
"We need one every 2 days?"
Aphra furrowed his brow.
Then he asked Rosenta in a quizzical manner,
"There's going to be a promotional phase, and there's not going to be a large number of requests suddenly flooding in... Is there a need to prepare so urgently?"
Aphra's words were accurate.
But Rosenta didn't intend to take his time, as Aphra said. He had a reason for urgency.
He answered firmly,
"I have a personal matter, but it's going to give me an opportunity to promote this service soon. So, we’re going to need a lot of skeletons going forward."