41 Chapter 41: Society in trouble (1/2)

”Ugh…”

Groaning, I opened my eyes and stared at the white, sterilized ceiling above me. My body ached like hell, and I winced when I tried to sit up. Pain lanced through me and I sank back into the mattress, reluctant to move any part of my hurting body. Relaxing my muscles, I closed my eyes and gently allowed myself to drift back to sleep…

”Richie! Are you finally awake?!”

For a moment, I thought I was imagining things. Dad went overseas to carry out a mission of vengeance against the Syndicate. There was no way he would be here…

”Mr. Huang, it might be best to let your son sleep a bit more.” a nurse's strict voice spoke up from somewhere just beyond my vision.

”Oh, sorry.”

Nope, not my imagination.

”Dad?” I sat up, grimacing as red-hot agony lanced through my body. Putting on my glasses, I stared at him in confusion. ”Weren't you hunting down the Syndicate? What are you doing here?”

”Ah, ha ha…I rushed back immediately when I heard that you got severely hurt.” Dad scratched his head sheepishly. ”Don't worry, I already took care of the Syndicate. They won't be bothering us ever again.”

”I see. That's good then.”

Was there going to be any other outcome now that Dad had taken to the field himself? I had never doubted that Dad would succeed in his mission. If he wanted something dead, it would dead no matter that it had an immortal body or had lived for millennia.

”Sorry to worry you, but I'm all right.” I creaked my neck from left to right to ensure that it was working properly. Then again, it wasn't my neck that the Lycanthrope Alpha broke. It was my damned ribs. At least I was breathing properly again.

”Oh, I'm not worried. Your school has one of the best healers in the Federation.” Dad was smiling. ”Mary Cure, right? She used to be a colleague of mine. I always knew that you're in good hands.”

”Eh? Teacher Cure used to be your colleague?” I gaped at him. Dad nodded.

”We used to be in the same party when we were a lot younger. But now that she's got a family and kids to look after, she retired from the mage scene and became a teacher.”

Wow, I so did not know that. Then again, this was Dad's alma mater. It seemed that Teacher Cure used to be a student here as well. So it wasn't strange that they knew each other. Fate had a weird way of coming full circle.

”I heard everything, though! How you got hurt…you're a hero!” Dad winked at me. ”Rushing over to save your girlfriend…little Richie has grown up now!”

”Huh? Girlfriend?” I stared at him blankly. Dad blinked and began to look uncertain.

”That beautiful girl isn't your girlfriend? Alicia Violet, wasn't she? I was sure you were going out with her…”

I shook my head. However, anything I was about to say was cut off when someone entered the room.

”Student Richard! You're finally awake!”

Alicia Violet looked like she was going to cry. She approached me and clasped both my hands, forcing a smile.

”Thank you for saving my party members. I was so worried when you didn't wake up. Teacher Cure has been treating you, but…”

”…eh? How long have I been out for?”

I glanced around and realized that I wasn't in the infirmary, but a hospital. That meant I had been transferred from Teacher Cure's care to public healthcare facilities. Well, that made sense. A hospital would have better medical facilities.

”A week, from what I've heard.” Dad shrugged. ”Mary healed your fatal injuries and stabilized your condition, but you were pretty banged up. So it's normal for you to fall into a coma.” He turned to Alicia. ”Come on, Daughter-in-law, Richie's all right now. You can stop crying.”

…daughter-in-law?

Did he just call her Daughter-in-law?

Alicia nodded, but didn't protest at the term of address. Okay, this was just creeping me out.

”What happened while I was out cold?” I asked.

”Hmm? Nothing much, I supposed. I unpacked my stuff, settled the administrative matters regarding the Syndicate – we're getting a huge influx of cash for that one.” Dad grinned. ”Oh, and I'll have to write a couple of reports. They're still not done yet.”

That wasn't what I was asking about, but okay. Whatever.

”What about Adrian?” I asked, changing the subject. I was responsible for his safety, after all. ”Did he find his family?”

”Cecilia's taking care of him right now.” This time it was Alicia who answered. She smiled and wiped her eyes. ”She asked me to express her thanks to you on her behalf. Adrian too…he was worried. I'll let him know that you've finally woken up.”

”That's good.” I wasn't sure what else to say. This was feeling pretty awkward. At least Adrian was all right. I always suspected that he was from the Stuart clan, but the fact that Cecilia was taking care of him and called him her cousin had confirmed it. Now that Adrian was with Cecilia, he was no longer my problem. I focused on Alicia, my hazy memory solidifying in my mind. ”How are the rest of your party? Are they all right?”

”None of them were hurt. You saved us. Nicholas, Elliot and Jin Hao are all doing fine. They would visit, but none of us knew when you would wake up.” Alicia continued to smile. ”They also want to thank you personally.”

”I wasn't able to save all the members of your party,” I pointed out, still remembering the corpses in the clearing, along with Tao Zhou's death.

”You did more than enough, son.” Dad placed a hand on my shoulder. ”At the very least, you prevented their party from being annihilated.”