I Became a Sick Nobleman

***

As soon as Ruel opened his eyes, he was startled by the face of the fox in front of him.

As he tried to shift his hand, he felt a stiff sensation that caused him to look at his left arm in panic.

Puzzled by the splint, he soon found Cassion.

“Are you okay?”

He saw Cassion looking at him worriedly.

“What’s wrong with my arm?”

“It’s broken.”

When he looked closely at his body, he saw that it was littered with many small wounds.

“Why don’t you get rid of this fox?”

At Ruel’s words, Cassion frowned and approached Ruel and looked at his eyes.

“You didn’t hurt your eyes, did you see anything wrong?”

“What are you talking about? This fox bumped into me and I became like this.”

The fox widened his eyes and wagged his tail.

-Ahem, this one is not a fox, but a Great Purifier.

The voice rang in Ruel’s head, not in his ears.

“… Is this a dream? Do foxes talk?”

-Unlike what you have in your body, you have very clear and beautiful eyes.

The fox circled Ruel’s prone form.

Ruel’s eyes also followed it.

-Look at that. That human being can’t see me.

“Ruel-nim, are you in a lot of pain?”

As Ruel continued to behave strangely, Cassion thought that something serious was wrong.

-You don’t know how happy I am to see you, you defiled being.

The fox tapped Ruel’s body with his tiny front paw.

Suddenly a black substance came out of his body and flowed into the fox’s mouth.

At that moment, black blood flowed from Ruel’s mouth and nose.

“Cough!”

At the same time, the pain came rushing in which caused Ruel to lay back on the bed and curl his body.

“I’ll bring Ganien.”

Cassion quickly left the room.

Soon after, not only Ganien but also Drianna and Aris entered the room one after the other.

Seeing blood dripping from his mouth and nose, Ganien hurriedly checked Ruel’s condition.

Ganien looked at Cassion with a serious look and said.

“It’s fine, he’s even gotten a little better.”

“Is that so? But why is he in pain? It’s a little different from his usual seizures.”

-That’s because this one forcibly ate the dirty thing in your body, so it hurts. It’s like biting off your flesh.

The fox lolled its tongue and wagged its tail.

‘Damn it…’

Ruel felt like he was going to die because of the cheeky fox in front of him.

-Oh, it’s much better than I expected. Good, good.

The fox jumped on its short legs while a light glowed from his body.

“First, take the medicine. You need to reduce the pain. I have the medicine I made…”

Ganien couldn’t finish his speech and stared at a creature that resembled a fox suddenly appearing in front of Ruel.

“… Fox.”

Recalling Ruel’s words, Cassion opened his eyes wide.

He soon drew his dagger while approaching like the wind and cut off the fox’s head.

-It’s useless.

He felt no resistance as he cut through its body.

Cassion turned his head and looked at the fox.

The fox, which dispersed like smoke and then re-formed, raised the corners of its mouth while waving its thick, long tail.

It was a very cheeky smile.

“It-It’s a spirit!”

Then, Drianna screamed in shock.

-Oh, there is one that knows of this one’s kind.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Drianna.

She was embarrassed and spoke out what she had to say right away.

“The spirits are not our enemies. They cannot be cut with swords, nor can they do any harm.”

“What does that mean?”

Cassion pressed Drianna with a smirk.

“T-The spirits are creatures born from nature. They can’t hurt us either. Because we, too, are born of nature.”

“Ruel-nim said that the fox definitely crashed into him and was the reason for his injuries.”

“No way! The only things that a spirit can touch are those who are out of nature.”

While talking, Drianna looked at the fox eagerly.

“Spirit, please tell us.”

-You’re wrong. This one can touch your human being.

Cassion’s dagger once again aimed at the fox’s neck.

However, its body was once again dispersed and reformed the same way as before.

-One, do not touch this body.

The fox put a small foot on Ruel’s body and looked at Cassion.

-Two, this human being is different. It’s full of filth, so there’s a problem in the process of touching this body.

“Bull-shit!”

Ruel couldn’t stand it and shouted in anger.

“Ruel, calm down.”

Even if Ganien stopped him, Ruel had no intention of stopping.

It was an obvious contact accident.

When he saw that the fox was about to jump away, he couldn’t let this chance pass up.

Ruel squeezed the fox’s tail.

-Hick!

“You flew towards me and then crashed into me, admit it… I know you were crying that time!”

-Oh, I don’t cry! This one doesn’t know how to cry!

Ruel endured the pain from his injuries and squeezed the fox’s tail harder.

Then the fox’s big eyes become teary.

-Yes! I did it! I was in such a hurry that I flew at you and then bumped into you!

As soon as Ruel let go of its tail, the fox rushed to Ruel.

He soon dug into his arms, crouched down on him, and wept, ‘Beep!’

-The beasts suddenly attacked me. All of a sudden! Huahhh…

“Ha…”

Ruel inhaled the Breath with a great deal of energy.

“Medicine.”

The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.

The smell of blood vibrated with every breath he took.

Ruel inhaled the Breath again, wiping his sleeve under his nose.

The pain subsided a little only after taking the medicine that Cassion handed over.

Ruel grabbed the back of the crying fox with his unbroken hand.

The tears dripping could have been quite pitiful, but Ruel didn’t feel that way at all.

“Drianna, is he a spirit?”

“It’s a spirit.”

“Cough, cough.”

As soon as Ruel coughed, the blood that had stuck in his chest flowed out again.

Ruel wiped his mouth and asked.

“I can see him regardless of whether he’s visible or not.”

“… I don’t know. Spirits were originally invisible to humans until they showed themselves.”

“Isn’t there such a thing as a Spirit Summoner?”

“What’s that?”

As Ruel knew, spirits existed in the novel ‘SSS-Class Knight,’ but Spirit Summoners did not exist.

It was a relief.

“Okay. I’ll ask you again. What the hell is this spirit?”

It looked like a fox, but his legs were short and his eyes were larger.

Above all, the thought that the tail that nearly covered his body was thick and perfect as a pillow floated around Ruel’s head.

-A… Great Purifier.

The fox mumbled in a rattled voice.

“Okay, Great Purifier. Why did you come to me?”

-I’m hungry…

“What do you mean?”

-I feel full when I eat that black thing. Because this body… I can’t even purify it. It smelled delicious, so I ran because I was so hungry!

As soon as he finished speaking, the fox jumped back into Ruel’s arms and rubbed his face all over.

At the sound of beeping and crying, Ruel stroked the fox’s fur.

The soft feel and silkiness were enough to tempt Ruel to use it as a blanket.

“Hey, fox. What can you do?”

“Ruel-nim, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard of something suspicious.”

Cassion hurriedly opened his mouth to prevent Ruel’s next remark.

The fox definitely said he forced himself to eat the dirty substance in his body.

What does dirty mean?

It was a disease of unknown cause.

The fox shed tears and looked at Ruel.

-Are you accepting my body?

“If you can eat up my disease then I will.”

-I can do it! This one is good at eating! I’ll eat all the dirty stuff in your body. I’ll clean it up!

The fox pricked its ears and wagged its tail.

“Hmm.”

Ganien touched the fox’s tail.

He opened his mouth in wonder at the soft sensation.

“The weak have to help. I agree.”

“It’s not weak, it’s a beast.”

Cassion’s expression twisted.

“Can the spirit heal Ruel’s illness?”

Whether it was a spirit or whatever was not important to Aris.

What was important right now was that the spirit could heal Ruel’s disease.

The fox tilted its head.

-I don’t know if I’ll heal you. I can only devour the black stuff.

“A kind of purification… Is what you are implying?”

Drianna asked, recalling the words the spirit had uttered in her head.

Wouldn’t the act of eating up the harmful substances be like purification because he introduced himself as a Great Purifier?

-This body can’t be purified. I’m just eating the dirty stuff in this human being.

“How much is there?”

Ruel asked only after he coughed once again.

The fox jumped in place.

-There is so much! I can eat it for the rest of my life. This body is lucky. I can’t believe that dirty stuff continues to appear. I’m so happy!

As soon as the fox finished speaking, Ruel clenched the spirit’s head hard.

“You said you’d clean it up. What? Is it being served forever?”

-It hurts! Don’t do anything disrespectful to this body!

“… But why have you guys rushed in?”

Ruel noticed them late.

There were as many as five people and one beast in the narrow room, so it was almost torn apart due to the lack of space.

“I only called Ganien.”

“I’m here to see how you’re doing.

“I came here because I was worried about the Lord.”

“The same goes for me.”

Ruel didn’t catch a line of words in his ears.

He just looked out the window.

The sun was still there.

And through the window, he could see the Knights and Magic Knights.

“What about training?”

“Since you were in this situation, did you think that they would be able to continue training?”

Ganien smiled lightly.

“No, they shouldn’t forget their purpose in any situation.”

Ruel grabbed his cane that was set down near one side of the bed.

“You cannot get up yet. The consequences may lead to further complications.”

For Cassion, who forgot the power of recovery, Ruel’s actions were a shock.

The pain, which had been throbbing even after taking the medicine, has already stopped.

“Drianna, don’t put me ahead of the Magic Knights under any circumstances.”

“What do you…”

“I have enough people to protect me.”

The fox got off the bed and easily clambered up to Ruel’s shoulder.

It was so light that Ruel thought that the wind had brushed over his shoulder.

The warmth and cozy feeling it emitted were pleasant, but he then remembered that the fox did hurt him, so he threw it off of him.

“You should be reflecting. You did this to me.”

-That’s too much, human!

“It’s Ruel Setiria. Remember, Leo.”

-Leo?

Ruel thought he wouldn’t have a name because he kept referring to himself as this one.

“If you don’t like it, forget it.”

-Right! My name is Leo! Leo!

Leo even showed his teeth and laughed.

“Look at the wall and reflect.”

Looking at Leo, who really turned toward the wall, Ruel went out of the room.

“Ruel-nim, are you really going to take that animal in?”

“I saw Leo take something out of me and eat it. That power is real no matter what anyone says.”

When Leo ate the black substance within his body, it hurt a lot, but now his body was very light.

He even felt refreshed.

“You made Ruel like this, didn’t you?”

Thinking about why he was so worried about him, unlike Cassion, he thought of the sword he gave him a while ago, the flower of Siriena.

As expected, bribes are good.

“Get well soon.”

As his healing powers had grown, his arm would probably be healed within the day.

“I’m sorry, Ruel-nim.”

Aris walked ahead of Ruel and bowed his head to him.

Ruel laughed while thinking about why Aris was doing this.

“My butler was standing still like an idiot. That’s enough.”

Spirits were present in ‘SSS-Class Knights’ but they were hardly ever mentioned.

But one had appeared in front of him and had even touched him, even Cassion did not recognize the existence of the spirit. 

‘How interesting.’