On the main street, Darwin lay stiffly in Erza's arms, tremulously raising a hand, his face looking as haggard as a dying old man.
"E... Erza..."
"I'm here!!"
With a smack, Erza grabbed Darwin's hand with great force.
Snap—
The faint sound of a bone fracture had just begun when it was drowned out by even louder crying and shouting.
"Darwin, what happened to you?!!"
"You have to hang in there, don't die!!"
I won't die yet, but if you use any more strength, I really will be one foot in the grave...
Darwin screamed in his heart, but he didn't even have the strength to open his mouth.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with his body; he was simply starving.
One must realize that from yesterday until now, he had eaten almost nothing!
During the first three stages of the examination, he had racked his brains to solve puzzles and fight. The energy, physical strength, and magic power he expended were far from trivial. The fact that he could hold out until now before collapsing was entirely due to his strong willpower.
In truth, it wasn't just Darwin; the others were the same.
However, compared to the rest, Darwin's condition was even worse because the others at least had a full night's sleep, while he had spent the entire night chatting with Zeref.
Staying up late and straining his mind without any nutritional replenishment, combined with the reckless reception of the "Pegasus Soul" to carry Erza back to Magnolia just now, finally drained every last drop of energy from Darwin's body.
"Quick... quickly take me to..."
"I understand! I'll take you to the clinic right now!!"
No!!
Not the clinic, take me to a restaurant!!
Unfortunately, Erza failed to receive Darwin's inner plea.
She decisively hoisted Darwin from the ground onto her back and sprinted toward Grisha's clinic.
Ten minutes later, inside Grisha's clinic.
"It's lucky you brought him in time, otherwise Darwin would have..."
"Would have what?"
Otherwise, he would have recovered on his own, and I wouldn't have been able to make any money!
"Nothing, it's not important. In short, you just need to remember that you saved his life this time!"
Hearing this, Erza looked slightly embarrassed and giggled: "You don't really have to remember it; helping a partner is what I should do anyway!"
"That's true!"
Just then, a girl with pink hair, roughly the same age as Erza, walked out of another ward clutching a book related to medicine.
"Hmm?"
"I haven't seen this sister before."
"Could she be your illegitimate daughter, Doctor Grisha?"
Grisha's clinic usually only had him alone, but today there was an extra young girl who didn't look like a patient, so Erza couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.
"What... what are you talking about?!"
Grisha broke into a cold sweat instantly, waving his hands frantically to cover it up: "Even if you're guessing about family members, you should guess 'daughter'! What's with the 'illegitimate daughter' thing?!"
Erza stared with her large, clear eyes and said: "But Doctor Grisha, aren't you still unmarried, and don't you always enter and leave various hotels with women dressed flamboyantly and wearing heavy makeup? So even if you had a child, it would have to be an illegitimate daughter, right?"
Grisha's face instantly flushed deep red with shame.
He was already over forty this year and was considered successful in his career. The reason he hadn't married was simply because he was naturally a philanderer.
This kind of lifestyle was normal for adults; if a man were standing here, he might even brag about his "achievements."
But facing a little girl like Erza, Grisha found it somewhat unbearable.
"Uh... Erza, where did you hear all that about me?"
Erza replied: "It's what the uncles at the guild say when they're gossiping!"
It's those bastards!!
They dare to gossip about me behind my back and tell it to kids? Simply detestable!
Hmph!
Tomorrow I'll leak the secret about their kidney deficiency!
I'll let them know that you can offend anyone, but never a doctor!!
"Erza, that's just nonsense they talk after they've been drinking. You absolutely mustn't believe it! Understand?"
"Well..."
Erza put on a hesitant expression, while her eyes kept darting toward Darwin on the sickbed.
Grisha: "..."
"Fine, fine, I understand what you mean."
"I won't charge you a consultation fee for this treatment. Is that enough?"
"Yay!"
Erza excitedly balled her fists and did a little dance in the air before realizing she had gotten carried away. She quickly composed herself: "Ahem... I mean, since Doctor Grisha said so, then I definitely believe you!"
Grisha: "..."
Who taught this child?
How can she have so many schemes and be such a drama queen at such a young age?!
Forget it, as long as she agreed...
"Yes, not spreading or believing rumors—that's how a good child behaves!"
Grisha turned around after speaking, only to find that his newly recruited young apprentice was looking at him with a look of utter disgust, as if he were scum.
Following that, the apprentice gave a cold "Hmph!" and turned back into the room.
Oh no!
My image as a 'virtuous and talented' teacher has completely collapsed!
Grisha's entire being turned a dejected gray and white.
Erza didn't notice this and continued to get to the bottom of it: "So, who is she exactly? Is she really not your illegitimate daughter, Doctor Grisha?"
"Of course not!"
Grisha sighed and slowly explained the young girl's origins.
"A few days ago, I went to a neighboring town for a consultation. On the way back, I happened to run into her."
"At the time, she was in a daze. Out of curiosity, I stepped forward to check on her and asked for her name, family, and so on."
"She doesn't seem to be from the Kingdom of Fiore; she's unaware of many common facts and doesn't remember the way home."
"I suspect she might have been kidnapped from another country by human traffickers and brought here. During that time, her brain was damaged, causing partial memory loss, and then she escaped for some reason."
"As a kind person like me, I obviously couldn't ignore a poor little girl in need of help, so I brought her back to the clinic on the spot."
"After she stayed here for these two days, I discovered she has some talent for magic potions. So I simply took her on as an apprentice in the clinic to teach her some medical arts and herbalism. This way, she'll have a job to make a living in the future."
Erza realized: "So that's how it is..."
"I didn't expect you to like picking up children too, Doctor Grisha! I thought only the Master liked taking in kids..."
Grisha: "..."
"By the way, what is her name?"
"Porlyusica!"