Chapter 7: Promotion

“I’LL be okay, Sugar. Don’t worry about me,” were Lotte’s last words to Sugar before the latter escorted her to the execution chamber used by Krytos.

To be honest, she had no idea what that room was really like or why Sugar had looked so terrified upon learning that she had been assigned to work there for the day. She had even tried asking Sugar about it, but the latter refused to say anything. Eventually, Lotte decided not to press the matter any further.

She took a deep breath as she carried two buckets in her hands. One contained water mixed with soap, which was nearly half full, while the other held various cleaning supplies, including brushes, a broom, and several towels.

Well, it’s just a room. How bad could it possibly be?

With that thought in mind, she slowly pushed the door open without knocking. According to Sugar, nobody was supposed to be inside at this hour, so there was no need to announce her arrival.

The moment she stepped inside, however, she was greeted by an unusually dark room.

Her eyes instinctively wandered around, trying to adjust to the lack of light. The atmosphere felt considerably different from the rest of the fortress, and an unsettling silence hung in the air.

She carefully stepped inside, making sure not to spill the contents of the buckets she was carrying.

For some reason, she suddenly had a feeling that cleaning this particular room wouldn’t be as ordinary as she had initially expected.

Lotte immediately began searching the dark room for a lamp she could use to illuminate the place. She wasn’t about to clean an entire room without being able to see what she was cleaning. That would be ridiculous.

“There it is,” she said when she spotted a lamp sitting on a nearby table.

She quickly picked it up, took out the matchbox Sugar had given her earlier, and struck a match to light the lamp.

“There. Much better,” she muttered to herself before raising the lamp slightly to get a clearer view of her surroundings.

But the moment the light spread throughout the room, the hairs on her body stood on end.

“W-What kind of place is this?” she whispered to herself, slowly scanning the room.

The black stone walls were covered in enormous claw marks, while patches of dried blood stained their surfaces. Some of the marks looked so deep that they seemed to have been carved into the stone by something with incredibly sharp claws.

Seeing blood wasn’t exactly new to her. After all, she had worked in a hospital for years and had encountered all sorts of injuries. But this? This was an entirely different matter.

She had never seen a place this horrifying in her entire life. She wasn’t even sure if she could manage to clean everything within a single day.

Her gaze eventually shifted toward the table nearby. Scattered across its surface were several pieces of broken wood, along with various tools and materials that looked like they were used for wood carving.

Lotte frowned slightly. For a moment, she considered asking Sugar about the room again. But remembering how frightened the latter had been earlier, she decided against it.

Beside the table stood a large wooden box with a lid. Lotte slowly approached it and placed her hand on the cover. She was just about to lift it to see what was inside when a voice suddenly spoke from behind her.

“What are you doing here?”

The moment she heard that voice, a shiver ran down her spine. Her entire body stiffened, and she immediately turned around, looking like a child caught doing something forbidden.

Standing not far from her was Krytos, who was looking at her seriously. She hadn’t even heard him enter.

“I was… I was… I was assigned to clean this room,” she stammered, forcing a nervous smile.

One of his eyebrows rose. “You said it yourself. You were assigned to clean this room, not to meddle with my belongings,” he said coldly.

Without waiting for her response, he began walking toward her.

Lotte instinctively swallowed.

His footsteps echoed against the stone floor, each one bringing him closer. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry, yet there was something unnerving about the way he approached her. His eyes remained fixed on her, as though silently warning her not to make another move.

She wanted to step away from the wooden box, perhaps even retreat a few steps, but her feet refused to cooperate. It was as if the floor had suddenly turned to stone beneath her, rooting her in place.

Krytos stopped right in front of her. He was close. Far closer than she would have preferred. He then leaned down, bringing his face almost level with hers.

Lotte had to tilt her chin slightly to meet his gaze. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

She blinked several times, suddenly aware of how small she must have looked standing before him. Her throat felt dry, and she swallowed again, trying desperately to maintain her composure.

“Move away from there. Start cleaning,” he ordered.

His cold voice finally snapped her out of her trance.

“Y-Yes,” she answered almost immediately.

Lotte quickly stepped away from the wooden box. For some reason, she could feel her cheeks growing warm, though she couldn’t quite understand why.

She returned to her task, scrubbing the dried blood from the stone floor. With every passing moment, the once-clean, soapy water in her bucket gradually turned red. Before long, it had become thick and murky, almost resembling actual blood.

“Doesn’t it disgust you?”

For the first time since she had begun cleaning, Krytos spoke. He had been watching her in silence until then.

Lotte immediately lifted her head. Sweat was now trickling down her face, dampening her temples and the strands of hair that clung to her skin.

She shook her head. “No. I’m a nurse. I work at a hospital, so I’m used to things like this,” she replied before looking down again and wringing out the towel.

Krytos remained silent for a moment.

“A nurse?” he repeated, as though testing the unfamiliar word.

“Yes. It’s my job to take care of sick and injured people.”

She resumed scrubbing, trying not to pay too much attention to the man standing nearby. Still, she could feel his gaze lingering on her.

“You mean a healer?” he asked.

Lotte stopped scrubbing the wall, her hand resting against the stone surface marked with deep claw scratches.

“You could say that, but we’re not exactly the ones who heal people. It’s the medicine that does that. Without the proper medication, a patient won’t recover,” she explained.

However, rather than clearing things up, her explanation only seemed to make the man’s expression more complicated. He furrowed his brows, clearly trying to make sense of her words.

“So, the medicine you’re talking about is some kind of herb?” he asked.

Lotte nodded. She could understand his confusion. After all, they came from two entirely different worlds, and what was ordinary knowledge to her might be completely unfamiliar to him.

She then explained the difference between a healer and a nurse, as well as the distinction between herbs and the medicines she was accustomed to using back in her world. She tried to keep her explanation simple, giving him examples he could easily understand.

This time, Krytos seemed to follow. He gave a slight nod, his expression finally easing as he appeared to understand what she meant.

“You seem rather interested in healing,” Krytos remarked. “Then, instead of having you clean my fortress, I’ll assign you a different task.”

Lotte immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “A different task?”

“Starting tomorrow, you will become one of the healers here at the fortress. I know you don’t possess any magical abilities, but your modern knowledge could prove useful to this Keep.”

For a moment, Lotte simply stared at him, as if she needed a second to make sure she had heard him correctly.

Then her face lit up. “Wait… really?” she asked, her voice rising with excitement. “You’re actually letting me work as a healer?”

Krytos gave her a curt nod.

A wide smile spread across her face. She let out a delighted little laugh, almost forgetting where she was and who she was speaking to. Her hands instinctively came together in a quick, enthusiastic clap.

“Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

She was practically beaming. After everything that had happened since arriving in this strange world, she hadn’t expected to find a way to put her knowledge and skills to use. She had been a nurse back home, and the thought of being able to do something familiar again—something that might actually help people—filled her with a warmth she hadn’t realized she was missing.

For the first time since arriving in Kalone, she felt as though she might have a purpose here beyond simply surviving.

* * *

“Wow, really?!” Sugar exclaimed in disbelief after Lotte told her about her new position as one of the fortress healers.

Lotte nodded, unable to wipe the smile off her face. Even now, she still felt as though she were floating on air. She hadn’t expected such a promotion, especially after only a short time in the fortress.

“I know, right? I didn’t expect it either. But I’m so happy! At least now I can put everything I learned back on Earth to good use here,” she said before taking another bite of bread.

“I’m happy for you. I know how much you loved your job back in your world. You always seemed happiest when you talked about it last night,” Sugar said warmly.

“That’s why I—holy moly!”

Lotte’s words were cut short when something hot splashed against her back. She sprang to her feet, a sharp sting spreading across her skin.

“Oh, oops. Sorry!” a woman’s voice said from behind her, sounding anything but apologetic. “I thought you were part of the kitchen staff. You know how it is—when someone looks out of place, it’s easy to mistake them for someone who belongs elsewhere.”

The woman let out a faint, mocking laugh.

“Still, I suppose I should’ve checked before pouring anything. Wouldn’t want to upset our very special guest, would we?”