Aria was a busy woman. Being the only Archmagus in Yudonia, many labs were reaching out to her daily, and the amount of research that she had on hand was beyond comparison. Usually, Aria wouldn’t be bothered by the number of assignments thrown her way. Heck, she even relished in them. However, recent events had forced Aria to put all of her research on hold. Aria wanted to focus all of her attention on the enigma of the ancient man and to quickly solve the crisis that Yudonia was facing. It would be a tall task, but Aria was up for the challenge.

So, other than her meetings with Aurum, Aria had plenty of time to spare. Time that was used to check in on the ones she cherished the most. Aria walked into the pristine white building and immediately made her way to the restroom. Though she dreaded what she was going to see, Aria daringly faced herself in the mirror. The Archmagus wasn’t one to overly put make-up whenever she left the house, and neither was she the type to beauty herself up for the sake of others. But! Her loose hair and the gaunt look that she had was repulsive to anyone, let alone a master Archmagus said to be in the prime of her life.

Aria drenched her face with water and cleaned up all of her dirty parts with baby wipes. She gently applied the rouge, which highlighted her perky cheekbones and ensured that she was at least presentable to the eye.

“Good. This should do the trick!” Aria lauded her crude workmanship and bolted out the women’s restroom. Her high heels echoed through the hospital hallways, bringing some attention onto her petite body. However, none of the eyes stayed on Aria for long. Nurses scurried around like mice chasing cheese while doctors were nowhere to be seen. On the odd occasion that Aria did catch sight of a doctor, they were handling two or three patients at once.

Aria watched all of those scenes unfold with mixed emotions. Yudonia may be a second-rate country, but that didn’t mean that they were poor. In fact, their healthcare system was ranked among the top twenty in the world! It was just… no one could have anticipated how much the world would have changed once Yudonia cleared the S-Class Dungeon. Though the average power levels of every living being rose, mana poisoning was still a real threat.

“Tsk… If I didn’t open those doors...” The black-haired woman clicked her tongue in annoyance. If she had the magic to turn back time, Aria would unquestionably cast that spell, no questions asked. Butterfly effect be damned! That way, she didn’t have to deal with Aurum’s disgustingly sweet smile. Alas, no matter how good of a magician she was, Aria didn’t have any sort of Time-Manipulation abilities.

Taking two steps into the familiar ward, Aria passed by the many occupied rooms and reached her final destination. Hospitals, particularly those that housed rankers, were luxurious in nature. They were equipped with the best facilities and the best doctors by trade. Spacious wards were the norm, but the room that Aria was visiting had twice the size of a regular one. Though she had been here many times before, Aria couldn’t help but wonder if the patient room was an executive suite or a hospital bed.

The heavy door with rubber sweeps to prevent unwanted bacteria from travelling in or out swung open with Aria’s slightest touch. She had registered herself as a visitor long ago, so all Aria needed to do was to tap her identification badge on the handle, and the automatic door would do the rest. The first thing that Aria saw wasn’t the patient that laid on the bed. Neither was it the two faces that were happily chatting by his side, but the huge television that was running a popular news channel.

Scenes of broken homes ravaged by the storms of the world were playing side-by-side as if it were a highlight reel. The news anchor was trying to keep her calm as she delivered the staggering casualty count as numerous data sets were flashed. The number of lives lost, estimated property cost, how much the stock market had tanked… They were all gut-wrenching numbers that Aria didn’t want to see. However, one data set stood out among the rest in Aria’s eyes.

‘Average montgen level has reached 6.6? That’s really a new high...’

Before the catastrophe struck, the average montgen level was below 1.0. An average montgen level of 6.6 was equivalent to that of some lower-ranked dungeons. No wonder there was a spike in mana poisoning cases.

While Aria was focused on the television, the three individuals that were merrily chatting away finally diverted their attention to her.

“Here so quickly? What happened to your date?” Yvette questioned with an impish smile.

“How many times do I have to tell you… It’s not a date.” Aria sighed. She dragged her heavy feet onto the vacant sofa and sunk all of her weight into the cushions. Aria was about forty-nine kilograms, so she wasn’t all that heavy. However, at that moment, the Archmagus felt like she weighed as much as an elephant.

“A woman meeting a man that yearns for her… If that isn’t a date, I don’t know what is!”

“You…” Aria snarled, though she wasn’t bothered to leave the comfort of her sofa. “You know what… I’m too tired to curse anymore. Finn, how are you feeling?” Aria ignored her roommate, who was hell-bent on teasing her and addressed the reason why she came to the hospital in the first place.

“I’m fine! Aria, you know… If you’re that tired, you don’t have to keep visiting me! I’m going to be discharged in a few more days anyway!”

“A few more days? Didn’t they say that you’ll need to be under observation for at least two weeks?”

“They did, but I refused their offer.” Finn put on a bright smile.

“... why?” Although Aria could guess the reason for her friend's quick discharge, she asked.

“I can’t just hog a full private room when I’m healthy, right? The hospital staff are swamped, and patients are coming in by the hundreds. If I stayed here, I would just be wasting their time and resources.”

“I knew you would say that...” Aria sighed and rubbed both her temples. “Yvette, did you try to talk him out of it?”

“What do you think?” The blonde elf’s playful smile turned into a stern frown. She glanced over her shoulder and watched Finn cower back slightly. “It’s a miracle that he came out alive from the dungeon, and he should be monitored for any unforeseen circumstances. Finn may look fine on the outside, but no one knows how badly he’s hurt internally. I tried explaining that to him, but he wouldn’t budge.”

“That’s just how Finn is!” The flashy man by Yvette’s side finally opened his mouth. “A strong man who knows nothing other than fighting! Even Yvette’s beauty won’t be able to move him!”

“Luke!” Finn raised his free arm up, threatening to rip his long-time friend’s mouth off his head.

“I’m joking, joking!” Luke held both hands up in surrender, naturally after leaping many metres away. “Geez, you don’t have to get that worked up! Your blood pressure will rise!”

“Just being near you would raise my blood pressure!”

“I doubt that’s the case… Otherwise, you would have collapsed from hypertension by now!”

The two bosom pals crossed swords, neither of them willing to back down. It took the woman in between them to actually get the conversation back on topic.

“Now, now. Don’t fight!” Yvette calmed both of them down with her usual angelic smile. “Look! Aria is confused! Luke, let Finn explain himself clearly. And Aria… Please tell Finn how wrong he is!”

Scratch that… Yvette was no angel. More than anyone, Yvette didn’t want Finn to be discharged too early. However, since she was the newcomer in the group, the elf couldn’t press Finn too hard either. Therefore, Yvette had to rely on her only ally in the group.

“Hah, as much as I hate agreeing with Luke, he’s right. Once Finn has made a decision, he won’t overturn it that easily.” Aria peeked at Finn’s resolute expression and made her own deduction. “Give it up, Yvette. If you’re that worried about him, why don’t you visit his home every now and then? You know, just to check up on him.”

“Ah! What a great idea!” Yvette’s eyes beamed with excitement. “We can have check-ups at his home instead!”

“W-Wait, Aria?”

“What? Isn’t that a win-win for all of us? You don’t want to overload the doctors here, and Yvette is worried about your well-being. So, if we visit you at your home, won’t that solve all the problems?”

“B-but I live with my younger sister! She can monitor me! You guys don’t have to come to my apartment...”

“What’s there to hide? Your room is plain and boring anyway.” Luke interjected with his signature, jester’s smile. “Unless… Did you add some modifications since I last visited?”

“N-no...” Finn blinked twice and averted his eyes. If one were to look carefully, they would see slight sweat droplets forming at the tip of his forehead.

“What’s with that suspicious tone?! Porn! It’s porn, isn’t it?”

“NO!!! Luke! Watch what you say in front of Miss Yvette! I don’t keep such things in my home!”

“So it’s somewhere~ Miss Yvette, are you willing to conduct a search with me?”

“With pleasure!”

“You guys...” Aria squinted while she continued to observe the trio’s interactions. In the time that she was busy, the three had really bonded together as a unit. In a world that was currently rife with mayhem… perhaps these warm and nourishing smiles were all that the Archmagus needed right now.