After talking with Jeanne for a little while longer, Louis figures it's time to go talk with the doctor like he planned before, so they part ways, and Louis goes on his way there.
[I need to see if I can get my job back, whatever it was, I have this feeling that I need as much money as I can get, and… well, that sounds a bit obvious, but still, there are some things I need to do that I can't seem to remember what they were… and…]
[I still didn't get to talk with… my dad? If he is still alive, I need to know how he is, if I am 20, he should at least have 6 years left before…]
[I need to get a grip of myself! I am done with being confused! As soon as I get back to my dorm I am planning my path from now on! This time I will live properly!]
With firm steps, he makes his way to the infirmary and calmly knocks on the door.
"Hey, good afternoon. Are you here, Doctor?"
Louis waits for a bit, but there is no response.
[Huh… Maybe I just go in?]
When Louis opens the door, a bright golden light shines through; when he enters, he sees the man that was knocked out before right by the side of a golden human shape.
"!%$#$!#$!$#$"
"I am saying, I don't get it… oh?"
Louis was startled for a moment, but he figures the specter is not aggressive by how the guy seems to be trying to communicate.
"Hello? You are… Zohan, right?"
"Oh, hey, Louis? Are you doing good?"
"I should be the one asking; last time I saw you, you were out cold!"
"Yeah… I guess I am fine now? The doctor went to get some medicine for me; once he does, I am finally free to go to my dorm."
"So, what is the deal with that?" Louis says while pointing at the specter.
"Yeah, apparently this is all I got from the throne ritual. The doctor told me I might be able to communicate with him over time, and we can work together on missions. I heard you got hit pretty bad too by the ritual. What did you get?"
[#@$%#$@#%]
"Oh man, let me tell you about it." Louis goes ahead and sits on the bed in front of Zohan.
"Seems like I lost all of the sorcery I could do before and got all my memories scrambled, but from now on I will be able to use those aura techniques or something? Seems like I am getting good at using Aura already from what I talked about with the teacher."
"I see… It's good you can use Aura now, I guess; I hear people can take years before being able to use it at all. Wait, about your memories, like, how scrambled are we talking about?"
"I only remember you because I think someone said your name at some point, but I kind of feel like we've known each other for a while?"
"That sucks, man. You better get the most use you can from that aura thing, I guess. Things were not as bad in my case, but I got some memories from my specter as well. I think he was some sort of knight or something. I am still trying to figure stuff out."
"I think I got a normal person that was very similar to me in the specter world or something; that might be what scrambled my memories so bad. I am not really sure if some memories are mine or his anymore, but from what I know, I think we fused?"
"I-I don't even know what to say about that. I am glad you are doing fine now, or something. So… You came to see the doctor?"
"Yes, I pretty much only wanted to get some info on work from him."
"Well… I think-"
Right then the door was slammed open.
"Howdy! I am back." The doctor comes while holding a box.
"Howdy!" "Hey…" both Louis and Zohan greet the doctor; the specter seems to be waving.
"Hello, Louis, Good to see you again! Just give me a moment to help out Zohan, and I'll talk with you in a bit."
"Yeah, don't mind me; I'll wait."
After a few moments, Zohan gets his medicine and seems ready to leave for his dorm.
"We can talk more later, Louis. I guess we are on the same boat with the throne thing. If something happens, let's help each other out."
"Yeah, for sure!"
"See you later, Zohan!"
Both the Doctor and Louis see Zohan out.
"So, Louis, ready to talk about work?"
"Exactly what I came here for."
"Great! So, I'll need you to come here at the start and the end of the week to help out with some stuff here and there after class. If you have class missions, we can shuffle the days once in a while."
"Understood. What tasks do you have for me on those days?"
"Most of the times it will be helping dismantle Aura and Mana beasts for material; also, we will be making medicine and alchemical pills on weekends."
"I might need to do some studying again to make sure I can help out. Do you have some material I can try and read?"
"Oh, check if you still have the proper alchemy book at your dorm. If you don't, I can help you get it at the library. I am sure that if I guide you for a bit, you will be ready to pick back up right away!"
"Is there anything I can help with right now?"
"Well, right now is airday, so it is one of the days you would be working here, so we can check out some simple stuff."
"Uh, can you help me check out the calendar CS? I think I can make marks on the days we work together. right?"
"Yeah, no problem. Is it on your multitool already?"
"Thanks, I just need to press here, right?" As he presses the CS on his multitool bracelet, a square with text shows up; while he was looking at it with Jeanne earlier, he mostly figured it out already. It would show up like this in English…
[Author note, if this part breaks in the reader, I will put a image in the or a comment here, this should look like a calendar]
Setting the reminders felt like trying to change the time on a digital wristwatch; the more time passed, the more Louis felt that technology in this world was behind from the world he was in before.
[It might not be at the level of inventing soap and becoming right, but I might be able to come up with something cool from my previous life that I can apply here…]
[…But the more I think about it… I might really need to figure out how to get more money, and I still don't even know why…]
"Doctor, Sorry to ask this, but do you know what I was using my money for? I know we need money to leave, but I have this thing in my mind that I can't remember, that I really need to use money for…"
"I am not really sure, kid. You didn't talk much about yourself before, though I remember that you went to the administration office often; you would have better luck talking with them."
"Also, if we are talking about money, you should worry more about setting up your accounts again. I bet you don't remember your passwords anymore, do you?
"Damn… I didn't even think about that… I think I might as well go and do that. Sorry, doctor."
"Hey, don't worry about it more than that..." The doctor puts a hand into his pocket and takes out his wallet.
"No! No no no, wait! I am not asking for money!"
"Nah, don't worry about this; I am giving you your own pay from last month, and two weeks from now, count this week and the next two as a vacation. You never took one after all, and if you ever needed one, it's right now! Sort your stuff out and come back here in two weeks ready to do your best!" The doctor pulls five bills with 100 written on them and some sort of check, on which he writes 1000 along with some data with his soul string.
"…This seems like a lot?"
"No, it's just what you worked for. Might have been a lot back in my day, but now this is just how much people get in a month in a simple job. To be honest, if you were doing the same thing at an outside firm, you would get at least triple this much, so keep in mind that you put your blood into this money, even if you don't remember it, so be careful."
"Still, thank you very much; if you didn't tell me this, I wouldn't even remember it."
"Don't worry, boy; actually, you were supposed to get this money at the end of the week, but it might be a good idea to use some of it to sort your supplies out. You have a mission in two days, right?"
"Yes, I do."
"So… be ready! I don't want you dying to something stupid out there, you hear me!"
"Loud and clear!"