Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior

“Sion. Today is the first day, so there’s a lot to explain. Please follow along carefully.”

“Okay! This is the real training!”

Sion clenched both fists, striking a fighting pose, brimming with determination.

Was she feeling good about finally starting rehabilitation?

“I’m going to cast a buff now, so don’t be too surprised and just sit still.”

“A buff? On me?”

“That’s right. I’m going to cast it on Sion.”

Despite my clear words, Sion tilted her head as if she didn’t quite understand.

“There’s no way a buff would be effective on me…”

A buff is magic that enhances the abilities of a target.

And the effectiveness of a buff depends not only on the buff caster’s proficiency but also greatly on the stats of the person receiving the buff.

While buffs temporarily increase stats, unless it’s a truly transcendent buff, it doesn’t dramatically change the target’s abilities.

Most mainstream buffs increase stats by a certain percentage of the target’s stats.

Therefore, as Sion said, most buffs would be ineffective on him, as her muscle strength was almost completely gone.

“I’ll say it again, you have to receive the buff and stay still.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Having given her ample warning, I reached out to Sion and cast the buff.

“Power.”

“Huh? That spell is…”

It wasn’t a muscle strength enhancement type or a strength buff, but the most basic strength stat buff spell.

This spell is very inefficient for people with fighting-level stats, but…

“Huh?”

It shows miraculous efficiency for patients who can barely move.

Sion felt strength return to her body and began moving her arms around, her eyes widening gradually.

“At this rate, I could even stand up! How?”

“Stay still. Don’t stand up, and don’t raise your arms.”

“Ah, right, I forgot.”

Sion composed herself again, focusing on the changes throughout her body.

“I’ve adjusted the buff level, but in Sion’s case, your stats are too low… Let’s wait until your body adapts.”

“I see. But this is… a fixed-value buff, right?”

“That’s right.”

A fixed-value buff is only effective on people with low stats.

That’s why adventurers don’t learn or increase their proficiency in this skill.

But in my case,

“What’s with this value? Does it normally increase this much?”

Even this low-level buff was mastered.

Moreover, I had put all my skill points into muscle strength, neglecting other stats.

After all, other stats weren’t necessary for rehabilitation training.

I’m not an adventurer, so I don’t have a high level and can’t learn many skills.

“With a fixed-value buff at this level, even someone in Sion’s condition can move.”

And the skill points I gained while working as a professional were invested in things deemed helpful for training and treatment.

“It’s like a miracle. If the buff effect is this much…”

I had repeatedly told Sion not to move, but suddenly feeling strength in her body, she couldn’t hide her excitement, constantly squirming as if her body was itching.

“With a buff like this, I could exercise like a normal person! I could quickly regain my muscle strength and start rehabilitation…”

“That’s not allowed.”

And that excitement and elation were what patients undergoing rehabilitation through buffs had to be most careful about.

“Huh? Why…”

“Sion. You asked earlier why the exercise time was short, right?”

“I did.”

“In your current state, Sion, training is impossible without this buff. And the most important thing you need to be careful of now is becoming addicted to the buff.”

“Addicted to the… buff?”

Buff addiction. It’s probably an unfamiliar combination of words for people living in this world.

A buff isn’t poison, nor does it have harmful effects, so why addiction?

“Making it possible for Sion, who can’t move, to exercise through the effect of a buff is a last resort. There’s no other way, so that’s why I’m doing this. This buff is so effective for patients that it’s dangerous for them.”

“Dangerous because it’s effective? I’m getting more and more confused…”

“Sion. Actually, you’ve already experienced it. What happens to your body when you move using the power of a buff.”

“……!”

Only then did Sion’s eyes widen as if she realized something, a serious expression on her face.

“If a patient who normally can’t move gets used to being able to move thanks to a buff, their body actually deteriorates more and more.

They even feel immense depression when the buff isn’t active.

They become increasingly dependent on the buff, and their mental state crumbles as they can’t accept the drastic changes in their body.

In extreme cases, they’ve even threatened or blackmailed me to cast a buff on them.”

“I… see. But how could someone who can’t even move threaten you?”

“By holding a knife to their own throat.”

“Ah…”

Excessive buffs are like drugs to patients.

In modern times, there are plenty of substances that can be medicine or drugs depending on how they’re used.

Anything must be used correctly with accurate knowledge.

The cases of buff abuse were also learned at a pretty high price.

It’s something I really don’t want to experience again.

As much as I like broken things, I refuse to break something with my own hands.

I’m… a fixer.

“So, we’ll build up your muscle strength slowly, taking our time. If you try to go comfortably and quickly, you’ll definitely fall. Sion, you understand, right? What I’m saying.”

Princess Nao, whom I met in the Empire, also said when she first heard about rehabilitation, that she saw hope because it was a difficult path.

I think that was a truly accurate insight for a top-tier magician.

Rehabilitation is difficult and arduous, so the rewards follow.

Sion, who was in the Hero’s Party, would understand what that means.

“I understand perfectly. I can’t repeat the same mistake.”

“Good. Now that your body has adjusted to some extent, I’ll tell you what to be careful of when moving your body.”

Even with utmost caution, it’s not enough when it comes to treatment through buffs.

Right now, Sion probably wants to move her body quickly, but that feeling is the most dangerous, so I had to thoroughly educate her while treating her.

“Sion’s muscle strength is enhanced through the buff, but you have to use that enhanced strength minimally.

Recall how fast you could normally move your body, and then move your body just a little bit faster than that.

And when you move your body, focus on which part of your body has muscles and how much strength is going into those muscles.

Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Now grab the bars placed on either side of you.”

Sion, answering resolutely, took a deep breath according to my instructions, then very slowly raised her arms and grabbed the bars on both sides.

“Well done. Now you’re going to use that to stand up. Likewise, very~ slowly.”

“Okay.”

Sion then gripped the bars tightly, applying strength to her arms and legs, and slowly stood up from her seat.

Mirei, who was watching from the side, naturally pulled the wheelchair back, and Sion was able to stand upright, holding onto the bars with both hands.

“I’m standing… Is this rehabilitation?”

“No, Sion. It’s not hard at all right now, is it?”

“No, not at all. You’re really amazing, Director Hope!”

I’ve told her countless times that if it’s not hard, it’s not rehabilitation, and that relying on the power of the buff is dangerous, but patients always react like that.

Come to think of it, it’s natural.

And it couldn’t be helped.

Because her body was moving.

She was experiencing a miracle, so of course she was happy.

But you see, the fun part starts now…

“Now I’m going to gradually lower the buff level, Sion. Let me know if you feel like you can’t stand anymore.”

“Ah, why?!”

“Power… Power… Power… Power…”

The same buff can’t be cast twice on one person.

Using this, I gradually overwrite Sion’s body with a lower buff.

While very subtly adjusting the buff strength.

Se probably feels the strength leaving her body little by little.

“Director Hope! I can’t…!”

“Can’t you stand anymore?”

“No, no! I feel like I’m going to collapse any moment!”

Sion’s arms, gripping the bars, were trembling violently.

Judging by the way she clenched her fists, it seemed like she was still applying strength.

A normal patient would have this level recorded as the appropriate buff level, but for Sion, even this level of buff was too big of a gap from her normal state.

Dangerous…

“But you’re standing?”

“Huh?”

“Power.”

“Ugh, ughh!!”

As I lowered the buff further, Sion gritted her teeth and held on.

It seemed truly difficult for her to stand any longer, her entire limbs trembling violently, and Sion was grimacing, unable to even open her eyes, groaning.

“Uuuuughhh!!”

‘She’s really trying hard. This is it…’

Hero Sion Lorel, who had fought and repelled the demon king, was hanging on two parallel bars, making a deathly face, trembling…

I wanted to watch a little longer, but since it was also dangerous for this state to continue for long, I had to quickly stop it.

“Mirei, support her under her arms.”

“Yes, Director.”

Following my instructions, the nurse-maid Mirei supported Sion so she wouldn’t collapse.

As Mirei supported her, Sion, having exhausted all her strength, let go of the bars and leaned limply against Mirei’s hands.

“Merei, put her back in the wheelchair and record a buff sensitivity of 5.2 on the chart.”

“Understood.”

Mirei gently moved Sion back and placed her in the wheelchair, then recorded the chart.

Sion, feeling her body relax, opened her eyes wide, which she had been clenching tightly, and began to breathe heavily.

“Hah, haaaah…!!”

“It takes 5.2 just to make her stand… At this rate, we won’t be able to do walking training or anything like that for a while.”

Sion’s condition was much more serious than I thought.

I’ll emphasize again, when conducting training accompanied by buffs, you must be careful not to cast too many buffs.

“Can’t… you say? Then rehabilitation…”

“It’s okay, Sion. There are many kinds of training. Even if you can’t stand at all, you can still exercise plenty.”

Various exercises established by modern medicine that can build muscle strength in specific areas were prepared for Sion.

‘What should I have her do first~?’

Sion’s rehabilitation would take a long time.

I can make her engage in rehabilitation slowly over a long period.

That’s what rehabilitation should be.

And that meant there was a lot of fun time left for us to spend together.