The Otherworld Was Way Too Brutal – After I Healed the Mutilated Girl, She Turned Into a Completely Obsessed Yandere Guard Dog - Chapter 24.1

Chapter 24.1

I woke up.

A light, quick sound—ton ton ton—was echoing through the room.

It was the sound of a knife chopping against a cutting board.

What I saw was honestly hard to believe.

Tsugumi was standing on one leg, kneeling on a chair with the other knee, somehow keeping perfect balance while she cooked.

Her hands were moving.

Her right hand gripped the knife, and the left hand—the one that had just regenerated yesterday—was holding down the vegetables.

“…Tsugumi?”

The second I called her name, she whipped around super fast.

“Ah, morning, Jin!”

Her whole face lit up with this huge smile.

Both of her eyes narrowed happily, and her cheeks flushed bright pink.

“Look—I’m making soup!”

“You… you can already move that much?”

“Yep. It felt kinda weird at first, but I’m totally fine now. It’s my hand, y’know? It listens to me.”

She wiggled the fingers of her left hand like she was playing piano keys.

There wasn’t even a hint of awkwardness in the movement.

It looked completely natural—like the hand had always been there, nerves totally connected and used to it.

I got out of bed and walked over.

Inside the pot, vegetable soup was bubbling away.

The veggie cuts were a little uneven, but honestly that just made it cuter somehow.

“That’s amazing. Just yesterday, and you’re already this good?”

“Ehehe… I really wanted to make something tasty for you, Jin.”

“Thanks. Smells incredible.”

When I patted her head, Tsugumi’s eyes squeezed shut even more happily.

Then she grabbed my hand back—squeezed it tight.

With her left hand.

Warm, soft… a real human hand.

“Once food’s ready, should we wake Cattleya too?”

“…Yeah, good idea.”

The moment Cattleya’s name came up, Tsugumi’s face clouded just a tiny bit—but she snapped right back to smiling.

Over in the corner of the room, Cattleya was already awake, sitting cross-legged in meditation… or so it looked. Actually she was asleep.

But the second she heard us, her eyes popped open.

Guess she’d been quietly listening to our whole conversation.

“Morning, you two. Putting in work bright and early, huh.”

“Morning, Cattleya… You were awake?”

“Kinda. When Tsugumi picked up the knife I got a little nervous, but watching her, the movements were steady. Pretty impressive.”

Cattleya stood up and walked over to Tsugumi.

She peered into the pot.

“Looks good. Could be proper knight fuel.”

“…There’s no poison in it.”

“I know. You’d never do something like that to the food you’re serving Jin.”

Cattleya gave a small laugh.

Tsugumi puffed her cheeks out a little, looking kinda annoyed.

But she didn’t say anything else—just started setting out plates for three people.

Two hands.

Just having both hands again changed everything about daily life so dramatically.

Carrying plates, tearing bread—everything went smooth.

Confidence was practically pouring out of Tsugumi’s expression.

Still… there was one thing still bugging me deep down.

(…Mana.)

While I sipped the soup, I checked inside myself.

Thanks to the mana potion Genzou gave me last night, I wasn’t completely dried out anymore, but I was nowhere near full recovery.

Most of what I’d regained had been burned up during the treatment on Genzou.

Regenerating Tsugumi’s right leg was gonna need at least as much mana as the arm did—probably more.

If I forced it in my current state, I’d run out halfway, and worst case… I could end up making some messed-up half-finished lump of flesh.

“Jin? Is it not good?”

Tsugumi noticed my spoon had stopped ,and she looked at me all worried.

“Nah, it’s seriously delicious… Just checking how much mana I’ve recovered.”

“…Oh.”

She dropped her gaze like she understood.

Then she looked down at her own right leg.

“I still can’t do it yet, huh.”

“Sorry. To make sure it’s perfect, I wanna build up more mana for at least another day.”

“Don’t apologize. I can wait. Just having my arm back already makes me very happy.”

Tsugumi picked up her spoon with her left hand and scooped some soup into her mouth.

She wasn’t forcing it—she really meant every word.

“Plus, I’ve got stuff to do today anyway.”

“Stuff?”

“Yep. Rehab.”

She looked straight at me with these really determined eyes.

“Even if my arm’s back, if the rest of my body’s all sluggish it’s pointless, right? So today I’m gonna practice moving around the house.”

“Okay… but don’t push too hard, alright?”

“I know. And you too, Jin—don’t overdo it.”

After breakfast, Cattleya and I got ready to head out.

We weren’t going hunting today.

I planned to rest and recover mana, but I at least wanted to give Ray a quick report about yesterday.

Plus I was kinda curious how the town was doing.

The second we stepped outside, the whole place was buzzing with this weird energy.

People were whispering and gossiping everywhere.

“You hear that? Lord Sumeragi showed himself on the balcony of the mansion!”

“Yeah! They’re saying he looked twenty years younger or something…”

“It’s a miracle! God’s blessing!”

It looked like news of Genzou’s recovery had already spread through the entire town.

They were probably keeping my part in it secret, but when someone changes that dramatically, there’s no hiding it.

“…Noisy out here.”

Cattleya muttered from inside her helmet while walking beside me.

“His lordship’s recovery is good news for this town… and bad news too.”

“What do you mean?”