“Heya.”

This morning I was cheerily greeted by a considerably stout man almost half my height.

“Oliver, this is the craftsman I was talking about.” Jayr explained.

“The name’s Graff. Nice to meet’cha.” Graff said as he extended his thick arm.

“… Oliver.” I took his hand and shook it. I could feel his experience from the calluses and roughness of his hand. I could tell he was a hard worker.

“I like this kid already!” he laughed heartily and his gruff beard shook as he did.

The best way to describe him is… a dwarf.

No, not the adjective dwarf, but the noun dwarf. The kind you often see depicted in many fantasy stories. Short, stout, bearded and masculine. Now he’s supposedly a craftsman, but does that include smithing? If it does, then he’d be an actual dead ringer to the stereotype. This theme park also includes guys like these huh… 

“He’ll be the one you have to talk to about the wheelchair design you made. He’ll be able to make it for you.” Jayr stated.

“It’s a real interesting device you got here.” Graff said as he held the design in his hand. He looked at me like an excited child. “I saw some interesting things here. What’s this, Aa-loominum?”

I was still on the hospital bed in my hospital room. I think it was maybe 9 or 10 o’clock when I started my conversation with Graff, but now I could hear the bells of the nearby church ringing and I could feel my stomach grumbling. It was probably already afternoon when we had finished our discussion.

“Interesting… interesting…”

Despite his lacking vocabulary, he was very fun to talk with. Graff is the owner of the only smithy in this town. He’s the one in charge of making things like cutlery and tools for the people.

He also occasionally makes decorative art pieces like the sword he proudly showed to me here.

“What the hell are you doing bringing weaponry into a building of the church?!”

He was promptly scolded by Jayr however. Even if its decorative, it is still quite sharp.

He said he’d have my wheelchair finished by the tomorrow and that I should look forward to it. Jayr also requested another two be constructed as well, one for the clinic and another for his own use, though I’m not sure what he’s going to use it for since he doesn’t look disabled.

For the time being, I’d have to sit still for a while longer.

In the meantime, I asked if there were any books to read here. Jayr said that most of them were just religious texts, with some encyclopedias of medicines and herbs. I wanted to see those so that I could get my bearings and so that I could pass the time. 

When I received the book and I felt the worn leather covering, I remembered. Shit, I can’t read anything or else I’ll get a horrific headache again. I would need to read at some point t, but that would have to wait since I still have to check the wheelchair. It’s also not a good idea to strain myself more as I’m recovering. 

My palms were sweaty as I noticed the book’s cover. The letters on the cover were already so worn that they weren’t legible at all. I was lucky. If the translator registered one word, it would’ve probably triggered. 

I carefully put the book as far away from myself as possible.

I’ll read it at another time.

Now I have to look for other ways to pass the time.

Jayr brought me my lunch after Graff left. It’s… something. It’s hard to describe this dish. It looks like some sort of meat that was seared on a pan, then buried in a lot of vegetables.

Tasting it… it’s not bad, but it’s nothing to write home about. Kind of like what you would cook if you were just running through your fridge at home.

As if hearing my thoughts, Jayr spoke.

“I’m not the best chef alright? Most people who come here usually only stay for so long. They’d either go home or die before I had to cook.” He said with a huff.

I think I’ll cook for myself once I get that wheelchair.

*ding ding*

I heard the ring of a small bell outside the room. Jayr heard it as well and stood to leave.

“I’ve got other patients to deal with. I’ll leave you for now.”

I decided to sit for a while to let the food settle, then get some more sleep in.

…

After I idled for a day, Graff came back to the clinic. Following behind him was a young man who looked like his apprentice. The apprentice was pushing the wheelchair that Graff made. 

Graff’s face and body was covered in soot. He had a wide grin on his face as he showed off the vehicle.

“Hoya! Oliver, we got’cher thingymadoodad right here.” He patted it proudly. “It might be a little heavy though ‘cuz we built it outta black steel.”

I had given a more standard wheelchair design rather than the folding X-brace chairs you would usually see in hospitals. It looked pretty cool with the black metal and the leather brown contrast.

“Let’s try it out. Help ‘im get on the thing.” Graff said to Jayr.

Jayr nodded and helped me sit up. Graff moved the chair next to the bed and lifted one of the armrests. I was then gently slid off the bed onto the wheelchair. Everyone then stepped back so that I could have maneuvering space.

I tested some of the parts. The seat felt surprisingly comfy, and the wheelchair was quite sturdy. The metal was somewhat cold though.

He was right about it being heavy. When I tried moving the wheels using the grips, I needed to put considerable force into it. It was also a problem with the wheels since the axles weren’t well adjusted.

“How is it?” Graff asked eagerly.

“It needs some adjustment, and it’s somewhat too heavy, but overall its fine.” I stated.

“Mhm. I built this just with the materials I had on hand. If only I had something much better, like dainite…” Graff said, the latter part of his sentence in a faint mumble.

“Are these the handles for pushing the wheelchair?” Jayr asked, holding the two handles behind my shoulders.

“Yeh, right. Why don’t we take it fer a spin? Show off my work ‘round town.” Graff laughed.

I wanted to look around and see the scenery better, plus I also had nothing else to do, so naturally, I agreed. So my agenda today was supposed to be set. However…

“Sorry, I can’t accompany you right now. There’s been an influx of injured people so I’m needed here.” Jayr explained apologetically.

“As much as I’d love to, I’ve got some work to do as well. I’ve just got a massive order recently and I just came ‘ere to deliver this thing.” Graff stated somewhat sadly.

This is a conundrum. We fell into silence for a bit. Suddenly, the receptionist I saw a few days ago peeks into the room.

“Doctor Jayr, patient Oliver has a visitor.”

I was curious about who would be visiting me. The only people I know are these two and Amanda, so it was probably Amanda checking in.

Jayr allowed the person in, and to my surprise, it was Lily.

She was holding something like a wooden box with a blue handkerchief wrapped and tied around it in a way that gave it a small handle on top. She shyly peeked through the doorway, half of her body still covered.

“Auntie told me to bring this here for him.” She gave the wooden box to Jayr while avoiding my eyes. Damn, being treated this way by a cute young girl would hurt anyone.

“Hah. Thank you, Lily.” Jayr thanked her with a rare smile, albeit a wry one. He took the wooden box and put it on the table. It was still steaming lightly. 

“Hoh, those old coots would be turnin’ in their coffins when they hear about this.” Graff spoke in a voice I could barely hear.

Jayr then thought pensively before saying, “Hey Lily, we’re too busy to do so, but how about guiding Oliver through the town?”

“Whuh?!” Lily blurted out loudly in confusion. She glanced at me for a moment before her face went red and she immediately looked away.

“C’mon now kid, take a stroll. Amanda should be able to handle the shop alone since the guild ain’t packed now right?” Graff goaded her with a laugh. 

She lowered her head, covered her face with both hands and shook her head vigorously. 

“No, if you don’t want to, I could always…” Jayr continued. 

“Hey, I don’t think that’s such a-“

“I’LL DO IT!”

I was just about to tell them to stop when Lily shouted, almost shrieking. Her face was flushed red while she looked at me, and her eyes were slightly teary.

You guys are making a little girl cry while you’re chuckling in the corner over there.

While Lily was basically glaring at me, Jayr told her something that she failed to recognize due to their teasing. “You might be wondering how to guide him around when he’s still incapable of walking right?”

Lily froze for a moment before she looked more closely at me again and then realized her blunder. Her face flushed even more with embarrassment when she realized. How much more red can this girl get? She’s as red as a tomato.

Graff gladly jumped in to explain(brag). “This ‘ere is a wheelchair! With this bad boy ye can push around even a sack of blood trites and parade around town!”

Graff then continued to extrapolate passionately for several minutes. It was to the point where Lily started to get spirals in her eyes. Even I’m surprised at how much he can expound upon such a simple subject. It gradually turned into nonsense partway through.

“Alright, that’s enough. All you have to do is grasp these two handles and push to move it. Can you do that?” Jayr interrupted Graff and explained to Lily. Lily nodded and went behind me, pushing the wheelchair.

“I’ll hold onto this and I’ll serve it to you later. Enjoy your day.” Jayr spoke as we entered the clinic hall.

We were pretty eye-catching. It’s not just the fact that someone is sitting on a moving chair, but it was also because Lily was pushing behind me. I was quite surprised when I saw her pushing this thing so casually. I didn’t expect this strength from her thin arms. Or maybe it’s just not as heavy as I thought and my arm muscles haven’t healed sufficiently. Let’s go with the latter.

It’s somewhat embarrassing to be seen being pushed by a young girl, but I hope they can forgive me after seeing the limbs covered in splits and bandages under the loose clothing.

The other patients started to clamor, but they didn’t approach or cause trouble due to the glare from the receptionist. She looked like a bookish woman, but she was surprisingly frightening. 

As we passed through the crowd, I noticed their conditions. A lot of them had a lot of bandages covering limbs or parts of their bodies. Head, arms, legs, torso, it was an assortment. They also had one big similarity.

Most of them were wearing some sort of uniform. They were wearing a dark maroon colored button-up long sleeved shirt, with long brown trousers. Only some of them were buttoned up though, with others having their uniforms loose, or some just not wearing them at all.

These were probably guards or some sort of police force of the town. Something big must have happened if this many of them are injured though. Around 10 or 15 people were in the clinic as far as I could tell. When I looked at them with curiosity, they also looked back at me. Some of them weren’t very friendly gazes however.

I decided to just keep to myself and look ahead. No need to look for trouble. I was well aware of what those kinds of gazes meant. It’s just somewhat… nostalgic to feel it again.

We eventually left the clinic through that massive doorway and into the town.

And so starts my awkward walk(date?) with Lily.

——————————

This is the second release of the day. A third one will be on the way in the middle of the week.

Finally, I can begin the plot progression. Someone might wonder why Oliver is still clinging to his common sense in this situation. At least, I hope someone will, because I have readers, right? I’ll just say that, would you be as willing to accept the unbelievable as a light novel protagonist would? Especially if you were a person who lives primarily on logic and reason?

Also, Oliver is NOT a lolicon, nor a dense protagonist. Probably.

The social interactions in this one were pretty scuffed imo. Any feedback would be appreciated. 

P.S.: I almost forgot to explain the cover photo. It's just a tentative cover I made in my spare time. It's pretty much just gonna stay a meme until I get the time and mood to draw something properly for the book. That's our MC on the cover right there.