Chapter 85
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Lugeron Village - 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn't just barge into a neighbor's house unannounced, so I enlisted Tom's help.
Tom gladly agreed to my request.
"Just come with me to fix some farming tools. We can patch up the warehouse while we're at it."
"I'm worried what this village would do without you, Tom."
"Haha, too much praise can be poison. Besides, you're even better at it than I am."
And so, for the first time, I visited a neighbor's house I wasn't close to.
"Kan, what broke this time?"
"The hoe snapped again."
Kan was around Tom's age. That might explain why I often saw them chatting.
"Tsk tsk, I told you to take better care of it. I'll fix it up quick."
"Thanks. Oh, and can I borrow that sickle you mentioned before?"
"A sickle? That's not something I lend out lightly."
"Come on, between us?"
"What 'us' are you talking about?"
"Tch, fine. I'll share some booze to settle the old debt."
"If you're showing that much sincerity, how can I say no? Here you go."
Of course, it was a debtor-creditor relationship.
Specialized trades really hold power in a rural village like this.
"Hm? Sian, why are you here?"
"I came to help Tom. I heard your table broke—mind if I take a look? I may not look it, but my woodworking skills are on par with Tom's."
"Sorry, but I can't afford to pay you."
"I don't need much. How about helping out when we brew booze next time? I'm hopeless at making it."
"Is that so? If you're asking, sure."
"Thank you."
With the conversation going smoothly, I entered Kan's house to fix the broken table. Unlike our place, it was just one big room, and since they kept livestock inside, the smell was pretty strong.
"Hello. I'm here to fix the table."
"Oh, hello."
A woman sat knitting in a chair, her belly swollen from pregnancy.
Judging by her age, she's probably Kan's daughter or daughter-in-law.
Her husband was nowhere in sight.
Out working the fields, maybe?
"Pardon me, but are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"Oh, cough cough, no... I'm fine."
"..."
The woman insisted she was okay, but she didn't look it at all.
Unlike Chloe, she seemed to be doing grueling housework even in the late stages of pregnancy.
She must've had a rough winter last year.
Remembering how Chloe had struggled with her pregnancy just a month ago, I couldn't ignore a suffering expectant mother.
"We have nymphs at our house. Want me to ask them to check you out?"
"That's... cough cough, I'm fine."
I couldn't push her as she hemmed and hawed. I didn't want to upset her emotionally. So I picked up the table and headed outside, fixed it quickly, then approached Kan.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Is the woman inside your daughter-in-law?"
"Y-yeah."
"I know a bit about medicine, and she's in bad shape. She could miscarry if you're not careful."
"That so?"
Kan didn't seem too fazed by the risk of miscarriage. He treated it like something you could just get pregnant again for.
Is this the average in Lugeron Village? Or just medieval thinking?
"Isn't that dangerous? Get her treated quick."
Tom's reaction suggested it wasn't the latter.
"If we could afford treatment, we would have. Andrew's son died of a plague, so there's no doctor in the village."
"Isn't Sian right here? And those nymphs visited his house—have them help."
"We can't afford their treatment."
"Jeez, you're making this difficult. Do you think nymphs, who follow the gods' will, care about material rewards? Praying to the gods is reward enough for them."
"R-really?"
At Tom's point, Kan glanced at me hesitantly and asked carefully.
"Sian, I hate to ask, but could you...?"
"You want me to come along?"
"Yeah. I don't have the guts to face the gods' proxies alone."
"Got it. Let's go right now."
With that, I took Kan to the temporary shelter in our yard.
Aside from tending to Ciel, they were offering prayers to their god. The nymphs' devotion was beautiful—almost sacred.
"Helia, you free now?"
"Yes. What is it?"
Helia paused her golden ritual disk and responded to my call. I immediately told her about the pregnant woman at Kan's house.
"Chronic fatigue, and it looks like she's been fighting a cold since last winter."
"I see."
After hearing my diagnosis, Helia gathered some things and headed to Kan's.
"Cough cough, who are you?"
"I'm Helia, servant of the Goddess of Love and Hearth, Hestia."
Kan's daughter-in-law was stunned by Helia's stunning beauty.
"May I examine you for a moment?"
"Oh, well..."
"It's fine, dear. Let her treat you."
She glanced nervously at her father-in-law, but Kan scolded her that it was okay.
"Hmm... The hero's diagnosis was spot on. And her immunity is shot from all the hard labor."
"Treating her in this state won't be easy..."
"I think we need to infuse some vitality."
Helia cleared everyone out except me and Kan's daughter-in-law for the treatment. Like Helen before, she planned to use Hestia's miracle through vitality.
"Would calling Ravi have been better?"
"That could be risky. Pure's miracles can heal wounds, but only if the patient's stamina can handle it."
"There are restrictions like that, huh."
As I smacked my lips in mild disappointment, Helia pulled out some familiar items from her bag.
"Those are acupuncture needles, right?"
"Yes. I'll press the meridians and inject vitality."
"Helen did it without any tools."
"That's because Helen is exceptional. She can control Hestia's divinity down to the smallest unit."
"I see."
"It's not for nothing she's the second apostle."
Even the same miracle varied in results based on skill level.
"But that doesn't mean the hero lacks talent."
"Hm? Was it that obvious on my face?"
"Nymphs are perceptive."
Helia smiled like Helen, explaining patiently.
"Hero, your holy power is so vast it's hard to handle as finely as Helen does. It's like trying to thread a needle with a giant's hand."
"Yeah, that tracks..."
Helia skillfully inserted the tiny needles into the daughter-in-law's body. If I tried acupuncture with those, it'd take insane focus.
"Everyone has their strengths. Don't be down on yourself."
"Our own paths... Does that mean hunting monsters with vitality is something not just anyone can do?"
"Using Hestia's power for that at all is impressive."
I couldn't tell if Helia's words were a jab or praise, but her smiling face at me made it hard to argue.
"Come to think of it, there's one thing the hero can do."
"What do I need to do?"
"Fill this place with Hestia's divinity, like your main house. I'll channel it into my holy power for the miracle."
"How do I do that?"
"Huh? Isn't the divinity permeating the house already your doing?"
"Oh, that..."
Apparently, the vitality I'd been expending during our recent nights had broken down into divinity lingering in the house.
Feeling a pang of embarrassment, I quickly conjured Hestia's flame in my palm.
"Like this?"
"It's inefficient, but bear with me a moment. I'll finish the treatment soon."
"It's not hard, so take your time."
Helia focused so intently she barely acknowledged me, carefully pressing the needles while Hestia's flame flickered slowly atop them.
It looks like moxibustion.
The bizarre sight of moxa via acupuncture somehow felt mystical, with the flame's glow and Helia's serene treatment creating an ethereal atmosphere.
"Whew... All done."
"Good work."
I wiped the beads of sweat from Helia's forehead. She smiled brightly at me, but her expression turned rueful as she checked the patient.
"She was on the brink of collapse. I'll have to ask the head of the house to take it easy on her."
"I'll handle that."
Kan's daughter-in-law had passed out like she was sleeping after Helia started. She must've been exhausted.
Honestly, was it right to work a late-term pregnant woman to the point of fainting?
"Kan, a word."
"Y-yeah."
Outside, I explained everything to him.
"Treatment went fine. But if we'd been even a little later, it could've been dangerous."
"Sorry."
"Apologize to your daughter-in-law, not me."
"Sigh... Got it."
Kan let out a relieved sigh, then grumbled to me and Tom with a deflated look.
"It's been rough since last year. Got caught up in some nobles' feud we never even saw their faces, and my sons got dragged off to war one after another."
That's why I could hear it.
The story of ordinary folk living normal lives in this world—unlike me.