Heart Reset
Thud! I drove the storage dagger straight into Ian’s heart.
Heart reset. The basic principle is similar to a defibrillator. You stop the malfunctioning heart once, then restart it to return it to normal. It’s like rebooting a computer, or a brain melted by gacha finally coming to its senses after seeing an empty wallet, or desperately checking a cloud backup after losing a manuscript right before deadline. There are plenty of similar cases.
The same logic applies here. If the problem is with blood flow, stopping the heart that drives that flow and then restarting it should fix everything. The twisted blessing would weaken as the heart fails, and any wounds could be healed before death. We’re in a temple, so it shouldn’t be difficult.
…But this simple conclusion seemed difficult for others to understand.
“O Goddess! Bestow Your mercy upon the injured!”
“Yona, have you lost your mind?!”
Karen began chanting a recovery holy spell in panic while Lydia, with a near-scream, forced a potion into Ian’s mouth. Thanks to their perfect coordination, Ian recovered quickly, but…
“No, what if you heal him before the blessing is dispelled? You’ll have to do it again, so please prepare once more.”
“What do you mean, do it again!?”
“…Explain! At least give us a proper explanation first!”
They stared at me like I was insane. That’s a bit much. This really was the best method.
I shrugged once and opened my mouth.
“I removed the root of the problem. Inquisitor Ian will be fine as long as we heal him before he dies.”
“What kind of nonsense… Hmm? Wait a moment. No, why would… Could it be?”
Karen had been glaring at me with fire in her eyes, but as the person here most knowledgeable about holy power and blessings, she quickly grasped my meaning. She muttered something under her breath, then nodded shortly after.
“…I understand. Blessings scatter upon death, so if the heart stops, the twisted blessing dwelling within it should vanish as well.”
“Similar, but slightly different. That only applies to complete death. Not when the heart stops and the brain shuts down, but the moment the soul leaves the body.”
“…If the heart stops and the brain shuts down, a person dies.”
Karen countered seriously. There was a slight difference in common sense here.
“No. They don’t die immediately. There’s a brief grace period. If you heal them right away during that window, it’s fine.”
“Is that true?”
“It is. So Inquisitor Ian isn’t dying and coming back to life—he’s simply having his heart stop for a moment. This modified blessing is closely tied to the heart, so when the vessel breaks, it will naturally scatter. …Though some remnants may remain.”
“Remnants, you say? Then it cannot be completely resolved?”
“Not unless Inquisitor Ian actually dies and resurrects. But don’t worry. There are ways to handle that too.”
“O Goddess… You had a plan all along.”
“It’s not the Goddess’s plan, it’s mine… Anyway, I’m going to tear his heart open again now. Count exactly five seconds—no more, no less—then begin the healing prayer. Lydia, please prepare the next potion as well.”
“Understood.”
“…Okay.”
Once the two of them, now convinced I wasn’t crazy, prepared their holy power and potion again, I twisted the still-undrawn dagger half a turn.
Crunch!
The sensation of flesh being crushed at the tip of the blade. Even while unconscious, Ian’s body began to tremble violently as his heart was crushed once more. Karen flinched at the intense reaction, but—
“Not yet! Just wait a little longer!”
“Kgh!”
Only after finishing the five-second countdown in my head did I pull the dagger from Ian’s heart.
Whoosh!
Blood gushed out like a fountain. I took some of it directly on my face without dodging and shouted.
“Now!”
“O Goddess! The wounded lamb is here! Please grant him Your mercy!”
“…Yona, we need to talk later.”
Karen recited her prayer with clasped hands while Lydia glared at me sharply as she fed Ian the new potion. Lydia’s reaction bothered me a little, but right now Ian was the priority.
Flash!
Ian was enveloped in a pale pink light. Almost instantly, a dark purple mist began to rise from the now-healed wound on his chest. For a moment Karen’s concentration wavered, so I shouted firmly.
“Don’t worry about it and keep going!”
“……!”
Karen gritted her teeth and drew up more holy power. As expected, the purple energy—holy power of the same origin, merely tainted—remained unaffected. It simply scattered in all directions and was absorbed into me…
“Huh?”
Why was it rushing toward me instead of just disappearing cleanly? I tried to dodge, but the energy stubbornly followed. It didn’t seem harmful to my body, but it was still unsettling. I tried to move to a position where Karen wouldn’t notice, but—
“Ah.”
Perhaps because it bothered her, my eyes met Karen’s, her face covered in beads of sweat. Lydia noticed too, of course.
Hmm. Am I screwed?
Just knowing this treatment method was already enough to raise serious suspicion. I’d only tried it because Karen already saw me as something like the Goddess’s apostle and Lydia was usually unfazed by my antics. Besides, I’d only saved someone’s life. Even if they grew suspicious, I didn’t think it would become a real threat.
…Until I absorbed the twisted holy power unique to Those Who Swallow the Twilight.
This is insane. What do I do now?
As Ian’s complexion brightened, mine darkened. I slipped a hand into my pocket and gripped the goddess statue. If worst came to worst, maybe I could lift it up and praise the Goddess of Love to get out of this?
Wait. Those Who Swallow the Twilight are also believers in the Goddess, aren’t they? The problem is that they’re heretics. Maybe I should just pull out the “Those Who Swallow the Twilight are total fucking bastards Season 2” card here…
Argh! This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to the temple! I had a feeling I’d get dragged into something annoying!
While I was sweating coldly and grumbling internally, Karen’s holy power finally subsided. The treatment seemed complete. Ian was sleeping with a peaceful expression, completely different from before.
…Well, at least it ended without any major issues.
I let out a sigh of relief and quickly pulled out the goddess statue. Holding it with both hands and raising it above my head like an otter proudly showing off its pup, I shouted.
“Long live the Goddess of Love! Those Who Swallow the Twilight are total fucking bastards!”
“……”
Karen didn’t react to my sudden worship. She just stared at me blankly. Lydia stood protectively in front of me instead of showing suspicion, even though she must have seen everything too. In that subtle standoff, Karen began to shed tears again.
“As expected. I was not mistaken.”
“…Huh?”
“To accept that murky holy power and purify it so purely… Brother Yona must be deeply favored by the Goddess.”
“……”
At those words, Lydia whipped her head around to look at me. But simply staring at an aura user wouldn’t let her sense the quality of holy power—unless it was manifested externally. When I focused my mind inward, I could feel a warm energy spreading throughout my body. It was similar to, yet different from, the tiny scrap of mana nestled near my heart. But it felt more familiar.
Since I’d only absorbed the dregs, the amount wasn’t large, and I didn’t know how to use it. Still, holy power was helpful just by existing. At least it was a good thing for me.
Good, but…
“You could’ve at least said something.”
I didn’t know exactly what had happened, but the Goddess of Love must have helped somehow. I glared resentfully at the statue I was still holding high, but nothing changed. Karen and Lydia simply followed my gaze and marveled at the beauty of the three-star sculpture.
Just as I was letting out an internal sigh of relief, I suddenly jerked my head up.
“Right! There’s still one more thing to do! Inquisitor Karen, could you open Inquisitor Ian’s mouth for me?”
“Yes. Like this?”
Without a word, Karen got up and pried open Ian’s mouth. I stood before him and drew my dagger again—this time not the storage dagger, but the Unicorn Dagger.
While Lydia looked at me with suspicion, Karen spoke with an expression completely devoid of doubt.
“May I ask what you intend to do?”
“I’m going to completely drive out the remaining traces of the curse.”
“What should I do?”
“Just keep his mouth open properly.”
“Yes.”
Karen nodded. I steeled myself and gripped the Unicorn Dagger tightly in my opposite hand.
“Hup!”
The cold blade bit into my palm. Feeling the pain rise a beat later, I dragged the dagger across.
Slice.
Blood welled up from the deep cut on my palm at the same time the Unicorn Dagger emitted a faint glow and began healing the wound. Before it fully closed, I pressed my fist to Ian’s lips and squeezed hard.
Drip, drip.
A few drops of blood, forced out by the pressure, passed through Ian’s mouth and down his throat.
And then—
Flash!
Ian’s body glowed once more and expelled a small amount of purple energy.
…Which was also absorbed into me.
And Karen began kneeling right in front of me.
“A-Ah…! The Goddess sheds blood for the weeping children!”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Mercy means wiping away another’s tears with one’s own blood!”
“I said it’s not that…”
I felt like crying a little myself. Wasn’t starting a problem with blood and resolving it by feeding blood kind of cool? I only put that setting in because it sounded neat!
Stop paying attention already!