Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Priest, I Need Your Holy Water. (2)
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A small village in the eastern part of the church's territory, without even a name.
Rows of single-story, low wooden buildings—this was a humble, pastoral place where most folks were slash-and-burn farmers, living self-sufficiently off their crops.
Yes, that had been the case until just a short while ago.
What... is this...
Standing at the village entrance with Deacon Rachel, the two of us could only freeze up stiffly, like statues rooted to the spot, not saying a word.
The sound of someone wailing as if the ground itself were caving in. The acrid stench of something burned, and corpses scattered on the ground, their original forms unrecognizable. Taking it all in at a glance, I felt a wave of nausea rising in my throat and immediately clamped my hand over my mouth.
"Ugh..."
Was this what Bishop Lisa meant when she said we'd understand once we got here?
No wonder it felt off when she sent us to a village a bit removed from the church, even though there were closer places.
I had no idea exactly what had happened, but judging by the circumstances, it looked like a monster attack. We'd have to ask directly to know for sure.
"P-Priest... what is this..."
I wasn't the only one shocked. Deacon Rachel's pupils were trembling violently, her face pale with fear.
I'd encountered scenes like this from time to time, so I had some tolerance built up, but for Deacon Rachel, who still lacked experience, this must have been too much.
"Looks like they were attacked by monsters."
"M-Monsters?"
At the word "monsters," her eyes widened like saucers. She was clearly rattled.
"Shall we head in?"
"Y-Yes..."
We couldn't just stand there forever. I took the stunned Deacon Rachel by the hand and entered the village, getting a rough sense of the situation inside.
At least it seemed to have settled down somewhat.
It wasn't a scene of utter devastation with blood splattered everywhere from an ongoing fight.
The metallic tang of blood still hung in the air, and a few horrific sights were hard to unsee, but the crisis appeared to have reached a stalemate.
People were carrying dead bodies on stretchers or cleaning up around them, so it didn't look like there would be another attack anytime soon.
Of course, that's probably why the bishop sent us...
If it had been serious, she wouldn't have sent just an amateur like me and Deacon Rachel.
There had been that kidnapping incident recently too, and while the bishop had a bit of a twisted personality, no one cared about her subordinates' well-being more than she did.
"Hm..."
Letting out a sigh mingled with a grunt, I approached a green, unidentifiable lump slumped by the roadside. The color gave me a pretty good idea what it was, but for confirmation, I nudged it over with my foot.
Squelch—
Sure enough, just as I suspected, an ugly goblin lay there dead, its head burst open with brains oozing out.
"P-Priest! The priest is here!"
As I was taking stock, a voice called out from a distance. Glancing over, I saw an elderly woman with white hair rushing toward me, cheering as if she'd met her savior.
"P-Priest! Save her, please! My daughter...! My daughter's dying!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Grasped by the hand of the elderly woman sobbing and begging me to save her daughter, we arrived at the village's small clinic. No sooner had we stepped inside than the sounds of people writhing in agony filled the air.
"P-Priest?!"
The healers, who had been resting in exhaustion, widened their eyes in surprise at my sudden appearance. The old woman, unconcerned, dragged me straight to where her daughter lay—her legs wrapped tightly in bandages, the woman moaning in pain.
"Please, save my daughter... Uh... Sob..."
The mother grabbed my pant leg, weeping desperately for me to save her. I hadn't even refused, yet she wailed as if the sky were falling.
"Y-Yes, got it. Just a moment. I need to check her condition first..."
Calming the sobbing woman, I began unwrapping the bandages. Soon, the legs hidden beneath were laid bare.
Haa... This is worse than I thought...
Her legs were red bordering on pitch black. The burns were so severe that the entire skin layer was damaged; walking again would be tough.
But... that was only by modern medicine's standards. Things were different here.
With the herbs on hand and some properly mixed holy water, I could make it so she'd walk without issue, though there'd be scarring.
Still... fully recovering muscles that had already carbonized would take at least 2-3 years before she could walk properly.
"Excuse me, healer? Do you have a basin I could use for holy water?"
"Ah, yes! One moment, please."
A woman who had been watching blankly from behind hurried off at my words. Soon, a clattering sound came from the back, and she returned with a basin even larger than I'd expected.
I didn't need it this big, but... tsk, it was urgent now.
"Deacon Rachel."
"Y-Yes."
"While I squeeze out the holy water, could you fetch some honey and rhubarb? I'll mix them 1:1, so bring plenty."
"Yes, understood."
At my instruction, Deacon Rachel turned and headed straight for the herbs, as if she'd been waiting for it.
I let out a long sigh, placed my hands over the basin, and began focusing my mind.
Haa... This is insane. I never thought I'd have to produce holy water the moment we arrived. If I'd known, I would've brought some of the stock I had saved. At this rate, it'd drain my soul dry before we were done.
Drip—
As I concentrated, holy water began beading at my fingertips. The emerald-green, viscous liquid plopped down into the basin.
I needed to fill at least half of this...
Tough.
Just starting out, and sweat was already beading on my forehead. Groaning softly, I glanced around.
By eye, there were about twenty people crammed into the tight space, all moaning in pain—at least moderate injuries. Treating them all was impossible; I'd have to prioritize the most urgent cases first.
"Priest, here are the herbs."
Deacon Rachel returned, arms full. The jar held honey, and the leafy bundle looked like rhubarb.
"Ah, yes, that's right. Could you grind these for me?"
"Yes!"
Was this part of the character's skills? I'd never made medicine from herbs in my life, but the knowledge in my head confirmed it. Aside from memories of Priest Isaiah's personal past, all his accumulated knowledge had transferred to me, proving useful like this.
Anyway, time to focus. I gathered the divine power flowing through my body, concentrating it, and squeezed out as much holy water as I could muster in one go.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haa... Haa... Haa..."
Pour— Drip—
My head was spinning. I'd never produced holy water for this long before; I felt like I might collapse any second.
At some point, my whole body was drenched in sweat, my breathing ragged. I considered stopping a few times midway but realized restarting would demand peak concentration again. Plus, the quality dropped after interruptions, so better to get as much as possible in one shot.
"Rachel... water..."
"Yes, Priest."
At my call, Deacon Rachel held a ladle of prepared water to my lips. I suckled at it like a baby bird.
"L-Let me wipe your sweat too."
"Ah, yes..."
A healer stepped up beside me to dab at my sweat. Her face looked flushed... but that wasn't important right now.
After squeezing for what felt like ages, I finally stopped when I felt like one more drop would kill me.
Looking at the filled amount, barely a third of the basin. I needed more, but pushing further risked me collapsing, so I had no choice but to call it.
"Haa... Deacon Rachel, producing holy water is still tough for you, right?"
"Ah... Um... I could try..."
"No, no need to push yourself. This should be enough..."
I'd asked just in case... but no dice. She looked like she'd struggle. If she could handle it, I wouldn't have stepped up in the first place.
Now we'd have to make do with this... I wondered if it'd be enough.
"What's wrong? Need some holy water?"
"Ah, yes... a bit more... Huh?"
As I pondered what to do, an unfamiliar voice piped up from behind. Turning sharply, I saw a familiar face from the monitor grinning at me—Isabel, the hero, shaking a bottle of holy water.
"I have some here if you want it?"
"Ah... Isabel..."
I had no idea when she'd arrived, but there she was, fresh-faced and smiling brightly. It was the first time I'd seen her since the kidnapping incident.