Suspiciously Good at Work (3)
I sat down at a restaurant with Henrik, who's suspiciously good at his job.
A salad sat in front of me. A thick steak sat in front of Henrik.
"Why aren't you eating meat? At your age, you need to eat meat to grow."
Henrik paused mid-cut on his steak and asked.
"Um... family circumstances."
It was truly a family circumstance. If anyone knew what the meat in our house really was, they'd turn vegetarian on the spot.
"Hah. Even the Holy Church doesn't completely forbid meat. Your family must be quite devout."
Of course, Henrik had no way of knowing the truth, so it must've looked different to him.
...Well, it's kinda similar, I guess.
I nodded vaguely and changed the subject.
"How long is the probation period?"
"Twelve days total. Two days in each squad."
Henrik gulped down some water and subtly gauged my reaction.
"So, how was the Cheon-gi Squad?"
It'd only been a day, but still.
"The work suits me well. Guess I'm cut out for desk jobs after all."
I wanted a desk job. For real.
It felt just like a normal office gig. No yokai involved.
With my parents out there looking for me.
It was right to keep a low profile as much as possible.
"I knew it! Haha!"
Henrik grinned broadly.
"The Heart's Eye Squad is full of accident-prone hotheads, and the Jese Squad's leader is always changing appearances at whim, so his subordinates are constantly on edge."
He gestured animatedly with his fork, trash-talking the other departments with glee.
"Yep, our Cheon-gi Squad is the most normal by far."
I almost asked if the leader changing forms meant doppelganger, but held back.
Calling it yokai-like would be a harsh insult.
All the high-ranking Council officials were pretty eccentric-looking, anyway.
"Anything else you're curious about?"
"I need info on spirits."
"Spirits, huh..."
Henrik nodded, stroking his chin.
"It's probably because of that spirit that was on your shoulder earlier and is now sleeping in your lap."
"Yes."
"Hm."
He thought for a moment, then spoke.
"There was supposed to be a meeting tomorrow based on the report you submitted. But since you're still on probation, you're not required to attend."
He pointed at his steak with his fork and continued.
"Go check the Council archives managed by the Cheon-gi Squad. There should be spirit-related documents. Researching records is legitimate work, after all."
"Ah! Thank you!"
I bowed my head repeatedly.
It felt like I might find a way to improve Sis Sariya's condition. My heart raced.
The next day.
I arrived at the archives.
With my access level, I could only enter the light blue badge section. Still, it was way richer in materials than the city library.
After rummaging for a while, I found what I wanted.
'Spirits live off natural energies and grow by consuming nutrients infused with the essence of environments matching their attribute.'
Growth.
Was Sis Sariya sleeping all the time because she lacked nutrients?
When she was a yokai, she could just eat bad people or her kin.
'Nutrients infused with natural essence...'
The first thing that came to mind was spirit herbs.
'But they're expensive...'
With my stingy total savings of 450 gold, I wouldn't even catch a whiff.
'Feeding her another spirit... nah, that won't work.'
Darn it.
I'd accidentally thought like a yokai without realizing.
'No way. Absolutely not.'
I shook off the horrific idea and pondered.
In the end, I needed money.
Cheon-gi Squad work was easy on the body, sure.
But right now, with money on the line, going somewhere with frequent performance bonuses made more sense.
...For Sis.'
Cheon-gi Squad... might be a bit tough.
'Tough.'
The path to becoming a rich NEET was long and arduous.
And the next day.
I finished probation at Cheon-gi Squad and moved to Jese Squad today.
Jese Squad handled relief and medical care.
They usually treated patients afflicted by yokai or rule yokai.
Maybe because of the heavy traffic, it wasn't in a spire but a separate building near the central plaza.
The moment I arrived at the building, a pungent smell assaulted my nose.
Disinfectant. Blood. And a faint sour rot.
'Familiar smells.'
Screeech.
I pushed open the door and stepped in. Inside was utter chaos.
"Clear bed three! Compress and stop the bleeding now!"
"No good! The curse is creeping toward the heart!"
The wide ward was a total warzone.
Doctors and nurses in bloodstained white coats dashed through the halls nonstop, while healing magic circles for hemostasis and purification flickered endlessly in the air, casting chaotic lights.
"Gaaahhh! Please, just cut off my arm!"
Patients wheeled in on stretchers writhed and screamed grotesquely.
Black veins writhed like worms under their skin, crawling upward, and torn wounds spewed black smoke.
Victims being eaten alive from within by horrific rule yokai curses.
"Patient's breathing stopped! Holy Church backup here yet?"
"They said soon! But recovery potion stock's out!"
"Then raid the storeroom and grab whatever you can!"
Dark red bloodstains dotted the floor, scattered emergency supplies rolled everywhere, and frantic shouts blended into a mind-numbing din.
No one stood still for a second.
Right in the suffocating asura field where life and death flipped by the second.
I could only stand there like a wooden post, dazed.
"You, what squad?"
Soon, a man with heavy dark circles appeared, something in his mouth. A gold cross badge gleamed on his chest.
'The leader...!'
The Jese Squad leader eyed me up and down, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Badge."
"Pardon?"
"Wear your badge properly in the building."
Oh no.
Sis Sariya, sleeping in my pocket, was wearing my badge.
I had none pinned on.
"Disinfected?"
"Disinfected?"
"Not even the basics."
The man tossed me a gown and disinfectant bottle without waiting.
I fumbled to catch them.
"Know any medical knowledge or rule yokai curse protocols?"
"Uh... no."
"Then just do what you're told."
He left without looking back, tossing one last line.
"No time to babysit today. Figure it out."
And just like that, I was alone in the hall.
...Figure what out how?
I stood there awkwardly, fumbling into the gown, when—
Bang!
The entrance burst open.
"Injured incoming! Make way!"
"Hit by a nasty rule yokai curse! Relief team, now!"
Stretchers flooded in. Screams and groans filled the hall.
No breather before the next wave.
Th-this is bad.
I hurriedly yanked a badge from my pocket and pinned it to my chest. Too frantic to check which one.
Then a woman in nurse garb with a silver badge came running up, panting.
"Squad leader! I was wondering where—!"
Her eyes locked on my chest.
"A kid this time?!"
What?
I looked down.
Gold badge.
The plain gold one with no markings.
'Oh.'
I recalled: the leader changes appearances at will.
'Kid form with a gold badge... she thinks I'm the leader transformed?'
She'd notice no emblem if she looked close, but she had no time for that.
"It's urgent! Help just this once!"
"I-I'm not the leader—"
"It's really urgent! Curse won't stop spreading! Please, just once!"
"Eek—"
No chance to protest.
The nurse grabbed my arm and dragged me like mad.
When we reached the curtained emergency bays.
I was left alone amid groaning patients.
The nurse rushed off to another.
"......"
What now.
I paced anxiously, scanning around.
Patients were in bad shape. Skin turning black. Convulsing and sweating coldly. Fading consciousness.
'Leave 'em be, and they'll really die.'
I disinfected my hands first. Poured from the bottle onto them.
Then approached the nearest patient.
'Rule yokai curse, right.'
No medical knowledge. But curses...
'Dealt with something similar at the cookie house.'
Grabbing the cookie-transforming limbs had reversed it. Didn't know why, but it'd worked.
'Worth a shot.'
I cautiously gripped the patient's blackening arm.
And waited.
...'Nothing.'
'Not working?'
Maybe it was pure luck last time.
I gripped tighter, just in case.
Sizzle.
Then, the blackened skin started reverting to normal color.
'It works!'
My heart pounded.
No idea why, but no time to hesitate.
Next patient. Hand on the convulsing one's forehead.
Tremors eased gradually.
Next. And next.
No clue the mechanism. Not real medicine. Just quack treatment throwing everything I knew at it.
But weirdly, conditions improved steadily.
Strange, but seeing them get better, I kept at it.
'Did I awaken divine power?!'
Nothing else explained it.
All the "saint" and "archbishop" talk must've deepened my faith or something.
After checking every patient in the room.
Haa... haa...
Sweat poured down. I wiped my forehead with my gown sleeve and confirmed the last one.
Color returning to their face.
"Phew......"
Finally done.
Stretching my sore back and wiping sweat, when—
Bang!
The room door flew open.
Two people entered.
Pale-faced nurse. And the candy-munching man from before.
His dark circles looked even heavier.
'Oh.'
The nurse glanced between us, face flushing red.
"I-I... thought for sure it was the leader......"
She stared back and forth at my gold badge and his, lips trembling.
"So rushed... didn't check properly......"
Her head bowed lower and lower until it hit 90 degrees.
"I'm sorry! I mistook a probationary for the leader and dragged him here!"
The nurse burst into tears.
'Shouldn't you apologize to me too?'
The thought crossed my mind, but she was beating herself up so hard I couldn't say it.
The man ignored her completely.
He spat out the thing in his mouth onto the floor. Not a cigarette—a candy.
He slipped past curtains, checking patients one by one.
Pulse. Pupils. Skin tone.
His initially casual movements slowed.
"......"
He double-checked several, then scratched his head.
Turned to me and asked.
"You did these patients?"
"Yes, yep."
The man shoved both hands in his gown pockets and walked toward me thud thud.
Proper leader and all. Figured I'd get chewed out for messing with patients, so I hunched my shoulders.
He stopped in front of me and asked.
"How?"
"How...?"
"How'd you lift the rule yokai curses."
I hesitated, then answered.
"Just grabbed 'em."
"Grabbed?"
"Held their arms and foreheads, and they got better."
His eyes narrowed.
"That's it?"
"...Yes. Think it was with divine power... or something."
"Divine power?"
That really was it.
He stared me down for a long while.
Then picked up the dropped candy and popped it back in his mouth.
Rolled the lollipop once, pulled it out, and said.
"That gold badge."
"Yes, yep!"
Take it off now, right?
Before he could speak, my hand went to my chest.
"Keep it on the whole time you're here."
"I'll take it off ri—What?"
I couldn't believe my ears.