The Reluctant Healer (4)
A priest who has awakened divine power can apply that power across many fields. Holy knights who channel it into overwhelming strength and unbreakable defense. Holy water artisans who liquefy it to create medicines that mend the body. And healers like me, who use it to treat wounded flesh.
But becoming a healer doesn't mean your studies and training are finished. There are ranks to climb, each demanding years of study and practice. The lowest qualification is apprentice healer. Above that sits general healer, and after grueling examinations and evaluation by a chief healer, one may rise to chief healer.
Given that the average age for reaching chief healer falls in the late thirties to early forties, my promotion at twenty-seven was nothing short of astonishing. Some might call it luck. Even if it looks pathetic, stuck out in the countryside like this, I'm still walking a pretty elite path, you know.
Of course, no matter how talented a priest might be, in the face of the Holy Empire's orders we're all just fireflies in the dark. Plenty of people out there were far greater than me. Yet here I was, the highest-ranking healer assigned to the Labyrinth expedition. The sheer misery of it left me speechless.
What made it worse was that reversing a decision like this was impossible.
“Have you packed everything?”
“Yes.”
I might have forgotten something in my rush, but what could I do? I couldn't hold up an entire group just for my sake. And since changing the Labyrinth assignment was out of the question, I resigned myself to reality.
Bishop seemed worried about sending me into danger. Without my even asking, he gave me a generous supply of holy water and patted my shoulder.
“Let’s be off.”
“Priest Arthur! Stay healthy!”
With my colleagues’ farewells ringing behind me, I left the Palmore Church where I had spent so many years.
Lord Raphael, however, did not head straight for the Labyrinth. His original mission was to gather every volunteer who had applied for the expedition. We stopped at scattered villages along the way, collecting more people until our party finally reached the Labyrinth.
“So this is…”
The Labyrinth.
What could I possibly say about my first impression of the place I had only heard about in stories? No landscape in the world could look worse than this. The dark maw of the Labyrinth entrance loomed like an invitation to hell itself—hideous and terrifying. It made you want to pray to the Sun God on instinct.
“How much do all of you know about the Labyrinth?”
The wide-eyed chicks stared at me, visibly tense. I had expected no answers, so I pointed at one of them. “You. Tell me what you know.”
“Um… I heard there are monsters inside. We have to kill them to stop the world from falling into chaos.”
“Correct. Until now, that single piece of knowledge would have been enough. But things are different now. You have come here for training, which means you need to understand this place.”
“But reliable information is hard to come by. Very few people actually know much about the Labyrinth.”
He was right. Even I, standing here lecturing them, knew painfully little.
“True. Unless you step inside after the Labyrinth opens, any information you hear will remain uncertain. Still, the existence of monsters inside is a well-known fact. Therefore, until the gates open, we need to make one important preparation.”
“What preparation?”
Watching the young priests hang on my every word, I wondered if I might actually have a talent for teaching.
“The patients you will treat from now on will mostly be adventurers injured by monsters. In other words, you need to focus intensively on studying trauma treatment.”
“!!”
Rotting flesh, poisoning, severed limbs… They would come to us bearing all kinds of horrific wounds. But could healers accustomed to internal medicine really handle severe trauma without panicking?
“Is there anyone here with experience treating traumatic injuries?”
“I once treated a torn thigh.”
“I treated someone whose finger had been cut off.”
“And the results?”
“There was a large scar, but the treatment was successful.”
“…In my case, I managed to reattach the finger, but the patient couldn’t move it afterward.”
Listening to them, I couldn’t help sighing. Especially with severed fingers—you had to meticulously reconnect the nerves. You couldn’t just slap the digit back on and pour divine power into it. Well, a healer with truly vast divine power might have forced the nerves to reconnect through sheer force. But this chick lacked both the proper knowledge and sufficient divine power. Reattaching the finger was possible, but reconnecting the nerves had failed.
Trauma treatment required extensive knowledge and meticulous care. The biggest problem is that even I, the one who has to lead these chicks, don’t have much experience with it either.
Still, as the chief healer, I couldn’t show any weakness. The young healers would only grow more anxious. For now, I needed to remain composed and share what knowledge I had.
“From this point forward, I’d like you all to focus on studying trauma treatment.”
The apprentice healers nodded readily, but their expressions still showed worry.
“We’d like to study it, but we didn’t bring any related books. What should we do?”
“I brought some. You can take turns reading them or copy the texts to share among yourselves.”
“Really? Thank you so much!”
“If we have books, studying won’t be a problem! Thank you!”
It seemed my decision to pack books for any unforeseen situation had been wise. The priests, who had been overwhelmed and intimidated by the Labyrinth, now showed genuine enthusiasm at having something to study. It was far better to see them motivated than staring blankly at the desolate surroundings.
Barren. Nothing here at all. Just getting close to that entrance gives me the creeps and sends chills down my spine.
Anyone who could walk into a place like that with a clear mind must have nerves made of steel. Even I wasn’t confident I could enter such a horrifying location in my right mind. The Labyrinth entrance looked exactly like the gate to hell. On the surface it resembled a cave mouth, but the sharp stalactites hanging from the ceiling evoked a demon’s fangs, and the pitch-black interior seemed to warn anyone against entering.
The Labyrinth gate is still closed, I see.
Even when it opened, I doubted that eerie feeling would disappear.
“Priest Arthur. Are you all right?”
“Ah, Lord Raphael.”
While we healers had some free time, Lord Raphael and his party were extremely busy. Now that we had arrived at the Labyrinth, they needed to stake their claims in earnest. Planting flags early to warn others not to trespass.
Three hundred years ago, a city had stood on this very spot. But constant wars over the past three centuries had driven away those who once held the neutral zone. With the Labyrinth entrance closed, the future value of a Labyrinth City had essentially vanished. As expected, the city had been abandoned and left to decay into its current desolate state. Even those who had tried to hold on couldn’t have endured three full centuries of waiting.
Yet now, three hundred years later, people had returned to the Labyrinth’s doorstep and were marking out territories. This was neutral ground, after all. The first to plant a flag became its owner.
“Has the land allocation already been decided?”
“Yes. It was worth arriving early. There’s still plenty of land available. The others kindly yielded good spots, so we were able to claim an excellent location.”
As he said, even though the Holy Empire had arrived late, the surrounding nations would have made sure we received favorable treatment. Once the Labyrinth opened, they would need the Empire’s healers. Maintaining good relations was essential; offending us could lead to serious consequences.
“We’re currently setting up your resting area as our top priority. Please wait just a little longer.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
If it were just me, it wouldn’t matter, but the young healers were exhausted from the long journey. Since most of them were scholarly types unused to physical exertion, they desperately needed rest.
“What are your impressions after seeing the Labyrinth for the first time?”
I couldn’t honestly tell someone who would actually have to enter that place that it looked like the entrance to hell.
“It looks dangerous, so I’m quite worried. I keep thinking about how many lives might be lost… I know I shouldn’t think this way, but it’s difficult not to.”
It was a trial given to humanity by the gods. But after three hundred years of lazy living, could humans truly withstand such a catastrophe? It was impossible not to worry.
“It would be nice if everyone thought like you, Brother.”
“Are there really no other worriers?”
Why are they all such tough guys? Am I the only weakling here?
“Rather than worry, their attention is focused elsewhere. Did you know the monsters inside the Labyrinth are worth an enormous amount of money?”
“Ah! So it’s about money. I knew the materials from monsters sell for high prices.”
“Because of that, it seems most people view the Labyrinth as an opportunity rather than something to fear. Seeing their eyes gleaming with greed, I couldn’t help but sigh.”
The Holy Empire was no stranger to greed. We simply pretended otherwise for the sake of honor. Even when receiving payment for treatment, we called it a “donation” rather than money. It was nothing but wordplay.
“When will the Labyrinth open?”
I had kept this information secret from the bishop, but since I had come all the way to the Labyrinth’s entrance, there was no longer any reason to hide it. Lord Raphael hesitated briefly, then seemed to decide it was fine to tell me.
“It will open in exactly fourteen days.”
“Fourteen days?! That’s only two weeks.”
I was taken aback. I had assumed we would have at least a month, but two weeks felt far too short.
“The oracle gave us exactly one month from the time it was delivered. It would have been better if we had learned of it sooner, but time was short.”
During the past two weeks, the Holy Empire must have eagerly sold information about the Labyrinth—information gained through the oracle—to countries around the world. Otherwise, how could other nations have known in advance and planted their flags in the neutral zone? The Empire had traded the oracle’s contents for the chance to claim territory early.
“Do the other countries perhaps not know the exact date?”
“……”
Lord Raphael gave a bitter smile. Having already profited from the news that the Labyrinth would open, the Empire was likely trying to sell the precise opening date at a high price as well.
They squeeze money out of other countries and use it to educate their own citizens, so even though it feels like thuggery, I can’t completely condemn it.
Thinking about the fierce political maneuvering happening beneath the surface, I let out another sigh. It seemed I had stepped directly into the heart of a political battlefield.