The Reluctant Healer (6)
The air felt icy. A dagger had been driven straight into my chest. I could barely open my mouth.
“Brother.”
I hated bastards like this.
“To get straight to the point, it is impossible for me to ‘lend’ the priest to you.”
“Mages can be hired with money. Why can’t a priest be hired the same way?”
“We have devoted our bodies to God.”
“As I said, I’ve prepared a generous donation, so you won’t feel slighted. That settles it, doesn’t it? We’ve shown our sincerity to God, so surely He would permit the priest to work diligently?”
What truly angered me wasn’t the man’s mocking tone. It was the fact that his words reflected the grim reality of the Holy Empire. The empire’s wealth came from its shameless greed for money. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the Holy Empire eventually started officially renting out priests for gold. But not yet.
Not until that order comes down from above.
So rejecting this disgusting proposal wouldn’t cause any real trouble.
“I must decline.”
“Everyone knows you love money. Why are you acting like this? Do you really want me to keep repeating myself?”
“I will say it once more. It is not possible.”
I had coldly shut down the man’s offer, but the unease in my chest refused to vanish completely. Was he really the only one thinking this way? Anyone with half a brain could come up with the same idea. If you brought a healer into a labyrinth party, you could receive immediate treatment. That would let you hunt longer and dramatically increase your safety.
I did come here expecting to enter the labyrinth eventually.
But after actually arriving and seeing the situation for myself, I realized there was no need to rush. The Holy Empire planned to send a proper, fully prepared expedition team in the second wave before allowing anyone into the labyrinth.
Good thing I got here early and claimed my spot.
Looking at the condition of these fledgling healers, I had been worried about what might happen to them inside. This was for the best. The real problem was the higher-ups. Some countries might make an official request. They would offer money in exchange for “borrowing” healers. How would the money-obsessed leadership of the Holy Empire respond?
It could go either way.
Eventually, I suspected they would have no choice but to allow healers to enter the labyrinth. If they wanted to continue exploring it, healers would need to go inside.
If too many people die in there, even the Holy Empire will face criticism.
How long could the empire truly protect its healers? I needed to train them before that deadline arrived. At the very least, these clueless little chicks had to be able to pull their own weight.
And if I could rack up enough service points in the process and get out of here, that would be perfect.
My goal was simple: squeeze as many service points as possible before the order came down to send healers into the labyrinth, then make my escape.
Just endure for a few months.
Surely I could last that long. If I worked hard teaching the priests, maybe they would take that into consideration when evaluating me. I could only hope.
“In the future, if people like that show up again, don’t give them any room. Just tell them firmly that it’s impossible.”
“Yes, I’ll do that from now on.”
“If they keep bothering you even after you refuse, call for me.”
“Understood! Thank you so much for your help.”
I couldn’t leave the troublemakers to these innocent little chicks. Even though it was only temporary, I had decided to stay sharp and look after them properly until the official bishop in charge of this place arrived.
“Have you heard about Priest Arthur?”
The moment someone brought up that name during break time, every priest in the room turned their heads.
“Yes?”
“Isn’t he just so cool?”
“…!!”
What started as a casual remark created quite the ripple.
“Oh my! If you say something like that…”
Coincidentally, most of the priests gathered here were female healers in their early twenties. While they had devoted themselves to God, that didn’t mean they couldn’t marry. Naturally, they couldn’t help but be interested in the opposite sex.
“We’re all girls here. When else are we going to talk about this? Don’t you sisters feel the same?”
“Honestly, it would be harder not to think he’s impressive, wouldn’t it?”
He was the youngest chief healer in history. That title carried enormous weight. Because he was such a promising genius, many important people were keeping an eye on him. And yet this remarkable man wasn’t cold or arrogant. He was kind. For the young priestesses in the prime of their youth, it was nearly impossible not to develop feelings for him.
“I see now why he became the youngest chief healer. Watching him up close, it’s obvious. The knowledge he possesses is truly incredible.”
“What’s even more amazing is that he willingly shares that knowledge with us.”
They had heard all sorts of rumors about him from various places. It was hard to understand why such an extraordinary person would choose to stay in a small, remote village instead of coming to the city.
Maybe he deliberately chose to live in a backward village to focus on his service?
When they learned that the Priest Arthur they had only heard about in rumors was part of the labyrinth’s advance team, they were utterly shocked.
“To be honest, I was really worried at first. There were some unpleasant rumors about him. I knew I shouldn’t let myself be swayed by gossip, but I thought there must have been some truth to it.”
Yet the Arthur they met in person was completely different from those rumors.
“It must all be nonsense spread by jealous people.”
“Exactly! People who haven’t met him might fall for the rumors, but anyone who has actually experienced Priest Arthur’s kindness would know they’re all lies.”
“And he teaches us everything without asking for anything in return.”
It was impossible to deny that their favorable opinion of Arthur stemmed largely from his teaching. Since they healed patients using methods revealed by God, the knowledge each priest possessed varied greatly. It was only natural that more talented individuals knew more healing techniques. Senior priests had compiled their knowledge into books, but the diseases that plagued humanity could never be fully contained in just a few volumes.
Obtaining advanced medical knowledge was no easy task.
“You know that trauma medicine book we’ve been studying? Have you seen who wrote it?”
“Ah! I was shocked when I saw it too. I thought I was the only one who noticed, so I didn’t mention it.”
“Why? Is there something wrong with the author?”
Most of them seemed to already know the writer’s identity.
“The author is Bishop Saul.”
“What about him?”
“Oh my goodness, do you really not know? What Bishop Saul used to do? He’s incredibly famous.”
The two who didn’t recognize the name fidgeted anxiously, desperate to learn the truth.
“Please tell me. I’ll remember it for sure.”
“He may be retired now, but he was once an Inquisitor. When he appeared, heretics would tremble and wet themselves in fear.”
“!!!”
The duty of an Inquisitor was to punish heretics and demons. They were so rare that most ordinary priests would be lucky to see even one in their entire lifetime.
“I didn’t understand why the youngest chief healer was staying in a small village, but it makes sense now. He must have been undergoing his service. If I could receive instruction from someone like that, I would have been willing to live in the countryside too.”
The chance to have a former Inquisitor as one’s master wasn’t something that came to just anyone.
“Then that medical book must be incredibly valuable, right?”
“Of course. If you tried to buy it, even ten million gold wouldn’t feel like too much.”
“And Priest Arthur gave us that priceless book for free?”
For a moment, all the healers were overcome with emotion. They clasped their hands together and offered a silent prayer for him.
“Priest Arthur must be aiming for the position of Cardinal, don’t you think?”
“Cardinal…”
The rank directly below the Pope, carrying immense honor and authority. Only the most devout and respected clergy, those held in the highest esteem by countless believers and possessing world-renowned reputation, could ever hope to sit in that seat.
Gulp.
In the minds of the healers, Priest Arthur had now become someone they absolutely needed to impress.
In truth, even without that speculation, they would have felt favorably toward him. Just receiving the medical book would have been enough to move them, but he had gone further, telling them to come to him with any questions and treating them with genuine kindness. And when they actually visited, he answered everything. Sometimes he even gave them snacks. It would have been abnormal not to like him.
“Is there anything we can do for him? He works so hard, but we haven’t done anything to repay him. It doesn’t feel right.”
“I feel the same. I’ve been thinking about doing something for him, but I don’t have anything worthwhile to offer, so I haven’t been able to act.”
“What could he possibly need?”
Priest Arthur seemed so capable and intelligent. They wanted to surprise him with a gift, but unfortunately, no good ideas came to mind. In the end, the healers could only agree to treat him kindly in their own ways and ended the conversation there.
Our little chick healers have been acting strange lately. It must be because the day the labyrinth gate opens is drawing near.
It’s embarrassing to say, but they’ve started showing an excessive amount of interest in me.
This is getting annoying. Did the incident from back then spread as a rumor?
The only reason I could think of for the priests suddenly paying so much attention to me was that event. On top of that, people asking to “borrow” healers had been showing up fairly often since then. The fledgling healers probably felt anxious because of them and kept coming to me. I think it’s time I sat them down and made things crystal clear.
Who do they think they are, trying to take these chicks into the labyrinth? Absolutely not. I won’t allow it.
I’ve been raising them with so much care!! Even if they came here with ambition, mustering the courage to actually enter the labyrinth isn’t easy.
The bishop needs to get here soon so I can talk to the higher-ups. When on earth is he coming?
Only then can I cleanly deal with all these hyenas sniffing around.
Because it’s a temporary position, some of them don’t listen even when I refuse.
Anyway, I wanted to hand off this heavy burden I had accidentally shouldered to someone else as soon as possible. If I were ambitious, I might have used this situation as an opportunity to advance myself, but that kind of bothersome scheming wasn’t my style. Besides, I still lacked the ability to properly look after and protect others.
What I want is to earn my position through skill, not climb up by luck.
Having tried it myself, I realized leading people was no ordinary task. My respect for the bishop grew even stronger as the day the labyrinth gate would open drew rapidly closer.
“Why is that day already here?”
Where had my time gone? While I spent my days comforting the anxious little chicks, time had flown by, and the day the labyrinth opened had arrived.
The only noteworthy event during that time was the arrival of additional personnel from the Holy Empire.
The problem is that none of them are from the healer division.
Not only were there no regular healers, there wasn’t even a chief healer or a bishop. None of them had come.
Does it make any sense that the owner of this golden goose still hasn’t shown up?
The situation left a very bad taste in my mouth. If no more people were added, we might actually have to take the fledgling healers into the labyrinth. Trembling with anxiety, I watched as the day the labyrinth opened finally dawned.
This wasn’t part of the plan at all.
I still hadn’t managed to shed this temporary label…
Despite my gloomy mood, the city was packed with an enormous crowd that had come to witness the opening of the labyrinth. It was only natural. This was the first divine oracle in a very long time, and the ‘labyrinth’ had left a massive mark on history. Everyone was intensely curious.
“…It is morning, right?”
“It is. But the sun hasn’t risen.”
As if to prove it truly was the prophesied day, an incredible sight unfolded from the very first light of dawn. Even though it was morning, the sun had not appeared. Because of that, the people trembled in fear. Right up until the moment the gate to the labyrinth opened.