The Price of Healing Magic (3)
Early in the morning, Akasha opened her eyes. Turning her head to the side, the first thing she saw was Sieg’s face. Just looking at him was enough to bring a smile to her lips. She had heard that there were sights so beautiful they could brighten your mood with a single glance. She suspected this was exactly that kind of view.
Thanks to the pleasant awakening, Akasha rose with care. She straightened the spot where she had lain, then slipped over to the other empty bed. Closing her eyes again and pulling the blanket up to her chin completed the act. A perfect crime.
Even she knew it was excessive to sleep beside Sieg every night. A grown woman sharing a bed with a man like him was simply improper. Yet her longing to stay close was just as strong, so she had reached a simple conclusion: she would do it in secret.
Every night she waited until Sieg fell asleep, then returned to her own bed before he woke. That was her routine.
“Good morning~.”
Sieg had woken up. Hearing his voice, Akasha pretended she had only just awakened as well. She approached him naturally and slipped into his arms.
Sniff, sniff. Sieg carried her scent. It was the unique aroma only beastmen could detect—her territorial mark.
Among beastmen, foxes in particular declared ownership this way, by leaving their own body scent behind. This person is mine.
Of course, she did it without Sieg ever noticing. Every time she caught her own scent on him, a thrill ran through her. The feeling of doing something naughty. A touch of guilt, paired with an addictive rush.
“Then I’ll be off~. See you this evening~.”
“Yes! Have a safe day! Hehe.”
She saw Sieg off once he finished preparing to leave. Then Akasha began to move quickly as well.
She had believed her scent would be enough to protect him. But after catching the smell of that female the other day, she finally understood how dangerous the situation had become. At this rate, Sieg was in real danger.
She didn’t know what kind of woman it was, but it had to be someone who approached after seeing his face. How dare she come near my God? Absolutely unforgivable.
Akasha followed Sieg outside. She trailed him at a distance, silencing her footsteps.
Sieg arrived at the library without deviation. Akasha entered right after him. She found him quickly. He was already seated, pulling out a book. The moment he sat down, he was completely focused.
He’s so cool.
His concentrated expression was incredibly attractive. And of course, Akasha was not the only one who thought so.
The eyes of everyone nearby had gathered on him. A few whispered among themselves, fidgeting as they debated whether to approach. But no one actually did.
The aura radiating from his appearance was overwhelming. Besides, disturbing someone so deeply focused felt somehow wrong.
“Hmm… so it’s this one?”
Watching Sieg study so earnestly, Akasha felt relieved.
Was it… just a coincidence?
After secretly following him, she saw that Sieg was completely absorbed in his studies. The other females showed interest but didn’t dare approach. As long as Sieg didn’t show interest first, everything would probably be fine.
Thank goodness.
Akasha let out a long sigh of relief. In truth, she had been anxious. Worried that Sieg might abandon her for another woman.
After losing her mother, Akasha had always been alone. No one offered sympathy to someone as wretched as she had been—only looks of disgust. She had come to Marleryung out of necessity to be healed, but thanks to the Church’s influence, not a single person in the city looked kindly upon beastmen.
Sieg was the first to give her such warm affection. That was why he was so precious. He was Akasha’s only sanctuary.
“Aha, so that’s what it was! The scripture is actually worth reading?”
Now that her worries had eased, Akasha turned to leave. She felt guilty for doubting Sieg, and she didn’t want to disturb his studies any further.
The moment she took a light step to depart—
“Lady Soho, you’ve arrived.”
Sieg’s voice pierced her ears. It was a gentle, affectionate tone she had never heard him use for anyone else.
“Studying on your own even before class starts? How diligent.”
The woman facing him appeared to be from the Seolha Empire. The outfit that boldly exposed the side of her breast looked utterly vulgar.
“Hehehehe.”
The way she kept sending coy, flirtatious glances was sickeningly fake.
Grind.
Rage surged through Akasha. The impulse to rush forward and sink her fangs into that neck nearly overwhelmed her.
But—
“Then shall we begin?”
The two of them continued studying together, both deeply focused. She couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. The fear that she might earn Sieg’s hatred if she interfered held her back.
“…Let’s go back.”
What Akasha feared most was Sieg growing distant from her. She would vent her anger somewhere else.
Fortunately, there was a dungeon beneath Marleryung where demonic beasts appeared. Going there didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.
After that day, numerous brutally slaughtered demonic beast corpses were discovered in the dungeon.
It had already been six days since I started studying with Soho. I had learned an incredible amount in that short time. Even though the exam was tomorrow, I was confident I would pass even if I took it right now.
“This section works like this.”
I couldn’t deny that I had received a great deal of help from her. But there was one strange detail.
“Ugh…”
Soho kept displaying bizarre symptoms at random. The truly astonishing part was that she never repeated the same one. She came with a new affliction every single day, like picking flavors from an ice cream menu.
One day her skin would break out in boils. The next, her body would wither until she looked like a skeleton. Today she arrived cursed so that her body melted like slime.
So when I cast the healing magic, her reactions were always—
“You’re healing this too? Now I’m getting curious?”
She would drop meaningful comments like that. Or—
“At this level… can you really heal anything…?”
muttering to herself as if lost in her own world.
At this point it was obvious she was deliberately coming with curses.
Well, I enjoyed it too.
At first I found her behavior suspicious, but I couldn’t deny that I was having fun. Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t excited to see what curse she would bring next.
It felt like a delivery buffet that showed up on its own. Especially since I hadn’t been able to use much magic lately because of all the studying, it was actually welcome.
The reason I could think about it so casually now was that I had finally figured out why she was acting this way.
She must be researching it to cure her older sister’s curse.
From her mutterings, her behavior, and what I knew about her family, it was easy to piece together. Right now she was testing whether my healing would work on her own household.
It was a welcome development. After all, my reason for approaching Soho had been the same.
And if I could ultimately heal her older sister Daeho…
The threat of the Demon King’s army didn’t seem so frightening anymore. In the original story, even the Demon King had delayed his invasion out of fear of her.
I just have to hope there are no side effects from the healing magic.
Soho was the first person I had used healing magic on repeatedly. At the beginning I never even considered there might be side effects or abnormal symptoms.
“I’m getting a little hungry?”
“It’s absolutely not something I prepared for Lord Sieg to eat. It’s not that I think you should eat this or anything… Here, please have some.”
“Ah, I’m sleepy~”
“Oh? Why is there a blanket here? It’s absolutely not because I thought it would be nice for Lord Sieg to cover himself with while sleeping. It just happened to be here, so…”
Soho reacted with excessive sensitivity to everything I said. The more healing she received, the worse it became. I could see it clearly now.
My healing magic didn’t seem to be just healing.
For now it was only a hypothesis. I had no concrete proof. Still, the ominous feeling in the back of my mind refused to disappear.
I hope nothing strange has happened to the other people I’ve healed so far…?
I could only pray that wasn’t the case.
In Merhen Territory, not far from Brook Estate. This was the place where I had stayed briefly after escaping Brook Estate and before arriving in Marleryung.
Emilia had gone quite far on an errand when she heard a familiar name on the street.
“Is it really all right for you to give me this much food?”
“All of this is thanks to Lord Sieg’s grace. He told me to share my love with my sister without expecting anything in return—just as I had received from him.”
In a corner of the alley, a woman was sharing food with an elderly beggar. It was a truly heartwarming sight.
But the name that kept coming up—
“Ah! Lord Sieg! How beautiful and wise he was. Sister, if you ever meet him, I’m sure you’ll understand exactly how I feel.”
“Ooh! To think there is such a wonderful person…! I believe it.”
At first she thought it was mere coincidence. But the familiar scenes kept appearing.
Everyone was talking about Sieg.
The moment Emilia witnessed these scenes, she thought only one thing.
This is very desirable.
It would be a long, long time before Sieg himself learned of any of this.