What Is Our Healer Doing?
In the bustling heart of Carpe, the central city of the continent where commerce and transportation converged from every corner of the world, people streamed through the streets like a river in full flood. Merchants seeking guards, adventurers ready for quests, and shopkeepers catering to them all filled the air with noise and activity.
The square was crowded. But in its very center, a figure draped in a deep hood—face hidden—stood out. He held up one large placard.
[Party Needed]
A heavy thud echoed as the sign was planted firmly in the ground. He dropped down right beside it, sitting with a thud.
Carpe had always been full of half-and-half adventurers—rookies and veterans mixed together. But no one had ever posted a placard like this in the middle of the square.
Why would someone do such a thing on the street? The question burned in the minds of those who passed by.
Some stopped to ask.
“Why are you doing this here?”
That was the fourth time.
The speaker was a man in rough leather armor stitched from wild-animal hide, his head already gleaming bald.
“If you’re looking for a party, go to the guild. Don’t you know anything?”
That was the third time.
Carpe was famous as the adventurer’s city, and every passerby who spoke to him looked like a proper adventurer. To them, the hooded man sitting in the street looked like a clueless beginner.
Maybe they wanted to trick him, maybe they just felt sorry for him, or maybe it was pure kindness.
Every single one of them asked the same question.
“If you don’t know where the guild is, I can—”
The man showed the tag he held in his hand.
A crude iron plate issued to guild rookies.
When the bald man realized it was the five-silver beginner badge, he frowned deeply.
“I was just coming from there.”
The voice came from inside the robe, young and male.
“Then why—”
“No party is forming.”
The young man’s voice was so small it was almost inaudible.
“A world where healers are looked down on… I must be insane…”
“...Never mind the reason. Do you have any skills at all?”
He looked like a total beginner, but even beginners had something.
Otherwise they wouldn’t have started this life. And without skills they would have died long ago.
The young man hesitated, then spoke carefully.
“...I can treat minor wounds.”
“Treat? Wrap bandages? Or use herbs?”
“...Something like that.”
“Just something like that? You’re not going to use potions, are you?”
Potions were the most expensive things alchemy and enchantment mages could craft, requiring days and nights of gathering rare materials. Even then, they could only barely heal arrow wounds, let alone anything serious.
“If that’s all, it won’t help much. If you can wield a club, that’s better. Fighters always need support—”
“I can’t do any of that.”
“What?”
“I can’t attack. I can’t hit.”
The man lifted his head slightly. The golden eyes inside glowed.
The negative emotions swirling inside—irritation, regret, anger—made the bald man feel a chill run down his spine.
Still, the speaker was a philanthropist.
This was a man with a wide heart who hoped that young stranger wouldn’t die on the street.
“...You seem to have some reason. I’ll give you some advice. Even if you don’t know, it’s best to prepare something that can protect your body.”
“...”
“No one would bring a party member who can’t swing a club anyway. Not a burden, but a laborer maybe.”
“...I know.”
The bald man looked at the hooded man with pity, then turned and walked away.
Only two kinds of people spoke to strangers like that.
Either genuine philanthropists with big hearts or scammers.
Three of the people who had talked to him were scammers, and one was the bald man who had seemed kind.
But none of them had reached out a hand.
They were either philanthropists or scammers, not burdens.
Adventurers who risked their lives would never let a stranger join their party as dead weight.
“Damn… Why do I even do this…”
No one was listening, even when he complained while sitting on the ground.
If only that damn curse hadn’t been on him—
“Excuse me.”
A calm voice that didn’t fit the rough city at all.
A strand of golden thread fluttered in the wind, catching the sunlight.
Emerald eyes that seemed endless and beautiful watched from within.
She spoke gently, pulled by the voice.
“What are you doing here?”
A sword and shield strapped to her waist marked her as a vanguard adventurer.
Her leather armor, reinforced with decent iron, showed she was no amateur.
And most telling of all, the bronze plate hanging at her neck reflected the sun.
“...Bronze?”
The man’s voice trembled with disbelief as he read the rank on her plate.
“A Bronze-rank adventurer like you talking to a useless guy like me?”
“I heard people whispering. There’s a strange man standing in the middle of the square.”
She checked the placard he had set up, let out a small sigh.
“You look like a rookie. You didn’t hear the story about what happens when you form a party outside the guild? Such parties don’t get guild protection.”
“I heard that when I registered. But what’s the problem? No one wants to join.”
“...No one?”
The young man.
Even though his build was small under the robe, he didn’t look especially fragile.
Death was common in the adventurer city, yet young men were always in short supply.
Even a rookie young man who didn’t even sweat his own back was the kind of worker many parties preferred.
“That’s strange. Young men, especially rookies, should have a lot of people chasing after them…”
“Even they run away when they hear the story.”
He shrugged, a self-deprecating smile on his face.
“I just can’t attack.”
“...You seem more nervous than I thought.”
“No, it’s not that—”
The man trailed off, then stood up as if he had made a decision.
He was a little taller than her.
When he lifted his head, his golden eyes caught her attention like nothing else.
“...Unusual… beautiful eyes.”
“What, are you complaining?”
“No, it’s not that—”
Before she could finish, a stone flew toward her shoulder.
He had thrown it with full force.
Startled, she drew her sword and shouted.
“What are you doing?!”
“Just wanted you to see. Stand still for a second.”
He rolled a few stones in his palm.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“What are you trusting?!”
“These stones are easy to dodge, right? And I’m throwing them at your armor, so no need to worry.”
“Are you crazy? Throwing stones at a stranger?!”
“I can’t punch or stab, can I?”
“Then why are you talking?!”
Her voice rose.
The man pocketed the stone, voice still unsteady.
“Throw it!”
“My heart!”
“Was it because you couldn’t join the party that you’re like this? Not just your personality, right?”
“I didn’t think that…”
He scratched his head, then sighed deeply.
“As expected… not being able to attack is the biggest problem.”
“If it’s hard to fight on the front line, how about using a bow or spear?”
“No, it’s not the weapon.”
He shook his head lazily, then smiled self-deprecatingly again.
“It’s a curse.”
“...A curse?”
“Yeah, a curse.”
When he was little.
The day his parents led him to the temple.
The moment he looked up at the statue in the center.
That was when the curse had stuck to him.
.
.
.
Philanthropist
Because you love everything that lives in this world, you possess a gentle heart that cannot bring pain to anyone! This is truly something worth praising! Is it not fitting for you?
Every attack on living beings is nullified.
“I have one hell of a curse.”
The man stared at the words floating in front of him, spitting them out like poison.
“So don’t worry. I’ll show you something strange.”
“...No matter how I look at it, that sounds suspicious.”
“If you really think I’m trying to trick you, you can kill me then.”
Even though his tone was calm, she still couldn’t erase the doubt from her face.
Checking her expression, the man sighed—the fifth time.
He reached for the chain hanging from his neck.
On it was a silver cross.
The Rosario given to temple priests.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized what it was.
“So you saw it. Then—”
“Stealing that from a priest like you will bring divine punishment.”
“Steal? Who would? It’s mine!”
“You have a priest who just throws his hands around like that?”
She had never worn such a full expression of distrust since meeting him.
Just when she was considering grabbing him and handing him over to the temple, his voice came, half-resigned.
“...Yeah, that’s how it is. I was just talking nonsense to a useless guy like me.”
“What?”
“Don’t waste time on someone like me. Go do your own thing. I’ll figure it out somehow.”
His voice sounded defeated.
He gently stroked the crude placard he had made himself while muttering.
“Originally I just ran out of the temple with nothing… If I had known this would happen, I would have brought something valuable. I didn’t bring anything for fear of being tracked…”
“...Tracked? You ran out?”
“There is such a thing.”
Her subtle expression deepened as she shook her head, as if saying no, then she seemed to think for a moment.
“I understand. I’ll believe you.”
“...It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but you don’t keep getting called a burden, do you?”
“N-no way!”
She shouted, then sheathed her sword with a firm step and took two paces back.
“Throw it.”
“...For real?”
“Then why fake it? Even though it’s scary, be a little gentle…”
And at that moment.
The instant the stone shot toward her with a wind that cut like a blade, she swallowed dryly.
Thud!
The stone and metal armor collided, the sound dull and heavy.
He had thrown a fist-sized stone with full power. The impact was strong.
The armor shattered on contact, spraying stone shards. She staggered, then—
“...Huh?”
Feeling something off, she tilted her head and looked at him.
“...Did you throw it properly?”
“You saw it with your own eyes. Full force.”
“No, it’s just that…”
She brushed the stone dust off her armor.
“...There’s no impact at all?”
“I told you. It’s a curse.”
With that, he sat back down on the ground.
“That’s why I can’t join a party.”
“...A priest bearing a curse? Did you offend a god or something?”
“...”
“...For real?”
“Ah, no!”
“You did?”
“...”
In the silence, she let out an involuntary chuckle.
“You’re really an unusual person.”
“...What, are you complaining?”
“At first I thought you were a scammer, then I felt sorry for you, and now you’re just weird.”
“What do you want to say?”
She spoke with a smile, and he answered with a dissatisfied voice.
“My name is Er. I’m a Bronze-rank adventurer.”
“...What do you do?”
“Self-introduction.”
She extended her hand.
“Won’t you tell me your name?”
“...Do you really need to know?”
“Of course. Especially—”
The golden eyes hidden under the robe were striking.
Er noticed her reflection in the eyes that looked like molten gold.
“Not knowing a party member’s name is strange, right?”
“...If you’re pitying me, no need. You shouldn’t hire useless people with pity.”
“It’s not pity. I need someone like you.”
“...Someone like me?”
“At least you won’t hit me in the back, right?”
She wanted to hit him in the back, but there was nothing she could do.
Without power, how could she betray a Bronze-rank adventurer?
“I’m recruiting for a dungeon party, and labor shortages are bad. Normally we bring in a lot of rookies as laborers…”
“...You’re taking me?”
“Yes. You look strong carrying that heavy placard. Laborer and porter would be perfect. I’m not expecting much from a Scrap Iron rookie.”
Annoyed that his downward glance felt like an insult, he opened his mouth.
“I don’t want to. I can’t do labor. I still have male pride—”
“Food provided during exploration, one-day trip, pay twenty silver.”
“Thank you, employer. I’ll work like a dog for you.”
His attitude flipped instantly, bowing his waist.
Her expression was dazed at first, then she covered her mouth and burst into laughter.
“Pffh… What are you?!”
“If you experience my situation, you’ll understand. Right now I don’t even have enough to buy dinner…”
“How did you even get here?”
“Hid in a supply wagon, took all my money… that’s it.”
He had hidden in a temple-bound wagon, jumped off midway, walked to a nearby city, paid for the ride to Carpe, and nothing was left.
“Carpe’s waterfront is surprisingly expensive.”
“Adventurers spend money like water.”
Most people in Carpe were adventurers who might die tomorrow.
Since they didn’t care about saving, it was inevitable.
“So you still haven’t answered?”
“If it’s just laborer work, sure.”
“Your name.”
After a pause, he fiddled with the edge of the hood covering his face.
“...Ahin.”
His surname didn’t exist because his parents were commoners.
“Please treat me well.”
He reached out his hand, and she shook it.
“Please treat me well, Ahin.”
Er smiled brightly.
“...You really get called a burden a lot, don’t you?”
“S-stop it!”