The Mysterious Healer
Ahin's hand trembled uncontrollably.
The overuse of mana had begun to squeeze his heart like a vice, and it felt like his stamina had completely run out too—his knees folded limply, unable to support him any longer.
He could no longer hold his sword. Er dropped to the ground with a heavy thud and stared at the result she had created herself. She swallowed dryly.
The orc's body had been torn apart into countless pieces.
A brilliant light exploded from the wound her sword had gouged into its side, shattering the flesh into tens of fragments.
It seemed the blood and entrails had been incinerated as well, because the only thing left in the clearing where the orc's group had camped was an intense smell of burning meat—until the moment a footstep sounded.
“Er!”
“…Ahin.”
“I believed in you!”
He said it with a grin, and Er found herself laughing lightly in response, despite herself.
“Really? Even just hearing it makes me feel grateful.”
“Seriously?!”
“Yes, yes, I do. I know that.”
She had started to stand up when her legs gave way and she nearly fell. Something warm and oddly solid pressed against her body.
She realized it was a man's chest. Er jumped in shock.
“Uh, uh, uh—”
A man beside her was in far worse condition than the orc she had just destroyed.
Er leaned on him, and a moment ago she had been fighting fiercely against the orc warrior. Of course she was drenched in sweat, and her body odor was probably strong enough to be noticed. Her armor, loosened by the fight, was half-undressed.
The soft, unfamiliar sensation of bare skin against her own had never occurred to her before.
“Ahin, thank you…”
She was about to thank him without thinking when the fabric touching her skin felt unusually wet.
She realized it was her own sweat.
Er looked down at her sweat-soaked, dirt-streaked clothes and suddenly let out a startled yelp.
“Kya—kyaaaaah!!”
“Waaah!”
She shoved Ahin away and backed off several steps. When she saw him tumble across the ground and lie there, she finally realized she was the one who had done this to him. She rushed over and held out her hands.
“Ah, Ahin, I'm sorry! Are you okay?!”
“…Rose scent.”
“Pardon?”
“…I see.”
“W-what are you talking about?!”
Er wanted to say something but was too embarrassed. She shouted at the ground instead.
He was still looking at her with a cheek pressed to the dirt when Ahin grinned and spoke.
“No, it's nothing.”
“That's not nothing at all…”
Er, clearly flustered, reached out, and Ahin took her hand and stood up. He dusted off his mud-caked outer robe.
“…You said you came from Carpe, right?”
Rozo's face was hard as stone as he glanced between them.
“Er, you were the swordswoman with shield and sword. Then this young man must be…”
“…a porter, a laborer, and a healer.”
“You're the magic user from the Carpe Adventurer Guild?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Ahin shook his head with an incredulous expression, but Rozo was not buying it.
“I heard there was a skilled mage in the Carpe Adventurer Guild. I never imagined it would be someone so young…”
“It's not like that! What mage?”
“In my opinion, that's the only explanation for the situation.”
Rozo's eyes showed he would not budge. Ahin sighed and reached into his robe. He pulled out the silver Rosario from around his neck and held it up.
“I'm not a mage. I'm a priest. A priest.”
“…Are there even mages who believe in the gods?”
“Not a mage!!”
Unlike Ahin, who had shouted without thinking, Er smiled faintly at the sight and replied.
“It's true. This man isn't a mage… he's just someone with an extraordinary ability.”
“I don't know how you did it, but the orc warrior you defeated should have been at least high Silver-rank. And you yourself weren't strong enough for that level of ability. Yet you managed it. That young man must have been the key.”
He had also healed a leg that was completely useless a moment ago.
“So it's magic.”
“It's not magic—keep saying that—”
“It's magic. Say it.”
“…”
Ahin's stern face was tense.
“It's a mysterious and amazing ability. If it's not impossible, then it's not impossible.”
“…Huh?”
“So I'll call you a great mage. Don't worry.”
Rozo bowed his head with a stiff expression.
“Thank you, both of you.”
“…I only did what I had to do.”
“After all, it was a request.”
“Even as a request, you didn't have to defeat it. If you had the power, you could have just run away. You'd only be after the magic stone…”
“Ahaha, we don't really know. We only traded our souls for the promotion match. Think whatever you want.”
Ahin, sounding as bored as usual, pulled out a butchering knife from his waist and spoke.
“Since it was such a strong one, the magic stone should be huge too. Should I split it with you?”
“…No need. If it had been the one I mentioned earlier, maybe. But this one wasn't on the list.”
“Okay, I'll take it.”
Ahin stabbed the butchering knife into the orc warrior's corpse without hesitation. The already mangled body sliced easily, and extracting the magic stone from the heart area was no trouble at all.
“…You're surprisingly skilled for a priest.”
“Tell me about it. I didn't want to get that good either…”
Ahin looked far away as if he were staring at something distant, the way a crazy person does when trying to learn skills to survive.
His brows furrowed again immediately after.
“Wait, this magic stone looks weird.”
“…It's not black?”
“Where have I seen this color before…”
Ahin stared at the fist-sized magic stone, which stood out from the others by its deep black color.
Then he shouted.
“Skeleton!”
“That's right. The magic stone from a skeleton was black like this, wasn't it?”
“Exactly. Where did you get that one?”
“I think I put it in my pouch…”
Er's face filled with confusion as she reached for her pouch.
The black magic stone pouch she had extracted from the orc she defeated and the one from the skeleton earlier had vanished without a trace.
“W-wait a second. Did you drop it while fighting?!”
“Rolling it around would be dangerous. A normal person would get their whole body blasted by the mana if they picked it up.”
“No, no! It should be around here somewhere—”
“Er, Ahin. Is this what you were looking for?”
A familiar face suddenly appeared beside them.
It was Jina.
She held up the pouch with a playful grin.
“Magic stone? This looks like the right one, right?”
“Jina, where did you find this? You picked it up after I dropped it?”
“I didn't drop it.”
“…What?”
Jina threw something in front of them with the other hand.
It was a large sack.
It twitched and made small, pained sounds.
“Ahin, what is this…”
“You! You were robbed! How come I didn't know that either?”
“R-robbed? Then this sack is…”
“I caught the thief. So praise me! Ahin! Hurry! Tell me I did a good job!”
“You crazy girl, stop doing this whenever you feel like it.”
Ahin shoved the clinging Jina away and spoke to Er, who looked bewildered.
“Er, should we check it?”
“Check…”
“I have a feeling I can tell who it is without opening it.”
“…”
Like Ahin, Er had suspicions too.
“…If you don't want to check, we'll just take it like this.”
Jina tilted her head oddly and said.
“God said that those who covet others' things will be punished.”
“You do that every single day. What about my toothbrush, then…”
“Ahin, are we the bad guys here?”
“…”
Ahin sighed in defeat and looked up at the sky.
“…No, I'll check.”
Er reached for the knot of the sack.
It came undone surprisingly easily.
Once open, Er's expression froze solid like a stone when she saw the face twitching inside.
“S-save me…”
Er forced her mouth open and managed to speak, her lips still parted in shock at the bloodied, unrecognizable face.
“W-who is it?”
“U-uh?”
“I can't tell who it is because my face is all swollen.”
One eye was completely swollen shut, and the lips were torn and bleeding, the whole face burned and swollen. She looked completely unrecognizable.
Jina simply pulled the sack further out without a word.
Only then did Er realize the human features of the person in the sack. Her expression vanished.
No left arm.
An one-armed woman wearing steel plate armor on her neck.
Once she saw that too, there was no doubt left.
“…Jane?”
“E-Er, s-save me…”
Jane's outstretched hand was black and withered.
Er's eyes widened in shock, and Jina crossed her arms.
“You touched the black magic stone in the pouch and it did this. It was leaking mana or something.”
“There are things like that. I'll explain later.”
“Got it. You two, turn off the lights in the room and drink with me!”
“…”
Er had no time to respond to Jina's excited chatter. She asked cautiously.
“J-Jane… why did you… did you really steal it?”
“N-no! I just, I just picked up something that had fallen…”
“Jina, you didn't hit her enough? Your voice is too fine. No conviction, no conviction.”
“That's right. I've been too kind lately.”
“W-what? I did it! I'm sorry!!”
Jane, startled by the voice from behind, scrambled out of the sack and grabbed Er's ankle.
“You're scary! A-anyway, I thought you were going to die, so…!!”
“That doesn't give you reason to steal from someone else.”
Ahin stepped forward and kicked Jane's hand off Er with his foot.
He couldn't harm her, but he could knock her off. It was enough to move her hand, even if it didn't hurt.
“You looked at Er like a pushover, didn't you? You thought, 'I'll do anything if I just act pitiful and touch her guilt a little.' Isn't that what you thought?”
“N-no…”
“Break one of your legs every time you lie. That decision… is up to Ahin.”
“Fine, one.”
“Y-yes! I looked down on Er! I thought she was a pushover who would do anything if I acted pitiful and weak…”
“One.”
Crunch!
Aaaah—!
A scream that burned through the entire orc clearing.
It was horrifying pain.
It was so terrible that she would have wanted to die.
“Why, why—!!!”
“It's a lie, whatever. Hah, refreshing.”
“You crazy bitch, you're a crazy human…!!!!”
“Yeah, I know that too. Jina, the other one—”
“Wait, Ahin, Jina.”
Er separated the two with a flat expression.
She watched Jane scream in agony and turned to the two of them.
“I'll handle it.”
“Er, just leave it to us. We handle stuff like this all the time.”
“Yeah, we can make it look like nothing happened.”
“…You really are priests? Not some violent cult?”
Ahin and Jina were shoved aside as Er lifted Jane from the ground and sat her up.
“Jane, are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”
“E-Er, I, I…”
“No need to say anything. I know everything.”
Er looked at her empty left arm with complicated eyes and spoke.
“I understand why you're blaming me and why you ended up like this. And that… might be partly my fault too.”
Er tried to protest, but Ahin raised a hand to stop her.
“Whether you like it or not, she was the party leader and a colleague. I can't not take responsibility. But… you also didn't do anything good by using my guilt like this.”
“U-uh, of course… I was wrong. So…”
“So now it's over.”
Er looked at Ahin and said.
“Ahin, can I ask one thing?”
“Er, wait. Hey, don't tell me you're gonna…”
“I'm asking.”
“…I can't. Damn, even pushovers have limits…!”
“You watched the whole thing with Jina! I just turn away, okay?”
“…Ah.”
Ahin nodded immediately at the explanation.
Jina was the one who turned Jane into this.
Er had every right to pour out her frustration and say, 'Why couldn't I do anything?'
“…I'll treat her just enough not to die.”
“Uh, yes, please. Just enough not to die.”
Ahin raised his holy power with a disgusted expression.
“Uh, uh…?”
Jane's wounds healed in a flash of light. She blinked in a daze.
Crack—!!
The healed neck twisted unnaturally.
The pain in the neck was enough to make one feel like the bones themselves were broken.
The incomparable pain hit her face.
“Ahk—!”
Ahin said, “Use this one gold coin as treatment. And… you said you needed two more, right?”
Er reached into her robe and tossed two gold coins on the ground.
“This ends it. I hope we never have to see each other again.”
It was far too calm a reaction compared to what she had endured.
“…That's it? Really? No, then I didn't need to use my ability at all.”
Before Ahin could shout, Jane screamed in agony.
“You look completely fine even after doing this to me?!”
Her teeth were missing, and blood poured from her mouth.
“After all… you killed everyone. You killed me too…!”
“Are you insane?”
Ahin let out an incredulous laugh.
“What good does pretending to be kind and calm do?! You're no different from me!! You'll suffer your whole life, have nightmares, and end up just like me!! Even if you're perfect, it'll be the same! In the end—”
“Er, you don't need to listen. She's just spouting nonsense from being beaten too much.”
“You're picking the weirdest things to say. I was thinking of just leaving it to Er, but…”
“Ahin, Jina. Don't worry about it.”
“Er, you don't need to play the pushover here. Just cut her throat cleanly—”
“Just end it like this and forget about it. If her nightmares don't go away like she said… well, they'll just keep coming.”
Er picked up the Rosario around her neck.
“Since they said someone will protect us.”
“…”
Ahin fell silent.
Jina noticed the strange atmosphere between Ahin and Er and jumped up, shouting.
“Wait, I've seen that somewhere. Huh? That Rosario looks familiar!”
“Um, I'm not sure.”
“Wait, Er? Huh? Let me see, huh? I want to check something—stop!!”
“Kya!”
Er jumped back in terror as Jina, eyes spinning, chased her.
Jina chased after Er, and Rozo, who had been watching the whole thing, shook his head and walked away somewhere.
Jane, still with an empty expression, picked up the gold coins from the ground.
Er's response wasn't what she wanted.
But if this could wash away the faint guilt and nightmares she still carried in her heart.
“There, you.”
“H-hiick… w-why, why…”
“Get lost. Never show your face in front of us again. If I see you—”
“I'll go! I'll leave right now!”
Jane scrambled up and ran out after shouting.
Ahin watched her pathetic back with a twitchy expression and kicked a stone on the ground.
Since Er had chosen this, he could at least close one eye.
If she appeared again.
If that woman appeared again and tried to do something weird.
“…I have to protect her. I will.”
This time.
Ahin grabbed the Rosario around his neck.
The silver Rosario, which still seemed to hold some light, shone with an unusually melancholy glow.
●
“Haah… haah…”
Jane ran through the forest clutching the gold coin. She tripped over a tree root.
“Aaaah!!”
The coin slipped from her hand and rolled away.
“My gold coin!!”
She didn't even notice the blood pouring from her face, which had been smashed into a rock. She frantically searched for the fallen coin.
Fortunately, there were no missing coins.
It wasn't hard to find coins stuck in dirt or between stones.
“Huh, huhuh… this is gold… enough.”
She had been through hell, but it was enough.
Er, you were still an idiot.
She would have been grateful just to save her life. Instead, she gave up her own money while pretending to be kind.
“Dumb girl, all that pretending to be smart…”
But it had been worth it.
If she ever got cornered later, she could just find her, cry a few tears, and be done with it.
She knew Er was an adventurer in Carpe. She could find her anytime.
As long as she avoided that creepy black-haired woman and the blonde guy who looked like a jerk…
And at that moment.
—Where is the light…
The moment he thought that voice echoed inside his head.
It was the last thought Jane could have.
Blood splattered on the gold coin she had picked up.
Red blood sprayed from the severed neck and painted everything red.
—The light… is gone…
In the completely red world, there was only a black thing alone.
As if the sunlight couldn't reach it.
A strange red light glowed from deep within the hood.
It raised its thin arm from inside the robe toward the sky and said.
—Give me the light…
In the completely red world,
The black thing was looking for the light.