Episode 13.3

The two houses they visited in the afternoon were both from poor families.

In both cases, Lecan cast his <Recovery> after Norma filled him on the patients' conditions.

Lecan's <Recovery> had drastic effects. The patients couldn't immediately get up due to suffering their illnesses for so long, but they were both overjoyed to get better and suffer no more. Their families were thankful as well.

Once they got back to the medical center, Lecan asked while sipping tea Jinga served.

"I get how it is with red potions. But what about <Recovery>? How does that work?"

"<Recovery> works like it's ordering the Root of Life to reconstruct the body while consulting to it along the way. It's effective on any kind of bodily conditions, truly a flexible art."

"You've completely lost me."

"Same here."

"<Recovery> destroys foliage of diseases. <Recovery> does not reproduce foliage of diseases. <Recovery> works on roots of diseases to a degree."

"Fumu."

"Nothing but good things, isn't it."

"Not necessarily. Unskilled red potions don't exist, but they do for <Recovery>. We have cases of shoddy recovery users casting <Recovery> on patients that resulted in recovering them toward imperfect states. But it's another story for wounds. <Recovery> works very well on wounds. You can heal any wound no matter how severe so long as you put enough mana into a <Recovery>. It's the reason why <Recovery> is valued so highly in dungeons. Inside dungeons, the amount of mana one possesses is probably more important than how skilled they are with <Recovery>."

"Hold it. A few days ago, you said this when we were treating a boy who got ran over by a carriage. Careless <Recovery> in that state could result in improper attachment of bones that cannot be undone for life. You also told us to expel mud and bad things inside his body first. Afterward, he was put under three stages, no four stages of <Recovery>. And yet now you say any wound can be healed inside a dungeon with enough mana. Which one is correct?"

"Both are correct, Lecan. Common sense inside dungeons is different from that of outside world. In a dungeon, you gradually raise your mana by defeating magic beasts. You can obtain blue potions as well. So long as the recipient side is full of life force and the caster side has plentiful of mana, there's no need to mind about fine details. That can't be applied outside dungeons. If you want to take a bath but there's only limited water available, wiping your body with a soaked towel without ever changing it will end up dirtying your body instead. But if you have yourself a bucketful of water, you can just wash it all down."

Is that the common sense in this world. However, Lecan didn't believe in that line of thinking. Dungeons are exactly where one has to efficiently use their mana. Otherwise, one cannot keep fighting over a series of battle or a protracted battle.

"Let's get back to about <Recovery> on diseases. Roughly speaking, low level <Recovery> can barely cut down roots of disease, mid-level <Recovery> can cut down a moderate amount of those roots, while advanced level one can completely obliterate them."

"Fumu. I'll think about what you taught us slowly later. I understand that red potions are taboo for Prado. But what about <Recovery> and medicinal herbs."

"Good question. Once <Overwritten> state has been established, even advanced level <Recovery> cannot remove roots of disease. But it can cut down the foliage."

"It won't restore the branches and leaves instead either huh."

"It won't. <Recovery> won't negatively affect those who have been <Overwritten>. However, since it cannot remove roots of disease, the disease will gradually makes a come back even after the body has recovered. Even so, once the body's regained enough strength, the patient could get nourishment and receive other treatments."

"Got it. How about medicinal herbs."

"Medicinal herbs work on the Root of Life though only ever so slightly, amplifying its functions that helps improve natural healing of the body. It's a wonderful thing, this force of nature. Herbs born from nature are truly all purpose."

"I see. Let's assume that I understand what's going on with Prado's condition for now. So then, what really happened during the treatment earlier?"

"Well, I'm sure you've got an idea already, Lecan."

"I don't get it tho'." <TLN: This is Eda.>

"I'd like to hear it from your mouth."

"The symptoms that had been afflicting Prado-san appeared to have vanished. I did not observe any sign of the disease's foliage growing back either. I believe he would be on the road to recovery once he's awoken. Medicinal herbs will also work really well on him from now on."

"So the roots of disease have been reaped."

"That's how it looked like."

"How do you think Goncourt House would react?"

"The treatment this time must have been a dramatic one to them. I had been making house calls to help with Prado-san's treatment for years, but never once did it made a huge impact. As such, someone would likely notice that Prado-san's recovery must have been brought by someone other than me."

"Would they know whether it was Eda or me that did it."

"Prado-san himself bore witness to it. No way to worm your way out of that."

"Oh right. That reminds me, why didn't they put anyone else in the room with us during the treatment."

"Probably because they trust me."

"Hou?"

"You see. I'm Prado-san's granddaughter."

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

<TLN: The author may have put this '4' here but the next chapter is also chapter 4. I'm following the original numbering and refer to this chapter as chapter 3 as well, just consider this an extra chapter.>

"Now that you mention it, your face does look alike somewhat."

"Nothing fazes you huh. My mother is Prado-san's daughter. But since the mother of my mother was a low born, they never formally admit me as family."

"I see."

"The place I'm living in now was originally owned by a certain medical practitioner. That medical practitioner fell in love with my mother, and they got married. Prado-san custom ordered an expensive wand as a present to my mother for her wedding. And this is that wand."

"Fumu. Looks like he still loved her as his kid."

"My mother had an aptitude in <Recovery> but it was nothing special. But thanks to this wand's assistance, she could help my father in medicine-making. Eventually they were blessed with a child, but then they brought the still-baby me to the town of Mashajain."

"Where's that?"

"You don't know? Now that's a surprise. You're just a bundle of surprise, aren't you. It's the marquisate, you know? The one situated right before Royal Capital if you go from here."

"Why would you go there."

"My father was the sixth son of the marquis. Both my parents weren't high in the strata, so my father was allowed to be free. He lived freely and opened a medical center here in this town. The marquis fell down with a serious illness, and was asking to see his cute grandkid. So my father went back to Mashajain. It was to be a temporary stay originally."

"Ended up not the case huh."

"One day, a present was delivered to mother. When she opened it, there was a Flat White Snake (Urasurin) inside. It was the work of a noble aiming for my father's wife position by killing mother. They had a misunderstanding, thinking that father would take over some sort of position or property since he was called there by the dying marquis. The snake that was intended for mother went to bite me instead."

"And then?"

"Mother frantically pointed her wand at me and recited <Recovery> spell. The light that emerged at that time was not big, but it was a dazzling one, and had the color blue."

"I see."

"Mother had cast <Purification>. She collapsed on the spot due to mana starvation afterward."

"Fumu."

"<Recovery> is capable of detoxifying Flat White Snake venom. There was no need to cast <Purification>. But how could I blame her for drawing out her deeply hidden talent because of her strong desire to save me."

"Depth of desire huh."

"In the beginning, father was probably the only person who realized what had occurred. However, my father was a honest man to a fault. Once my mother came to, he told her about how she saved me and congratulated her for her newfound power."

"Doesn't read much as a tragedy up until that point."

"Until that point that is. A few days later, mother cast <Purification> under father's order. And right after father had confirmed that mother possessed <Purification>, he made her cast it on the ailing marquis the day after."

"How did it go?"

"The marquis felt an indescribable sense of comfort. The next day, and the day after, mother kept casting <Purification> on him. With mother's mana pool, one weak <Purification> a day was her limit. By the seventh, the marquis got up his bed and had meals. An old man who was on his deathbed regained his full health."

"Doing that in front of everyone and reciting <Purification> spell, there would be no way to keep that a secret."

"Yup. But since my father was the marquis's favorite kid, there was no worry of us receiving an unjust treatment. Father was given a new mansion. Where I grew up until my 17th birthday."

Considering she's living in this mansion now, her life in that town must have come to an end. And most likely not in a good way.

"Mother would cast <Purification> on the marquis once every ten days. My father and I would accompany her every time. That might have been some sort of ritual, but the marquis was full of smiles, we were truly a family then."

Norma spoke nonchalantly with a deep longing gaze while ignoring the now cold partially drank tea.

"Anything we wanted was granted. Father cultivated all kinds of herbs in the garden. He got his hands on rare books, and they would even send patients our way. It must be hard to find another medical practitioner who could continue their research in such an ideal environment. Every day was a bliss, to mother, and to me."