Less than a hundred meters from the city, a stones throw away, a second Krankheit Turtles corpse is laying there.
While we were travelling along the highway, Rurukas group told me the reason why the subjugation units main force separated from the smaller search party and hurried back to the city. Seems it was because they discovered a Krankheit Turtle egg.
Oh yeah, I have a feeling I saw it. Back when we were subjugating the Krankheit Turtle, that blackened egg that Fran burnt to a crisp with her area-of-effect magic.
Outside the labyrinth, monsters pair up, mate, and bear children just like regular animals. Which is to say, the fact that there was an egg means that there were at least two Krankheit Turtles within that forest.
I didnt have time to think about it since I fell into the river, though, so it slipped my mind. But the existence of an egg must have been an unexpected bad omen for the knight brigade.
Sera told me this while we were on the march, but the Krankheit Turtle has the tendency to migrate during heavy rainfall. And yesterday evening, when we subjugated the Krankheit Turtle, it was really pouring down.
Supposedly the knight brigade hurried back in case the second Krankheit Turtle was moving closer to the city.
As of yesterday evening, a number of the knights tasked with defending the city were off with the subjugation unit, so there were fewer of them around than usual. In particular, most of the healers attached to the knight brigade were sent out with the subjugation unit.
Additionally, civilian healers in the city also answered the call for exceptional folks to participate in the subjugation.
The Krankheit Turtle is a special monster thats difficult to face head-on without healers periodically casting curative magic. Even if knights within the city managed to detect the Krankheit Turtle at an early stage, they might not have been able to subjugate it before it approached the city.
That seemed to be what they were concerned about.
And now, that Krankheit Turtles corpse is lying mighty close to the city. That means their concern turned out to be right on point.
The Krankheit Turtle turned up at the city in search of prey, but they were short on healers. As a result, the knights were unable to fight it head-on due to the poison mist, and the Krankheit Turtle ended up getting that close to the city. That about sums up the details.
This situation is awfully unpleasant. The Krankheit Turtle scatters poison mist over vast distances. What will happen if such a monster gets that close to the city?
The poison might mightve spread inside the city.
That cant be!
Seeing the corpse of the Krankheit Turtle right next to the city, Fran moans out. Her expression gives off an impatient feeling. Shes stunned for a second, then seemingly makes up her mind and rushes into the city.
Just a moment!? Fran! Wait right there!
Fran, calm down!
Sera and Ruruka race after her. They enter the city with me hot on their heels.
When I enter the city, things there are different from the usual Merhatz.
Theres none of the usual bustling, cheerful commotion. The number of street carts and pedestrians is much lower than normal. Instead there are priests, in their characteristic monastic habits, and armor-wearing knights, busily running about.
And, along the streets of the deserted city, the hospitals. Those alone have gathered huge crowds.
This is just
Among the knights of the search party, Marietta speaks out in surprise.
The city is in a bizarre state. The masses crying out anxiously, the knights trying to manage the disorder, thats what the city has come to. Its especially awful around the hospitals. Looks like the townspeople have already come to understand the situation.
We will head for the station immediately. We need to receive our next orders. Im afraid the discussion regarding your remunerations will have to wait for another day, so please excuse us.
One of the search party knights speaks quickly. Time is precious, thats the kind of feeling hes giving off. They just returned from the subjugation, but the knights probably wont get any rest.
Yeah.
The city is just about on the verge of panic. Well, if they were battling such a huge monster so terribly close to the city, of course the residents would notice.
Im worried about Eris, running the hospital by herself. I need to hurry over to Eris hospital.
When I reach Eris hospital, unsurprisingly it too has gathered a crowd. Its never seen business booming quite like this. But Eris probably isnt happy about that. There must be 20 no, 30 people there.
Theres no way Eris can handle that many by herself.
Im in front of the gates. I get a better look as I approach, and theres a knight in the middle of the crowd. The knight is raising his voice trying to restrain the people who are scrambling to enter the hospital first.
This is chaos. Perhaps the knight brigade has been dispatching personnel, simultaneously serving as security for the hospitals. I was worried that Eris would be getting shoved around by the crowd, but it seems that wont be an issue.
I leave the knight to deal with the crowd, and use my key to sneak into the hospital through the back door.
Its the same hospital as always, and Eris is there.
Eris has her eyes closed and brows furrowed, casting healing magic on a single patient. However, it looks like shes struggling considerably. So much so that she hasnt noticed me entering the hospital. Her face looks pale too.
Eris seems to be out of mana already. I must come to her aid.
Must be rough, huh?
When I call out to her from behind, Eris gives a huge sigh of relief.
Ah, Shiki, so youve returned. I presume you understand the situation since you came from outside the city, but the townspeople are in a panic due to rampant rumors that poison mist has spread inside the city. And because of that, I dont have any mana left, so gah!
Then she starts talking as she turns around, but once she sees my appearance her eyes snap open.
Wait a minute! Youre in tatters! Are you alright!?
Eris attention is on the habit Im wearing.
Oh right. I got carried away by the bizarre atmosphere of the city and utterly forgot. The clothes Im currently wearing are blood-spattered, smeared all over with mud, and shredded.
Now that I think about it, even though the hospital has gathered such a crowd, nobody has solicited me for treatment. It may be in tatters, but Im wearing a monastic habit.
Dont tell me they saw me not as a healer, but as a homeless bum or something? Its lucky that I avoided getting bothered, but I have mixed feelings about it.
But theres nothing I can do about that. My change of clothes was bisected when I threw it at the Armor Ogre. I couldnt exactly return to the city wearing a habit thats completely missing all the fabric from the waist down.
I wish I had put more clothes into my item box, but considering that there was Slime Jelly straining nearly 90% of the capacity, I wasnt able to.
Ah, Im fine now, no injuries.
Well, Eris is worried, but I dont have any injuries anymore. For the time being, I give Eris custody of the still-sound-asleep Yuel and cast Heal and Dis-Poison on the customer in front of me. That should be good enough for the Krankheit Turtles poison.
-I heard about the characteristics of the Krankheit Turtles poison at the subjugation units strategy meeting. Although from what I heard, it sounded closer to bacteria than poison.
The features of the Krankheit Turtles poison are as follows.
The Krankheit Turtles poison mist contains a unique, slow-acting poison. Once exposed to the poison mist, after a certain amount of time has passed, the symptoms of a high fever occur. Its what Fran and Sera had earlier when they were bedridden.
The amount of time before symptoms develop varies depending on the amount of exposure. If youre in melee range of the Krankheit Turtle they can occur in less than a minute, but for a minor exposure it can take a long time for symptoms to develop.
And depending on the amount of poison, they apparently may not occur at all.
And after developing a high fever, black spots break out all over the body as time passes, and if left untreated, death occurs within a week. Thats the kind of poison the Krankheit Turtle produces.
Its seriously vicious. For delayed symptoms to develop even from a small amount and so on, Im convinced that the poison mist is actually a cloud of germs.
And if the amount exceeds a certain level, the human immune system loses and the germs produce toxins throughout the body that cause the high fever. Thats the kind of image Im going with.
I dont know a whole lot about things like bacteria, and in the end the knights didnt really understand and were saying it was a poison curse.
Well, thats all beside the point.
First of all, Dis-Poison is necessary to treat the poison, and it should be even better to add Heal which is effective at strengthening immunity and reducing fever.
Changing places with Eris, I treat customers and new ones replace them. I steadily proceed with the treatment. I treat them one after another. Another one.
Another one. And another one.
It starts getting tedious after 10 people.
Eris, how long until this is over?
Its not going to end. Theres a rumor going around that a slow-acting poison mist entered the city I dont know who started it, but a few hours earlier there were sounds of battle from outside the city, and a fog really did roll in to the city.
This area is particularly close to the gates, so everyones in a panic.
-Area Dis-Poison!
Once again, I gather mana and invoke a spell. A warm light of a slightly different hue drowns out the afterglow from Area Heal and extends into the distance.
!
As far as I can tell from the afterglow of healing magic that hangs in the sky, the range of the effect is probably around 300m. I wanted to go a bit further, but it seems like area-type magic cant withstand any more mana than this. I feel a bit sick to my stomach.
However, it looks like this is the first time Yuel is seeing such large-scale area-of-effect magic. Yuels pupils quiver as she watches me.
I face her as shes in that state and make a resounding declaration.
Yuel, from this point on Im going to save the city.
Yuels eyes are transfixed on me.
I dont know whether its from seeing the healing magic or out of anticipation for whats going to happen from now on. But theres definitely excitement in Yuels expression now.
Were going to cast this healing magic on the entire city. If its me, I can do it.
Casting healing magic on the entire city. Theres a danger that my magical capacity and skill with healing magic will be discovered, but with area-of-effect magic of this scale, so long as Im not seen at the moment I cast it, I doubt Ill be identified immediately.
With such a giant area-of-effect spell, it shouldnt be that easy to determine where the center is or who used it.
But, well, it doesnt matter that this is a risk. Ill use this timing to put into words what I wanted more than anything to tell Yuel.
And Im able to save the city like this, because Yuel protected me all the way until we made it back we may have lost the bracelets, but the only reason Im here now is because Yuel kept me safe. The fact that my bracelet is gone is proof that it protected me.
! Yes!
Yuel is taken aback, and stares at her own wrist. Then she holds that wrist to her chest and crosses her other arm over it.
-The image looks as if shes holding an important treasure.
End scene.
With this, the matter of the bracelets should be alright.
I doubt that it wouldve been effective if I just told her that while she was sitting in a chair at the hospital. No matter how many times I repeat the words, I dont feel like it would be enough to console Yuel.
Letting her see the current state of the city, showing off my extraordinary healing magic. Then declaring that my healing magic is the only thing that can save the city now.
By putting on such a production, for the first time Yuel can truly believe that her actions led to saving the city. It will turn the very fact that the bracelets are gone into something she can be proud of.
And now that weve come this far, all thats left is to turn that into reality.
But this is something that must not be discovered by other people. If bad people knew about my healing magic ability, it could be dangerous for me.
Its not like Im doing something bad, but if its discovered, on the contrary they might fawn over me.
No, from a healers perspective it would also be a source of income. I dont know what might be at stake, so its safer to hide it in the end.
And so that Im not seen by people, Yuels assistance is absolutely necessary. Wont you help me?
Yuel nods in reassurance. Then, I tack on another comment.
This will be my secret with Yuel.
Sharing secrets. Kids love that, right? And when I mention it, Yuel latches on and brings her face right up to mine.
A secret just between the two of us!?
Huh? Ah yeah. Thats right, a secret just between the two of us!
Although I say its just between the two of us, its a bit complicated. For instance, Eris seems to be aware of it. For instance if I, who can even use EX Heal, rush out of the hospital and come back having cast healing magic on the entire city, I expect shell figure it out.
I dont particularly intend to hide it from Eris, though.
Even excluding Eris, if by some chance Im seen at the moment of invocation I might be found out, but if that happens then Ill deal with it at that time.
Or perhaps even if Im not found out here, if someday my healing magic ability is discovered via some other matter. If the fact came to light that I didnt rescue the citizens even though I could have, that would be extremely perilous. I cant imagine how much resentment I would garner.
Well, such a mercenary way of thinking also exists, but-
-Area Dis-Poison! Alright, next is west, Yuel, lets hurry!
Yes!! Master!
Yuel is having the time of her life.
With flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes, and an excited expression, Yuel runs on ahead.
This mood is like were heroes of justice. And what were doing now actually has that kind of feel to it. The fact that the bracelets were broken is surely already a distant memory.
From the south side of the city, we run west.
Sneaking down the citys alleyways, I invoke healing magic. This is also a chance for me to show off Masters grandeur in front of Yuel. Just by striking a cool pose at the instant I invoke the healing magic, Yuels eyes are glittering. This is getting kinda fun.
From the west, we run north.
Every time I cast healing magic, Yuel cheers. However, at the same time I can feel my mana diminishing. Its honestly hard to keep running with my stamina, but we dont stop running around even as the sun sets. I cast magic from the back alleys, and we keep running at Yuels pace as she guides me.
From the north, we run east.
My legs are already shaking, but I cant let Yuel notice that. However, this is harder than I expected.
I can sense my mana gradually diminishing. Perhaps that means the bottom of it has come into sight. Okay, casting healing magic on the entire city might have been overdoing it. The anemic feeling makes my whole body feel heavy.
Maybe I shouldnt have done this after all. Im regretting it a little.
But, I wont earn Yuels respect if I quit here. Saying Im tired and leaving the rest for tomorrow would be too uncool.
Then, to the south. Im feeling dizzy, but I completed a lap of the city through sheer willpower.
When we complete our circuit, there are no lines at the hospitals anymore. The warm light from healing magic and the sensation at the moment it goes off is distinctive. Anybody whos had healing magic cast on them before would recognize that it was healing magic and not ordinary luminescence.
The sun has already gone down completely.
My body is heavy. On top of running a lap around the entire city, I continuously fired off large-scale area-of-effect magic. Its the first time Im feeling like this, but this must be mana deficiency. As expected, I dont want to use healing magic anymore.
Yuels reaction was fun at the beginning, but I got worn out in a hurry. I return to the hospital on trembling legs.
In front of the hospital, neither the knight nor the crowd is there anymore. Instead, Eris is standing in front of the gates.
Welcome home seems like you did something incredible for us, huh.
She makes a brief comment.
I guess she figured me out after all. Well, it would be strange if she didnt. Yuel is grinning profusely, and Im staggering. Theres the matter of the timing, too.
Well, its fine either way. Somehow, maybe from seeing Eris face, I feel relaxed all of a sudden.
Then, when I go to enter the hospital my legs get tangled unexpectedly. Maybe due to fatigue, I can no longer support my body. Im falling.
Master, watch ou!!
Wait kyaa!
Right before I collapse, I feel something very soft. My head plunges snugly between Eris plump, voluptuous, soft, meaty breasts.
Yuel makes a small cry as she inhales sharply. But I dont move. Not for any indecent reason, but because I really am exhausted to the limit.
Somehow it seems Ive fallen onto Eris as if Im pushing her down. I feel the soft sensation of Eris breasts from both my hands and my face. For sexual harassment like this I expected to be knocked to the ground, but Eris makes no sign of movement.
Its no good, Im so sleepy. My stamina and my mana reserves are both empty. I really overdid it today.
My eyelids are heavy. As I feel the sensation of something pulling hard at the hem of my clothes, I lose consciousness.