CH 60

Short Chanting

I came here to learn light magic.

That was the first thing that went through my mind as I saw the dwarf and the masses of muscle around him.

In this world, dwarves were short, with thick arms and legs. Most of them were deep-chested and though about a third of the men shaved their beards, the ones that didn’t wore them very thick.

As for the women, they did not grow beards, nor did they look like young girls even when they aged. I heard that their lifespan was slightly longer than humans. They seemed quite similar to the popular image of dwarves. However, I had never heard of them being good with magic.

And yet, there was that drunkard elf, Oriole. So you never knew.

“Father Zenrima. I have come to see you from the city of Razsita. My name is Ajifu.”

“Aye, it is as the letter said. So you lost a leg and want to train with light magic. Is that right?”

“It is.”

“I hear that you are a man of great faith and have already been baptized. However, we are currently lacking in people who can use light magic, and so we cannot have you just train and do nothing else. You will have to help with the work in the church as well.”

“Of course, I intend to do just that. Tell me anything, and I will do what I can.”

“Well said. First, you should learn about the work here from these two. Your training will start after that.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Ajifu. I was sent here from the Rabahask Holy Empire. My name is Kifume.”

Loaned personnel? Rabahask was a great country that was south of here. I wonder what had brought him to a place like this. Well, I would surely learn of it eventually.

“And I am Pemeri. But don’t go calling me Sister Pemeri. Pemeri will do just fine. I’m a lion beastkin that was born and raised in Rokuidol.”

A lion beastkin. Now that I thought about it, her large eyes and high nose did give that impression.

“While I am a humble beginner, I look forward to learning.”

“I shall start by giving you a tour of the church. Follow me.”

First, Ms. Pemeri took me to the front chapel and the living quarters in the back. There was a servant called Marikit in the living quarters, who was in charge of domestic affairs. I was relieved to realize that I would not have to cook.

“And this is your room.”

She said as I was taken to a room near the back door. It was about four and a half tatami mats in size. There was a single shelf for clothes in the room. But as someone who had nothing, it was more than enough space.

“You will find your apprentice clothes on the shelf. I shall wait outside, so you can remove your armor and get changed.”

So saying, Ms. Pemeri left the room. I wondered if the size of the clothes would be alright?

However, I realized the reason after I took off my armor and tried them on. It was very loose fitting, like a poncho without sleeves or a hood.

After putting my things down and getting changed, I was then led to the clinic that was next to the church. As healers were always related to churches or temples, it was normal for the buildings to be connected.

There would also be other hospitals in the city, which treated illnesses. I suppose it is like the relationship between surgery and medicine departments. If only there were spells that could heal the sick.

“During the day, Kifume and I are in charge of treating patients. And one other apprentice.”

When we entered the clinic, I saw that there was a boy working there, who wore the same clothes as me.

“Drop what you are doing for now, and come and meet the new, not very young, apprentice.”

She called over the boy with a clap of her hands. He appeared to be a teenager, so I suppose I would not be young in comparison. Still, my status had me at twenty-six.

“I am Ajifu. I will be staying at this church for some time. As you can see, I have a prosthetic leg.”

“I’m apprentice Linel.”

The boy with blonde hair said with a bow.

“The work here is…”

“Help! This person is hurt!”

She was interrupted, as the doors flung open and someone was brought in on a stretcher. The position of the leg looked strange. It must be a fracture.

“Lay him on the bed! Linel, cut off the pants and straighten the leg!”

“Yes!”

The two worked swiftly, and without a second thought, started to remove the pants off the man who had been brought in.

“Gaaahhh!”

The man cried in pain, but they straightened his leg and then waved a staff over it.

“Me-le-mote-sei! Heal!”

The healing chant. And then the leg was enveloped in a gentle light.

“Gah!”

After a short cry, the man’s expression softened.

“Sister. Thank you.”

“You can make a donation of three silvers. Now pull up your pants and be on your way.”

Ms. Pemeri said with a wave of her hand. If I converted the treatment fees, it would be around three thousand yen in Japan. That seemed incredibly cheap. But then again, they were not operating to make a profit.

Also, one potion bottle was also three silvers. But they would give you five coppers if you returned the bottle.

It was normal to bring potions with you when going to dangerous places. That man had probably been somewhere that was considered safe, or had been close by when he was injured.

“Like this, it will be your job to help treat the wounded, clean, and call people from the church when necessary.”

“There always has to be someone here. So now that you’ve joined, Mr. Ajifu, we will be able to take turns.”

Linel said with a smile. How sad…

“Well, let’s do our best then.”

I said as I offered my hand. Just then, the doors of the clinic flung open again.

“Oh, it’s you, sister. I messed up. Please fix me.”

Said an Adventurer, who was holding his arm as it dripped with blood.

An Adventurer!? Surely you would have a potion on you?

Well, the surrounding area was all dangerous deserts and wastelands. Perhaps he had been injured very close by.

“You again. Why are you constantly messing up, eh? Come on, show me the wound… Hmm. It is not very deep. Ah, Ajifu. I shall show you something interesting, so watch closely.”

Ms. Pemeri said as she waved her staff over the wound.

“Heal!”

She chanted. And then the wound glowed before closing up.

She hadn’t chanted! Could it be!

“Is that short chanting?”

“It is. Amazing, isn’t it?”

There is no ‘short chant’ skill. However, if you use the same spell over and over again, you will eventually be able to activate it with just a keyword.

“I’ve never seen it before! That’s amazing!”

I couldn’t help but clap.

“What! I wanted the full chant!”

The Adventurer was not very amused. Perhaps it was more effective if you said the full chant.

“But the wound is healed, isn’t it? We’ll expect your donation now.”

At this point, I don’t know why they kept calling it a donation instead of treatment fees. But I was not going to interfere with how the church ran things.

The Adventurer grumbled, but ended up leaving a donation before leaving.

“How long will I have to use Heal before I can short chant?”

I asked while wiping away the Adventurer’s blood.

“Ah, there was this bored sorcerer and priest who tested it once. Apparently, it takes about ten thousand times.”

Te-ten thousand…

“Then what about casting without chanting at all…”

“Well, the bored priest messed up and lost count. However, we know that it was at least over fifty thousand times for healing magic. But it took the sorcerer around a hundred thousand times.”

A hu-hundred thousand…

It was also not an acquired skill, so it was like training with a sword. It took a lot of training.

However, unlike with sword training, one technique will not help you with others. So even if you learned to cast one spell without chanting, it would not connect to being able to do so with other spells.

Just how long would it take to reach such levels…

…Hmm? But if she had that much experience…

“How old are you, Ms. Pemeri?”

It had been a very thoughtful question, but instead of an answer, it was a vase full of water that came flying at me.

Ah! Now I have more work to do!