Ch. 23 - Omen

While I was assembling the bare minimum tools for a healer, I still had time to spare, so I examined Enzo’s condition.

He claimed to be a Rogue, but “classes” were never my strong suit.

All of his injuries had healed into scars by now, but almost every one of them was concentrated on his upper body.

Meanwhile, Marielle had returned, lugging a sack full of myconid spores. The maids immediately set them to boil in holy water.

“For boiling, strain it through a cloth. Make sure only the spores are removed.”

The maids were far more reliable than Annette. Even though I was just a kid, they followed my instructions without complaint. Thanks to them, I was free to look after Enzo.

A closer look revealed twenty-two distinct lumps beneath his skin, scattered across his chest and arms.

“Enzo, this is excessive. I’d bet there are more below the waist as well. Removing all of them will take time. Can you step away from going to the dungeon for a while?”

“You serious? How long?”

“Hmm… Ten days, at least.”

“That’s it?”

“They’re all benign. But before that, let’s deal with the corn on your foot. That must be painful.”

“No kidding!? That thing’s been killing me!”

I dipped a needle into the fresh anesthetic made from boiled myconid spores and pressed it into his foot.

“You’ll feel a quick sting.”

“Pfft, that’s nothing. Go ahead.”

The anesthetic held well. Enzo even hummed under his breath as I carved out the hardened flesh.

“So, Doc. How much?”

“As for the lumps, I already charged for that. But I’m no miser—I won’t charge for this kind of minor work.”

Enzo grinned.

Damn. For some reason, I let my real self slip around Enzo. It was supposed to be business. Strictly business.

As I mulled it over, Marielle, who had been watching in silence, grumbled.

“Not fair.  Enzo gets all the attention.”

“I’ll examine you next, Miss Marielle—strip you bare and check every inch.”

It was a lousy old-man joke, but Marielle smiled.

“That would help a lot. And once Alex’s matter is dealt with, I have something important to discuss.”

“…”

No comeback? How lonely. I sighed, and Enzo burst out laughing.

“Hey, Doc. What if I pay you triple what Alex offers? Would you side with me?”

“Discuss it with Abby.”

“Abby?”

“My superior. What, no one told you?”

I weighed my words. I couldn’t exactly reveal that I was from another world. But I could tell half of it.

I—Dietrich Becker—was an orphan abandoned outside the city walls. 

Abby had found me. Winters here were lethal. Without her, I’d have frozen to death before morning.

Perhaps she only took me in to strengthen her own faction. Whatever her motives, one fact remained: she saved my life.

“A debt of bread and shelter, huh?” Enzo murmured, nodding in understanding. “Pretty loyal of you…”

“Mother despises lawlessness and ingratitude. That weighed heavily on me. Back then, I didn’t understand a thing about myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I was nothing but an ordinary, powerless kid.”

“…”

From here, the story turned into riddles. Why did Abby kill Granny Ada. What exactly did my class mean?

Surely, as a native of this world, Enzo could have answered some of my questions—but now wasn’t the time.

I carefully blurred certain facts.

“After some time, I met a Herald, who told me I was a priest. Right after that, I received a revelation from Mother Asclepia—and collapsed for three days.”

Enzo stared at me in shock.

“Three days? That’s way too long. You must’ve been deeply imprinted. No wonder you’re such a well-read brat.”

Now I have even more questions. What did “imprint” mean?

During those three days, while I lay unconscious from Asclepia’s revelation, what had happened to me? Were the inexplicable bits of knowledge I carried the result of that? Was it tied to the moments when Mother Asclepia’s voice surfaces in my mind?

A flood of questions sparked and vanished in my head.

“What’s wrong, Doc?”

But what had already happened couldn’t be undone. I shook my head.

“…It's nothing. I’ve checked your foot. How does it feel?”

“Much better. Feels great.”

According to Enzo, the corn on his sole hadn’t been serious enough to warrant treatment, but it was painful and annoying.

“I didn’t use divine power. Just applied medicine. Avoid sprinting for two or three days.”

Treatment had to be simple in case something happened to Alex’s party.

“Yeah, yeah,” Enzo said, shrugging.

“I’ll check it again tomorrow and redress it.”

If untreated, corns could worsen into nasty conditions. In Enzo’s case, it wasn’t too bad, but after treatment,t his feet had five little holes.

“You’ll check me again tomorrow?”

“I am technically this clan’s exclusive healer. It’s not much trouble, and I want to keep an eye on those lumps. You want them gone quickly, right?”

At my words, both Enzo and Marielle made complicated faces. Not hostile, but…

“Doc, you’re the type who’ll die young if left alone.”

Marielle nodded.

“You live up to the Five Commandments, huh?”

To my surprise, Marielle knew about the priest's Five Commandments.

“Something like that. But it’s not like I hate living like this.”

Justice. Service. Mercy. Compassion. Selflessness.The five precepts that bound me. I never found them burdensome. Power always demanded sacrifice.

“The way you follow them so naturally is kinda scary…”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

Enzo just shrugged.

After a while, Zoë and Ashita returned, bags brimming with Grisalis grass..

“Good. Toss it all into the pot. Boil until the stems wilt and turn brown. After that, treat it like the myconids.”

At my instruction, the maids moved, carrying the grass to the kitchen for proper handling.

“What about the Rudbeckia and Flox herbs?”

“Wound salve and antidote, right? I’ve sent someone to fetch them. They’ll be back by evening.”

As expected of an A-rank team. For all his scruffy, stray-cat looks, Enzo didn’t complain or waste time. He directed people efficiently.

“Good. Charge it all to that muscle-head.”

At that, Annette, who had been silent so far, spoke.

“Two hundred silver is outrageous!”

Not without reason, I guess.

I snorted.

“Don’t you know about the first-visit fee?”

“First-visit fee?”

Outrageous or not, Muscle-head would pay the price for the mess she caused.

Whether the price was in money or life, it would be her choice.

Still… I had a bad feeling.

There was always an order to things.

When events went too smoothly, it often meant trouble waited.

I hoped nothing would happen. All this preparation was meant to save lives. If it ended here, that would be enough.

Money could always be regained.

Life… could not.

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