Chapter 1 We Advance with Greed in Our Hearts! …Wait, That Sounds Bad…

An earsplitting scream echoed across a grassy field at dawn.

“Aiieeeee?!”

A wolf monster’s sharp claws swung toward a girl in priestly garb. A direct attack. The girl died instantly, and she soon lay inside a coffin.

“Augh! The healer’s down!”

“Oh, crap!”

A warrior and a bandit, the girl’s companions, rubbed their eyes in disbelief. But the sight before them remained unchanged.

There were four people in their party—the Warrior, the Bandit, a Shield Knight, and the Priest girl.

The Priest had been their sole healer, and with her down…

“I-if she can’t cast Cura, we’ll… Aughhhhhhh?!”

Mid-sentence, the Shield Knight was struck down by the enemy’s fearsome onslaught. A second coffin appeared, lying beside the Priest girl’s.

“Our tank’s down! Rianimato them or…!”

“I know! An item should… Wait, I’m out?!”

The Warrior and Bandit both hastily checked their storage, but neither had any revival items. They didn’t even have any HP recovery items. They stared at each other in horror.

As they did, the enemy attacked again. “Grrr!” “Gah?!” “Oww!!” Neither the Warrior nor the Bandit had much in the way of defense, and their HP crumbled away.

They were on the verge of wiping.

“Crap! What now…? What do we do?!”

“That’s what I wanna know!”

There was nothing they could do. Except…

“…Ah! Hey, look!”

“At what? …Oh!”

They’d each spotted other adventurers running toward them across the field.

Two of them. At the fore, a woman glittering gold in the morning sun. Behind her, a girl shining with pure white light.

Their bodies wrapped in gleaming garb, both women held staffs aloft. The woman’s staff was magnificently bejeweled, while the younger girl’s was of simpler craft, but both ladies had staffs equipped. That was key.

To the Warrior and Bandit, they seemed akin to gods.

“A-are you…Priests? Or Clerics? If you’ve got staffs, then you’re definitely healers! You can use recovery magic!”

“Please save us! We’ll gladly reward you! Name your price!”

Trying to keep the monsters at bay, both warrior and thief pleaded for aid.

The healer in gold smiled warmly.

“We require no reward. Helping those in need is only natural. Leave this to my daughter and me.”

“Y-you’re mother and daughter?!”

“You’re so beautiful! You’re angels! Goddesses!”

“My, that is high praise! But I suppose it comes as no surprise. Heh-heh-heh. Well, Medhi. Let us show them the power of angels.”

“Yes, Mother.”

At her mother’s urging, the girl, Medhi, raised her staff.

“Conforto Staff! Unleash your power!”

In response to its wielder’s demand, the function hidden in the staff activated.

Light rained down on all adventurers present, granting them a barrier that prevented status effects.

“How was that, Mother?”

“Well… I think this situation rather called for healing effects…but close enough. You did provide them a beneficial effect, so let’s call that a pass.”

“Thank you.”

“But one must never be satisfied. You must always strive to be the best. You will become the greatest healer of all, a healer the whole world admires. The greatest healer in this world or any other world. Understand?”

“Yes, Mother. With your guidance, I’m sure I will.”

“You will. Just as you say. I will train you to be the best. Have faith in me, and I will guide you. Let us proceed onward.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The mother walked triumphantly away, and her daughter, Medhi, followed dutifully behind, leaving the scene…

“…Sigh… Gimme a break…”

…and just then, someone seemed to whisper, “…Did you hear that?” “Hear what?” “Grr?” None present, monsters included, knew who was responsible for the whisperings.

So.

“…Anyway.”

“…What now?”

The status-effect barrier was functioning perfectly, but the adventurers remained in critical condition, beset by monsters. What became of them?

Well, whatever happened, happened. May they rest in peace.

No one knew their fate.

Naturally, Masato and his party had no way of knowing, either.

When he woke, he found himself surrounded by darkness.

“Yaaawn… I guess I could get up…”

Masato reached forward, pushing the darkness in front of him as he sat up. The coffin he was sitting in dissolved.

Alzare always put him in a coffin. He was getting used to it. He wasn’t sure he really should be, but there you have it.

Masato looked blearily around him, examining his surroundings. This was a room in an inn. A plain wooden interior, nothing in the room except a pair of beds.

The high school Sage who always forced Masato into a deep sleep was probably around somewhere, but he didn’t see her.

“Guess she already went down to breakfast…?”

Or was she in the shower? He perked up his ears but didn’t hear running water from the bathroom. She must have gone ahead.

“She could at least say good morning… Geez.”

He’d better hurry and get ready. Masato stood and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

He had to do these things or a certain someone would start to gripe about his hygiene. Shaking his head at this, he opened the bathroom door.

A waft of sweet-smelling steam came spilling out of the shower.

“…Uh…”

He could see a woman through the clouds.

She was naked, wiping droplets of water from her youthful skin with a towel, making no effort to conceal her enticing chest, narrow waist, or anything farther down. This naked woman was none other than…

“Oh, Ma-kun?”

Mamako. Masato’s mom.

Having accidentally walked in on his mother getting out of the shower, Masato crumpled to the floor, his mind and body obliterated in a single instant. He began to decompose.

“M-Ma-kun? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, y’know…just…everything…”

This was wrong. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

This sort of surprise fan service was supposed to allow him to catch a naughty glimpse of the heroine.

But all he got was an eyeful of his mom.

“Sigh… What’s the point…? If it was Wise—not that I want that, but if it was—then at least I’d know how to handle the situation…”

“Wise? Oh, Wise…!”

No sooner had the word left Mamako’s mouth…

…than Wise appeared in the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around her body. Like she’d used a teleportation spell.

“Sorry for the wait, Mamako! I brought a change of clothes from your room. Wait… Huh?!”

Wise had, naturally, locked her gaze on Masato. And was starting to freak out.

Before she had a chance, though, Masato yelled back, “Wise, what the heck? What are you doing?”

“Huh? Wh-what…? I was taking a shower with Mamako, and she forgot to bring a change of clothes, so I went to get them.”

“Gimme a break! Why would you do any of that? How could you not be here? You’ve ruined the whole thing! God, you’re a constant disappointment!”

“Umm… What? Why am I the villain here? How’d you make it sound like I should be apologizing? Um… Then…sorry? I guess?”

Thoroughly confused, Wise bowed her head. As she did…

Well, she didn’t have much holding the towel up in the first place, so when she bent over, it loosened and fell right off her.

Exposing every inch of the high school Sage to Masato’s eyes.

Thus, the world was restored to its natural order.

“Ah… Hey?!”

“Yes! This! This is how things should be! Maybe your thighs are a little thick and you’re totally flat chested, but still! Or… Right, not the time for that, is it?”

Masato catching a glimpse of her meant only one thing. Punishment.

He slowly closed the door, as if saying, “Take your time.”

But inside he heard the familiar chant. “…Spara la magia…” Wise was getting ready to cast.

Before she could, there was a knock at the door. Outside was…

“Good morning! Masato! Wise! Are you up?”

“Oh, Porta!” Masato called. “Perfect timing! Come on in! It’s a bit of an emergency.”

“It is? O-okay…!”