03 — The Healer’s Paradigm

03 — The Healer’s Paradigm

The next day, the Valkyries left with the mercenaries, including the twenty-two we had encountered in Yenice. Sagius wanted to go with them, but seeing as he and his men were going to quit the merc business, I made sure to send a letter of pardon with him. I had also given Lumina a rundown on their situation and hoped I would come across their future restaurant at some point.

Meanwhile, my team returned to our route along the Yenitian border, westbound. We’d purchased two more horses from the village and placed the healers into a new, Dhoran-made carriage, driven by Kefin.

Soon after we left, I learned about what had kept Pola and Lycian so quiet all this time. They’d been building something.

“Horses sure run fast without the weight of the carriage on them,” I commented.

“I’ve never seen weight reduction to this degree before,” Lionel replied.

The rivals had been putting their minds together to create the world’s most comfortable wagon ride.

“We’ll reach Rockford in no time at this rate.”

“As long as the road remains clear, we should make good time and avoid breaking axles en route.”

“Keep us heading the right way, Dhoran.”

“Aye,” the dwarf said. “Simple stuff. Follow the highway.”

He seemed more excited than usual, which only made sense, considering he was going home for the first time in ages. Pola, on the other hand, was somewhat quiet. Perhaps because she was a human-dwarf twinblood?

“I hope there are no more bandits,” I griped.

“And I hope the next village has an inn,” Lionel added.

On that point, we agreed. Hopefully, we would get to actually stay in it this time, with Sagius’s group gone. We also needed to stock up on cooking supplies.

“Please just stay peaceful... Oh, spoke too soon. Monsters on the highway?”

“Perhaps from the valley to the left,” Lionel surmised.

I summoned the Holy Dragon spear from the magic bag. I still wasn’t comfortable enough with mounted combat to use the Illusion Sword while on horseback, but spears were easier. Sheer combat experience was more important than weapon specialization right now.

Large lizards and giant snakes were blocking the way, hissing and snapping at one another. As we approached, they noticed us and turned their fangs in our direction.

“My first fight since you started giving me those horseback fighting lessons. Sorry in advance, Forêt,” I said to my partner.

“You needn’t trouble yourself, sir. Allow me to lead the charge.”

“No, I’ll go.”

The vague silhouette of a cat-woman sped between me and Lionel while we debated. “Bored! Gonna fight!”

Lionel and I exchanged glances, then chased after her. Reins in one hand, spear in the other, Forêt and I charged the enemy. As we neared our target, I readied the spear in both hands and gripped my steed with my thighs to steady my posture. I trusted her to dodge any attacks coming our way as I decided whether to swipe or stab, ultimately choosing to stab when I saw an opening. But my stance was unsteady and we passed the monster by.

I had her gallop a ways away and turned to make another pass, but Lionel and Ketty had already beaten us to it. Forêt whinnied in disappointment. I patted her neck and returned to the team.

“I know you’re fast, Ketty, but Lionel, how did you do that so quickly?”

“A mountain of experience,” he answered with a shameless smirk. “And my steed is rather shrewd. I’ve been holding spears since I was just a boy, for over thirty years now. Given time, you could be just as skilled.”

“Sir Lionel’s never lost a target on horseback,” Ketty said proudly. She had taken out several of the lizards in an instant, each with a single headshot, so by my standards a woman strong enough to be called “the Nightgleam” had plenty to brag about.

“Great, you’re all strong,” I said. “But wasn’t this supposed to be training for me?”

“Semantics,” Lionel stated.

“Whatever. Ketty, why’d you jump out of the carriage?”

“Was bored,” she replied. “Pola and Lycian keep chanting weird crap, and I’m sure not movin’ to the other wagon. Dhoran said I could pounce in and fight.”

Yeah, no, he probably just hadn’t been paying attention. Ketty apparently needed Kefin to hold her in check, or she’d go nuts. Was this a concern to take to Lionel, or was I worrying about nothing again? I did that often.

“Chanting, you said? Didn’t you tell me earlier that they were ‘havin’ a magic get-together today’? Is it bothering you?” I asked.

“I-It’s not...not bothering me,” she mumbled. “If I hear one more spell get recited, this kitty’s gonna lose her mind!”

“Would you rather ride with Kefin?”

“You sure like that guy, Chief, but all he’s been doing is sitting there and starin’ at nothing.”

He did seem a little more dazed than usual. Honestly, we hadn’t really needed the extra healers, and most of them didn’t look all that motivated to be here. They were definitely the Church HQ types.

“How’s Dhoran looking to you?”

“Happy his granddaughter’s got a new friend. I catch him lookin’ back and smilin’ at them every now and then.”

Pola and Lycian really did go well together. It couldn’t be easy finding another person to talk with about magic items so passionately. Well, I did potentially know one in the Holy City, but she was probably one of the reincarnated.

“Good to hear. Sorry, Ketty, but we’re gonna keep things as they’ve been for now. You don’t have to pay attention to the magic stuff. Focus on scouting if you want.”

“Gotcha. I’ll help drive or let the yammering lull me to sleep if I get tired.”

“Don’t let yourself get too stressed. Take Kefin scouting with you if you need to.”

“Got it!”

Handing over Kefin sure made her happy. I didn’t know if Kefin shared the sentiment, but I needed him to keep an eye on her.

Over the course of the next hour, the valley vanished behind us, and by the second hour, it had been replaced by forest. Beyond was the unexplored territory to the west of Yenice. The prospect of breaking new ground excited me, but the thought of the ground breaking me made me get over the idea pretty quick.

“I wonder if there are any unique monsters here, like in the forest in Yenice,” I mused.

“My knowledge of Shurule’s territory is limited, but species can vary or even exist in stronger varieties,” Lionel replied.

“Then these uninhabited woodsy areas must be pretty dangerous.”

“Not in Shurule. Lord Reinstar’s Blessing, the barrier that surrounds the republic, stretches across here, so any monsters we encounter should be weaker.”

Lord Reinstar had done a good job keeping the big, strong monsters away, but not labyrinths. Maybe they were connected to some different space in reality or something.

“Has anyone ever considered the fallibility of that thing? Knock on wood. Not that I want to be the one to test it.”

“I welcome the prospect of challenging foes. The thrill of battle reminds us of the joy of being alive, and the rush of victory proves our strength.”

I’d forgotten who I was talking to. I only had myself to blame. Still, I did feel a little anxious. Some monsters could fly, others could dig, and some were crafty and could lay traps. The chances of being ambushed by creatures like that weren’t exactly zero, especially if airborne enemies could fly over the barrier. But what if we could create a barrier that covered every avenue of attack? On the other hand, how would I even learn that sort of magic? The only talk I’d heard of something like that was in legends about spells invented by Lord Reinstar himself.

I suddenly had a flash of brilliance. If we couldn’t do it with spells, why not with magic items?

“We could make barrier generators,” I mumbled to myself.

Even if towns only had devices that could pinpoint the location of potential threats, it would make defense significantly easier to maintain. And if we could shrink it down into a handheld form, the adventuring profession would be changed forever.

More ideas started to pop into my head. I made note of each one, regardless of how realistic they were. Subtly, of course, so as not to out myself as one of the reincarnated.

Finally, we spotted the fortifications of a small town. Before, with the Order of Healing, Jord would have been ordering Palaragus to herald our arrival, but recently, it had come to my attention that no one in my current troupe was the heralding type. I ended up settling for Lionel.

“Mind riding ahead and telling them an S-rank’s arriving?” I asked him.

“Whether I mind is of no importance,” he said. “None of us are quite suited for the job. It will be a new experience.”

“Right. Thanks.”

“It will be done.”

As I watched him leave, I couldn’t help but irritably wonder why we had gotten four healers but not a single templar or paladin.

The villagers welcomed us with open arms. Lionel introduced the mayor, and when I asked if he had any citizens in need of healing, he only answered after some hesitation. This made me realize that although the healing guidelines had been in effect for well over a year now, there were still people who didn’t trust them...even in Shurule. People were still too scared of the prices to visit clinics and be healed. And this was what I, the S-rank healer, was traveling around to rectify. But at the same time, I was no Lord Reinstar. I knew that I could—and should—act only within the bounds of what I was capable of.

I struck a deal with the mayor to let us heal as many injuries as his people had, every little cut or pulled muscle, in return for food. It would give me an idea of what the new healers were capable of too. Lumina had told me that all of them, excluding Estia, had owned clinics, so regardless of their character, they surely knew how to walk the walk.

The test began and the healers got to work on my orders, but I found myself scowling before long. They were skilled enough to use High Heal, as expected, but their basic understanding of healing was a far cry from my own. Although the wounds they treated closed, they left nasty scars. Estia, meanwhile, was so poor at handling magic that a single Heal spell caused sweat to bead on her forehead. Still, she produced far cleaner results than the others, leaving no traces of injury on her patient, and I started to wonder if the pope had sent her to me so that I could refine her technique.

Later, I offered to take care of the leftover scars and clean up any remaining discomfort, healing everyone who stepped forward. After asking the mayor to prepare lunch for us as payment for our services, I had everyone but me and the healers leave the room. I addressed them first with a recount of the Order of Healing’s creed, then proceeded with their evaluations.

“Your Holy Magic skills are impressive for sure. I can certainly understand why you were chosen to join the new Order.” Among the horribly disguised smug looks of superiority, one healer was hanging her head. “But as far as real healing goes, despite being the least skilled, Estia has every one of you beat.”

Estia looked up. “What?”

The other healers frowned.

“Let me explain. Magic is a skill, right? Every affinity has one.” The frowning healers looked curious while Estia continued to gape. “The more you use a skill, the higher its level gets. The higher its level, the more spells you can cast. Estia is the youngest among you, so her lack of ability is to be expected.”

“Then I can’t be the best one here,” she argued. “Surely you made a mistake.”

“No. The reason I say that is because you, more than anyone else, truly put the patient first. The fact that your work didn’t leave a single scar speaks to that. The rest of you, however, left traces behind. I don’t know if that’s because you’ve gotten complacent or what, but your spellcasting was disingenuous.”

“Mister Luciel,” one of the healers spoke up, “I understand your point, but you seriously can’t be telling us that a child who can barely cast Heal is better than all three of us.”

I didn’t think I’d said anything all that inflammatory, but maybe we could use this chance to lay our grievances out in the open. They hadn’t spoken much until now, so figuring them out had been difficult.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I replied. “At least in this particular case.”

“Then I suppose we don’t think alike, do we?”

“I suppose we don’t. But like I said, one of our goals as the Order of Healing is to improve the sullied image of our profession. To return to a time when healers were respected.”

One of the men cackled. “A jokester too! What can’t you do?”

“Such grandeur. I can feel the wind in my sails already,” another quipped.

“Or is that meant to be a jab at us for running our clinics into the ground?” the last added.

Lumina’s warning had evidently been accurate.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your clinics,” I said, “but as long as you’re in the Order, you’re going to do things our way.”

“Quite the idealist, Mister Luciel.”

“I can hardly believe we’re speaking to the man who traveled to another country, subjugated the population, and enslaved its people.”

“Frankly, that’s what I’m most interested in learning how to do...”

So that was how they saw me, huh? Out of context, my actions did look bad from a pessimist’s point of view. The thought of all the nasty rumors the Valkyries hadn’t informed me of was somewhat frightening. I knew they were only egging me on, and nothing they said was wrong per se, but I wasn’t about to take this lying down.

“Oh, that’s easy,” I scoffed. “All you have to do is master holy magic, slay a dragon, tackle racial discrimination, improve workplace conditions, and privately fund the construction of a school for children.” Deafening silence. “Do all that and your slaves won’t let you free them, even if you beg them to go. Give it a try. Any more questions?” Nothing. “No? Good. Lunch is probably almost ready. Let’s go.”

I exited the room.

＊

Estia followed Luciel out shortly after. She couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as those despicable healers for a second longer. There was nothing she despised more than their kind. She spotted the S-rank walking a ways ahead and nearly called out to him but stopped in her tracks. The mountain of questions she had seemed to be stuck in her throat.

“Who are you?” she wondered aloud. “Which rumors are real, and which are lies?”

As Luciel disappeared from view, Estia felt the tension leave her, and she continued after him once more.

＊

I asked the mayor over lunch if there were any other villages or towns nearby, and he pointed us in the direction of a particularly bustling one called Affre just a few hours away. He offered to let us spend the night, but I figured we ought to hurry and decided we’d set off after a short break.

In the meantime, I relayed my ideas for barrier-generating magic items to Dhoran, Pola, and Lycian. Their eyes all shot open at once.

“You’re a genius, lad!”

“A savant!”

“With such a device, people might live in complete peace from monsters!”

The three of them flew into deep, confusing conversation with many complicated terms that went right over my head.

Noticing my plight, Lionel frowned and remarked, “True, the threat of monsters would diminish, but it wouldn’t be long before nation-states tried to appropriate the technology for military use.”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” Ketty argued. She didn’t often contradict Lionel’s opinions. I shot a glance at her, but her mind was already somewhere else.

“Mister Luciel,” Kefin spoke up, clenching his fist, “I support your goal for world peace. I say we make a statement.”

I hadn’t considered the military applications, but that was why second opinions were valuable to have. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the others start submitting their own proposals. It would help to facilitate communication and keep Dhoran and the rambunctious rivals motivated, although we would need to make sure the crafters had what they required. We couldn’t just toss them a list of things to do and tell them to make it.

“I’m sure Dhoran can figure something out,” I said. “He’s good at pretty much everything. Cooking included.”

“Aye,” the dwarf chimed in, evidently done with his other conversation. “I learned a good deal o’ things to make sure Pola got raised right.”

“Watching you cook and make so many things might be what inspired her to become an artificer, don’t you think?”

“Could be. For better or worse, who knows, but I don’t regret it a bit.”

I wondered what that meant, but a thought came to me: what if they put their crafting skills to use in the kitchen?

“You know, a magic item that could cook a bunch of ingredients according to a recipe would be pretty handy,” I suggested.

“Genius!” Pola shouted.

“We must create this device!” Lycian cried.

They’d been listening in too. And Lycian was just as awful at cooking as Pola, so they were even more excited about this idea than the last one.

“Specifics?” Pola asked.

“Be as exacting as you like,” Lycian said.

“Uh, specifics... Right.” I thought for a bit. “Well, you put ingredients in. And you can record recipes. And it follows it perfectly, one step at a time.”

“That’s not very helpful,” Pola griped.

Computerization was foreign to them. Right.

“All right, what about a tool that freezes food quickly, then dehydrates it with pressure? All you’d have to do is add hot water to eat it again. It’d work well for emergency rations.”

The three crafters froze.

“Jerky is dried, salted, and spiced to prolong its shelf life, right?” I began to explain based on something I’d seen on TV about freeze-drying. “If we can use that same sort of technique, you could enjoy entire meals just by rehydrating the food.”

I wasn’t sure it would be possible to replicate in this world, but it was worth a shot.

“Monster radars, food preservation,” Pola muttered. “You really are a genius. Or maybe I was right all along. You might be God.”

“Pola, this is going to require our combined talents to make it a reality,” Lycian declared.

“Right. An entire meal made with only hot water? It’s the dream of all kitchen disasters.”

“This will change the world.”

“What happened to actually preserving the preserved food?” I butted in. But my voice fell on deaf ears. The two shared a firm handshake and returned to their own world.

I turned around to start getting ready, but Lionel and the others were staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Such inspiration for someone so young,” Lionel said in a strangely quiet tone. “You consider not only how to protect people from monsters but hunger as well.”

“I could use that second one, personally,” Ketty grinned. Somehow, I knew she’d say that.

“Shoot any weapon or armor ideas my way,” Dhoran requested.

I didn’t like the idea of the military using my creations, so I didn’t feel very motivated on that front. Still, there were the reincarnated to worry about, like Rina and Hatori. I had to consider self-defense.

I felt Kefin’s passionate gaze. His gaze had been boring a hole through me for a while now. Come to think of it, Dhoran and Pola had confiscated some kind of magic bra from the guy when he’d first raided the Healer’s Guild in Yenice as well as, if my sources were accurate, a matching pair of magic panties whose benefit increased when they were equipped together.

“Sorry, I don’t lean that way,” I said.

“What?” he shot back.

Listen, I had to make sure all the cards were on the table. But I did feel a little bad for being a bit indelicate. At any rate, I knew where he stood now. A man’s fetish didn’t determine his preference for gender, after all.

“So did you have something to say?”

“Er, no,” he stammered. “I just think I’ve found a new goal to strive for.”

I would have felt incredibly uncomfortable with that statement had I not cleared up the misunderstanding earlier.

“Don’t forget to put in the work.”

“Yes, sir,” he nodded enthusiastically.

After a bit of small talk, our break ended and we departed for Affre. Before we left, Estia asked if she could change carriages or take a horse, so I offered her the latter hoping she would make a better herald moving forward. And yes, the horse I gave her was one of many that made me eat dirt the second I tried to ride it. I simply had to accept the sad truth that I would be forever hated by my equestrian brethren.

Somewhere along the road, we felt the ground shake. An earthquake. This sort of phenomenon was rare but not unheard of, considering the powers that people like Dhoran had, so no one panicked.

“Hopefully nothing’s happened in Affre,” I said.

“Shall we pick up the pace?” Lionel suggested.

“Maybe. But stay on guard.”

“Sir.”

We increased our speed, but it wasn’t long before another earthquake hit.

“Does this happen often around here?” I asked.

“I’ve not heard of any region in the world with quakes this frequent,” Lionel replied.

“Then we’d better hurry. If earthquakes aren’t common, no one will know what to do if something bad happens.”

The tremors continued without abating for the rest of our journey. We finally reached the town at dusk. I was hesitant to send Estia in by herself, so I assigned Lionel to guard her, and both of them went ahead to inform the town of our arrival.

When the rest of us joined them, Lionel had a report ready on damage from the earthquakes.

“How do things look?” I asked.

“The buildings are all stable, it seems,” he reported.

“That’s good, at least.”

“There were some minor injuries. They’ve been seen to by the local clinics.”

“Good.” I hadn’t considered it, but it made sense for a town this big to have a Healer’s Guild. “Let’s make the rounds for anyone else who needs healing.”

My three healers suddenly jumped out of the carriage.

“Mister Luciel, there are already clinics,” one argued. “You’re going to run around and steal their profits?”

“Your rank surely doesn’t give you the right to act with abandon,” another added.

“Actions have consequences that need to be considered,” the last preached.

They sure were making a show for the passing townsfolk.

“My actions and their consequences are well considered,” I countered. “My help won’t be needed if the town’s healers are doing their jobs well, but I refuse to let a single patient die when I could have been there to save them. How can you call yourselves healers while forsaking people?”

“Drivel,” a healer spat.

“If we can’t see eye-to-eye on this, then none of you are fit to be in the Order of Healing,” I stated. “You’re all free to return to the Holy City, but I’ll warn you now, your clinics are doomed to fail with thinking like that.”

“You little...” one of them snarled. “You’ll regret this one day.”

The trio disappeared into the crowd of people.

“Sorry about that, folks. Is there anyone hurt?”

Afterwards, we reserved rooms at the inn, then took a stroll around town. We met many people along the way. An old man with a broken hip from a fall during the earthquakes. A carpenter with chronic numbness in his arm from a hack healing job. A woman with a scar left behind on her face by a passing monster. I healed them all. I couldn’t deny that it was partly for my own egotistic desire, but I made a stand that day. This wasn’t just for me; it was for the reputation of every healer, present and future.

As for what became of the three rowdy healers, Ketty told me they’d hightailed it to the Healer’s Guild. All I could do was hope they would cool down and make the right choice by morning. We enjoyed a nice meal, then called it a day.