22 — Home Away From Home

22 — Home Away From Home

I hadn’t come to the Healer’s Guild first for any particular reason. It really was thanks to good old Monsieur Luck that it had led to bringing that scam artist to justice. His hiatus was finally over, it seemed.

Kururu returned some time later, excitement evident on her face.

“Anyway,” she said, “welcome back, Luciel.” It was nice to see her bright grin for the first time in so long.

“Thanks, but...is that the right greeting for a guild?” I wondered aloud.

“For you it is. Who are your friends?” Her eyes stopped for a moment on Estia and she smiled a little wider at her.

“Lionel, Ketty, Kefin, and Estia. They travel with me.”

“You never stop being weird, do you?” Kururu said teasingly. “I’d be careful around this one, you guys. He has a habit of attracting trouble. That goes for you especially, Estia.”

Estia looked taken aback. “You...remember me?”

She was supposed to have erased Kururu’s memories, but maybe back then she hadn’t had full control of her power like Lihzalea.

“How could I forget? I didn’t expect to see you with Luciel, though, that’s for sure. But on second thought, I probably should have. That boy has a habit of stealing staff from me.” She turned back to me. “Would it kill you to leave me a girl or two?”

I laughed. She was talking about how I’d indirectly caused Monica’s defection to the Adventurer’s Guild. And I was starting to realize just how true it was that trouble had a funny way of finding me, but still, I hoped that by denying it, I could yet be saved from this curse.

“Hey, you’re not my mom. And stop giving them funny ideas. I don’t attract anything, much less trouble.”

Kururu’s eyes sharpened with anger. “Mom? Listen, pal, I’m barely ten years older than you, so you better make your peace with that before you wind up in my shoes. Otherwise, you’re going to attract a whole lot more than trouble.”

The funny thing was, she was absolutely right. I had absolutely no retort. Well played.

I shifted gears to the situation at hand. Fake Luciels aside, as long as the rest of the city was in relative peace, I wanted to spend the next two months quietly training.

“Anything new happen?” I asked. “It’s been well over a year since I was last in the know.”

“Oh, plenty,” she replied. “You’ll find out more when you get to the Adventurer’s Guild, but there’s been an influx of casualties lately.”

An influx worthy of concern? Then something big must have happened. And it probably didn’t help that Bottaculli, the city’s top healer, was out of commission.

“There should be more healers in town, right?”

“Not enough. It’s not uncommon to get a surge of poisonings, paralysis, petrifications... The monsters have been getting craftier.”

“Sounds like we need people leveling up their Holy Magic skills ASAP so we have more access to the right spells.”

There should have been a lot more healers around, but without the right teacher, that didn’t mean they would be particularly skilled healers. And the best ones all went to the capital.

I remembered Bottaculli. Brod had once told me that he hadn’t always been bad. That there had been a time when he’d healed for the sake of helping others. He may have strayed from the path, but his ability spoke for itself. He’d done the hard work, and that was the sort of attitude the Church needed going forward.

If so many adventurers were coming back hurt, it was possible that Brod himself was in the field with them. And there hadn’t been any sightings of monsters capable of inflicting abnormal ailments since the time the Lineage of the White Wolf had nearly died. I recalled that it had originated from the nearby mine.

“Are the monsters coming from the mine?” I asked.

“You already know?” Kururu said, then nodded. “I heard something about it being connected all the way to a labyrinth in Grandol.”

Wait, what was that last part? “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but is Merratoni kind of in a little bit of extreme danger?”

“Not with you here. You and the power you so righteously obtained for the good of others.”

“Can we dial it back a bit? I’m not the messiah over here. And what about the other healers? If it’s been that bad, shouldn’t their skills be leveling up?”

Kururu shook her head with a sad expression, then smiled at me. There was hope in her eyes. She was normally so strong-willed and steadfast, but now she was looking to me to make things right. I heaved a sigh.

“Recover is only practical for poison, paralysis, and sleep,” she said. “There’s no panacea for everything. You know that.”

I wasn’t sure about that; Substance X came pretty close.

“Uh, what? Why is their healing magic so wimpy?” The healers I had taken to Yenice had managed to cure status ailments just fine.

“If that’s how it looks to you, then it’s because they’ve had no proper teaching. As far as they’re concerned, you’re a madman.”

A madman? I was blessed by the Divine Healer, so yeah, I had a bit of extra help, but I wasn’t ready to be called a madman. Kururu stared at me with an amused smile on her face.

“I don’t get it.” I sighed. “All right, if that’s it, they probably need me at the Adventurer’s Guild. As an S-rank, I’m deeming Merratoni to be in a state of emergency and thus in need of my services.”

“The Merratoni branch recognizes your decision,” Kururu said. “Also, we’ve had a lot of people following your footsteps and registering with us here, but they’re trailing off.”

“Then I’ll show the healers we do have how it’s done while I get to work.”

“Will you? I knew you’d be my hero!”

Kururu leaned in to peck my cheek—but this time I dodged it. I did take note of how my heart did not flutter this time, and silently apologized to her.

“I see how it is,” she said. “You prefer Lumina, hm?”

“How did you—”

The timing was uncanny. It hadn’t even been ten days, and as far as I knew, the Valkyries hadn’t been deployed.

“Don’t underestimate us Healer’s Guild ladies.” She winked at me, a devastating blow to my psyche.

“Can I just get an inn sorted out?” I asked.

“There’s one near the Adventurer’s Guild that some templars stayed in. Will that work?”

“Perfect. I’ll head to the guild now.”

“Bring more fun gossip for me when you come back.”

“We’ll see.”

With a cold smile, I left the guildhall. Kururu would have made a great innkeeper.

The first person to speak up when we left was, surprisingly, Estia.

“Can I come to see her again later, sir?”

“Of course,” I said. “Oh, I forgot to give her the gift. Let me know before you leave.”

“Yes, sir.”

I thought I saw a twinge of red in her cheeks, but she turned away before I could get a good look. She had seemed a little antsy to chat back there.

“Anyway, Lionel, you’re really going to face Brod as a slave?” I asked him.

“Former general” sounded like a much better title to be facing an old rival with, compared to “slave.”

“I am,” he replied. “I’ve informed him of the circumstances by letter, and he knows with which feelings I face him. I am more than content as the head of your fellowship.”

I couldn’t say anything back. It made me happy. “Okay, then. According to what we just heard, the adventurers are in dire straits. You might not get your match right away, but I’ll do everything I can to make it happen. I want to see it too, after all.”

“The Lion versus the Whirlwind. Wow,” Kefin marveled, smiling like an innocent child.

“I’ve never seen this rival of his in person, so I’m excited,” Ketty added. Her enthusiasm appeared to be much more professional than Kefin’s.

Meanwhile, Estia was whipping her head this way and that, enjoying the sights of the city for the first time in so long. I could relate. When we finally saw the Adventurer’s Guild, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

But nothing could have prepared me for what awaited us behind the door. The guildhall was absolutely overflowing with injured patients. Every open space was occupied by a wounded adventurer, and it looked more like a field hospital than a guild. Several weary people glanced my way, but no one recognized me.

On closer inspection, the adventurers were all young. I didn’t know any of them either. The mess hall was closed off.

“Let’s go,” I said, heading for the reception desk. I wasn’t sure I recognized the girl there. Maybe we’d met, maybe we hadn’t. “Hello, I’m Luciel. E-rank adventurer. Are Brod or Gulgar in? Maybe Nanaella or Monica?”

It didn’t matter who. One of them would be able to fill me in.

“My apologies, sir, but given the emergency, I’m under orders not to disturb any executives with guests.”

Given she had no idea who I was, the receptionist was doing her job wonderfully. And the fierce pressure of those behind me being stifled by Lionel’s own overbearing aura didn’t escape my notice.

I didn’t have time to waste, so I decided to pull out my trump card. “Can you pass along the message that Luciel, the S-rank healer, is here to meet his master?”

“A-At once, sir!”

The receptionist all but flew down the stairs. I felt everyone’s gazes converge on me, sizing me up.

True to his nickname, Brod appeared as quick as the wind.

“There he is, the little bastard!” he shouted. “Your timing couldn’ta been better. Let’s go. Downstairs. Some poor fellas need your help bad.”

He grabbed me and pulled me along, sweat visible on his skin, but Lionel stopped him before we could go too far.

“A moment, Whirlwind,” he said.

“So the Lion is hangin’ around Luciel now,” Brod noted. “Our date’s later. C’mon, downstairs.”

His voice was steady but colored with a distinct impatience that said he would not let someone die by standing around. I gave the others a nod and followed him.

At the bottom of the stairs was a situation far worse than what I’d seen above.

“This is just like Yenice,” I muttered. “No, worse. Petrification, paralysis, enfeeblement, curses...” I saw some healers tending to the various afflictions, but they weren’t making much progress. “Master, can you separate them into physical wounds and status ailments?”

“On it, but I need you to get Gulgar back on his feet.”

“What?”

Gulgar was incapacitated? How? I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it. It was Gulgar. The man was built like a brick wall.

Brod took me to him, and immediately I was at a loss for words. What he showed me wasn’t Gulgar. It was a statue. I had no idea if he was still alive. Unsure whether even High Heal would be enough on its own, I chanted the spell under my breath while secretly free casting Extra Heal as well, along with Dispel and Recover. A surge of light blanketed him, restoring his carbonized arm and closing up the gashes all over his body like they had never been there in the first place.

Once I was sure he was in the clear, I cast Purification to clean up the congealed blood. A roar of cheers broke out across the training ground. I jumped at the sudden noise.

“Yeesh. He’s got a lot of fans. Well, not like I’m one to talk. Anyway, separate everyone like I asked, Master. Gather the healers too. Also—”

I cast the same four spells on him that I had used on Gulgar. I’d noticed when he’d tried to pull me down here that his strength had felt considerably lessened. Who knew how hard he’d been pushing himself.

“Thanks, Luciel,” he said softly. Then he addressed the other able-bodied people. “If you want your asses saved, get in line! Physical wounds and status ailments, split up! Worst injuries first. Healers, listen to the S-rank and watch how it’s done!”

Everyone jumped into action. Guild staff directed the chaos per Brod’s instructions, and somewhere in the madness, I met eyes with Nanaella and Monica. We smiled at each other.

“He actually commands their respect,” Lionel muttered in admiration. “Hard to believe this is the same man who turned down a well-paid leadership position on the self-proclaimed grounds that he was underqualified.”

I proceeded to treat each patient at death’s door individually, lecturing the healers on visualization. Next I moved to less critical patients and provided less chatter and more demonstrations with Area High Heal. With my fifth cast, all those with severe external injuries were healed, and I moved on to those afflicted with more complicated ailments. I left the less serious cases for the healers to practice what I’d taught them.

“I heard you have trouble curing ailments for some reason,” I told them. “So, let me tell you what I visualize when I work. Bear what I teach you in mind, stay strong, practice, and you’ll be great healers in no time.”

The young healers replied enthusiastically. They weren’t lacking passion, but their skill levels were amateur.

It had been a long time since I had last got into teaching, and it wasn’t so bad. By the time we were finished, my magic was almost tapped dry, but I managed to hang in there.

“Nice work out there, Luciel. Ya saved our asses.” The bear-like wolf-man had come to. Gulgar seemed full of energy again.

“You’d have been there for me,” I answered. “You okay to be on your feet?”

“Hey, I’m a sturdy guy.”

Extra Heal could only heal the outside, but based on how normal he was acting after all that trauma, it wasn’t just his body that was rock-solid.

“You were pretty bad, though. What kind of monster did that to you?”

“Let’s save that story for later. We got a reunion to celebrate, which means I’ve got cookin’ to do.”

That was one way to avoid a question. Whatever the answer was, it wasn’t something that could be said in public or in the span of a short break.

“I’ll definitely look forward to that,” I told him. I turned to Brod. “Master, I’ve heard that this is the norm nowadays.”

It was unthinkable, really. Wounds like that on people like those two? Normal? Only the demons came to mind, but Kururu had said a labyrinth was involved.

“Yeah, about that,” Brod said. “A labyrinth in Grandol’s gone haywire and the monsters’re flooding into Shurule. The top adventurers over there got their side covered, but that just means we’re getting the worst of it now.”

“But that’s not all, is it?”

“Damn right it’s not. I don’t know how the hell it happened, but the mine’s been connected right to Grandol, so the monsters have a highway to our damn doorstep.”

And the more wounded they accumulated, the fewer people they had to address the issue, which meant ever more adventurers out of commission as the cycle continued. I wished they would understand that a day’s worth of pay wasn’t worth their lives.

It almost sounded like a direct attack by Grandol. A situation like this called for the Knights of Shurule, but the capital couldn’t be left empty with everything that was going on, and one wrong political step could mean war with Grandol rather than Illumasia. If that happened, there would be no better chance or excuse for other countries to team up to beat Grandol down.

“All I wanted to do was see you and Lionel fight, but now it seems like the world’s going to end if I don’t somehow involve myself in this nonsense,” I griped.

“You in?”

The main thing holding them back was the lack of qualified healers. There was the Doctor’s Guild, but it wasn’t that prominent, what with the Healer’s Guild throwing its weight around Shurule. As long as I was around, though, there was nothing my master or his adventurers couldn’t face. And if I were, for some ungodly reason, out there on the battlefield, the presence of both Brod and Lionel meant the risk to me was minimal.

“What kind of apprentice would I be to turn down my own master?” I said. “Plus, Merratoni’s special to me. But I need you two to make sure I’m protected or you can find some other healer to clean up your sparring injuries.”

“Sounds like it’s time for a celebration.”

“Not quite. I have people to talk to and preparations to make.”

“Who are you, Galba?” Brod scoffed. “You know damn well we’re up shit’s creek because you had him run all the way down to Yenice.”

“You practically live up in that creek in this industry.”

I noticed attention had gathered on us as we talked. My master was probably trying to distract the questioning looks regarding me joining the fight by changing the subject. So no strategies or logistics were discussed that day. Instead, we gorged ourselves on Gulgar’s cooking, and near the end of the party, Brod and Lionel absconded to the bar together. And boy were they a pair.

I placed myself somewhere I could get a good view of the two while I caught up with Nanaella and Monica, and presented them with their gifts. The three of us chatted the night away, sharing stories about everything that had happened since my departure for Yenice.