A Lesson on Healing

“Eh? So we’re leaving?”

For the second time in this short span, I had a jump scare.

“Please don’t sneak up on me,” I begged as I rubbed my poor heart.

“I didn’t. I was right behind you all this while. Why did you run into the house then just walk out a few seconds later, though?”

Right. I was too caught up with my thoughts that I forgot that it was impossible to outrun Sereya. I knew it was normal for her, but I still found it a tad bit creepy for her to shadow me this perfectly.

“It’s as you said. They took out any indication that I had a sister. How is it possible to erase someone from a painting though?”

“There was a painting? Sorry, there were too many people blocking, I couldn’t see.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at that answer.

“What’s so funny?”

“So even the Great Sereya couldn’t overcome the obstacle that is her height.”

“Hey! Rude.”

Sereya wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see. All the pilgrims also failed to see that their ‘god’ who just walked into the room.

Then again, I was grateful for this. Perhaps there was some benefit to Hanasuke changing my hair colour after all.

I felt the back of Sereya’s hand brushing against mine. It was a clear sign that she wanted me to hold hers, to which I complied.

Were all girls like this, though? Eveline always did this, so seeing Sereya do the same was causing me to view her in a more childish light.

“It’s great that you’re feeling a lot better now, but don’t push yourself, okay?”

It must’ve been pretty confusing for Sereya. One moment, I looked like I was possessed, then the next, I was raring to go. While I’d love to explain everything to her, a lot of it was mainly conjecture. I figured it was best that I shared my theory with Timon at the same time, in case I was missing out on anything.

But to reward my girlfriend’s concern and willingness to put up with me, I gave her a pat on the head.

Unfortunately for her, her right and only hand was occupied by mine. She had no choice but to accept the headpat, since she didn’t have another hand to deflect it.

“Hey…”

Crap, was it too awkward? I retracted my hand immediately.

“...I didn’t say stop…”

Okay, never mind.

While taming the beast beside me, we made our way back to the temple, passing by the masterfully crafted statues. By this time, the food rationing behind the temple has ended and the poor folk have returned back to Old Breven.

Instead, a new sea of people were crowding the side of the temple—Evanists trying to swarm over to our side, but being held back by robed disciples. The disciples' arms were outstretched, blocking and stopping the templegoers like a dam that’s trying to stop rising water from overflowing.

“Priestess! Touch me, Priestess!”

“Please return my daughter’s sight back to her, I’m begging you!”

“My mother needs you, Priestess Imelda!”

The priestess in question was more like a celebrity than a woman of the cloth. With the service over, she was heading back to the clergy’s living quarters, with the lower-ranked monks basically acting as her security detail.

Dressed in robes of pure white, she looked at the crowd and announced:

“It is not I whom you need. I am but an instrument of our Lord Evansmith Mattheld. Come again later this evening and all of you shall bear witness to the miracles of our Lord once more.”

Just like that, the shepherd returned to her home, doing little to assuage her rabid flock’s cries for help.

“Whelp, guess we’ll never get the chance to talk to the priestess, then.”

“Not exactly,” I told Sereya. “I think I have a way to secure us a little chat.”

In fact, I was pretty confident my plan would work.

I continued, “But first, we have to wait for that crowd to go away, so in the meantime, I am curious about one thing though.”

“Hm?”

“Why is everyone so crazy about the priestess and her healing? I know they’re not exactly common, but surely there are other people who know healing magic in town?”

“I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not healing magic that’s being used. It may be a Blessing, an Augmentation, or something else altogether.”

“Like miracles?”

I found it hard to believe a priestess of all people would possibly undergo Augmentation like Melyeze or Phalanx and get her eyes, legs, or some other body part replaced, and then chalk it up to ‘Lord Evan.’

“Not to say that miracles don’t exist, but I’m definitely sceptical of someone who uses miracles in the name of their god, especially since that ‘god’ is right next to me and not very strong.”

“Thanks. Unlike you, I’m pretty grateful to the goddess I’m looking at right now.”

“Tsk. Lame,” she said, even though she was clearly enjoying it.

“But yeah, why don’t they just find another healer instead of causing a massive traffic jam here?”

“Just like how adventurers have ranks from Goblin to Dragon, depending on what the Guild thinks that they can defeat, the Guild also ranks their healer adventurers from Goblin to Dragon depending on the potency of their healing magic. Not everyone follows these ranks, though, but it does make it easier for us to know how strong someone’s healing is.

For example, remember that Goblin-ranked healer who healed your arm?”

“Yeah,” I looked at the once-injured limb of mine, recalling the soothing sensation of how quickly it was healed.

“Generally, a Goblin-ranked healer should be able to fully heal a Goblin-ranked adventurer. Likewise, the same goes for Dragon-rank.

So, Evan, pop quiz time—what happens when a Dragon-ranked healer attempts to heal a Goblin-ranked adventurer?”

My mind was drawing blanks. This has become a guessing game.

“They uhh…overheal?”

“Please, don’t make up nonsense terms like Hanasuke,” she shook her head like a disappointed parent. “That’s when seemingly impossible recoveries are performed. Restoring sight to the blind, regenerating limbs, that sort of stuff. Likewise, a healer who tries to heal way above their level could only heal the most minor of injuries, or even fail to heal at all.”

I finally understood why the Goblin-ranked adventurer who healed me was so hesitant. Since she thought that I was Dragon-ranked, it meant that it was an impossible task.

“So that’s why can’t regrow your arm? Because there’s no ‘beyond Dragon-rank’ healer who could bring it back?”

“No, there is someone whose healing is strong enough that can make that happen, but there’s a different reason why I can’t heal it. I’m sure you’ll love to meet her, but that’s beside the point right now.”

Fascinating. So Sereya willingly chose not to heal her arm? Also, who was this healer that she was referring to? My brain was begging to find out, but as she said, that wasn't the main thing at the moment.

“The point is, I’m not sensing the mana of a powerful healer from Priestess Imelda. Hence, this is why I believe she’s performing these ‘miracles’ through different means instead of traditional healing magic.”

“That still doesn’t answer why don’t they just find a different healer.”

“You do know that healing magic is expensive, right?”

Wait, what?

“Unless you’re close to them or on a quest with one in your party, only rich people can afford healing magic during a healer’s off-hours. You think healers went around healing people for free? What’s next? Bakers going around throwing their bread at people?”

Damn, and here I thought, healers were like saints.

Sereya added, “Once in a while you do hear of the overzealous types who try to ‘save as many people as they can’ and heal people for free, but they end up having to heal themselves. When you go around spoiling the market rate, that’s when thugs or even assassins get hired to teach you a lesson.”

What’s with this horribly shady healing economy?!

“Some towns even set laws controlling the price of healing services, so that they don’t undercharge or overcharge. Some places even impose taxes on healing, considering how lucrative it can get.”

I began to understand why the guards here were so well-equipped and intimidating. I could only imagine how the other healers in town must feel considering how charitable the priestess was.

Heck, attending a service every weekend to get healed seemed like a fair deal now.

Sereya and I chatted and hung around a little while longer. As the sun went down and the crowd went home, it was finally time to give the priestess a visit. There was going to be another service later, so we had to grab hold of her before the opportunity slips past.

Even though the temple wasn’t as bustling during this downtime, the number of guards and monks moving about made it impossible to sneak in—

—which meant that it was time for me to shine.