Chapter 11,5 “Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel.”

In the evening, in another place far from this sacred city and on the same day when the young man and Kalina were feasting and distributing food they had, Marie, the woman who had previously escorted the young man to find his classroom, walked into a house in the middle of the countryside.

“Yo! How's your condition?” Marie asked a woman who was sitting and unwrapping the bandage around her left hand.

“If my condition were fine, I certainly wouldn't ask for help from your magic,” replied the woman, throwing the wet and sticky bandage away from her.

Carefully, Marie then examined and observed the left hand of the woman, which was now blistered severely. Even now, her left hand almost had no skin left, displaying shades of red, white, and black with severe burn marks.

“Wow, just entering the sacred city without permission can get you punished like this?” Marie inquired.

“I don't know. It seems like both of them were really angry and trying to vent all their anger on me. But a wound like this is not a problem for me. If this is the price I have to pay to achieve it, I would gladly sacrifice my right hand as well,” the woman said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah... Maybe if you knew how disgusting your wound is, you might retract your statement. But this wound must be very painful, right? From my observation, it seems like this is not just a wound from hot water; it looks like they also used acid to damage your right hand,” Marie commented.

“If you know this wound is painful, instead of talking, please heal it immediately,” the woman said, seemingly annoyed that Marie had not tried to treat it yet.

“Okay, okay, geez! Rarely do I see a wound as nasty as this. Here, bite onto this clean towel of mine,” Marie ordered the woman while offering a pristine white towel from her mouth.

“Huh? Why? Besides, have you forgotten how many thousands of times I've seen your magic techniques?” the woman replied.

“You old, fussy granny! Just bite it! Because this is the first time I'm using my magic to heal you! Did you forget that there is a saying that patients must listen to their doctor's orders!?” Marie exclaimed.

“Hah, whatever. Alright, bring your towel here.” the woman said, then bit the towel using her mouth.

After preparing and checking everything, Marie immediately chanted her magic spell that could restore the condition of living beings' body parts to their original state. With such powerful magic, technically, Marie could become an immortal woman in that world and could use her magic to heal her mother, who had been bedridden for a long time. Unfortunately, her magic had a risk that had to be borne by her patients.

Because the patients had to feel all the pain that had previously caused wounds in their body parts. In other words, the woman being healed by Marie was now feeling once again how her left hand had been stepped on, whipped, slashed, and doused with boiling chemical liquids.

“Nngggggh!!!! NnnnnGGGAAAAAaaaaahhhhHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

Even though she was now being healed, she also felt like she was being tortured. This was where the woman had to strengthen her soul and body to endure all that pain. Because even if she fainted, the pain would persist to wake her up and torment her until she was fully healed.

“Cecilia, hold on! Everything will be over soon, so hang in there!”

“Ghhaaahh!!!Kkkkhhhk!!!!!”

Although Cecilia had previously claimed to have seen and felt Marie's magic many times, it seemed that her body was not as resilient as she thought. While enduring her pain, Cecilia shed tears and hoped that her soul and heart could endure all this pain.

Three minutes had passed since Marie began using her magic for treatment. Now, both of them, exhausted, lay on the wooden floor of Cecilia's house, staring at the ceiling of the room.

“Hey, Cecilia, are you still alive?” Marie asked Cecilia, who was lying beside her.

“Yes… I'm still alive.”

“Hah... Thank goodness it's finally over. Honestly, at that moment, I thought you might die in the middle of the treatment.”

“What do you think of me? Didn't I say before that I've seen and felt your magic thousands of times?” Cecilia replied.

“What's with your arrogant attitude, you old hag!” teased Marie, facing Cecilia lying next to her.

“The important thing is I'm still prettier than you.” Cecilia retorted, also turning her gaze toward Marie.

While looking into Cecilia's silver color pupils, Marie then mumbled and asked Cecilia,

“Hey, what if I try to heal that?”

“Didn't I already say, your magic won't be able to do it because this is my sacrifice to the God. And what I sacrificed is not my body part but my senses. So, you won't be able to heal it because until now my body parts are still intact,” explained Cecilia.

“But I still want to try to heal it!” Marie exclaimed with an enthusiastic tone.

“Don't. If you don't want to be disappointed, listen to my two messages carefully. In my world before this, you've tried to heal my eyeball and failed. And in my world before this, you also tried to heal your sick mother and ended up failing,” said Cecilia.

“...Did she die because of the illness she was experiencing?” Marie asked.

“No, she died of a heart attack. Her fragile body and soul couldn't withstand all the pain she had been through for years.”

“Oh, I see,” replied Marie.

“Now, Tell me, how is the condition of that young man? Has he started going to his school?” Cecilia asked.

“Oh yes! That young man, hahaha! I almost forgot about that story. So, right now, that young man is becoming the target of mockery and ridicule by all the students. Hahaha, I even heard that some students are taking advantage and bullying him.” Marie said.

“... you already know that young man is not Wallace, right?”

“Of course! But seeing him suffer like that always makes me feel happy. Honestly, many students, including myself, see him suffer and say, 'Serve him right!' to him, Hahaha…” Marie laughed.

“Hah… never mind. Besides, Wallace has always made a lot of enemies throughout his life. Hmm... I'm starting to feel sorry for him. I've decided, I'll go to school tomorrow.”

“Wow, are you really going to school?”

“Yes, I really am.”

“But, um... Can you tell whether it's day or night? Or are you sure you can wake up tomorrow morning?” Marie doubted Cecilia, who seemed unable to tell the current time.

“…No, it seems I still can't tell the difference. But don't worry, because I have a running alarm.”

“Walking alarm?”

“Yup, you just stay and sleep in my house. When it's almost morning, we can go to your mother's house and bring breakfast for her. How about that? Is that Good?” Cecilia said.

“You troublesome old lady, alright, I'll be your walking alarm. But remember, the payment for this service will increase, okay?”

“Of course, why do you think I've been hunting for that Alchemist all this time? Because many of the ingredients he wants can only be found in the Forbidden Forest, so there are no hunters or freelancers who want to accept his request. And because of that, now I also get paid a lot of money just because I was the one who wanted to look for these ingredients.”

“Wow, that means you're rich, right?”

“Umm… not really. Maybe when it's all over I'll be happy to give it all to you.”

“Is that true!?” Marie asked cheerfully.

“Of course, So please don't betray me. Because this is the last chance for me.” Cecilia muttered.

Then, in the night which was now slowly getting darker, Marie finally fell asleep together with Cecilia on the wooden floor. The two women looked exhausted and were fast asleep with dreams continuing to fill their heads.

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