The Healing Hero

The carriage traveled along the highway.

"If there are trains running in Southern Lemdoria, you'd think this City-State Alliance would have trains too."

Sei muttered, but Chaos simply listed the problems with that idea.

"Each one is an independent nation. Wars break out frequently, and there are conflicts of interest. Setting up transportation networks, trains included, would be difficult."

Being close to his homeland, Chaos was somewhat familiar with the circumstances here.

Originally, the roads between city-states hadn't even been as fine as they were now.

Country roads for merchants and travelers to move along. That had been the main infrastructure for a long time.

That changed when this region was unified by Lemdoria.

Considering the development of commerce and industry, proper roads became necessary.

In Earth terms, because they invested in infrastructure, the fine highways of today were built.

"Even so, they're pretty worn down…"

The highway had many sections that looked like they needed maintenance.

Since no one could decide which city would handle repairs, the issue probably remained unresolved.

"Hasn't the City-State Alliance actually gotten weaker since independence?"

"I don't know that much, but… I understand what you're saying, Sei. If they formed a strong alliance, the City-State Alliance would become a powerful nation, but…"

After thinking for a moment, Chaos voiced a question.

"What would they do with a strong nation? Go to war with someone?"

"If there was an invasion from Southern Lemdoria, it would be easier to unite their forces, right?"

"In that case, couldn't they just form a temporary alliance? … Either way, there's nothing we can do about the deteriorating highways for now."

Sei thought about various things, but lacked the foundational knowledge. It was all because their journey had been too leisurely.

They passed through several cities, heading south.

The dot on the map hadn't moved at all. Comparing it with a detailed map, it appeared to be in Milenes, the southernmost city-state.

"Since it hasn't moved, does that mean they found a good job?"

Mako raised the question. Sei agreed with her.

"Um, if they first teleported here and are now in Milenes… they moved slightly east and set up a base there, I guess?"

"A job a hero could do… not as an adventurer, but something they could do in the city. There were people with various other skills, but I don't remember the details."

Mako groaned in thought, but did a modern Japanese person who was a hero actually have any useful qualities besides combat ability?

Well, they could think about that more once they got closer. That's what Sei decided.

They had been naive.

"Apparently she's become incredibly famous as both a hero and a saint."

That day, on the highway heading south, they started seeing more injured people for some reason.

When they stopped at an inn in a town along the way, Kukuri brought back information.

"Ahh, that's 'Universal Healing.'"

It clicked for Mako too. As expected, it was a hero's broken Gift.

Universal Healing. It wasn't just some easy ability that only healed those on the verge of death.

It was a Gift that could heal poison, curses, and even diseases with just a wave of the hand—a balance breaker if there was even one person with it in a party.

Moreover, this Gift had no limitations whatsoever. No restrictions like how many times per day, or using up stamina or magic power.

What was impossible was restoring those dying of old age and making people younger. Repairing congenital organ deficiencies depended on the case.

Even for old age, there were cases where bodily functions could be temporarily restored.

It could even heal mental illness to some degree. It truly was universal healing.

"How was her combat ability?"

"Average, I guess. She trained enough to defend herself, but having anything happen to her would have been a disaster, and she was busy healing important people in the country."

Since she could heal even herself, her ability to sustain combat was high. But someone with such power would normally be surrounded by excellent guards and protected in a secure fortress.

"She apparently spends about half a day healing people regardless of wealth or poverty, so her reputation is incredible. Like a divine miracle."

Kukuri had gathered detailed information, but every time they heard more, Sei and Mako held their heads in their hands.

"Inferior Divine Dragon."

Unusually, Lavi spoke up.

"Inferior?"

"Any Divine Dragon can do that much. Rejuvenation and immortality too. That's why it's inferior."

Divine Dragons—just how incredible were they?

"If we make her return, the pressure from the people around her is going to be terrible."

Mako said anxiously. Sei had been thinking the same thing.

But what did the person in question think?

"It's been a while, but I guess it's time to bring out the inro."

Sei murmured and pulled out the plate that proved her nobility.

"Ahh, yeah, that must be rough on the people around her."

Sei contacted Ria and explained the situation.

In response, Ria let out a deep sigh.

"Since I'm a Divine Dragon, I can do resurrection, rejuvenation, and immortality too. Fairly easily, in fact."

Ria said this as if reflecting on her past self.

"But there's no end to it."

In Ria's case, as a head of state, she rarely went among the common people.

However, when she was actually ruling, she had kept useful retainers healthy and long-lived.

That only lasted until her own daughter died.

"Divine Dragons fundamentally don't interfere with humans. The only exception being granting Gifts to those who conquer our labyrinths."

This was an absolute principle. Unless the world faced a crisis, this principle would not be broken.

"As for resurrection, Carla can actually do that too. It uses magic power so it's not unlimited, but it's fairly easy. But she refrains from using it now."

If it became known that the dead could be resurrected, those seeking it would come endlessly.

The same was true even for healing disease. This world had magic that could cure even incurable diseases, and magic that could restore lost limbs and organs.

There were replacements for that saint. The problem was that she could do it nearly infinitely. If healing only required waving a hand without using magic power, how many thousands of people could be healed in a single day?

"If you want, I'll kill that hero myself."

Sei couldn't believe her ears at Ria's statement.

Non-interference with heroes. That was supposed to be the Divine Dragons' basic stance. So why would she make an exception for the saint?

"That hero has no uncertainty factor. There's no chance whatsoever that she could harm a Divine Dragon."

"Wait, hold on. She hasn't done anything wrong, right? In fact, she's only been doing good things."

"But her mere existence is a threat to the world. If we don't remove her, the world itself will collapse."

Sei was getting a headache. The scale of their values was just too different.

"Well, the basic approach should be persuasion first. Two patterns are conceivable."

"Two patterns?"

"Yes. Either she's stressed because no matter how much she heals there's no end to it, or she's burning with some strange sense of mission about healing. Those are the two."

That made sense. From what they'd heard, since she healed regardless of wealth or poverty, the latter seemed more likely.

"If we explain the world's crisis, will she obediently return?"

"If she's stressed, there won't be a problem. And if she has a sense of mission, she should understand the meaning of needing to return."

Just to be sure, Sei checked with Mako, but she said she wasn't sure.

"She wasn't a classmate I was particularly close with. Even when we were in Neosis, she was being dragged around to various places."

Since it was the nation that had summoned them, she had probably been healing seriously ill nobles and royalty.

She had been treated as nothing but a convenient magic tool. They needed to confirm what the person herself wanted.

"Guess I have no choice but to use noble privileges…"

Passing by the line of sick and injured coming to Milenes, the carriage entered through the nobles-only gate.

"A duke from the Ogress Empire? What brings you to our country…?"

Ogress was far away. In Eurasian terms, about the distance between the eastern and western ends of Asia.

"I have business with the rumored saint. May I pass?"

"Yes, please go ahead."

Sei had used unfamiliar speech, but thanks to that, she was able to enter without trouble.

After parking the carriage at a high-class inn, she asked about the saint's whereabouts. Even the inn's staff knew.

"So she lives in the head of state's annex…"

In the mornings, she borrowed a corner of the temple to provide treatment, and in the afternoons, she treated nobles and wealthy merchants—apparently she divided her time that way.

What Kukuri heard at the tavern was even more detailed.

The saint had originally borrowed a corner of the adventurer's guild to provide treatment at low cost.

But her healing was Universal Healing. She could easily cure injuries that would normally force an adventurer to retire.

The decisive turning point came when she healed a famous adventurer who had lost sight in one eye from a cursed wound.

The head of state invited her, and in exchange for supporting her entire livelihood, she would heal the illnesses and injuries of nobles and wealthy merchants.

In return, what she demanded was to spend half of each day providing free healing to the poor and commoners.

"She really is a saint…"

When Kukuri said that, Mako tilted her head quizzically.

"Was Katsuragi-san that kind of person…?"

"There's Keita's example too. People change depending on their environment, I think."

That point hit a bit too close to home, so Mako fell silent.

"Now then, first we need to figure out how to make contact."

Using noble privileges proved difficult. No matter how noble you were, if you had no acquaintance at all, your requests often didn't go through.

They tried bribes, but that didn't work either. The saint's value had probably reached a level where money couldn't buy access.

"We can't even make contact… Should we try infiltrating?"

"Hmm, I don't think that's a good idea. Infiltration would be difficult, and if we got caught clumsily, there'd be no way to explain ourselves."

Kukuri offered a negative opinion to Sei's suggestion. Since he was right, she immediately accepted it.

"Guess we have no choice but to make contact at the temple. I hope she responds properly."

Whether the other person would even remember Mako's face. That was the issue.

"… Hey, by any chance, Lavi, could you teleport us?"

Grasping at straws, Sei asked Lavi.

She was a Divine Dragon. It wouldn't be strange if she could teleport.

"… I can, but they'd notice."

Lavi's answer was terse, requiring further explanation.

The head of state's mansion naturally had tight security, with barriers that normally prevented teleportation.

But if it was Lavi, she could break through that barrier and teleport. However, the other side would know that the barrier had been broken.

That was pointless.

"Can't be helped. Let's try to talk to her at the temple somehow."

Sei had no choice but to nod at Mako's suggestion.