chapter 29
29 – The Water Saint
As we followed the refugees into the shantytown, the situation looked worse than we thought…
Here and there the rotten me vibrates and I hear the groans of people writhing in pain as I pass the shack with the door open.
And then Lucia’s treatment began…
Until now, I had never heard of a spirit magician healing people, but
But there was no way Lucia would tell an obvious lie.
“Where does it hurt?”
“I was injured while fighting the other day when there was an attack by bandits.”
Among the people who followed me from the wagon to the shantytown, there was a person who seemed to have a particularly uncomfortable leg.
Lucia approached him, examined his legs, sat down, and pulled up his pants to check their condition.
“Ugh…”
The condition of the man with his pants rolled up is much worse than it seems…
A wound that hasn’t healed and the rotting flesh around it…
It wasn’t just me, everyone who saw this was exclaiming,
As much as Lucia was steadfastly examining the rotting leg closely, she was accurately checking its condition.
“Saintess.. Is it very bad?”
“I’m not a saint, I’m an elementalist. Her name is Lucia.”
“Ah… Yes… Mr. Lucia… Is your condition very bad?”
“It’s tetanus.”
“Yes!!!?”
The person in question was so surprised that he couldn’t even close his mouth, and even tears flowed as if the world had ended.
Those who heard this together were clicking their tongues and feeling sorry for him.
It only takes a few injections in a place where medicine is developed,
It is a disease that can be cured even by rich nobles if they make a donation to the temple.
But as far as I know, for the common people, the disease called tetanus meant death or disability, so
Everybody had no choice but to make that kind of expression.
“Um… Then… Do I have to amputate my leg…?”
“Yes? No. It will be a little difficult… But it can be treated.”
“I…Really!!?”
Lucia nodded his head with a smile instead of an answer.
The man was still weeping when he saw Lucia’s self-confident smile, but his face was full of hope.
“[Elaim]”
As usual, Lucia summons Elaim, the water spirit king.
As soon as Elaim appeared, he was a bit surprised to see the people around him,
Looking at the man’s legs Lucia was holding onto, she smiled a little.
[Does our Lucia really have different names?]
“I’m sorry.”
[No. That’s just what I said. You are my contractor, so of course I have to follow your words.]
How many people can really touch that man’s rotting leg?
Perhaps it is not easy to touch even if it is a blood-mixed family.
But Lucia smiled brightly at Elaim as she touched her leg.
Ellaim didn’t say anything, perhaps knowing how she felt, and she caressed the leg of the man Lucia had touched.
[Heel]
The water that flowed from Elaim’s arm came down to his hand and flowed down to the man’s knee.
The man’s rotting legs were recovering well, returning to their original flesh color.
“Oh my God… my legs…”
Hung Sung Hung Sung
Starting with the man, the people around him began to hum, and in an instant, the sick gathered and were standing in line in front of Lucia.
“Lucia-sama, look at my arm!”
“Look at my wife!”
“My son’s fever won’t go down.”
People flocked to Lucia as if they had seen a miracle of God, and the number of people increased to the point that even the country had to step in and establish order.
[Lucia? Can you cure everything?]
“Yes. Please.”
Elaim saw her flocking people and summoned her waters to hover around her.
Dark clouds gradually gathered in the sky, and sunlight penetrated through them and was shining on the ground.
[Healing Rain]
Tok… Tuk… Tuk…
The raindrops that had started to fall one or two drops soon turned into thin rain and poured into the shantytown.
Maybe it was the sunlight shining through the dark clouds, so each ray of light shone and looked beautiful.
“Oh my God, the wound on my arm is healing…”
A nearby person lifted his unscarred arm high as he undid the soaked bandage.
After that, people who had been hit by rain here and there confirmed the efficacy and were amazed, but hugging each other and rejoicing at the miraculous event.
“This is a miracle.. Miracle! Thank you!! Holy Lady!”
“Holy Lady! I saw a miracle because of you!”
One person told Lucia that she was a saint, followed by other people calling her a saint and bowing their heads in gratitude.
Lucia was waving her hands as if she felt burdened by the current situation, catching and explaining whoever said she was a saint.
“That’s why… I’m not a saint, I’m an elementalist.”
“You are like a saint to us! Who would grant us such a miracle!?”
Starting with the man who answered Lucia’s words, the others were nodding their heads to see if they agreed.
Some people even prostrated themselves on the spot.
“No.. But…”
People didn’t listen to her, Lucia, and in the end, everyone in this shanty town called her her water, her saintess.
Since I came here, only Lucia was the busiest person, and Irene and I were just chasing after her Lucia and eating meals prepared for her absence.
Thin soup mixed with a lot of water and bread so hard as a stone that you don’t know when it was baked…
For us, it might be the worst meal we’ve had so far, but for the people here, it was more like a full meal.
I eat this kind of food often, so it’s okay…
When Irene looked at her worriedly, she ate her bread and soup more deliciously than usual, to the point where I couldn’t tell if it was her acting or real life.
“Heeing…”
When we heard that the meal had been prepared, Lucia stopped treating and approached us.
“Why? Lucia?”
“People keep calling me a saint.”
“Ha ha ha. Something like that…”
I tried to laugh it off, but Lucia seemed to be protesting against me.
“That’s what it is. If this story gets out there, I might be arrested for blasphemy…”
“Don’t worry. Lucia. Because that won’t happen Did you think I would be alone until Lucia did that?”
I didn’t say this as a one-time thing to reassure her Lucia,
If such a thing really happens, it’s a great war and an empire, and I really won’t let it go.
Because turning a hero’s party member into an enemy was the same as meeting me as an enemy…
Seeing that Irene was nodding her head just before I finished speaking, it seemed that she was probably thinking the same thing as me.
“Still, it’s good that it doesn’t happen… I hope this story doesn’t count.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t know why Lucia was so anxious and awkward.
The reason why temples can capture the hearts of the people is that they come from these healing magics.
In addition to receiving donations from people, their income is also a system that leads the temple by healing nobles or wealthy merchants and receiving donations.
But let’s say that someone who isn’t even a priest shows up and treats people for free…
This will soon shake their position and destroy their right to live.
So, it was the reality of this world that non-priests like Lucia were given treatment, then charged with the felony of blasphemy and sentenced to prison or execution.
“Ah! Irene! This is the location you asked for. I got it.”
“Really? Where are you?”
“There is a valley under the mountain over there, and there is a big cave there. Everyone is gathered there.”
“Thank you. Miss Lucia.”
“But are you really going alone? Can I not go with you?”
“Lucia-sama has to continue receiving treatment here, so it doesn’t matter if I come alone.”
Irene wondered where she was going, and she was thinking of asking Lucia for her location and leaving as soon as the meal was over.
“Irene, where are you going?”
“The people here have been attacked by bandits, so I asked Lucia-sama’s sylph to find out their location.”
“So you want to go alone?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
“……It’s okay. I can catch enough of it myself.”
“No. I don’t have anything to do here anyway, and I thought it would take my mind if I sent it alone.”
“…….Yes. All right.”
Of course, if it was Irene, she wouldn’t worry about being attacked by bandits.
Rather, I pity the thieves who are frozen like Dongtae after being hit by Irene…
Even though she knows she will be fine, she feels uncomfortable about spending time with a woman alone.
Her
On her way, there’s something to ask her…
“Just in case you don’t know, I’ll attach my sylph. I heard that the mountains here are steep and the roads are complicated, so I think that would be better.”
I was a little worried about leaving Lucia here alone, but with Elim next to me, I was able to ease my worries.
After a while…
After eating…
Lucia went back into the shantytown to treat those who hadn’t been cured yet,
Irene and I had to walk the forest path in the direction Sylph told us.
But how…
Irene’s expression doesn’t look good, but…
Is it because you are separated from Lucia?
Or is there something wrong with me?
“Hey… Irene?”
“Yes. Warrior.”
“Have you ever had something bad happen?”
“No. Doesn’t exist.”
From the tone of voice to the expression on his face, he seems to be saying something too openly…
“Tell me. But now it’s the same warrior party… You can talk about it.”
“……”
“Is it difficult to tell me?”
“That’s not true, but…”
“Then tell me.”
She continued to persuade Irene, who seemed to have something to say to me, to talk her out,
After walking silently for a long time, she finally mustered up the courage to open her mouth.
“Hero… don’t you believe me?”
“Huh?”
Irene had to ask her again with her half-surprised face at Irene’s unexpected question.