Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Acupuncture (3)

Holy magic.

Magic that consumed “divine power” instead of mana.

By borrowing the power of god, it healed and purified people.

It also defeated beings that emitted evil energy and protected good people from them.

This wondrous miracle-like act, noble from the sound of the words alone, made those who witnessed it acknowledge the transcendent existence called “god.”

If one were to be precise, I did not believe in the existence of god. In reality, that is.

But here, it was different.

It was not something to argue over as a matter of personal faith; it was already an evident truth.

The Chief God and the Demon God.

The Chief God was a god of good disposition who provided divine power to priests who served him firmly.

Then the Demon God was obvious.

It was fine to simply see him as the god of demons. Occasionally, there were fanatical humans who worshiped the Demon God as if revering him and served demons, but basically, humans served the Chief God, and demons served the Demon God.

In truth, there was no need to live devoutly following the Chief God like a priest.

The influence of gods reaching the surface was limited after all, so unless one shouted the name of god in a life-or-death crisis just before dying, there was no issue in daily life.

However, the Holy Kingdom was different.

Most citizens of the Holy Kingdom served the Chief God faithfully. Divine power was subtle, so not all citizens could handle it, but even so, the proportion of priests from the Holy Kingdom was extremely high.

There was one man who had been falsely accused and banished from that noble Holy Kingdom.

The man’s name was Antony.

He had been a merchant who conducted large-scale business in the Holy Kingdom.

He had good business sense, and as befitting a person of the Holy Kingdom, he was a faithful man before the Chief God.

Though his wife had left the world early, the fruit of their union.

His daughter remained by his side, so in his own way, he had lived happily without lacking anything.

If only one high-ranking priest of the Holy Kingdom had lived like Antony, satisfied with what he had and grateful for it, how peaceful this story would have been.

As usual, just because one could borrow the power of the good-aligned Chief God did not mean everyone possessed a kind heart.

No, perhaps at first, even that high-ranking priest had purely praised the Chief God and offered prayers.

However, human greed was not such an easy thing.

The high-ranking priest was greedy. Extremely so.

In those crafty, snake-like eyes of his, Antony, who had a great deal of money and deep faith in the Chief God, was engraved.

The merchant Antony had a great deal of money.

Using offerings to be given to god as an excuse, the priest demanded an enormous amount of money and goods from him—in simpler terms, a bribe.

Antony’s faith in the Chief God was deep.

If it were truly an offering to be given to the Chief God, then according to the Chief God’s will and as the Chief God desired, he was prepared to give it at any time.

However, Antony was a merchant.

There was no way someone as perceptive as him would not know the true intentions of a high-ranking priest who had suddenly come barging in and was flicking that crafty tongue.

It would have been easier if he had simply given him the money and moved on.

However, because Antony was a very devout believer.

He tried not to yield to the greedy high-ranking priest who had turned his back on god’s will.

As a result, Antony could not overcome the power held by the high-ranking priest.

The venomous high-ranking priest found the lowly merchant who dared not listen to him extremely displeasing.

In the end, the high-ranking priest falsely accused Antony, confiscated his property, and drove him out of the Holy Kingdom.

Thus, Antony fled to another country with what property he had managed to take, but his business no longer went as well as before.

It was because of the ripples caused by the rumor that he had been expelled from the Holy Kingdom. The influence of the high-ranking priest reached even beyond the Holy Kingdom.

Even so, since he had always lived satisfied with and grateful for what was given to him, he lived diligently while watching his daughter grow.

Regrettably, that was only until his daughter fell ill.

Watching his daughter, who had contracted an unknown illness and could not even rise properly, he sought out nearby priests.

There were no results.

The priests avoided him because they could not go against the high-ranking priest.

The foul rumors about him had already spread as far as they could.

Even though he declared that he would give all of his remaining wealth, 2,000 gold, no one reached out a helping hand to him in the end.

Priests who handled divine power, and even an apothecary who lived nearby.

The only ones who flocked to him were quacks and swindlers who knew nothing about illness or medical techniques.

And so, he lived day by day, staying beside his daughter, not knowing when she would awaken.

This was the story of faithful Antony, who would later become the Saintess’s patron.

After the Saintess of this generation learned the truth behind this incident and drove out the high-ranking priest through internal politics, she immediately went to Antony and healed his daughter.

After that, Antony’s business went smoothly again, and he voluntarily took on the role of the Saintess’s source of funds.

It was an anecdote from an episode related to the Saintess, and while watching it during the game, I had wondered, “Could the player solve this first?”

It was a question I could have because I knew the game had depth and that it guaranteed considerable freedom.

If the player went to his daughter and treated her, would they not be able to receive the reward?

My thought proved exactly correct.

If the character was a priest or holy knight with divine power and exceeded a certain level, Antony’s daughter could be treated.

The reward could also be received as it was.

After I posted the strategy on the game community.

“Can’t do it unless you’re a priest or holy knight?”

Faced with that comment, I decided to find a way to treat her even without divine power.

In the end, after attempts over several playthroughs, I found the answer called acupuncture.

The illness his daughter suffered from was a rare illness called “mana exhaustion.”

Mana exhaustion referred to the state of losing consciousness that appeared when all the mana one possessed in the body was depleted.

Mana exhaustion was, strictly speaking, a “status abnormality,” but his daughter was suffering from a proper “illness,” in which exhaustion continued and unconsciousness persisted.

Knowing that in the game, mana exhaustion could be released with acupuncture, I challenged it with acupuncture.

Other medical techniques did not work.

Acupuncture was acupuncture, but there was a required level.

The condition was acupuncture skill level 5 or higher.

When treating Antony’s daughter, there was even a mini-game.

When the player’s character treated Antony’s daughter, the player had to listen to the explanation in the monologue, find the locations of the points, and place needles accurately in order.

I still remembered that process, but my acupuncture skill was level 1.

“If it really seems impossible... then there will be no choice, but I’ll need to invest even the remaining skill points.”

If the skill level went up, my skill in acupuncture would rise sharply.

Even if there was still a difference of two skill levels, if I placed the needles well according to the order and locations I remembered, it seemed there would be no problem.

Night had already deepened.

Putting on my familiar robe, I began leaving the academy, as always without anyone knowing.

***

“Ahh, Chief God Heneris. Why do you give me such a trial?”

Antony was in despair.

However, he did not go so far as to resent.

Antony believed that all of this was flowing according to the Chief God’s will.

Even though he believed that so firmly, there was nothing he could do about his endlessly agonized heart.

Antony blankly stroked the face of the daughter beside him.

In one corner of the room, a finely drawn portrait of Antony’s wife was hung turned around so it could not be seen.

Because Antony could not bear to face his wife.

His heart was filled only with apology toward her.

“...”

His daughter lay quietly on the bed, showing no sign of waking.

He could still vividly see his daughter with a bright smile, having matured early perhaps because she lost her mother, running toward him while calling him “Father.”

In the dark-filled room, a single dimly lit lamp quietly shed light.

It was while he had been watching his daughter for a long time.

—Knock, knock.

It was the knock of the servant who had remained to serve him, refusing his offer until the very end even after he had sent the others away.

Antony thought that if his daughter could be treated, he would surely repay her someday.

“Come in.”

At Antony’s words, the servant opened the door and entered. After entering the room, she bowed her head slightly and immediately got to the point.

“Someone who says he can treat Lady Emilia has come. However... he seems to be a blind man who cannot see.”

“A blind man?”

“There was a pure white bandage wrapped around his eyes.”

“How did a blind man find his way here?”

“He said he asked people around him for directions and found his way by estimating the direction. From what I heard, he seems to possess a mysterious power called ‘perception.’ He also did not seem to be carrying a cane.”

“Hmm... perception...”

“As you said, ‘Do not turn away anyone who says they will treat Emilia at the door, whoever they are,’ I did let him in, but... what would you like to do?”

At the servant’s answer, Antony let out a low groan.

Recently, those who had come saying they would treat his daughter were quacks who did not know even the first letter of medicine.

Among them, several had tried to scam him. They often did not even mention the name of the illness, claiming that treatment required money, demanding money first as they pleased, or speaking absurd nonsense.

But a blind man.

And on top of that, what was this “perception”?

“The guest is... in the sitting room?”

“Yes.”

“For now, I will greet him myself.”

Antony thought that perhaps the blind man might possess another special ability as unusual as his “perception.”

At his answer, the servant stepped slightly away from the door and bowed her head.

Antony left the room and headed to the sitting room where the guest should be.

The house was not as large as the one he had lived in back in the Holy Kingdom, so the sitting room was only a few steps away from the room.

When he entered the sitting room, he saw a black-haired blind man with his eyes covered by bandages sitting quietly on the sofa, waiting.

As the servant had said, there was not a single cane visible around him.

The blind man, carrying only a small backpack, seemed to notice him approaching from the sound of his footsteps and turned his head toward Antony.

“It seems your hearing is excellent.”

“Perhaps because the Chief God pitied me for losing my sight, he left me at least my other senses.”

The blind man’s voice could be called beautiful, but it was slightly youthful. He did not look old. Even considering the part of his face covered by bandages, he seemed quite young.

“Haha. That is truly fortunate... I am Antony. If it is not rude, may I ask your name?”

The blind man seemed to ponder Antony’s question, then soon opened his mouth.

“I have no proper name worth telling someone. Please simply call me ‘Acupuncturist’ if that is comfortable.”

“Acupuncturist...? Do you perhaps practice acupuncture?”

At the word acupuncture, Antony’s eyes flashed for a moment.

It was partly because no one who could practice acupuncture had ever come before, but also because if one tried to deceive others with an advanced technique like acupuncture, the fraud would immediately become obvious.

It was unsuitable as an excuse a swindler would use.

“Yes. Though it is a meager skill, I came in case I might be of help.”

The blind man scratched the back of his head and answered.

Nevertheless, Antony had seen countless swindlers.

It was difficult to believe him at once.

Moreover, it was acupuncture.

The acupuncture he knew was a technique for treating patients by placing needles in the body.

Simply put, needles pierced through a person’s body. If done wrong, it could cause injury and pain.

And so Antony had no choice but to say it, though he knew it was a rather rude request to make of someone who had come to treat his daughter.

“If it is not rude, could you first demonstrate acupuncture on me?”

Antony intended to test whether this blind man before him was a swindler or not.