Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Acupuncture (End)

“Understood. Then could you lie down here for a moment?”

The blind man readily accepted Antony’s request and rose from the sofa.

Following the blind man’s words, Antony lay down on the sofa in a comfortable position. Fortunately, the sofa was long enough for him to lie down.

“Uh... how will this proceed?”

Antony lay on the sofa and looked up at the blind man beside him.

“First, I must know where it hurts. Have you perhaps felt any discomfort recently?”

“If you say recently... perhaps because I have not been sleeping properly, fatigue has piled up and my body and head feel heavy, but could something like this... be possible?”

“Fatigue... fatigue...”

The blind man knelt beside Antony, who was lying on the sofa, then felt along his arm and grasped it.

“Could you perhaps roll up your sleeve?”

“...I will.”

At the blind man’s request, Antony obediently rolled up his sleeve. The servant watched them from the other side of the sitting room, holding her breath.

Once Antony rolled up his sleeve, the blind man rummaged through the backpack he was carrying and took out a needle.

“Please place your arm comfortably on the sofa. There must be no strength in your arm.”

“...Yes.”

Since this was purely for the sake of testing the blind man, Antony followed his request.

When Antony relaxed his arm, the blind man’s hand brushed along his arm and stopped at a certain point.

Then the blind man’s other hand, holding the needle, accurately pierced that point.

The needle quickly dug into the skin, but Antony did not feel any sting.

“It feels like my head is gradually clearing...”

Not long after the blind man placed the needle, Antony’s throbbing head slowly began to feel refreshed.

“...What on earth is this...?...Ah, I apologize. This is my first time experiencing acupuncture, so I am simply astonished...”

Antony, eyes wide, rambled at the blind man.

“It is a point that relieves headaches, if only a little. To remove fatigue from the body as well, I would have to work on the back, so for now I hurriedly resolved only the headache. How is it?”

The blind man answered Antony with a calm smile.

“He may be a benefactor. Finally...”

Antony’s heart grew urgent.

First, he needed to apologize.

“First... I must apologize to you, Acupuncturist. Since it is acupuncture, needles will enter my child’s body... and many worries arose within me.”

“It is all right. If a stranger says he will place needles, such a reaction is only natural.”

The blind man said that as he organized his backpack and stood.

After finishing organizing his backpack, the blind man continued speaking.

“Moreover, it is the body of a daughter so precious she would not hurt even if placed in your eye... I understand. If I can help someone who is ill, this too is something I must endure.”

Antony, who had been lying on the sofa and looking up at the blind man, thought for a moment that he saw a radiance behind him because of his graceful words.

“Saint...”

The Saintess and Saint, as apostles of the Chief God, could only exist one at a time in the same era.

Even though the Saintess recognized by the Chief God should clearly exist in the Holy Kingdom, that word suddenly passed through Antony’s mind.

Of course, when he looked closely, the radiance was the lamp hanging from the ceiling. It had been his mistake.

At last, Antony came to his senses and raised himself from the sofa.

“...In any case, thank you. Let us go together to check my daughter’s condition.”

Antony kindly guided the blind man to the room where his daughter was.

“Still, he really walks well.”

The blind man followed all the way to the room in a straight posture, simply by listening to Antony’s footsteps.

“I heard from the servant, and I am curious what perception is.”

“Perception is... another sense that allows me to roughly recognize where an object is through sound and vibrations. Or through things such as the flow of air. It is a technique taught to me by the master who took me in, but it is not particularly impressive.”

“Hoho...”

The blind man was quite humble.

To Antony, he seemed remarkable, but he did not treat it as anything special.

“This is the room where my daughter is.”

Antony said that and opened the door.

After entering the room, the blind man gently noticed the presence of the chair beside the bed, felt for it, and asked him.

“May I sit here and examine her condition?”

“Do as you find comfortable. Perception truly is a mysterious ability.”

“However... with perception alone, it is difficult to know her exact condition, so I will have no choice but to touch her. Would that be all right?”

“It is all right.”

Antony stood behind the blind man and carefully observed his actions.

The blind man felt along the blanket covering Emilia and pulled it away, then even lifted her upper garment so that her stomach was clearly exposed.

Soon afterward, the blind man touched Emilia’s stomach, pressed here and there, and even brought his ear close to her body to listen more closely.

“He is no ordinary person.”

It is said that in relationships between people, the first impression is very important.

To Antony, the blind man’s first impression was striking.

The mysterious ability called perception, the excellent acupuncture he had experienced directly, and the sight of white bandages around his eyes.

Every part that made up this man was mysterious.

As he felt an extraordinary aura from the blind man examining Emilia here and there, Antony grew slightly tense and watched him with his arms crossed.

After using all his senses to determine Emilia’s condition, the blind man seemed to finish checking and opened his mouth.

“...When I only heard the rumors, I was half in doubt, but after examining her, it seems my prediction was correct.”

“Do you know the name of the illness?”

“...Have you perhaps heard of ‘mana exhaustion’?”

“Mana exhaustion...?”

At the unfamiliar name of the illness, Antony showed confusion.

“Mana composes the human body and can be considered the root of life... It should be seen as a kind of life force.”

“I know that much, but...”

Antony himself did not handle mana well like a knight or mage, but he knew at least that everyone in the world lived with mana in their body.

“However, if this mana is drawn out of the body and consumed, a burden equivalent to that amount arises. Mages are such a case. Magic fundamentally consumes the mana one possesses, after all.”

“...But my daughter is an ordinary young child who cannot even properly handle mana, let alone magic. Yet exhaustion?”

As the blind man’s explanation continued, Antony, who had grown puzzled, uncrossed his arms and asked him.

“Originally, mana exhaustion is a temporary state. In other words, it is a phenomenon seen in those who have consumed a great deal of mana. However, though your daughter has not consumed mana, mana is leaking out of her body from the dantian that recovers mana... so the state of mana exhaustion is continuing.”

“...Mana is leaking out... mana exhaustion... Acupuncturist, are you perhaps unable to treat it as well...?”

At Antony’s desperate question, the blind man’s head, which had been turned toward Antony, turned back toward Emilia.

“This illness is originally rare, but I know it can be treated with ‘Divine Clear,’ one of the holy magics that purifies harmful states... However, from what I heard, you are not in a situation where that is possible.”

The blind man said this quietly, opened his backpack, took out many needles, and placed them beside Emilia where she lay.

“So then... I will have to try.”

“Could her life be endangered if you attempt treatment...?”

At the blind man’s words that followed, Antony asked.

Of course, Antony firmly believed in the acupuncture skill of the blind man before him, but even so, if there was risk involved, he could not help feeling hesitant.

“There should be no danger. It is simply work that requires considerable concentration.”

“Ah... understood. I entrust her to you. If my being here is uncomfortable, please tell me.”

“It is all right. As long as you remain in a way that does not affect my perception, you may watch.”

The blind man said this and slowly touched Emilia’s stomach with his fingers.

Soon, the blind man picked up one needle.

—Gulp.

Antony swallowed loudly without realizing it.

The blind man had asked him not to affect his perception, but his anxiety did not disappear.

“Chief God Heneris. I pray that today, at last, you have sent me a benefactor.”

Antony prayed deeply to the Chief God in his heart.

Just as the blind man was about to place one needle into Emilia’s stomach, he stopped his arm.

Antony immediately questioned his strange action.

“Has something unexpected happened?”

“No. I simply think I should proceed more certainly. Since the order is very important in this procedure, I will review it for a moment. Please wait just a little.”

At the blind man’s incomprehensible words, Antony was puzzled, but the blind man, head lowered, truly seemed to be reviewing something in his head.

“The order of the needles is important... I expected it, but this really is no easy situation.”

Some time passed, and only then did the blind man raise his head.

“It is done. Then, I will begin.”

The more certain tone of the blind man after raising his head was enough to instill trust in Antony.

One of the blind man’s needles was placed in Emilia’s stomach.

Emilia’s expression did not change. Fortunately, it seemed she did not feel pain.

The blind man continued stroking Emilia’s stomach, finding locations and placing needles repeatedly.

“Chief God Heneris... Give strength to our pitiful Emilia...”

Antony offered prayer to the Chief God he served.

The blind man’s needles were placed one by one, and when the count had passed ten and then two more.

Only then did the blind man’s calm and swift hands stop, and he opened his mouth.

“Whew... It is all done. Now we wait. In a case like this, it is not easy to see the effect of the needles immediately, unlike earlier.”

The blind man carefully gathered his backpack and rose from his seat, then tapped the chair he had been sitting in until just now and said.

“Please sit. If she wakes, she will want to see her father’s face first.”

“...Thank you.”

“Still, we do not know yet. We must keep watching her condition.”

With a complicated expression, Antony sat in the chair and looked at Emilia, whose small stomach had twelve needles placed in it.

Looking at his daughter, Antony fell into thoughts of his wife, who had left the world first, and his chest grew heavy.

“It was hard, but... I endured by watching my daughter... If even you leave me, Emilia, how am I supposed to endure?”

Antony neatly gathered both hands, placed them on the bed, and desperately prayed to the Chief God.

The blind man stood behind him, silently watching his broad back.

Like that...

How much time had passed?

A voice brushed against Antony’s ears as he prayed with his head lowered.

The voice he had wanted so badly to hear.

The voice of the one person he had yearned for so desperately.

“Da... ddy...?”

It was Emilia’s voice, her eyes open.

Perhaps because Emilia was half-asleep and confused, she called Antony Daddy.

Daddy.

It was truly a word Antony had not heard in a very long time.

Because after his wife passed away, when she called him, she had chosen the word Father rather than Daddy.

“Emilia...? You’re awake...!”

“Mm... hm...”

“Emilia... sob... Hngh...”

Emilia could not understand why so many tears were flowing from the eyes of her precious daddy...

She could not know.

But.

She looked at that daddy and smiled.

Because, for some reason, she felt she had to.

“Heehee...”

At Emilia’s smile, which looked exactly like his wife’s, Antony’s tears only flowed harder.

“I missed you so much... my beloved daughter...”

***

“Are you truly all right with 700 gold?! I announced that I would give 2,000 gold to anyone who treated my daughter...”

“It is all right. With this much, you will not worry further, yes?”

“Even so... No. Acupuncturist, you must have your own intention, so I will follow it. Thank you very much.”

Antony bowed his waist to me.

“If I take all 2,000 gold, you’ll be late becoming the Saintess’s patron...”

That would subtly begin twisting things once the Saintess episode arrived, so I received as little as possible.

I also refused when he said he would give 1,000 gold.

Only when I asked for around 700 gold did Antony finally understand and accept.

“He really is a good person.”

The little girl holding one of Antony’s legs, his daughter Emilia, waved her hand at me. It seemed she was a little shy because I was unfamiliar to her.

“Emilia. Since this person’s eyes are inconvenient, it would be better to greet him aloud.”

Antony crouched down to meet Emilia’s eye level, then stroked her as he spoke.

“I used both skill points, but with the blindfold, there’s no need to worry about experience... and I had saved them in case something like this happened.”

Before attempting acupuncture on Emilia, no matter how I looked at it, level 1 did not seem enough, so I used the two remaining skill points and raised it to level 3.

Fortunately, the result was successful.

And just then, that result spoke to me in a small and pretty voice.

“Acupuncturist... thank you... See you again next time...!”

At Emilia’s shy greeting, I showed a smile.

“I do not know if there will be a chance next time, but someday, I will repay you more greatly. Acupuncturist.”

“Haha. The money I have already received is more than enough. Then I will be going.”

“Please return safely.”

The servant standing beside them also bowed to me.

Like that, I exchanged farewells with them and set off.

“It feels like my skill at making excuses is getting better and better.”

It was not as if I could remove the “blindfold,” and the futures of good people that were in my hands were too precious to give everything up.

Since Antony would become the Saintess’s patron, he would become deeply connected to the Saintess from now on.

“In the game, if I solved this quest, the Saintess’s affection started slightly raised too...”

The Saintess would appear at the academy a little later in the future.

I deliberately gave an appropriate vague answer regarding my name.

It was better to leave things for them to identify on their own.

She was the type drawn to mysterious people, so not telling my name seemed like it might work better.

When I left Antony’s house, the sun was quietly showing itself.

My backpack was heavy.

I had received a full 700 gold, so with this, the 500 gold was resolved.

All that remained was one object containing the soul’s memories.

I knew the location, so this process would not be difficult.

Since an exchange group, once joined, could not be changed for a while, this had been an investment of the passive skill that increased swordsmanship attack power and two skill points.

“Still, this method is the fastest.”

The cursed blade was now truly not far away.

“I need to move quickly so I’m not late.”