Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Bear With the Pain a Little

The healing room inside Septimoa's central citadel was a deep-treatment ward intended for critically injured patients.

And it was almost always empty.

Septimoa wasn't on the front line, so there was little chance of encountering demonic beasts.

Cultists or demonic servants would hardly dare cause trouble here either.

As a result, serious injuries were practically nonexistent.

On top of that, ordinary illnesses and wounds were usually treated at the temples in the Second Ward.

The citadel's healing room was used so rarely that its doors might open once a year at most.

If you searched through ten years of medical records, they wouldn't even fill a single page.

And yet...

Unfortunately, I'd become the newest name in those rare records.

I wasn't particularly happy about that.

Merely opening the deep-treatment ward was enough to become gossip throughout the citadel.

And if the patient was a Saintess like me, the rumors would spread even faster.

“Clarice?”

“Yes?”

“I'm not critically injured.”

Honestly, if I could walk and talk normally, wasn't bringing me all the way to a deep-treatment ward a little excessive?

Couldn't she just put me on the bed in my room and heal me there?

“That isn't for the patient to decide, Big Sis. That's my decision. Isn't it?”

I looked at Clarice with those thoughts, but her expression remained firm.

Ah.

I'm already terrified of how the other Saintesses will react once they hear about this.

“Mm... You're right. I'm the patient, so I should listen to Clarice...”

But I didn't have the courage to defy her, so I nodded miserably.

“All right. Good. Let's begin.”

Clarice closed the door, then clapped her hands sharply.

As her divine power spread through the room, the engraved patterns covering the healing chamber began to glow.

Soon, the entire room was saturated with divine power.

Normally, it took several high-ranking priests working together just to activate the healing room's formations.

That alone demonstrated Clarice's enormous reserves of divine power and exceptional control.

Anyway, the room filled with divine power had now become a temporary sanctuary that allowed neither evil energy nor even the tiniest impurity inside.

That sounds grandiose, but basically, think of it as a sterile room.

“Now take off your clothes, Big Sis.”

“Hm? What?”

Thinking I'd misheard, I asked again.

“I need to examine your condition. Take everything off and lie down here.”

But I'd heard correctly.

“D-Do I really have to take everything off...?”

Do I really need to get completely naked?

Couldn't she just look at the injured area?

I stared pleadingly at Clarice.

Her answer was cold.

“If you're embarrassed, would you like me to undress you?”

“...No. That's okay. I'll do it myself.”

Having someone else undress me would be even more embarrassing.

So in the end, I took off my own clothes.

Even in front of a doctor treating a patient, getting completely naked was still a little embarrassing.

And Clarice was still dressed while I was the only naked one.

Wouldn't it be less embarrassing if Clarice took hers off too...

You lunatic!

What the hell are you thinking?!

Apparently embarrassment had scrambled my brain, because my thoughts kept wandering in weird directions.

I shook my head to clear them.

With my face slightly flushed, I sighed and glanced down at myself before lying down.

The wounds looked grotesque, but my figure was still good enough that anyone would have to admit it was impressive.

Yet Clarice didn't look impressed when she saw my naked body.

Instead, she frowned deeply.

For some reason, that hurt my feelings.

“Are you insane?”

“Hm? What?”

I seem to be asking people to repeat themselves a lot today.

It's not because my hearing is bad.

Clarice just keeps showing sides of herself that are completely unlike her usual self, so I keep questioning whether I heard correctly.

...I'd only heard stories before, but Clarice really is terrifying when dealing with patients.

“You look like this and still say you're not seriously injured?”

“Isn't this nothing? If you spend enough time in the Demon Realm, wounds like this are pretty normal.”

That wasn't true.

If wounds like this were normal, I'd have died in the Demon Realm ages ago.

But with a beautiful woman like Clarice standing in front of me, I guess some pointless instinct to show off kicked in.

And before long, I regretted it.

Because...

“Really? If it's nothing, then we don't need anesthesia before treating it, right?”

“...Huh? What?”

“The wound has already started closing, which is actually worse. If I heal it like this, it'll definitely scar.”

Would one scar really be so bad on a warrior's body?

A scar makes you look like some indomitable veteran who's crossed countless battlefields, doesn't it?

I was about to voice that extremely macho opinion.

But Clarice narrowed her eyes into sharp triangles, and I didn't even manage to open my mouth.

“Would it really be okay to leave a scar on such a beautiful body?”

...Now that she mentions it, Clarice has a point.

Scarring a body like this would be a national loss.

And I don't exactly want my beautiful body ruined either.

That's a pretty big blow as a woman, isn't it?

Hm?

As a woman?

I'm still a man inside even if my body is female.

Why did that thought come so naturally?

Before I could find an answer to that question, Clarice delivered words that sounded like a death sentence.

“Then let's begin. You're a strong warrior, Big Sis, so you wouldn't cry over something this small, right?”

“Begin what? And why would I cry over this?”

“I'm going to cut open the wound with a knife, burn away the demonic energy, and then heal it with sacred arts.”

“What?”

Clarice smiled sweetly and produced a brilliantly sharpened silver knife as though she were preparing to slice into a delicious cake.

“It'll be dangerous if you move around, so I'll restrain you a little.”

Before I could do anything, Clarice's sacred art fixed my body firmly against the bed.

...Wait.

I can't move.

I swallowed and stared at the knife in Clarice's hand.

“Don't worry. The knife has been sterilized thoroughly.”

“Could you anesthetize me instead?”

“No.”

“Ah.”

Clarice raised the razor-sharp knife.

The blade touched my wound...

“KYAAAAAAAH! AAH! It hurts! Clarice, it hurts! Be gentle!”

I didn't last even one second before screaming like a little girl.

“It hurts? Of course it hurts!”

Clarice, transformed from gentle Saintess into merciless surgeon, began cutting away the damaged flesh without pity.

Dark, necrotic blood flowed down the blade.

“It hurts! I'm seriously going to die of shock!”

“You won't die.”

“It hurts enough to kill me!”

“This way you'll stop saying stupid things like that next time, won't you?”

Scary.

Clarice is scary!

Still, perhaps Clarice was being as careful as possible.

Or maybe I was just getting used to it.

The pain didn't exactly decrease...

But I could at least endure it.

My entire body was soaked in cold sweat.

“Bear with the pain a little. I'm draining the dead blood.”

“...The world is starting to spin. Are you sure this is okay?”

“You've lost a lot of blood, so of course you're dizzy. But that was dead blood. Once I close the wound, you'll actually feel refreshed.”

“...Not refreshed. I'm getting sleepy. Are you sure I'm recovering and not dying? Ah... I can see a river in the distance.”

“If you keep saying weird things, I'll disinfect the wound with medicine instead of sacred arts.”

“Ah. Yes, ma'am.”

Making stupid jokes was the only thing helping me endure it.

It felt a little cruel of her to shut even that down.

“Good. I've opened the entire wound. Now it's time to burn away the demonic energy.”

Clarice drew a complex sacred formation in the air.

Brilliant white light enveloped my body.

The black demonic energy tangled inside the wound began evaporating and burning as though screaming.

Sssssss-

“SKREEEEEEEE...! I-I'm going to die.”

“The demonic energy is burning away. We can't heal the wound while it's still inside, can we?”

“Kyaaaah!”

Still, this was more tolerable than having the wound cut open with a knife.

“All the demonic energy is gone now. I'll close the wound.”

After enduring what felt like an eternity, I finally ended up with a completely healed body.

“A-Amazing... Clarice.”

I was genuinely impressed.

How the hell did she heal such an awful wound this quickly without leaving even one scar?

As expected of the original heroine.

She's incredible.

“Y-You won't make me happy by praising me like that, you know?”

Clarice's face flushed slightly at my compliment.

Seriously.

She can never just be honest.

“Still, next time I'd appreciate some anesthesia...”

I muttered mournfully as I felt Clarice's gentle hand brush the sweat-damp hair away from my face.

“I couldn't anesthetize you anyway.”

“...Hm? Why?”

“The demonic energy from the curse had tangled itself into your nervous system. If I carelessly used anesthesia, I could've paralyzed your entire nervous system too.”

“Ah.”

I see.

Right.

There's no way kind, gentle Clarice would actually enjoy making someone suffer.

She'd probably just acted a little spiteful because I kept spouting nonsense.

“You need absolute rest for one full week. Understood? If I hear even a rumor that you've been running around swinging your spear... I don't know what I might do. Got it?”

Clarice spoke with a sinister expression.

“...How am I supposed to live when you're this scary?”

I grumbled in a tiny voice.

“Answer me.”

“Yeees...”

In the end, I obediently nodded.

Still, this was good news.

The treatment ended faster than I'd expected, and it was perfect.

My head was a little dizzy from all the blood I'd lost, but that would improve if I ate well and slept properly.

And light exercise helps recovery, so warming up a little probably wouldn't hurt.

...Probably?

I just need to make sure Clarice doesn't catch me.

“So we're done now?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

Not done?

What the hell is left?

“The real problem begins now.”

“...What's left?”

I asked weakly, completely drained.

Clarice looked directly into my eyes before answering.

“Now I need to heal the wound carved into your soul.”

“A wound in my soul?”

Come to think of it, the old man had said not only my body, but my soul had been wounded as well.

And because a human soul wasn't something easily touched, even he had been unable to do much.

“Yes. If we leave it alone, you could lose yourself completely.”

“Lose myself?”

“Yes. Your body would still be yours, but you might no longer be you. You could become an empty-minded idiot, or your personality could change completely.”

“...That's terrifying.”

After experiencing the Curse of Cognition, I knew painfully well how frightening it was to lose yourself.

The healing room was comfortably warm, yet a chill made my body tremble.

“It's all right. I can look directly into the soul and heal it.”

“That's the best thing I've heard all day.”

“But first, your mind needs to settle.”

“What do you mean?”

Settle my mind?

Was she telling me to sleep?

“An awakened soul constantly reacts to stimulation from every direction. It keeps moving, so I can't grasp its outline properly.”

“Then what do we do? Knock me unconscious?”

“...Not knock you unconscious. Put you to sleep.”

“Same thing.”

“Would you rather I knock you unconscious? I'm not very confident, but if you ask, I'll do my best. Now, where did I put the mace...?”

“No, thank you. Just put me to sleep.”

Scary.

Clarice in the original story was definitely supposed to be gentle and kind...

Well, she's still gentle and kind now.

...Did I do something to make her hate me?

I can't remember anything.

Ah.

Is it because every Council I beat Leonid half to death and make Clarice heal him afterward?

Now that I think about it, maybe I have done something wrong.

Not to Leonid.

To Clarice.

“Don't resist. Just accept my divine power, all right?”

“Okay.”

A very soft and warm white light, different from before, flowed from Clarice's palm and entered my mind.

It felt like sinking completely into warm water.

Drowsiness overwhelmed me almost instantly.

“Sleep well, Big Sis. When you wake up, everything will be finished, so don't worry.”

With her quiet voice as a lullaby, my consciousness quickly sank into deep darkness.

Clarice placed both hands over the deeply sleeping Beatrice's chest and spent a long time examining the outline of her soul.

And during that process, Clarice had no choice but to doubt her own eyes.

‘...Good heavens. What is this?’

Beatrice's soul, viewed through sacred arts, was in a horrifying state.

This wasn't merely a wound.

A massive hole gaped straight through the center of her soul, as though it had been struck by a cannon.

An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to maintain their identity with damage like this.

They should've died instantly, or at best survived as an empty shell.

Yet something was strange.

The Beatrice who had been screaming, “It hurts! Be gentle!” at Clarice just moments ago had been exactly the same big sister Clarice had always known.

How could her personality remain intact despite such an enormous hole in her soul?

‘Did she have two personalities? Or was there something else enormous enough to fill that empty space?’

But the question didn't remain for long.

Clarice became captivated by the bizarre sight before her and no longer had any room to sink into thought.

Starting from the edges of the hole, Beatrice's soul began repairing itself at an unbelievable speed.

Silvery-white divine power intertwined like strands of thread, filling the missing portion of her soul.

The sight was not merely mysterious.

It was almost sacred.

‘...Amazing. Her soul isn't damaged at all anymore. How is this possible?’

Clarice withdrew her hands.

As though declaring that it required no one's help, Beatrice's soul was already restoring itself perfectly.

There was nothing Clarice could do.

No—nothing she needed to do except stabilize Beatrice's mind and body so that nothing interfered with the restoration.

She carefully poured in divine power and guided Beatrice into an even deeper sleep.

Looking down at Beatrice's peacefully breathing face, Clarice sighed in relief, having already forgotten the strange sense of incongruity she'd felt moments earlier.

Only then did Beatrice's bare white body, completely exposed before her, enter Clarice's eyes.

The flesh that had been contaminated by demonic energy was gone without a trace.

In its place was smooth, pale skin like a newly blossomed lily.

Beatrice's body curved perfectly as though painstakingly carved by a sculptor.

And despite swinging such a heavy spear, her skin looked unbelievably soft.

“...Ah.”

Captivated by the dazzling sight, Clarice unconsciously held her breath.

She wanted to touch it.

If she gently pressed a finger against that smooth white skin, wouldn't it feel incredibly soft and springy?

Beatrice was deeply asleep.

She wouldn't know.

Surely touching her just once would be fine?

And judging from what the Saintess of Hestia—the Order forbidden to men—had once secretly whispered, women could certainly...

In the silent healing room, Clarice swallowed and began reaching out as though entranced.

Then she suddenly jolted and turned her head away.

Burning heat rapidly spread across her cheeks all the way to her ears.

“Stop...!”

Clarice hurriedly slapped both of her cheeks hard with both hands.

A small but crisp smack echoed through the quiet healing room.

She'd hit herself hard enough to bring tears to her eyes, but at least it snapped her back to her senses.

‘What are you thinking in front of a patient, Clarice?! Get a grip.’

To drive away the strange thoughts, she quickly fetched a clean sheet and covered Beatrice's body.

Then she walked to a chair some distance away and sat down.

For quite some time afterward, Clarice had to pray while struggling against the image that refused to leave her mind.