Vol 1 Chapter 9 (1/2)
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Chapter 9
After traveling the long road, we somehow finally made it to the village of Dagaz. Cecilia went over her preliminary report with us and, according to her, Dagaz was just a small village with a population of only a few hundred people.
To get a good grasp of the situation, we did a once over of the village, and it was in pretty bad shape. Homes were burnt to the ground and there were traces of battle and blood everywhere that needed to be cleaned up in order to makes the crop fields usable again.
The people pa.s.sing by had lost the light in their eyes, their faces were pale, and too many of them were bound in bandages.
”It's worse than we thought. Let's go visit our client, the mayor, at his home first.”
In the village was a remarkably large house and I a.s.sumed that was the place. So, guided by the villagers, we headed towards his home in order to meet the mayor.
”Oooh! Could it be, the comrade of the Hero who slayed the Demon Lord, Cecilia-sama, has come to save us? Thank you ever so much for coming.”
The old man who came out to greet us was the mayor. His head was wrapped in bandages, and his foot dragged behind, seeming to be injured.
”First, let's begin by healing you, Mayor. If you could, I’d like you to to gather all the injured people in a central location in the village.”
”Of course, Cecilia-sama. ...By the way, who are those people over there?”
The mayor was looking at me and s.h.i.+ek. Cecilia was wearing cleric robes, but s.h.i.+ek and I were both in our everyday civilian wear. We looked like your regular everyday villager and a kid.
”They are my friends, and both have accompanied me to help carry out your request. I can guarantee they are both quite capable, so please rest a.s.sured.”
The mayor easily accepted Cecilia's a.s.sertion about us. Both s.h.i.+ek and I lowered our heads and looked forward to working with Cecilia to help the village.
Cecilia was depending on me, and the mayor didn't seem like a bad guy. s.h.i.+ek's expression when he bowed wasn't too bad either. Time to get my hands dirty!
”Leave it to us!”
”Roger that~”
Cecilia quickly cast her healing magic on the mayor, then he got to work gathering all the wounded at the central plaza of the village.
The plaza was filled with all manner of villagers, the men and the women, the young and the old. A large amount of the village's young men were among the wounded.
After healing about half the villagers, Cecilia was already sweating heavily. In contrast, s.h.i.+ek with his herbal medicines and me with my cheat power were bearing the load far better.
”Cecilia, shouldn't you take a break for a little bit?”
If the healer ran out of magic, it would be like putting the cart before the horse. Worst case scenario, she'd pa.s.s out and not wake up until tomorrow.
”Haah...haaah... ...I'm fine, thank you.”
She didn't look fine at all, though. Her face was already pale, and she was probably near her limit. I cast the elementary magic 《Holy Bell》 on Cecilia.
“What...wait a...minute…&r
dquo;
It was a spell that caused a magic-induced healing sleep on the target with a holy resonance. It was originally used to lull crying babies to sleep, but due to her fatigue, Cecilia couldn't put up any resistance and fell to the ground, fast asleep.
The villagers around her caused a fuss, but I didn't mind them.
I asked the mayor to prepare a place for Cecilia to stay so she could get some rest.
”I'm sorry. Cecilia is already at her limit for today and needs to rest. Could you arrange some lodging for us?”
The mayor was taken aback by my actions, but my words snapped him out of it.
”...I understand. However, the only inn we have in the village isn't in any shape to accommodate you after suffering some damage from the bandit attacks. But I have an open room in my home, so please take her there to rest.”
We had seen the inn burned to the ground when we first took a look around the village, so I had already been meaning to ask where we'd stay the night.
But the mayor was letting us stay in his home. I carried the sleeping Cecilia there, princess style of course.
”s.h.i.+ek, I'm leaving things to you for a bit.”
”You can count on me, Captain~”
Once I left s.h.i.+ek in charge of the villagers, I carried Cecilia all the way to the mayor's house.
Once I got there, I had the mayor's wife show me to the room, which turned out to be really dusty.
They probably didn't use this room very much. It was a simple room with a dresser and a chair next to the bed, and nothing else.
I laid Cecilia on the bed, then opened the window to air out the room a little.
”She'll probably wake up after she's had a bit of rest. When she does, please ask her to return to the plaza.”
Although by the time she wakes up, all the villagers should already be healed. I asked the mayor's wife to relay that to Cecilia, then returned to the plaza to continue healing the villagers.
When almost all the villagers had been healed, Cecilia returned.
She looked incredibly angry.
”......Youki-san. I need to have a few words with you.”
With that smile that didn't reach her eyes, I knew Cecilia was definitely her mother's daughter. s.h.i.+ek was scared out of his mind and hid behind me.
But I could only think that her angry face was cute too...and was able to keep my composure.
Not only that, I didn't think I was in the wrong, doing what I did.
”...I will admit that I was wrong for suddenly casting sleep magic on you. But, if you had continued to heal people like that, you would have pa.s.sed out. I didn't want that to happen to you, so I resorted to drastic measures.”
Cecilia gave some thought to my words. s.h.i.+ek couldn't handle the tension in the air between me and Cecilia, and began to cry. He looked so pitiful, I patted his head to rea.s.sure him.
”Is that so...you were just thinking of what was best for me and acted on it, Youki-san?”
”Uh, yeah, that sounds about right.”
So Cecilia did understand my side of the story. The tension dissipated and the mood returned to normal, drawing s.h.i.+ek out from behind my back.
”Is it over~?”
”Yeah, I guess so.”
My words got through, and s.h.i.+ek was also fine, so I declared this issue to be resolved.
”Youki-san.”
“Y-yes?”
Cecilia suddenly muttered a single word and I could only respond hesitantly. I realized that I had let down my guard, and after just a moment, she closed the distance between us.
”Thank you so very much.”
She told me with upturned eyes in a pleasant manner. Plus, she added on a beautiful smile. My face flushed bright red, and I unintentionally sank to the floor. A different sort of smile then appeared on Cecilia's face, as though everything went just as planned.
She probably meant it as revenge for putting her to sleep, but it was more like a reward for me. And so, with our little argument over, and all the villagers healed up, we went back to the mayor's home.
”Oh, while they're here, why don't we have them take a look at Tiel?”
”She wasn't caught up in the bandit ordeal. And Cecilia-sama must be quite tired, so she doesn’t need to.”
”Is someone still hurt?”
”Ah, no, she's a girl who lives at the edge of town. She wasn't here when the bandits attacked, so she wasn't injured then. It's just that...she's been weak since she was born.”
She could be suffering from some kind of disease then.
If I send s.h.i.+ek, he might be able to alleviate some of her symptoms.
”If you could, please tell us where she lives.”
”...Is it really all right? You have my thanks. Tiel lives to the east of the village in the forest.”
So in order to see the girl called Tiel, we headed eastward to the forest. Although it was called a forest, it wasn't a large and dreary place like Oth.e.l.l Forest where I fought the c.o.c.katrice. Just calling it the 'woods' would be more appropriate.
About five minutes in, we came upon a little wooden cabin. So I guessed this was that Tiel girl's house then?
”We're coming in~”
Without even knocking, s.h.i.+ek just entered with his weird little greeting. Hey, come on now, I thought to myself as I followed in after him.
The person that lived here must love books. There were numerous shelves absolutely packed with them. Seated on a bed farther back in the room and reading a book must be Tiel-chan. For having just let ourselves in, she didn't seem all that surprised.
”To whom do I owe the pleasure? You do not appear to be from the village?”
When she finished speaking she fell into a coughing fit.
”Forgive us for intruding so suddenly. We came at the mayor's request. I am Cecilia. These two here are my friends, Youki-san and s.h.i.+ek-kun. We have come to cure you of your malady.”