Chapter 270 Saintly Smile
"──Tsun, will you wake me up?"
'Kuu'
A voice drifts into my ears.
Both of us recognize it instantly.
In a blink, something covers my face.
Fluffy and soft, it smells nice, a bit hard to breathe though.
"Moga, guhaheheheha (Hey, what are you doing)?"
"Big brother, I can't understand what you're saying. Right? Centrena-tan"
'Kuu'
The voices belong to my family.
Maya-chan and Centrena.
"...Phew. I'm glad you woke me up, but what if I were dead?"
"Wouldn't you be okay if you died?"
'Kuu?'
Our Mother, and the other Danna Vinna, Rosalier-san, Mylavirna-san, they all treat me like a 'ghost' with the same warm eyes.
Of course, not just Maya-chan here, Centrena too.
"Um..."
Certainly, what Maya-chan says makes sense?
No matter how hard it is to breathe, I don't die.
But when I do actually die, that's it.
Each time, I come back to life because of the 'Pulse (Pulsating Assistive Spell)' and 'Resurrect (Resurrection Spell)' layered on top.
It's not pleasant at all, feeling the pain and hardship as if it's real.
After I was kidnapped carelessly and brought back to Arlheave, and about a hundred days and a bit passed, the snow melted, and it's warm now.
Since then, I've been trying my best to fulfill my role as the head manager of the adventurers' guild.
Maya-chan, Centrena, Wilshion, and I came to the Dukedom Myradern, far northwest of Swiglefen, 2 days ago.
Our main goal is the first-time treatment of the Oso (Dreadful element) poison.
Maya-chan is helping out, she came with me.
Imagine the scale of Myradern, from above, it's not so different from Watterhill.
This place, at the foot of the mountain, is where Magic Beasts (Majuu) spawn in droves──a gathering spot for adventurers with a knack for danger.
A smaller country, yet it draws as many adventurers as Swiglefen ever did.
Mother, surprisingly, owned a small mansion in this very country.
Thanks to that, we get to sleep over in style.
"Come on now, big brother. Wash your face and let's have a hearty breakfast?"
'Kuu'
"Oh, right"
By the way, just like the mansion in Watterhill, here too, we've got the Adventurers' Guild looking after the place──cleaning and keeping it shipshape.
But no chef, apparently.
I wash up and return to find the tastiest bento from the best eatery in this town waiting for me.
Of course, there's one for Maya-chan as well.
"Did Centrena and Wilshion already eat?"
"Yup. While you were asleep."
'Kuu'
Centrena lies there, peering over and replying with a look that says, 'We've already eaten.'
In that case, let's dig in without further ado.
Maya-chan and I clasp hands across the table.
We close our eyes,
"Itadakimasu"
"Itadakimasu"
We open our eyes and start eating.
"Mmm, delicious. Oh, big brother──"
"Yeah, it's good. What's up?"
"Sorry... Maya's still no good at cooking. I'm learning, but there's a big gap between knowledge and skill, you know? It's really tough──"
Maya-chan says she's not great at cooking.
I think she does alright.
She can handle a knife, and the seasoning isn't half bad, right?
But after that 'Mayonnaise Incident,' I've been keeping my culinary experiments to a minimum around here.
"It's fine. I'm on a cooking ban since that mayonnaise mess too."
"Ah, that thing. Heh heh heh..."
That was completely forgotten, wasn't it? I didn't notice it would heal with just one Detoxy spell, and I was groaning in the toilet.
The realization hit me only after I came out, rubbing me stomach like I were uneasy.
"Can't be helped, you see──"
That's what we said as we enjoyed breakfast together
* * *
"Put both hands here,"
"Yes, please,"
Maya-chan gently smiles as she looks at the fingertip tainted by Oso poison.
"It was tough... but don't worry, I'll fix it now──'Holy Purification'"
Maya-chan's hands softly glow with light.
After doing this twice, thrice, Maya-chan secretly activates her Appraisal Skill.
"There! It's all done. You're all better now,"
"Thank you so much, Holy Lady,"
A woman in her thirties bows repeatedly as she leaves
Seems Maya-chan has already given up on being called the Holy Lady
"Please pay ten copper coins at the reception over there,"
Those ten copper coins are a standard here too
"Understood! Thank you very much,"
Maya-chan turns around, looking up at me with a slightly strained expression.
She's got a bit of a tough look on her face.
All her fingertips──her nails, from root to tip──are stained jet black.
It's probably not obvious if she shows only her palms to the healer, but still.
That must hurt, I bet.
"Big bro, please,"
"I got it, I'll use 'Dis Recover' (Cure Disease) and 'Full Recover', then 'Mana Recover'──that should do it,"
"Thanks, big bro,"
"Isn't it true, with a higher-level spell, it'd heal in one shot?"
Maybe because Maya-chan's been trying hard to level up, she finally reached level 5 at last night's sunset.
Now she can use a new, dangerous-looking self-destruct magic, but she's intentionally not using it.
And here's the reason why.
"Ah, yeah, uh-huh. About that, yeah. Doing the low-level ones 3 times is, like, the most efficient way to get EXP, see?"
"Yeah, I can't convince people otherwise, no matter what I say"
Maya-chan, once she decides something, she *does* it.
I guess I'll give up on it for now.
She turned around to face the next patient.
"Next!"
And she greeted the next patient with her Saintess Smile.
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