Chapter 490
Chapter 490. The Healer of the Countryside
“Oh no! We need to get him looked at by the Holy Church ASAP!”
We passed through the gate without raising too much suspicion—well, maybe a little, but due to the urgency of the situation.
Thank goodness the gatekeeper wasn’t a stubborn old grouch…! That was the one big risk.
If we could just get past this point, the chances of making it through were extremely high. It looked like a strategy that played on emotions, but there were several reasons we specifically chose this village.
First, it was remote.
Unlike a big city, there are few visitors, so they’re not conducting any divine inspections at the entrance. In a village of this size, even if there is a Holy Church, there’s probably only one priest at most.
Second, it was an isolated location with little traffic.
We chose a backwater place that likely hadn’t heard the rumors of Zilbagias going on a rampage. Surely, the news of the Demon Lord’s Prince’s banishment would be shared through the Holy Church, but it’s better if timely topics haven’t reached here.
And as for my childish appearance—
The flyers announcing the Demon Lord’s Prince’s banishment didn’t mention his age!
In other words, no one knows that Zilbagias is a six-year-old! There’s no way anyone would suspect that such a little kid was banished for fratricide. Even if the truth were written, who would believe it?
Even if it’s highly probable that Zilbagias is disguised as a human, I concluded that it’s unlikely someone would look at a kid frothing from eating poison mushrooms and think, “…Could this be the Demon Lord’s Prince?”
……No, there is one priest who might go “That’s strange…” but he shouldn’t be here right now.
Carried by the gatekeeper, Leila rushed us into the village’s small Holy Church. The bouncing made my stomach churn, but I figured it’d be unfair to puke all over Leila, so I forced myself to hold it in…
“Old man! Gedock! Are you awake?!”
“Ungh… I ain’t sleeping! What’s all the ruckus?!”
The old priest, who had been dozing in an armchair, snapped back while shaking his head vigorously at the shouting gatekeeper. Gedock, as he was called, was a frail old man, looking as though he could drop dead at any moment, but judging by his behavior, he seemed pretty lively.
But there were traces of drool at the ends of his mustache…
“It’s a critical patient! This kid just ate some poison mushrooms!”
“What?!”
However, upon hearing the gatekeeper’s words, his face immediately grew serious, and he straightened his back.
“Lay him down here.”
Following the old priest’s instructions, Leila set me down on a simple cot. It was a modest one-story Holy Church that felt more like a clinic… it was the typical way these rural churches operated, I thought, gazing at the ceiling as if it were none of my business.
“You said poison mushrooms?”
“Y-yeah. That’s the only thing I can think of…”
Leila answered, trembling under the old priest’s piercing gaze. I could feel Leila’s tension. If he found out who I really was—she would have to immediately drop the transformation and flee with me. Even if the old man looked frail enough to be blown away, he was still a member of the Holy Church and should not be underestimated.
Leila must have felt the pain after battling against Arthur and the others…
“Mm… You seem to have lost a lot of strength.”
However, the old priest quickly averted his gaze from Leila, did a quick examination, peered into my face and eyes, nodded, and swiftly began to gather magical power.
“Come forth, holy light, to this hand!”
Then, wrapped in a silver glow,
“Detoxify!”
He poured a miraculous healing light into me.
—Suddenly, my body felt light.
The nausea and numbness in my limbs disappeared in an instant, as if the suffering from the past few days had never happened. Ah—what a miracle of light. I felt tears welling up. It was a power of mercy that dark beings could never reach…
And this was the crux of our operation. A proper priest would surely use holy silver magic in conjunction to enhance the miracle’s effectiveness.
For most dark beings, simply receiving this would result in being burned.
This act of healing would also serve as an incredibly convenient identification for me. My true identity would automatically be recognized as “human,” and after bringing a dying child of the human race like me, Leila and Antendeixis would naturally not be regarded with suspicion.
“How do you feel? Is it better?”
The old priest, his expression softening a bit, spoke kindly.
“Yeah… thank you, priest…”
I did my best to sound as childlike as possible, but it was genuine; I was truly grateful from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you. I was seriously on the verge of death.
I was really saved…
…But it would be a lie to say that I felt no guilt for tricking these good rural folks and the old priest.
Feeling relief, exhaustion, and guilt all at once, I let out a deep sigh—
“Alright, for now, the danger to your life is gone. However, since you ate those poison mushrooms, detoxification alone isn’t enough. Let’s wash out your stomach just to be safe.”
—Wha?
“It might be a little uncomfortable, but bear with it!”
From the old priest’s hands, pure magical water began to flow.
Is he also skilled in water magic…?! Wait, wash out my stomach!?
Hold on, that sounds like it would really hurt! I got that done to me during my past life as a hero, and that was because I got hit by a poisoned arrow! They’re going to flood me like a snake and pull out the poison all at once, right!?
“A-um, priest, I’m already fine…”
“What are you saying?! You’ve only purified the toxins in your body. If there is still any source of poison left in you, it’s meaningless!”
That’s the truth!
“But I’ve vomited a lot already… my stomach’s empty…!”
I didn’t even eat any poison mushrooms!!
“I want to believe you, but if you end up sick again, I would regret it. You can’t rely on the patient’s own judgment.”
The old priest spoke with grave sincerity. Valid point…!
“Alright, alright, it won’t be that painful. Just take a deep breath and calm down, kid. Now, breathe in…”
“Suuuuuuu.”
“Okay!”
As soon as I followed his words and took a deep breath, he poured in a huge splash of water mixed with holy silver magic.
And then it! It wriggled while digging deep into my stomach!!
“Guwaaaaaah! Mmmph!”
“Hey! Don’t thrash around! Just a little longer!”
“Ughhhhhh!”
“Chains of restraint!”
Geh! Even a binding spell?! Aahhhhhh! The water is pouring into my stomach! Guhwaaaah!
“Whoa…!”
I thought I caught glimpses of Leila panicking out of the corner of my eye, but honestly, with the overwhelming sensation of a foreign object and my nausea, I couldn’t focus on that at all.
Just how much more is he going to pour in!? This has to be enough already!!
“Okay, that should be good enough.”
Without care, a long sludgy stream of water was pulled out from my mouth, as if my insides were being completely yanked out.
“Geh! Kyaaahhh!”
“Good job, kid. You really tried hard. Now you’re safe.”
The old priest smiled as he patted my head.
“You did great, girl and boy!!”
The gatekeeper also seemed relieved.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Leila, half in tears, bowed her head repeatedly.
Well… it was tough, but it was a million times better than suffering from poison.
And besides, even after having that much holy silver magic water poured into me, I wasn’t burned at all… so this was the best proof of my identity as “human.”
Thank goodness it all worked out. Finally, I could fully relax and let go of my tension…
“By the way, I don’t recognize your faces… where are you from?”
As I finally felt at ease, the gatekeeper began to look slightly suspicious.
“You called yourself a traveler performer… but you don’t really look the part.”
Well, that’s because we don’t have any kind of entertaining talent to display!
We don’t!
“Aooooh!” I heard murmurs of excitement from outside the Holy Church.
What’s going on? As the gatekeeper and the old priest turned to check, Leila and I exchanged glances.
Looks like Antendeixis is already performing.
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*By the way, the village’s name is Detox Village.
