Kujonin

Kujonin
Author: Hanabokuro
—

"Father! Ghoul disease has been cured!"
While dazed, I could hear Cynthia"s voice in my ears.
Cynthia spoke as she spread out both her arms, as if showing Garcia her own body.
My stopped thoughts began moving again.
Right now, my first priority is to cure the villagers, according to Pastor Romeo"s will.
["Naoki! The kids and Missus are all safe! Now we"re having them breathe in recovery potions."]
Velsa"s voice sounded from the communication bag.
"Roger. What about the newbies?"
["Gathering the villagers at the church. It was Pastor Romeo"s instructions. "People who have headaches are in more danger than people who don"t have headaches," he said."]
"Got it."
He must have found the relation between the headache symptoms and ghoul disease.
I should go to the church and check his notebook.
He went to cure Garcisan"s children first rather than the villagers, which means they"re in far more danger.
If that"s the case, then the one who"s at greatest risk would be someone who"s been living together with the children.
In other words, it"s Garcisan, in front of me.
"Garcisan!"
"Ah"ve, just what"ve Ah been …"
He"s confused.
All of a sudden, his long-lost daughter told him that ghoul disease has a cure; was he, who killed ghouls himself, now being overwhelmed by guilt?
"Garcisan! Pull yourself together! From now on, use magic as much as…"
"Ah"ve … Ah"ve…"
s.h.i.t! No good! He"s not listening!
If we can"t exhaust Garcisan"s magic power, then he won"t have magic power insufficiency and we can"t treat him.
Actually, I don"t know how much magic power a Hero has, but since he has a spirit"s blessing, it"s definitely going to be a lot.
I also don"t know if the amount of mandrain agent we have now is enough for him. I want him to use his magic himself.
It can"t be helped; let"s move our plans ahead.

Separating a little from Garcisan, I poured magic power into the communication bag.
"Red Dragon! Come over right now!"
["Gulp-! Already!?"]
Looks like he was eating breakfast.
"I think the Earth Hero will step in to stop it, but please aim for exhausting his magic power without killing him!"
["Understood! Any other requests?"]
"Make it flashy!"
["Aah, got it!"]
I cut off the power to the communication bag.

"Garcisan! Garcisan!"
I shook his shoulder and called out to him.
"Naoki-kun, mah plantation, it really is …"
"Listen up! Garcisan, right now there are dragons coming to burn up your plantation. The only one who can stop them is Garcisan!"
"Dragon?"
"We"ll be curing the villagers" disease! I"ll leave the plantation to you! Protect your pretty wife and children!"
"Ah… ah got it!"
Garcisan nodded and ran towards the plantation.

I put the saber Garcia left behind in the item bag and lifted up Pastor Romeo"s body.
"Cynthia, it"s the church for us."
Biting her lips, Cynthia nodded and followed me.
She"s a strong woman. She hasn"t let one tear fall.
Have her emotions not caught up to reality yet, or is it that she hasn"t accepted Pastor Romeo"s death?
"Cynthia saw me as a little brother. I also thought of her as an older sister."
I remembered Pastor Romeo"s words.
It must not feel real that a person close to her died.

There was a large crowd of peddlers and villagers gathered outside the church.
When they saw me carrying Pastor Romeo in my arms, everyone cleared a path and shut their mouths.

"Cynthia!"
At a child"s voice, everyone realized that Cynthia was behind me.
"Everyone, calm down and enter! It"s okay! Ghoul disease is curable! Because I"ve been cured!"
All the villagers nodded in agreement at Cynthia"s voice, and they followed behind us into the church.

Inside the church, Seth and Merumo were dividing the patients according to their symptoms.
"The people who have had headaches before but recently no longer have them are to be treated first!"
"Those with headaches line up over here! Ah, President!"
Merumo noticed me.
"Ou, continue! Make preparations for the treatment quickly."
I asked a Sister nearby wearing clergy robes, "Can I entrust him to you?" and showed her Pastor Romeo.
"Yes, of course!"
Her eyes flooding with tears, the Sister called other Sisters who were around, and they carried Pastor Romeo"s body into the inner rooms.
"Will you go with them?"
I asked Cynthia, but,
"No. I will also help with the treatment."
She responded with a firm look.

I lined up wooden chairs up six in a row and drew heating magic circles on those chairs.
When I had lined up all the chair available, I put as much mandrain agent bottles as I had on them to heat them.
When I run out, I"ll get more from Velsa and Ayl.
The childrens" treatment will probably be over by the time I run out.
I talked to the Sisters and had them prepare small bottles and some kind of thin tube like forabbits" esophagus.
I had the nimble-fingered villagers and peddlers help make the respirators.
"I will also help,"
Saying so, a boy from Garcisan"s household came to help out. He"d been watching me the entire time since I came to the church.
"Thanks to those ladies, I feel completely better."
"You"re a big help."
Saying so, I slapped the boy on the back.

When the mandrain agents were heated up, I had the riskiest patients who were lined up each breathe it in.
The patients lying on the bench breathed out ectoplasm like smoke from their mouths as the breaking of the magic stones in their chests sounded.
I drew a wind magic circle on the window frame (the same magic circle I used to toss the echizzen sky high over the ocean), blowing the smoke outside.
There were also people who spat out blood, frightening the surrounding people into yelling, "W!"
"It"s okay! I also spat out blood, but look! I"m just fine!"
Everyone seemed to be rea.s.sured at Cynthia"s words.
At Merumo and Seth"s instructions, I quickly heated recovery potions and had the people who spat out blood breathe that in as well.
Around the time I began to run out of mandrain agent, I received a call from Velsa through the communication bag.
"How are things on your end?"
["Aa, it"s fine. Just now, Garcisan was all fl.u.s.tered and …"]

GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR-!
GyyyYYYAAAAA!

I can hear two yells that shook the windows of the church.
Looks like the dragons have arrived.

"I left the plantation and Garcisan to the dragons."
["Is that how it is?"]
"Bring the mandrain agent to the church. We"re running out."
["OK!"]
"Ayl, can you step in and treat Garcisan as soon as he runs out of magic power?"
["Roger! Dragons, huh? It hasn"t been all that long, but it feels like it"s been a while."]
I can"t see her, but it feels like Ayl"s smiling.
Shutting off the communication bag, I looked around my surroundings. All the villagers inside the church are completely terrified of the dragons.
"Please be at ease. Garcisan the Earth Hero will definitely protect you! And also, I"ve drawn a defensive barrier magic circle. And even if they come this way, our company"s employees will be their opponents!"
I said in order to calm the villagers down.
"President! Dragons are still impossible for us!"
Seth lowered his voice and protested.
"Aah, don"t worry. We"ll have Ayl and Velsa interact with them. Those two are "Protector of Dragons," after all."
" "Eh!!" "
Seth and Merumo are both startled.

Before Velsa arrived, I observed the boy from Garcisan"s household that"s been helping out this entire time.
The boy keeps looking worriedly out the window.
I can"t imagine that Ayl and Velsa would let a child go outside right after they treated him.
Even if he"s completely cured, they needed to cause his body to exhaust its magic power, so it"s strange that he"s totally fine in such a short amount of time.
If the reason Garcisan, the hero, hasn"t become a ghoul is because of the spirit"s blessing, then I can make my move after we finish treating Garcisan.

WHAM BAM

As the sounds of the battle between the Hero and the two dragons get more violent, the sweat beads on the boy"s forehead.

"Aah, I certainly breathe easier."
A patient who has been treated is led away by the Sisters to rest in the annex, it seems.

Velsa opened the door to the church and entered.
The villagers asked, "Are you alright?"
"Aa, it"s fine. They won"t be coming this way unless they get more riled up."
" "Eh?" "
For a second, the villagers didn"t understand Velsa"s words.
"Anyway, she"s fine."
I said as a follow up.
"How is it over there?"
"Ayl is waiting impatiently in the warehouse."
Velsa smirked as she handed me an item bag with mandrain agents in it.
It"s the one Ayl"s always carrying.
"Did you have enough?"
"Aah, we hardly used them over there, so there are barrels of them left."
"Hardly used them?"
"Because of the Misses. Is it because she"s an adult, or because she"s the hero"s wife? We only used a little."
"I see. Anyway, help out for now."
Acting like I"m absorbed in giving treatment, I checked with Velsa.
"Did you see that boy next to the window at the warehouse?"
"Hm?"
Velsa lifted her head to look.
"Nope. Why? Who is it? It can"t be …"
"Don"t stare too much."
Velsa looked down and acted like she was engrossed in treating people.

"The plantation is burning!"
One of the Sisters who was guiding the patients to the annex screamed.
At that, everyone looked out the window facing the plantation.
You can certainly see white smoke rising.
The traveling peddlers turned blue and the villagers became dazed.
That boy broke into a cold sweat and ran towards the annex.

"Velsa, can I leave things to you for a bit?"
"Aah, got it."

Deploying my Search Skill, I followed after that boy, quietly to avoid being found.

Sorry for the wait. Been feeling absolutely terrible. Better now.>