“Hello, my name is Maya Seijyu.”
“Ah, I’m Haruto Tanaka. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The woman calling herself Maya Seijyu is beautiful like a western doll, and her features are different from a Japanese person’s.
She’s beautiful enough that everyone’s eyes would focus on her if she was walking on the street, and her white flowing clothes give her an otherworldly feeling.
“I’m Japanese. My mother is from ××× and I spent most of my life in Japan.”
It’s probably because I’m staring, and she realized why, that she says that with a light smile.
“Ah, excuse me. So why was I brought here?”
I should’ve asked before, but I do need to know.
I came here supposedly to be thanked, so why am I meeting this Seijyu woman?
I don’t know her position in the church, but why did they send a young woman alone? Is this a honey trap to seduce me? That crosses my mind, but the air around Seijyu tells me anyone who got close wouldn’t be happy. That’s the feeling I get anyway.
It’s just a feeling I can’t explain, but it’s like my instincts are telling me not to get involved.
“So you can use Healing Magic, and healed believers?”
“Yes, I did… Should I not have done that?”
“Goodness no! We are very thankful. Our mission is to extend a helping hand to all who need it, but without sufficient personnel, there is only so much we can do. Some feel as we do and help, but it is still not enough.”
And by personnel, she means Healing magic users, right?
I feel like I shouldn’t ask her that, so I nod.
“We are thankful, so we need to thank you.”
“Eh? You’re giving me money?”
“…We will prepare that later. First, how about having a look at the Church of Minsule? I’m sure you will be welcomed by everyone.”
“No, don’t bother. I’ll just take the money and leave, so money please.”
A vein appears in her forehead.
She takes deep breaths, and despite the smile pasted on her face, her eyes aren’t smiling.
“Don’t say that, come this way. Everyone is waiting.”
She takes my hand and moves.
There is an indescribable power in that hand, and I feel a pressure that tells me I can’t argue.
I follow her as she says, and Fuuma, who is finished with the carrots, follows. Seijyu glances at Fuuma, and whispers without much interest that it’s obedient.
I wouldn’t call it that, but I see Fuuma’s back tremble when she looks at it. I feel like Fuuma is afraid.
I stop, pet Fuuma’s head, and ask it if it can wait here, but it shakes its head, telling me it wants to come.
“Okay, don’t force yourself.”
I start following Seijyu again.
She takes me to a room where people I assume are believers are praying towards a wall painted with a giant tree.
There’s a sapling in front of the wall, receiving faint magic energy.
“Did you notice it? This sapping will be a branch of Yggdrasil, which we worship.”
“Yggdrasil?”
It’s a name that comes up a lot in stuff like fantasy games.
I’ve never heard it outside of it being the name of items that fully heal or revive characters, but I guess part of it is here.
This is suddenly very fishy.
“Yes. Yggdrasil is the one salvation this world heading to its end has. Will you try praying?”
“I won’t. I don’t know about that world ending stuff.”
It’s too fishy.
That whole thing about the world ending is fishy, but if the world is ending, why are you praying to a branch? If the world really is ending, shouldn’t you try to remove the cause?
“…I see, then next, come this way.”
She looks a little confused, like she didn’t expect me to say no.
We walk down a hallway, and I see the courtyard outside through a window.
There are kids playing. Some look healthy, but most look like there’s something wrong with them physically.
“We want to heal those children, but we don’t have the personnel.”
“…Sounds tough.”
“Yes, but that can be improved with your help.”
“…”
We eventually reach a big reception hall with a lot of people in five lines. There are five women at the end of these lines, using Healing Magic on the people lining up.
I say Healing Magic, but the effect is weak, and while the people receiving it feel better and are happy, it doesn’t seem to heal the root causes.
“They are the Saintess Unit of the Church of Minsule. I also sit over there to heal people.
“Saintess Unit…”
“Yes, it was also on standby to offer healing during the Gladiators event at the end of the year, so it is the most famous in the Church of Minsule.”
I see, I say to be polite, and look at the healing again.
I see a woman casting Healing Magic and drink a magic potion, most likely because she ran out of magic energy. And she keeps on casting it. She’s casting Healing Magic on three people, and almost falls from her chair due to using up her magic energy. Someone supports her from behind, takes her out of the room, and a new saintess takes her spot.
It’s like a production line.
As I watch, Seijyu tells me to go that way.
We’re next to a woman casting Healing Magic, so I guess the idea is to watch from up close. But I’m not interested, so I look around the room to pass the time. There are close to a hundred people lining up, and they keep coming in through another door, not the one we used to come in.
On that door there is a large picture of a man, and everyone thanks him as they enter the room.
“Would you like to join, Tanaka?”
“Eh? Join what?”
“Healing believers. I hear you are a great Healing Magic user. Will you try using it to help people?”
“I won’t, I’ve decided on a one good deed per day limit.”
“I think you could increase it to two or three…”
“No, one per day or my heart won’t last.”
“What if there was a reward involved?”
“I’ll do it!”
I push a saintess aside and sit down. I motion for someone to step up, and an old woman sits in front of me.
I use Trace, detect palsy on her back and left arm, and use Healing Magic.
Next! I handle them like a production line, and thirty minutes later, everyone’s treated. I didn’t do it alone, but thinking about treating close to a hundred people makes me feel like I did something incredible.
“Wonderful! You treated so many and did not run out of magic energy! You truly were chosen by god!”
“No no, let’s not go that far. More importantly, reward please.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You said you’d reward me…”
“I asked what if there was a reward, I said nothing about there being one.”
“Eh? Then I worked for free…”
“No. You saw it, didn’t you? The smiles of the people being treated, their gratitude… Is that not rewarding enough!?”
“…”
Screw you! Is what I want to yell, but I contain myself. It’s not just her here, there’s also the people using Healing Magic. I can’t bring myself to bother people that look spent after using too much magic energy.
My anger voltage stays the same, but I follow her while putting on a calm face. I feel like hitting her from behind, but then I’d be the bad guy.
I clench my fists while thinking about how to get rid of this anger.
Then she takes me to a cramped reference room that shows how the church was formed, its scripture, its teachings, among other things.
The world is ending, making the world fair, things gained from the dungeon, we can be saved, etc… I just scratch my nose and nod as she talks until it’s over.
Nothing resonates with me, so I guess I’m not suited for their teachings.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
