Chapter 1: The Mysterious Heal Man

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Translator: Soafp

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“Ugh, ow…”

A young man with bandages wrapped tightly around his arm was walking down a dimly lit street.

He was an adventurer.

In order to prepare a feast for his little sister's birthday, he had accepted a Monster-slaying request despite the danger—but he failed and ended up breaking his arm.

“With this, I can't take any jobs for a while. What am I gonna do for living expenses… huh? Wh-what the!?”

Someone was standing in the middle of the road ahead of him.

The figure wore a crow-like mask and hood, their body wrapped in a pitch-black coat—clearly a suspicious person.

The moment their golden eyes glinted from behind the mask and met his, the stranger suddenly started sprinting straight toward him!!

Sensing danger, the young man hastily reached for the sword at his waist—

“Ah! Ow, damn it!!”

Pain shot through his arm, and he dropped the sword by accident.

But the masked stranger didn't care and kept running toward him, letting out a strange scream.

“HYAAAHAAAHAAH!! ANY SICK PEOPLE AROUND!? ANY INJURED FOLKS HERE!?”

“Eek!?”

“You there!! You're an adventurer, right!? Great job fighting monsters every day!! Broke your arm, did you!? HYAHAHAHAHA!! That must hurt!! Poor guy!! Let me heal you right away!!”

“N-no, th-th-that's fine!!”

“Don't run, don't be scared, don't hold back!! EXTRA HEAL!!”

The moment the stranger chanted the spell, a warm light enveloped the young man.

“Huh? The pain… it's gone!? M-my arm's completely healed!?”

“You also had a hole in your stomach, so I patched that up while I was at it.”

“Eh? N-now that you mention it, the stomach pain I've had lately is gone… Uh, thank you?”

“HYAAHAHAHA!! I'm glad you're feeling better!! Remember to relieve stress every now and then!! Your body is your greatest asset!! Stay healthy and live long!! HYAAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Without asking for payment, the masked figure laughed loudly and dashed away.

The young man looked up at the night sky, where the full moon hung.

“Somehow, I feel like nothing can scare me anymore…”

Would he ever experience anything scarier than what just happened?

After that night, the young man went on to slay Mysterious feared by all, earned a fortune, raised his little sister to adulthood, married a beautiful wife, and retired from adventuring.

After retirement, he wrote a novel titled The Mysterious Heal Man, which became quite popular—but that's another story…

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One day.

When I went to my sister's room after being called, she was elegantly sipping tea and said:

“It seems that while I was away in the capital for work, the ‘Mysterious Heal Man' appeared again, Ask.”

“Yeah.”

“I still think it's just an urban legend, but if the rumors are true, then that person must be even more skilled at healing magic than I am. I'd love to meet them someday.”

“Yeah.”

“That's where you're supposed to flatter me by saying no one surpasses my healing magic.”

…Hmm.

“There is no better healing magician in this country than Fran nee-san, who is beautiful, kind, and has an incredible figure.”

“Fran onee-chan.”

“There is no better healing magician in this country than Fran Onee-chan, who is beautiful, kind, and has an incredible figure.”

“Yes, indeed. A genius like me has no equal. When I think rationally, it's obvious. That ‘Mysterious Heal Man' is nothing but a myth.”

My name is Ask Medicus.

I'm the eldest son of the Medicus family, who govern the Medicus territory in the Kingdom of Kishirika, and technically, the one who should inherit the viscount title—though not really.

Because I have an older sister, Fran Medicus, who is a year older and far more talented.

In this world, all living creatures possess magic power, and there exists the art known as magic.

Among the many types of magic, the Medicus family specializes in healing magic that cures all injuries and diseases.

And among us, my sister is the greatest genius of them all.

Though only sixteen, she's already been entrusted with treating members of the royal family several times.

Oh, right—speaking of the royal family…

“Fran onee-chan, how was your work in the capital? You went to treat the twin princesses—the ‘Golden Princess' and the ‘Silver Princess,' right?”

“…Tch.”

She clicked her tongue and her mood visibly darkened.

“It was terrible. Do you want to hear your big sister complain?”

“I'll pass.”

“Listen quietly.”

“Yes.”

“I'm a genius healer. But even a genius can't cure an unknown disease right away. That's just common sense, isn't it?”

Well, that's true.

If it's a completely unknown disease, of course it takes time to study and treat it.

“But those arrogant nobles who don't like me demanded I cure it within three days!! Those bastards!!”

“So that's why you came back early?”

“Yes. I was mocked—‘So that's the extent of the Medicus heir,' they said. I'll never forget the humiliation I suffered from those bald-headed fools.”

“That sounds rough.”

“It was rough!! Praise me more, Ask!! Comfort me!! Pat my head!!”

“Okay, okay, you did great, Onee-chan. You worked hard. Good job.”

“Ahh, my sweet little brother. You're the only one who truly appreciates me… The thought of you someday marrying some filthy sow already disgusts me.”

She began muttering under her breath.

Dealing with sulky Fran was annoying, so I decided to change the subject.

“By the way, what kind of disease were the princesses suffering from?”

“There's no official name yet. I decided to call it ‘The Disease That Rots Away All Flesh.'”

“Sounds… gruesome.”

“It was gruesome. Because of that, the fools thought it was contagious and abandoned their care, making things worse.”

Contagious, huh.

Even with magic technology, this world's civilization is still below medieval Europe's standards, so it's no wonder people would think that way.

Still, I'm curious about this “flesh-rotting disease.”

If it's really contagious, it could be a huge problem—and I'd love to examine it myself.

---

And so, after running all day, I arrived at the royal capital of the Kingdom of Kishirika.

To hide my identity, I wore a black coat, a plague doctor mask, and a hood.

Yes—the “Mysterious Heal Man” everyone's been talking about… is me.

Huh? You figured that out already?

Then here's a question for you—why am I going around secretly healing the injured and sick?

Tick-tock, tick-tock… time's up.

There are two main reasons I, a reincarnated man, secretly heal people.

First—simple goodwill.

Second—because I've always admired heroes who hide their identities and help others.

Yes, reincarnated. I have memories from my previous life.

Back then, I suffered from an incurable disease and could hardly get out of bed.

It was painful. Just remembering people in similar pain makes me feel uneasy.

So yeah, healing strangers like this might just be self-satisfaction.

But still, I can't ignore the twin princesses' suffering now that I know about it.

“Let's see… the twins' room should be at the top of the castle. That one, maybe?”

I climbed the castle wall, slipped into the courtyard, then leapt up to the balcony—landing with a boom.

The guards in the courtyard shouted, “What was that noise!?” and ran toward the sound, conveniently pulling security away from the twins' room.

Huh? I shouldn't be able to just jump to a balcony like that?

Ah, sorry, forgot to mention—

This world has monsters and demons—mankind's natural enemies.

Since I died young in my past life, I want to live long and healthy this time.

So from infancy, I used healing magic to physically enhance and modify my own body.

Body modification is super useful, you should all try it sometime.

“'Scuse me~”

Keeping my voice low, I broke the window, unlocked it, and slipped into the princesses' bedroom.

The room reeked of rotting flesh.

Following the stench, I found two lumps of decayed meat lying on the bed.

“So this is the ‘flesh-rotting disease,' huh? I'd call it… meatball disease.”

Well, whatever the name.

I needed to finish before sunrise or my family might get suspicious, so I decided to heal them right away.

“Wh…o… are… you…?”

“Whoa, you can still talk in that state?”

“Ah… finally… my time… has come…”

Wait—does she think I'm the Grim Reaper?

Well, with this plague mask and black outfit, I can't really blame her.

“Please… if you can… let my sister… at least my sister… live a normal life… even if it's just her…”

“No need for that. I'll heal both of you.”

“Eh…?”

“Hmm. Looks like a case of magical overload gone wrong. Shouldn't happen under normal circumstances, but it's easily fixable.”

I'd experienced something similar when experimenting with my own body.

So I channeled my magic to stabilize their runaway mana and—

“There, all better.”

“Eh? N-no way…! My body… my hands, my legs, my face—everything's back!?”

The two lumps of flesh quickly regained their human forms, revealing two naked, stunningly beautiful girls.

One had long golden hair with red highlights and bright crimson eyes.

And—wow. Huge ch*st.

Same age as me, a year younger than my sister, but clearly more endowed.

Truly, the world is unfair.

And she hadn't even noticed she was naked yet, being too overwhelmed with emotion.

…Might as well burn this sight into my memory.

“Am I… dreaming? This can't be real…”

“It's not a dream, don't worry.”

“P-please!! Heal my sister too!! I'll give you anything—anything in return!!”

“It's fine. I already healed her.”

“Eh?”

I'm not heartless enough to heal one and leave the other.

The other girl also returned to normal—short silver hair with blue streaks and pale blue eyes.

Also naked. Also well-endowed.

“Victoria!!”

“Mm… Christina… Nee-san…?”

“Yes, yes!! It's me, Victoria!!”

The sight of the two naked princesses hugging and crying in joy was like watching a goddess and an angel embrace—truly a divine blessing.

But I shouldn't linger.

“Well then, I'll be going.”

“W-wait!! At least let us thank you!!”

“I'll pass.”

It wouldn't look cool to accept a reward here.

“T-then, at least your name!! Please tell us your name!!”

“…Hmm.”

If this were one of the heroes I admired in my past life, they'd probably say, “I'm no one worth naming,” and vanish. That would look cooler.

But wait—

Rumors of the ‘Mysterious Heal Man' had already spread across the kingdom.

If I didn't say anything, they might just assume he was the one who helped them.

That would be lame.

I always thought “Mysterious Heal Man” sounded like a dumb name anyway.

This was my chance to give myself a cooler one.

“I am—ahem—I am the faceless one, No-Face. Let's meet again someday, Princess Christina.”

“Ah, w-wait!!”

Ignoring her call, I jumped off the balcony and melted into the night.

The soldiers spotted me on the way out, but—

No way anyone could catch me after all my body enhancements.

“HYAAHAAA!! ANYONE FEELING SICK!? ANYONE IN NEED OF HEALING!?”

Ahh, it feels great to do good deeds!!

On my way home to the Medicus territory, I continued my random healing spree.

Three days later—

While I was out healing people again…

“A bounty of one hundred million mani will be awarded to anyone who finds the ‘No-Face' who cured the royal princesses, huh.”

“O-one hundred million…”

“Ask? You're sweating a lot. Are you feeling unwell?”

“N-no, nothing's wrong, Nee-san. Don't worry about it.”

I mean, sure, I expected some people to get curious and start looking for me.

That's part of the classic hidden-hero experience, right? I was even looking forward to it.

But I didn't expect the entire kingdom to start a nationwide manhunt.

A hundred million mani?! That's terrifying! (Mani's the currency of this world, by the way.)

I decided to lay low for a while and stop my healing activities.

But then, the very next day…

The ‘Golden Princess' and the ‘Silver Princess,' Christina and Victoria, came all the way to the Medicus territory.

Wait—my identity's already blown!?

After all that dramatic coolness, getting found out in a week is just plain embarrassing!!