Chapter 41: If a Healer is thanked, he loses

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Translator: Soafp

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It was late at night.

I was lying on the bed, idly reading through the research materials on mental magic I'd received from Elisto.

There was no light on, but I'd recently enhanced my body so my night vision had improved. As long as the moon was out, I could read text even in the dark.

“…Mental magic might be way more useful than I thought.”

That was my honest impression after reading the materials.

In this world, life-or-death battles were far more common than in my previous life, and there were plenty of people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder—PTSD.

Apparently, by using mental magic on such people, you could forcibly calm their minds.

On the flip side, it could also deliberately disturb someone's mental state, which made it easy to understand why this magic had been classified as forbidden.

For now, maybe I should try learning a spell called “Mind Up,” which restores the target's mental energy…

“Mm…”

“Hm?”

“…Bathroom…”

Lidiel, who had been sleeping in the neighboring bed, stirred and got up, heading into the restroom.

The walls were thin, so I could hear the sound of running water clearly, which was a bit awkward.

Also, the Empire's toilets being flush-type was kind of amazing. The Kingdom still used pit toilets.

While I was thinking about that, Lidiel came back out of the bathroom and, for some reason, crawled into my bed and started breathing softly in her sleep.

“Lidiel, you've got the wrong bed—”

I was about to say, but suddenly she hugged me tightly. Her face was really close. I could feel her breath.

Squish♡ Hug♡ Squish—

And more than just her breath, something else was pressing against me.

Something big and soft.

Way bigger and softer than my sister's.

…I'll try talking to her first.

“Lidiel, Lidiel. You're half-asleep—please go back to your own bed.”

“…I'm the woman who'll become the strongest hero… hehe…”

“What do I do…”

Lidiel seemed to think I was a body pillow. She wrapped her legs around me and hugged me tightly with both arms.

She smelled faintly floral.

I'm a guy my age, so of course I have thoughts when a beautiful girl is pressed up against me.

But what if she woke up?

She might think I attacked her and retaliate unfairly.

I needed to deal with this quickly.

“Alright, here we go…”

I grabbed Lidiel's arms, managed to break free, and escaped.

…She really didn't wake up.

If that's the case, maybe I could slip out of the room without being noticed.

Even though this was just a border city, I'd gone all the way to the Empire—I should look for injured or sick people and heal them.

Thinking that, I changed into No-Face's outfit and stepped out onto the balcony.

“Found you, King Ask!!”

“Huh? Luu?”

“I missed you!!”

I heard a voice from the rooftop and looked up to see Luu there.

She jumped down energetically and clung to me from the front.

And again, something big and soft pressed against me… Tonight was full of ch*st contact. Also, her face was really close.

“Why are you here?”

“Goddess Fran told me to deliver a letter!! I followed your scent!!”

“A letter from Nee-san? …You don't seem to be carrying anything, though.”

“Hm—”

Luu shoved her hand into her pocket and rummaged around, then suddenly stripped off her clothes right there while looking for the letter.

“…It's not there!!”

“It's gone? Did you lose it?”

“Hm—ah!! It was cold last night, so I burned it while making a fire!!”

“I see… you burned it.”

“Yes!! Luu learned how to make fire from Boss!! Praise me!!”

“Good job, good job.”

When I gently patted her head, Luu narrowed her eyes happily.

But now what?

Nee-san had gone out of her way to send a letter. I was too curious to sleep until morning.

“…Well, I guess it's fine. If she gets mad, it'll be Luu's problem anyway.”

“!? Luu will get scolded by Goddess Fran!?”

Luu gasped, her eyes filling with tears, and hugged me again.

“Uu… King Ask, let's apologize to Goddess Fran together…”

“Geez… fine.”

“Thank you, King Ask!! I like you!!”

Luu beamed like a flower and hugged me even tighter.

Whoa—again… it's pressing.

Luu really is defenseless. She doesn't think about the opposite sex at all, which honestly makes me worry.

I can't help wondering how she lived before she lost her memories.

“…Hey, Luu. If your memories came back, what would you do?”

Luu's amnesia might be due to the shock of nearly being killed by a dragon.

If that's the case, I could probably treat it with mental magic.

Memory magic would fix it for sure, but I don't even have a lead on that yet.

“My memories… come back?”

“No, not saying they will. Just wondering what you'd do if they did.”

“Hm—nothing!! I'll live with King Ask and Goddess Fran!! Luu is Goddess Fran's maid!!”

“I see. You really are cute, Luu.”

“Mufu~!! Luu is cute!! Pet me more!!”

I lightly scratched under her chin, and Luu purred like a cat.

Since we're here anyway, maybe tonight I'll go street-healing in the border city together with Luu.

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“Alright, Luu. There's something I remembered recently.”

“You remembered something?”

“Yeah. Apparently, if a street healer gets thanked, that means they've lost.”

“Lost?”

The special-effects hero I loved in my previous life never sought rewards or praise. He hid his identity, silently helped people, and then vanished coolly.

But lately, I'd been feeling good whenever people thanked me after I healed them.

To be honest—

In my previous life, I was always the one being helped.

Being acknowledged for helping others made me happy.

Truly, the desire for approval is terrifying.

“Yeah. I think I should go back to my roots.”

“Roots?”

First, I should rethink No-Face as a character.

No-Face is an unknown hero who heals the injured and sick while commanding monster-like healing men.

But then I realized—

A plague mask and jet-black coat don't really look heroic.

Plus commanding monsters, carrying a huge scythe, wrapping shiny silver chains around my arms…

That's completely villain-side fashion.

“Hm… Maybe a dark healing mage who won't hesitate to use any means necessary to heal patients… Wait, isn't that what I'm already doing? Then maybe I should still aim to be a proper, non-violent, orthodox hero?”

“King Ask, what's ‘orthodox'?”

“It means the classic path.”

“Classic?”

…No, wait.

“It's the opposite. Because it's the opposite of the classic path—that's what makes it cool.”

“The opposite of classic!!”

“That's it!! A dark hero!! A dark hero who won't choose his methods as long as he achieves his goal!!”

Up until now, that's what I'd become by accident.

From now on, I'll aim for it consciously.

“As long as I call myself No-Face, Victoria will figure out where I am. I need another name.”

“Another name?”

“A name… a name… a different name from Faceless No-Face… Nameless… Nameless No-Name!! This is it!!”

“No-Name?”

No-Name. Not bad—actually, it's good.

I'll deliberately tatter the hem of my coat so it flutters in the wind…

The plague mask is basically No-Face's symbol now, so I should switch to a different mask.

What would be good?

A mask that suits a scythe… A skull mask would work.

It'd look like a grim reaper and boost the dark hero vibe.

“A wild, ‘hyahhaa' contrast to the gentlemanly No-Face… no, that'd overlap with the mysterious heal men.”

Umu. Oh, right.

I'll take inspiration from the rival character of the hero I liked in my previous life.