Chapter 08

 The Black Death (3)

It all began with the elderly man next door.

“G-Good heavens!”

“Father’s skin is back to normal!”

Seeing my healing powers in action, the family stared with their mouths agape before promptly falling to their knees at my feet.

“This old man owes his life to you, Saintess. It may not be much, but please accept this small token of our gratitude.”

“Please stand. I didn’t do it expecting any reward.”

I smiled while suppressing the pain that came as backlash.

There was no need to pretend.

[Good Deed Points +100]

Wow! Points!

I’m full even without eating!

Of course, the people I healed didn’t have the faintest clue about that, so they just kept bowing.

“Still, how could we pretend not to know after receiving such grace?”

“Hmm…”

I thought for a moment.

Saintess. So they’re calling me that now.

If I want to fully embrace the role of a saintess, I should probably act devout, right?

“I’m merely a humble servant of the Great God. I only act on His behalf. If you truly wish to repay me, then offer your gratitude to our Lord in my stead.”

Never underestimate the flattery skills of a grad student trained under a professor.

After a few rounds of that speech, the old man and his family were moved to tears.

“We’ll believe in you and follow you, Saintess!”

Next.

At the third house, both the wife and their twin children were bedridden.

After healing all three of them and giving a similar speech, the whole family bowed to me.

‘Is this the isekai version of a dogeza?’

J-anime is terrifying.

What if the protagonist starts making natto later?

Then as a Korean, would I have to promote the superiority of kimchi?

Cough cough.

Oops.

As soon as I snapped back to reality, a sharp pain tore through me. When I staggered, Mars quickly caught me in alarm.

“Saintess, please, let us return home so you can rest. You can continue healing tomorrow.”

“Ah, not yet.”

I trembled and spoke.

“Just two more houses.”

“But…”

Shut up, you glorified guide.

Don’t get in the way of my point farming!

—Of course, I couldn’t say that, so what came out instead was something sweet and demure.

“The Black Death progresses rapidly. If I sit idle, someone might die… just thinking about that…”

God, this hurts like hell.

Tears welled up from the sheer physical pain. Mars’s eyes quivered as he saw them.

“…If that is your wish. Understood.”

It took exactly two weeks to treat every resident of Mars’s village.

The silver lining was that the more I healed, the more my pain tolerance grew.

‘I can handle ten people a day now, easy.’

Still hurts like hell, though.

I’m just putting up with it.

‘I’ll need to pick up the pace starting tomorrow.’

My point collection was going far too slowly.

Not ten, but twenty—no, thirty patients a day from now on.

‘If I want to get back home.’

Thankfully, Mars misunderstood things gloriously, so I didn’t have to worry about food or shelter. The villagers, too, were constantly trying to please me.

“Yus unnie!”

Just as I was making my healing plans, Amy burst through the door.

The red-haired girl looked much healthier and more vibrant than when we first met.

“Dad says it’s time for breakfast!”

“Okay, I’m coming.”

I replied and, keeping up the act, grabbed my cane.

A child-sized cane carved from wood—Mars made it for me. He gave it to me on my seventh day in the village.

Tap, tap.

Each step echoed with a pleasant sound. Light, not frivolous.

“You look happy today, unnie.”

“There are no more patients in the village.”

My first milestone achieved.

From today, I’ll push for twenty—no, thirty a day… crap.

‘This is gonna hurt like hell.’

Suddenly, I felt depressed.

“Unnie?”

“Ah, sorry.”

I gave Amy a weak smile.

“I just thought… there are probably still people outside the village who need help. I shouldn’t get too excited yet.”

“You don’t have to worry.”

That’s when Mars appeared behind me.

Despite his bandit-like build, he was wearing a frilly apron—he’d just finished preparing breakfast. With gentle hands, he guided me to the table.

“If it weren’t for the Saintess, Amy and I… and so many others would’ve lost our loved ones. You’ve already saved countless lives.”

“…Thank you, Mars.”

I gave a sheepish smile.

Direct kindness like this made me feel a little guilty.

‘Makes me feel like a fraud.’

I wasn’t a good enough person to do all this out of pure altruism.

Treating the Black Death was just a means to collect points. Nothing more, nothing less.

I opened my quest window.

[Main Quest]
Save 1 billion people
Current: 1,192

‘…Hmm.’

The goal: 1 billion people.

Current: About 1,200.

Still more than 999 million left.

‘I’ve got a long way to go.’

Feeling driven, I picked up my spoon and casually began.

“By the way, Mars. Starting today, I’d like to go to the neighboring village.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“If you’re going to tell me to rest, save it. Even while I’m eating here, I can’t stop thinking about all the people suffering right now…”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

He looked flustered as he explained.

“It seems word has spread to the next village. Patients have started coming here, hoping to receive your blessings. We’re thinking of setting up a temporary clinic for you to treat them here.”

“Oh.”

My cheeks flushed from embarrassment at my earlier “holier-than-thou” attitude.

“B-But what about those who can’t travel? Wouldn’t it still be better for me to—”

“Having you go house to house would be much less efficient.”

“That’s… true.”

That definitely sounded better for my point farming.

I nodded.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

And an hour later, I realized I’d made the right decision.

“There’s a long line by the temporary clinic. At least a hundred people, by the looks of it.”

Mars said this standing beside me, but since I could see, I knew the truth.

‘Just how far does the line go…?’

It looked like every sick person nearby had come here.

What was even more terrifying was that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

‘Has the Black Death already spread throughout Terra? …Could the royal family be infected too?’

A chill ran down my spine.

Lilliana Louise Terrario.

The only chance to meet that young girl, hidden deep within the royal palace, would be through treating the Queen.

But if a random girl suddenly showed up at the palace saying she wanted to heal the Queen, they’d treat me like a cultist and throw me out.

‘To do that, I’ll need at least regional-level fame.’

I looked at the endless line of patients standing in front of the shabby clinic.

“……”

Treating all of them was going to hurt. A lot.

‘Well, what can I do?’

There was no choice.

I gripped my cane and smiled gently.

“Mars, let’s begin.”

Two months after the outbreak of the Black Death.

A gloomy air hung over the Barony of Boyle.

“My Lord, the people of your domain are suffering from this terrible plague. At this rate, the barony won’t even be able to function.”

“Sigh…”

The baron let out a deep sigh at his aide’s report.

His gaunt eyes and slumped shoulders showed signs of his prolonged struggle with the same issue.

“What are the physicians doing?”

“There were several volunteers at first, but now no one dares venture into plague-ridden areas.”

“Damn it. Of course they wouldn’t.”

He swore under his breath.

The aide was right.

The plague had started in a small part of the barony and quickly spread across the entire region.

Once news of the horrific deaths circulated, surrounding territories cut off all contact with the barony.

“To make matters worse, food production in our domain is unstable… If this continues, the people will starve. Should we request aid from His Majesty?”

“The Queen is bedridden herself. And last year’s famine drained the treasury. The kingdom can’t spare much.”

The more he thought about it, the deeper the despair.

The baron gnawed on his dry lips.

“If only this plague disappeared, the food problem would solve itself.”

The Barony of Boyle bordered the sea. Most residents made their living from fishing rather than farming, so as long as the young men could get back on their feet, recovery was possible.

The real issue was the Black Death.

“Sigh. I need some tea. Bring me a light refreshment.”

“Yes, my lord.”

A servant bowed and left the office. Left behind were the baron, his aide, and a young page who had only recently entered service.

“I heard there are skilled doctors in Hydrangea. Should we send a ship to seek help from there?”

“Not likely. His Majesty is already scouring the continent to cure the Queen, but no one knows how to treat this plague. Unless a genius appears—”

“M-My Lord!”

Both men turned their heads at once.

The page, now under the intense gaze of his superiors, hiccuped nervously.

“I, I received a letter from my younger sister today. She says our grandfather, who had the plague, was completely cured.”

“What?”

The baron’s brows furrowed. Before he could respond, the aide scolded the page.

“Don’t speak nonsense. Even the royal doctors are helpless—”

“It’s true! Not just Grandfather—everyone in our village who had the plague is better now!”

The boy cried out, clearly distressed.

The baron had been ready to dismiss it as childish exaggeration, but he paused at the next words.

“Where is your home village?”

“It’s near the port.”

“The port…”

The baron stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“If it’s near the coast, perhaps a foreign doctor arrived just in time.”

“Shall we investigate, my lord?”

“Yes.”

The baron nodded to his aide.

“At this point, we have to grasp at whatever straws we can.”