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Chapter : 05 I Was Actually Reborn as a Baby (4)
“Are you truly saying that the young miss used a healing art?”
The priest’s tone sounded as though he were clicking his tongue and saying, “Every parent thinks their child is a genius…”
“Are you implying that I’m lying?”
Mother’s tone was rather overbearing as well. Her presence was no joke.
“No, no. Of course not. But as you know, Madam, healing arts are a blessed power granted only to high-ranking priests…”
“Perhaps she has exceptional magical talent and unconsciously cast healing magic.”
Father added his own suggestion.
“That is impossible as well. Healing magic is also an extremely advanced spell. Of course, as the daughter of a lady who is counted among the greatest mages on the continent, she undoubtedly possesses extraordinary talent. However, Madam should know better than anyone that healing magic is not something one can use simply because they possess a large amount of mana.”
“But…”
“Furthermore, healing magic only works on external injuries. It cannot cure illness or recover fatigue. Therefore, it does not match the recovery Madam described.”
He’s very firm, isn’t he? Like an immovable pumpkin.
“Can you guarantee that there is nothing wrong with Shana’s body?”
“Yes! I can say so with confidence. She is perfectly healthy.”
The priest continued talking for a while afterward, but I only half-listened. What mattered more was examining that strange sensation I had felt earlier.
The feeling of something suddenly flowing out from inside my body.
It was a vague sensation, one I had never experienced in my previous life.
For someone whose daily routine consisted of lying down and staring at a mobile, it was the most fascinating toy imaginable. If I had heard something like this in my previous life, I would have thought it sounded like one of those “Do you know the way?” cult recruiters.
But…
There really is magic here!
I suspected it, but it’s actually real!
Even when they talked about healing arts, I still wasn’t completely convinced. If I hadn’t seen that wolf’s leg heal with my own eyes, I would have assumed it was just a blond kid’s early chuunibyou phase.
“Abu, baa…”
I got so focused that nonsense slipped out. At least I wasn’t drooling.
As I waved my short arms through the air, I saw a faint cluster of light.
This is it! This is it!
“Bya!”
“Shana seems to be in a good mood…”
Father placed a hand on my forehead. The light lingering around my body didn’t flow toward him at all.
So healthy people don’t need healing? That’s one heck of an automatic diagnostic system.
After waving my arms a few more times, I felt like I was beginning to understand.
Something inside me seemed to gather together and form the light.
It felt like kneading clay, yet also like stirring water. It was very strange, but the faint shimmering glow was beautiful, which made it even better.
Earlier it felt like something was draining out of me…
But if I controlled it properly, it seemed like I could draw out more without wasting it.
Still lying down, I rolled my eyes toward Mother.
She must be in worse condition than I thought.
After all, the cluster of light that hadn’t flowed toward Father at all had been sucked into Mother as if being uprooted.
I don’t want Mother to be sick this time either.
After sending away the priest, healer, and mage who had been summoned, my parents looked somewhat gloomy.
“It wasn’t my imagination, Kyle.”
“I know.”
“If it wasn’t divine power or mana, then what was it?”
“For now, all we can do is wait and see. They said there’s nothing wrong with Shana’s body.”
“As the priest said, healing arts are incredibly difficult techniques. Priests borrow divine power, while mages require enormous amounts of mana… Since she immediately eased my breathing, Shana must have paid some sort of price.”
“Anais, for now, just focus on the fact that Shana is healthy.”
That’s right. I’m completely healthy.
I already knew this, but ever since the kidnapping incident—well, at least since then, because I don’t know what things were like before—my mother had become overly protective.
At least Father was rational…
“If anything is wrong with Shana, I’ll overturn the entire continent if I have to in order to fix it.”
“…I’ll trust you.”
Never mind.
He’s not rational at all.
Father’s eyes blazed with determination. Judging by his gaze alone, it looked as though he was prepared to kill anyone necessary.
There’s really no need to worry that much.
Three different professionals had already certified that I was healthy.
I raised both arms toward Mother as she reached for me.
“Maah!”
“Oh my, Shana. Mommy’s right he—huh?”
A flash of light filled my vision.
Apparently…
Mother was in even worse shape than I thought…
As I watched the cluster of light I had deliberately poured out burst and flicker, I saw Mother’s face, looking as though she were about to cry.
Ah.
She’s pretty.
***
“Shana! Shana, wake up!”
“Anais, calm down. She’s only asleep!”
“But Kyle!”
“More importantly, we need to check your condition.”
Anais froze in shock, her face covered in tears.
Kyle skillfully lifted Shana from her arms and held her himself.
“Is my condition really what’s important right now?”
“It is. Look, Shana’s breathing normally. She’s sleeping peacefully.”
“Suddenly falling asleep isn’t normal!”
“Using healing arts wasn’t normal either.”
“How can you be so calm?!”
“Do I look calm?”
Anais took a deep breath.
“No…”
“If we’re going to protect Shana, we need to stay sane first.”
“…You’re right. We can’t make the same mistake twice.”
The green of Anais’s eyes darkened.
When Shana had been kidnapped, Anais had quite literally lost her mind.
She had never imagined that the nanny who raised her would abduct her daughter.
The thought that her own carelessness might cost her child drove her nearly insane.
The shock left her with an illness.
A disease that twisted and disrupted her mana, slowly destroying her body.
Neither healing arts nor healing magic could cure it.
She had been suppressing her mana usage as much as possible while focusing on restoring her physical strength.
“…It’s completely gone…”
“That’s a relief.”
“How is that a relief? How…? What if something bad happened to our Shana because of me…?”
“That won’t happen. Our daughter seems to be an exceptionally devoted child. She wouldn’t do something that would make us worry.”
“What Shana used wasn’t healing magic. Nor was it healing arts.”
“So it seems.”
“But power without a price can’t exist. Even if Shana is fine right now, if people learn that such a power exists, the temple will never leave her alone.”
“The three who examined her will keep their mouths shut.”
“We should make sure they can’t open them.”
“How frightening.”
“Do you dislike that?”
“Of course not.”
Kyle kissed Anais on the temple.
Though she still looked unable to bear her worry for Shana, she no longer cried.
Calmly, she extended a hand and examined Shana’s body.
“So small.”
A tiny baby who had only just become capable of crawling on her own…
“And her mana is stable… Her breathing is regular. She’s really just asleep.”
“You need to trust your husband a little more.”
“…But we can’t let her use that power on people anymore.”
Shana’s ability had to remain a secret.
They had no intention of tolerating any threat that might befall their daughter, who had miraculously returned alive.
***
“Renat. I heard your leg was injured. Looks fine now.”
“A human baby healed it.”
“…Healing arts don’t work on us. Wait, more importantly—a baby?”
The man called Renat nodded.
Then he spoke to the man sitting across from him.
“I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Are you even listening to me?”
“A human kid came and took the baby away.”
“A human… kid? You mean actual humans, not one of our beastfolk?”
“That’s right.”
“How does it make sense for a human child to pick up a baby? How’s a child supposed to raise another child? For us, appearances don’t reflect age, so a kid could still be an adult, but humans are different.”
The wolf beastman, Renat, recalled the young blond-haired, golden-eyed boy.
Those intelligent eyes had not wavered even when facing a wolf.
Because he was confident that his own safety was guaranteed no matter what.
With that many guards around him, he certainly was safe.
The baby is probably better off with them.
He had no confidence in raising a baby himself anyway.
He had only gone for a brief walk and accidentally wandered into a hunting ground.
Only after an arrow struck his leg did he realize where he was.
That was how absent-minded he had been.
Pale golden hair.
Soft, fair cheeks.
Clear green eyes.
The baby abandoned in the snowy wilderness had stared directly at him with those large eyes.
Without the slightest fear.
Resting his chin on his hand, Renat fell into thought.
“If that baby grows up well…”
“Hm?”
“Do you think she’d show kindness to us too?”
Healing arts didn’t work on beastfolk.
Their natural healing abilities were already extraordinarily strong, so they rarely needed such powers anyway.
But they were extremely vulnerable to disease.
“What kindness are you expecting from a human?”
“True.”
Still, there had been something different about that baby.
When she looked at him—a wolf—she smiled as brightly as sunlight.
Eyes filled with nothing but goodwill.
And a scent that made one’s heart relax.
Do all babies smell like that?
Probably not.
“Maybe I should have brought her back with me after all.”
He remembered her scent.
Once she had grown a little older…
It might be nice to bring her home.
