IFBTDC 11💸

Survival as an F-Rank Healer (11)

“……Alright, since you’re offering it to that extent, I’ll accept it. Thank you, Sompara. I’ll wear this until it’s in tatters.”

“No, there’s no need to go that far… You’re not a beggar.”

“I am a beggar though…….”

I really am. Because I have no other clothes to wear.

“Ahem, fear not. If I can taste that heavenly apple pie once more, I shall do my utmost to make clothes for you, Lady Joe.”

“It was that good? Haha, I’ll make it for you again. Then this is a kind of trade. Barter. Okay? You can’t just go handing things out for free to other people, got it? It’ll spoil them.”

“Understood, I shall remember that. Lady Joe!”

It was a cool transaction, initiated by complimenting manners. I clasped the tendril Sompara offered for a handshake.

[<System> Congratulations! You have tamed a ‘Great Magical Beast’.]

• Tamed beasts are automatically registered in the player’s Bestiary.

• Title ‘Beast Tamer’ has leveled up from 1 -> 3.

……Wait, did I just tame a Great Magical Beast with one apple pie?

Letting out a hollow laugh at the system message, I prepared to go home.

“Lady Joe, are you really sure you’ll be okay alone? I can carry you all the way home, really…….”
“Oh, you know it, right? I’m strong.”
I steadfastly refused the golem’s kindness and hefted the massively increased load of my belongings.
“Alrighty. Mr. Golem, Sompara. I’ll bake lots of pies and come visit again.”
“Of course. On my honor as a Sompara, I shall make clothes you will like, so you must visit!”
“Lady Joe. Be careful on your way! Always be careful of water, fire, and magical beasts!”
With Mr. Golem’s nagging and Andre Sompara enthusiastic send-off, I trudged off towards home.
“Goodness, Ruby. That sleepy?”
“Kyuuung……”
Whether it was post-meal drowsiness or not, Ruby, her belly swollen full, was dozing off, nodding in her basket, unable to stay conscious. My chubby puppy…… It’s okay, Ruby, you’re cute even if you gain weight.

But, I…….

I quietly lowered my head. Then, in my lowered field of vision, I saw my own plump, chubby cheeks.
I definitely seemed to have gained a little weight lately, probably from eating well.
……That’s good. At first, I was skin and bones and unattractive, but now I have better color.
Besides, you need good stamina for digging, right? So, please let it all turn into muscle.

While lost in such useless thoughts, my home sweet home came into view.

But…….

“Huh……? What’s that?”
Somewhat away from the house, a dark object seemed to be faintly visible.
I squinted to see it clearly, but the sun had set and it was too dark to make it out properly.
“……What? Could it be a magical beast?”
At that moment, Mr. Golem’s warning flashed through my mind: ‘Lady Joe, there are quite dangerous magical beasts deep in the forest. Of course, I will always be on guard, but your house is close to the demon forest, so you must always be careful.’

But I absolutely won’t chicken out. A woman needs guts.

Comforting myself like that, I decided to try calling out.
“……He, hey there! Ahem, you there. Who are you?”
My voice, brave enough to even crack a little, was met with no reply, much to my dismay.
“H-hello?”

Soon, the object came close enough to be visible to the naked eye. To confirm its identity, I gripped the basket tightly and blinked my wavering eyes open and shut.
“……It’s, it’s a person?”
What revealed itself was a collapsed person. A young man at that, with a boyish face similar in age to my current self. I hurriedly dumped my belongings on the ground and ran over to the fallen man.
“Hello, are you okay? Hey, come to your senses!”
His appearance, seen up close, was quite shabby. His clothes were tattered beyond recognition, and thin groans and ragged breaths intermittently continued, so precarious it seemed he might breathe his last at any moment.

‘Oh my god, why is he in such a state? Could he have been attacked by magical beasts?’

Grasping the urgency of the situation, I swiftly scooped the man up in a princess carry and dashed into the house.

‘Could this person be a game player like me? Or a character in the game?’
The game Animal Park I transmigrated into was a farming/healing RPG, but like any RPG, it had basic NPCs who gave quests. Like the kind-hearted farmer uncle next door who ran a chicken coop, or the merchant who bought and sold crops… you know, those typical NPCs.
……Anyway, whatever his identity. He was the first person I’d met in this world other than magical beasts.
Even if he wasn’t a regular like me, this could be my only chance to ask about this place.

But, but!

“H-hey, come to your senses!”
The body of the man I was carrying slumped down limply.
Is, is he dead?
Meeting and parting immediately? This is like confessing on day 0, first date on day 1.
And there’s not even a funeral home here, so I’d have to bury him myself……

“Come to your senses… Ugh! He’s hot!”
After hurriedly laying him down on the bed and touching his forehead, his body was burning up like a furnace.
This was a dire situation, one slip away from having to dig in the backyard.

“Don’t you dare die on me, for real……”

Hoping such a mishap wouldn’t occur, I first wiped the man’s damp face and body with a cloth.
Then, his face, hidden by disheveled bangs, was revealed.
“……Not the thing to say in this situation, but.”
I muttered, staring intently at the man’s clearly visible features.
“Wow, he’s really handsome.”
For someone on the brink of life and death, this man was truly a looker.
Hair like ebony, long, neat eyelashes, a tear mole under his eye, and a sharp nose bridge.
Even his closed, reddish and full lips……

“Wow……. It’s like, a description of a romance novel male lead’s face?”
If my friend Ye-eun, a romance novel enthusiast, saw this face.
She’d definitely spout all sorts of nonsense like, ‘He looks cold and experienced in love on the outside, but unexpectedly clueless and easily shy, probably a well-built Northern Duke who’s only tender to his woman.’

Hmm, well, I’m someone who staked my life on obsessing over animals, not novel characters……
But with a face like this, it might be fun to obsess over.

To put it in my own terms, it’s like the face of the handsome leopard ‘Pyodoli’, renowned in Eco Land?
I paused my work, imagining what color this man’s eyes might be.
As Ye-eun said, perhaps the Northern Duke’s winning combination: black hair and crimson eyes?
Or maybe he breaks the cliche with clear, jade-blue eyes.
……Well, there’s one thing! That’s for sure.
This man’s identity is definitely not the friendly next-door farmer uncle. Absolutely not.

“Ugh……”
Just then, the man’s perilous groan snapped me out of my temporary reverie.
“……This isn’t the time for this. What am I doing in front of a dying Northern Duke—no, a dying person.”
Coming to my senses, I hastily opened my item window.
“Nothing beats this, right?”
Taking out the Handkerchief of Healing, I wiped the garish wounds covering the man’s body, and they vanished cleanly.
But the Handkerchief of Healing only cures visible wounds, so it wasn’t time to relax yet.

Hmm, then… I’ll win with quantity.
Intending to see if I had any helpful items, I practically turned the house upside down.
“The stamina recovery potions I got from the draw… Ah, I had this too too.”
After gathering a houseful of supplies and rushing back to the man’s side, I carefully shook him awake.
Force-feeding an unconscious person could lead to choking and instantly make me a criminal……

“……Hey, please come to your senses! Or at least open your mouth, come on!”
“Ugh……”
At my persistent urging, the man slightly parted his lips, and I carefully trickled a stamina recovery potion through the gap. Not satisfied, I also fed him a pill I’d made by grinding up the modified Belgamot Recovery Herb that Mr. Golem had given me as a gift before.
“Good……. Well done.”
I wiped the corners of his mouth with a cloth as if tending to a child.
With that, all the first aid I could possibly do was complete.
Honestly, with his physical state like this, taking him to a hospital for treatment would be the right thing to do……
But forget a hospital, the surroundings are nothing but wasteland, teeming with magical beasts……

Faced with this hopeless situation, I decided to watch over him until he regained consciousness.
“……This bedding has a stamina recovery effect. You’ll feel better soon.”
I whispered, covering the still-moaning man with a blanket.