🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 25~
“…Captain.”
I called Yushen quietly in front of the tent where he was staying. But there was no answer. I only sensed someone moving busily inside.
‘If I can feel someone’s presence, he’s probably not asleep yet.’
I checked to make sure nobody was around, then lifted the curtain.
Right then, I made eye contact with Yushen, who was dressed casually.
“…Haha.”
I wasn’t here to steal anything, but I laughed awkwardly like a thief who just got caught.
And then I realized laughing like that made things even weirder.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Ah, well…”
I dragged out my words, sneaking inside.
Yushen’s eyebrows twitched, but since he didn’t actually stop me, I boldly sat down on the cot, keeping some distance from him.
‘Well, he did the same thing to me yesterday, so he can’t really complain.’
Luckily, Yushen just stared at me as I sat, without saying anything.
I met his gaze and looked over his appearance, wondering if he was hurt anywhere besides his back.
Thankfully, it seemed there were no other injuries.
‘Well, it doesn’t make sense for the captain to get hurt by a mid-level monster anyway.’
Even though his wound got reopened in the sudden mess during the fight, only Yushen could have handled it that well.
But for someone I worried about, he didn’t look that uncomfortable. Even if the wound on his back opened again, it should hurt a lot.
Did he get treated separately after everything settled down?
I looked around, searching for evidence, and spotted a pile of clothes in the corner behind Yushen.
Anyone could see those clothes were thrown there in a hurry to hide something.
“Captain.”
He flinched at my soft call.
‘He’s guilty. He knows what I just saw.’
Now I understood why he didn’t answer me earlier—he was busy hiding the evidence because I came without warning.
‘I knew I didn’t see it wrong.’
I could already guess what he was hiding under those clothes.
“You hurt your back again, didn’t you? The same place you were injured before?”
“…”
“You did, didn’t you?”
“…No, I didn’t—w-wait, what are you—!”
Of course, I expected him to deny it.
So I reached out to check with my own eyes, but Yushen freaked out and started waving his hands frantically.
I snorted at his silly gestures and reached out again.
“Why, why are you doing this?” he stammered.
“Are you really asking me that?”
“How am I supposed to know if you won’t explain?”
In the end, Yushen, sounding unlike himself, raised his voice and easily caught my hands in his big ones.
I tried to pull free, but he wouldn’t let go—he seemed determined to stop me.
“You lied about not being hurt, so I just want to check for myself.”
“…”
“I told you to get healed with holy power last time, but you didn’t, did you?”
“…I was busy.”
“Don’t give me that excuse.”
Maybe he really didn’t have time—he’s way busier than I am.
But if someone’s injured, shouldn’t they at least get time to be treated?
I knew I was meddling, but what could I do? He reopened a wound because of me—I couldn’t sleep, worrying about it.
“…It’s not a serious injury,” he said quietly.
“I’ll be the judge of that. Bring it here.”
“…Bring what?”
“The first aid kit you hid over there.”
I nodded toward the pile of clothes in the corner.
Yushen sighed and let go of my hands. He moved to the corner, cleared away the clothes, and brought out the hidden first aid kit.
It looked like he tried to treat his back by himself—there was a blood-soaked bandage with pus on it.
‘I knew it.’
I took the kit from him. Thankfully, it had clean bandages and medicine inside.
Since I’d done this once before, it didn’t feel too unfamiliar.
But…
“Are you just going to stand there?” I said.
“I’m really fine…”
I let out a deep sigh, trying not to let my irritation show.
I knew why Yushen kept insisting he was okay.
He hated bothering others. He said he was fine out of habit.
‘But can’t you just rely on someone at times like this?’
I know he thinks I’m a witch, so it’s not easy, but even if I was a real witch, would I attack him when I’m surrounded by Luche knights?
‘Well, maybe it’s a god thing, but still…’
Why refuse treatment when you can’t even reach your own back?
If you don’t disinfect and put on medicine properly, wounds can get infected—you could even die from it!
Even I know how risky that is, and I’ve only seen it in survival programs.
Why is someone as experienced as him acting so carelessly?
“Hurry up.”
I snapped at him, annoyed.
He bit his lip, hesitated, then finally sat down in front of me.
But… why is he facing me?
“Turn around,” I ordered.
Giving up on resisting, Yushen obediently turned his back to me.
I lifted his loose white shirt.
He immediately tensed up, and reflexively reached behind, so I slapped his hand away.
The moment I saw his wound, I bit my lip.
“How can you say you’re fine when your back looks like this?”
He couldn’t see it himself, but the yellowish pus mixed with blood looked awful.
I frowned.
‘This is way past just putting on medicine…’
Should I go get Tayla? Maybe she could heal him.
“Can I call someone else?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You need holy power to heal this.”
“I’d rather nobody knows about my condition…”
Maybe he remembered how he kicked me out before I could learn how to heal with holy power.
Hmm… Should I just try it now and see if I can use holy power?
It’d be useful to know if I could. If my duties change later, at least I’d be prepared.
At least I’d learned the basics of holy power this past week.
“Don’t move. Just sit still.”
Yushen nodded. I closed my eyes and placed my palm over his wound.
I focused all my senses, imagining drawing energy from my heart to my hand.
I felt something wriggling inside me.
But nothing else seemed special.
‘I thought I’d at least have some holy power as a possessor.’
I shook my head and opened my eyes.
But as soon as I did, I was shocked.
“What… is this?”
A white light was shining from my palm, healing Yushen’s wound.
Even though the light covered the wound, I could feel the skin knitting together under my hand.
‘I… I can use holy power?’
It was shocking—but amazing.
Whether I got this power from possessing this body, or I always had it, it didn’t matter.
Now I wasn’t just a powerless, useless character!
And I didn’t have to worry about being kicked out of Luche anymore.
If I had holy power, I could join any temple!
Of course, staying in Luche was the best.
Soon, the wound was completely healed, without even a scar. The light faded, leaving only my and Yushen’s confused eyes.
“…Can you heal people now?” Yushen asked, turning halfway around.
His question snapped me out of my thoughts.
I quickly controlled my expression. I couldn’t let him know I hadn’t known I could do this.
“Of course! Do you think I worked all week and didn’t learn anything?”
He didn’t seem to doubt me.
Relieved, I suddenly felt a little excited.
I wanted to test how strong my holy power really was.
And just then, I found the perfect test subject in front of me.
“Do you have any other injuries?”
“Huh?”
“Anywhere else you’re hurt?”
Yushen, looking a little scared, shook his head.
I snorted.
“I knew it. Even if you’re hurt, you’d just say you’re fine. I’ll check for myself.”
“N-no, really, I’m okay…”
I stood him up, then grabbed his wrist and spun him around in place.
I quickly scanned his body for any injuries.
‘I’m not doing this because I’m worried about Yushen. I’m just checking so he won’t be unable to fight if we meet another Cerberus or something on the way back to the temple.’
But Yushen didn’t cooperate. He barely made half a turn before turning back to face me.
“I told you, I’m not hurt!”
“I just want to check if you’re lying!”
Frustrated, I stood up and stepped closer. Yushen backed away three steps.
‘Is he trying to play tag with me?’
I laughed and chased after him.
If it were my tent, I could’ve caught him fast, but the captain’s tent was huge—it wasn’t easy.
‘Then…!’
I gathered energy in my palm and aimed at his ankle, just like before.
He tripped and fell forward as if he’d stumbled on a rock. I couldn’t help but feel a bit satisfied.
‘No rule says holy power is only for healing, right?’
At that moment, I felt a hand grab my ankle.
“Ah!”
Yushen, refusing to lose alone, pulled me down with him.
‘Wait… was the ground always this hard…?’
