Chapter 25
25
Medical Chart 2. Suspicious People Around the Young Lady (1)
"Renat, what about the puppy?"
The face of the one asking was dark. Renat answered nonchalantly.
"It died."
"...I knew it."
It was an injury that couldn't possibly have been survived. Renat, seeing the man's face as if he was about to burst into tears, continued.
"Just kidding. It said it had to repay its debt, so it's staying."
"If it hadn't done something foolish, I could have at least held a funeral. But there's no body..."
"It's alive."
"Huh?"
"It's alive. Alive and well, lying on its back with its belly exposed, sleeping soundly."
"Alive...?"
The man, his eyes wide and stuttering, looked at the nonchalant Renat and shouted in frustration.
"Are you making fun of me? Is this a time for jokes?"
"I'm not joking."
"Its internal organs were almost ruptured. The bones in its arms and legs were all fractured, and it was bleeding profusely. You said you had a way to save it and took it away, but be honest. You secretly buried it because you thought I'd be depressed, didn't you?"
"Why would I care if you're depressed or not?"
"You say that, but I know you actually care about me..."
"Your delusions are beyond help."
Renat muttered cynically.
'That's my Alpha.'
Wolves were pack animals. Renat also belonged to a pack, and the man before him was the leader of that pack, the Alpha.
Shifters possessed traits similar to their base animal, and the stronger and rarer the species, the stronger those traits were.
Among Shifters, small and weak individuals were ignored, while large and strong individuals were revered.
Even Shifters born strong had a low chance of survival. If they grew up safely, they became stronger than humans, but they were more likely to die along the way. Many were captured as slaves.
Weak species were not even worth mentioning, and many sought to capture strong and rare species from a young age and raise them to their liking. Shifters with high Magic resistance and bodies stronger than humans could be collared and trained from childhood to be used as bodyguards stronger than anyone else.
Renat also had the experience of being captured by slave hunters as a child and sold to a noble, only to barely escape.
The one who saved Renat then was the man before him.
Ron, the Alpha of the gray wolves.
Ron's pack included not only gray wolves but also Shifters from around the capital of the Bayard Empire. This was because he regularly raided slave markets to rescue Shifters or picked up Shifters abandoned by humans and raised them.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary orphanage, but it was not an officially recognized facility by the Empire, so the costs of running the orphanage were covered by money earned by adults like Renat through mercenary work, some thievery, and income from Ron's tavern.
"Is it really alive? What's the proof?"
"Don't believe me if you don't want to."
Renat scoffed and turned away. Ron clung pathetically to his leg.
"I believe you! I believe you! So don't go!"
"...Annoying..."
"If you leave, I'll have to work alone!"
"Then don't start things you can't handle!"
"But I can't help feeling sorry for them..."
"......"
Renat owed his life to that compassion, so he couldn't criticize Ron any further.
"Evelyn is doing well somewhere, right?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Trying to repay the favor to some miraculous person who can heal Shifters."
"Yeah."
"Who the hell is that? If that's true, it's amazing. There hasn't been a Magician or priest in history who could heal Shifters! If even wounds that would have been fatal can be healed, maybe diseases can be cured too. We could save our fellow Shifters who have had to die from epidemics all this time!"
"...That's a normal reaction."
"......?"
"When I asked if she knew how amazing she was, she just said, 'It just worked.'"
"......"
"Well, what would a three-year-old know..."
"What?"
"Shut up. Get lost, Ron."
Ron followed Renat, pestering him about the identity of the 'mysterious Healer'. Where does she live? Who is she? What's her name? How long did the treatment take? What does she think about Shifters? How can she heal Shifters? Is she a Magician? A priest? And so on.
Renat ignored all the questions and simply closed his eyes.
Shana didn't seem to know how amazing she was at all. Her parents weren't ordinary either, so maybe her sense of normalcy was paralyzed.
'She's grown up well.'
The bright green eyes that looked up at him came to mind. Her plump white cheeks and the adorable lips that muttered something, her long and abundant golden hair like an angel, resembled what humans often called an angel. Even he, who didn't particularly like children, had to admit she was undeniably cute.
It was purely coincidental that the baby from two years ago came to mind when he found the dying Evelyn.
He wanted to save the puppy he saw for the first time, but he was also curious about how that baby was doing.
Fortunately, Shana was growing up healthy. The eyes that smiled at him hadn't changed either.
But that power, it was a suspicious power of unknown origin.
She could heal not only humans but even Shifters, and even after doing such a great thing, it didn't seem to burden her at all.
It was a power that could only be described as a miracle.
An unclear identity, and being the only one in the world with that power, meant she was an easy target.
Ron seemed to want to know the identity of the 'Healer who can heal Shifters'. But Renat had no intention of exposing Shana.
Shana was amazing but still young, and if she was exposed to the world rashly, there would be those who would target her. No matter how great her parents were, it would be impossible to completely protect the child from those blinded by greed.
'I should go see her again soon.'
He had managed to get permission from her parents, after all.
Ron stared at Renat, who was smiling to himself, with an unreadable expression for a moment.
***
Raven stared intently at his palm.
'Trust only me!'
Trust, in what?
His hand was small, but Shana's hand was even smaller.
The little child, who hadn't been able to walk for very long, toddled up to his side and took his hand without hesitation. Raven could have easily shaken off that hand, and he wasn't weak enough to need someone to hold his hand, but he couldn't move.
Raven finding Shana was purely coincidental.
A white wolf that had been grazed by an arrow.
Raven, finding the white wolf in the snowfield, intended to use it as his guard. Because of the persistent assassinations and kidnappings since childhood, he wanted to have a guard that was even a little stronger.
The current Empress was the Emperor's second wife. The previous Empress died after giving birth to Raven's brother, and the Emperor married the current Empress the following year.
The son of the first Empress was weak and timid. His relationship with Raven wasn't bad, and he said he had no intention of inheriting the throne, but not everyone around him felt the same way.
Raven had been constantly subjected to assassination attempts since birth. The more the Emperor favored Raven, the more dangerous he became.
Some criticized Raven for being too intelligent and mature, disgusting, but he was in an environment where he had no choice but to be that way or die.
I'd rather kill than be killed. And I have to become strong so that no one can look down on me. If I can't become strong right away, I have to make strong allies.
That was the reason he chased after the wolf Shifter. Since he had guards following him anyway, he didn't have to worry about it attacking him. The guards his mother had pathologically gathered for him were strong enough to easily kill a wolf.
And then he picked up the baby.
Raven naturally thought that the baby was his. Because he had picked it up. It was a situation where a child couldn't help but think that way.
He even felt a slight sense of loss when he returned it to the Wentworth couple. If the Wentworth couple hadn't been high-ranking nobles but commoners, he might not have returned the baby.
He knew the moment their eyes met.
'This one' understands everything I say. It's one of my kind.
'Not like a child.'
'Disgusting.'
'It's good that you're intelligent... but sometimes you go too far.'
'Scary.'
While praising him as a genius, people sometimes looked at him as if they were looking at an incomprehensible monster.
Shana was definitely one of his kind in that respect. Thanks to the Wentworth couple, who were overprotective of their child who had been kidnapped once, he was only able to meet her again after two years, but Shana had grown up to meet his expectations.
The same as him, but different.
Raven considered Shana to be one of his kind. She also had a special talent, so he was very interested in how she would grow up.
But the moment Shana came and took his hand, the feeling that had been only interest changed a little.
Wouldn't I be fulfilled if I had 'this'?
'How can I completely possess a person?'
There must be a way. Fortunately, Shana is kind and affectionate.
Then what are the obstacles?
Raven was deep in thought.
***
"You said it was a curse that would definitely kill! But why is the Empress still alive and well?"
"T, that can't be. There's definitely no one who can break that curse!"
"But the Empress survived."
"This, this can't be happening..."
"What are we going to do about this? At this rate, Raven will become the Crown Prince. We've missed our last chance."
The client kicked the desk in a fit of temper. The man wearing the robe cowered, and the client glared at him as if looking at something unsightly.
"I can't give you a single penny. You're supposed to be the best Curse mage in the Empire, but it was all just rumors."
Then he turned and walked away with heavy steps.
The man in the robe straightened his shoulders only after the sound of footsteps disappeared.
"What a temper... But what on earth happened?"
"Has your skill dulled?"
"That can't be. The curse was cast properly."
But the fact that she was still alive and well meant that there was a Magician with power greater than theirs.
"That's strange."
The man tilted his head.
"There's no way a human could break a curse cast by a Demon."
