Time Healer Ceres
Chapter 40
“Why?”
“…What do you mean, why?”
“Why were you looking for me?”
“Excuse me.”
Cheion ran a hand roughly through his disheveled hair and let out a long sigh.
Was she seriously asking that right now?
“You—I heard you went outside even though you knew this place was being affected by the Black Forest. Are you out of your mind?”
“Okay, and what does that have to do with you?”
“What does it have to do with me!? Obviously…!”
Obviously… obviously…?
“…….”
Cheion suddenly lost his words and clamped his mouth shut.
Being confronted with that question directly left him speechless.
“Now that you mention it, why?”
Why on earth had he been searching for her like a madman as if it had everything to do with him?
“Hey!”
But soon, feeling an inexplicable sense of injustice, Cheion’s eyes widened again.
Hadn’t they become quite close during this time? Just how many cups of tea had he been treated to here!?
Were they not even at a level where they could worry about each other? Was that it?
“Wow, that’s really too much!”
As his thoughts piled up, the sense of unfairness seemed to wash over him even more intensely, and Cheion’s lips pouted out as far as they could go.
‘Are you Yulia? Why are you pouting?’
Watching Cheion, Ceres lightly shook her head.
How annoying. Even at his age, he looks like a picture even when he’s sulking like a child.
“Sit down. I’ll give you a cup of tea.”
“…Tea?”
“Yeah.”
Well, to be honest, she was a little grateful.
Wasn’t the reason he had been looking for her obvious? She knew, but she had feigned ignorance because it felt awkward.
“…For free?”
“Suit yourself if you don’t want it.”
“No! I’ll drink it!”
As if he had never been sulking, Cheion immediately beamed with a bright smile.
The way he smiled, showing his teeth, was impossibly pretty.
“With lots of honey!”
“…….”
Strange, isn’t it? He has a talent for making people feel bothered, but strangely, it’s not hateful.
‘And….’
Looking at him kept reminding her of someone for no reason.
Was it because they were both Magic Tower Masters? Or were all Tower Masters originally this cheerful?
‘Our Alti’s smile was really pretty too.’
He knew full well that he was pretty, so he always went around smiling with his eyes like this guy. Kainel used to find that sight unbearable.
“Drink.”
“Okay!”
Ceres stared intently at Cheion for a moment as he squinted his eyes happily at the cup of tea filled with honey.
Feeling her gaze, Cheion tilted his head slightly.
“What?”
“What?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was wondering why you weren’t asking.”
“About what?”
“The Defense Stone.”
She thought he would ask about that the moment he arrived.
The Defense Stone he had received from Colin, the butler.
She had even thought of an excuse in her own way.
‘I’ll just say I picked it up on the street.’
Well, wouldn’t that be sufficient? What could he do if she said she found it on the street?
She had already said she lost a Magic Stone on the street; there was no law saying she couldn’t pick up a Defense Stone on the street too, right?
“If I ask, will you answer?”
“Yeah.”
“Without lies?”
“No.”
“…….”
In an instant, Cheion’s expression went blank.
How can she be so brazen!?
“Ha.”
That’s a talent too, a real talent.
Eventually bursting into a short laugh, he gently shook his head.
“That’s why I’m not going to ask.”
It would be ridiculous to pry when she wasn’t going to tell the truth anyway, wouldn’t it?
“But, can you answer just this one thing?”
“What?”
“By any chance, is there a magician among the people you’re close with?”
“You.”
“…….”
Cheion’s eyes went round at Ceres’s indifferent gesture pointing at him, and he stroked the corners of his mouth that kept trying to curl up.
“Besides me.”
“…There was. A very long time ago.”
“Who? Are they still affiliated with the Magic Tower?”
“They’re dead.”
“Huh?”
“I said they’re dead.”
“Ah….”
Cheion’s hand, which had been stroking his mouth, lowered respectfully.
‘The Blue Stone, and the Defense Stone too—did she get them from that person?’
Cheion had many things he wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut.
Ceres’s expression as she said they were dead looked more composed than ever, but that actually silenced him more.
That composure looked like a protective barrier warning him not to touch the wound.
He also had to pay the price for the Defense Stone he now possessed, but it seemed best not to say anything for now.
“Over there!”
“Hurry!”
“They say people from the Elercia family have come out!”
While he was sweating in the awkward silence, the area outside the shop became noisy.
Glancing outside, he saw numerous people hurrying toward somewhere. There were quite a few people who had sustained various injuries.
“I guess they’ve finally arrived.”
“…The Elercia family?”
“Yeah.”
Though it had been wrapped up quickly, because of the nature of the location, there were scores of people injured by the monster attack.
Currently, every healer in the Capital had come out to tend to the patients.
And it seemed people from Elercia County had finally shown up as well.
“They really are people with heavy backsides, aren’t they?”
Cheion clicked his tongue repeatedly, clearly displeased with Elercia County for dawdling alone while other healers were working hard, only to show up now.
His assessment of Elercia County was clearly not very favorable.
“Even though they pocket the most subsidies from the state.”
“Is that so? Don’t they get more money because their skills are good?”
“What’s the use of having good skills? They treat common people like dog shit.”
“…….”
“Anyway, those money-grubbing vermin-like….”
Thwack!
“Ow!”
Cheion, who had been venting his frustration, looked dazed as a hand struck his forehead.
“Why did I just get hit?”
“Ah, sorry. I did it without thinking.”
It was true.
Her hand had flown out instinctively at the words insulting Elercia County.
Sorry. This is just an instinct.
“Aw, man.”
“…Hey, I’m the one who got hit, so why are you the one swearing?”
“I don’t know. It’s annoying.”
Ceres frowned deeply as she looked at the hand that had just struck Cheion.
Whether Elercia County was insulted or not, what did it have to do with her?
‘This is a disease, a real disease.’
It’s annoying.
It grates on my nerves.
Those damn things! Why are they eating this kind of insults!?
Stand!
“Ceres? Where are you going?”
“…I’m going to go check just how much of a shitshow is in full bloom.”
“What?”
Right. Let’s go see for myself exactly how much of a mess it is, shall we?
“Next.”
“Ex-excuse me… Healer-nim, my mother still seems to have trouble breathing….”
“It’s because she’s old. The treatment is all finished. Can’t you see the people lined up behind you?”
“Even so….”
“Next!”
At the doctor’s irritated shout, the man supporting his elderly mother eventually left the spot quietly.
The elderly mother’s breathing was very labored, as if even taking a single step was an ordeal.
At the temporary clinic, so many people were standing in a line that seemed to have no end, waiting for their turn.
Due to those injured by the recent Black Forest incident, the front of the temporary clinic was teeming with people.
“Next.”
Among them, the place where the most people were gathered was the spot where the doctors from Elercia County were located.
If possible, everyone was willing to entrust their exhausted bodies to the long line even while in pain, just to receive treatment from someone from Elercia County—who were famous for their high ability and were usually hard to even see.
“Healer-nim, how is my child?”
“…….”
“He’s going to be okay, right? Please….”
Anxiety filled the man’s face as he looked at the child whose fingertips had turned pitch black.
A bit of Baqura’s acid had splashed on him, and he had ended up like that.
He won’t lose the use of his hand forever, will he?
“We’ll have to cut it up to the wrist.”
“…Pardon?”
“Necrosis has already progressed significantly.”
“Necrosis? D-do you have to cut it right now?”
“Yes.”
“Is—is there no other way?”
The man’s face turned deathly pale at the words that the hand had to be cut off.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in a short time.
The child was still so young; was he to live his whole life without a hand? He had to make the decision right now?
Furthermore, not just the black fingertips, but he had to cut up to the wrist!
“Healer-nim, is there really no other way….”
“Next.”
“…Pardon?”
“Next patient.”
“W-wait a moment. The treatment isn’t even finished yet.”
“If you don’t like my method of treatment, go somewhere else.”
“What do you mean by that…! I just needed a moment to think! So…!”
“Next!”
The man, who was kicked out without even receiving treatment due to a moment’s hesitation, looked at the child in his arms with a hollow expression.
He wanted to cling to them and beg for help somehow, but seeing the cold doctor who wouldn’t even give him a glance anymore, he couldn’t say anything further.
With reddened eyes, the man tightened his grip on the child in his arms.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
It was then.
A groan suddenly erupted from the mouth of the doctor who had been sitting there without even looking at the face of the departing patient.
