I Secretly Healed the Illness of the Twin Princesses While Wearing a Mask, and Now the Entire Kingdom Is in an Uproar ~Please Stop Trying to Expose the Street Healer~ - Chapter 21

Night.

I ran full speed down the road leading to the Medix Viscount’s territory.

Thanks to my body enhancements, my breathing didn’t get out of control, even at this speed.

Dodododo, the heavy thudding of my footsteps, sometimes scared travelers I passed by, but I didn’t mind.

Anyway, I reached the Medix Viscount’s territory in less than an hour.

As soon as I entered the small forest where the members of the “Nightingale: Healers With No Restraint” lived.

“Who are you?!”

“Huh?”

A girl I didn’t know suddenly stood in front of me.

She had bright red hair and crimson eyes like a lizard’s, not like a human’s. And she had horns growing from her head.

Not just that, she had a tail covered in scales coming out from around her waist.

Was she some kind of beast person? I’d never seen a species like her.

“This area is off-limits!!”

“…You are?”

“I’m Ruu!”

“Alright. But why is this area off-limits?”

“This is the Whistle Village!!”

Whistle, what?

Maybe she meant the “Nightingale: Healers With No Restraint.”

“I’m part of this group.”

“…Really?”

“Really, really.”

“Proof!!”

“Here, proof. This is a ring from the ‘Nightingale: Healers With No Restraint.’”

“…”

When I showed her the ring that proves I’m a member, Ruu stared at it for a moment and nodded.

“…It’s real?”

“It’s real.”

“Then, you’re a friend?”

“Friend.”

“Friend!!”

The next moment, Ruu jumped onto me.

She climbed onto my back and got on my shoulders like a piggyback for some reason.

Something big and soft, even bigger than my sister’s, landed on top of my head.

“Friend!! Friend!! Friend, friend!!”

I didn’t know why she was so happy, but seeing someone so excited made me happy too.

I kept walking through the forest with Ruu on my shoulders.

Soon, I could see a few houses and recognized a young man.

He was the one I had bought from a slave trader before, upgraded, and so I had him take charge of the village and hadn’t gone wild on anyone.

His name… hmm, I forgot. Well, it doesn’t really matter.

“Ah, boss!! Friend!! A new friend is here!!”

“Ruu? What about the guard? And I’ve told you many times, I’m not the boss, I’m just Faceless-sama’s agent ―Wait, Faceless-sama!?”

“Hey, long time no see. I just dropped by.”

The young man’s expression changed from shock to joy.

He shouted so loud that the whole village could hear.

“L-Long time no see, Faceless-sama!! Hey!! Faceless-sama is back!!”

Hearing that, about a dozen familiar faces appeared.

They were all people I had bought from the slave traders.

The moment they saw me, their eyes lit up like fans seeing their favorite idol, and they rushed over.

“Hmm? Boss, what’s with this person?”

“Ah, hey, Ruu!! Get down!! This person is very important!!”

“Important? More than boss?”

“Yeah!! So get down quickly!!”

“Hmm.”

Ruu leaned over my face and started humming thoughtfully.

“Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what to call the person above the boss… I decided!!”

“Decided what?”

“You. You’re above boss, so I’ll call you King!!”

“Above boss means King? I don’t mind being called Asuku.”

“Then I’ll call you King Asuku!!”

King Asuku is kind of hard to say.

Anyway, I explained the situation to the young man.

“Apparently, some students from the Hero Academy will be studying abroad at the Magic Academy soon. I checked, and it looks like they’ll pass through Medix Viscount’s territory. I figured I’d come see the village while I’m at it.”

“I understand!! Please take your time and enjoy!!”

“I will.”

Then I walked around the village with Ruu still on my shoulders.

“The village has gotten so nice since I last saw it.”

“Do you think so?”

The village was surrounded by log walls, with fields spreading out around it.

It looked like they had cleared part of the forest to make the farmland.

Baristas were set up along the walls, probably to hunt beasts that came from the forest. The village seemed well defended.

“Hm? What’s that building? Smoke is pouring out of the chimney.”

“That’s the hardware store. We had someone with blacksmith skills, so we set it up.”

“Hmm. Also, it feels like the population increased while I was away.”

“Ahahaha, Faceless-san, you joke well. Everyone living in this village was saved by you.”

“Huh?”

…Oh, that’s right. I had rescued a girl who was caught in the basement of a healing clinic in the capital and sent her to Medix Viscount’s territory.

Now that I think about it, I kind of recognize all the villagers’ faces.

Huh? Wait…

“Ruu, this is your first time meeting them?”

“…Yes. Ruu has a bit of a story.”

The young man looked a little awkward as he began explaining Ruu’s past.

“Ruu was attacked by a dragon and barely escaped to this village. We managed to defeat the dragon and save her but…”

“And then?”

“She had lost all her limbs. She crawled on the ground with her jaw, and her injuries were so severe that she could have died at any moment. And even with our healing magic, we couldn’t regenerate the missing parts of her body.”

The young man sounded a bit regretful.

Well, besides me, the only one who could heal missing limbs would be my sister. No one in the “Nightingale: Healers With No Restraint” is skilled enough yet.

Even with enhanced magic circuits and knowledge of healing magic, mastering top-tier healing takes time.

So how did they save Ruu?

“We used the bones and flesh of the dragon we killed to replace her missing hands and feet.”

“I see. That’s a clever solution.”

Could it be done? It could.

For example, if a super-skilled swordsman cut off my arm, there are two ways to fix it.

One way is to regrow it. That takes healing magic at my or my sister’s level.

The other way is to take the severed arm and attach it back using healing magic.

That’s exactly what they did for Ruu. They replaced her lost limbs with dragon bones and attached them.

“However, maybe because of our inexperience, Ruu lost her memory. We couldn’t just leave her, so we took her in and welcomed her to the village.”

“…I see. Hey, Ruu.”

“Hm? What is it, King Asuku?”

When I called out, Ruu tilted her head.

“Do you enjoy living here? Does it bother you that you’ve lost your memories?”

“No!! This village is fun!! Everyone is kind, and the food is delicious!!”

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

Memory loss?

I wonder if I could use memory magic; would I be able to recover lost memories?

…No, thinking about magic I can’t use won’t help.

“Oh, by the way. Do you have any leftover monster materials? I want to use them to fix my plague mask and coat.”

When I said that, the young man’s eyes lit up.

He gave instructions to the other villagers, and they brought something over.

It was a plague mask and a jet-black coat, almost identical to the ones I usually use.

Actually, the villagers’ version might even be cooler, with more detailed designs.

“Please accept these!!”

“This is?”

“These are a plague mask and coat made for Faceless-sama!! They’re tough because we used monster materials, and even if they get damaged, you can restore them with magic!!”

“That’s amazing.”

It made all the small repairs I’d been doing feel pointless; they were so convenient.

“How did you make them?”

“There’s someone in the village skilled in enchantment magic, so they made these!!”

Seriously?

Well, if I’m going to meet the students from Hero Academy, it might be better to show up with a brand-new Faceless outfit.

I can’t wait to show it off.

So, while I was excitedly waiting to ambush the students from Hero Academy, a dragon appeared and attacked their carriage and guards. I took it down quickly.

And that’s how Veltica ended up mixed in with the Hero Academy students.

Well, I just wanted to see her face and didn’t have any real business there, so I cast healing magic on everyone and went back home right away.

“Do you know why you’re kneeling?”

“I have no idea.”

When I returned to the Magic Academy, my sister caught me and made me kneel on the floor.

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “If I tried to censor the name Whistle Village, it would just make it worse. So I didn’t censor it. Anyone who sees this and gets a naughty idea… the teacher won’t get mad, but go cleanse your mind first.”

A: “Eh…”

If you thought, “Whistle Village is totally out there,” “The person above the boss is a god,” “I should go cleanse my mind,” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.