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 41

It was late at night.

I was lying on my bed, reading through the notes on mental magic that Eris had given me.

There was no light on, but I had changed my body recently, and now I could see well in the dark. As long as the moon was out, I could read even without a lamp.

“…Mental magic is more useful than I thought.”

That was my honest feeling after reading the notes.

In this world, life-and-death fights are much more common than in my past life. Because of that, many people suffer from mental trauma, and that’s what you might call PTSD.

According to the notes, mental magic can force those people to calm down.

On the other hand, it can also disturb someone’s mind on purpose. That made me understand why this magic is forbidden.

For now, maybe I should try to learn a spell called Mind Up, which restores mental strength…

“Mm…”

“Hm?”

“…Toilet…”

Ridiel had been sleeping in the bed next to mine as she slowly got up and went to the bathroom.

The walls were thin, so I could hear the sound of water clearly. That was a bit awkward.

Also, the Empire’s toilets being flush were honestly impressive. The Kingdom still used pit toilets.

While I was thinking about that, Ridiel came back from the bathroom and climbed into my bed for some reason and started breathing softly in her sleep.

“Ridiel, you got the wrong bed―”

I was about to say that when she suddenly hugged me.

Her face was really close. I could feel her breath.

Soft♡ Tight♡ Pressed♡

More than her breath, something else was pressing against me. I won’t say what, but it was definitely there.

It was far bigger and softer than my sister’s.

…For now, I should try talking to her.

“Ridiel-san, Ridiel-san. You’re half asleep. Please go back to your own bed.”

“…I… will become… the strongest hero… ehehehe…”

“What do I do?”

Ridiel was treating me like a body pillow. She wrapped her legs around me and hugged me tightly with both arms.

She smelled faintly floral.

I’m a normal boy my age, so of course I had thoughts when a beautiful girl pressed this close to me.

But what if Ridiel woke up?

She might think I attacked her and hit me back for it.

I needed to fix this situation fast.

“Alright, here we go.”

I grabbed Ridiel’s arms, freed myself from her hold, and managed to escape.

…She really didn’t wake up at all.

If that’s the case, maybe I can quietly leave the room without anyone noticing.

Even though this is a border city, I came all the way to the Empire. It would be a waste not to look for injured or sick people and heal them.

Thinking that, I changed into my Faceless outfit and stepped out onto the balcony. That was when,

“Found King Asuku!!”

“Huh? Ruu?”

“I wanted to see you!!”

I heard a voice from above and looked up. Ruu was standing on the roof.

She jumped down with full force and clung to me from the front.

And again, something soft and big pressed against me… I’ve had a lot of chests pushed against me tonight. Also, her face was really close.

“Why are you here?”

“Goddess Franc told me to deliver a letter!! I followed your smell!!”

“A letter from my sister? …But it looks like you’re empty-handed.”

“Umm.”

Ruu shoved her hand into her pocket and searched around. Then she suddenly took off her clothes right there while looking for the letter.

“…It’s not there!!”

“It’s gone? You lost it?”

“Umm, ah!! It was cold last night, so when I made a fire, I burned it!!”

“I see… You burned it.”

“Yeah!! Ruu learned how to make fire from the boss!! Praise me!!”

“Good job, good job.”

When I gently patted her head, Ruu narrowed her eyes happily.

But now what should I do?

It was a letter my sister had gone out of her way to send. I was so curious about what it said that I wouldn’t be able to sleep until morning.

“…Well, I guess it’s fine. If my sister gets angry, it’ll be Ruu who gets scolded.”

“!? Ruu will get scolded by Goddess Franc!?”

Ruu froze as her eyes filled with tears and hugged me again.

“Uu… King Asuku, please say sorry to Goddess Franc together with me…”

“Hm, you can’t be helped.”

“King Asuku, thank you!! I like you!!”

Ruu showed a smile like a blooming flower and hugged me even tighter.

Whoa, it’s pressing again…

Ruu really is too open, or rather, she doesn’t think about boys and girls at all. That honestly makes me worry about her.

I can’t help wondering how Ruu lived before she lost her memories.

…Hmm.

“…Hey, Ruu. What would you do if your memories came back?”

Ruu’s memory loss might have been caused by the shock of almost being killed by a dragon.

If that’s the case, mental magic might be able to heal it.

Memory magic would surely fix it, but I don’t even have a clue where to find that yet.

“Will Ruu’s memories come back?”

“No, not right now. I was just wondering what you’d do if they did.”

“Hmm, nothing!! I’ll live with King Asuku and Goddess Franc!! Ruu is Goddess Franc’s maid!!”

“I see, I see. Ruu really is cute.”

“Mufu~!! Ruu is cute!! Pet me more!!”

When I lightly scratched under her chin, Ruu purred like a cat.

Since we’re here anyway, maybe tonight I’ll go street-healing in the border city together with Ruu.

◇　◆　◇

“Alright, Ruu. There’s something I remembered recently.”

“Something you remembered?”

“Yeah. I heard that if a street healer gets thanked, they lose.”

“Lose?”

The heroes I loved in my past life never asked for rewards. They never wanted praise. They hid their true identity, saved people in silence, and left quickly.

But lately, I realized something about myself. When people thanked me after I healed them, I felt good about it.

I’ll be honest.

In my past life, I was always the one being helped. So now, being able to help others and being recognized for it makes me happy.

The desire to be praised is truly a scary thing.

“Yeah. I should go back to my original mindset.”

“Original mindset?”

First, I should rethink the Faceless persona.

Faceless is a mysterious hero who heals the injured and the sick while commanding a strange healing monster.

But then I thought.

A plague mask and a jet-black coat don’t really look like a hero, do they?

I even have a monster under me, carry a huge scythe, and wrap shiny silver chains around my arms.

That’s totally the look of a villain.

“Hmm. Maybe I should go all in and become a dark healer who will do anything to heal patients… Huh? Isn’t that already what I’m doing? Then maybe I should still aim to be a proper, gentle hero?”

“King Asuku, what does proper mean?”

“It means the classic hero path.”

“Classic?”

…No, wait.

“It’s the opposite. Being the opposite of classic is what makes it cool?”

“The opposite of classic!!”

“That’s it!! A dark hero!! A dark hero who won’t choose the means if it’s for the goal!!”

Up until now, that’s just how things turned out. But from now on, I’ll aim to be a dark hero on purpose.

“If I keep calling myself Faceless, Victoria might figure out where I am. I need a different name.”

“A different name?”

“A name… a name… A name different from Faceless… Nameless… Nameless!! This is it!!”

“Nameless?”

Nameless. Not bad. Actually, it’s pretty good.

I’ll purposely make the ends of my coat tattered so it flaps in the wind…

The plague mask has become the symbol of Faceless, so maybe I’ll just switch to a different mask.

What kind should I choose?

A mask that would suit a giant scythe… maybe a skull mask.

It would make me look like a grim reaper and add to the dark hero vibe.

“Something wild and crazy, opposite of the polite Faceless… hmm, but then I’d look too much like the strange healing person.”

Hmm, ah, I know.

I’ll use the rival characters from the heroes I liked in my past life as a reference.

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “What do you think would happen if the character started intentionally doing things without caring about the means, just for the goal, instead of doing it unconsciously?”

Ru: “Ruu doesn’t understand hard things!!”

If you thought, “Ridiel, eh,” “Ruu’s too cute,” “Changing the character here is funny,” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.