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 48

“Fire! Fire! Fire!! Kill them before the monsters get any closer!!”

“Hey, you idiot!! Wait until they come closer before using the varistor!! We don’t have endless ammo!!”

“Who are you calling an idiot?! If you’ve got time to talk, throw some rocks, moron!!”

Shouts and curses flew across the battlefield.

After Ridiel rained down a storm of shining arrows, a huge number of monsters poured out of Kaime Fortress.

The advance troops rushed to meet them.

Varistor bolts, stones thrown by slings, and boulders launched from catapults rained down on the approaching monsters.

Weak monsters like goblins and kobolds were killed in a single hit but…

“G-Giant Horn!!”

Someone shouted.

What came out of the fortress was a four-legged monster with massive horns.

At first glance, it looked like a rhino, but its whole body was pitch black. Red veins stood out all over it, pulsing visibly. Honestly, it was pretty creepy.

A boulder was fired at it from a catapult, but the monster smashed it head-on with its horn.

“D-damn it!! We can’t stop the Giant Horn!!”

“I’ll take it down!! Everyone else, focus on the other monsters!!”

Ridiel raised her crossbow and fired.

The bolt flew straight and pierced the monster’s head. The beast collapsed and died on the spot.

Wow. She killed it in one shot. Amazing.

“Still…”

The monsters screamed as they died.

Seeing living creatures die right in front of me doesn’t feel good. It honestly makes me uncomfortable.

But it can’t be helped.

If they were demon folk with human-level intelligence, it might be different. But these monsters think only about eating people. They’re nothing but dangerous beasts.

There’s no reason to spare them.

If we lose, we’ll be the ones killed. That means we have to kill them first.

“Gah?! That monster just used magic!!”

“Goblin Mage!!”

“Target monsters that can use magic first!!”

Some of the monsters fought back with magic, and dozens of soldiers were wounded.

Looks like it’s my turn.

“Hyahahaha!! Extra Heal and Mind Up!!”

I rushed to the wounded soldiers and cast healing magic and spirit magic on them.

The result was―

“W-wooooah!? W-what is this?!”

“Power is coming up from deep inside my body?!”

“I don’t get it, but I feel stronger somehow!!”

The wounded soldiers returned to the front right away.

And for some reason, about one out of every few of them suddenly became super muscular.

It seems that when Extra Heal and Mind Up are used together, some people end up getting buffed like this.

Mind Up is only supposed to raise morale, though…

Maybe people who believe in it strongly enough actually change their bodies.

I’ll need to study this more.

“W-wait!? The people in my unit suddenly got super buff!!”

“It is fine!! Probably!!”

“!?”

I’ve tested this many times, and it always goes back to normal after a few hours.

There don’t seem to be any health problems either. If I had to explain it, it’s like they got a temporary boost in a game. I think. Probably.

“W-we’re out of varistor bolts!!”

“We’ve used up all the rocks for the catapults!!”

“Varistor team and catapult team, join the stone throwers!! Don’t let the monsters get close!!”

The battle was going well.

At least, it stayed balanced until the varistor bolts and catapult rocks ran out…

“Grooooooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!”

“Eek?!”

“W-what is that monster?!”

“I’ve never seen it before!!”

From beyond the walls of Kaime Fortress, a huge monster appeared as it was flapping its massive wings.

It had the head of a lion, the head of a goat, and a snake for a tail.

A truly creepy creature.

What… what is that thing…

“That thing… is that a Chimera?! This is bad!! All units, fall back right now!!”

“…Ridiel-sama, what is a Chimera?”

“It’s a monster that copies the traits of the creatures it eats!! This area shouldn’t even be its habitat!!”

Copies what it eats?

“What happens if a Chimera eats a human?”

“Huh? Um… I’ve heard that when it copies a creature with high intelligence, its own mind gets taken over. So it rarely copies humans…”

Wow. That’s a pretty creepy way to live.

But if it doesn’t copy a human head, then we can deal with it.

I stepped out in front of the advance troops.

“H-hey, you!! It’s dangerous!!”

Ridiel shouted at me to come back and was clearly worried. But it was fine.

I threw my silver chain.

“Groooooo?!”

“You can’t break an artifact chain? Now!! Ridiel-sama, finish off that creepy chimera while you can!!”

“Eh?! Ah, y-yeah!! Got it!!”

The silver chain wrapped tightly around the chimera’s body, and it locked it in place.

Ridiel took aim and struck.

“…That was easy to kill.”

“Indeed.”

“W-well then, there doesn’t seem to be any more monsters coming out of Kaime Fortress. Let’s move in and take it!!”

“““Yes!!”””

The advance troops rushed into Kaime Fortress.

The few monsters left inside were quickly wiped out.

Just like that, Kaime Fortress was taken back.

With only one thousand soldiers, Ridiel achieved victory without losing a single life.

“We won!!”

“““W-wooooooooooooooooaah!!”””

Ridiel raised her voice and declared victory.

“…No way… Did we really do this ourselves?”

“Idiot!! This was thanks to Ridiel-sama!!”

“Sniff, I feel like I finally did something I can be proud of…”

The soldiers praised each other, some with tears in their eyes.

Yeah. Of course, they’re happy.

“Hehe, then let’s hurry and send the good news to Hange Fortress―!?”

That was when it happened.

Ridiel suddenly turned, her face tense, and raised her crossbow in one swift motion.

She was aiming at the top of the wall surrounding Kaime Fortress.

But there was nothing there.

Ridiel kept staring at that spot for a while, and she was completely still. After a moment, she slowly lowered her guard.

“What’s wrong, Ridiel-sama?”

“I thought I saw someone on the wall just now… No, it must have been my imagination.”

Still feeling uneasy, Ridiel decided to send the news of Kaime Fortress being recaptured to Hange Fortress.

◆　◇　◆

“Mmngh!! I just got back from my walk… and… that girl, that girl, that girl!! She looks so delicious!! I want to eat her!! I want to suck every bit of her blood and flesh down to the bones!! Mmngh!!”

On a plain a little away from Kaime Fortress, a beautiful woman let out a strange sound.

Zenapart, the Cardinal of ‘Gluttony’ from the White Church, twisted her mouth into a crescent shape and drooled as she set her sights on her next prey.

“Ridiel, her name is Ridiel. Mmngh!! I wonder what she tastes like. I wonder how cute her face looks when she’s in despair… Mmngh!! I can’t stop getting excited!! No, no!! Calm down!! If I gobble her up in one bite, it’ll be a waste!! I have to act carefully, so no one can get in the way!!”

Zenapart wore a look of bliss, like a girl in love.

Innocent, yet completely evil.

Determined to drink Ridiel’s heart, brain, and every drop of her blood, Zenapart began to move.

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “Eat (literally).”

Reader: “Eat (sexually) would’ve been better.”

Author: “Same here.”

If you thought, “Muscles and laughter,” “Is Ridiel going to be targeted…” “Don’t speak for the readers.” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.