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 51

The Unyielding Hero.

That was the title people began to use for Heinbok. He never fell. He never gave up. No matter how hard the fight was, he kept standing and kept fighting.

“Haah, haah, haah ―Holy Power, Release!! Flying Light Blade!!!”

Heinbok unleashed the power sealed within his sacred sword, the proof of a true hero. A shining slash flew from the blade.

The attack chased its target until it hit. It was a killing move.

Even a dragon’s hard scales could be cut apart. Enemies were split clean in two.

That ultimate skill―

“Mmnh!! I’m getting bored of picking on weak ones. Don’t you have anything more fun?”

“Y-you monster…”

The flying slash hit the beautiful demon woman, Zenapart. It hit her for sure.

Or at least, it should have.

Zenapart slowly licked her lips and showed a cruel smile. Was the attack erased? Blocked by magic?

Even Heinbok, a hero of many battles, could not tell how her defense worked.

His body was already at its limit. Even thinking felt heavy.

Still, Heinbok did not give up.

(The army of three thousand was wiped out before they could run. My people are barely alive. I can’t beat her, no matter what I do. Then at least… for the heroes who will come after me, I must uncover her secret!)

He fired another flying slash.

Zenapart shrugged and looked bored.

“Mmm, I’m tired of your attacks. They taste good at first, but the flavor is always the same.”

“…Taste?”

“That’s what I said!! I’m done with you!!”

“!?”

It happened in an instant.

Zenapart moved faster than the eye could see and closed the distance. She gently placed her hand on Heinbok’s chest.

The next moment, his lower body vanished, armor and all.

“Gah… w-what… happened…”

“Mmm!! Strong humans really do taste better than weak ones!”

With his lower body gone, Heinbok could no longer move.

“Alright then, now I’ll eat the rest of you!!”

“…I’m sorry, Liese.”

He whispered the name of his beloved fiancée and closed his eyes.

The life of the Unyielding Hero was about to end—

But it didn’t. A strange man in black clothes suddenly grabbed Heinbok and stole him away from Zenapart.

“…Are you alright?”

“You…?”

“I am Nameless. Don’t worry about the details right now.”

“Did you save me?”

“Yes. But while I can heal wounds and sickness, I can’t erase exhaustion. So you should sleep well now.”

“Ha, hahaha, I guess I will… Just one last thing.”

Heinbok said something quietly.

Then, he fell into a deep sleep as if at peace.

◆　◇　◆

Heinbok began to breathe softly in his sleep.

After raising so many death flags, he still kept fighting without losing. He must be completely exhausted.

I’ll let him rest.

…Leaving him asleep completely naked would be cruel, so I used my great scythe’s power to fix his clothes. I didn’t forget that.

“So.”

I looked around.

What I saw were piles of dead bodies. Some were barely alive, but thousands of corpses lay scattered everywhere.

It was a horrible sight, too cruel to describe with a single word.

One woman was stepping on the bodies.

She had marigold-colored hair cut at shoulder length, and her antenna-like hair was braided. Twisted horns grew from her head, making it clear at a glance that she was a demon.

“…Did you do all this?”

“Hm? Yeah, I did. Ah, are you angry? Like, ‘How dare you kill my friends~’ or something? Mmnh!! You really care about others!!”

“No, not really. I didn’t know them. That’s not why I’m angry.”

But I was angry.

“Why did you kill them? To eat them?”

“Pfft, ahaha!! No, no!! I only eat strong humans! This time, just that man over there. I don’t eat weak trash!”

“Then they attacked you, so you fought back?”

“Mmnh!! Even if weaklings tried to kill me, it wouldn’t matter. I killed them just because I wanted to!”

“You killed them because you wanted to?”

The demon woman grinned.

It was an evil smile. A twisted smile that made it clear we could never understand each other.

“That’s right!! Mmnh!! Weak humans make such nice sounds when you play with them! Even if they’re weak and taste bad, their faces full of despair are so fun to watch!”

“Hmm, I see… I see.”

“Mmnh!! Are you scared? Don’t worry! You look fairly strong, so I’ll eat you as an appetizer before the main dish!”

“Shut your filthy mouth. You make me sick.”

Disgusting.

Aah, it wasn’t because of the smell of blood filling the battlefield.

The reason was much simpler.

“You’re a pathogenic bacterium.”

“…Huh?”

No, calling her a pathogenic bacterium wasn’t enough.

“You’re pus. You’re cancer. In short, you’re a rotten disease.”

“Mmnh!! …Pathogen bacteria? Pus? Cancer? What are you saying? Are you crazy or something?”

“Be quiet. I’m a healer. I remove diseases.”

Killing to survive, to eat, or to remove danger is normal. I don’t deny battles fought to live. If someone kills to eat, I don’t feel anger.

But this pathogen was different.

Killing because it’s fun is unforgivable. It must never be allowed. She was worse than a beast and pure trash.

“…Mmnh!! I don’t really get it, but whatever! A tasty-looking human is always welcome—”

I rushed in and slammed my fist into the pathogen’s stomach.

No mercy at all. A blow strong enough to smash a human into pieces.

But I felt no impact at all.

“Hm.”

“I surprised you by making your arm disappear! Sorry, sorry!”

“…You ate my arm?”

“Mmnh!! I didn’t think you’d figure it out so fast! Correct, correct! Big correct answer!”

“I didn’t figure it out myself. —Extra Heal.”

“Mmnh!! Your arm grew back! I saw that at Kaime Fortress too! Nice, very nice! You won’t disappear even if I eat you!”

She wasn’t very surprised when my arm grew back with healing magic.

Heinbok had told me.

Right before his lower body vanished, he talked about taste. That was how I knew.

“Since we’re here —Mmnh!! I’ll show you! My true form!”

Saying that happily, the pathogen bacteria suddenly began taking off her dress.

A full chest. A slim waist. Long and smooth limbs.

I might normally have been drawn in.

But she was just a pathogen.

Looking at her only made me feel sick.

As I frowned in disgust, her body suddenly split open in many places.

No, opened was a better word.

Her shoulders, arms, stomach, legs, and countless mouths appeared all over her body.

“…That’s gross.”

“Mmnh!! Calling a girl gross is so mean!!”

“Oh yeah.”

“With these mouths, I can eat anything and melt it in my stomach. Human flesh, magic, everything becomes my power.”

“So you live like some kind of chimera. Really gross.”

Heinbok’s guess was right.

This pathogen bacteria made the attacks useless because she ate them.

If that was true, then it was simple.

No matter what you eat, there is one thing you must do first.

You have to open your mouth.

So if I hit her before her mouth opens, that solves everything.

“Hah!!”

I rushed in again.

Before the mouths on her body could open, I struck her again and again, fast and hard.

“Whoa, you got me!! Just kidding♪”

“!?”

“Mmnh!! You thought you finished me? Too bad! I may not look at it, but I’ve lived a long time. You’re not the first human who tried to beat me with speed!!”

Looks like I was careless.

This time, both my arms were eaten.

I was completely defenseless.

I tried to block them with silver chains. No, it was too late.

Then I thought, I’ll try that escape idea I’ve been thinking about. It’s risky.

But that was when it happened.

“—Holy Power Release: Holy Rain!!”

Light poured down like rain.

I glanced over and saw Ridiel far away, holding her crossbow.

The rain of light worked well on the pathogen. Her attack on me stopped.

I’m saved.

I’ll have to thank Ridiel later. Maybe I’ll give her a one-to-one scale swimsuit Ridiel figure.

“She’s here!! She’s here, she’s here!! The main dish is here, so I don’t need you anymore!!”

“!?”

It happened in an instant.

The pathogen’s body swelled up. Her torso split open in a cross shape, and it formed a huge mouth. From inside it, another mouth stretched out. It was big enough to swallow a whole head.

It looked like some alien from a movie I saw as a kid in my past life.

I couldn’t react in time—

My head was bitten off, and I was swallowed whole.

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “The main character got beaten instead.”

F: “Asuku died!! You heartless author!!”

If you thought, “Heinbok survived,” “So the hero got beaten back!?” “Wait, the main character died!?” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.