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 57

The capital of the Rudelhardt Empire was very safe.

That was because hundreds of heroes and their apprentices patrolled the city day and night.

But that didn’t mean there was no crime.

“Get the getaway horses ready! Or we’ll kill the hostages!”

“S-someone, help me!”

A gang of robbers had broken into one of the empire’s most famous jewelry stores and taken several customers hostage.

A few heroes and their apprentices arrived after getting the report and were ready to act, but with hostages involved, they couldn’t move carelessly.

Time was slipping away.

They tried to negotiate to free the hostages, but the robbers showed no sign of listening.

“If this keeps up, who knows what the criminals might do to the hostages…”

“Shouldn’t we just meet their demands for now?”

“You think they’ll release the hostages if we give them horses? They’ll just run off with them.”

The heroes tried to come up with a plan, but there wasn’t much time.

“The ‘Hawkeye Hero’ is ready to snipe. Should we go in?”

“…There’s more than one hostage. If they panic, it could end in a massacre.”

“But wasting time like this is dangerous, too. We don’t know when they’ll start hurting the hostages.”

“Ugh, what should we do…”

Then it happened.

“How long do you think we’ll wait?! You guys think you can mess with us, the ‘Starving Wolves’?! If it comes to it, we’ll make an example out of one of them—”

“W-Wait!! Don’t do anything stupid!!”

“Shut up!! There are still hostages. Killing one or two won’t be a problem!!”

The knife in the criminal’s hand cut into a hostage’s neck. Bright red blood ran down the blade and dropped onto the floor.

“—I can smell it.”

In the next instant, the heroes all went on high alert.

Not because of the robbers.

But because of a mysterious figure who appeared out of nowhere, a presence that instinctively terrified them.

“—I can smell blood.”

“W-Who are you?!”

The man appeared silently.

His entire body radiated a copper-colored magic.

The magic was so strong and thick that the air around him bent and twisted, making it impossible to clearly see his face. He looked like a flickering shadow of copper.

He ignored the heroes’ questions and slowly approached the jewelry store where the robbers were holed up.

“Hey!! Step back… it’s… dangerous…”

One of the heroes’ apprentices tried to stop him, but the man’s overwhelming magic knocked him out on the spot, while he was still standing.

Even the experienced heroes struggled to stay conscious under the pressure.

“…I can smell it… blood…”

“W-Who are you?! Stop!! I’ll attack if you get any closer!!”

“…Blood… injured person… I have to help them…”

“Huh? Help them—”

Before the heroes could react, the man smashed through the store’s window and entered.

A moment later, screams of terror and chaos came from inside the jewelry store.

“Gyaah!?”

“What, who are you!?”

“W-Wait!! I-I surrender!! So please stop—”

“Do you suffer from some illness?”

“Um, y-yeah, But ―Gyaah!?”

Soon, the store went quiet. The man staggered out and walked away.

The heroes who rushed in a little later saw…

“Th-This is…”

“…How should we report this?”

“We have to report it exactly as it is.”

Inside, the robbers had been stripped naked and were hanging upside down. Each had a sign that said, “I’m sorry.”

◆　◇　◆

…My mind isn’t working very well.

I usually don’t think too deeply about things, but right now it feels like my thoughts and actions are connected directly.

“Injured person… Sick person… Injured person… Sick person… Injured person… Injured person… Sick person…”

I ran through the streets of the capital as fast as I could.

Whenever I saw someone who was sick or injured, I lightly touched them and cast a healing spell.

I kept repeating this.

Maybe because I moved so fast, nobody noticed me at all.

…It was fun.

Seeing person after person restored by my hands gave me a strange happiness and a sense of accomplishment. It made me really excited.

“—Hey, stop right there.”

I had just turned into an alley looking for more wounded or sick people when a voice suddenly called from behind.

I turned and saw a ninja with fox ears and a tail.

From the voice, it sounded like a girl.

“…Who…?”

“That magical wave… no mistake. I finally found you!!”

“…Not an injured person… not… sick person…”

If they weren’t wounded or sick, I didn’t need to pay attention.

“…Injured person… Sick person… must find…”

“H-hey, wait!! I said stop!!”

“…Sick person… Injured person…”

“W-Wait!! Stop!! Hey, why aren’t you stopping!? Ugh, and you’re way too fast!!”

I started running again, casting healing spells on people across the capital as I ran.

The mysterious girl followed me.

“You’re the one who calls yourself the Black King, right!? You’re coming with me —Hey, stop for real!! Listen to me!!”

“…Black, King?”

“Y-you finally stopped!! Haah, haah, don’t make this so hard!!”

The Black King.

I thought I had just heard that name recently, but my mind was too foggy to remember clearly.

But I could tell one thing.

The fox ninja in front of me didn’t care about embarrassing herself in front of others and spoke awkwardly, using cringy words without thinking. She was full of that middle-school syndrome.

“…Sickkkk peeeeeerson!!!! Foundddddd them!!!!!!”

“Eek!?”

I grabbed the fox ninja’s head.

Using mental magic, I interfered with her thoughts so she could feel embarrassed about her over-the-top words.

I had been practicing this mental magic for a long time.

“E-e-eh, wh-what did you do?”

“…It… didn’t work…?”

“I-I don’t really understand, but you’re coming with me!!”

“…I’m… not ready… I’m still… not ready…!!”

“!?”

I slammed my head into the ground right there.

I hit it carefully over and over and spilled a lot of blood.

Gradually, my thoughts started to clear.

“…What am I even doing?”

“H-Hey, are you okay?”

The fox ninja called out after seeing me suddenly hurting myself.

“Ah, yes. I just feel like I got drugged by a princess’s stalker maid.”

“Drugged, eh, what?”

“Nothing.”

“I-I see? If you have a problem, I can listen a little?”

“No need. Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Ah!! W-Wait!! I need to talk to you—”

I dashed away from the spot.

…The fox ninja was trying to say something, but I wonder what it was.

Ah, whatever.

Right now, I need to focus on preparing for tomorrow’s date with Victoria.

Later, I learned that because I was releasing all my magic at once, people around me saw me like a flickering shadow.

Running through the capital like that caused a huge panic. People thought a new kind of monster had appeared in the city.

The name is “Red Bronze.”

They named it that because my magic was a reddish-copper color.

…Well, unless you dump an absurd amount of magic as I did, magic isn’t visible. I usually don’t leak that much, so it’s fine.

More importantly, “Injured-Heal Person,” “Faceless,” “Nameless,” and now “Red Bronze”…

There are way too many names lately. It’s confusing.

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Afterword

One-Point Author’s Note

“Mental Magic”

It can raise or lower someone’s morale, but it can also mess with their likes and dislikes. Depending on how they use it, they can even brainwash people. It’s insanely powerful, and turning enemies into allies is not impossible.

Author: Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a great year, just like I plan to.

If you thought, “That’s scary, are instincts like that?” “The fox ninja is a good person!” “Mental magic is seriously dangerous!” “Happy New Year!” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.