The Healer in a Japanese-Style Game World: Mastering Healing to Save My Favorite Character in a Brutal World, Only to Find Everyone Around Me Becoming Obsessed - Chapter 04: Kagura and Yomi

Chapter 04: Kagura and Yomi

Two days had passed since I arrived at the forest shrine. 

The exhaustion from escaping the yokai monkey had completely faded… Maybe thanks to Kagura, who gave me food, I felt a bit more relaxed.

It might just be my imagination, but ever since eating the peaches and grapes Kagura gave me, I felt better and my spiritual power was much easier to use.

Even now, I was practicing my daily spiritual and healing techniques, a habit I kept from when I lived at home… I felt like my output had increased.

“Even if it’s pointless now, it would feel strange not to do it.”

I had been keeping up with this routine for the sake of my family. 

Even though I had been kicked out and it seemed meaningless, it felt more odd to stop something I’d done for ten years. So, I kept at it.

“What are you doing, Yomi?”

“Just my routine. What have you been up to, Kagura?”

“I was getting today’s fruits.”

“Really? Thanks. Let’s eat together later.”

“Okay.”

The fruits we ate here were a bit mysterious. I thought they might be dangerous, so I had Kagura show me the trees they came from. They looked ordinary enough.

Despite that, the fruits were very satisfying and seemed harmless, so I ate them without worry.

And after about three hours of my training, it was time to eat. 

We gathered in the hut, ate peaches, and spent some peaceful time together. Then, I decided to ask something that had been on my mind.

“By the way, Kagura, why are you here, in this place?”

A young girl living alone in a clearly dangerous forest.

It was obvious she wasn’t human and was isolated with a blindfold and shackles. But from my interactions with her, she didn’t seem dangerous at all. I couldn’t understand why she was left in such a place.

“…I shouldn’t have been born.”

“Whyy!?”

“Because I’m the God of Calamity.”

She looked a bit sad, different from her usual self. 

Even though I had asked, it pained me to see her kind face look like that. I wanted to change the topic, but I couldn’t find the right words.

“Don’t worry about it. It has been a long time since then. I don’t mind.”

“…Sorry.”

“Really, don’t worry. Instead, tell me about yourself, Yomi.”

“About me?”

“Yes, you always look so sad, and I’m curious.”

Her question made me hesitate a bit, but I decided to tell her about myself. It was embarrassing, and I felt unworthy of sharing my story, but Kagura was waiting, and not answering felt wrong.

So, I talked about my past: my kind father, my home, the arts I had learned, and my sister who looked up to me.

…But as I spoke, I started feeling worse and wondered why someone as worthless as me was even born into this world.

“Yomi, you’ve really worked hard.”

She listened to my story and gave me the words I had longed for, without asking for anything in return.

“Thank you… It, it really helps to hear that.”

“You’re amazing. I gave up easily, but you didn’t. So, don’t cry.”

“…I’m not crying.”

“It’s okay to not act tough. I can tell.”

Then she slowly approached me, carefully took my hand, and whispered.

“You weren’t afraid of me, Yomi… That made me happy. It was the first time I ate with someone, the first time I felt warmth sleeping next to someone. Because of you, I had fun for the first time. So, Yomi, you’re amazing. I’ve lived a long time, but these past few days have been the happiest for me.”

“…I didn’t do anything special.”

“No, just spending time with me was enough. Thank you for meeting me, Yomi.”

…Why does she give me the words I need so easily?

Why does such a kind girl have to be isolated alone? 

It made me angry. I didn’t know what people in the past were thinking, and I didn’t want to understand. But I wanted to help her.

“Kagura, can’t you take off those shackles and blindfold?”

“…I don’t think so. They’re part of the curse that seals me.”

She said that, and I looked at her shackles and blindfold again. 

Thanks to my spiritual training, I understood that these were crafted with an almost forbidden art that converted her divine and demonic energy into a curse to bind her, with no physical substance.

It was a curse itself, which meant that with the right dispelling technique, I might be able to free her.

The risk of breaking the curse was enormous.

If it backfired, I could die. But I had trained in healing and curse-breaking for years.

I had practiced endlessly and dedicated my life to it. I couldn’t think about failure now. 

Even if I took on the curse myself, I wanted to free her. It was my selfish desire, but I wanted to show her the outside world.

“Kagura, you’ve never been outside, have you?”

“Yes… but—”

“Do you know about the sea? It’s really blue and beautiful… There are many other beautiful places in this world. Let me do this for you, Kagura—let’s go outside.”

“Wait, Yomi—”

“No, I won’t wait—With the divine presence in Takamagahara, by the command of the gods Kamurogi and Kamurogi no Mikoto.”

I chanted the incantation and prepared the spell. 

Pouring all my strength and accepting the risk of sacrificing my life, I directed my spiritual power into her shackles—

“…They’re gone. How?”

Soon, the shackles disappeared, and the blindfold fell off.

I saw Kagura’s face for the first time, surprised and beautiful, with clear, amber eyes.

“…Beautiful.”

That was my last thought before losing consciousness from the backlash.