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 30: A Search Request on the Same Day We Met

Chapter 30: A Search Request on the Same Day We Met

“…We got paid twice as much as we expected.”

On the way back after returning the cat to its owner, I muttered this while walking home with Makami. 

The owner must have been a serious cat lover because they were genuinely overjoyed when we found the cat. They gave us a lot more money than they originally promised.

I tried to refuse, thinking it was too much, but they insisted, even giving us some sweets as a thank you. I wondered if we should give them a discount the next time they ask for our help. Deep in thought, we sat down in a small clearing.

“…Hmm, this is good.”

“Yeah, the rice balls are delicious.”

I didn’t know if it was the quality of the rice or the way it was cooked, but these rice balls were tastier than what we usually had. They didn’t have any fillings, likely due to the times, but the rice itself was really good.

“Come to think of it… this is mostly white rice.”

White rice had become popular around Musashi Province recently, but here in Shinano, it was still expensive. People like us, who lived modestly, rarely got to eat it.

Appreciating these rare rice balls, I felt a bit uneasy about the wealth of the shop that gave them to us. I couldn’t help but think about tonight’s dinner costs.

“Let’s save one for later, Makami.”

“Yeah, we should save some for them.”

“Right—let’s head home.”

With nothing else to do, we headed back to the main base of our odd jobs business, located a bit away from the main part of Shinano. 

Just as we were about to enter the house:

“Yomi-nii!” 

“Makami is here too! ―Um, help us, both of you!”

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a rush?”

“What’s the matter, you two, in such a hurry ……?”

“Sanae-nee went to look for our friend who disappeared, but she hasn’t come back for two hours!”

Sanae… the girl we just met today.

The children explained that while playing hide-and-seek, one of their friends vanished into the forest, and Sanae-san went in to search for them.

“―It’s almost twilight, and we’re really worried… She said she would be fine because she’s strong, but she hasn’t returned!”

“We thought you could help, Yomi-nii. Can you hurry?”

“Got it. You two head back home. Makami and I will find them.”

Hearing this emergency, I realized it was almost twilight, the time when yokai become more active.

It’s a time when people shouldn’t be outside the town. The forest around here is known to have yokai that kidnap people. We couldn’t ignore this, so I immediately started running.

“Makami, can you change back to your wolf form once we get a bit further?”

“Yeah, no problem… let’s hurry.”

“And can you track the scent?”

“Absolutely, I remember the scent from the small pouch.”

“You’re the best, Makami! I can always count on you!”

Determined to treat Makami to a delicious meal tonight, I pressed on into the forest. Makami transformed back into her wolf form, and I climbed onto her back, speeding up our journey. 

She wasn’t in her full size, but at about two meters, she was more than capable of carrying me.

“I can sense something… The yokai presence is strong there. Let’s hurry!”

Makami accelerated further into the forest. Soon, we reached a clearing where we saw human figures—and a huge serpent-like creature. Its body was thick, and apart from a mouth, it had no eyes or nose, resembling a headless hammer.

The creature, known as Nozuchi, emitted a dangerously strong yokai energy. It’s said to carry poison all over its body and cause fever just by being seen, due to its curse. Because of this, Sanae and the children looked visibly ill, struggling to breathe and on the verge of collapse.

“—And it’s huge!”

I knew a bit about its nature, but this Nozuchi was several times larger than the ones from the stories. It must have consumed a lot and gathered that much curse energy. There’s no way I could leave such a creature unchecked.

With my usual strength, defeating it seemed uncertain. As I realized this, I instinctively began to chant a prayer.

“I, who serve the Malevolent Kagura, pray… Descend from the underworld and deliver divine punishment, consuming the curses—sing, yearn, and become hollow. I bring forth—the law of the glacier that takes life.”

The most suitable ability here was one with high power and minimal collateral damage.

As a support specialist, I prepared a spell to defeat the enemy—I drew my sword and faced Nozuchi.

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

Name: Yomi

Existence Strength: Glacier

Titles:

[Beloved Child of Eighty Calamities]

[???]

[Holder of the Law of Glacier]

[Recognized by the Two Moon God]

Life Force: 90

Spiritual Power: 1800 + 400

Strength: 32 + 70

Dexterity: 58

Defense: 23

Speed: 14

Spiritual Techniques:

Physical Reinforcement

Healing Prayer

Curse Removal Prayers

Spirit Sight

Barrier Techniques

Divine Skills:

‘Grace of Calamity’…Borrow the authority of Kagura, the Eighty Calamities.

Law of Glacier: Imbues spiritual power with the ice attribute.

Gains resistance to cold.

Transformation of Existential Strength

Time limit: Five minutes.

Insufficient Existential Strength

‘Feast of Ōkamuzumi’… Provides resistance to demonic influences.

‘Food of the Underworld’…Grants resistance to curses, miasma, and demonic energies.

‘Blessing from Tsukuyomi’…Enhances physical abilities at night, grants night vision, and resistance to sleep.

[???]…[???]

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

[Afterword]

Thank you for reading.

I plan to discuss this in my activity report, but I wanted to let you all know first! 

This series, “The Healer in a Japanese-Style Game World,” has ranked tenth in the weekly isekai fantasy rankings! 

I had hoped to reach the top ten while writing this story, so I’m truly grateful to all of you readers. I’ll continue to work hard on this series, so please give it a like and follow! Let’s aim for the top five!