The Priest of Complete Dispel ~ Every Time I Save a Cursed Beautiful Girl with My Status Abnormal Cure Skill, For Some Reason Her Dependence on Me Maxes Out ~ - Chapter 44.1: Seira's Condition

Chapter 44.1: Seira’s Condition

A stone building, slightly taller than average.

It resembled something close to an apartment in Japan, and Shu stepped into it alongside Mariel.

Perhaps because knowledge and technology from his previous life had flowed into this world, the structure of the stairs and the layout of each room evoked an atmosphere reminiscent of modern Japanese collective housing.

However, it seemed there was no elevator. While it felt like one could be made using magical tools, unlike small-scale items such as stoves that applied fire magic, an elevator might require considerable magical power and technology.

“This is… Seira’s room.”

Upon arriving in front of the intended room, Shu and Mariel rang the small bell attached above the door.

A dry clanging sound echoed down the corridor.

Only now did Shu realize they had come without an appointment. If Seira was asleep or home alone, she might not even notice the sound of this bell.

Feeling a small pang of regret deep in his chest, Shu waited for a response for a while.

“…No reaction.”

“We might have come too suddenly.”

After waiting about a minute, the door did not open, and there was not even a sound.

Just as Shu reluctantly turned to leave—that was the moment.

“—Who is it?”

With a creaking sound, the door opened, and a single woman peered out from inside.

Pale blue hair. But in contrast to that beautiful hair color, her complexion was terribly poor. She was emaciated, her cheeks hollow, and it was clear at a glance that she had not even been eating properly.

From her appearance, Shu was convinced that she was Seira Clover.

“I am a monk who came from the clinic. Um… that pig… no, not that, Alaster, was it… I heard from him…”

“Ah, from the pig uncle…”

You call him pig too.

More than that, that pig old man was a blood relative? He did not look like one at all.

“You are Seira, right? —I am someone who recently joined the clinic. I came here because I wanted to examine your condition directly.”

“Hmph… I have never met a monk who speaks so crudely… But there is no need to concern yourself with me. Go home.”

Seira spoke coldly and tried to close the door.

Shu reflexively slipped his foot into the gap.

“You bastard… this… cough, cough…!”

Seira’s eyes glared at him and wavered, and in the next instant, a severe cough welled up. The hand gripping the doorknob lost its strength, and she collapsed to the floor just like that.

“Hey, are you okay! —Mariel!”

“Yes, let us carry her inside right away!”

“Ugh…! Uu… I have no intention of… borrowing your hands… cough, cough…”

“This is no time to say that! I will carry you to the bed by force if I have to!”

“I understand!”

Shu and Mariel exchanged glances and immediately sprang into action.

The two of them lifted Seira’s limp body together and somehow managed to carry her to the bed in the back of the room.

In this way, they finally managed to lay Seira down.

“…Ugh, medicine…”

Seira, lying on the bed, weakly pointed to the chest at the bedside.

There sat the medicine that Shu had prescribed, and beside it were a water pitcher and a cup. Shu immediately poured water and handed it to her.

“Ngh… ngh… haa…”

She gulped down the medicine with water vigorously and spent several minutes regulating her ragged breathing.

The body that had been suffering until moments ago regained its calm, and Seira finally let out a sigh of relief.

“…It looks like a temple knight.”

While waiting for Seira to calm down, Mariel turned her gaze to the long sword hanging on the wall and spoke.

“Temple knight?”

“Yes, a knight affiliated with the church. Unlike the kingdom knights based in the capital of the country, temple knights are assigned throughout the nation, and their main duty is to eliminate heretics and perform purifications…”

“Hmm… What is purification?”

Shu could not help but ask about the unfamiliar term. Mariel continued with a grave expression.

“The church does not govern the country itself, but its influence is immense. That is why it exterminates those who oppose the church—that is purification. Officially, it is to protect faith and order, but in reality, it carries significant political implications as well.”

“So, eliminating heretics is treated separately.”

“Yes. Heretics are those who deviate from doctrine or those who dabble in magic. But purification is the punishment meted out to those who seek to overthrow the nation or shake the church’s stability… The country and the church are not officially in a cooperative relationship, but since neither can afford the other to fall, they are ultimately inseparable.”

Doesn’t that… apply to Bulldog?

Connected to the empire, gathering women and forcing them into the sex business, and even raising goblins—all of it was completely out of bounds.

“By the way— the recovery magic you used in the middle of the city. One wrong step, and you might have been subjected to a heresy inquisition.”

“Wha… Seriously…?”

“If Seira, who is a temple knight, had discovered it, escaping would have been impossible.”

“…So, it is a good thing that Mariel found me.”

“Yes. I am just an acolyte.”

What Mariel mentioned was a rank one level above that of ordinary believers.

“Acolyte? I thought you were just a regular believer.”

“No, when I find someone as unique as you, guiding them to the church is also my duty.”

“Huh, you are capable.”

“N-No… I am still far from that…”

Perhaps unaccustomed to praise, Mariel suddenly turned red up to her ears and became flustered.

She usually never broke her composed attitude, yet she had this strangely endearing side.

Shu returned his gaze to Seira with a wry smile.

“—So, Seira. Do you know what is happening to your body?”

“How could I? Such a strange disease…”

“It is something that continuously drains your physical strength and magical power, right?”

“It is my own body… I know my time is near. It is like the flame of a candle on the verge of going out.”

“…I see. Do you want to hear about the condition of your body?”

“Hah… What are you saying at this point… Besides, you claim to know my condition? There is no way someone like you, who popped up out of nowhere, would know about this disease that no one understands.”

Well, that is what anyone would think normally.