There's No Way the Hot Girls Would Fall for an Ordinary 'Healer NPC' Like Me! ~About How I'm Just Treating the Beat-Up Heroines, But For Some Reason Their Reactions Are Getting Really Weird~

Chapter 4: The Second Heroine

“Open up! Open up!”

What the heck.

It’s still the middle of the night.

“Coming right now~”

Rubbing my eyes with one hand, I opened the door and found two men dressed as royal guards standing there.

“Are you Leon, the owner of the recovery shop?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

What the hell is this about!?

I haven’t stolen any underwear!

“Please, you have to save the princess!!”

I was trembling, thinking I was about to get arrested, when the two guards suddenly dropped to their knees and bowed right in front of me.

Then they pointed at a black bundle behind them that I hadn’t noticed in the dark.

“Our carriage was attacked by goblins a little while ago… We fought desperately, but the last one, right before it died, threw its axe and it hit the princess’s leg…”

I see. So it’s a treatment request.

Some old folks who came by recently warned me that underwear thieves were on the rise, so I thought they were suspecting me.

No, seriously, it wasn’t me.

If I had the guts for that, I wouldn’t be playing eroge at home all the time!

“Let me take a look first.”

“This is pretty bad…”

I asked the guards to help move her onto my bed, and when I took a proper look, it really was awful.

The princess’s dress was ripped wide open from around the waist, and the white fabric was soaked dark red with blood.

And underneath that…

…Yeah. Nothing there.

From the thighs down, it was completely gone.

Both legs.

Wait, wait, wait, hold on.

What kind of axe has that much power?

Can goblins even hit that hard? Is the world setting bugged or something?

Blood was still oozing from the cuts. If left like this, she’d be done for.

Her breathing was shallow, and her face looked terrible. She seemed like she could pass out any second. Actually, she was probably already halfway gone.

“…Can you heal her?”

One of the guards asked nervously.

He must feel awful as her escort.

There’s no way they don’t feel some responsibility for letting the princess end up like this while they were supposed to protect her.

As proof, both guards had their fists clenched tight, and when I looked closer, there was blood on their clothes too.

“Leave it to me.”

For now, all I could do was get to work.

Even with missing body parts, I already knew from experience that rubbing would heal it.

I slowly placed my hands on the princess’s thighs.

Chun, chun.

The chirping of little birds sounded nice.

I’d been rubbing the princess’s thighs nonstop since the middle of last night. Even after the two guards dozed off, I kept massaging the regenerating legs without stopping.

Thanks to that, the princess’s missing parts had healed up nicely.

I boiled some water, wiped the blood off her thighs with a towel, and covered her with a blanket.

Even though it was treatment, if she woke up and found her defenseless legs seen by some guy she didn’t know, she’d probably be embarrassed.

Morning sunlight streamed in and lit up the princess’s face.

Her soft silver hair spread smoothly across the pillow.

It must have gotten messy during the night, but somehow it still looked perfectly arranged, like a painting.

Her long eyelashes rested quietly closed, and her porcelain-like skin had a faint healthy color returning to it.

You’d never guess how deathly pale she’d been last night.

Her steady breathing made her chest rise and fall just a little.

That sleeping face was…

way too defenseless, and way too peaceful.

“…She’s really cute, huh.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

I’d thought royalty would have more pressure or aura or something.

But right now she just looked like an ordinary girl her age.

…No, don’t let your guard down, me.

She’s the princess, remember?

The second she wakes up she might yell “Insolent fool!” and have my head chopped off. That’s totally possible.

If I were the protagonist it might be different, but right now I’m just an ordinary NPC.

Even while thinking that, my eyes kept drifting to her legs.

Under the blanket, both legs were definitely there.

Something that hadn’t even existed just a few hours ago.

“…They’re really back.”

I healed them with my own hands, but seeing it again like this still feels unreal.

Who the heck am I, really…?

As I was thinking that—

“…Mmm…”

The princess’s lips moved slightly.

With a tiny breath, her long eyelashes fluttered.

“Are you awake, Alicia?”

“…Mmm…”

Still half-asleep, the princess slowly sat up.

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“Yesterday… ? —Ah!”

As if it all came rushing back, the princess quickly reached down and touched her own legs.

“They’re… there…!”

The moment she confirmed her legs were there, tears started rolling down her cheeks.

I couldn’t blame her.

Even though she’s a princess, she’s still just a fifteen-year-old girl. It’d be weird if she didn’t feel total despair after suddenly losing both legs.

“Uuu… Thank goodness… I thought I’d never be able to walk again…”

Yeah, yeah.

If she’s reacting like that, then all that hard rubbing was totally worth it.

“…Who are you…?”

Once she’d calmed down a bit, the princess turned her gaze toward me.

What should I say here?

I need to choose my words carefully so I don’t get my head cut off.

“With all due respect, I am Leon, the owner of the recovery shop, and I treated Your Highness’s injury.”

“L-Leon…!?”

“The guards are waiting outside right now, so if you’d like—”

“…It hurts.”

“Huh?”