Chapter 67: The Villainous Aristocrat Receives Treatment

The day after arriving in the holy city.

Wendy and the others were each sightseeing separately, and I was on a different course.

Naturally, I was undergoing treatment to regenerate my limbs by the Saintess Nakia…

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! Goooooaaahhhhh!! It hurts!! What is this, it hurts so much!!”

I writhed in tremendous agony.

No, it’s not just pain or suffering; it’s beyond that dimension.

Thrashing like a caught fish.

Moreover, being treated on an altar at the deepest part of the temple, the scene resembled an offering to the gods.

What’s especially infuriating is…

“Ohh♡ It hurts♡ That pain is surely a proof of love♡ Please endure it and respond to that love♡”

“Shut up!! I don’t need this damn painful love!!”

“Oh, again with that…♡ That won’t do♡ It seems there’s not enough love♡ I’ll pour more and more love for you♡”

“Gyaaaaahhhhh!!!”

Though it’s a bit self-praising, I thought I was quite resilient to pain.

I’ve had plenty of serious injuries during experiments, and I assumed I could endure injuries to the extent of seeing bones.

I was naive.

The healing magic used by the saintess was on a different level; it could even mend missing parts.

It was painfully excruciating.

It might have been more painful than when both my legs were severed.”

“Haa, haa, today’s treatment is finally done♡”

“It’s finally over… huh? Today’s?”

“Yes♡ The trial of love continues♡”

Too detestable.

Glancing at my own legs, they had grown back up to about halfway from the shin.

“W-Why not do it all at once? I prefer getting through unpleasant things in one go.”

“Oh, that’s simply—cough.”

“!?”

Nakia, with an angelic smile, coughed up a large amount of blood.

“Saintess!!”

“Hurry, bring a mana-recovery potion!”

“Oh, come on!! She used healing magic to the limit again!!”

It seems she’s on the brink of death due to running out of magical power.

She collapsed on her back right there, being tended to by the approaching holy knights, and still smiled as she spoke to me.

“And, using healing magic excessively like this depletes my magical power, leading to a collapse♡ Prioritizing the legs over treating the arm is because without them, daily life becomes inconvenient—cough♡ Ah♡ My hands and feet are getting cold♡ This, too, is an expression of love♡”

“Is this the time to be saying that!!”

“My apologies, Viscount Draussen. The saintess will take a rest, so we will resume the treatment tomorrow.”

“Ah, yes. If that’s the case…”

In the game, Nakia effortlessly healed even missing limbs, but at the moment, is her total magical power not that high? 

It might be a mistake to rely solely on the game scenario as a reference.

“Alright, I need to adjust the artificial leg.”

I attempted to adjust the prosthetic leg using the advanced magic of sculptural imagination, which is the secret technique of figurative magic…

I failed.

“Hmm… Another failure.”

After the incident in the imperial capital, I thought I had mastered sculptural imagination and transference bestowal. However, it seems I was too arrogant.

No, there are still many times when I feel the potential to perform transference bestowal.

But sculptural imagination is no good at all.

Is it a lack of the will to create, or perhaps too many distracting thoughts?

In any case, it has become unusable.

Unable to help it, I use my hands to adjust the length of the artificial leg and head towards a room in the temple I’m borrowing.

On the way, girls wearing modestly exposed sister uniforms were chatting.

Judging by their appearance, they seemed to hold reasonably high positions.

“Hey, hey, did you hear that rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“It seems there are undead in the underground sewer!! There have been attacks, and people are getting injured.”

“That’s just a rumor. Undead wouldn’t appear in the holy city. After all, there’s the sanctuary barrier of Her Holiness, the Pope, right?”

“Yeah, but still!!”

…Undead, huh.

Creatures like wraiths, zombies, skeletons, and the like, which move even after death. 

Magical beings like vampires and liches are technically classified as undead as well.

Dealing with those that can’t be defeated with normal attacks can be quite troublesome, but holy water and magic used by priests are effective.

“Holy water, huh.”

Encounters with undead are rare, but as the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

It’s better to be prepared.

If undead are appearing in the holy city, it wouldn’t hurt to have some on hand.

Maybe I should have Hagane buy some for me.

While pondering such things, I opened the door to the room with a rattle.

“Hey, it’s been a few days. How’s the injury my colleague caused?”

“…”

A demon with both eyes covered by cloth was sitting in the kotatsu I had made, warming up.

If I remembered correctly, the name Lynette had called him was Judge.

For the time being, I took out the revolver-style handgun I had recently made from my magic bag and aimed it at his forehead, pulling the trigger.

“Oops, isn’t that dangerous?”

Judge tilted his head to avoid the bullet.

This guy is a monster.

“Why are you here? How did you get in? This unauthorized intruder.”

“Rude. I knocked before entering. Since there was no response, I took the liberty to come in.”

“That’s called unauthorized entry.”

“Well, sit down. I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

…Indeed, I don’t sense any hostility.

The demon in front of me is relaxed, comfortably sitting in the kotatsu.

It’s been cold lately, so I can understand the sentiment, but for him, this should be enemy territory. Quite carefree.

I entered the kotatsu while maintaining maximum vigilance.

Probably, but this demon is likely a higher rank than Lynette.

I was startled and fired, but fighting wouldn’t be wise.

If he didn’t come here for a fight, let’s try to resolve it through dialogue.

“So, if you didn’t come here to fight, what do you want with me?”

“Don’t be in such a hurry.”

When I asked that, Judge took something out of the paper bag next to him. It was an apple.

“Want an apple?”

“When you say kotatsu, it should be mandarins.”

“No, because I didn’t think there was a kotatsu here. Also, if I were to eat in a kotatsu, I’d prefer o-zoni. You know, the one made with grilled rice cakes on a charcoal brazier.”

“…I kind of understand that. I’ll take the apple. Don’t peel it. I like the crunchy texture of the skin.”

“Got it.”

Judge cuts the apple. Only the sound echoes in the room.

“Your name is Judge, right? Are you a reincarnate?”

“…Reincarnate?”

When I spoke in Japanese, Judge stopped his hands and looked in my direction. 

Well, I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me because both of his eyes were covered with cloth.

Nevertheless, he reacted to something and replied in Japanese.

“…I see. Reincarnate, huh? Do you all have that understanding?”

“Are you saying something profound? Is there something wrong?”

“…No. Broadly speaking, you’re correct. You, including me, died and were reborn in this world. In fact, my understanding was off.”

“So, what was your understanding? Are you trying to say we’re in some kind of game? Well, it’s a game world, but still.”

“That’s right. This is a game world, but it’s also reality. Without a doubt. Look, I’ve cut the apple.”

“Oh, thanks.”

I savored the apple that Judge had cut.

Juicy, crunchy, and sweet.

It was simply delicious.

“So, what do you want? Just so you know, I’m undergoing incredibly painful treatment because of your colleague. If this is some joke, I won’t forgive you.”

“I also feel sorry about that matter. But well, Lynette is in a similar state, so let’s consider it even. …To get straight to the point.”

Judge said with a serious expression.

“Right now, this world is on the brink of destruction. Humans and demons alike will perish without exception. Would you join forces with me to save this world?”

“…What?”

What is he talking about?

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