Chapter 36

I wonder how much time has passed… I cried loudly for a while and felt a bit relieved.

But suddenly, as if to remind me of the current situation, fatigue and intense pain strike.

“Ah, damn it, it hurts!”

Moving is a hassle.

I stayed in a slumped position for a while, still with my forehead against the stupidly large rhino.

But I can’t stay like this forever… It’s time to move.

Sitting down in a cross-legged position, I first use “Water Magic” to summon water from my forehead and gather it in my palms.

With that water, I wash my tear-streaked face.

Oh right, I have painkillers. I should take them now.

“Ushii!”

And when I tried to change the direction of my body, my lower half wouldn’t move, and I ended up falling to the side.

“Whoa!”

Surprised, I look at my legs.

Both ankles are broken, both knees have blood seeping through the pants with scrapes and contusions.

Below my waist feels all numb, and I can’t really understand what’s happening.

Even though I don’t understand it, I can feel the pain.

Fortunately, my upper body is unharmed, and I can still move both arms.

For now, I don’t want to be near this huge beast, so I should move away.

I swing the waist pouch around my back.

Since only my arms are functional, I move forward by extending my elbows alternately while lying on my stomach.

It’s like crawling. Crawling with elbows, wasn’t that the fourth technique… oh well, even in that, they were using their legs. Crawling with just the arms.

I manage to get some distance and then collapse from exhaustion.

This is deep in the forest, far from help, and I don’t even know the location.

I wanted to just fall asleep like this, but the intense pain won’t allow it. I have to do something to fix this.

And in this situation, there’s only one solution that comes to mind.

――’Healing Magic.’

But I’ve never used it before. I haven’t even confirmed if it will activate.

I recorded a video of a sister from the church using it, but I never had a chance to use it afterward.

If only I had the courage to try it out by cutting my finger or something.

But there’s no use regretting it now.

“I should be fine with the chant; I remember it. It probably works without chanting, but let’s be cautious and chant here.”

I lie on my back and first check if it will activate.

《Chant, Heal》

Looking at my forehead, I see a faint glow.

“All right, confirmed activation with a shortened chant! It really is magic. Now, the question is whether it can heal me.”

It activated properly, which is a relief. Now, the only question is whether it will work on me…

I try to sit up. However, I can’t manage the usual cross-legged position. I use my hands to lift my legs and get up with my knees bent.

I roll up the cuffs of my pants to expose my knees.

“Ugh…”

The skin on my knees had peeled off with a squelching sound. Instinctively, I shut my eyes.

I keep my forehead against my knees and start chanting, hoping it works…

――How is it!?

After about ten seconds, the light disappears.

Opening my eyes, I see that there is still blood, but the peeled skin seems to have healed. I gently rub it.

I quietly try to move and stretch.

“――Hmm… It’s healed beautifully!”

He confirmed the success of the treatment.

“Alright, yessss! I can heal toooo!”

He confirmed that the healing effect also worked on himself.

“Alright, next is the ankle… uh!”

Here, a problem arises—his forehead doesn’t reach his ankle.

My body is stiff… I can’t lift my legs up to my forehead.

“Well, even a Chinese acrobatic troupe couldn’t do it.”

He complains about the stiffness of his own body.

“What should I do… I can’t heal like this.”

The intense pain in his left leg worsens. And it seems like his right leg is also starting to ache somehow.

Should I try to return to the town by walking on my knees… no, that’s probably impossible.

I don’t know where I am right now. I need to jump once to confirm.

I sit there for a while, holding my knees, feeling lost… and then tears well up again. I cry so easily.

I reflect on today’s events, hoping for a good idea—

Come to think of it, today, I was able to adjust the power with water magic and wind magic.”

“Is there a major healing magic or something? Like a spell that heals the entire body.”

It’s in the game.

In the game, it’s a spell that restores a substantial amount of HP, but it has a long casting time and consumes a lot of mana.

“Probably, the power parameter is the same as water magic or something. Anyway, there’s no other way but to try this.”

Let’s give it a shot.

I sit in a cross-legged position, curling my body even tighter, minimizing the area to be affected as much as possible.

And then, I begin chanting the healing magic.

《Chant, Great Heal》

Then, my forehead feels a larger sensation than the previous light, and it seems like the effect has reached my whole body.

―― I feel like my ankles are moving on their own. It’s kind of scary even though I can’t see.

And then, after about ten seconds, the light disappears.

I gently look at both ankles.

The right foot, which was dangling, has returned to normal.

“Phew… I did it… I did it! Yesssss!”

Greater Heal was successful.

The left ankle also feels warm to the touch, and there is some pain, but it seems to be healed as well.

“I did it! I did it! Yessss!”

I’m so happy I can’t contain it!

I carefully and slowly stand up.

My ankles feel firm, and I can stand without them giving way.

“Uooo!”

I quietly stretch… alright, it’s fine.

And then I walk.

I stretch my Achilles tendon too, confirming that there’s no pain from movement.

“All right, seems like I’m good. That’s amazing!!”

I once again realize the greatness of healing magic. I really made a complete recovery.

I sit down and breathe a sigh of relief.

“I thought I was done for… If I hadn’t recorded the Heal, I would have died here.”

I take a deep breath.

“In a sense, getting attacked might have been fate. Hahaha.”

He savors the joy of surviving the attack by interpreting it in a convenient way.

And then, he remembers something important.

“Ri-right… yeah, is the smartphone okay?”

He puts the waist pouch back to the front and takes out the smartphone.

When he presses the power button— it lights up!

“Thank goodness. It seems like the glass isn’t cracked or anything. I really need to be careful from now on.”

It’s not a smartphone designed for outdoor use, so he needs to find a sturdy container.

“I have to be concerned about shock resistance every time I go out. It’s a bit much.”

He has been attacked twice in two outings… a 100 percent encounter rate.

He sits back down, returns to a cross-legged position, holds his knees, and blankly stares for a while.

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