“You’re Zenos, the Dark Healer, right? Reve, the chieftain of the Orcs, summons you.”
Five days had passed since the werewolves, led by Ringa, had come.
Appearing in the early afternoon was a man with a face that looked like a mix of a pig and a boar.
“I knew this was coming…”
“Zenos, what do you mean by ‘knew’?”
“First the Lizardmen, then the Werewolves, it’s only natural that the Orcs are next.”
Zenos let out a small sigh as he spoke to a bewildered Riri.
With this, he had now interacted with all three major demi-human forces that controlled the slums.
Moreover, Reve, the chieftain of the Orcs, was a big shot who had made her fortune through magic stone mining.
It’s not that he wanted to get involved with famous people.
“By the way, is she a decent person?”
“Don’t be absurd! Lady Reve is a person full of wisdom, nobility, and dignity!”
The messenger Orc became angry.
“I hope so…”
After all, Zofia of the Lizardmen sends luxurious gifts every day, and Ringa of the Werewolves says she’s apologizing for damaging the building and is trying to build a magnificent palace next door (of course, Zenos refused). Zenos has told them many times that it’s bad to stand out since it is a shady operation, but they don’t listen at all.
Zenos was relieved to hear that Reve was a decent person.
“By the way, why isn’t he coming himself?”
“Ridiculous. I hear that Lizardmen and Werewolves come and go here. Do you think we can carelessly bring Lady Reve into the midst of enemy forces?”
“Your conflicts have nothing to do with me.”
After sighing, Zenos suddenly had a serious look on his face.
“…Is it serious?”
“She can’t move.”
“You should have said that first.”
If the patient couldn’t move on his own, there was no helping but make a house call.
Leaving Riri and Camilla in charge, Zenos decided to leave the clinic.
“It’s this way.”
After that, Zenos was taken to a corner of the slums.
A rocky mountain towered behind them, and several caves were carved out of the bedrock. It was the Orc’s stronghold, serving as both a magic stone mine and a residence. Since no one carelessly approached the Orc’s territory, Zenos had never set foot there when he lived in the slums.
“Lady Reve, I have brought Zenos, the Dark Healer.”
“Welcome. I am Reve.”
A woman sitting on the throne in the back spoke in a clear voice.
She was younger than he had expected. She was large for a woman, with chestnut hair and impressive, fiery red eyes.
However, the sharp fangs at the corners of her mouth were certainly those of an Orc.
Reve of the Strong Arm. As expected of a big shot, she had quite an intimidating presence.
The many subordinates around her were looking at him as if they were sizing him up.
“You’re Reve? Where did you hear about me?”
“Where? You’re a celebrity in the underworld of the slums.”
“Eh, really…?”
“The Lizardmen and Werewolves are spreading rumors, saying ‘There’s this super amazing healer, but we can’t tell you who because he is not suppose to stand out.’ So, I got curious and investigated.”
“Those guys…!”
So he was standing out after all!
He was just a humble, unlicensed Dark Healer.
“I hear that if you are paid, you will provide treatment commensurate with the price.”
“I can’t work for free, you know.”
“I am in trouble because I cannot move. Do you know the reason?”
It seemed that he was being tested.
Zenos shrugged his shoulders and held his hand over Reve.
“<Diagnostic Scan>”
A white, linear light passed through Reve’s head and shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“There doesn’t seem to be any external injuries, so I’m checking inside your body.”
“I’ve never heard of a healer who does that.”
“Eh, conversely, how do people heal without knowing what’s going on inside the body?”
If it’s an external injury, you can just heal what you see, but you can’t do that with the inside of the body.
Could it be that normal healers can heal without needing such a thing?
Damn it, licensed healers are different.
It’s frustrating, but as an unlicensed healer, he had no choice but to do this.
Ignoring Reve, who looked astonished for some reason, Zenos continued the scan.
“There’s a hard lump in your stomach. Is this a magic stone?”
“Amazing, that’s right. In my stomach, there is a magic stone. And it’s a super-powerful [Explosion] stone, at that.”
A magic stone is a crystal of magical power, and by using it, one can obtain effects similar to magic.
Among them, [Explosion] is the highest-grade attack magic stone.
It’s not good to have something like that in your stomach.
“Could it be that someone slipped it to you?”
“No, I mistook it for a rice ball and ate it.”
“Are you stupid?”
“Believe it or not, I’m a glutton.”
“I don’t care!”
What was that about being a person full of wisdom, nobility, and dignity?
Zofia the Swift. Ringa the Tyrant. Reve of the Strong Arm.
When he was in the slums, they were people he couldn’t even step on their shadows, but they were all just weirdos.
He wasted his time taking them seriously.
“That’s ridiculous. If you leave it alone, it will come out from below eventually.”
“It’s not that simple. When I ate it, I bit off a part of the outer shell. There isn’t much time left before it explodes. Moreover, if I carelessly stimulate it, it will explode.”
“I see. So that’s why you can’t move.”
Reve nodded and continued with a serious expression.
“The problem is that my subordinates won’t leave my side. If it explodes, they’ll be caught up in it. But they won’t listen to me, and I can’t move to chase them away.”
“Chief, if you die, we die with you. We will accompany you!”
The Orcs wouldn’t move away from Reve.
Even though she was a stupid leader who mistook an [Explosion] magic stone for a rice ball and ate it, she seemed to have some charisma.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“I want to donate our fortune to you.”
Reve said something unexpected.
“If this explodes, we will die. The Orcs of this town will end today. Before that, I want to give our fortune to someone who can make use of it.”
“We’ve only just met. Why would you give it to someone like me?”
“It’s not like we have any reliable allies outside our own kind anyway. You are in a neutral position, and although you demand a considerable price, you apparently treat children for free. I like children.”
Reve flicked the key to the treasure vault with his finger and gave it to Zenos.
“We, Lady Reve’s subordinates, will follow you to the afterlife!!”
The subordinate Orcs were crying, overcome with emotion.
“…Just stay still. Don’t bite your tongue.”
Zenos raised his index finger.
“<Surgical Scalpel>”
Magic power gathered at his fingertip, forming a white, shining blade.
And then, he suddenly thrust the tip into Reve’s body.
“Lady Reve!”
“You bastard, what are you doing!”
The surrounding subordinates rushed to attack, but they stopped when they saw the hand that Zenos held up.
There was a red, blinking magic stone.
Reve blinked, holding her stomach.
“Wh-what did you just do?”
“Nothing much. I cut open your stomach, took out the magic stone, and then completely closed the wound.”
“That thing that looked like a blade—”
“It’s a knife I made with magic for internal treatment. It can cut anything, it’s clean, it heals automatically so there’s no pain, and it’s convenient because I can take it out and put it in freely.”
“S-such a thing is possible…”
“I’m unlicensed, so this is the best I can do.”
Then Reve shouted as if she had realized something.
“B-but, it will explode if you stimulate it!”
“That’s right.”
Zenos cupped the magic stone in both hands.
Immediately after —BOOM!— a huge explosion sounded in his hands, and the rocky mountain shook.
Small pieces of rubble fell from above.
“Y-you’re unharmed…?”
“I covered my palms with protective magic. But it hurt a little, so I healed it. Okay, it’s over. Sorry to interrupt the emotional scene, but I can’t have you calling me for something like this. I’ll return the key to the treasure vault.”
“What a man…”
Reve muttered in admiration.
“But, if you had kept quiet, you could have had our fortune.”
“I told you. I demand a price commensurate with my effort. This level of effort doesn’t match your fortune.”
“Ha. Hahahaha!”
The Orc chieftain clapped his hands and laughed loudly.
“I like you, Zenos the Dark Healer! You are a benefactor of the Orcs. If anything happens to you, we will rush to your aid at any time.”
“No, I’d rather you didn’t come.”
“Hahaha, don’t be modest. If you want, we can all guard your clinic all day long.”
“Seriously, stop it!”
Why? He said he didn’t want to stand out, but another troublesome guy has been added…!
“But, now that I’m relieved, I’m hungry. Zenos, how about some rice balls together?”
“Anything but rice balls, okay? I definitely won’t save you next time.”
And so, contrary to his wishes, Zenos was steadily becoming popular with the powerful figures of the underworld.