Chapter XXXIX - Crippled Healer (part 1)

The fifth day of the week, Friday, went by normally. 

Without going for any missions, I couldn't really say I have much to do. So, I ended up reading the books I borrowed from the library for the whole day and hid in my room like a jobless person.

The day passed by very quickly. And now, it's finally the weekend. The time for the healing act at the church.

I don't really know if I actually can do the healing act or not, but in the end I really wanted to do it. Everyone is relying on me, and I will have to do my best to fulfill their expectations.

It wasn't exactly clear at what time the healing act will start. The act starts as soon as the nuns and the guest healers are ready. If I were to blatantly guess, it's around 7 or 8 am.

I woke up exactly at the first bell, which is rare because usually I oversleep. I took a bath and did a little laundry on my dirty clothes and underwear. And finally, after nearly two months, I am starting to get used to washing female clothes. I hope this doesn't turn me into a pervert, considering my condition is by all means the funniest.

After washing up, I put on my casual attire. Then, I jumped to bed again.

There should be at least an hour until it starts, so I should have a little bit of time to kill. So, I opened the book about magic souls.

I've been reading books that are related to my sickness since yesterday. Hoping that this way, I could have a bit more knowledge regarding it.

I finished reading on the Alfeid's sickness that the old lady gave me yesterday. So I returned it, along with the other books I borrowed. Then, I took the books about magic souls and some other magic related books, which is the book I am reading now.

'A broken magic soul couldn't be fixed, but it could be sealed. Meaning that the person will never be able to use magic anymore, but they can still live a long life.'

Fuck that option. There has to be a way to fix it. It's probably not found yet, so I just have to look for it. 

There are so many concepts in this world that haven't been found yet, like engines or vehicles. With this in mind, I am determined to be the first to find the cure to this sickness.

After reading for around an hour, I think it's finally time for the healing act. Today is the 3rd day of me being in the act, and ever since I showed up, the amount of people coming had risen by a bunch.

So... I have to expect that the amount will be even more today.

Will I be able to handle it? With this broken magic soul?

Maybe I can use one or two lights on the healing. It is much slower compared to when I was using seven, but it could give me enough magic energy.

And if I run out of magic energy, I can always drink the blue potions for magic that I stored inside my space ring.

After getting ready, I head out to the church.

"Oh dear god."

Hundreds of meters away from the church, the line already reached here.

People. There are so many of them.

Multiple carts of nobles are parked in front of the buildings on the left, while across the street is the market. And in the middle of the street is a line full of people.

I'm guessing the one lining up are mostly commoners, or maybe the noble's henchmen.

I looked at the line of carriages on the left side of the street, searching for a specific one. But, the one I'm looking for isn't here yet.

I guess the queen is too shy to show up in front of these people. Or perhaps she plans on coming out a little late?

I turned my body and walked to the small dark alleyway right next to me. And here I thought I could just enchant my legs with magic energy and jump tens of meters above the ground.

Right... I'm weak now. I can't parkour anymore.

Man, being sick sucks.

I turned around and simply walked awkwardly from the crowd, into the church. I walked past the line until I arrived right at the church's front door.

"Rize! Come in!"

The man at the door, a priest, seemed to have recognized me. He then opened the door and let me in, giving confusion to the other people.

Why can't I just go through the back door?

I walked to the back, where the nuns and guest healers were waiting. Apparently they are earlier than I thought.

"Rize."

Khel walked to me and pulled me to the basement. Her face looked serious.

"Rize."

"Y-Yes?"

Bahahah, I'm so tense.

"Today is a very big day!"

"Huh? Why?"

She continued pulling me to her room, where she grabbed the set of nun outfit and threw it at me.

"There are more people outside than before. Not to mention, nobles."

"I... am aware..."

"Will you be able to handle it?"

Khel looked at me with big hopes. But unfortunately, I will have to let her down.

I let out a sigh and told her everything. Starting from how I managed to damage my magic soul, and now I couldn't use much magic except for myself.

"Oh, no..."

"Yeah..."

She covers her mouth in horror as her eyes wide open, looking at me.

"Rize, I'm so sorry..."

"Haha, don't be. If anything, we now have a big problem to solve."

I told her that I can still do the healing, but limited to only two lights at once, which means that the process will be much slower. And at some occasions, I might fall to the ground because of the lack of magic energy. 

She asked me if drinking a magic energy potion can heal my issue, but if it can I would have done it by now. The magic healing potion can only recover the same amount that I had before I started to use magic. Which means right now, I can only recover only 45 points of magic energy from a single potion.

It's... incredibly sad. But, she will have to understand.

After hearing such, Khel nodded and said that the other nuns will do their best to help me out.

Because, in reality, I am the one helping them. They would feel bad if I'm the one working very hard while they have a lot of freedom.

So, I nodded back and signalled that I wanted to change.

"Come on, we are both girls..."

"Get out."

She left the room after that. I changed into the nun outfit that I once used. I made sure that the hood is covering my hair, else people will know my identity from the hair.

I left the room after changing, and I look like a genuine nun now.

The other nuns upstairs were already prepared, and Khel had already told them about my condition.

Some of them patted me in the shoulder and said 'Do your best! We will be too' kind of words. This is a very big moment for them because there are nearly five times the amount from the previous one. And the previous one is already three times more than normal.

There must be five hundred people outside, waiting to meet the great Saint Healer.

Too bad, y'all. The Saint Healer is crippled.

When the time was nigh, we all went to our regular posts. Aside from the insane increase of the people outside, there is also an increase of healers here.

There are five new guest healers that came for the healing act. But, by the way they are talking to their nun and priest partners, it doesn't seem like they are new. Probably the guest healers that came back here thinking that I could back them up so that they wouldn't get magically exhausted.

They must have heard the bad news from Khel, because their faces weren't quite happy. Well, thanks to them coming, this healing act will still be faster than usual since there's more healers.

Of course, I'm determined to do my best as well. I was partnered with Khel along with a priest. It seems like this man is one of the seniors, because he looked older than other priests here.

"If you are tired, you can switch up with me."

He said to me confidently as he grinned, but I only apologized because he will be troubled.

I have to count on him. They are relying on me, so I will also do what I can do. I'm just going to act, and if I need his help, I'll ask. 

The nun at the door announced that we were starting, and everyone was tense. The door was opened, and the first batch of people entered. 

Some of them are racing for the position on the right back, which was my position for last week.

Too bad for them, the positions have been switched around. I'm now at the front.

The person that came to our station was an old woman with a very pale face. Her hair was already half white and her skin was no longer smooth. She has aged.

"Good morning madam. May I know your name?"

The old lady turned to Khel who was asking her the question. I'm sitting right across from her, and next to me is the priest.

"My name is Valency."

Cool name.

"Madam Valency, can you tell us about your issues?"

Khel is asking nicely. She had been trained to do this as well. If she asks cruelly (like what I would have done), the patient will most likely not tell everything and mess up the process.

And this patient is cooperating nicely. She explained her sickness from zero, starting from how she gets it and how it is now.

From the way she explained it, I understood immediately what I must do. This won't require a bunch of energy, thankfully.