Acupuncture (4)

"Very well, then could you lie down here for a moment?"

The blind man graciously accepted Anthony's request and stood up from the couch.

Anthony did as the blind man said and laid down on the couch in a comfortable position. Fortunately, the couch was long enough for him to lie down.

"Uh… What's going on?"

Anthony laid down on the couch and looked up at the blind man beside him.

"First I need to know where it hurts, have you had any discomfort recently?"

"Recently…I haven't slept well, so my body and head are heavy with fatigue, but this…Is it possible?"

"Fatigue… Fatigue…"

The blind man knelt down beside Anthony, who was lying on the couch, and groped for his arm.

"Perhaps you could roll up your sleeves."

"…I will."

Obediently, Anthony rolled up his sleeves as the blind man requested while the servant watched with bated breath from across the living room.

As Anthony rolled up his sleeve, the blind man rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a needle.

"I want you to put your arms down comfortably on the couch. You shouldn't strain your arms."

"…Okay."

Purely to test his ability, Anthony did as he was asked.

As Anthony relaxed his arm, the blind man's hand slid along his arm, stopping at a point. The blind man's other hand, which was holding the needle, stabbed at that exact spot.

The needle quickly burrows into the skin, but Anthony didn't feel a sting.

'I feel like something is clearing my head…'

Soon after the blind man removed the needles, Anthony's throbbing head began to clear up.

"…What is this…? …Oh, I'm sorry. I'm new to acupuncture, so it's a bit of a surprise…"

Anthony's eyes widened, and he gibbered to the blind man.

"It's an acupuncture point for headaches, I'm afraid I'll have to touch your back to get rid of the rest of your body's fatigue, so I'm just going to take care of your headache for now, but what do you think?"

The blind man replied with a calm smile at Anthony.

'It might be you. Finally…'

Anthony's mind was racing as he thought that an apology was in order.

"First of all… I apologize. I understand that acupuncture involves needles going into the child's body so I was very worried."

"It's okay, that's the kind of reaction you get when a stranger is going to put needles in you."

With that, the blind man packed his backpack and stood up.

When the blind man had finished organizing his backpack, he spoke.

"Besides, it's your daughter's body, so I understand. If I can help someone who is sick, this is something I have to live with."

Anthony, lying on the couch and looking up at the blind man, thought he saw a glow behind him for a moment at his eloquent words.

"St…now…"

A saint is an apostle of the Lord, and only one can exist at the same time.

The word suddenly flashed through Anthony's mind, even though there shouldn't be any saints recognized by the Lord in the Holy Land.

Of course, due to the brilliance of a lamp hanging from the ceiling he was mistaken.

Anthony quickly regained his composure and pushed himself up from the couch.

"…Anyway, thank you. Why don't you come with me to check on my daughter?"

Anthony kindly led the blind man to the room where his daughter was.

"You walk really well, by the way."

The blind man followed Anthony's footsteps to the room in a straight line.

"I was wondering, since I heard about it from a friend, what is this thing called precognition?"

"It's another sense that allows you to get a rough idea of where things are, from sounds and waves, or the flow of air. It's a skill taught to me by the Master who took me in, but it's not that great."

"Hehe…"

The blind man was quite modest.

To Anthony, he seemed extraordinary, but he didn't treat it as anything special.

"This is the room where my daughter is."

With that, Anthony opened the door to the room. Once inside the room, the blind man noticed the chair next to the bed, groped for it, and asked.

"May I sit here?"

"You may do as you please. You have a strange ability to sense things."

"But… It's hard to know her exact condition with just my senses, so I'll have to touch her, do you mind?"

"It's fine."

Anthony stood behind the blind man, observing his behavior carefully.

The blind man fumbled with the blanket covering Emilia and pulled it off, then pulled off her top to reveal her stomach.

Soon, the blind man was touching her stomach, squeezing it, and putting his ear close to her body to listen more closely.

'She is not a normal person.'

It is said that first impressions are very important when it comes to relationships.

For Anthony, the first impression of the blind man was impressive. His mysterious ability to feel things, his first-hand experience with acupuncture and the white bandages over his eyes, everything about him was mysterious.

Anthony crossed his arms as he watched the blind man, slightly nervous as he sensed an unusual energy in Emilia.

When the blind man was done using his senses to assess Emilia's condition, he spoke.

"…I was nervous when I heard about it through the rumors, but after examining her, my suspicions seem to be correct."

"Do you know the name of the disease?"

"…Have you ever heard of something called 'mana exhaustion'?"

"Mana exhaustion…?"

Anthony's bewilderment at the unfamiliar name is palpable.

"Mana is what makes up the human body and is the source of life…A kind of life force."

"I know that, but…"

Anthony wasn't as familiar with mana as a knight or wizard, but he knew that everyone in the world lived with it in their bodies.

"But if you take it out of your body and use it up, it becomes a burden. That's the case with mages, because their magic basically uses up the mana they have."

"…But my daughter is an ordinary child who can barely handle mana, let alone magic, and yet she's exhausted?"

Anthony, who was becoming more and more curious as the blind man's explanation continued, asked him as he unclasped his arms.

"In essence, mana exhaustion is a temporary condition, a phenomenon seen in those who have expended a great deal of mana. However, even though your daughter hasn't used up any mana, she's been leaking it out of her body since the moment she tried to restore it…She is in a constant state of mana depletion."

"…She's losing mana… Mana exhaustion… Is it something that even an acupuncturist can't cure…?"

At Anthony's desperate question, the blind man's head turned from Anthony to Emilia once more.

"It's a rare disease, but I understand that it can be cured by using 'Divine Clear', a divine magic that purifies harmful conditions…but from what I've heard, you're not in a position to do so."

With that, the blind man opened his backpack and pulled out a number of needles, placing them next to the lying Emilia.

"So…I'll have to try."

"And if you try to cure her, will you risk her life…?"

Anthony asked as the blind man continued.

Of course, Anthony was a firm believer in the acupuncture skills of the blind man in front of him, but he was still a little hesitant if there was a risk.

"There's no risk, it's just something that requires a lot of concentration."

"Ah… Okay. Please, just let me know if you're uncomfortable with me being here."

"No, it's fine. As long as you don't let it affect your mood, you're welcome to watch."

With that, the blind man slowly ran his fingers over Emilia's stomach.

The blind man then picked up a needle.

Anthony swallowed hard, trying not to let it affect his mood, but it didn't ease his anxiety.

'Lord Henerys may this be the day that you decide to help your servant.'

Anthony prayed deeply to the Lord in his heart.

As he was about to place the needle in Emilia's stomach, the blind man stopped his arm.

Puzzled by his behavior, Anthony immediately asked him a question.

"Did something unexpected happen?"

"No, I think I need to be a little more certain," said the blind man, "this is a very important procedure, so I'll have to go over it again, if you'll just wait a moment."

Anthony was puzzled by the blind man's unintelligible words, but he realized that the blind man with his head down was really going over something in his head.

'The order of the needles is important… I had expected that, but it's a tricky situation.'

Some time passed, and the blind man finally looked up.

"Okay, then, let's get started."

The blind man's more assured tone was enough to inspire confidence in Anthony.

A single needle of the blind man landed on Emilia's stomach. Emilia's expression didn't change. Fortunately, she didn't seem to feel any pain.

The blind man continued to stroke Emilia's stomach, searching for the right spot and placing the needle.

'Lord Henerys…Give strength to our poor Emilia…'

Anthony prayed to the God he served.

One by one, the blind man's needles were embedded and after a while the blind man's calm, swift movements stopped and he opened his mouth.

"Whoa… It's done, now we just have to wait. In cases like this, it's not easy to see the effects of acupuncture right away."

The blind man packs his backpack and stands up, patting the chair he was sitting in just a moment ago.

"Please sit down, because if she does wake up, I'm sure she'll want to see her father's face first."

"…Thank you."

"But we don't know yet. We need to keep an eye on her."

Anthony shakily sat back in his chair and looked at Emilia and the twelve needles resting on her tiny stomach.

His heart sank as he looked at his daughter and thought of his wife who had passed away.

'It's been hard…but watching her has kept me going…Emilia, if you're gone, how am I supposed to survive?'

Anthony clasped his hands together and placed them on the bed, praying desperately to his God.

The blind man stood wordlessly behind him, watching his broad back.

And so…some time passed.

As Anthony bowed his head in prayer, a voice reached his ears. A voice he wanted to hear so badly. The one voice he craved.

"Oh…daddy…?"

It was Emilia's voice as she opened her eyes.

In her disoriented state, Emilia called Anthony daddy.

Daddy. It was a word he hadn't heard in a long, long time.

Ever since his wife had died, when she had called him, she had chosen the word father over daddy.

"Emilia…? You're awake…!"

"Uh…yeah…"

"Emilia… You're back…. Hmph…"

Emilia wondered why her precious father's eyes were streaming with tears…

She couldn't tell but she looked at him and smiled. For some reason, she felt like she had to.

"Hehe…"

Emilia's smile, so much like his wife's, only made Anthony's tears fall harder.

"I missed you so much…My lovely daughter…"

***

"Are you sure 700 gold is enough?! I have announced that I will give 2000 gold to whoever cures my daughter…"

"It's okay, this amount shouldn't trouble you too much, right?"

"Still... No, I will comply with your wishes, Mr. Acupuncturist, thank you very much."

Anthony bowed to me.

'If I take all 2000 gold, it will delay you from becoming the Saint's Patron…'

I took as little as I could because I knew that when it came to the saint episode, things would start to get sneaky.

I also refused the offer of 1000 gold and in the end at around 700 gold, Anthony was finally convinced and accepted.

'He is a good man.'

The girl holding onto one of Anthony's legs, his daughter Emilia, waves to me. She seems slightly shy because of my unfamiliarity.

"Emilia, he has trouble with his eyes, so it's better to greet him out loud."

Anthony crouches down to get eye level with Emilia, then pats her on the head.

'I've used up two of my skill points, but I'm not worried…I have the Blindfold for experience.'

Before I tried acupuncture on Emilia, I realized that I couldn't heal her with the level 1 skill, so I used my two remaining skill points to get it to level 3 and luckily, it worked.

As if on cue, the result speaks to me in a small, high-pitched voice.

"Mr. Acupuncturist… Thank you… See you next time…!"

I smile at Emilia's shy greeting.

"I don't know if there will be a next time, but I will repay you in a bigger way someday, Mr. Acupuncturist."

"Haha, I'm grateful enough for the money I've already received, so I'll take my leave now."

"Have a safe trip."

The woman standing next to them also bowed to me.

I thanked them and went on my way.

'I feel like I'm getting better at making excuses.'

I couldn't take the blindfold off, and the future of the good people in my hands was too important to give up.

Anthony will become the patron of the saint, so he'll have a close relationship with her.

'In the game, I started off with a little bit of a boost in the saint's likability after completing this quest…'

The saint's appearance at the Academy is a bit of a long shot.

She's the type of person who is drawn to mysterious figures, so I thought it would work better if I didn't give her a name.

When I left Anthony's house, the sun was slowly making its appearance.

My backpack was full since I had just received 700 gold, so that was 500 gold down.

All that's left is an object that holds the soul's memories but I know where it is, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

It required an investment of 2 skill points and I can't leave the club I joined for a while.

'Still, this is the fastest way.'

The Spectral Sword is not far away now.

'I'll have to move quickly to avoid being late.'