[Didn’t the Priest notice?]
ã„´[Doesn’t seem to have caught on at all. Even when I used it right in front of them.]
ã„´[You should practice holding your breath for a long time in advance…]
ã„´[Why?]
ã„´[(Nudge… con)]
ã„´[Poom!!! Deng!!!]
‘No idea what that means.’
There were replies I couldn’t make sense of.
I figured it was probably some meme unique to that place called the Gallery.
[Is the Healing Center work manageable?]
ã„´[Yes, it’s very easy. I’m satisfied.]
ã„´[I know a Priest who breaks a sweat from a single Heal, and you say it’s easy?]
ã„´[Why would this be hard?]
Among them were those asking about the difficulty of the work.
And to be honest, it wasn’t hard at all, which made it difficult to understand in a different sense than the earlier replies.
‘How could this leisurely pace be difficult?’
Compared to my days climbing the Tower or running my own Clinic, the patient I just treated was a truly easy case.
‘It’s not like they came with a Curse or a physical deficiency.’
Besides, they weren’t hard to treat compared to high-floor climbers.
It was a game-like comparison, but recovering a civilian with 100 HP was bound to be far easier than recovering an Awakener with 10,000 HP.
There was truly nothing difficult about it.
In fact, it felt like I was getting away with slacking off.
To the point where I even went out of my way to find work out of consideration for appearances.
“If it’s alright, I’ll go ahead and treat the remaining patients as well.”
“Hah, do you never get tired?”
“I’m still fairly young, after all.”
The old man had his age, so it made sense he’d tire early.
“..Age and the number of Miracles used have no correlation.”
But from my perspective, he seemed unwilling to believe it, his expression merely souring.
“At any rate, if you have energy to spare, you’re more than welcome. There’s never a shortage of patients.”
Receiving permission, I returned to the waiting room.
In the waiting room, several more patients had joined besides the old man and the young man I’d seen earlier.
A middle-aged man with a cough.
A woman who’d cut her hand while cooking.
Even a child clutching their stomach, apparently suffering from an upset stomach.
None of them were urgent cases, but a patient was a patient nonetheless.
‘As long as they pay, a Healer will even use Heal on a cold.’
That said, I didn’t just treat anyone.
Watching me, the old Priest asked with curiosity.
“What criteria are you using to treat people?”
“That young man just now would have had to worry about his livelihood if I didn’t treat his wrist immediately. So I treated him.”
“And that child?”
“The young lady with the injured hand smelled of flour. When I asked, she runs a Bakery, and wouldn’t it be a problem if she made bread with an injured hand?”
I didn’t bother mentioning that I also didn’t want to eat bread made by that injured hand.
“Then why didn’t you treat the earlier patients?”
“They don’t have any livelihood concerns, so is there a reason to treat them? It’s not like I have energy to spare.”
It’s overflowing.
“Besides, relying too much on Heal… I mean, Healing Miracles isn’t good either. If you treat everything without giving people the chance to overcome it themselves, who’s going to build up their Immunity?”
“Immunity?”
The word Immunity must have been unfamiliar. He echoed back with curiosity.
“The power to overcome illness. Just as those who’ve experienced something do it better than those who haven’t, the same applies to sickness.”
The old Priest thought for a moment, then nodded.
“That makes sense.”
He was quick to catch on.
Despite looking strict, he seemed open-minded when it came to treatment.
Patients visited at all hours.
The next patient I saw was a chubby-cheeked little girl, who was clinging tightly to her mother’s skirt, looking scared.
“Hng, do I have to take that medicine?”
“You don’t like medicine?”
“No…”
“Let’s see whether you need to take it or not.”
I projected my energy to diagnose the child.
‘Intestinal inflammation.’
She’d apparently eaten something she shouldn’t have and caught an intestinal infection.
“You snuck snacks behind your mother’s back, didn’t you? Don’t do that from now on.”
Whoosh-
Light bloomed from my palm and seeped into the child’s belly.
The child’s face, which had been scrunched up tightly, quickly relaxed.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore!”
The child jumped in place twice in delight, then froze and turned around, as if realizing something.
The mother, now aware that her child’s stomachache came from sneaking snacks, was making a terrifying face.
“Eek!“
Well, at least she won’t have to take the medicine, so she can’t resent me for that.
Probably.
Seeing this, the old Priest looked at me incredulously.
“What happened to building Immunity?”
“She’s cute, so it’s fine.”
“…”
I was about ninety percent serious.
“How about taking a break now? You’ll exhaust yourself.”
Was he worried I was overdoing the healing? The old Priest stopped me from treating patients.
Honestly, I still had plenty of energy left, but it didn’t seem wise to stand out too much, so I nodded as if I were tired.
“Unless you’re a Saint, doing more than that is truly impossible. What you’ve done so far is impressive enough, so rest now.”
‘Healers here have a pretty low standard.’
I swallowed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say.
The sky visible through the window had already begun to blush red.
Apparently, I really had worked hard enough to warrant concern.
“Well, it’s getting late and I’m out of energy, so I’ll be heading off.”
The old Priest raised his eyes.
“You’re not planning on leaving and not coming back tomorrow, are you?”
“Would I run away after a single day of work?”
It’s not like I had anywhere else to go right now anyway.
Well, I might, but no workplace would be more comfortable than this.
There was no reason to go looking for another job.
“By the way, where are you staying? I hadn’t heard that a Priest of the Flower was lodging at the Church. Though I was too busy yesterday to leave work.”
He asked if I’d arrived yesterday, but I shook my head.
It was true I’d entered the city yesterday, but I hadn’t gone to the Church in the first place, so I couldn’t confirm that.
“I’m currently staying at an Inn.”
The old Priest’s brow twitched.
“An Inn?”
“Yes.”
“If you asked the Church for a spare room, they’d gladly give you one. Why would you pay to stay at an Inn? Just come to the Church.”
Free lodging.
Honestly, that wasn’t a bad offer.
But going into the Church in my current state, without even properly memorizing the Doctrine and Scripture, was risky.
At the very least, entering the Church was something to do after memorizing the Doctrine and Scripture by heart.
“Even flowers can wish to be wildflowers, you know.”
But I couldn’t say that, so I made up a fitting excuse.
After doing it a few times, Priest-like excuses were starting to roll off the tongue.
The old Priest’s eyes widened slightly.
“So you’re saying Church people are flowers in a garden? Stop talking nonsense and just come.”
It didn’t work.
“Let me think about it.”
“Honestly, you’re quite stubborn.”
The old Priest grumbled but didn’t ask about lodging any further.
“Tomorrow, come right after sunrise. If you run, I’ll send Soldiers to catch you, so keep that in mind.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll say it again, don’t run.”
“I won’t run.”
Could it be that he’d asked me to stay at the Church to keep me under legal watch?
That thought crossed my mind.
When I left the Healing Center, the streets had grown considerably dark.
I nearly took a wrong turn on the complicated roads a few times, but fortunately, since I’d passed through once before, I didn’t lose my way.
Upon entering the Inn, the smell of warm food hit me first.
Luckily, it seemed I’d arrived just in time for dinner.
“Priest!”
The Innkeeper’s daughter spotted me and approached, carrying a plate bigger than my head with both hands.
She’d brought the food over the moment I sat down, as if she’d been waiting.
“Be careful.”
“Yes!”
I took the plate from the child and sat down.
But the delivery didn’t stop there.
She kept bringing plate after plate with her small body, until there were over three in total.
‘Roast chicken, cream stew, and is this bread?’
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t the standard meal offered to regular guests.
‘This is burdensome.’
Just then, the Innkeeper came out of the kitchen and spoke.
“I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste.”
“Is this repayment for treating your daughter?”
The Innkeeper gave an awkward smile, as if caught.
“I felt like this much was necessary to put my mind at ease.”
Refusing food already laid out wouldn’t be polite, so I expressed my thanks and picked up my spoon.
“I’ll eat gratefully. However, you don’t need to do this from now on.”
“Still…”
“As I said this morning, I didn’t do it expecting repayment.”
Though in truth, I was expecting repayment.
In fact, I was hoping she’d keep bringing lavish meals like this from now on.
But I hid those feelings and faithfully played the part of a Priest.
“And if I covet material things, the Goddess will be disappointed in me. For my sake, please refrain from excessive repayment.”
Even as I said that, I seated the Innkeeper’s daughter beside me and placed a chicken leg in her hand.
“Sean, you have some too.”
“Eek! I’m fine, Priest! Eep!”
Even as she said that, I could see her swallowing saliva, so I pressed the drumstick to her lips.
Contrary to my inner wish for abundant food, I was giving up the meat because I couldn’t digest it well.
“My digestion has been slowing down lately, you see.”
“But you’re young, Priest? You look like you’re only in your early twenties.”
“I’m in my thirties.”
And in this medieval world, being in your thirties meant you could easily have grown children.
“Eek!“
After filling my stomach with stew and soft bread, I went up to my room.
The first thing I did after locking the door and sitting on the bed was, of course, the Gallery.
The posts that came up were mostly what you’d call spam.
Occasionally, there were posts mentioning me.
Title: Recommending for the guy more lost than the Newbie who came yesterday lol
Author: Serf
I’ll start with myself.
[Recommend]
[Recommend lol]
Title: What kind of world was the Earth the Newbie lived on..
Author: Anonymous(171.02)
Been on this gallery and seen all kinds of Earths, but I still can’t even guess what a nationally certified level 1 healer license feels like.
[Isn’t that just a doctor? The name is a bit weird though.]
ã„´[You idiot, it says he can use Heal.]
[I’m from normal Earth, but in genre fiction there’s this Awakener genre that’s kind of similar. There are Healers and stuff in those.]
ã„´[This bastard’s hometown apparently has everything if you just say it. Stop lying so much]
ã„´[It’s real…]
There were posts curious about me, too.
On those posts, I left brief comments.
[To put it simply, we’re superpowered beings. When the Tower appeared twenty years ago, a small number of people Awakened abilities, and in my case, I Awakened a healing ability.]
Going into detail would’ve been long, but a rough explanation was enough.
ã„´[What’s the Tower?]
I found a post I’d bookmarked earlier and opened it.
ã„´[I’m asking what the Tower is??]
It was a post that compiled the Doctrines and Scriptures of various religions.
[Doctrine contents of 12 religions]
[Transcribed the Scripture of the Church of the Flower Goddess.]
‘I’m going to be working in a Priest den, so I should memorize this quickly.’
Fortunately, the Gallery screen stayed clear regardless of surrounding brightness, so reading was no problem.
The fact that I didn’t need to waste candles in the evening was plenty satisfying to this poor Priest impersonator.
As I was reading through the Doctrine, Scripture, and Prayers, a short piece of trivia caught my eye.
※Priests of each denomination wear a unique Symbol that proves their religion. Since the Symbol represents that religion, defiling it is treated the same as defiling the religion itself, so be careful.
※..The Church of the Flower Goddess uses a wooden brooch engraved with a Dandelion flower.
Below the text, a photo of the actual brooch was attached.
‘I almost got in trouble for staying ignorant.’
I zoomed in on the photo and examined it closely.
The Symbol’s form was a round wooden plate with a Dandelion flower carved into it.
Compared to the Symbols of other religions, it was crude, and the structure itself wasn’t complex.
‘I could probably make this myself.’
The problem was that I couldn’t judge purely from a visual reference.
But if I didn’t know something, I could just ask.
It was late, but from what I’d observed so far, the regulars of the Gallery didn’t distinguish between day and night.
‘Maybe they’re in a distant region with a time difference.’
Title: Does it matter if I make a religious Symbol myself?
Author: Anonymous(123.123)
The replies came quickly, as expected.
[I’ve asked what the Tower is for the 50th time]
I casually ignored the useless comments.
[Symbols are usually reissued by that religion’s Church, dude..]
ã„´[But doesn’t the Church of the Flower Goddess have very few Churches? I make a living as a Mercenary, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve even seen a Priest, let alone a Church.]
ã„´[Compared to other religions, they’re quite scarce. Other than the Capital and the Holy Site of the Flower Goddess, you can basically consider them nonexistent.]
[A Symbol isn’t a Symbol for nothing, even if it looks unimpressive. It’s like a pseudo Holy Relic, so you can’t just carve an identical one and have it become a Symbol]
ã„´[You can’t see it in the photo, but when you actually touch it, there’s a feeling unique to Miracles.]
ã„´[How do you know what a Symbol feels like? Are you a Priest?]
ã„´[I’ve killed a Priest and looted one before.]
ã„´[(That’s not a person, con)]
After reading the replies to the end, I closed the Gallery.
My conviction was firm in an instant.
‘At that level, I could just make one myself.’