Chapter 198. Responsibility and Hope (3)

“Phew, it’s finally over.”

A pitch-black container box with the freelance symbol mark stenciled on the outside.

A building that seemed to have been gladly provided for relief use, which was previously used temporarily by freelancers from some agency who had set up a prefabricated structure.

Inside the empty white room, after the last patient with a bandage on one arm had left for the waiting room.

Lily, who was taking a breath after frantically treating people, was panting.

She looked down at the medical wand in her hand and muttered quietly.

“As I thought, it's strange.”

The image of a black-haired boy flashed through her mind.

“The treatment for the others is going well without any problems….”

Just then.

A familiar voice tickled the ear of her who was quietly mumbling to herself.

“Sister Lily.”

“Ah, Lord Enoch!”

Lily, who was sitting demurely on a chair with her hands clasped, was startled and turned around.

There, stood the boy she had been wondering about just moments ago.

“May I come in?”

“Y-yes! Of course!”

Enoch was a little surprised as he stepped over the threshold of the room.

Her disheveled tangerine-colored hair, under the rippling veil of her nun’s habit that hung down her back.

From the way she was rubbing one eye as if trying to pull herself together, to her slightly reddened eye, she looked extremely tired.

“You’ve been working hard.”

Indeed, after the brutal battle had ended, this was truly Lily's main stage to shine.

In this outsourcing district where proper medical support was hard to come by, her existence was a miracle itself for the freelancers who had been severely injured during the battle.

Guessing her hard work without difficulty, Enoch passed the door and approached Lily’s side.

“Don’t you need to rest?”

Enoch asked, briefly looking at the unwrapped cotton pads and medical artifacts beside her.

“Lord Enoch, I……”

Lily, who looked very tired, dropped her head for a moment, then quietly shook it.

Then, clenching her hands that were trembling slightly from fatigue, she muttered as if to steel herself.

“No. If it were Saintess Amelia, whom I admire, she would surely have been composed even in a situation worse than this.”

Enoch stared at her intently.

To think that Saintess Amelia, who had said she didn't believe in the Goddess herself, was admired like this by a junior nun.

Had Saintess Amelia, as per her previous resolve, been maintaining her own lie well in that precarious position?

“Anyway, Sister Lily, you asked to see me after the meeting ended.”

“Yes, that’s right. Lord Enoch's wound, for some reason, the recovery speed was slow at that time, so I only gave it first aid.”

Lily said, looking at Enoch cautiously.

“But still, it wasn't a complete cure, so the injured area must have hurt a lot, but the meeting….”

“It’s alright. It was bearable.”

Enoch smiled faintly and, looking around the cluttered treatment room where the treatment had just finished, added.

“The treatment can wait a little, so Sister, you should get some rest first.”

“No, I'm fine! I'll treat you right now!”

Lily, as if to regain her energy, slapped both of her palms against her white cheeks with a sharp sound.

“Now then! Come this way!”

Then, after carefully seating Enoch on a makeshift chair next to her, she knelt down and brought her short, wand-shaped healing magic gear over the wound.

The moment she brought the magic gear to the wound on Enoch’s leg, a translucent wave of mana spread out.

“The wound wasn’t large, but it was really deep. Among lacerations, it was the kind that would usually make it difficult to even walk.”

Following Lily’s clear and slender tone, a shimmering, colorless haze of light became a wave and scattered.

Finally, following the young nun’s will, the mana began to rapidly reconstruct and activate Enoch’s injured skin, muscles, and blood vessels.

Enoch stared at Lily’s healing magic.

Unlike the healing magic that had been constructed in a pressing situation, the effect of Lily’s spell, which was concentrated with her mana raised to the maximum, was greatly enhanced.

If the output of the healing magic was increased, it would take some time to heal, but was it not yet at a level where Lily's treatment was ineffective?

Just then, Lily looked at Enoch and asked.

“How is it? Is it a little better now?”

“Yes, it’s definitely getting better.”

Enoch replied, not hiding his slightly surprised tone.

To what level had the wonders of civilization achieved by the modern mages, who were called the Magic Empire, reached?

The more he experienced magic that directly healed the body's wounds, the more he realized it.

“Still, I have a long way to go.”

Lily looked at Enoch with a slightly weak smile.

“Sorry? For what?”

“If my skills had been better back then and I had healed Lord Enoch completely, you wouldn't have been in pain. If I were even half as good as Saintess Amelia….”

Lily hung her head with a look of self-doubt.

“It was the same during the joint mission in the beast-kin's village last time, but I don't know why Lord Enoch's wounds don't heal well.”

“…….”

“I’m sure I’ve made some definite progress in healing magic in the meantime, but for the wound to heal even slower….”

At Lily’s words, Enoch gave a slightly bitter smile.

Without a doubt, the reason was actually obvious.

It was definitely not a matter of Lily’s skill, but entirely due to Enoch’s increased magic resistance.

Of course, Lily had no way of knowing that Enoch’s magic resistance had increased due to the effect of the reagent, thanks to being constantly exposed to magic and rolling around since the joint mission.

Come to think of it, the last time, during the inheritance of the Sword Saint of the Waves, the connection to the inner world was suddenly cut off, causing an anomaly.

Because of that, considering the condition and risks during the mission, he hadn't yet checked the degree of his growth in the inner world.

Enoch, who hadn't expected to confirm a definite measure of his growth in this way, smiled bitterly.

“Perhaps my constitution is unusual. Even with healing magic, there must be individual differences.”

“T-that’s true, but still, this is….”

“And there’s no need to compare yourself to Saintess Amelia.”

Enoch added with a faint smile to her, who still seemed to have lost confidence.

“To the extent that you’re not inferior to the Saintess, your talent, Sister Lily, is sufficiently helping me and the people here right now.”

“Th-thank you for saying that.”

Lily, as if she hadn't expected to be praised, blushed slightly and turned her head to the side.

Enoch, ignoring her, touched the leg that had been treated once and moved it.

Indeed, the wound was gone as if it had been washed away. To the point where there seemed to be no problem at all.

For a moment, Enoch asked Lily, who was stretching her arms down with a small yawn.

“By the way, you look very tired, is there anything I can do to help?”

“H-help, it might not be that.”

Lily said, looking around slightly.

“Um, among some of the freelancers, there are those who keep showing interest in me.”

“Interest, you say.”

“Y-yes. A-perhaps they're very interested because it's their first time seeing a nun from The Order, but….”

Lily blushed slightly and averted her gaze.

“But some, um. There are many who send me uncomfortable gazes.”

Enoch glanced to the side where Lily was looking.

Several rough-looking freelancers sitting on the chairs in the waiting room outside the door were openly glancing at Lily and chattering among themselves, snickering.

Their gazes were like they were meticulously licking her from head to toe, which anyone would see as very disrespectful.

“It certainly seems so.”

Enoch turned his head with a bitter smile.

Like anywhere else in the Empire, the freelancers of the outsourcing district were not all good people.

It wasn't something he couldn't have expected, those gazes that were so openly watching her.

“Besides, Sister Lily is an official nun of the Holy Séjour, so it’s natural for the gazes to gather on you.”

In the first place, mages who possess the talent to skillfully use healing magic are very rare in the Empire.

As it is magic that directly deals with human life, one must have a thorough moral education, sensitivity to mana, and medical knowledge to fulfill one's role as a healer.

Lily was a rare mage with such a talent for healing, and also a skilled person who served as the Saintess's direct assistant.

At this point, it would be strange if the freelancers didn’t show interest in some way or another.

“You’ve been through a lot in many ways.”

Enoch, who had sighed lightly, glanced at Lily.

“I’ll help within my ability. It’s certainly my responsibility for bringing you here.”

In the first place, wasn’t it Enoch who had brought her, a nun of the Holy Séjour, alone to the middle of a battlefield like this?

He had no intention of ignoring that fact and leaving Lily alone.

Just the situation of being noticed more than necessary in the outsourcing district could expose Lily to another threat.

But Lily waved her hands as if to say not to worry.

“I-it’s okay! Still, some people were worried about me and gave me advice while they were being treated!”

“Advice?”

“Ah, y-yes! T-that is…. About Lord Enoch…!”

For some reason, Lily, who had begun to hesitate, made Enoch feel a little curious and he asked back.

“About me? Could you tell me?”

“W-well, that is…….”

Then Lily, who was fidgeting with her fingers and watching my reaction, blushed.

Just as I was wondering why, the innocent nun, as if she couldn't care less, closed her eyes tightly and shouted.

“That is! The freelancers here are saying that there are huge rumors that Lord Enoch is a lecher who only recruits beautiful women for his squad, so, so I should be careful too…!!”

At the unexpected words, Enoch narrowed his eyes.

……A lecher, you say.

What kind of rumors were going around?

Enoch looked at Lily, who was fidgeting by herself, with somewhat cold eyes. He had thought she was quite innocent from before, but did she believe this?

No, that aside, he didn't know that the freelancers here really saw him that way.

To be honest, it seemed like the freelancers were half-jokingly saying it to tease Lily.

Enoch sighed softly.

Still, was it all a misunderstanding that he had thought their gazes had become somewhat friendly before?

“U-um. So. I was worried that I might cause you harm, Lord Enoch, because of me…”

As if she was embarrassed to even say such a thing, Lily lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.

Only then did Enoch realize the intention of her words and tilted his head.

Come to think of it, Lily was an official nun who served the Saintess, who was Enoch’s follower family.

It might be natural for her to worry about causing trouble for Amelia as well.

But the most important thing was for her, who couldn't protect herself, not to be harmed by the freelancers here.

Enoch, who had been staring at the young nun who still seemed to be at a loss about the rumors, took a step closer.

“Ah!”

Noticing Enoch who had suddenly come close, Lily looked up at him and made a surprised expression with a gasp. But Enoch opened his mouth without a care.

“A lecher, you say. That's actually good.”

“Huh?”

“At the very least, it's also proof that you, Sister Lily, are beautiful enough to receive such a warning.”

Whether it was because she was flustered by the direct words, her face was already turning beet red.

“B-beautiful. Me?”

Enoch nodded his head. This, too, was certainly not a lie.

Even among Enoch’s squad, which was full of beauties who had always attracted the attention of those around them, objectively, Lily’s appearance did not fall behind.

“Ugh!”

But in that moment, as if she had interpreted the meaning of those words a little differently, Lily took a few steps back and her eyes widened.

“N-no way! Do you really think of me that way, Direct Lineage Member…!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Th-that, I! No, I mean?!”

Lily, who was suddenly startled by something, looked around here and there, and her pupils, which seemed to be spinning in confusion, trembled as she moved her lips.

“I-I am. That is. A nun, I'm a nun…. Originally, w-with a man, that is. A forbidden….”

“You don’t need to worry about that here.”

Bringing his lips next to her reddened cheek, Enoch whispered with his head lowered.

“There are no eyes from the Holy Séjour to see. Here, I think it wouldn’t be so bad to have such a forbidden relationship with me.”

“F-face! Your face is close….”

Ignoring her, who was at a loss, Enoch calmly whispered in her ear.

“A nun who might have some sort of relationship with the direct lineage of Elsyde, and also a close aide of the Saintess, who is his follower family, Lady Lily. No matter how unruly they are, they won't be able to hit on you easily.”

“…! ……! ……!!”

But for some reason, Lily seemed to not hear his words well and kept trembling slightly.

Enoch glanced at her and asked quietly.

“Ah. Are you alright?”

“Uuuuuuh…!!”

A little puzzled, when he grabbed her wrist, Lily’s face turned even redder, and she tried to cover her tomato-red cheeks with her long hair.

Then, from behind her half-covered face, as if she couldn't stand it any longer, she averted her gaze and quietly nodded her head.

“A-alright….”

Good. Enoch smiled faintly with a slightly proud feeling.

After setting up a defense mechanism for Lily by using the rumors in this way, he could make a public explanation later.

According to his calculations, he would be able to solve Lily’s worries for the time being.

But he realized, after looking to the side for a moment, that there was someone who didn't think so.

“Wow.”

A freelance sniper with a bright pink bobbed hair under her baseball cap was looking this way with her arms crossed.

Her pinkish eyes were, for some reason, a little colder than usual.

“……I really saw you in a new light just now, Direct Lineage Member.”

“April. What’s wrong?”

April, who was glaring this way with chilly eyes, narrowed her eyes and snapped.

“Hey, Direct Lineage Member, if you play with an innocent girl like that, you’ll get your karma back properly later, you know?”

“Play with her? No way.”

Enoch tilted his head to the side. Then he added seriously.

“I only spoke the truth. And it’s quite effective for persuasion.”

He already knew that Lily was weak to being pushed. Thanks to that, he had also saved himself the trouble of painstakingly persuading Lily.

If she, as a nun, didn't have enough immunity to men, there was no reason not to use that.

But for some reason, April’s eyes, who was listening to those words, were turning a little more heartless.

“Wow, effective, he says. That’s really something.”

“It’s for Lily’s sake. It’s not wrong, is it?”

As if to say there was no point in talking, April raised her slender arms slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

“Phew, whatever…. I wonder why even that insensitivity is similar to the person who introduced me to you?”

What was that about? In a puzzled state, Enoch tilted his head a little.

First of all, if the person April mentioned who introduced her was the one who was playing the role of a freelancer, was it me?

Just then, April, who had sighed deeply, leaned her back against the wall and gently grabbed her forearm, adding.

“Anyway, that’s enough for now, let’s go for a walk outside with me for a bit.”

“Huh?”

“Because I’ve roughly finished grasping the current situation of the freelancers that you asked me to do earlier, Direct Lineage Member.”

At those words, Enoch couldn't hide his slightly surprised expression and nodded his head.

The current damage of the freelancers, the scale of the enemy, and the general situation that was going on.

It had only been a few hours since he had asked her to do the research so he could know that in advance, but had she, as a veteran freelancer, already finished it?

“That's good. I wanted to know the general situation in advance anyway.”

Enoch said as he walked towards April.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”