ASDP Chapter 64

The Saint’s power is as amazing as ever.
It was a truly mystical sight to see the wounds of the injured person I carried yesterday heal in an instant. I can understand why they say it was because of the power given to them by God.
I was reminded once again that what I could do was very little, so I simply watched, trying not to get in the way of Alice, the saint.

And the patients who have come into contact with such a mysticism worship Alice. I thought this was only natural, and watched as Alice led the people with the smile of a saint. Everyone rejoiced, praising the saint, and Alice worshiped me.
“Wait, Alice. There’s no need to worship me, I’m not a saint. It’s God that saints worship and give thanks to, right?”
Please don’t casually involve me in your praise of the saint. I almost overheard it.
“They were only saved thanks to my and Amelia’s efforts.”
“I’m not the only one who came to the rescue.”
I have no intention of stealing someone else’s success. It was my father, the uncles, and the people of the town who came to rescue them.

Yesterday I was surprised and swept away by the power of the Saint, but today I must be clear about my will and deny what needs to be denied.
“I was examined by Dr. Amelia, so it’s not wrong to say that she helped me.”
“There’s no need to confirm that.”
One of the patients said sorry about the argument between me and Alice, but there’s no need to worship me, so I’m fine with just being grateful. Please don’t mix it into the praising of the saint.

The only reason why my father has casually left out the circle of people praising the Saint is to prevent himself from getting dragged into it.
Alice is acting like a saint and leading the people back to town today and raising their morale, but I’m no saint. I’ve denied it for now, so I’ll assume it’s okay, and I’ll ask my grandfather to look after the children.

“Itchy body. Well, I’ll give him a bath and prescribe a soothing ointment, but I think I’ll consult with the vet. It could be fleas or something.”
As the werewolf transformation progresses and the skin becomes covered with hair, it’s possible that the symptoms are different from those of a normal human, and there are all kinds of possibilities, such as side effects from medication. But for now, it’s just a symptomatic treatment. All we can do is start with what we can do.
“Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“What have you got to apologize for? It’s a doctor’s job to think about how to fix the patient.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I knew I was asking him to do something troublesome so I apologized, but my grandfather denied it with a sullen look on his face.
I’m grateful to my grandfather for treating the children like patients and not like monsters.

“Well then, I look forward to seeing you in the village.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll make plenty of holy water again. So Amelia, come back and praise me. It’s my sister’s job to praise me, after all.”
“Yeah, I understand. Thank you as always, Alice.”
“W-w-w-!! You’re welcome!!”
No matter how much I told her I wasn’t her sister, she didn’t listen, and when I tried to thank her for helping me out a lot, Alice stuttered, her face bright red.

After we left the village, I suddenly remembered the plan we had discussed in the carriage yesterday. Damn. I’d forgotten.
“Hey, wasn’t the cremation supposed to happen yesterday?”
“Yeah. I went after Amelia waited in the carriage. But no monsters came near us so there were no problems.”
I thought so.
I’m sorry, I had completely forgotten about it because of everything that was going on. I was planning to be on guard for monsters when burning it.
“Sorry, I completely forgot.”
“It can’t be helped, since we protected those children. The people taking refuge at the temple were convinced when I explained the situation to them. If anything, they were worried about Amelia, who was carrying a lot of burdens.”
“Ah, I’m still unreliable.”
My appearance is appropriate for my age, so I probably look like a student or someone who just graduated from school. So I was pretty assertive when I examined the patient so that they wouldn’t look down on me.

“It’s not that you’re unreliable, but they feel guilty for having to put that burden on someone much younger than them. A child about your age is fighting monsters and trying to help their friends who live in the same town. It’s only natural that they’d be worried. And they’re in no way doubting Amelia’s abilities.”
“I see. Sorry. I had to take it perversely.”
Just because I feel down about something I can’t do, doesn’t mean I should misinterpret other people’s kindness. When I reflected on my actions, my father gave me a bitter smile.
“Also, I heard that they found a diagram of the sewer piping on the way back, so we’ll get to see that today and estimate the most likely locations of the maga. After that, just like yesterday, we’ll carry out rescue and monster extermination. The number of undead has probably increased, so we should exterminate as many as we can in preparation for nighttime, and if possible, I’d like someone to head to the neighboring town today to gather information and request the acceptance of anyone who hasn’t turned into monsters, so we should discuss that as well. Even if we can get through the south gate, there will definitely be monsters along the way, so someone with a certain level of skill will have to go.”
It is not known how many of those who left through the south gate made it safely to neighboring towns or villages.
There is a possibility that someone may have been wounded by a monster and turned into a monster by the time they got there, putting them in a dangerous situation.

“It’s dangerous, but if Dad can go, it seems like the situation will be easier to improve.”
He can defeat monsters and has knowledge of healing.
I could do it too, but because I’m young, it will take time to gain their trust. And even if it’s just me, it’s a big burden to protect someone while I’m going. And I can’t just abandon Oliver and Rosie, who I left behind in the village.
“I agree, but that would put too much of a burden on Amelia. The exterminations in the town will probably continue, and there’s a chance that the monsters will eat each other and get stronger.”
“I can’t really take Dad’s place. I already lit two signal fires yesterday.”
My actions yesterday were not those of a fully-fledged magician. Father had said that it was normal for a rookie, so I tried not to think that I was incompetent more than necessary. But my movements were those of a rookie, and there was no way I could replace the veteran that was my father.

“It’s not that you can’t, but that I don’t want to let you do it, Amelia. It’s not that the person giving orders shouldn’t raise a signal. Rather, it’s more of a problem if they hesitate to raise a signal to warn of a crisis when it’s too much to handle. Even if you’re used to monsters, you would have raised a signal if you felt you couldn’t handle it like Theo, right? And although the mental burden was great, none of Amelia’s handling of the situation was wrong. So if we’re judging it based on whether you can do it or not, I think you can. But if you do that, you’d need someone you can consult with, even if it’s just a swordsman, but it’s hard to find someone like that. I thought the gatekeepers might be a good idea, but from what I heard yesterday, all of them were killed in the line of duty at the south gate.”
According to my father, the gatekeepers are trained to fight monsters in order to protect the walled city. Even if they’re not used to doing it in practice, he thought he could count on them to have some knowledge and experience.
However, the soldiers guarding the north gate were also there on the first day to guard the south gate to help the wealthy and the mayor’s family escape, so their chances of survival were slim. And since this town is home to many merchants and craftsmen, they could not hope for a strong enough fighting force.

“Until I saw the number of undead yesterday, I thought that anyone with the stamina and strength would be fine to go to the next town, but the speed at which they turn into monsters is much faster than I thought, so it seems like things outside of town are going to be terrible.”
“Ugh. I hate even imagining it.”
The undead can’t live in sunny places, so they must be hiding in the shade of trees or somewhere similar. Even so, the surface area of their shadow is limited, so it makes me shiver with fear that they’re hiding in swarms of them, piled up in places where they can be easily seen. It makes me think of household pests that prefer dark places, which makes it even more unpleasant.
“If the temple decides to send the saint, I can see the future and feel at ease.”
“Is maga occurring in other places too?”
“That’s right. It seems that it happened in various places at once. The occurrence rate of maga had increased compared to before, and there were not enough saints. I’m sure that the arrival of the saint from another world made the temple drop its guard. If maga occurs and is left unattended, it will easily occur in a chain reaction in nearby areas, so it should have been dealt with quickly.”
“Really? But the maga in the mountain has been left unattended for quite some time, but the village is fine, right?”
It’s the first time I’ve heard of it being connected.
In response, my father shrugged.

“When I was working in the royal capital, Amelia’s mother announced the hypothesis that the locations of maga are likely linked together. However, the fact that Amelia, who had just graduated from school, didn’t know about it probably means that no one wanted to follow in her footsteps and research it. There were also maga like the mountain next to the village that didn’t link together and were stable in place, and she worked hard to find the cause and prove that they were linked together, but she died a martyr’s death while guarding the Saint.”
My mother was someone who conducted such research. However, I feel that her research was risky as it could be interpreted as a criticism of the Saintess for not being able to purify the maga, or as a chain reaction of maga occurring. That may be why no one took over her research after her death.
But I imagined my mother, whose face I had never even known, thinking that if she had been there, even if she wasn’t a saint, she might have helped me research a way to eliminate the curse.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!