Strongest Swordman’s Re:START

When Bazar noticed the light coming from Merc’s palms, his eyes lit up.

“T-That’s not Lesser Heal… I-It can’t be… That’s Heal!”

Edin and Svemir were both taken aback by Bazar’s comment. Only Foldia appeared unfazed as he chuckled and continued to observe.

“Whoa! Missy, you can even use da real Heal?! Dat’s amazing!”

“I’ve never seen a human that can use Heal. If there is to be one, then it would be the Saintess Iriem. Who exactly are you, Miss Merc?”

Bazar inquired, eager to learn more. When Iriem’s name was brought up, Merc was a little taken aback, but in the end she didn’t turn around to look at Bazar and spoke with her back turned towards him,

“Can we talk later? I’m not at the level where I can allow myself to be distracted while using Heal.”

Rosemary had warned Merc numerous times to be careful while using Heal.

The elves’ version of Heal was highly harmful since, unlike Lesser Heal that humans used, which had a cap on how much Mana it could consume, it would keep draining Mana until the patient was healed. In some cases, it could even result in Mana Depletion, killing the user.

I am aware of my limit, but anything can happen.

Merc kept her guard up while continuing to provide a steady flow of Mana to cure Denemis.

Fortunately for Merc, there was a response. The symptoms that Lesser Heal had been unable to treat were gradually alleviated by Merc’s Heal.

Denemis’ internal bleeding marks began to fade gradually, and her breathing, which had been hard up until now, steadied.

However…

“This is tricky…”

Merc murmured a look of distress on her face.

“M-Miss Merc, what’s wrong?”

When Edin noticed Merc’s expression, he instantly asked in a disturbed manner.

Merc didn’t respond, instead just continuing to heal Denemis. After some time, Merc eventually raised her hands and heaved a heavy sigh.

“Mr. Edin.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Your wife is going to be fine. I’ve completely cured the Emsnan Disease.” Merc said in a serious tone.

“What?”

Edin replied, unable to comprehend what he’d just heard.

“Haha. Missy’s saying yar wife’s better! Ya don need to worry no more.”

“I-Is this true?” Edin enquired, and Merc gently nodded in response.

“M-My w-wife is going to be okay… T-Thank goodness…”

Edin murmured, finally acknowledging reality as he fell to his knees.

“Miss Merc, did you really manage to fully cure Miss Denemis? You haven’t even checked her condition yet.”

Bazar stated, finding it difficult to believe that the Emsnan Disease had been treated so easily. In response, Merc gently nodded.

“I certainly did. I continued to pour Mana, but there was no response from her side, which indicates that the sickness has been completely treated. But, you’re free to examine her if you’d like.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Bazar remarked this as he lifted up Denemis’ blanket once more to examine her. Merc, in turn, herded Svemir and Foldia out of the room.

“E-Ey! Wat are ya doing, Missy?!”

“What’s gotten over you Merc?”

Because they were also concerned about Denemis, Svemir and Foldia both objected right away. But Merc simply ignored them, closing the door from outside.

“Don’t you know what delicacy is? Bazar and Edin are spared because one of them is a doctor and the other is her husband, but do you honestly believe Denemis would enjoy having unknown men ogle her?”

“Now that you mention it, you have a point.” Foldia scratched his head as if he truly hadn’t considered it.

“Y-Yea. Missy’s right. How could we? We messed up.”

Svemir, on the other hand, made an exaggerated exclamation that seemed to imply that this had been the plan all along. Merc was utterly stunned to learn this.

“Ahem. Missy, that spell just now was amazing! I didn’t know there was a healing spell that could eat up so much Mana.”

“Old man. I would encourage you not to use that spell as a comparison because it is quite different from the Lesser Heal that humans use. That aside. Merc, did something happen? You look a bit down. Didn’t you fully cure her?”

After admonishing Svemir, who appeared to be rather taken aback by Merc’s spell, Foldia cast an enquiring glance at Merc. He was probably worried about the expression that Merc had made as she was using Heal.

“I did. However, there’s something that’s on my mind… It turned out that the Emsnan Disease was more annoying than I had anticipated.”

“What does that mean?”

“Simply put, the disease has a wide variety of symptoms, so I must use a lot of Mana to treat it, which demands that I use Heal for a long time.”

Merc explained. However, Foldia still seemed to be confused.

“It sure did take you a lot of time. But did you really use that much Mana? To me, it seems like it hasn’t gone down all that much.”

“It has. I can at most cure 4-5 patients at once before I suffer from Mana Depletion. However, that isn’t the problem.”

“Hah? Then wat’s da problem, Missy?”

Svemir, who had been listening in on the two, asked after becoming interested. Merc looked and him and continued to explain,

“The problem is that, as I said before, I had to use Heal for an extended period of time. The more often a body is subjected to healing spells, the more tolerant it becomes. So the body will ultimately stop benefiting from Heal if I use it continuously for a long time.”

“Does this imply that if Denemis contracts the Emsnan Disease once more, you won’t be able to heal her?” Foldia asked.

“There’s a possibility. Even if Heal works, it will need a lot more time than it did today. And that would only further increase the body’s tolerance to healing spells. The best course of action would be to root out the Emsnan Disease entirely from the village in order to prevent future outbreaks.”

“Hmph… But it’s impossible to cast Heal on all da villagers at once… Wat are ya gonna do, Missy?”

Svemir asked. At the exact same time, the door behind Merc opened.

“Miss Merc. It seems you really did manage to cure Miss Denemis. The black marks have disappeared and the swelling on her armpits and groin is also gone. It seems like Heal can do wonders…”

Bazar said, still unable to believe his own examination. Merc merely answered with a smile.

“Of course it does. However, it won’t be possible to save everyone in Kirel with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“As Mr. Svemir just stated, we must come up with a solution. And there is only one way out of our current situation. And that solution is simple. We just need to make a cure for the Emsnan Disease.”