Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 4
“Ah, Shin Joo! So this is where you were!”
Even from afar, Hexion’s towering figure was easy to spot. A bright brown-haired boy who recognized us came running with an urgent expression.
Name: Ris A novice priest at the temple who mainly runs errands for Grand Priest Largo.
Thank you, system, for displaying the supporting character’s description so neatly. Thanks to that, I avoided having to trail off with “Ah, um, well…”
“What is it, Ris?”
“It’s healing time, and since you weren’t in your place, I’ve been looking for you.”
“Oh no.”
Come to think of it, I had an afternoon schedule, but I completely forgot about it while being lost in my embarrassment.
“Shin Joo has injured her leg, so today’s schedule might be difficult…”
“No! That’s not true! I’ll go!”
If I had to return to my room and be alone with Hexion now, those creeping memories of embarrassment would resurface again. At times like these, it’s better to throw myself into work and banish those improper memories.
“I’m fine now, Hexion.”
Either shame had blown away the pain, or recovery was faster in the game world, but my knee didn’t hurt anymore.
“…Very well, Shin Joo.”
Perhaps my desperate desire to forget the embarrassing memory got through to him because Hexion didn’t say anything more and took me to the East Plaza.
***
The temple’s East Plaza was already lined with Holy Knights. Priests stood beside them, and behind them were believers who had come to see me.
“The Divine Master has arrived!”
“Aah!”
I could see relief wash over the faces of those who had been waiting anxiously. Just the name ‘healing time’ gives it away, but these people had all come to receive treatment from me, the Divine Master.
Healers are precious in any world, but the Divine Master’s sacred power can cure not just injuries but also illnesses.
I heard that despite spending considerable time healing people each time, there’s still quite a long waiting list of those who want my treatment. The priests apparently prioritize cases they deem serious.
When Hexion set me down and stepped back, a woman holding a child approached. The child wrapped in swaddling clothes had red spots on their face.
“Divine Master. Please help this child… The fever hasn’t broken for days.”
Chickenpox or measles perhaps. Though I couldn’t make an accurate diagnosis since I’m not a doctor, it didn’t matter since I would heal them with sacred power anyway.
I placed my hand on the child’s head and let my sacred power flow. The red spots on their face disappeared, and their labored breathing became peaceful.
“You’ll be fine now.”
“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”
After treating young children, the elderly, and those with serious injuries, a gloomy-looking man limping with crutches approached and bowed to me.
“While pulling a cart, the wheel came loose… The cart fell and crushed me. Lost all my goods to the river, and my bones were completely shattered so I can’t walk. It took three days just to get here.”
The man who laid out his detailed story was sniffling with tears and a runny nose. The priests must have let him in first out of pity after hearing his circumstances.
“I see. Could you show me the injury?”
The bandages wrapped around his leg were still seeping blood, suggesting it hadn’t been properly treated.
The mixture of medicine smell, blood smell, pus smell, and the musty odor from not washing made me a bit queasy, but one can’t show disgust when dealing with the sick.
I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the man’s leg.
A sparkling light flowed from my hand and penetrated the bandaged leg, but the wound didn’t heal.
“Huh…”
“The wound isn’t healing.”
I immediately removed my hand from the injury site and smiled at the man. Hexion, who had been waiting, strode forward and yanked the man away.
“Wh-what are you doing? I’m a patient!”
He apparently hadn’t grasped the situation yet.
“The wound did not heal.”
“Is, is it because the Divine Master is tired? Then I can wait and come back tomorrow…”
“There’s nothing wrong with my sacred power.”
I wiped my right hand with a wet cloth and held it up toward the man. The sparkling light that flowed from my hand scattered and disappeared into the air.
“The problem must be with you.”
“Wh-what?”
“Didn’t the priests tell you when you entered the temple? That you must not lie.”
While both the name ‘healing time’ and the fact that my sacred power is mainly used for healing injuries lead most people to misunderstand, my ability isn’t actually healing power.
It’s the power to ‘return damaged things to their original state.’
Judgment (Judex) Lv.3 The Divine Master’s unique ability. A power that corrects what is wrong in the world and returns distorted phenomena to their original state. Can ‘judge’ and eliminate injuries or illnesses that afflict humans and return them to their natural state. However, it will not activate if information about the original state is missing, or if the result of judgment during the restoration process is deemed ‘incorrect.’ Usage Conditions: None.
“If this truly were an injury from a cart accident, there would be nothing to impede the judgment, and your leg would have healed. But since the wound didn’t heal, there are only two possibilities.”
“Wh-what…”
“Either the path to return to the state before the damage is incorrect and sacred power cannot be transmitted, or returning to the state before the damage would not be right.”
If it were an injury one would be embarrassed to talk about, that would be one thing, but if you can’t even tell the priests about how you got injured in an accident…
Obviously, there must be something fishy going on.
“Divine Master. What shall we do with this man?”
Hexion asked while holding the man’s shoulder. Actually, I could just hand him over to the priests to uncover what’s really going on. That would be easier for me too.
‘But since Hexion is watching…’
It would be awkward if the day ended with just my embarrassing display from earlier. I should show my competent side here, even if belatedly.
“I will use the Scales of Judgment.”
Two special abilities branched from the ‘Judgment’ skill tree: the Scales of Judgment and the Blade of Judgment.
If the source of the Divine Master’s power lies in ‘Judgment,’ then the scales and blade are abilities that materialize it.
Scales of Judgment A tool summoned with sacred power to discern others’ lies. Being a conceptual tool made of ideas, it cannot be physically destroyed or altered. Can determine truth from falsehood by placing an object or person’s blood on the empty pan of the scales and observing which way it tilts. A kind of lie detector. Usage Conditions: Reputation 100 or higher, can be used once per quarter (Currently available) Can reset usage count by spending 30,000 gold.
I snapped my fingers toward the skill window, and tiny 0s and 1s condensed in the air to form golden scales. I placed the man’s blood-stained bandage on the empty pan without weights.
“Is it true that you were injured while moving a cart?”
“Y-yes! I really was crushed by the cart!”
The scale pan tilted toward the weighted side. Not a lie, then.
But if that were all, I wouldn’t have needed to use the Scales of Judgment.
“Show me the truth.”
At my words, the scales began to tilt in the opposite direction.
“You said all your goods were swept away by the river when the cart fell. Yet what’s reflected on the surface of the scales isn’t cargo floating down the river, but someone’s hand buried in a pit.”
The man had disguised a corpse as cargo in a cart, intending to dispose of it in a pit in a remote location. However, the person wasn’t completely dead, and when they struggled in the cart, it overturned and injured the man.
The man eventually strangled them to death and sent the body downstream with rocks tied to it.
Perhaps because it was a crime scene, instead of showing realistic images, simple pictograms explaining the situation flipped by quickly.
To kill someone and then come asking for treatment for his injuries – is he in his right mind? There’s a limit to being brazen.
Then again, if he had even a shred of conscience, he wouldn’t have killed someone in the first place.
“So you did lie after all.”
“N-no! Divine Master, I…”
“Search downstream in the river. You’ll find a body weighted down with rocks.”
“Yes, Divine Master!”
Two Holy Knights standing at the outermost edge headed outside.
“Aaah…”
The man collapsed in despair, wailing. It seems he’s trying to evoke sympathy, but I’m not particularly interested in the circumstances of evil-doers.
At my chin gesture, two others approached to take the man away, and the remaining knights isolated the area.
Your reputation has increased by 119! Current value: 219
So solving cases in public raises reputation.
“Today’s healing time is hereby concluded.”
Leaving the aftermath to the priests, I turned to leave, and Hexion followed behind me.
Earlier I felt like dying from embarrassment, but after solving one case, I finally feel like I can hold my head up.
“Ahem, Hexion.”
“Yes, Shin Joo.”
“I did well, didn’t I?”
“I dare not presume to evaluate Shin Joo’s actions, but…”
Hexion, who had been standing one step away, suddenly bent slightly toward me. His face drew closer over my shoulder.
“I believe it was a shrewd judgment.”
“…Ahem.”
Heat suddenly rushed to the tips of my ears. Though I tried to hide my nervousness by pressing my lips together and exhaling, it was useless. My heart started racing again.
‘What’s this, why are you suddenly whispering like this? Is it okay to get this close without warning?’
