CHAPTER 43

A banquet to repay the kindness of Monghwagol.
The dances of the women and a magnificent feast.
It was a series of parties so lavish it was hard to imagine anything more splendid.
The women subtly offered to share a bed, but I refused.
Why would I do that with a This-worlder?
After the banquet, I slept my fill.
Resurrection Magic had healed my body, but there was no helping the accumulated mental fatigue.
After that, I began my role as Monghwagol’s Holy Mage in earnest.
Besides the hundred who had the Crimson Blight, there were several others with diseases like syphilis.
Treating them was for relatively minor illnesses, so my regular holy magic was more than enough.
And in my spare time, I studied holy magic.
The book Rapiel had personally written for me was filled with detailed descriptions of holy magic.
Just memorizing this would make me an expert on the theory of holy magic.
And then, something unexpected happened.
“Saint-nim, thank you so much for saving my friend’s life.”
I had saved a hundred people within Monghwagol.
They were someone’s acquaintance, friend, and colleague.
No one knew how I had treated them.
But it was impossible not to know that I had healed a hundred people.
Perhaps that was why, for some reason, I was being treated like a saint by the women of Monghwagol.
“He must have devoted himself to a holy order and is living a life of abstinence. That’s why he won’t sleep with anyone.”
“To think there’s someone capable of that in Monghwagol… he truly is a saint.”
Maybe I’m being called a saint for a different reason than healing the sick?
Still, because I refused to sleep with them, they repaid my kindness in other ways, like giving me food or handing over their valuables.
“Saint-nim, if you eat this, you’ll surely change your mind!”
“Thank you for the food.”
“S-so, how is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Then how about something else delicious? For instance…”
“This is enough.”
One woman walked away with a dejected look on her face.
She was the woman I had seen in the hallway yesterday, making a bet about sleeping with the saint.
Unfortunately for her, a human doesn’t get aroused by a beast.
And with holy magic, I could easily nullify the effects of aphrodisiacs.
At this point, it was becoming a headache.
“Good grief, why do they keep calling me a saint?”
What meaning was there in being treated like a saint in Nox?
I was just a saint built on underground dust.
In any case, the time for me to leave Monghwagol wasn’t far off.
As soon as my contract period was over, I had to get back quickly.
With that thought, I looked out the window of my workroom and saw Aranseol swinging her sword with intense focus.
Lately, the time Aranseol spent swinging her sword had increased.
Moreover, she seemed to enjoy it much more than before.
Before, her sword was wielded with an obsession and stubbornness born of revenge.
But the sword she wielded recently was based on a more fundamental desire for growth.
What effect did the elixir have on Aranseol?
As someone ignorant about swordsmanship, I couldn’t tell yet.
Still, Aranseol’s face had become noticeably brighter than before.
That alone made the elixir worth its value.
Speaking of brighter faces, Horizon’s had also become very bright recently.
She was a girl born and raised in Monghwagol.
The family she grew up with had been safely treated.
Thanks to that, she felt she had repaid her debt to Monghwagol, and her heart was much lighter.
So much so that whenever Horizon and I met, she would greet me with a bright smile, jumping like a puppy and waving her hands.
Her short limbs reminded me of a Welsh Corgi.
And finally.
“Euh, euuuh.”
I saw Babiyen, sitting next to me again today, whining.
Baby Babiyen had been strange since yesterday.
She didn’t whine as much as before and no longer sought her beloved Mamma.
She just sat there in a daze more often.
Watching her, a thought occurred to me.
Hey, has she come to her senses?
According to Inferno, the Lieutenant General of the Regular Army, Babiyen was temporarily out of her mind due to a mental attack.
He had said she would return to normal after a few days, so it was a possibility now.
If so, why was the sane Babiyen pretending not to be?
The memories from her time as Baby Babiyen hadn’t disappeared; they were still there.
Baby Babiyen had been a veritable Mamma Tyrant.
A series of horrific acts that were unthinkable for a grown woman.
Even if she regained her sanity, she would be too embarrassed to lift her head.
Normally, she would have just assessed the situation when everyone was asleep and made a quick escape.

However, this place was the back world, Nox.
It was a place where you never knew what might happen to you if you wandered around without knowing anyone.
No matter how capable Babiyen was, she couldn't possibly escape Nox alone.
So, Babiyen chose to act until she could get out of here.
‘When I get out of Nox, I will forget everything that happened and live a new life.’
She must have made a resolution like that.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis.
There was no way to know if Babiyen had truly regained her senses.
So, I decided to check her condition today.
“Babiyen.”
“Ugh, uuuh.”
“You remember promising to pay me an amount equal to the care I provided, right?”
“Ugh, huh?”
Babiyen’s lips paused.
“I have somewhere to spend money. I need that money, so is it okay if I use it?”
“Ugh, uuh, ooh-ah.”
“It’s okay? Babiyen, you really are a good baby!”
Babiyen’s eyebrows trembled.
With this, I had earned my living expenses.
More importantly, to think she could keep up the act even now.
She truly is a tenacious wench, typical of a survivor from the vicious noble society of this world.
It can’t be helped.
Time for the secret weapon.
“Come to think of it, isn’t it time for Babiyen to have her Mamma?”
“M-Mamma?”
Babiyen looked around.
There was no one here who could give her the ‘Mamma’ (breast milk) she usually asked for.
“Don’t worry. Even though I’m a man, I have Mamma too.”
I slowly rose from my seat.
Babiyen followed me with shaking eyes.
“It’s very thick and rich, tasty Mamma. I’m sure Babiyen will like it too.”
Finally, I placed my hand on my trousers and smiled broadly.
“Wait a second. I’ll give it to you soon.”
I closed the curtain equipped in the medical room and grabbed something long and squishy.
Then, I started shaking it vigorously, making a tak-tak sound.
“Ugh, uuh, ah, aaaah, aaaaaaahk!”
At that moment, a scream rang out from outside.
When I hurriedly opened the curtain and stepped out, Babiyen was freaking out, having fallen backward over her chair and crawling on the floor.
“Babiyen.”
“Pervert, you pervert bastard! Crazy lunatic! What kind of Saint are you?! Don’t come near meeeee!”
Babiyen screamed at the top of her lungs.
I stared blankly at her, then shook the object I was holding in my hand. Tak-tak.
“If you didn’t like the baby bottle, you should have just said so.”
In my hand was a baby bottle filled with baby food.
It was something the people of Monghwagol had specially prepared for Baby Babiyen.
“Baby... bottle?”
Babiyen, who had been screaming her head off, finally looked at the bottle in my hand.
Then, slowly, her gaze shifted to meet mine.
I was wearing a thick, meaningful smile.
“Ugh, uuh, aah, M-Mamma.”
Babiyen belatedly flailed her hands, trying to pretend to be a baby again.
As I watched her quietly, she soon gathered her legs politely and bowed her head.
“Harua... thank you sincerely for helping me regain my memories through shock therapy. I would like to properly reward you with the money I earned from the bounty last time.”
“To think our Baby Babiyen has grown up enough to show filial piety, I am truly moved.”
Babiyen swallowed tears of blood.
With this, I made money, and Babiyen regained her sanity.
It was a happy ending for everyone.
“So, Babiyen, since you’re back to normal, let’s talk.”
While Babiyen dusted off her knees and stood up, I pulled up a chair and sat down.
“What on earth happened in that prison for you to end up in that state?”
Babiyen had suffered something in the Regular Army’s underground prison.
As a result, her magic went berserk inside the prison, burning it down.
“...Phew, you mean that incident.”
Babiyen’s face darkened slightly.
Judging by her expression, she definitely knew something.
“I heard there’s a traitor from Black Dawn within the Regular Army. Was it him?”
Sensing her hesitation, I asked for details, but Babiyen avoided my gaze.
Watching her for a moment, I realized one fact.
It wasn’t that she knew something and was hiding it.
“You don’t remember anything from that time, do you?”
Babiyen’s shoulders flinched.
My gaze toward her turned cold.
“B-But, there’s no way someone who used a mental attack would leave my memories intact, right?!”
Her face was filled with a sense of injustice.
That was certainly true.
In the end, Babiyen was attacked mentally by someone without even knowing why, and she went berserk right then and there.
That was the only thing left from this incident.
“Well, I suppose that’s the Regular Army’s business.”
There was no particular reason for me to dig into it.
However, I did wonder why the person who made Babiyen go berserk had to do so.
Was there someone in that prison who absolutely had to be burned to death?
My suspicion bit its own tail and then stopped.
This part was also something for the Regular Army to solve; me worrying about it wouldn’t produce an answer.
“More importantly, I have a mountain of things I want to ask!”
Babiyen shouted, dismissing her own story.
“Harua, how on earth are you alive? Back then... you definitely died back then.”
“What are you talking about? Are you saying I’m a walking corpse right now?”
“Stop playing dumb! Did you forget that this girl (Sonyeo) was with you when you were talking to Aranseol?”
I forgot.
Honestly, I didn’t expect Baby Babiyen to remember everything.
At that time, there was no way to separate Babiyen from us, so I hadn’t paid enough attention.
“...And it was the same before. This girl was burned to death by Master.”
Don’t tell me those memories remained too?
As expected of a mage, her memory is too good.
“The person by my side at the very end was you, Harua, wasn’t it?”
I had used resurrection magic multiple times in front of Babiyen.
Her suspicion was rational.
“Babiyen, I know what you’re thinking.”
It’s already spilled water.
I don’t think ‘I shouldn’t have saved her back then’ now.
Anyway, because Babiyen was there, we were able to return safely from the Moss Flower Cave.
“If that’s the case, for your sake and mine, it would be best to refrain from talking about that.”
She has the brain to be a mage.
Babiyen paused, immediately understanding the meaning of my words.
The danger of resurrection magic was something one could understand without deep contemplation.
“...I understand. This girl has no intention of going around blabbering about it either. Since I owe Harua a life debt. However, what this girl wanted to say is...”
Babiyen looked away as if embarrassed.
“I just wanted to say thank you. I felt uncomfortable because I hadn’t been able to say it all this time.”
It seems she’s also the type who can’t live with debt.
“And I apologize for the mean things I said in the past. This girl had a bad personality.”
To think I’d receive an apology for past events.
“I’ll understand. You just wanted to scratch Aranseol because she was prettier than you.”
“...Who did you say is prettier?”
While Babiyen made a venomous expression, the medical room door opened.
“Ah, Mr. Harua.”
It was Horizon, who had run over in a hurry.
While she hesitated, not yet knowing Babiyen had regained her senses, Horizon shouted.
“Ma-Madame says she found out about Mr. Bulldog!”
We found Bulldog sooner than expected.