On the third day.
I was feeling a strange sensation.
"It feels like someone keeps staring at me."
Feeling it constantly while treating people was truly unsettling. When I consulted Alios, she answered like this:
“Perhaps it's the ones who haven't been treated yet, watching you earnestly. Hoping they too will be healed quickly.”
“Is that so?"
Hearing that, it seemed plausible. Although I was healing people at incredible speed, there were still many plague patients. This place was originally a prosperous territory close to the Arsen capital, so it had a large population. There were also people whose condition was so critical that I had to go to them directly to provide treatment.
Should I try to increase the treatment efficiency? But how? The speed I'm achieving now is something most priests couldn't even imitate. To increase efficiency further from here, I need a better method than simply going faster.
While pondering methods, a question suddenly came to mind.
Come to think of it, how did the original Airan manage to heal a territory in an even worse state than this? Although she possessed powerful holy magic, she didn't have divine power like Ceres. Even though healing someone just by touching them like I do now was impossible for her, she managed it all alone. It wasn't depicted in the original work, but did Airan have some special method only she possessed?
"Alios."
I called her quietly.
“Suppose someone else came here to heal, someone who can't heal just by touching like me.”
"Wouldn't it take an immense amount of time, or they'd fail?"
“No, let's assume they succeeded. In that case, what method might that person have used?"
Fantasy-related questions should be asked to someone from that world. Unlike me, Alios was a pure native of this world. When I asked her thoughts, she paused for a moment in contemplation before speaking.
"Maybe they used wide-area magic or something like that?"
“You mean magic with a large area of effect?"
“Yes. I haven't seen it myself, but take Sibylius, whom you know, Ceres. It's said that an Archmage like her can use magic that affects a wide area."
If that's the case, could I do it too? If I spread my divine power as widely as possible to create an area effect, efficiency would surely increase.
I immediately tried something similar using my divine power. Since divine power takes the form of light, what if I shone it all around like light to cure the disease?
“Light, the light?!"
“The sickness is gone! It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore!”
It really works!
The radiance emanating from my hand healed the disease of everyone within the light's reach.
“Hmm, I think my sickness is cured too...”
“But my body still aches in places.”
However, perhaps because the power was dispersed, only the disease itself was cured; the severe physical damage caused by the illness remained. Well, I can just treat that separately later. Just curing the disease alone can drastically reduce the time needed. Healing just by walking past while emitting light—this was nothing short of a revolution!
Perhaps the original Airan used a similar method, which is how she healed the entire territory alone. If I do this well, I might even be able to finish today.
Excited, I went around emitting the light of divine power in all directions.
But a moment later.
“Ugh, aaaah, I can't stand it anymore!"
A woman burst out shouting from within the range of my divine power.
“Stop that disgusting feeling right now!"
"Who might you be?”
I regarded the woman suddenly ordering me around with suspicion. Her height was about the same as mine. Considering the average height of women in this world, she was on the shorter side. Relatively petite and with a cute face, but her eyes were fierce. Her short-cut hair was blood-red, reminiscent of Viol.
“You're Red?!"
It was the first time I'd seen this woman, but Alios recognized her and was startled.
“Everyone, get back! Now!"
She suddenly shouted, and the words that followed made me instantly understand why.
“That woman is a demon!"
When Alios revealed the identity of the woman named Red, the surrounding people were shocked, and so was I.
I've seen a half-demon, but this is the first time seeing a real demon! Demons didn't appear often in the original work either. It was only mentioned in the lore that the original Alios hunted demons and the original Sibylius was a half-demon. Even the original protagonist, Ceres, rarely encountered demons.
So why did a demon appear before me, the protagonist who isn't supposed to meet them often?
“Ceres, do you remember?”
Alios stepped forward, raising her sword protectively in front of me.
“The time when you first used that power, Ceres."
“You mean when you were fighting a demon, dodged its attack, and your subordinates got hit instead? Don't tell me that's her?”
“Yes. That demon, Red, is the very one I unfortunately failed to capture back then."
What, what kind of absurd butterfly effect is this?! Unlike the original, the demon that escaped because I said something unnecessary has now appeared before me?
“Hehe, how dare you mention that day in front of me!" Red shouted in fury.
“Yes, I'm the one who suffered the humiliation of fleeing from you that day!”
"Don't turn it around and get angry. I almost lost my subordinates that day."
“Why should I care about that? What's important is that I haven't forgotten that day and have been waiting for a chance to get revenge on you."
“Is that why you came all the way here to find me?"
“It was luck. I came thinking I'd scavenge some corpses since there was a plague, but then I heard you were here.”
She even eats plague-ridden corpses? I knew demons ate people, but I didn't realize their meals were that miserable. Just as I was thinking she had a surprisingly pitiful side, Red suddenly pointed at me.
“Originally, I planned to target that man you cherish so much to bring you despair. But you just had to go spewing that unpleasant power everywhere, and I couldn't stand it!"
So the source of the stare wasn't a patient, but you? I thought the stare was from a patient, so I tried spreading my power widely. That accidentally provoked the demon, causing her to reveal herself voluntarily.
…So, because I unnecessarily spoke to Alios, a demon who should have died early on survived. And that demon targeted me to get revenge on Alios, then got hit by the divine power I spread, felt bad, and came out? Putting it all together from start to finish, what kind of coincidence is this!
“A demon?"
“Is it really a demon?"
Even though Red revealed her identity herself, the people around didn't flee. It was so sudden they probably couldn't grasp the situation, but honestly, they're in the way!
“Catch!"
“Ugh!"
Red snatched up one person who hadn't fled and threw them towards Alios. Alios had no choice but to put away her sword, catch the person, and set them down safely. Red tried to attack, exploiting that opening. She quickly tried to rush Alios, but—
"Die!"
At that moment, a soldier charged. Thrusting their spear at Red with all their might, they tried to pierce her heart.
“Know your place.”
But Red easily broke the spear thrust at her. She caught it barehanded, broke it with sheer grip strength, and easily grabbed the neck of the astonished opponent. Sharp claws extended from Red's hand gripping the neck. She was poised to tear the person's throat out at any moment.
“Freeze. If you move, I'll kill this one.”
Hearing the warning, Alios, who was about to counterattack, stopped. Seeing her hesitate, Red burst out laughing as if it were hilarious.
“Hahaha! As expected, those who pretend to be champions of justice are all the same."
"...What do you want?"
“Your humiliation and death. Alios, I will repay the humiliation you dealt me last time!"
Red pointed at me again and said.
"With so many people around to protect, you can't beat me! I'll cut off your arms and legs, and then I'll 'cook' that guy right in front of you however I please."
That 'cooking' just means she plans to eat me, right? Anyway, it was a crisis. There were too many people around to fight properly, and now a hostage was taken. In this situation, even someone like Alios would inevitably struggle.
“Alios, what should I do?"
I asked, wondering if she needed my help, but Alios didn't answer. She fell silent for a moment as if contemplating, then spoke.
"If you're going to kill the hostage, then kill them."
"What?" I exclaimed.
“What?” Red echoed.
At the unexpected words, not only I but even Red was astonished.
“Has she lost her mind? The Hero is just going to let a hostage die? Besides, this is a foreign country. If you do this, it could become a diplomatic incident!”
“You said you would humiliate Ceres if you defeated me. The moment you said that, nothing else matters anymore.” Alios glared fiercely at Red and said.
“How dare you, how dare you project your filthy desires onto my Ceres! I will never forgive you. Killing you a hundred times wouldn't be enough! I will make you suffer the most miserable death in this world!”
“What are you talking about? Can't you see the hostage I'm holding?!"
“Kill them, I don't care about such a person! Even the title of Hero or diplomatic issues are trivial compared to Ceres. Whatever the cost, I will definitely kill you for threatening him!”