"Dealing with monsters and healing injuries are the Church's specialties. Although ordinary healing can be performed there, recovery skills are not magic, and the amount of Ethel they consume is extremely large, so unless the injured are seriously wounded, the Church won't accept their cases. It depends on the type of skill, but I've heard that even a representative priest of a decent church can only perform one or two healings a day at most." While running towards Radhia, Lisbeth said she had to go to the Church, and then explained.
"Therefore, the treatment fees are quite high. There are very few priests who can perform high-level healing, and the usage limit is very strict. It's said that priestly skills aren't developed through training, but rather through continuous prayer to the goddess with strong faith, but I've heard that maintaining such faith isn't easy."
It seems the priest profession in this other world is somewhat different from the commonly known RPG priest.
Priests who act as adventurers aren't entirely absent, but it's said that due to the above reasons, most priests only provide temporary healing. Because of the different training methods, they lacked the attributes suitable for adventurers from the start. Learning skills solely through the power gained from faith meant that even experiencing adventure wouldn't significantly enhance their priestly abilities.
Havingn't seen any priests among the adventurers during this time, I assumed it was a rare profession, but it seems that's not the case.
"The Church of Radhiah is among the top three in the entire kingdom... its scale should be able to cure Ars. I'm a mage and can only roughly sense Tesser, but the aura emanating from Ars seems to be Tesser's... The church might..." Lisbeth muttered to herself, as if Ars could be saved.
"Yes. With such a large scale, Ars can be saved. We're almost at Lisbeth. Tell me which way to go." Looking at the Radhiah city gates bathed in the setting sun, I asked Lisbeth for directions to the church.
......
"Is anyone there?! There's an emergency patient here! Requesting treatment!" After briefly explaining to the surprised soldiers at the city gate, we quickly passed through and arrived at the church.
This church, located in a place I had never visited before, was a magnificent and ornate building, almost breathtaking.
I gazed at the structure behind the main entrance, resembling a famous European cathedral, and called out as I looked around through the open doorway.
Soon, two women dressed in what appeared to be nuns' habit emerged from a nearby building. They gasped and froze in shock upon seeing me.
I explained to the startled women that I was the divine beast that had recently arrived in Radia, reassured them, showed them Ars on my back, briefly explained the situation, and requested treatment.
After understanding the situation, one of the nuns immediately ran off to a certain place, while the other guided us to another location.
Despite explaining my identity, the terror on their faces hadn't faded… even more so than when they first saw Lisbeth.
Even though I look like this, at least I can talk… these nuns are really timid.
Following their directions, we entered a building that appeared to be a hospital room.
After settling Ars in the guided room and waiting briefly, several people who appeared to be priests came to check on his condition.
Among them, a bespectacled priest dressed in the most ornate attire placed his hand on Ars's chest and chanted softly, his palm radiating a kind of divine light.
Just as we were marveling at the light, it dissipated, and Ars's face seemed to regain some vitality. The bespectacled priest wiped the sweat from his brow, let out a long sigh, and turned to us, saying:
"You can rest assured for now. Although further observation is still needed, he has passed the critical period."
Hearing this, Lisbeth's expression immediately relaxed.
"Hmm... I don't mind..."
"While it's shocking that the Hero is so badly injured... the energy flowing within him is quite peculiar. Could you explain in detail?"
After answering the priest's question, we followed him to another building. Lisbeth hesitated slightly to leave Ars's side, but seeing the other priests remaining to observe, she seemed reassured and went along.
Following the priest into a small building next to the central church, we came to a room resembling a reception room. There, the priest pulled out a chair for Lisbeth, and I leaned over her to adjust my face height.
"First, please allow me to introduce myself. I am the bishop of the Ladia branch of the Goddess Church, named Mad Paul."
Bishop?
No wonder his attire was more elaborate than the other priests'; it must be a very high position.
But shouldn't bishops be positions held by elderly men?
Paul looked quite young.
At most in his early thirties, yet he was a bishop… Putting aside my question about Bishop Paul's age for now, I explained the situation to him.
Paul listened intently to our explanation through his glasses, then sighed softly and said,
"Phew… As expected… the church also received reports about that Hero Devourer… We were debating whether it was an ordinary monster or a demon, and whether the church needed to intervene, when it unexpectedly escalated to…"
A hint of regret appeared on Paul's face as he spoke.
"That being said, even for heroes, you newcomers were far too hasty. To actually chase after someone capable of killing a high-level hero. It's fortunate it ended this way; a slight misstep could have cost you your lives."
"I'm sorry…" There was no way to refute these words. As Lisbeth bowed her head in apology, Paul smiled slightly and said, "No need to apologize. I just wanted to remind you all to cherish life. Adventurers may face danger at any time, so they must carefully consider and avoid risks. If adventurers lack a sense of crisis, they will one day regret it." Paul's words seemed to contain a strange certainty.
"Uh… I feel like you know a lot about these things?"
"Aha, it seems you don't know. I lived the life of an adventurer for a long time. Because of my achievements, I was recognized and became a bishop in my youth, serving as the representative of the Radhia branch. Although it doesn't seem like it, I was also a hero. Haha." There are heroes in the world!
And clergy at that!
That's truly astonishing.
I always thought heroes were all sword-wielding warriors, but it turns out there are also priest-heroes.
It seems there's no fixed standard for becoming a hero.
Uh, does that mean healing spells can be used infinitely on Ethel?
After asking this question, Paul provided an answer.
"Even living the life of an adventurer, the nature of a priest's work means that even after leveling up, attributes almost never improve to the point of being 'completely unchanged.' Therefore, in most cases, even at a higher level, attributes are still inferior to those of a novice adventurer. Furthermore, the skills priests use consume a lot of stamina and mental energy, so even heroes with unlimited stamina have a very limited number of uses.
I can probably only use them 3-4 times a day."
It seems that Ars's symptoms of stamina depletion are a common characteristic of all heroes.
"Speaking of which, the Hero Devourer... its true identity is still unclear. The aura I sensed from Mr. Ars... simply attributing it to Tesser feels a bit off. And according to your descriptions, there doesn't seem to be any pollution around... Hmm?"
"Huh?" Lisbeth, who was listening to Paul, suddenly looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"...Speaking of which, even the Divine Beast carries a rather incongruous aura."
"Hmm...it's somewhat similar to your aura, Shimo...is that so?" What?
Could it be that I'm the same as that guy?
Could it be that the horse body I've been reborn into is of the same kind as the Hero Devourer who brought destruction?
Paul quickly apologized, stood up, placed his hand on my horse, and closed his eyes to sense something.
"Hmm…it is indeed somewhat different from Mr. Ars's aura. Mr. Ars exudes the aura of Tesel, but without any contamination. While you, Divine Beast, exude the aura of Ethel, it's very similar to Tesel's…you could say that."
"Hmm…I myself don't know why I possess this aura…"
"Our priests' understanding of Divine Beasts isn't deep enough to give a definitive answer…but you don't need to worry. At least you can clearly sense that this is the aura of Ethel."
That's good. If I were truly a monster bringing destruction, that would be too tragic.
"Regarding Divine Beast, that's all for now…the problem is with Mr. Ars. He needs to be hospitalized for observation to determine the treatment period. It's too early to say he's fully cured."
Hearing this, Lisbeth's expression became worried.
"It's probably because of the foreign aura that the Tesel inside me has been restless. Fortunately, you arrived in time and stabilized it with emergency treatment. However, perhaps because of the abnormal nature of Tesel, even after using purification and healing skills to the point of complete recovery, I can still clearly feel Tesel's presence inside me."
"Then… will my body suffer any aftereffects…?" Lisbeth asked Paul with a worried expression, to which Paul replied with a reassuring smile.
"You don't need to worry about that. After all, it's just that Tesel hasn't been completely expelled yet. There are no serious external injuries, and the internal organs haven't been contaminated. He just needs to stay in the hospital until Tesel is completely purified." Hearing this, Lisbeth breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please leave Mr. Ars to us. It's getting late, you two should go to the guild administration to report the information about the Hero Devourer and then go back to rest. Just write the address to the nun at the entrance of the church ward, and Mr. Ars will be notified when he wakes up." Paul and Lisbeth thanked him for this, and were about to get up from their seats when someone pushed open the door.
"Paul. Are you here?"
As the door opened, a clear, almost transparent voice called out to Paul. When he saw the blonde beauty in a nun's habit enter, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Shining blonde hair shrouded in a black veil.
The seemingly loose nun's habit accentuated her shapely curves—her full breasts, which even seemed larger than her head.
White lines and gold patterns were embroidered on the black fabric draped over the three-panel slit skirt.
The slit design seemed adjustable via an inner clasp, currently only slightly revealing her ankles.
This dignified black nun's habit somehow accentuated her vibrant beauty.
Especially her slightly closed eyes, which inexplicably gave the illusion of being enveloped in compassionate peace, her entire face radiating gentleness.
Combined with her flawless, translucent skin and luscious lips, this beauty possessed an almost divine allure.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Paul. There's a guest here...!?"
However, after glancing around the room, her previously kind and gentle face instantly paled, contorted with fear.
"Ah, ahhhhhhh!!!" Showing the most terror among the women looking at me, the beautiful woman screamed and collapsed, bracing herself on her hands.