Immediately after that, I was taken to the infirmary.
When I saw the expressions of my classmates who were present, I realized that if I had hesitated for another ten seconds in that situation, I would have probably taken about four more drop kicks and passed out right then and there. So, the judgment of the medic on the scene was certainly commendable.
Naturally, the wounds on my hands could not be healed with holy power.
That’s because the wounds themselves were caused by the miraculous power which is the source of divine power.
The medic seemed quite flustered when they saw that neither holy water nor holy magic worked. In the end, all they could do was wrap my hands tightly with bandages. As a result, it looked like I was wearing fighting gloves on both hands.
In contrast to the government forces’ medical staff, who were horrified at the wounds that couldn’t simply be treated, most of the people in the infirmary from the church were shocked for a different reason.
Well, it goes without saying, as they knew exactly what this wound meant and how it came to be.
Stigmata.
A wound caused by the miraculous power known as the source of divine strength. Evidence that a god has had a connection with that person.
However, even knowing this, the church people didn’t really have any methods to deal with it. While many books mentioned that great saints had stigmata, there were none that described how to treat it.
In the end, all they could do was change the bandages. They disinfected the wound with holy water one more time before wrapping it again.
Speaking of stigmata, just to explain a bit more, this is why I was so careful with the miraculous power.
I had previously explained that divine power is the utilization of god’s strength through mana. Even with a bit of mana, a deeply faithful person can draw more of god’s strength and use it, so the results are ‘amplified’ compared to the amount of mana used.
In other words, the process of using mana in divine power is a kind of conversion that allows god’s strength to be utilized through a human body. Moreover, it’s in a “loss compression” form.
While it is definitely more efficient than using mana outright, it is not as effective as the miracle itself. Divine power cannot regenerate missing body parts or heal permanent disabilities caused by accidents.
However, occasionally, among the extremely rare individuals with deep faith, there are those who can directly receive god’s strength in their bodies.
People call this ‘miracle’ to distinguish it from divine power.
And naturally, it goes without saying, those who can receive that ‘miracle’ directly often don’t end up living normally.
It would be like pouring unfiltered, enormous amounts of current into an electronic device with no safety measures in place.
While one can achieve great feats in that instant, one cannot revert a malfunctioning state afterward.
Of course, a merciful goddess would not want to see a person being destroyed because of her power, so she usually stops before a person becomes completely ruined. What remains is ‘stigmata’.
And typically, just using a bit of miraculous power, even for a brief moment, leaves behind stigmata.
Think of it as the spot where miraculous power exited the body.
In that sense, Ariel hinted at something for me.
Since she borrowed my body during the last funeral hall event, I hadn’t developed stigmata on my body. Watching the recorded footage, I can’t say the duration was long, but it certainly wasn’t short enough to classify it as just ‘a moment’.
I didn’t break down, nor did I have any wounds. This meant that even if I used a level of miracles above a certain threshold, I wouldn’t die. My conclusion was that since it was a body directly created by god, it was more than sufficient to exert a certain level of miraculous power.
But I was still cautious.
While a very short, very small miracle might cause no issues, I didn’t know if a larger feat would be too much for this body to withstand.
The reason I couldn’t help the critically injured patients in the infirmary lay there.
If I were to break my body in the process, it would definitely hinder my quest to eliminate the witch afterward.
Ultimately, I couldn’t quite judge whether this was the right decision or not.
“……”
The bandaged hands barely revealed the tips of my fingers. Whether the bleeding had stopped or if it was just that the bandages were thick, there was no sign of it seeping through.
My hands throbbed.
Hmm, so stigmata hurts, huh?
The reason the stigmata formed on my hands was that, when I initially set things up, I had just thoughtlessly put together the image that came with stigmata.
In this world, the scriptures were called the Bible, and they directly used the crucifix from Christianity for that reason.
It wasn’t until much later that I realized there were no saints who had ever been crucified in this world and why the cross and stigmata were present. I then added the setting that it was because the religions in this world still used the remnants of Catholic and Protestant establishments, and that they were the areas most often used for miracles that would break down first.
There may be many aspects that could be challenged, but what could be done? The world was indeed created in such a way, and my hand had a hole in it.
Before crossing over the wall, I treated all the people in the infirmary and sent them out, and most of the seriously injured were transferred to larger medical facilities via helicopter for additional treatment. The female hero who lost her leg had already been moved.
In the end, I was the only one lying in the infirmary.
“Actually, I don’t even need to be lying down…”
My only injury was to my hand. All the wounds from getting hit by the high-ranking demon had been self-treated.
“You’re bleeding a lot from an incurable wound. You might experience anemia, you know? At least for today, you should stay lying here.”
Ella said, checking my forehead with an electronic thermometer and confirming I had a normal temperature. Unlike earlier, she was now wearing clean white clothes.
Even without a patient bleeding profusely, it made sense that she’d change into clean clothes.
Now that I thought about it, she wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t exactly bleeding a trivial amount. Honestly, it looked a bit scary even to me.
In the past, I had almost fainted from dizziness after donating blood and riding a bus back, so I could definitely see that as a possibility.
Wait, then does using ‘heal’ not replenish blood that’s been lost? I hadn’t thought about it until now, but could it be that treating wounds in a heavy bleeding state could lead to death from excessive blood loss?
…Did I almost die today?
I had been struck by the high-ranking demon, had broken bones, and had coughed up blood.
“I really don’t think I need to lie down.”
Next to me, Lina was grumbling.
Lina’s face looked fine. In fact, I had no memory of how she looked fine. After Ariel took over my body, I had completely lost consciousness.
Considering that her previously injured arm and swollen face were now okay, it seems that the goddess had shown mercy to her as well.
That was indeed fortunate.
“I didn’t get hurt like her.”
“To be precise, you ‘did’ get hurt. From what I’ve heard, your face was swollen and your arm was broken. This isn’t something we can just pass off as simply healed. I won’t insist that you lie here for the entire day, but at least for an hour, we should monitor your condition.”
Ella’s nagging in a very strict voice was indeed the right approach.
Just stay still.
Not only to avoid hearing nagging, but I had already experienced death once. I didn’t want to do it again.
“……”
When I turned my gaze subtly, I saw Lina looking at my hands, which were tightly wrapped in the bandages.
“……Does it hurt?”
After a moment of looking at me with a puzzled expression, she finally spoke up.
“It doesn’t hurt much.”
At first, it hurt a lot, but honestly, I could say it was hardly painful considering the state of my wounds. It throbbed, and it would take me by surprise if I hit it, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Is this also god’s mercy?
Or maybe my brain just blocked the pain since it was too intense. After all, it’s about the same level as driving a nail or a thorn into my hand.
Upon hearing my answer, Lina frowned as if she didn’t like what I said.
What’s it to her if it doesn’t hurt much?
To be honest, I was a little worried that once I started feeling better, the pain would hit me hard.
“You,”
As Lina opened her mouth, the infirmary door burst open.
“I brought food!”
Aurora said cheerfully, entering with a tray piled high with food. Following her was Linea. After them came Selena, Satsuki, and Lee Ji-An, one after another.
Aurora ran over and set the tray down on the table next to my bed.
Ah, now that I think about it, I had been incredibly hungry since the beginning.
I had been working hard from morning until afternoon.
While using mostly divine power didn’t put a strain on my body too much, getting on and off somewhere nonetheless required a fair bit of energy.
“……”
Looking over to Lina, who was sitting on the bed next to mine, I saw Linea doing the same as Aurora. While they were doing that… they usually didn’t talk much.
It wasn’t just Linea; Aurora also hadn’t engaged in much conversation, although she would often complain and protest whenever Lina picked on me. Linea didn’t even do that.
Why? Given the significant difference in their lifestyles, it could just be concluded that they didn’t match each other.
After placing the tray down, Linea didn’t hurry and casually moved over to my bed.
Lina was staring at Linea intently.
…Or was it possible that there was something else between them, not just a difference in personality?
Asking here seemed a bit inappropriate.
In the meantime, Aurora pressed a button beside my bed, elevating my upper body.
“……My waist is fine, though.”
I did indeed break it earlier, but I didn’t feel the need to mention it. There was no reason to tell her since the wound had been healed.
“Even if the patient has been treated with divine power, you should observe them for any abnormalities.”
Aurora said, raising her chin proudly.
That was probably one of the instructions she heard from Ella earlier. While I was healing the patients at the airfield, Aurora and Linea were helping Ella.
In that case, I had no objections. Ella was the head of this infirmary.
“That aside, you broke your waist a while ago.”
While I was trying to gloss over it, I heard that comment from beside me.
Everyone who had settled down next to Lina and my bed stopped and turned to the source of that voice.
It was Jian.
And again, all those intense gazes turned back to me.
“Um….”
As I struggled to find something to say, Jian continued in a calm voice.
“Earlier, you were attacked in the abdomen by the high-ranking demon. I saw it from the side, and your waist was bent in an unnatural direction. It seemed like it was treated right away, though.”
If you’re going to talk like that, then just eat normally. Every word you say feels like it’s adding to my accumulated drop kicks.
I didn’t have a concrete memory since I was practically out of my mind at that time, but I knew well that Jian was the one who pulled me close and restrained me at the end, so it was clear that he had punched the demon while breaking my arms.
Seeing that Jian seemed to want to continue speaking, I shouted, “Wait!”
And hastily cut him off.
“…Let’s talk about that after we eat, shall we?”
Feeling the gazes turning back towards me, I said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
*
With my hands wrapped in bandages, making it difficult to move my fingers, Aurora diligently spoon-fed me.
Do you know something?
By now, I was slowly getting used to Linea’s nakedness during my time at the convent. She didn’t hesitate to change in front of me, and given how often I caught glimpses of her, I was becoming somewhat desensitized to it.
However, I still felt severely embarrassed whenever I saw Aurora change clothes.
It wasn’t that Aurora had a better figure than Linea, nor was it because she’s a beauty if you just looked at her. While that was not an incorrect statement, there was something… something more fundamental that I was feeling.
The problem was not knowing exactly what that fundamental something was.
It felt awkward when she glanced over here, seemed to twitch nervously while taking off her clothes… maybe, maybe it’s not the case…
But even still, Aurora adapted to group living quite well. Although she was still a little shy, she no longer radiated that awkward atmosphere like before.
Phew. To be honest, Aurora was one of the few individuals I clearly recognized as a ‘woman’.
While I certainly felt attracted to others, such as when I caught sight of Seo-A’s chest, or when I marveled at how beautiful and alluring Lina, the succubus, was, I didn’t reach that feeling for some reason until differently interacting with them. Besides, I interacted with Lina more through violence than through words.
Selena was shy in front of Jian but became more of a confident woman in front of me, while Satsuki had a less expressive demeanor altogether. Lee Ji-An was just like a friend to me.
In short, among them, the only genuine beauty acting like a proper heroine and sticking right by me was Aurora.
Unless, of course, Aurora had some succubus blood.
Well, that possibility was zero, though!
Anyway, that was my situation.
As Aurora brought the food to her mouth, her pretty face came closer and every time she warmly smiled while I took a bite, it sent my heart a flutter.
Calm down.
This is a trap.
She’s a minor.
In the end, I kept repeating those thoughts in my heart to protect at least the tiniest drop of my conscience.
[You’re a minor too.]
No, it’s not acceptable for a goddess to say that.
*
Ultimately, after finishing the meal as slowly as possible, I began recounting what had happened at the battlefield, one by one, while being stared at intensely by the children.
Honestly, I had been in such an excited state that my memory was hazy after a certain point, and at the end, when the god had directly taken over my body, my memory completely cut off. So, the fact that Jian was there to fill in the gaps was a blessing.
Thanks to that, everyone now knew that I had recklessly jumped in and gotten hurt, but upon hearing that the situation had been more serious than they had thought, the kids didn’t bother to interrupt or criticize me.
“—I have one thing I want to ask.”
After hearing what Jian and I had recounted, among the children who had fallen into silence, the first to speak was Linea.
“Did you know that the witch would appear?”
“…I couldn’t be sure.”
Upon further examination, it sounded closer to ‘I was planning to go searching for her.’ I had considered luring her out by creating a ruckus. Who would have thought she would pop up on the first day?
Moreover, the presence of the high-ranking demon was quite literally unexpected. It was a being I had created as a setting just to use later, so when it suddenly appeared in the storyline, it left me bewildered about how to proceed with my plans.
Fortunately, today, because of Andrea, who had levelled up her skills after a tremendous amount of battlefield experience, and Jian, who was utterly a munchkin—who could slice incoming projectiles with ease—I managed to escape a potential disaster.
If they hadn’t been there, I might have ended up in pieces, or worse, kidnapped and facing various trials. It was that kind of world, after all.
…Ugh, I really need to move more cautiously next time.
Furthermore, I had written only up to a little bit before this incident, and I had left the remaining parts without any substantial development in my mind. From now on, I have to navigate the situation using only the established settings I know. I absolutely cannot indulge in impulsive actions or whims.
I mean, just today, Lina almost died.
Though I intended for there to be injuries, not this early. The whole reason I hurried was to avoid this very situation, and yet here it was again.
Plus, no one yet knows about Lina’s true identity. Since she hasn’t died using divine power, she remains a demon, and hasn’t proved her innocence in any sense. If it reveals itself later, it will create a massive headache.
It felt like I had just crossed one mountain, only to find a range stretched ahead.
I had no clue how far I had to go before the end would reveal itself.
“Oh, right! I also have something to tell you!”
Among the children who had been silent and serious, Aurora, who had been smiling brightly, grabbed my arm and said.
“Investigator Matthew sent a report to the Central Church stating that Sister Clara is a divine apostle using miraculous power! There are tons of witnesses, the stigmata, and the corpse of the witch, so it’s almost certain that Sister Clara will be canonized as a saint!”
Well… I had expected that.
I hadn’t thought it would happen the very day we went to the battlefield, though.
But is this really enough of a reason for Aurora to be so excited?
“And I was recommended as her attendant! I look forward to working with you in the future!”
Ah, I see.
Aurora had been sticking close by me to figure out whether I was truly a user of miraculous power. Now that she found out, she probably doesn’t feel the need to stay close.
Still, since someone who came all the way to the academy wouldn’t just be kicked away, there would have been a little bit of uneasy feelings at best. If she could stay beside her friend for sure, that would be a joyous thing.
Watching Aurora overflowing with joy, I turned my gaze towards Linea, who nodded with a slight smile. It seemed she felt the same way.
Indeed, being a saint is merely about the status; having a position doesn’t bind one to it. Being a clergy member allows one to work in different departments within the church.
And having a saint in the knights would mean there would be a lot more assignments to give.
I still didn’t know what kind of excuse Andrea would use to keep Linea by my side, but looking at Linea’s response, it seemed likely that we would be acting together for quite a while.
That was certainly a good thing.
Even if they talked about the Inquisition or Miracle Investigators, these two were among the first friends I made after coming to this world.
Despite the vast uncertainty ahead, it wouldn’t hurt to feel happy about having companions to journey with, right?
Unbeknownst to me, I clenched my fists tightly.
“Ay!?”
And quickly realized that my stigmata was still healing.
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