Ch.153Chapter 153 – It’s Written as Volunteer Work but Read as Public Support

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Thank you!”

This is the Temple of the Sun Order near Glesius Academy.

Here, I was receiving thanks from a mother and daughter.

“I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness.”

The reason was the middle-aged man crying in front of me right now.

This man, an ordinary commoner of the Empire, was born with a weak heart.

Because of this, he couldn’t engage in strenuous work, so he studied hard and became a civil servant, if I recall correctly.

But his weak heart caused problems, and unfortunately, this kind of illness couldn’t be resolved by alchemists or priests.

“As a citizen of the Empire, just live healthily from now on.”

However, it was more than easy enough for me to fix with my abilities, so I borrowed the Temple of the Sun Order to heal this man.

Now his heart won’t tire quickly even if he does hard work.

Because I fixed his heart to function like a normal one.

“As expected, Count Severio’s abilities are truly remarkable. To so easily cure an illness that neither holy magic nor alchemist potions could treat…”

After the middle-aged man left the temple with his family, one of the priests in the room approached and spoke to me.

He was one of the official priests working at this temple.

Having witnessed my abilities in action, he was reacting as if he had seen something truly extraordinary.

“Aren’t there spells among holy magic that cure diseases?”

“There are. But there are many illnesses that cannot be cured even with healing spells.”

As the priest before me was saying, there were diseases in this world that neither holy magic nor alchemy could cure.

“Baldness, which Count Severio cured, is one of them.”

For example, the disease called baldness that has brought tears to countless people, and the Prezmerine disease that the daughter of Margrave Beventus suffered from are prime examples.

Of course, in this world, they don’t analyze the individual causes of baldness, so they lump together both treatable and untreatable forms under the single term “baldness.”

“Even if Count Severio had demanded an enormous amount of gold coins as payment for curing baldness, everyone would have understood. That’s how much suffering the disease of baldness has caused to countless people.”

From the priest’s mention of gold coins rather than copper or silver, I had already anticipated that one could become incredibly wealthy just by curing baldness.

Even in the world I used to live in, people would ask those traveling abroad to bring back hair loss medications.

‘Ah, damn it. This is driving me crazy. My wife keeps complaining to me since I started taking baldness medication.’

That annoying department head who always picked on me also suffered terribly from erectile dysfunction as a side effect of his hair loss medication.

Anyway, even in my world, there was a joke that “whoever develops a perfect baldness cure will definitely win a Nobel Prize.”

That’s how much baldness remained unconquered even in a world with advanced science.

“But rather than seeking massive financial gain, Count Severio has used his abilities to help those in need. Such actions will surely be recorded for posterity and serve as an inspiration to many.”

Hmm. I wasn’t really aiming for that…

There’s a reason why I come to the temple and freely cure people with illnesses.

When someone extends a helping hand to a person whose life is like hell, that person will accept it even if it’s the hand of a devil.

So I’m volunteering my talents like this for free to prevent the demonic cult from luring unfortunate people and expanding their influence.

If someone is suffering from a serious deficiency that money cannot solve, the solution is to address that deficiency.

“I’m simply doing this because I don’t want people to fall into the clutches of the demonic cult.”

“That alone is worthy of admiration. Preventing people from turning to the demonic cult is more important than destroying the cult itself.”

Even after finishing my volunteer work, I continued talking with the priest for quite some time.

“Oh my, it seems it’s time for you to head back.”

“I was just about to do that. I’ll visit again around the same time next week.”

As lunchtime approached, I finished my volunteer work and returned to the academy.

The volunteer activities only take place on weekends, when academy students are legally allowed to go out.

This wasn’t to restrict my actions, but rather the Chancellor’s idea to protect me from external demands.

‘Count Severio’s abilities are extraordinary. I think you know that many people covet them. Especially, there’s a possibility that those cooperating with the demonic cult might approach you, so for safety reasons, I’d like you to only volunteer on weekends.’

On weekdays, I stay active within the safe confines of Glesius Academy, and on weekends, I volunteer at places like the Temple of the Sun Order where agents of the demonic cult cannot freely operate.

“Ah! Lord Patos! Finished with your volunteer work, I see?”

And whenever I went out, I had to be accompanied by a security detail.

This was one of the most strictly enforced rules since the great event of the World Tree’s recovery.

“Yes, Lady Eterna. Let’s head back to the academy now.”

Among them, my most reliable ally, Eterna, had received permission from the Chancellor to freely enter and exit Glesius Academy, and she was protecting my safety every day.

This was possible because her official position was the Chief Inquisitor of the Sun Order.

She’s known as the “Skull Crusher” for smashing so many heretics’ heads—could there be a safer way to protect me than having her as my guard?

“Would it be alright if we looked around town before heading back?”

“That’s fine. It’s the weekend, so let’s take this opportunity to explore the town a bit before returning.”

Like this, after finishing volunteer work, I would sometimes explore the town before returning to Glesius Academy.

“Oh! Aren’t you Count Severio? Coming back from volunteer work again today?”

Sometimes while walking around town, I would run into people I had healed.

“That’s right. How are you feeling?”

“Oh my, I’ve been in perfect health ever since you healed me, Count.”

This man’s name was Born, one of the Empire’s citizens living in Arkenium.

“Since that day, my wife and children have been so happy. They say their father is healthy now and plays with them well.”

“Cherish your family.”

“Of course. Since it’s your advice, Count, I’ll definitely follow it. Take care.”

After exchanging greetings with Born and turning to leave, I noticed Eterna staring at me intently.

“…Is there something on my face?”

“Hmm. Come to think of it, Lord Patos, do you have a family?”

“Family…you ask?”

I wondered how I should respond about family.

People here believe I’m from the Eastern Continent…

“I had parents, but they passed away before I came here.”

“Oh… I see. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

When I gave a vague answer, Eterna showed an extremely apologetic expression.

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago, so I barely remember now. But why did you ask?”

“I’ve seen Lord Patos volunteering all this time, and I noticed you’re especially kind to people with families.”

“Is that so.”

“That’s why I asked if you had a family… but now I’m worried I might have reopened old wounds…”

Eterna seemed to regret bringing up the topic of my family.

“That’s not the case. My feelings have dulled considerably with time.”

“R-really? Hehe.”

I walked down the street with the awkwardly laughing Eterna.

Originally, I had planned to stroll around for about two hours before heading back.

But since I had inadvertently caused Eterna distress with my “talula” (white lie), I decided to spend a bit more time to comfort her.

After spending some more awkward time together and returning to Glesius Academy, Shannon appeared before us.

“Shannon?”

“Count Severio. Someone from Margrave Beventus’s territory is looking for you.”

At the mention of Margrave Beventus’s territory, one person naturally came to mind.

Justin, the branch manager of the Black Feather in Belsarem.

“Is it a man or a woman?”

I asked Shannon about the gender of the person looking for me.

If it was a man, it would likely be Justin, and if a woman… I wasn’t sure.

It could possibly be a maid from Margrave Beventus.

“It’s a woman, but…”

The fact that it was a woman ruled out Justin, but…

“So you are… the one who saved this young lady’s life.”

Just then, an unfamiliar voice came from behind Shannon.

“I’ve wanted to meet you, Count Severio.”

A beautiful young woman with serene, lake-blue hair and a pure, delicate appearance greeted me.

“I am Aisen Beventus.”