Ch.222Chapter 222 – Receiving the King’s Invitation

“Saint. I have a report for you. After our investigation, no further contamination of the land was found in this area. The land appears to have been purified almost perfectly.”

The people who had gone out to investigate all returned, and the holy knight who had devoted the longest time to the Sun Order stepped forward as a representative to report the findings to Eterna.

“Were there any other unusual occurrences?”

“We didn’t notice anything unusual during our investigation.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s return to the city now.”

“Yes, Saint.”

Following Eterna’s order to return, we were finally able to go back to the city.

In truth, I could have gone back earlier, but leaving behind people who were working hard outside?

It wouldn’t be strange if someone questioned my conscience for doing that.

That’s why I deliberately stayed until the end and moved together with the people of the Sun Order.

“But even if we purified the contaminated land, will the people who lost their vitality from drinking the polluted water return to normal?”

“What do you mean?”

“While purifying the contaminated land, the river water would have been purified as well… but would the effects of the contaminated water that people already drank also disappear?”

Hmm, if I think about Eterna’s intention in bringing this up, even if the water is purified, the condition of people who drank the contaminated water won’t improve on its own.

The water people drank and the water not yet consumed are different waters.

So then…

“Are you asking me to heal the people?”

“That’s correct~.”

Just as I thought.

Eterna seemed to want me to heal the people.

Through this, she wanted to spread my name widely and establish me as a saint of the Great Goddess Order or someone with apostle-level influence.

“But… will people come looking for me? It seems more likely they would seek out Lady Eterna instead.”

“Well… people probably know me, the Saint, better than the name Count Severio…”

There’s a reason Eterna scratches her cheek while saying this.

Let’s assume there was a major incident in the Gelebrio Empire.

Would news of that incident be well-communicated to foreign countries?

If this world had well-developed SNS or internet like Earth where I lived before, news would reach foreign countries within a day.

But where are we?

There is magic, but the basic infrastructure is closer to medieval or early modern times.

So most communication is done through letters, and magical communication is extremely expensive.

Therefore, in this world, news spreads mostly through traveling merchants, mercenaries, or adventurers who wander around the world.

In a world where there’s not much entertainment, the most interesting thing is hearing news from other regions through other people’s mouths.

That’s why adventurers and mercenaries sometimes get free drinks at taverns.

If you can hear news from other regions for the price of buying someone a drink, there’s no better value.

“But Count Severio, you possess an amazing ability that I don’t have.”

The ability Eterna is referring to is my ability to fix anything.

“There are many illnesses that don’t improve even with the best medicine, forcing people to rely on folk remedies. And such illnesses are mostly found among wealthy people.”

“Because poor people usually lose their lives before symptoms appear.”

“That’s right. If Miss Aisen, Margrave Beventus’s daughter, had been born in an ordinary family, she would likely have died soon.”

“And the key point is that while these people’s illnesses can’t be cured with Lady Eterna’s abilities, they can be cured with mine, right?”

Eterna nodded at my words.

“Just the news that someone who can cure incurable diseases is traveling with the Saint would attract a lot of attention. Then the news about the Count would reach the leaders of this country, wouldn’t it? You would receive official invitations and could get help in various ways.”

“I see.”

But there was one thing Eterna didn’t know.

I didn’t plan to stay here that long.

“What?”

When I told Eterna that I wouldn’t stay here long and would leave as soon as the matter was resolved, she looked surprised.

“Are you planning to return so quickly?”

“Since I’ve finished what I needed to do, shouldn’t I go back quickly?”

To be honest, there’s nothing fun about staying in the Kingdom of Tilasio for long.

I can enjoy a much more pleasant life in the Gelebrio Empire and at Glesius Academy, so why should I spend a long time in a foreign country?

“Could you… stay a little longer?”

“How much longer?”

“If you could stay at least two more months…”

“I can’t. I need to go back and fix the students’ equipment.”

One of the reasons I needed to return quickly was because of the students’ equipment.

I did announce through the academy notice that I would be briefly visiting a foreign country, but it’s obvious how many students would destroy their equipment during training.

So I needed to return to the academy as soon as possible.

“Since I’m currently the only one at Glesius Academy who can fix equipment, I can’t be away for any longer.”

“Then… could you stay just one more week?”

From two months to one week. That’s a reduction to one-eighth of the time.

“I can spare that much.”

I shouldn’t be too rigid, or Eterna might get hurt, so giving her a week should be fine.

If necessary, I can ask Cheonhyeryeong to return through the Celestial Dimension Storage.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

Upon returning to the city, we visited the mayor and asked him to gather people.

“You want to treat people who drank the contaminated water, so you’re asking me to gather them. I understand. I’ll have someone spread this news.”

The mayor gladly accepted our request.

The situation was such that people were sick and the city wasn’t functioning normally, so they needed our help.

As the mayor said, the news seemed to spread everywhere, and people began to gather in the square.

“This is for your treatment, so we would appreciate it if everyone would line up in order.”

The holy knights and priests moved around, lining people up.

This was to prevent delays in treatment due to confusion.

As people lined up in an orderly fashion, I took out my hammer and looked at Eterna.

“How many people live in this city?”

“I believe it’s around 3,000 people.”

Three thousand is quite a large number.

If I spend one minute per person, it would take at least 3,000 minutes.

That’s more than two days.

Since there are 60 minutes in an hour, that’s about 50 hours.

“Of course, that’s just counting the people living in the city… considering the people coming and going, I expect it’s about 3,600 to 4,000 people.”

3,600 to 4,000 means… 60 to 70 hours.

That meant spending 5-6 days solely on treating people.

Of course, since I use a hammer, treatment ends in about 30 seconds.

“Could you use holy magic so I don’t get tired?”

“Hmm, that’s right. It seems like you’ll need some buffs to treat so many people.”

Eterna said that and cast a buff on me.

As Eterna’s buff was cast on me, I felt vitality throughout my body and a sense of exhilaration that I could accomplish anything.

“Then, let’s begin.”

“Yes. Send in the patients!”

As Eterna called for patients to be sent in, people began walking toward us one by one from far away.

Most patients had lost vitality from drinking the water.

So when I tapped their bodies three times with my hammer, they quickly regained their vigor.

“This is amazing! My body has returned to normal!”

Some had problems with specific organs, but thanks to my ability, those problematic organs were fixed.

When this happened, people became even more eager to receive treatment…

“You’ve treated 1,000 people today.”

After treating people all day, I was able to heal 1,000 people.

But this was just the beginning.

“I heard there’s a very skilled doctor here.”

“Hey! Treat me right now! You should treat nobles like us first, not those commoners!”

I don’t know how the rumors spread, but from the third day onward, strange people from outside the city came looking for treatment.

“How dare you vermin intimidate us?”

“Hiiieek! I’m sorry!”

Well, after Cheonhyeryeong stepped in and broke the limbs of such people a couple of times before I treated them, they completely disappeared.

Thanks to that, I was able to stay here for a week without any inconvenience.

However…

“His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Tilasio has invited Count Patos Severio of the Gelebrio Empire to a banquet.”

The unexpected invitation from the king was quite surprising.

I wonder what he wants to say to me.