Ch.73Chapter 73 – No, I’m Not an Apostle, I Tell You! (1)

Thanks to helping cure Aisen Beventus, the youngest daughter of Margrave Beventus, Eterna and I were leisurely spending time at the Beventus family mansion.

Since it would take three days to reactivate the teleport station, Eterna and I would need to stay here for about two more days before returning to Arcenium.

Naturally, the news of Aisen Beventus’s recovery spread throughout the Beventus territory instantly through the servants.

“We’ve received a message from the Solar Order, Fatos.”

“From the Solar Order?”

“Yes.”

And there was something else unexpected…

“What kind of message did they send?”

“They say that Fatos’s name has started to spread beyond the border to other countries.”

“…What?”

It meant that my name had begun to travel beyond the Celebrio Empire’s borders to other nations.

“It seems the news has only reached countries adjacent to the empire’s borders, like the Kingdom of Reblio…”

“You’re saying that as time passes, more countries will come to know my name.”

“Correct.”

I couldn’t help but grimace at Eterna’s words.

However, Eterna herself wore a serious expression, so she didn’t seem to notice my reaction.

“Isn’t this situation becoming rather serious?”

“I didn’t anticipate this either. I mean, who in the world would think that an ability to repair objects could cure human illnesses?”

I couldn’t respond to Eterna’s words.

Because it was true.

Even I had wondered whether my ability could heal people.

Of course, now I had cured the Chancellor’s curse, His Imperial Majesty’s baldness, and even the Margrave’s youngest daughter’s incurable disease.

So at this point, it would be stranger to claim I couldn’t heal people with my ability.

But Eterna was different.

She had come to meet me because I had destroyed a demon sword.

Therefore, it made sense that Eterna didn’t know I could use my ability to heal people.

“I apologize for not informing you about this beforehand.”

“Now that it’s happened, we need to think about how to handle this situation.”

On this matter, Eterna was absolutely right.

“So to summarize our current situation…”

“More precisely, it’s not ‘our’ situation but ‘Fatos’s’ situation.”

“Ah, thank you for the correction. Anyway, let me summarize my situation. Initially, my name became widely known for ‘destroying the demon sword,’ correct?”

“That’s right.”

Destroying the demon sword. By having this officially recognized by the Great Goddess Order, I became an official demon sword destroyer.

Eterna, who became interested in this, came looking for me, and to protect me, she was accompanying me in the capacity of an Inquisitor rather than a Saint.

And anticipating that people might become jealous of me because of this, we sought out Black Feather to request an investigation.

But then we heard that Black Feather was in trouble and helped resolve the situation…

“And now the fact that I can cure incurable diseases has spread throughout the country.”

“That’s right. That’s roughly what’s happened so far.”

“Hmm…”

I groaned as I reviewed everything that had transpired.

Not only had I drawn massive aggro from the Demon Cult by destroying the demon sword, but now my ability to cure incurable diseases had been publicly revealed.

Plus, the students at Arcenium and Glesius Academy already knew about my ability to repair objects.

“Other countries will certainly try to take me away, or in the worst case, make moves to eliminate me.”

“Sigh… that’s why this is giving me a headache. Destroying demon swords, healing people, and repairing objects? It would be stranger if the Demon Cult wasn’t targeting you.”

Eterna and I put our heads together to discuss the matter, then both sighed.

The situation was spiraling out of control.

It seemed we would need help from some incredibly powerful entity to resolve this problem.

“First, I need to go to the Great Temple of the Goddess Order.”

“Why do you want to go there?”

“I need to have a conversation with Epitrina.”

“What?”

Eterna’s expression showed she didn’t understand what I was saying.

Yes, I understand why she would make such a face.

What madman would casually speak a deity’s name and claim they needed to talk directly with them?

“Is that even possible?”

“I’ve done it once before, so why not? Whether it works or not, we have to try.”

It seemed I would need Epitrina’s help with this matter.

I didn’t want this, but she was the one who broadcast my destruction of the demon sword to the world.

One should clean up their own mess.

“Let’s return to Arcenium as soon as the teleport station is operational.”

“Understood. Well, I don’t have any particular reason to stay here longer anyway.”

In truth, staying at Margrave Beventus’s mansion wasn’t uncomfortable.

Eterna had vouched that my healing of Aisen was not heretical, along with the fact that I had cured her illness.

Thanks to that, the servants of the Beventus family treated us very kindly.

We were living so comfortably that we literally didn’t have to lift a finger.

However, befitting a border territory, this place didn’t have as many entertainments as Arcenium.

“I’m bored. Should we go out for a stroll today?”

“You seem to be feeling confined staying only inside the mansion.”

“That’s true. Even if there’s not much to enjoy, at least we can take a walk.”

“Then let’s go for a walk together.”

I accepted Eterna’s suggestion for a walk.

My exercise had decreased lately and I was gaining weight, so it seemed like a good idea to take a walk and lose some of it.

As we came down from the terrace to the main hall, we encountered the head butler who was moving around with something wrapped in paper.

“Head Butler?”

“Ah, Fatos and Lady Eterna. Are you going out for a stroll outside the mansion?”

“Yes, it’s getting a bit stuffy staying only inside.”

“Ho ho. I see. Please be careful and enjoy yourselves.”

Receiving the butler’s greeting, Eterna and I left the Margrave Beventus’s residence.

Outside the mansion, the streets were surprisingly quiet.

When I asked Eterna, she explained that it was the time before the autumn harvest, so everyone was very busy.

Because of this, only young children and housewives doing household chores were walking around the streets.

“Ugh…”

“Hmm? Did you hear something?”

“What was that sound?”

As Eterna and I were walking through the Beventus territory, I heard someone groaning in pain from somewhere.

We moved toward the source of the painful sound and soon discovered a severely injured person.

“St-stay away! You mustn’t come near me!”

He was an old man bleeding black blood from a wound in his abdomen.

What was strange was that he was adamantly preventing us from approaching.

“What do you mean?”

“Fatos, look at his wound.”

“What?”

Following Eterna’s words, I observed the old man’s wound carefully.

Black blood was flowing from the wound.

Wait.

Black blood?

“Can blood be black?”

“*cough* Stay back. I understand your good intentions, but this cannot be treated by ordinary human abilities.”

“What kind of wound is it?”

“*cough* This wound was caused by the claw of an abominable demon.”

Demon? Wait, a demon?

“What do you mean?”

Eterna was the first to react to the mention of a demon.

“Urgh, judging by your attire, you must be an Inquisitor from the Solar Order.”

“Can you explain what happened?”

“Well…”

And so we were able to hear the whole story from the old man.

He was a high priest serving the Earth Goddess who had stopped by this area after sensing a suspicious energy while passing through.

The source of the suspicious energy turned out to be an injured demon, and after a desperate battle, he managed to drive the demon away but was wounded by the demon’s claw in the process.

“*cough* It’s too late for me. The death energy from that abominable demon is consuming me, so please stay back.”

“Fatos, do you think it’s possible?”

“I’ll have to try and see.”

I answered Eterna’s contextless question about possibility by saying I’d have to try.

Obviously, she was asking about healing the old man’s wound.

I transformed my bracelet into a hammer and gripped it, causing the old man to close his eyes when he saw it.

He probably thought I was going to give him peace with this hammer, but that was far from the truth.

I swung the hammer and struck the old man’s body three times, and with a faint glow, his wound completely disappeared.

“Wh-what is this? There was clearly a wound here!”

“How do you feel now?”

“Th-this energy? The energy of the Great Goddess?”

The old man suddenly stood up.

“Behold! A miracle has occurred! Everyone, welcome Fatos, the apostle of the Great Goddess!”

He began walking around shouting strange things.

Wait, what the hell is this now?