Chapter 489: Saint of the Vatican (1)

“I’m heading home first! Everyone, keep up the good work this afternoon!”

After Han Min-ah, who made the absurd claim that she’d move without even hiring a moving truck, let alone a full-service moving company, left first.

After returning from another expedition in a different A-rank dungeon, not the Crystal Spider Cave, we naturally disbanded the party before evening.

“Good work, everyone.”

“…Good work.”

“……Yeah.”

“See you next time, Cha Yuri-ssi, Cheon Jihee-ssi.”

“Yeah. See you, …Sungchul-ah.”

Cheon Jihee wore a subtle expression, perhaps still pondering the conversation we had in the dungeon earlier.

And then I saw Cha Yuri off first, who called me by a nickname-like alias they used just between us before heading back.

Lastly, Hye-eun also finished her farewells in front of the guild.

“Hye-eun, get home safe too.”

“Taekyung, you said you were going to work a bit longer in the recovery room before heading home, right?”

“Yeah. I plan to keep working like this for a while.”

“I thought you said you were only doing it during the winter season, but was it surprisingly okay?”

“Well, it’s not a bad feeling to treat others’ wounds and receive their thanks. Plus, seeing various kinds of injuries seems to be making me better at handling recovery spells.”

“Ah, right. I did feel something slightly different when I received it after a long time earlier. It felt like… the holy power was seeping directly into the wound, you know?”

It was a recovery spell that had undergone clinical trials on hundreds of company hunters, so it would have been stranger if she hadn’t noticed any difference.

Like injecting holy power directly into the wound to speed up healing, or aligning fractured bone fragments beneath the skin with holy power to mend them.

As all sorts of patients visited the company’s recovery room, my healing abilities grew rapidly in response.

Of course, that was only to the extent of repeatedly using recovery spells alone and learning them myself, so it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking growth.

Objectively speaking, it’s probably just at the level of being able to utilize holy power a bit more efficiently.

If possible, I wanted to learn and reference this skill from other recovery-type ability users, just like with swordsmanship or magic.

Of course, unlike combat-type hunters who are relatively numerous, finding a mentor or reference in the recovery field was as difficult as reaching for the stars.

For starters, the very existence of awakened abilities in the recovery field was incredibly rare.

Furthermore, most existing awakened individuals in the recovery field likely didn’t know about each other’s abilities beyond their own.

While it might be possible to meet other awakened individuals with similar abilities, it was hard to hope that they would be skilled enough to teach me recovery spells.

Because most recovery-type hunters’ abilities are developed through recorded texts or self-study, their skill levels are likely all over the place.

In fact, the fact that I was still working in the company’s recovery room even though February was almost over was largely due to this reason.

With the thought that if I continued working in this field and built relationships, I might eventually find an acquaintance among the awakened recovery-type individuals.

Especially since recovery-type awakened individuals are few in number, they were often called up collectively during emergencies like national crises.

It was better to maintain activities in this area as much as possible, even to be selected for such gatherings that occurred outside the guild’s scope.

‘…Well, even if I don’t learn anything specific, getting friendly with people in this field isn’t a loss anyway.’

“Then I’ll head home first, Taekyung-ah. Don’t stay too late.”

“Yeah, get home safe~.”

Thinking such thoughts, after sending Hye-eun off on her way home last.

I headed back to the company’s treatment room today as well, partly to practice my recovery spells.

Looking forward to a future where I might meet a recovery-type hunter who could become an acquaintance.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Same day, morning, Ariel Foundation Gangdong District Branch.

The foundation building at an early hour, before other hunters had arrived.

In one part of the building, the bustling footsteps of a certain young lady were quietly filling the silence.

-Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

A blonde young lady crossing the foundation’s hallway with quick steps.

It had already been three days since she came to work alone, without Eunbyul, who usually stuck to her side within the foundation.

Do Sihee hurried her steps towards an inconspicuous corner of the guild, as if trying to chase someone away, almost fleeing.

Following behind her, with slightly more leisurely steps, was a red-haired young lady trailing Do Sihee.

-Click. Click. Click.

Do Yehee, moving slowly with steps distinctly different from her younger sister’s.

Despite her much slower and more restrained movements, she looked like she had no trouble tracking her half-sister, Do Sihee.

It was as if she could roughly predict where Do Sihee would go, moving one step ahead towards the destination.

Watching her younger sister, wearing flats and moving quickly, Do Yehee quietly uttered a remark as if she couldn’t stand it.

“This isn’t a combat situation, so what kind of young lady walks so crudely? Can’t you do something about those tacky strides of yours?”

“I told you not to follow me…!”

“…I haven’t exactly been following you, Sihee-ah. It’s just that today, your path and mine happen to overlap quite unusually.”

“Even yesterday and the day before, you used that same excuse and stuck to me all day! What are you unhappy about today, then?!”

“I don’t understand what you’re so unhappy about. Do you think you have many opportunities to accompany an A+ rank hunter with your skills? What can you possibly do going into a dungeon alone without… Eunbyul or any other party members.”

“I don’t need your help, at least…!”

The half-sisters from Dokyung Group, Do Sihee and Do Yehee.

Although the two had grown closer, even if just briefly, due to a certain incident some time ago.

Their relationship, deeply fractured over more than 10 years, was not something that could be mended in just a few days.

Setting aside Do Yehee, who never really held a grudge against her younger sister, Do Sihee still wanted to get rid of her half-sister somehow.

Although she had received help once during the operation to rescue Geum Nari, who was captured by the sisters of Geumhyang Group, that was all.

Looking back, there were countless people Do Yehee had taken from her in the first place, excluding herself, and most of them had relationships ruined for various reasons, making reconciliation impossible.

It was naturally impossible to completely resolve their grudges over just one incident.

“Why don’t you just go play and laugh with your party members like usual, instead of pointlessly clinging to me now?!”

“…I haven’t been clinging to you. I told you, it’s a coincidence that we entered the same dungeon two days in a row.”

“Then was barging into Sungchul-ssi’s place and making a mess also a coincidence?! You’re always thinking of stealing people around me…!”

“…I’ve told you multiple times that it was just a verification process. And don’t worry, I don’t plan on interfering anymore. While I can’t say that person has only a positive influence on you, Sihee, still, among the people you dug up with your… well, for the first time in a while, someone decent…”

“Aaaargh! I don’t want to hear you talk, so please just get lost now!”

“…I told you to stop using uncouth language, Sihee-ah.”

Do Sihee, still trying to shake off her half-sister by walking away quickly, and Do Yehee, lingering around her younger sister until the very end.

In a normal dungeon exploration, Sihee wouldn’t have needed to pay much attention to her half-sister, whether she was there or not, as she would just do her job.

Unfortunately, today was different; there was a reason she absolutely had to get Do Yehee away from her.

That’s because, today, Do Sihee had a prior appointment to meet the Saintess of the Vatican and enter a dungeon together.

With her social circle already strained because of Do Yehee, and now protecting Eunbyul, this person was practically the only colleague she could work with, besides Kim Sungchul.

She absolutely could not introduce her to Do Yehee, who had stolen nearly twenty colleagues from her.

Even if the Saintess of the Vatican was in a position that Do Yehee couldn’t influence with her power.

Considering even the slightest possibility that she might snatch away another colleague, it was naturally better to prevent them from meeting in the first place.

“It’s pointless to keep going in circles just to shake me off. I already know you’re meeting the Saintess of the Vatican today.”

“How do you know that…!”

“And you don’t need to be so wary. You know that person isn’t someone who’ll be swayed just because I try to persuade them. You knew that too when you built a friendship with that hunter, didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t care what you think! Either way, I’ll never let you meet them!”

“It makes me a little happy that our Sihee overestimates my abilities, but worrying too much about unnecessary things is one of your bad habits.”

“Eeeek…!”

How could every single word she spoke just infuriate her so much?

Just as Do Sihee, infuriated again by Do Yehee’s words, tried to move away.

She couldn’t help but pause as a voice called out from directly behind her.

“Ah, Sihee~! Over, here~!”

“……”

A bright, gentle voice with drawn-out endings that you could never forget once you heard it.

There was only one person Sihee knew who spoke in such a manner.

As soon as she quietly turned her head in the direction of the voice, she saw the Saintess of the Vatican she was supposed to meet today.

A pure white saintess robe covering her from head to toe, long pink hair reaching her waist, and an expression that looked as gentle as her voice.

Seeing the saintess wave her hand like an innocent child the moment she saw her, Do Sihee let out a complex sigh inwardly.

Since Do Yehee hadn’t been completely shaken off yet, and the saintess spoke first, this was the moment her connection was inevitably exposed to her half-sister.

“It’s been a while, Saintess-nim.”

“Oh, Sihee~! I told you, call me Lulusia~!”

“Ah, sorry, Lulusia-ssi.”

“Lulusia~!”

“…Yes, Lulusia.”

Vatican City, which has historically produced countless recovery-type hunters.

The appearance of Lulusia Belmonte, a possessor of such powerful divine authority that she could truly be called a ‘Saintess’.