“Bang bang bang,”
The door was knocked on as if it were being smashed.
It was a certain afternoon when heavy clouds covered the sky.
“── It seems like you’ve been doing quite well for yourself to have a clinic in such a prime location, ‘Dark Healer.'”
What awaited me when I opened the door was an unfamiliar man in military uniform.
Behind him were two soldiers shouldering rifles.
“You’re Kiwi Alaya the Dark Healer, right?”
“Yes. I am Kiwi.”
As I nodded,
“Take this.”
The soldier pressed something firmly against my chest.
It was a red envelope… a “summons” from the royal army.
“At a time of war, it is now your duty as a citizen of the kingdom to fulfill your obligations.”
The “Lue Humani Kingdom,” the nation of humanity where we lived, had gone to war with the neighboring demon nation, the “Demon Kingdom Ouglon,” a month ago.
According to the newspaper, our kingdom’s objective was to assist the western elf nation, which the demon kingdom was invading. The current situation was supposed to be heavily in our kingdom’s favor.
Yet,
“…Why am I, a civilian, being summoned so suddenly?”
Being summoned by the military meant participating in the war. However, if the situation wasn’t dire, there should be no reason to use civilians.
As I asked in confusion, the soldier snorted.
“It’s certain that you’re not being called up just to be used as a bullet shield. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here myself.”
The soldier emphasized his rank badge near his chest. It indicated he was a lieutenant colonel… apparently a high position.
“And, you are also under suspicion of being an ‘heretic.'”
“Heretic?”
The lieutenant colonel drew his sidearm from its holster and lightly jabbed it against my chest.
“You just keep quiet. We’re going to inspect this building. Don’t make any strange moves.”
At the lieutenant colonel’s signal, the two soldiers pushed me aside as they entered through the entrance.
The lieutenant colonel, following them, glanced around and frowned.
“Really. I can’t believe you’ve managed to continue such a practice up until now, calling this a ‘monster specialty clinic.'”
My profession is a Dark Healer who heals demons and monsters. I’ve been running this clinic for ten years, utilizing my skills.
I made a living catering to citizens who keep harmless monsters as pets, a considerable presence in the kingdom.
“I can’t understand those who want to keep the enemies of humanity, but I understand even less those who make it their profession to heal them. Do you really like monsters that much?”
“Not particularly.”
“Then why did you become a Dark Healer?”
“Because it pays well.”
I replied immediately to the lieutenant colonel as he surveyed the waiting room.
“Only beings like demons with ‘magical power’ can become Dark Healers, and it’s a profession that is shunned by many citizens of the kingdom. However, it’s a job that is certainly needed by some citizens who raise monsters. Since it’s a niche field with little competition, I can stand at the top.”
“Hmph… So it’s a means to make money. Even so, you’ve chosen the wrong path.”
The lieutenant colonel averted his gaze from me and looked outside the clinic.
“‘Unpatriotic!’ ‘Get out of this place at once!’ ‘Die, traitor!’… It seems like you have quite a passionate wall of graffiti.”
“Thanks to the current wartime atmosphere.”
“Do you really want money that badly, even if it means being hated by people?”
“I’ll be hated by people no matter what. After all, I have ‘magical power’ despite being human. In that case, it’s better to earn as much as I can.”
“I’ve heard that those who are born with ‘magical power’ tend to be eccentric, but you seem to be quite a bit so yourself.”
The lieutenant colonel made a face as if he were about to spit.
Then he noticed the door at the back of the waiting room and asked,
“What about here?”
“Just an examination room. More importantly, what exactly are you looking for by stepping into my clinic?”
The lieutenant colonel did not answer my question and opened the door to the examination room.
His eyes widened at the sight inside.
There shouldn’t be anything particularly suspicious in here.
“…A hostile monster, huh?”
The next moment, a loud bang echoed.
The lieutenant colonel fired three shots toward the examination room.
“What… what are you doing!?”
I hurriedly peeked into the examination room.
What I saw before me was pure “tragedy.”
In the center of the examination room, my “patient” on the examination table was slumped over, green blood splattering against the walls and floor.
“I knew you were hiding a monster.”
The lieutenant colonel approached the patient— a monster— while still aiming his handgun.
Usually lively and full of energy, the five legs sprouting directly from its body trembled as if in spasm. Its small head, covered with numerous compound eyes, was losing its light.
Anyone could see the monster was gravely injured.
“Kiwi Alaya I hereby designate you as an heretic. This clinic will be closed effective today.”
“But this is a monster specialty clinic! What’s wrong with having a monster here?!”
“Be quiet.”
As I tried to confront the lieutenant colonel, the two soldiers aimed their rifles at me.
I had no choice but to stop.
The lieutenant colonel sighed softly.
“Currently, under the wartime state, the kingdom has enacted a law prohibiting the concealment of ‘demons and monsters.’ You have defied that law.”
A law prohibiting concealment? No, that can’t be.
I read the newspaper every day, but I had no information about such a new law.
“Well, it was just issued this morning.”
“What!?”
It was only natural that I wouldn’t know about it.
The lieutenant colonel should understand that well…
…Oh, I see.
So, this is all part of something larger.
The sudden summons I received and the pressure to close my clinic as an heretic, all of it.
I was being manipulated in a scheme created by someone I didn’t know.
“…”
Was it this lieutenant colonel who crafted that scheme?
No, that’s not it.
Considering the summons issued against me and the law that has just been announced, it must be on a much larger scale… likely involving the royal army.
…This is a problem that I can’t do anything about. However,
“You’re in my way. Could you please move?”
I pushed aside the ends of the two soldiers’ rifles aimed at me with my hand and, wearing a lab coat that was draped over a nearby chair, approached the examination table.
“Hey, don’t do anything strange—”
“Strange? No, I’m just going about my normal business.”
Even as the lieutenant colonel aimed his handgun at me, I ignored him.
I can’t be shot by them.
…Since this scheme isn’t a personal matter of the lieutenant colonel, it shouldn’t be allowed for him to kill me without a very good reason.
I leaned over the examination table and observed the motionless monster.
Two of the three bullets had penetrated its body.
The location of the last one was unknown.
Given the position of the wound, it must have gotten lodged in an organ or a bone.
“I’ve got a pretty good grasp of the situation.”
I pressed my palm against the monster.
“Hang in there a little longer.”
I forcefully channeled my magical power.
── “Dark Heal.”
Like a towel absorbing water, my magical power spread within the monster’s body.
…I’ve finished assessing the internal damage.
I stitched together the injured organs with threads of magical power, simultaneously detecting any foreign objects within the body and pushing them out. Then, I stimulated and activated the immune system, promoting the monster’s self-healing abilities to regenerate the wounds.
And in just over three minutes, the treatment was complete.
The external wounds were completely sealed.
“…You should escape.”
I whispered softly.
Suddenly, the monster began to move its legs vigorously and jumped off the examination table, running out through the open door.
“What…!?”
The lieutenant colonel and the two soldiers were stunned and seemed unable to move.
“It ran away…?! You healed it completely in just a few minutes from a near-death state…?!”
The lieutenant colonel was left agape, but as he noticed my gaze, he seemed to snap back to reality.
“Letting a monster escape… I should have told you about the law, Kiwi Araya. Do you understand what you just did…?”
“What did I do? Just my job, and what’s wrong with that?”
I would have to obey the royal army’s scheme.
But, I am a Dark Healer.
My job is to heal and save my patients.
As a small act of defiance, I was determined to see that through.
…Well then.
I extended my hand toward the lieutenant colonel.
“Exactly 1,200,000 manis.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s the fee for the unexpected emergency treatment caused by your negligence. I want the full amount in cash right now.”
