Chapter 2

Suddenly, I was hit with a “Gah!”

A dull sound echoed from my cheekbone.

I instinctively fell back on my behind.

“Don’t get cocky, Kiwi Alaya!”

Looking up, I saw the colonel, his face flushed bright red, swinging his arm down.

It seems I had been hit.

I tasted blood in my mouth.

“How dare a heretic talk about money at a time like this… It makes my skin crawl. It seems you still don’t understand your position.”

The colonel wiped his fist against his trousers as if he had touched something filthy.

“Right now, you are recognized as a heretic, and all your freedoms have been revoked. You don’t have the freedom to run your own clinic, let alone to work of your own will. If we feel like it, we could put you on trial for heresy and even execute you.”

“…Execute?”

“A public execution by burning at the stake. Of course, while still alive. Looking back at history, it seems it hasn’t been carried out in two hundred years since the witch trials were popular in the Middle Ages. There will be plenty of spectators.”

“I’m not interested in providing such entertainment. If I don’t want that to happen, what do you expect me to do?”

“You will now be conscripted and placed under the jurisdiction of our Kingdom Army. You will fulfill your role there.”

“Role?”

“You are to go to a certain town and treat the demon race.”

“Treating the enemy demons… Surely, you can’t mean—”

The worst possible scenario flashed through my mind, and as if he could read my thoughts, the colonel smirked.

“Our Kingdom Army’s intelligence division is collecting information through ‘torture’ on several captured demons. You will assist with that.”

The colonel crossed his arms, wearing a smug smile.

“With your healing powers as a dark healer, we can inflict more severe torture, at lower risk, and repeat it as many times as needed. That should expedite the information gathering.”

“…You seem more like the devil than the demons.”

“We are the devils? Don’t be ridiculous. Justice is on the side of humanity. Everything is for the peaceful future of humankind.”

The colonel approached me, still sitting on the floor.

He roughly grabbed my hair and lifted me up.

“Now, it’s time for you to choose, dark healer. Will you work for humanity and live? Or will you side with the demons and choose the path of being burned at the stake?”

“…I understand.”

Reluctantly, I nodded.

“I will comply with the conscription order from the Kingdom Army intelligence division.”

“That’s a wise decision. Even if you refuse the conscription and try to run away, you are already branded a heretic. The church will not shelter you, nor will anyone else. There’s no longer a place for you in this kingdom.”

“One thing I want to ask, about this clinic going forward…”

“As I said earlier, it will be closed. You will never return here. Even after the war ends.”

After throwing my hair aside, the colonel added,

“Don’t ever think you’ll be able to make money as a dark healer in our kingdom again. If you ever try to use that power again, that’s when we’ll truly put you on trial for heresy.”

The colonel, looking irritated, rummaged through his military uniform’s pocket and lit a cigarette with a match.

He then pulled out a pocket watch from his trouser pocket.

“Now, start getting ready. We leave in ten minutes.”

Exhaling smoke, he walked back to the waiting room.

Two soldiers followed him out of the examination room.

“…Hah.”

I reluctantly stood up, pressing my hand against my cheek where I was struck.

For a dark healer, not being able to heal one’s own wounds is a painful reality.

“‘Don’t ever think you’ll be able to make money again,’ huh…”

Forced to assist in torturing, unable to return to my clinic after the war ends, and unable to make money as a dark healer.

What a terrible situation.

“Alright, let’s abandon the kingdom.”

It didn’t take long to reach that decision.

After all, telling me to stop making money is as unreasonable as telling me not to breathe.

…However, abandoning my country isn’t as simple as it sounds.

Even if I manage to cross the border safely, we’re currently in wartime.

Even if I become a refugee, no one would support me.

At the very least, if I could aim to go to a faction that would be on my side…

…Oh.

“If that’s the case, let’s seek asylum.”

There is indeed a faction that might be on my side.

The country, “Demon Country,” that is currently in conflict with the kingdom.

If the Demon Country is an enemy of the kingdom, it could potentially become an ally for me.

“And conveniently, I hear there are demon captives where I’m headed. If I can manage to free those captives, it might become a connection with the Demon Country…!?”

Rather, this might even be the perfect opportunity to sell myself to the Demon Country!

I can almost hear the sound of coins clinking in my head.

…Alright, alright, I’m starting to see a glimmer of hope!

Now that it’s decided, let’s prepare for asylum!

If I can’t make money in the kingdom, I might as well do it in the “Demon Country”!