The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

After waking Inukami-senpai up to take over the fire, I lay down to rest.

"Moo, Usato-kun, you should know what the high road is. I was supposed to wake up and take my turn, but ...... how far you go beyond what I expected."

"That's the job of Kazuki and his senpai, and staying up all night is nonsense. Sometimes, a well-meaning act can turn out to be just meddling.

"That's true, but ......"

If it is Kazuki, not sleeping when your magic is not at full strength will affect you later on.

Rest when you can, that's one of the things I've learned since I joined the rescue squad.

"But you looked like you were going to sleep till morning..."

"Ugh."

He says this to his senpai and meditates.

I can still hear the monster's cries, but Inukami-senpai is awake, so I guess it's all right.

I'm sure he'll be fine.

"Usato-kun, ...... are you still awake?"

"Is it .........?"

It must have been about ten minutes after we took turns, and my ears caught Inukami-senpai's clear voice from my slumber.

I turned my body toward Inukami-senpai, writhing.

"How did you feel when you were summoned to this world?

What was the intention of this question?

Was it a casual question, or did he have something on his mind? Or is it a question of guilt for having involved me in the summoning of a brave man?

"I don't ...... know, Rose's training is hard, and I have to look at the faces of my handsome colleagues every day ...... and the thought of fighting the First Demon Army still doesn't seem realistic to me.

"Do you want to go home?"

"...... hmm, that's a difficult question."

I want to go home and I don't want to go home. It is a contradictory feeling, but I do not want to give up my ability of healing magic that I have cultivated in this world. And it is also painful to think that I will be leaving the people I have met in this world. I have lived a short but intense life.

But of course I worry about my family.

As I hesitate, Inukami-senpai says something to me in a voice that sounds as if she is in distress.

I don't want to go home.

I don't know how much meaning is packed into those words. First of all, I think that you should talk to Kazuki, not to me.

I am sure that I can't give you the kind of answer that you are looking for.

But I will answer your question.

"Isn't it okay?"

"Why don't you ask ......?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I want you to listen."

You don't have to be so direct.

And why are you so brazen?

"No, thanks. It's too much trouble. I'm sleepy."

"Well, how difficult is it for you to refuse to go that far ......, Usato-kun?"

Difficulty? This isn't a game.

You can guess why I don't want to go home anyway. When we were summoned, Inukami-senpai was the most lively of the three of us. That's what I'm saying.

Her place is not in the original world but in this world.

If senpai has no regrets for her former world, I will respect that.

"...... huh, I feel like an idiot for being so nervous."

"Do you get nervous, Inukami-senpai?"

"Hmm, that's a little rude. I'm human, I get nervous too.

Inukami-senpai looks at me as I lie down.

I turn over to get away from his gaze and turn my back to the fire. Now that we've finished talking, let's go to bed.

"Hmmm, you are so normal..."

As my consciousness gradually became cloudy, I heard the voice of my senpai muttering happily in my ear.

I was so happy to hear his voice.

The next morning, we were walking out of the forest at sunrise.

I vaguely remember the direction we took when we left the forest with Rose.

I am confident in my sense of direction.

"I was wondering if ...... Burlyn can't follow our scent?"

"If we hadn't fallen into the river, they would have come, unfortunately."

I hope that little eater didn't give the guards too much trouble.

Our steps are slow. There are two reasons.

The first is to move without making a loud noise so that the monsters won't notice us. This time, we don't have Kukuru, who was here last time, so the monsters can't detect us.

Secondly, we must not lose our direction of movement, since the forest is full of tall trees, we will be lost in no time. To avoid such a situation, it is important to be aware of your surroundings as you move.

This is what Rose told me in her book.

After a few moments of walking carefully along the path, Inukami-senpai catches sight of "something" flying over the trees in the middle of the still invisible exit.

"Up there, Usato-kun!"

!

I looked up after my senpai, and there was a swarm of small, poisonous green, monkey-like monsters. That's ----

Venom Monkey.

Do you know it?

"No, I've only seen it in ...... books, but I've never seen it before."

The Venom Monkey is, as the name suggests, a venomous monkey monster.

According to the book, it is mild-mannered. It is said that in order to win the food competition, it willingly ate poisonous berries, and thus developed a powerful paralyzing venom in its body.

Their green fur, discolored by the poison they eat, is a deterrent to their natural enemies. In addition, its claws and fangs contain the paralyzing poison.

I have never seen a venom monkey in the flesh, so I was fascinated by the sight of the venom monkeys climbing from tree to tree.

At that moment, a baby venom monkey comes down from the herd in front of me and my senpai. The little monkey, who is probably a child and has no fear of humans, looks at me and Inukami-senpai curiously.

......Yeah, I should warn you about this.

"Inukami-senpai, this monkey is poisonous, so please don't touch it.

"Look, I'm not afraid."

"Hey, listen."

No, this senior.

I forgot to speak respectfully, but more than that, my head ached for Inukami-senpai who carelessly held out her hand to the little monkey. In order to stop her strange behavior, I grab her arm to keep her away from me.

"You can't do that!　You're going to get poisoned!"

"...... even if I become poisoned, it's my own fault for getting drunk on the poison of her cuteness!"

"Will you please stop saying things you don't understand......?"

Don't waste your time looking good.

Yeah, I'm a senior girl, so I can't hold back too hard.

Inukami-senpai extends her hand to him, and the little monkey tilts his head curiously. The senior smirks at the sight of him, but...

"Kick!"

With a snap, the little monkey bites Senpai's index finger. He froze with a smile on his face, but I wasn't too surprised since I had expected this.

I say in my mind ...... that I'm not surprised at all.

Understanding the situation, Senpai smiles awkwardly at the little monkey who is still biting him----

"See, I'm not afraid."

"Kick ------!!!!"

The little monkey ran away.

No, it would be more correct to say that he has returned to the herd.

In front of me, Inukami-senpai's back is covered with a melancholy look. Without saying a word, I put my hand on her shoulder to cure the poison injected into her when she bit me.

I was so sad.

"Inukami-senpai, there's no point in being depressed. ...... there are better monsters for senpai."

"......"

Right after I finished healing his body, he was walking out of the forest, but perhaps he was too shocked by what had just happened, he kept his head down and didn't look up.

Let's be honest, it's a pain in the ass. So, I let it go.

After some time passed without either of us saying anything, Inukami-senpai, perhaps unable to bear the silence, spoke to me as she walked in front of me.

"Aren't you going to comfort me?"

"It's a pain in the ass."

"......"

End of conversation.

I feel a little sorry for him, but I dare to cut the conversation off because it seems to be getting bogged down.

The number of trees is getting smaller and smaller. At this rate, we will be out of the forest soon.

"Senpai, we'll be out of here soon..."

"d*mn ...... for talking to me just at the right moment! You know when to strike, Usato-kun.

What are you talking about? He turns his head forward, passing by Inukami-senpai who is making a fuss all by himself.

But as I turned my head forward, I saw a blue mass in my field of vision.

What's wrong, Usato-kun? Stop ...... and see what's ...... in front of you."

"You're kidding me. ......, you've come this far."

Blue grizzly ......, a dangerous species by no means.

A blue grizzly bear of moderate size was scraping its claws on a tree, sharpening them.

"I'm going to go around. Don't hug or lick the wrong one.

"You don't think I'm some kind of pervert or something, do you?"

"......"

"Silence!"

I move backward without making a sound, trying to avoid being noticed by the blue grizzly. Luckily, the blue grizzly is too absorbed in sharpening its claws to notice you.

Okay, if I keep moving away from the blue grizzly and make a wide circle...,

"Usato, there's another one behind you: ......"

"There are two of them ......!"

I was so focused on the one in front that I didn't notice the other one approaching from behind. d*mn, if only Kukul were here at a time like this.......

The animal, which had been preoccupied with sharpening its nails, noticed us and came closer to us.

I was caught between them.

They are fast and have good noses, so they follow us everywhere. Unless there is a river nearby, we will be back in the forest again.

What do we do?　Run with him?

Or do I take the bait?　No, they may target Inukami-senpai.

Do I use my firepower to knock them off?　No, that would turn this whole area into a sea of fire.

Then why don't we fight them?

Rose said I could beat a grand grizzly, I don't know if that's true or not, but ...... it's not a bad idea to try. If not, I'll run away.

"Can you beat him if he's only one horse, sir?"

"...... maybe, I could."

"Well, I'll hold one of them. I'll hold one while you take the other. Let's take them down one by one.

"Okay. ...... be careful."

Inukami-senpai is in the rear and I am in the front.

I stand in front of the snarling blue grizzly.

I haven't been in a real battle since the serpent, except for the fallboar. I have no knife or spear now. But strangely I am not afraid. I wonder if not being alone makes me mentally stronger.

As I slowly approach, the blue grizzly stands up on two legs and raises its arms threateningly. It's a strange feeling, reminding me of the time Rose threw me into the woods.

"Phew. ......"

Taking a slow, deep breath, he cloaks his body in a thin layer of healing magic. He drops to his haunches and tackles the blue grizzly bear head-on at full speed.

With a rumbling sound, the tackle strikes the blue grizzly directly in the torso.

"Oh!

The blue grizzly swings its arms around and swings its claws at me in my bosom, but its attacks don't hit me because it is too close to me.

I put my arms around the blue grizzly's torso and move my legs forward as if to push its huge body out of the way.

"Gugu......Gugu......"

After all, the strength of an adult blue grizzly bear, which is twice as big as Bullyn, is not to be underestimated. Their weight is also comparable to that of Bulrin's.

But I have these legs that have been running all my life!

Clenching my teeth as hard as I can, I try to make the blue grizzly bear fall back, one step at a time. I've been running my whole life, morning, noon and night. As long as you can ...... and never give up ......!

The arms around the blue grizzly's torso also get stronger and stronger,----- and the huge blue body is lifted up only by the strength of the arms. The sound of bones creaking and pain coming from both arms is ignored and healed with healing magic.

"Gua!　Aaaaah!!!"

You start to run, holding the blue grizzly up.

Every part of his body aches. My body cannot bear the burden of the Blue Grizzly.

Even so, I will not release my arm.

I have to get him home safely. So..,

"Down!"

With a mighty thud, the entire blue grizzly slams into the tree. With a powerful crash, I am thrown into the air and roll around, letting the inertial forces take over.

"Huh---...... I thought I was going to die. But Rose was right. ......

I lay sprawled out on the ground and look in the direction of the tree that hit the blue grizzly.

There is a blue grizzly bear lying helplessly on the ground, and a tree that has been broken askew. I pick myself up, relieved that the blue grizzly is not dead.

For the time being, I heal the sore spot with healing magic in order to recover at least. As soon as I can move my body, I should go to Inukami-senpai. .......

As I was about to stand up, a blinding electric shock burst into the area where Inukami-senpai would be, brightly illuminating the surroundings even in the daytime.

"...... I guess I didn't need to worry."

I think so, and sit down again.

Inugami-senpai will be here soon. I wish I could go first, but my body is shaky from lifting the blue grizzly in an impossible position.

The wound will heal soon, but I am mentally exhausted.

"Usato!"

Sure enough, Inukami-senpai has arrived. His clothes are stained with dirt, but he waves his hand, reassured that there is no noticeable injury. He comes running toward me as I sit down, rolling his eyes at the blue grizzly that is passed out near the broken tree.

"Are you okay!"

"I'm fine. ...... What about Inukami-senpai? Did you ...... kill him?"

I didn't kill him, I just knocked him out.

As a matter of fact, we don't want to kill too many of the same monsters as Bullein. It seems that Inukami-senpai felt the same way.

Now, I'm going to leave this place before the blue grizzly I stunned wakes up. ------

<<>

"This voice is ......."

"It's the voice of the guard. ......"

I'm not sure if he was looking for us from the exit of the forest, or if he was looking for us day and night, but it seems that the blinding electric shocks that Inukami-senpai had released earlier had caught the attention of the guard who was searching around this area.

I walk in the direction of the voice with Inukami-senpai on my shoulder. It had been a very long two days, longer than the last time in some ways.

"......I'm tired."

"I had a great time. ...... Usato-kun."

Are you serious?

Normally I would have misunderstood, but since it's my senpai, I won't worry too much about it.

>

With a flowery smile on my face, I looked at my senpai with a sideways glance and waved weakly at the battered guard and Bulrin who had found us.