The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

"Guide to the place where the Demon King is?　I'd be happy to do it.

Huh?

It was the night of the day Master Lloyd ordered us to take down the Demon King.

When I returned to my lodgings, I earnestly asked Ferrum about guiding me to the Demon Lord's territory, but his answer came back too easily.

Ferrum, who was sitting across the table from me in the dining room, looked at me curiously in surprise.

"Why are you surprised?"

"No, no!　You don't have very good memories of the demon king's territory, do you?

"You're treating me like a child, aren't you ......!

For some reason, she's in a foul mood, and I'm at a loss as to why.

Seeing my confusion, Nair, who is sitting next to me, is giggling.

"I knew it, you're so worried that you're thinking more seriously than Ferrum himself. Does he look like such a sensitive guy to you?

"Yes."

"Don't answer so quickly."

I know Ferm is pretty sensitive.

To be honest, I've been aware of it ever since I was locked up.

Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, she sat back in her chair vigorously and crossed her arms.

"Generally speaking, the demon lord's territory wasn't a good place for me, but that's all. I've already cut ties with the village where I was born,...... and I'm already a traitor to the Demon Lord's army, so there's no need to worry about it now."

"...... okay?　Are you okay?"

"You're terrible. I said I'm fine, so I'm fine. Besides..."

With a "Bish," Ferrum points at me.

She lifts her eyes and shakes her shoulders.

I haven't forgotten!　You threw me in the lifeguard squad and left me behind on a trip to deliver a letter right after that!

"Hmm?　Yes, that's right.

I don't think he left him there, I think he just couldn't let him out of the kingdom because of Ferm's position.

"Do you know how much hell Rose put me through after that?

"......?"

"Hey, how come you're looking so strange there, ......?"

"What's that look you're giving me now? ......"

Well, I do feel bad that I left her behind and went on a trip, as I was the cause of Ferrum's joining the rescue group.

But you wanted to go on a trip so badly. .......

The fact that you hold on to your feelings so tight shows how strong they are.

"Either way, it would be reassuring if you could guide me. I would be very grateful to have you with me."

"...... I'm not your armor."

"No, it's not that. It's just that I'm glad to have you as a friend.

"......"

It is true that the figure of a man who has become one with the ferme is strong.

But it is even more reassuring to have a friend close by that you can rely on.

He is about to speak to Nair, who is resting her cheek on the table, when Ferm, who is shaking her shoulders, stops.

Néa is going to go, so I don't have to ask..."

"No, you listen to me. I'll go with you.

"Then you don't have to ask."

Nair then picks himself up from the table with a wry smile on his face.

"Don't you understand?　Don't you feel lonely if you don't get the right amount of attention?

"Are you a maiden or something?"

Oh my God, how proud ...... are you?

When he says it with such a confident face, it makes me feel like a man.

With a slight shudder, he turns his gaze from Nair to Ferrum.

"Ferm, if you're willing to follow me on my journey to defeat the Demon King, may I ask you to come to the castle with me tomorrow?

"Yeah, what can I tell you?"

"Probably about the terrain of the Demon Lord's territory and demons ......."

"...... It's true, the demon kingdoms are far from here. I understand."

Ferrum nodded with his hand on his chin.

Seeing her like that, I asked her about something that had been bothering her.

"What kind of place is the demon king's territory?"

"It's a gloomy place."

"Well, it's your hometown, but that's a great statement. ......"

Néa and I are stunned, and Ferrum snickers at us.

"At least that's the way it was in the village where I grew up. We had to eat for the day because it was hard to grow crops, and there were always dangers in the forests because only ferocious demons were around to hunt."

"...... violent demons, huh?"

"You may have heard by now that it is almost impossible to travel by horseback. If you ride a horse in a place like that, you'll be immediately targeted by demons or by hungry people."

"Are you that impoverished?　The demon tribe...

"It was a lot worse before the Demon King awoke.

Ferrum mentions the Demon Lord's name with disinterest, and his eyes move to the view outside the window.

"I don't know how he did it, but he gave power to a land called the Demon King's Domain. Thanks to him, crops are now growing and the water is rather clean."

"...... is so out of the ordinary. The Demon Lord..."

"Do you think it's witchcraft ......?　Even if so, the magic power to cover the vast area of the demon king's territory is too much ......."

But from what I've heard, does that mean that the Demon Lord of this era worked for the benefit of the demon tribe living in the Demon Lord's territory?

Perhaps he challenged the human side to a fight ...... or maybe that's a naive idea.

If the Demon Lord was the kind of person who would take the steps as described in the memoirs, it would be normal to think that it was a means to build an army to serve as his limbs.

Let's just keep this as a thought in our minds.　

But..,

"Defeating the Demon King is your mission as a hero.

Then, what will happen to the demon tribe after defeating the Demon King?

We don't know the reasons why they fight.

Can we challenge the Demon King without knowing that?

I should see the Demon Lord's territory with my own eyes.

I'm not aware enough yet.

I'm not yet aware of what it means to defeat the Demon King.

To know it, we must know it.

Hey, Usato?

"Yeah?"

I came back to myself and looked at Nea, who had plopped down on the table again and was talking to me in a rather sleepy manner.

When are you going to leave on this journey to defeat the Demon King?

"Well, since we don't know when the Demon King will recover, she wants to leave as soon as possible. Welshy-san said ...... that they'll leave the Lingle Kingdom within three days at the earliest, and once they've made the final preparations at the base where the battle took place, they'll enter the Demon Lord's territory.

"Hmm, it's pretty urgent."

"Yes, that's right. I guess the difficulty lies in the fact that we don't know when the Demon King will recover.

It's tempting to rush, but <>I must proceed with caution and not be in a hurry.

As I was thinking about this, I noticed that Nair looked distressed.

"I know we are leaving soon, but then Nack will be alone again.

"...... I guess so."

Once I, Nair, and Ferrum leave, there will be only Nack left.

Now that Rose and the others have not returned, we are left with a twelve-year-old boy.

"I'll be thinking about him. I told him we'd talk about it afterwards."

"Really?　Then I guess it's going to be okay.

I had been thinking about Nack, too, and we had agreed to talk later.

As we were talking, Nack came to the cafeteria.

I thought it was a good time to get up and talk to him.

"You're here. Nack."

"Yes. I heard you wanted to talk to me. ......"

"Yeah."

...... We could talk here, but I think we should walk outside and talk for a change.

"Neah, could you make dinner for me?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I know it's going to be hard for you to do this alone, so I'll help you when I'm done talking to Nack."

Go and talk to Nack. I'll have Ferrum help you with this.

"Huh?　Why me?

Nair said to Ferrum, who objected, "Come on, let's go!

I saw Ferme reluctantly follow her and turned to Nack, urging him to go outside.

I turned to Nack and urged him to go outside.

As we walked along the road leading from the lifeguard's quarters to the training grounds, I gave Nack a brief explanation of my journey to defeat the Demon King.

Although this information had not yet been disclosed to the public, I thought it was important to share it with Nack, and I did.

"Why ......"

I wonder if he was still shocked that he might be left here alone. .......

I was about to continue talking to him when he spoke up before I could.

"Why do you always risk your life like that, Usato-san? ......

"Knack ......?"

"The battle just ended, and the next one is the Demon King. ...... If this continues, Usato-san will die. ......"

......I'm an idiot.

Shocked that Nack would be alone, I am ashamed of myself for thinking so.

"I don't care how impossibly sturdy you are, Usato-san."

"Yeah ......"

"He had the nerve to take a bite out of Mr. Rose."

"Uh, yeah. ......"

"even if he has an occasional personality so abusive that one wonders if he has a dual personality."

"......, Nack?"

That's a bit much, don't you think?

But that didn't stop Nack from turning his head.

"Even if he's insensitive to the obvious..."

"...... hmm?"

"Even if your sense of naming is broken."

"......"

"Even if you've honed your moves to the point where you don't even look like a person."

"......"

"As expected, it's impossible for the Demon King to be your opponent. ...... maybe."

"Oh, wait a minute. Nack."

The most ever!　My heart is already overflowing with true feelings!

And you sound depressed, but you're saying quite a lot, aren't you?

Huh?　Could it be that you're still angry at being left behind?

I'm sorry. I said about half of what you said.

"It's not half, is it?　All of it, right?"

"No, I mean I said half of what I wanted to say. ......"

That's what you mean by half.

I'm afraid to ask about the other half.

"Frankly, I understand why you have to go to dangerous places, Usato. When I was helping at the castle, I heard about what you and the others were doing."

"I see. ......"

"So you don't have to worry about me."

"Hm?　Why?"

Nack's words left me honestly wondering.

He was somewhat surprised by my response and continued.

He continued, somewhat surprised at my response. I don't want to get in your way either.

"Nack."

I stop and call his name.

I showed Nack the way to join the rescue squad.

Rose is in charge of the rest, but I'm still responsible for him.

"Okay?　I never thought of you as an obstacle.

"......"

"You are my protégé, my subordinate, and a fellow lifeguard. It doesn't matter how old you are. Of course the mission is important to me, but I'm not the kind of person who would let it get in the way of you."

I know how Nack feels.

But even so, I can't neglect him.

"Nack, why don't you go and help the captains?"

"...... what?　Helping them?

"Yes, we are currently treating the wounded at our base in the plains. Maybe they don't have enough people there."

There is a limit to how far you and Gerna can go.

If Rose is also seriously injured, he may need help, even if it's just one of you.

"In the near future, we are going to head for the stronghold to go to the Demon Lord's territory. I will leave you with the Commander there. After that, it's up to you what you want to do."

After the battle is over, there is no danger, but it may still be a painful sight for Nack.

Even I am not sure if it is right to take him back to the base.

After explaining this again, I ask him if he wants to go.

"I don't know."

"I'll go to ......!　It's much better than sitting here smoking by myself!"

"That's a deal."

Knack is strong.

He has been through hard times and has been beaten down so many times that his spirit is strong and will not be broken by ordinary things. I felt that I could trust him to take care of things in my absence.

......I can't stay at the base, you know.

I look over at Nack, who is making a clenched fist and looking motivated, and notice that nearby I can see the training area that he always uses.

"......It's still too early to go back."

Nair and Ferrum are cooking dinner for us, but if we go back now, we will have to wait a little longer.

"Okay, Nack, don't tell Neah, okay?"

"What?　Don't tell him what?

I'll teach you a few of my tricks.

Nair had warned me about this before, but I wouldn't mind a little bit to help him grow.

We walk up to a tree near the training ground.

I put magic power in my raised fist and show it to Nack.

The healing punch is simply a technique of striking with a fist imbued with healing magic. It is a simple technique that does nothing else, but with it, any opponent can be rendered unconscious and unharmed.

"It's pretty simple. I think I could do it too, but ...... probably not as well as you, Usato. ......"

"As I said before, you just have to find your own technique. Mine is just a wild one."

Next, he gathers the magic power in his hands into his palms and makes a magic bullet.

"And a healing magic bullet. You know this well, don't you?

Yes!　I've been hit by a lot of them!

That's a tricky thing to say. .......

No, I know you didn't mean it.

I regain my composure and throw a healing magic bullet at the tree in front of me.

With a bang, the magic bullet that hit the tree flies away.

"But, if I throw the magic bullet normally, it won't be as powerful as that, will it?　I tried to imitate it once, but I couldn't do it at all.

"Hmm?　Ha-ha-ha, you don't have to throw anything with this technique.

"What?　Is that so?

It is easy to be misunderstood, but my healing magic bullet is just a technique to throw magic bullets by force.

If you can release magic bullets normally, you don't need to throw them.

"I thought it was that kind of technique. ......"

"I didn't have the gift of magic, so I had no choice but to throw it. So anyone can do it if they want to shoot magic bullets.

Even me?

"Yes. You can do it your own way. I'm more like a role model. Don't take me for a role model.

Ha-ha-ha, I understand.

Nack nodded at my words and produced a magic bullet in his right hand just like I did.

He held his palm with the magic bullet floating on it in front of him and fired the magic bullet forward. The magic bullet was released, slightly missing the target tree, and flew backward.

It missed ......."

"But it worked. Knack, here's your healing magic bullet.

"My, healing magic bullet. ......"

Nack says this with a slight tremor in his voice.

From the looks of it, it seems to be aimed in the same way as the healing flying fist. Well then, I guess I can give you some advice.

I walk up next to him, straighten my right arm, and place my hand on his shoulder.

"Straighten from the shoulder to the palm. The image is to shoot a magic bullet through the space between the shoulder and the palm.

"Yes, sir."

"It's okay if you miss. Take your time and aim well."

"Don't be in a hurry. ......"

Nack mutters to himself and shoots another magic bullet from his palm.

As I watched him from behind, I felt as if I understood a little more about Rose, who was training me.

I guess I should say that having an apprentice to whom you can entrust your "next" is such a comforting feeling.