The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

After deciding on a future course of action with the seniors, I returned with Amako to the empty house where Nair, Keira and the others were staying, having been assimilated into Ferrum.

I had Amako take off her hood to explain the situation, but Keira and the others were, as expected, surprised when they found out that she was a beastman.

Rose and Ram, who had never seen a beastman before, were not as alarmed as they had expected since Amako's appearance was similar to that of Keira.

On the other hand, Keira seemed to be keeping her distance from Amaco, unlike I was.

"...... You're tired and sleeping."

"Yeah, I guess so."

When it was getting dark outside, I looked down at Rose and Ram who were sleeping together in the bed in the other room where Mr. Gref was put to sleep, and I let out a sigh as I leaned my back against the wall.

The two children had fallen asleep quickly, tired from the demon attack during the day.

"Ferrum, you've been in the same room for quite a while, aren't you tired?"

I have no problem with it myself, but I wonder if it is the same for Ferrum.

If I don't move my magic too much, can I assume that the assimilation will be maintained for a long time?

<<< Oh. I'll let you know.

"Hmm?"

"Ignoring is terrible, but what does sleeping mean?　What, does being with me mean you can sleep normally?"

What?　You're not inconvenienced by it?

As I was unable to hide my surprise at this shocking revelation, Amako, who had been watching Rose and Ram sleeping, turned to me.

"Quiet, Usato."

"Oh, sorry."

I got angry.

I talk to Amako in a hushed voice.

"Amako, what do you think of these kids?"

"...... innocent children. I don't want to know why they were so taken with me so quickly, but.... ...... Usato, if you say anything else, I'll get angry."

I was just about to make a joke, but he read ahead and warned me.

"I have a bit of a mixed feeling about this. I felt like I was being shown that demons are no different from beasts and humans. ......

"I thought I knew it in my head. ....... But when I saw the reality, I realized how naive I was."

Defeating the Demon King is the same as cutting off the lifeline for the demon tribe.

The demon tribe is suffering from poverty, and they might have a hard time with Keira and the others we helped today.

These children have done nothing wrong.

"...... Well, no matter how much I worry, our mission to defeat the Demon King will never change."

I don't know if defeating the Demon King will end the war.

But we must defeat the Demon King to stop the invasion.

I put my hands over my eyes, pushing away the questions that are spinning around in my head.

"For that, we must not turn our eyes away from reality. ......"

I remove my hands from my eyes and look once more at the two sleeping demon children.

Then the door to the room we were in was opened and Nea appeared.

Behind her was Keira, who was glancing at me, and her gaze turned from me to the sleeping Rose and Ram.

"Néa, what's wrong?"

"Gref is awake!"

"!　Okay. I'll be in Mr. Greff's room right away. Nair, Keira, would you mind keeping an eye on them?"

Yeah, I'm on it.

"......"

I leave Rose and Ram with them and head for Mr. Greff's place.

Keira followed me silently, away from Nair.

"Keira?"

"......"

I tried to talk to him, but he didn't say anything.

Is he worried about us being in the same room with Mr. Greff?

He seems somewhat preoccupied.

I arrive at Mr. Greff's room with Keira following me to keep her distance from Amako.

I look through the open door and see Mr. Greff lying on the bed with his upper body upright.

"Gref?"

"Oh, you brought me!"

Keira's voice alerts him to our presence, and he pulls his hand away from rubbing his bandaged right leg and smiles at us.

"Nair told me about you. Are you sure you're the amaco to Usato?"

"Yes. Are you all right? We've taken care of your wounds. ......"

"I'm surprised that there's hardly any pain at all. It's as if the injury is gone."

Actually, the wound really is completely healed. .......

Well, let's just say that I healed it with restorative magic for now.

"Oops, I didn't introduce myself. As you may already know, I'm Gref,...... an eccentric demon tribe traveling around the demon king's territory."

My name is Kyu ...... and I am Usato, a traveler just like you."

"Amaco. As you can see, he's a beast. And I'm 14 years old.

"What?

For some reason, Amako emphasized her age.

And Keira, who had been silent until now, is surprised to hear her age.

She probably thought he was the same age as her when she saw how tall he was.

Mr. Greff bowed deeply to me as I was being casually stared at by Amaco.

"Thank you so much. You guys saved not only my life but also the lives of Keira, Rose, and Ram.

"No, no, we couldn't let that happen either. ......"

As always, I ask Mr. Gref to raise his head in a panic.

"Many demons are rotten in their hearts as well as in the earth. ...... It's rare to find a kind demon tribe like you nowadays. Ha ha ha."

"Is that so?"

I smile back at Gref's words, upset and amiable.

I don't know what kind of person the average demon person is. ......!　Specifically, I only know the corps leaders and Ferrum ......!

Is that it?　Should I be like a cog in the cogwheel?

"Gref, Usato-san is in trouble."

"Oh, yeah?　Ha-ha-ha, I'm sorry."

Keira is warned by Mr. Greffe, who apologizes to me.

Let's change the subject a little.

I'm afraid I'm going to lose it.

"Mr. Gref, regarding your injuries, ...... you should be able to walk in about two or three days."

"Is that so?　I didn't think a bite from that bloodthirsty hangwolf could be that bad. ...... To be honest, I thought my leg would be immobilized right after I woke up. I was really surprised that it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

Gref rubbed his right leg and muttered to himself, and Keira sat down in the chair beside the bed where he was lying.

"It was a serious injury, but Usato-san took care of it right away."

"Yeah, how bad was it?"

"Oh, it's bad."

"Is it bad?"

"Yeah, it was bad."

"So ...... it was bad. ......"

That's a unique exchange.

Gref muttered, "Oh shit," as if parroting back the word, and then smiled gently and put his hand on Keira's head.

"I'm sorry I made you worry. And you did a great job."

"...... yeah."

Keira nodded her head with a blank expression on her face.

A little later he removes his hand from her head and continues talking to her.

"Take the rest of the day off. You must be tired too.

"But ......"

"I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, if you don't get some sleep soon, the dreaded healing wizard will come and kidnap you."

Hmm?　I don't know, I just heard a line that has something to do with me at a completely unrelated time. .......

"......Gref, I'm not afraid of that."

"Ha-ha-ha, I know. Go on."

"Yeah."

Sighing, Keira gets out of her chair and heads toward the entrance of the room.

I thought she was going to leave the room, but she stopped in front of me.

"What's wrong?"

"Usato-san,......, can I ask you to teach me how to use dark magic later?"

What?　Dark magic⁉︎ I'm not an expert in healing magic or lifeguard training, but dark magic is honestly out of my realm of expertise.

...... No, you can ask Ferrum, who is assimilated with me, to teach you.

There's also the option of refusing, but I'm afraid that if I refuse here they'll get suspicious, so I'll accept.

"Yes, that's fine."

"Oh, thank you!　Thank you very much!

Keira's anxious look turned into a bright smile and she ran out of the room.

Mr. Gref looked at her back and gave her a troubled smile.

"I'm sorry. Keira is happy to see a dark wizard like herself. Please don't be offended."

No, I don't mind.

"I'm glad to hear you say that. I don't want to stand, so why don't you sit down?

In response to Mr. Gref's words, I pulled out another chair from the corner of the room and sat down in it with Amako.

Now, the first thing I want to ask you is .......

"Is Keira ...... your daughter?"

"...... No. She's a child I took in on my ...... journey."

"I took him in," he says, "from ......."

"It's complicated. She can't go back to her family."

Ferm, who had been silent until now, mutters something like that.

"And the other children?"

"Yes. Those children are the ones whose parents were killed by demons. I'm taking their place, but I'm not sure I'm doing a good job.

"That's not true. They didn't want to leave you when you were sleeping just now. ......"

I nodded to Amako's words.

As a matter of fact, the reason I brought Roze and Ram to the bed was because they had fallen asleep leaning against Mr. Gref's bed.

From the looks of them, I'm sure they trust Mr. Greff with all their hearts.

"......The demons have been on the move lately," he said. We were going to head for a safe place with a group of people who were trying to move to the center of the country,...... but we got attacked by demons and got lost."

"Keira told me. We can still meet up with the group, right?

Fortunately. The injuries don't seem to be as serious as I thought. We can leave here in a couple of days, pass by the ruins, and head for the village where we are going to meet up with the others.

......I was a little curious during the day, but what are ruins?

Let's try to ask.

"Well, what are the ruins?"

"Don't you know?　It's very rare nowadays that the demon tribe doesn't know this. Ruins are the place where the Demon King and his men used to hide out hundreds of years ago.

"What?

You really don't know?　It's also the place where the Demon King and the heroes had their last battle. ......"

The place looked more important than I expected. ......!

Amaco's eyes widen in surprise.

"Nowadays, the resurrected Demon Lord is said to be in the castle of the city, but there are many rumors about that...... ruin. There are still active golems specially made by the Demon King to protect the ruins, high concentrations of magical power fill the ruins, and some of the weapons that the heroes used to use are hidden inside.

"!　Is this the weapon that the heroes used to use? ......"

Amaco's prediction flashed through my mind.

It was a different sword from the small dagger from which my kagome was made.

It might be in the place where the Demon Lord once had his stronghold.

I looked at Amako and saw that she was thinking the same thing as I was, and that she had her hand on her chin, pondering something.

"Well, it's a rumor not worth believing.

"So, right ......?"

"So, what about you guys?"

Us?

You're traveling the same way I am, aren't you?

With a bit of a startle, I explain what I had decided with Leona beforehand.

We are mainly traveling in the direction of the beastman's country rather than the demon king's territory, aren't we?

"Ah, so that's why the beastman Amaco is with us. Is there anyone else here besides you and Nair?

Yes. There are four of us and my demon partner in an abandoned house a short distance from this house.

Now, here's the important part.

"But we can't let you meet the rest of them, because some of them avoid getting involved with ...... people or have behavioral problems. One of our friends in particular, although he is a respectable person, is a bad influence on our children. ......"

Senpai is really dependable when he's serious, but when he gets out of control, he gets out of hand, and his actions and statements take on another dimension. .......

"I see. Well, it's no wonder, since most of the travelers have some kind of past. But what's a demon partner?　Isn't he a demon?

"No, not a demon, but simply a friend. It's called a blue grizzly.

"...... Blue Grizzly?"

Oh, this is deja vu.

I knew I would startle them, so I told them right away that they were in no danger.

"There is no danger. They don't attack people and are rather a reliable companion on the journey.

"......Oh, I think I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anyone like you before. Do you know the commander of the second legion of the demon king's army through dark magic?"

The commander of the Second Legion---Conga.

The image that comes to my mind is that of the Ankashira standing in front of me, laughing and punching me, as I try to fulfill my mission as a member of the Rescue Mission.

Before I can think, I quickly reply.

"No, no. I don't know anyone with a brain made of muscle like that.

"...... Eh, you're kidding, right?　Do you really know him?"

"Huh?

I immediately responded with a reflexive response. ......?

"Usato ......"

I try to smile, but I'm upset.

"It's a rotten relationship. We've had a few fights, a couple of fistfights.

"I think it's quite a feat when you're the youngest person to make it to the top of the corps and you're fighting with a non-standard.

I feel like I'm digging more and more graves every time I open my mouth.

I can't speak for my seniors. .......