The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

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Father said that the living are our food.

Mother said dead men are our toys.

I was born of a great vampire father and a necromancer mother. My father and mother were delighted to see that I had inherited only the best of both worlds.

The way a vampire is, the way a necromancer is.

They taught me many things, such as the instincts of a demon and the absolute antagonism between humans and vampires.

My parents were very kind. There was no loneliness in our life together, which is now a distant memory, and we were happy.

But then my parents were killed by humans.

It was when I was ten years old.

They were killed because they were considered harmful by humans, and they returned to the earth as demon elements and disappeared.

In retrospect, it was only natural. My father and mother had gone too far. They deviated from the food chain and took too many human lives for fun.

All that was left to me as a young child was my mother's library, the small village that my father ruled, and the large mansion where we lived.

I did not know what to do.

Revenge?　I could only sob for days, because the person who had killed them had already died in vengeance and I saw no point in doing so.

But the empty house was too big and I, a vampire, a demon of the night, was afraid of the darkness alone.

So I had no choice.

I was lonely.

Because a longing akin to hunger came over me on an impulse.

Unable to bear the loneliness, I took refuge as a daughter in the village where my father ruled.

My first thought was what a weak creature we are. Children cry when they are injured, and even adults can be seriously injured easily when attacked by demons.

However, strangely enough, I did not feel lonely in this strange life together with humans.

At first, I was the sister of the eldest daughter of a family,

The second time as a young girl living alone,

The third time was as the older sister of a girl who had lost her parents,

The fourth time was as an owl watching over the village,

The fifth time, as the daughter of another family,

The sixth time, as a substitute for her parents who have no relatives,

The seventh time was as her daughter who lost her daughter and husband,

I have spent three hundred years, a long time, playing with my memories and blending in.

In that time, I have mastered three magic arts and have read most of the books in my library. But I have grown tired of this small world in which I only go back and forth between the house and the village.

I felt that I had reached the limit of listening to people's memories, which I had started two hundred years ago.

There is no stimulation. Everyone leads a normal life, and there is almost no one who can tell me a pleasant story that makes my heart beat.

So I won't miss this time.

A healing wizard from another world and a Time Winged Princess with a rare precognition magic.

We will catch them by any means necessary.

That's what I thought...

"---keho, ah, I'm going to end up like my father and mother, aren't I? ......"

I can't move. I can barely move my body, but I can only move my right arm. The power of the evil dragon is so great that just a slight grip on my hand has caused such serious injuries.

How could Usato survive being attacked by such a monster? He was squeezed and crushed just like this, and to think that he was attacked more than me and fought a fierce battle outside makes me realize that he is not an ordinary human being after all.

"Usato has defeated the evil dragon. ......"

Just a few moments ago, the ominous presence that I could feel from outside disappeared.

I lean my body against the cracked wall as if relieved by the fact that the evil dragon has been defeated.

It would be wrong to think such a thing after my trump card was defeated, but I couldn't help but think so. I was the one who was foolish enough to revive the evil dragon, and I was also the one who was trapped in the current situation by the evil dragon.

Perhaps they will come here.

To defeat the harmful demon that is me.

......

After all, I was just like my father and mother who played with humans and ended up getting killed.

I manipulate the living and the dead, catch the visitors, restrain them, and when I get tired of it, I wipe their memories and let them go. I didn't think I had done anything to deserve such a grudge, but what I was doing was no different from what my parents had done, although to a different ...... degree.

Maybe they don't need me anymore."

I was in the mood to just disappear.

He was driven into a corner by an evil dragon that he had revived in a fit of anger, and the dragon was eventually defeated by Usato and his friends. There was no miscalculation in the development up to the revival of the evil dragon. If there was one, it was that he did not understand that the evil dragon was a monster that was more riddled with destruction and death than he thought.

He had underestimated it.

He thought it was a soulless corpse, a stuffed specimen that had been abandoned for hundreds of years. It may sound like an excuse, but I had never seen or heard of a corpse with a soul before. A soul is something that resides in a living body. In other words, the body is a vessel that is moved by the element of life, and the soul is contained in that vessel.

"......Someone, by design,...... bound the soul of the evil dragon to this world. ......"

It is natural to think so.

It is usually impossible to bind a soul to this world. But there is someone who could do it. A legendary hero of this continent, a monster whose mighty power sealed even the Devil King.

If his actions are recorded in his notebook without exaggeration or exaggeration, it might have been easy for him to seal up his soul.

There is no way to know for sure.

"It's none of my business anyway. It's ...... now."

There is no point in thinking about people who have been dead for hundreds of years now.

Looking only at the results, my village was almost destroyed because of my shallow self ...... that's all.

"I don't want it."

When I say these words, I am instantly reminded of the distant memory of being left alone in this mansion.

I was crying in fear of loneliness after my parents were killed.

What would happen to the village if I, the girl named Nair, disappeared... I suddenly think of such a thing, and I instantly feel foolish, and a self-mocking smile comes to my face.

What will be left when a being that was never there at all disappears?

You said it yourself a moment ago, you don't need yourself anymore. I have no more use for that village, no more need to spread zombies.

I'm going to be killed here anyway.

"......!"

Footsteps on the stairs.

I swallow hard at the sound echoing from below, but I can hardly move with my body, so I can't escape.

I slowly close my eyes, as if accepting my fate.

I slowly meditate, as if accepting my fate.

I ascend the stairs of a dark Western-style house.

Aruk-san and Usato are following behind me as I walk with my prediction. Bulrin is waiting for me outside in case of emergency.

"Aruk-san, I think you should stay with Bulrin. ......"

Usato says to Mr. Arc.

I was a little concerned and turned around to see Mr. Arc climbing the stairs with the sword in its scabbard that had just fallen into the pavilion, and he was smiling.

"No, my magic power is about to run out, but it doesn't hinder me in any way to move my body. You have been fighting for a long time, haven't you, Mr. Usato?　Your body is ......."

I'm ...... still fine. I still have a little bit of magic left in me."

He frowns slightly at the words, "I'm still okay.

He was in a series of battles against strong opponents such as Mr. Aruk, who was being manipulated, and the evil dragon. Moreover, since the evil dragon had a nasty attack of poison, Usato was worn out mentally and physically more than I had thought.

"And I myself have to settle the matter. I have to meet her, the one who started all this trouble."

Before entering the mansion, I told Usato, who was performing a temporary healing spell on everyone, about the exchange that took place when Nair was captured by the evil dragon.

He listened to me silently, but I don't know what he was thinking. ...... that will be clear as soon as we ascend these stairs.

Nair is at the end of the stairs.

And..,

"...... no doubt."

The scene I saw in the premonition is approaching.

The scarred wall, the shattered chandelier, the blown-out window---Nea is the one who has been lying in Usato's shadow, leaning against the wall.

Usato must have known that.

He's a loose cannon, but he's not stupid. He is aware that the situation I have told him about the foreknowledge matches up with the situation that will come to pass.

And he is going to go to Nair.

"Just up ahead..."

Looking toward the end of the stairs, Usato mutters to himself.

I climb the stairs once more, bracing myself, and arrive in front of the hall on the third floor, the place where Nair is supposed to be. I step into the room that Usato kicked out when we entered.

Then, there was..,

"There you are."

Leaning against the cracked wall, a battered Nair was staring at us with a wan smile on her face.

"...... you look like you've been beaten up pretty bad."

"That's exactly what I'm going to say to you."

He lets out a sigh of exasperation and moves to the front of Nair.

He is about to call out a warning when she approaches him too carelessly, but then he sees Néa laughing sarcastically and gulps.

She had been hit by an evil dragon and was in no danger of being seriously wounded. It may be that she is not an endurance demon, but her forehead was soaked in bright red blood, her left hand and both legs were painfully swollen, and she was apparently unable to move at all.

"Huh... you've really put me through a lot," she said.

Usato, on the other hand, was also quite upset.

His uniform was covered with soot, and his forehead and cheeks showed traces of blood.

"You don't look too angry for a ......."

"What?　Of course he's mad, right?"

Usato's teasing smile instantly turns serious.

We couldn't see his face, but Nea, who was standing right in front of us, had a shocked expression on her face, a few tears in her eyes, and her injured body began to shake and shake.

"Because of you, I almost ruined an important trip, and you tried to make Mr. Alc do something irreversible, and above all..."

Then, pausing for a moment, Usato crosses his arms and says to the trembling girl, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can do this.

"I can't forgive you for putting so many lives in danger by bringing that evil dragon back to life.

What would have happened if Usato had not been able to slay the evil dragon?

I was the first one to suggest him to run away with me, but if he had done so, many people might have been killed by the evil dragon.

I guess he can't forgive Nair for reviving such an evil dragon with an easy heart.

"......"

"You didn't think it would come to that, did you?　But there was more to it than that, you know."

Nea keeps her mouth shut.

Usato sighs again.

"...... why did you protect the village from the evil dragon?　Were the people living in that village not just puppets?"

"...... Yes, they were."

"Then why didn't you use them?　You could have easily caught me with the villagers' lives on the line. Aruk told you about me, didn't he?　He told you that I'm a member of a rescue organization called the Lifeguard Corps, and that I can't be touched if I'm being held hostage by villagers who are just being manipulated.

That's for sure.

All I could think of was how he manipulated the evil dragon, but if Nair takes the lives of the villagers as hostages, even Usato will have no choice but to follow him. Even his healing punch can't save all those people at once.

"We don't need them. That's just what I decided. ...... and as it turns out, it was a bad decision. ......"

"Hmm."

Usato gives a quizzical look.

Nair smiles a self-mocking smile and spins the words.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. ...... If only he had been able to control him properly, everything would have been fine. ......"

"Ha, that's not true. Either way, we can't let zombies that only do what they're told do to us. I'd have you shot down before you could give the order."

"You're a real monster..."

Don't change the subject.

"......, what the hell was that?　What do you want me to say?

Nair's voice was raised in confusion at his unintelligible words.

Usato is completely unperturbed by her flailing.

"You regret it, don't you? You must be regretting it, being in this situation.

"That's it!　...... I agree. But I did everything in my power to get what I wanted. I may regret my actions, but I'm not sorry..."

"No, it's not. That's not the kind of regret I'm talking about. You regret bringing the evil dragon back to life, but it's not because you couldn't catch me.

He stares at her with a horrified gasp, as if he is certain of what he is doing.　　

"What you regret is that you put the people of the village in danger."

"...... Why should I care about them?"

"If you were just a tool, you wouldn't be trying so hard to convince the evil dragon. I've fought him and I know he's scary as hell.　You must really care about your village to worry about a guy like that in front of you, right?"

"Taisetsu ......?　No, no, that's my ......."

Nea is visibly upset by Usato's words.

Sighing at this, Usato muttered quietly, "I don't like it.

As I wonder what he's not comfortable with, he takes a light breath and opens his mouth to a flustered Néa.

"You should have known that right away. You should have known right away what to go for first when the evil dragon is released. That village where the people are gathered will be trampled, chewed, poisoned, rotted, and laid waste beyond recognition by the evil dragon. If you breathe in the poison he releases, your body will be destroyed from the inside out, your throat will sore, your lungs will melt, and in the end you will be unable to breathe, and you will die in agony. His arms and tail are so strong that they crack the ground, and even a grown man will be crushed by their blows. And the most troublesome thing about him is his cunning and brutality. Every living thing in front of his eyes is an object of destruction and slaughter, whether it be an old man, woman, or child. ----"

"Stop ......!!!"

You imagined the scene he described.

Nea, whose expression had changed to one of grief, interrupted Usato, snarling like a child. He is not happy either, and ruffles his hair in regret.

But we know that Nair did not want to fight with the villagers in mind. Even with that, I can't say that what she tried to do to us didn't happen, but now that I see her scared in front of me, I feel a little sorry for the poor girl.

But..,

"You're an idiot."

That one word made me feel as if I had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer.

It was because the prediction I had seen three days ago coincided with the words he had just uttered. I quickly looked around me and saw Mr. Aruk propping up his sword nearby and the full moon peering through a gaping hole in the rubble-strewn hall.

"If you regret this, why didn't you see it sooner? What you wanted was already in your hands. But you were willing to let it go. Regardless of your intentions."

In spite of my frustration, he spins his words again as I predicted.

I call his name and try to stop him, but he is in front of me, waiting for me with his palm without looking back at me.

Usato knows that what happened in the prediction is going to come true ......, but why did he bother to jump in himself .......

Confused but unable to move, Usato comes up to Nea.

I'm not trying to kill you.

"...... what?"

"What's with the surprised look on your face?"

He cowered his shoulders in disappointment and crouched down to make eye contact with Nair in a languid manner.

"You're the one who asked me to defeat the necromancer," he said. At that point, the request no longer made any sense. But if you can swear to me never to kidnap anyone like this again, you can go on living as Nair, the daughter of that village.

I'll check in on you from time to time, okay?　He said in a playful way, and Nea rolled her eyes.

Maybe the future of Usato's stabbing has changed?

The future changes, something that had never happened in the prognosis without a choice, but there are always exceptions. Maybe this is it.

"I am ...... the daughter of the village."

She turns over and mumbles something.

But her relief is short-lived, as she looks down from Usato's back, and her mouth, hidden by her bangs, is as twisted as a crescent moon.

"Usato!

In Nair's right hand, a sharp object like a blade is seen, and it is wielded.

At the same time, Usato's left hand moves at an alarming speed. The future has changed---I see a drop of blood at his feet as I panic at what has happened at the moment of my impossible speculation.

I rush to get close enough to see them with Mr. Aruk.

However, what I saw was not what I had expected.

"What were you ...... going to do now ......?"

"Huh?　What did you do?

I saw that Usato's hand was definitely holding Nea's hand.

It looked like a blade, but it was her claw, extended about 20 centimeters, and the point was not at Usato, but at her throat.

The blood dripped down Usato's hand from the claw that was slightly stuck in her throat.

"Usato-dono, what in the world is this? ......"

"...... this guy tried to stick this in his own neck."

He says this irritably and shows a fingernail that has slightly wounded Nair's throat.

The situation seems to suggest that Nair was trying to commit suicide.

I don't understand at all how he could have committed such a murderous act, but it was not a premonition that Usato would be stabbed in the first place. Relieved at this, I look at their interaction.

"How much more do you have to make fun of me when I was prepared to be killed just like your father and mother?　And you want me to live as a village girl?　You are mistaken if you think I can go back now after putting that place in danger."

"Huh. ......."

Usato sighs in a troublesome manner.

Nea, on the other hand, smiles wryly despite being stopped from committing suicide.

"So, I finally made up my mind after you stopped me."

"...... what?　Of what?"

"Blood is information, a contract, a price---I would be dead if you hadn't grabbed my hand. But you took my hand, and with your hand covered in your own blood, you fulfilled another condition."

"Huh?"

Nair retracts her outstretched claws and grabs Usato's hand.

I was also tilting my head, not knowing what she was going to do.

"---Demon and man, the one who abandons and the one who reveres, let us make an old covenant now with the proof of each other's blood.

"Wait a minute, what is that disturbing incantation?"

At that moment, a large white light emitted from Usato's hand, which was held back by Nair.

This familiar light, this light---I turn to look at the she is about to invoke and my blood turns to my face.

The contract she is about to make will not harm Usato.

But it could be more trouble than it's worth.

"Usato!　Get away from him, he's...?

I run to her side and try to pull her away, but she suddenly stops moving. She looks at the floor and sees that the magic that restrained Usato has been activated through the carpet on her floor.

When did this guy ......?　What a persistence ......!

Where's Aruk?　I saw Mr. Aruk, who was also trying to run to her, holding his head and trying to fight against something.

You!　You!

"I'm just trying to get him to calm down a little.

"What!"

"Oh, you don't mind, do you?　If I hit you like this, you'll die.　I'm... I don't think you have enough magic left to hit me dead, do you?"

"d*mn. ......"

She replied with a spit of blood and laughed at Usato, who was shaking his fist with a pained expression on his face.

"You'll be sorry you missed me!　I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!

"Huh?　What's with that disturbing line?　Let go of me!　Get off me!　Get your claws off me!

Usato tries to untangle himself from Nea, who is smiling with her mouth wide open and covered in blood, but he digs his claws in deeper, as if he won't let that happen.

At that moment, the light emanating from their hands became brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire hall as if it were a dark night.