Crack, crackle.
"Ughhh!"
"I'm going crazy, why did you come back with your body like a rag again!"
Crackle!!
"Um, y-you're not putting your feelings into this, right?"
"Do you think I didn't?"
"Is it okay for a clergyman to do that?"
"Clergymen are people too."
"...Fair enough, I was wrong."
"As long as you know."
Crunch!
!?!!
This time it really hurt.
They say when it hurts too much, you can't even let out a groan.
Truly no sound came out, and it just hurts enough to make tears flow.
"Uuuugh...!"
Hearing bones breaking, it aches so much it feels like muscles might burst.
And indeed the pain of bones breaking and the agony of muscles bursting overwhelmed him, and Ihan just wanted to pass out.
The clergyman, Sister Jessie, wiped the sweat flowing from her brow and panted.
"Phew, it's been a while since I've cast such major healing spells for days on end. But normally even decent knights faint from major healing spells, yet Brother Ihan doesn't even faint? As expected of a knight, your mental fortitude is strong."
"...You gave me all the pain and now you're praising me?"
"I just stated the truth. Lie down for a bit. I'll bring some medicinal tea."
"When healing you were scary enough to make ghosts run away..., but like this you seem like a clergyman again."
"I told you, whether clergy or whatever, we're people too."
The nun smiled brightly and left Ihan alone to prepare the medicinal tea.
Ihan just lay there with all the energy drained from his body.
'It's been a while since I had this kind of experience.'
Being exhausted from agony, that is.
Except for his childhood when he was subjected to human experiments, he had never been exhausted from pain.
'I thought I'd developed immunity to most pain, but that was an illusion.'
He never expected to learn humility during a [treatment] process.
Academy Recovery Room.
The place with the most expensive workforce within the Royal Academy, and also a place where one could receive the 'Holy Art - Healing' that even ordinary nobles couldn't get.
Normally Ihan, who resolved all injuries with just natural healing, didn't rely on holy arts, but perhaps because he pushed too hard in the fierce battle, he was using the recovery room like this.
Despite it already being his seventh treatment, his body still hadn't returned to normal.
Probably that was how devastated his body's condition had been.
'I definitely pushed it around recklessly...'
Thinking about it now, he newly realized how carelessly he had treated his body.
The two weeks of the semester evaluation, he spent that entire time solely on training, and furthermore pushed himself to the very limit.
Was that all?
After resting for just one day without even properly recovering from fatigue, he engaged in fierce combat against magical creatures, and even consumed five potions at once, easily exceeding the limit dosage.
Even a decent upper-tier warrior would have died long ago if they pushed their body this recklessly.
Literally, he survived because it was himself.
However, as if proving that the price of enduring wasn't light, the pale face of the priestess who first checked his condition to treat him was still vivid.
- Y-you endured in this state? H-how...?
It was the first time in his life seeing a woman's face turn pale in real time.
- It's going to hurt a bit. ...No, not a bit, it's going to hurt quite a lot.
The priestess who firmly declared the treatment process would be difficult, and he thought it couldn't be that hard, but upon actually receiving it—.
'......That was a lie, it doesn't hurt "quite a lot," it's just the pain of tearing living flesh apart.'
No joke, it was agony that would drive one insane.
He had thought divine power was something that just flashed with light and healed people's bodies, but actually receiving it, it wasn't that kind at all.
Rather, it was similar to physical therapy or oriental medicine.
However, if the aforementioned methods treat people with medical devices and acupuncture, the difference would be that healing priests use holy arts wrapped around their hands.
And the refreshing sensation that came every time the holy art brushed against his body was fine, but the itchiness and burning sensation that followed was not something one could endure.
It felt like breaking muscles and bones like puzzle pieces, then reassembling them?
Hm? What does that mean?
...I don't know either, even after saying it myself.
It was an agony impossible to explain other than this.
"Phew..."
"Oh my, you're already up?"
"I can live a bit now."
"Your recovery rate is truly impressive. Five times better than normal people? No, about seven times. It's like looking at our brothers."
"Brothers?"
"The 'Monk Brothers.' They practice holy arts solely for physical training and recovery enhancement. That's probably why their recovery rate matches that of trolls. But Brother Ihan matches them too. ...Did you perhaps receive training from monks when you were young?"
"I've never even met them."
"...Is that so? They would really like you, hmm... If you're interested, go visit the monks. I'll write you a letter of introduction."
"Letter of introduction?"
What kind of letter of introduction out of nowhere?
As Ihan blinked, the priestess gave a fresh smile and winked one eye.
"Someone like Brother Ihan, they would welcome you!"
"Hah, are you telling me to convert? No, more than that. Do priests even scout?"
"Talent is scarce everywhere. Especially a hero who saved countless people is the greatest talent welcomed anywhere."
"Good grief..."
A shameless yet unhatable proposal.
If some pot-bellied noble had made such a proposal, a fist would have flown long ago, but unfortunately she was also the one treating him, and above all.
'...I'll endure it because she's cute.'
Since she resembles the idol he liked in his previous life, he decided to let it slide once.
Still, who would have thought.
'I didn't expect to hear this line here too.'
Recently there had been many people trying to scout him, but he never imagined he'd hear such a proposal from the temple too.
The hero title certainly seems to have quite a tremendous advertising effect.
But inwardly, the harsh words he couldn't say to the priestess circled around the back of his throat.
'Am I crazy to pay tithes while attending the temple?'
Unable to say harsh words to the face of someone treating him, Ihan barely swallowed his words.
* * *
"Uuuugh!"
Coming outside, Ihan stretched lightly as if loosening up his body.
The agony that came during the treatment process was the worst, but the more he walked, the more strength gradually surged up.
Vitality.
It felt like such a thing had settled throughout his body.
'I don't particularly trust the temple itself, but that convenience is truly something else.'
The kingdom of course had occupational groups like doctors and healers.
Since healing priests who use holy arts are precious personnel, it's natural to seek other healing means as much as possible.
However, medicine was still a slowly developing discipline, and there was nothing that could be done about it.
Why, even doctors in the 19th and 20th centuries were better at killing people than saving them, weren't they?
Drawing patients' blood to lower blood pressure, feeding them mercury instead of medicine, and hygiene was a complete mess....
Like this, Pendragon's medical level was still at a dismal state, and the temple's healing arts still held a more solid position.
And now, Ihan too experienced the prestige of those healing arts firsthand and let out continuous admiration.
Injuries that should have required half a year of rest seemed completely healed.
"Just three more sessions and it should be even better."
Then his body's vitality would be properly restored too.
No, not just vitality, but he looked forward to even the internal injuries and minor wounds that had unknowingly accumulated in his body being recovered.
'My body feels light even now, if I get fully treated I feel like I could fly.'
Tap.
"Ah, I need to resolve this too, right."
Amidst the continuing idle thoughts, what suddenly made him gather his senses was a fist-sized stone in his pocket.
He roughly carried it in the backpack at his waist, and at a glance carrying it around so nonchalantly, it could be mistaken for a decorative stone collected for collection, but this was a treasure with astronomical value that couldn't even be compared to decorative stones or gems.
Heart of the Ghost King.
The only byproduct of the Ghost King that remained after being burned by aura the previous day.
To carry such a treasure around so recklessly, even if he heard the vulgar remark asking if he was crazy, he'd have no rebuttal, but Ihan wasn't the type to be dragged around by treasures.
- Is happiness such a big deal, it's just fine as long as I'm satisfied without worrying about others' opinions.
In his previous life, he had only saved money and prepared for retirement, only to die without even properly using the fortune he had gathered.
Perhaps because of that?
Having reached this current life, Ihan saved wealth, but tended to spend it lavishly in directions he found satisfying.
Since he didn't even dream of marriage due to his curse (incapacity), he spent everything leaving only minimum living expenses.
Because he thought what's the point of saving if you're just going to die.
...Of course, his penny-pincher nature didn't go anywhere, so he did save some amounts, but anyway, he didn't place great significance on treasures.
And if someone were to steal or rob this from him, that would just mean his own abilities were only at that level.
'They say one who possesses a fortuitous encounter without qualification is left with only misfortune.'
Isn't it the same in martial arts novels.
The first discoverer who obtains a fortuitous encounter is destined to be killed and exterminated by righteous or evil sect martial artists.
So rather than hiding a fortuitous encounter, it's better to carry it around confidently, and if lost, just live comfortably with a light heart.
Positive mindset.
It could be one of the attitudes toward life for a healthy life without stress.
...Well.
'I mean I'll live positively, not that I'll live being robbed.'
If the other party is a thief, then the thief too must be prepared to be plundered by him.
Because that was one of the rules Ihan had resolved in this life.
He wouldn't just live being pushed around, and no one would arbitrarily control his life.
If someone touched such a rule, he would never let it slide.
While revisiting his rather fierce resolve like that and stroking the heart, Ihan pondered again what to do with this heart.
'Should I make it into equipment, or just eat it?'
He had no intention of selling it.
As he had resolved the previous day, he would use it as a stepping stone for development.
However, finding talent capable of processing such a rare material was a difficulty similar to finding a lost lens in the middle of a sandy beach.
'Among my connections, the only one who could process this is Noona though...'
She who was presumed to have the capability to produce miracle medicines like Ambrosia that would appear in mythology.
But unfortunately, it seemed he couldn't ask her.
'That Noona would probably swallow this whole.'
If Isis heard it, she would probably rage—'Do I appear to be a shameless monarch who covets others' things?!'—but unfortunately, Ihan.
'She'd demand a price for everything.'
He didn't ask because he trusted her.
One of her life principles was none other than [Equivalent Exchange].
If asked, she would definitely take or demand a price equivalent to the request.
Probably she'd demand half of the Ghost King's Heart, or make an even more vicious demand.
Therefore, asking her was an option that should be properly folded up and put away.
'Then the next candidate is the spellcaster..., hmm, both are about the same.'
The slave spellcaster was hospitalized groaning after the battle so that was out, and the Number 2 chick didn't seem to have the skills to handle something like this either.
'She's not the scholar type, she's an intuition type like me.'
Ihan, who prided himself on having a decent eye for people, knew that Irene Windler was a girl who wasn't very mage-like.
If he brought this to her, he could clearly see her just breaking out in cold sweats.
With this being the case, he soon realized there was no one left among his connections who could handle magical creature materials, and as his thoughts deepened—
Ting.
"...Maybe there's a guy who would know?"
Stopping the index finger that had been tapping his forehead, a face suddenly came to mind.
The one he had painstakingly gotten transferred in this time......
"'Assistant No. 2,' tell me what I want."
"...Would it kill you to just call me Timid instead?"
Taechang—no, Derek—showed strong refusal for the first time.
Saying no matter what, he wasn't an assistant.