Chapter 31: If You Call Yourself a Healing Mage, You’d Better Train Your Artistic Skills Too

I was in one of the rooms of the acting village chief’s house with Myudy-san. Naturally, it was to receive magic training.

There were only the two of us in the room. Yuto-san had said she would handle the preparations for everyone’s departure. In return, she asked that we devote ourselves to our training.

“Now then, do you know what kind of spells you should be learning at this stage?”

“What kind of spells... you mean? I thought any spell I could learn would be better than none.”

I just replied with what came to mind when Myudy-san asked.
I didn’t think having too many options was a bad thing.

“That line of thinking isn’t wrong... but that’s only true in peaceful times. You haven’t forgotten the traits of the Demon Dragon, have you?”

“...Ah!”

Magic attacks don’t work on the Demon Dragon.
Which means there’s no point in me learning offensive magic.

“Then, what I should focus on is healing magic?”

“Exactly. Or enhancement magic, maybe. Ever used it before?”

“No…”

“Then don’t worry. I’ll handle that part. Slapping something together at this point wouldn’t do any good anyway.”

She herself couldn’t use healing magic, but she was apparently proficient in enhancement magic—magic that strengthened targets. The barrier covering this village and the shield that repelled my spell were apparently examples of it.

“How far can you go with healing magic?”

“Mostly I’ve used it on the sick or injured, so... it’s been mainly 【Heal】, but I can also use 【Middle Heal】.”

【Heal】 is the basic low-level healing spell. It can instantly treat something like a cut.
【Middle Heal】 is a mid-level spell that can treat bone fractures and more severe injuries.

Unfortunately, I still can’t restore lost limbs. That’s something only higher-tier healing can accomplish.

In truth, I’ve never used healing magic in actual combat.

The kingdom’s military usually relied on long-range magical bombardment, so there weren’t many knights who sustained serious injuries. Even during this journey, Raiga-sama and Rizel would always end fights in an instant, so I never had the chance—or need—to use it.

When I explained that, she said:

“Well, that’s not gonna cut it. Battles from here on out are going to get tougher—more intense the closer we get to the Demon Dragon. If you’ve never even used healing magic in real combat, we’ve got a problem.”

The harshness of her words made me lower my gaze.

“Pull yourself together! You chose to come along, didn’t you? Then you’ve got to pull your weight.”

Her shout snapped me to attention.

“Y-Yes…!”

That’s right. I have to support Raiga-sama on the battlefield in place of Yuto-san.

Even if she’s no longer the man she once was, and even if I’ve lost my Stigma, I haven’t lost my pride as a Saint.

“Now then, this morning I told you your chanting was too slow, didn’t I?”

“Yes…”

The memory of this morning’s battle came back to me.
While I was slowly chanting a long spell, Myudy-san deliberately waited. Then, with just a single phrase, she unleashed a defensive spell.

Not only did she block my spell—she reflected it. That must mean her magic was a higher tier than mine. In other words, the gap in ability is that wide.

“Magic is built on imagery… that’s the foundation. In short, what matters is how vividly you can picture the phenomenon. Chanting just helps support that.”

“I see…”

“With that in mind, it should be obvious. Your magic lacks clarity of image. That’s why your chants are so long.”

I found myself at a loss for words.

Because she was right. I tend to focus too much on controlling my mana and neglect the mental image of the phenomenon I want to cause.

“Well, I’m not gonna tell you to go chantless. Pulling that off would practically make you an ancient Demon King or something.”

She grinned.

It’s said that a Demon King who once plunged humanity into terror could fire off countless ultimate-tier Ancient Spells without chanting a word. If I could reach that level, maybe even the Demon Dragon’s barrier would be breakable.

“Your training is actually simpler than the vanguard types. See, healing wounds—most people can only form a vague idea of what that even means. That’s why chants include words like ‘divine’ or ‘miracle.’ So… to strengthen your imagery, we’re gonna start studying human anatomy.”

With that, she pulled out a blank sheet of paper. Then, chanting 【Projection】, she projected a vibrant, colorful image onto it.

As I focused on it—

“Eep!”

A cry slipped out.

There were skinned human bodies, skeletons, blood vessels—it was a whole variety of things.

Extremely grotesque. Even Yuto-san would probably faint from this.

“Don’t be squeamish! You need to memorize this to keep your heroes alive!”

“M-Memorize it…?”

“That’s what this is for.”

What she brought out next were pen and paper.

She said I’d need to sketch them to understand the structures and deepen my comprehension.

Unfortunately… I have absolutely no talent for drawing.

Which means I’d have to stare at these images for a long, long time.

Ughhh…

Fighting back tears, my studies had begun.

About three hours had passed since we began studying. My stomach let out a loud growl.

When I glanced out the window, I saw the sun was high in the sky—it was nearly lunchtime.

“We’ve been at it for quite a while, huh? Still, cramming too much into one session isn’t efficient. Let’s take a short break.”

With that comment from Myudy-san, we decided to chat casually until lunch was ready.

“Um… about last night.”

“Hm? What about it?”

“You mentioned something like… ‘someone once said something similar.’ I was wondering—what kind of person were they?”

Truthfully, I’d been curious about that since yesterday.

Maybe because I felt a strange sort of sympathy. Like a connection.

“Ah, that. Her name was Cecilia. A Saint from the other side. I only trained her for a week, but she had talent. You’ve got something in common with her, too—so keep it up.”

“Um…”

“What is it this time?”

I gathered my courage and asked:

“What do you think… makes someone a Saint?”

There was a short pause.

“Well now… I’m not a Saint myself, so I couldn’t say for sure.”

“I see…”

“But there’s one thing I can say. Heroes are only able to fight because there’s a Saint standing behind them.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Myudy-san fell silent again, as if searching for the right words.

Then finally—

“It’s hard to put into words. A Hero is still just a person. ‘Fighting for the many’—it sounds noble, but it’s not something just anyone can do.

But… if there’s someone you want to protect, someone you want to be acknowledged by—then you can fight. I think that ‘someone’ is the Saint. And I don’t believe that has anything to do with having a Stigma or not.”

She said it with quiet conviction.

“Lunch is ready~!”

Yuto-san’s voice rang out.

“...Thank you.”

I murmured my gratitude, then headed to the living room together with Myudy-san.