16.Exposed

Iris/Yanagi
I fearfully walked out of the room and found myself in a corridor of
something like a guest house. So far, well, I’d left a few times to do my
business.
I went down the stairs from my room on the second floor, squinted in
the sunlight I hadn’t seen in a while, and stepped outside to see a small,
but well-maintained garden with a nice atmosphere.
When I asked Reiji about it, he said this town… or rather this village,
was rarely visited, so there wasn’t any inn. It seemed that the mayor
had graciously lent this place to us visitors as a place to stay.
…This never happened in the game.
“Thank you for your hard work, ma’am.”
“Oh, if it isn’t the guests. I’m so glad to see that the girl has recovered
enough to go outside.”
There they were, greeting a kindly-looking old lady who was tending to
her plants. As I stood idly watching from behind, my back was suddenly
jolted by the conversation.
“Um, this is Mrs. Miranda, the mayor’s wife, who’s taking care of us and
our lodging. You haven’t met her before, right?”
“She knows about our circumstances and she’s a pleasant person, so
don’t worry… What’s the matter, Iris?”
“…You look pale. Are you feeling ill somewhere?”
The old lady reached her hand out to me. The old lady? Huh, why is a
burly man’s hand there…
“…?!”
An inarticulate scream rose from my throat of its own accord. I found
myself curling up and diving into Saul’s bosom.
“…Iris?”
“My apologies, I’m sure she was fine when it was just us in the room.”
In my head, she seemed to be a kind and nice person, but my body was
rigid.
“Iris, come on, you’re making her worried, see.”
When I fearfully turned my head to look at old lady, she was looking at
me with pained eyes.
“…If that was rude of me, then I’m really sorry…”
“It’s okay… You’ve been through so much after all… Get well soon,
okay?”
“Yes… Can you lend me a hand again?”
“Are you sure? Don’t overdo yourself, miss!”
I took the old lady’s hand. I felt my heart suddenly tightening, but I
managed to stay calm. Her hand was a little rough and dirty from her
gardening, but it smelled somewhat comforting, perhaps because of
the herbs. This hand would not hurt me. I didn’t have to be afraid.
Those two already said it would be okay. As I told myself over and over
again, the palpitations gradually subsided.
“…I think I’m good now. Thank you very much.”
I gently released her hand, bowed and thanked her with a slight
chuckle. I no longer felt the trembling from earlier. It seemed that she
had been classified as a “good person” in my mind, and I could handle
her normally.
“…Are you really okay, miss?”
“Yes. Once again, thank you for taking care of us, ma’am.”
I smiled lightly and bowed my head. The lady finally seemed relieved
and sent me off, telling me not to push myself too hard and that she
would prepare something sweet for me today, so I should go out and
do my best.
I put on a deep hood and went into town. Compared to the original
remote town in the game, the sense of distance and the number of
buildings had changed drastically, with much more people on the street
to boot.
“…As I thought, it’s still a little unpleasant…”
“If you can’t make it, tell me as soon as possible, okay?”
“Sorry…”
Unfortunately, if I didn’t hold on to Saul’s arm, I’d be falling over at any
moment. Whenever someone looked at me, a chill ran down my spine
and my arms and legs started to shake. In particular, the men’s gazes
made me feel like being choked. My condition had really worsened, I
thought… but at least I could still walk around like this.
Somehow, we reached the first destination without incident. The small,
compact house was commonplace in its neighborhood, and was
probably lived by an ordinary family in a very ordinary way. However,
the garden was overgrown with weeds, as if it had been untouched for
some time, suggesting the family’s distress while their daughter was
missing.
“Here’s the first victim’s house… are you up for it?”
“Well, this is a job that only I can do. I heard the other party is a girl, so
please wait outside, you two.”
The two of them began to talk with the victim’s family about what
happened, and now they were looking at me with concern. I would
really like Saul to help, but as we decided the other day to stay properly
in line with our current bodies, I couldn’t rely on him.
There was a girl lying on a bunk in the room I was shown. She was…
about the same age and the same size as I was now. She must have
once been a simple but lovely girl, but half of her face was covered in
bandages, her entire body was wrapped in bandages, and… her right
arm was missing beyond her elbow. She was lying there in agony.
It’d been about a month since she’d gone missing… many of the
disfiguring wounds had already been closed, leaving only scars. If it
continued like this, it would surely leave a big shadow over her future
life even if she was cured. As was the case in the game, non-players
with healing arts were very rare, and most of them were located in
larger cities. Even so, I heard that it was quite extraordinary to heal
such a serious injury, so the effect of my healing arts seemed to be
quite substantial.
In fact, it would have been impossible for even me to treat the scars
that had already healed… if it had been the me of before.
Only this time, I was thankful that I had been reincarnated. To avoid
waking the sleeping girl, I quietly released the light wings on my back. I
could not expose myself to too much publicity, and for this purpose, I
asked the family members to wait outside in advance. The patient was
also put to sleep with some very weak sleeping pollen.
Since that time when I treated Scott-san, several new magics had
sprouted inside me. All of them were proven to be effective, although
they had the verified drawback that they could only be used with the
wings out.
“…Thou shalt return to the way thou wert… ‘Restoration’”
The magic power inside me was sucked up so rapidly that I felt dizzy.
The particles of light floating around me gathered between my hands
and became a dazzling sphere the same color as my wings. I gently
pushed it into the girl’s chest, right where the heart was… The light
immediately covered the girl’s body and spread. The wounds that had
already become scars seemed to dissolve away. It was as if time was
rewinding… no, it was actually rewinding.
Rather than “healing”, I suppose I should call it “restoration”, since it
caused the wounds themselves to never exist in the first place.
Although its use was limited because it erased even beneficial things
such as the results of training, it was the most useful in this case. It
might not heal the wounds in this girl’s heart, but at least… it would
give her some hope for the rest of her life… With that wish in mind, I
watched as the treatment was completed.
After that, I did not have any seizures, perhaps because I knew exactly
what I needed to do if I was treating someone. Rather than that, the
only thing that dominated my mind was the sense of duty that I felt
sorry for the wounded child in front of me and that I had to heal her as
soon as possible.
After the second and third visits, the external trauma was completely
restored, and as I was patting my chest at the joy and tears of their
family members, I felt dizzy and struggled to stand. The magic
consumption seemed to be overwhelming and wearing me out fast.
“That’s it for today. You should take it easy from now on until you get
your strength back.”
Saul, sensing the situation, suggested that we go home for the day, and
my suggestion that we at least have one more case was easily overruled
by two to one, and we headed home.
I left the lodging around noon, but it was already approaching dusk, and
everyone was either finishing their work or shopping for ingredients for
supper. The streets, which had been sparsely populated, were now
reasonably busy.
“In any case… I’m glad to see you’re doing better than I thought you
would at first.”
“I think so, too. There are still some victims out there, and I have to
work hard tomorrow.”
I clasped my hands together in a spirited gesture. Perhaps because I
was in a good mood, I didn’t mind the stares from those around me as
much now as I did at first.
“Hahaha… You look kind of happy.”
“Mmm… I know it’s inappropriate, but I’m so happy to be able to help
someone in this way…”
Looking back, I think I longed for the very idea of helping someone.
Maybe that was why I was able to continue with “Worldgate Online”
even though people around me told me it was too harsh and that I
should stop. Because.
“Back in ‘the other side’, all I could do was receiving help from others.”
“That’s…”
“I’ve told you not to think that way so many times already, we did what
we did because we care about you.”
“…My apologies, Reiji-san.”
Did I offend him again? When it came to that topic, Reiji was always in a
bad mood. He dropped his gaze and walked away…
This was a bad idea. Because nothing had happened all day, I had let my
guard down.
It was by chance, really by chance, that I bumped into a man who was
walking unsteadily, probably after having a drink on his way home from
work. My small body could not withstand the impact, and I was easily
blown away and fell on my buttocks.
“Hey, where the hell did your eyes go?!”
“…?!”
At the sound of the threat, my breathing stopped. I felt as if my whole
body temperature had suddenly dropped.
“Hey, old man, stop, she’s-”
“Not you too?! Is that how you apologize?!”
There was no time to react. Reiji’s hand barely stopped him before my
hood was ripped off with force, revealing my bare face and silver hair
shimmering with a rainbow glow beneath it.
The stunned gaze in front of me pierced my eyes. Oh, what was that
wind on my cheeks? Ah, the hood… ah, aaaah.
“Hey, that girl…”
“Wow, so pretty…”
“Is she some aristocrat…”
“No. You see, she was captured by some bad guys…”
Gazes pierced me from all directions. Gazes coated with the carnal
desire crawled all over my body.
………
Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to have gone back to town?
Why was I still in that dingy room?
The townspeople’s
The bandits’
Curious gazes
Lustful gazes
Upon my tightly cloaked body
Upon my violently exposed nude body.
Where did they see?
The place that should not be exposed to public view unnecessarily.
No, that wasn’t right.
Because there was already nothing to hide.
No, I was properly clothed.
What? Whatwhatwhat?
A hand reached out.
No, no one was reaching out to me.
But, the hands. The hands were closing in. Countless. Countless… what?
What?
My consciousness switched from I to “I”.
“UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAGH?!”
Someone was shouting. The voice was awfully close… Wait, was that
my own voice?
“Where’s she?! Out of my way, old man!”
“N-No, I didn’t do anything…”
“Just shut up and get out of my sight! Iris?! Pull yourself together, look,
I’ve already put the hood up!”
“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryIwo
n’trebelIwillobeyquietlyIwon’tbitenononononoAAAAARGH?!”
“Dammit, she’s only getting worse! All of you, scram! Don’t look this
way!”
My body screamed. My body shook, my heart beat a strange rhythm,
and I continued to scream things I don’t understand, unable to get
enough air into my lungs through my labored breathing.
And yet… I was looking at “myself” in such a terribly calm way…?
“Curses! I’ll drive all these assholes away from here! Saul, don’t let her
bite her tongue!”
“Got it!”
Saul’s fingers were shoved into my little mouth as I continued to squirm
and scream. He didn’t want me to bite my tongue. My uncontrollable
mouth movements were starting to scratch Saul’s fingers.
“It’s alright, it’s alright… I’m here, and Reiji’s coming back soon… okay?”
“………”
My small body was completely embraced by Saul’s cloak. As he rubbed
my back, my breathing gradually calmed down. My mouth, which had
been clenched tight, relaxed, and eventually, my strength went limp
and my consciousness faded away.
Until the very end, “I” continued to calmly watched the situation.
Reiji
“She’s calmed down… finally.”
Iris was slumped all over, held tightly in Saul’s arms. The tears
streaming from the corners of her eyes and drool marks on the edges of
her mouth were painful, and although her eyes were open, they were
not reflecting anything.
Never before had she reacted this violently to anything.
The last few days, when she was with us, she didn’t have any problems
to the point where he could make jokes.
I was completely relieved to see that there had been no major
problems all day, although there had been some worsening. Turned
out, “some worsening” was too much of an optimistic thinking.
The full extent of “Iris’” trauma hadn’t even shown itself yet.