Chapter 18: Treatment

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

The morning after crossing the bridge .

This caravan, being one of a traveling theater troupe, seems to perform at the post towns between bigger cities along the way .

They only open the curtains for a few days . They practice between travels, rush through rehearsals for a day upon arriving in town, and then give a public performance .

“Just from hearing about it, that’s a rough schedule . ”

“Probably, but with all the people looking forward to our performances, we push through that rough schedule . That’s part of being an entertainer . ”

“Well, I don’t particularly dislike that policy . ”

The troupe leader, a fire lit under him, is directing, while Master keeps him company .

“But is this really… A play?”

“O’ course . ”

Master turns his half-dumbfounded eyes to the practice .

There a scene wherein an actor jumps down from a tree branch and strikes a pose was playing out .

“There’s no trees or anything on the stage, right?”

“If it’s not there, we just need to make it . Pretty sure some G.o.d or other said that . ”

“Wait, wait, even then, isn’t it dangerous? That’s about three meters high . ”

“That’s no problem for my actors . ”

“Actors are amazing… Or I guess the Maxwell troupe is amazing?”

“You there! This is the scene where you force your way in to save the escaped princess! Don’t stagger as soon as you land! You’re gonna lose all your appeal . ”

“Err, troupe leader, landing from that height without staggering is seriously impossible . ”

The actor exasperatedly replies . Yeah, that’s impossible for a normal person .

“Whaddaya mean? Little Eir here did it . ”

“Don’t compare me to her, would ya?!”

“Yup, I think it’s impossible too . ”

The only reason I could jump from that height just fine is because I have these limbs .

And maybe because of the “Acrobatics” gift‘s effects?

Asked by the troupe leader, I showed off how I jump down from that height just once .

Though I called it jumping down, it’s more like I jumped up, did a spin, and landed decisively with my right leg and left arm . The troupe leader was deeply impressed .

“Now I won’t tell you to replicate those moves, but if you could just do that spin…”

“Uh, we’d need an acrobat for that . ”

“No choice then . Eir, my troupe needs…”

“I said I’m not giving Eir to you . ”

“That’s truly disappointing . ”

Apparently the troupe leader finds my demonic appearance, and the tricks I can do with my “Acrobatics” gift, very desirable .

Giving that troupe leader a side-eye, Master extends his cup to me .

“Eir, a refill . ”

“Yessir . ”

I take the cup and go to prepare some tea .

That said, I don’t actually prepare the tea . Master made a whole bunch of tea beforehand, which I holed up in my “Dimensional Storage” . All I do is stealthily make it appear in the pot .

Since time doesn’t pa.s.s in “Dimensional Storage,” the tea stays warm no matter how long has pa.s.sed .

I’m done as soon as I fill the cup from the pot .

By the way, when I tried to actually make tea, the cup shattered into pieces . I detest this strong arm .

I pa.s.s the hot tea to Master, and refill the troupe leader’s while I’m at it .

“Ooh, thanks . You’re really considerate . ”

“Mm, was already refilling anyway . ”

With all the instructions he’s shouting, I’m sure his throat hurts . The troupe leader brings the tea to his lips in enjoyment .

And then—

Crash, something large is heard collapsing .

“What was that?!”

“It came from the props area!”

“Kyaaa! Someone help! Moto is being crushed!”

Upon running to the source of the noise, the scaffold built up there had collapsed, and piled up like a mountain . A person’s hand can just barely be seen from a gap in the collapsed lumber .

“Moto?!”

“Eir, wait! If you’re not careful in handling it, the wood might collapse more!”

Master keeps me back and runs over instead to take his pulse .

“Good, he’s still alive . Looks like he managed to find a gap in there, but… There’s a lot of blood . ”

“Come on, hurry, please… Please help him!”

The one imploring Master with a shaking voice is Carla . As someone who talks a lot with him, she must be feeling uneasy right now .

“I understand… Eir, can you fit a rod or something in this gap and support it so it doesn’t collapse?”

With Master’s order, I take a look at the mountain of lumber .

This is the wreckage of the scaffold they’re going to use for an action scene in the play this time .

It’s made as simply as possible to get it up on stage, but since people are going to stand on it, there’s quite a bit of ma.s.s to it .

Which means there’s a fair bit of weight .

“I’ll try . ”

I answer as such and stick my hand into my bag . Of course there’s nothing in there though . It’s just a trick to hide my “Dimensional Storage” .

What I took out was one of the grand hedgehog’s spines . However, there was no magic running through it, so it was more like a rope .

“There’s all sorts of stuff in that bag, huh . ”

“All to be prepared . ”

After giving a quick response to the troupe leader’s admiration, I ran magic power through the spine .

“Uughk . ”

“Uughk . ”

Kevin made a weird sound . Since these things tore up his limbs, I’m sure he doesn’t have a good impression of them .

The spine stiffens once magic power runs through it . And it becomes harder the more magic power is poured in .

With the huge amount of magic power I poured in, it became hard enough to be comparable to corundum . This is way harder than the grand hedgehog could make it .

“Going in . ”

“Be careful . ”

“Right . ”

I stick the spine into the gap, and slowly raise the piled-up lumber .

There’s quite a bit of weight to it, but it’s not a problem with my strength . I slowly lift it up so it doesn’t collapse, and Master pulls Moto out of the widened gap .

“Okay, you can let it down now Eir . But do it slowly . ”

He may have been pulled out, but that doesn’t mean he’s far enough away for it to be safe . If it collapses now, then Master might even be put in danger .

I carefully let the pile of wood down, and retreat to Master’s side just in case .

That way even if it collapses again, I’ll be able to s.h.i.+eld Master from it .

“Arms and legs, plus the ribs… The pelvis too . He’s lucky they’re not open fractures . His organs… One lung collapsed . Too long and he would’ve been a goner . ”

“Hey, you can help him, right? Come on…”

Carla worriedly asks with a shaky voice .

“He would’ve been in trouble if there weren’t a healer here . ”

“Yeah, a healer, but… With injuries this bad, they’d have to be able to use [Recovery] or else—”

The healer woman from Crimson came over and said that .

Sure enough, with such severe wounds, an ordinary adventuring healer wouldn’t be enough . Even she can’t use the high rank healing spell, [Recovery] . However…

“I can use it . Rest a.s.sured . ”

Master can’t heal from a distance, but instead he can heal practically anything if he makes direct contact .

That healing ability of his is enough to consider him a monster in a different sense than me .

Pale light emitting from Master covers Moto, and his twisted limbs and crushed chest visibly heal in front of us .

“Ah, aahh…”

It’s hard to tell who let out that sigh… The scene playing out before us was beautiful enough to be considered a work of art .

As for a t.i.tle… How about “Saint”?

“… Dear G.o.d . ”

Carla’s voice, overcome with emotion .

In not even a minute of healing, Moto’s wounds had completely recovered .

“Whew . ”

“Good work, Master Rimuru . ”

“You too Eir . Nice job there . ”

“U-umm… How’s Moto?”

“U-umm… How’s Moto?”

“He’s fine . But he’s lost a lot of blood and energy, so he’ll need some rest . Also, let him eat something with plenty of nutrition later . ”

“Thank you… Thank you so much…”

Carla said before she collapsed in tears and clung to Moto .

Well look at that . Guess she wasn’t as dissatisfied with him as she was letting on .

With me feeling all warm and smiley, Master gently stroked my head .

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

The performance at the post town ended safely .

As for any points of change, the general feelings toward us have gotten even nicer, and Carla has become inseparable from Moto .

Since we saved one of their own, we were being treated as their benefactors in a certain sense .

I still performed my original duties as an escort properly though .

Actually, if I were to slack off, Master would bring his fist down on my head, so I can’t slack off .

And then there’s Carla . Though Moto couldn’t drag any determination out of himself, Carla’s feelings for him must have broken down the barrier in that accident… They’ve become quite clingy . So very clingy… Agh, G.o.d d.a.m.n you!

Okay, let’s calm down .

They’ve both found happiness, so this is a good thing . Yeah .

“Hey, Moto, you’re sure you’re not pus.h.i.+ng yourself?”

“I’m totally fine now…”

“Really? Tell me if you feel bad, okay?”

“Yeah, of course . ”

“So anyway, about tonight…”

Carla fidgets and wriggles her body around .

Yeah, they’re both happy now, so… Aaagh, shees.h.!.+ It’s so annoying!

“So annoying…”

“You think so too, Master Rimuru?”

“Yeah, for sure . Ah, you’ve got some breadcrumbs on you Eir . ”

“Mm, where?”

I rubbed at my face like a cat, but I guess I didn’t get it?

“Look, right here . ”

“Where?”

“Ahh, forget it, hold still . ”

Master takes the breadcrumbs from my face and brings it to his own mouth .

“Mm, thanks . ”

“You’re welcome . ”

“Not like you two are any better…”

“Hey… Just go explode already . ”

Eh? Why?!

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

The days pa.s.sed along like that, and when our trip was half done, around when we neared the country border, we pa.s.sed by a single traveler .

Flowing silver hair, and scarlet eyes deep enough to pull you in . She looks to be a roughly ten year old little girl, but she’s frighteningly beautiful .

We’re a fair ways from the city, but her clothes don’t have even a speck of dust from the travels . It brings about a sense of discomfort .

“h.e.l.lo . ”

“H-hey there . ”

“Nice weather we’re having . ”

“Sure is . You alone, little girl?”

The troupe leader exchanged greetings .

He doesn’t even notice that us in the rear have caught up with him . Her charm is just that strong .

“Yes . Oh, right . Mister, have you seen anyone suspicious?”

“Suspicious?”

“Yes . Someone carrying around large baggage, or with large items loaded in their carriage… Carriage?”

Saying that, she looks at our line of carriages .

If she’s looking for someone transporting large items, then we could probably be included in that .

“Hm? Hmmm…”

“Is there something you want with us?”

“No, there’s just something I’m searching for… Excuse me, but would you mind if I inspected your carriages?”

“Uh? Hrmm… We’re a traveling theater troupe, so we have large objects as a matter of course . ”

“Aaah, no . I don’t mean I suspect you all of being thieves… I am well aware that this is a rude request . ”

“Well, not like we have anything unseemly anyway . If you don’t take much time, then I don’t mind . ”

“Thank you very much . So then—no, actually never mind . ”

“Huh?”

The girl, refusing the troupe leader’s offer, looked over at me standing beside the carriage that had caught up .

“Yep, I don’t know how you’re hiding it, but… It’s you, huh?”

The girl smiles .

However, her smile is frightening . There’s murderous intent in it .

And the pressure in it… The grand hedgehog doesn’t even compare with how fierce it is .

“Eh… Uhh?”

“You can’t fool me . A magic tool you carried away has a fixed [Signal] built into it . I know it’s there . ”

Saying that, the girl points at me .

[Signal] magic . It’s a spell that can be put on magic tools, and it makes the item constantly emit special waves .

If you detect those waves, you can figure out where the magic tool is at a glance .

“Eh, ah? Carried… away?”

“Yes… From the bas.e.m.e.nt of the G.o.d of destruction’s cottage . I will have you return what you took . ”

Saying that, she took a battle stance .