Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 145

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Several years ago, a terrible accident occurred. When Duke Merial visited a newly acquired mine to inspect it personally, the mine collapsed—a catastrophe that seemed to strike at precisely the worst moment.
Everyone working in the mine perished, and the sole survivor was Duke Merial himself. And then….
“Is Beldo well now?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
His grandson had likewise been a victim of that disaster. He’d accompanied Duke Merial to the mine to learn the business, only to be caught in the collapse; though gravely injured, he had mercifully survived.
“Beldo has been most eager to pay his respects to you.”
“Why didn’t you bring him along?”
The two of them, who had been away from the Capital for nearly three years convalescing, had only recently returned.
“I hear the Three Dukes have also come to the Capital.”
“Yes. It’s been quite some time since they’ve all gathered like this.”
Crown Prince Aseraian smiled faintly. The arrival of the Three Dukes had already set the Capital abuzz with activity and intrigue.
Everyone’s eyes and ears were acutely attuned to the sudden movements of those who had remained absent for so long.
‘And at the center of it all stands one person.’
Crown Prince Aseraian found himself chuckling as he thought of Seres, who had maintained an air of composure even in the midst of the Three Dukes.
“And how is our Chaien?”
“Always the same.”
He had been lost in thought for a moment, but at Duke Merial’s affectionate inquiry, he nodded.
Ever since Seres had given him that Mana Stone, Crown Prince Aseraian had found it difficult to see Chaien’s face of late.
‘Miss Seres said she’d take the Mana Stone back if he doesn’t eat. Should I contact him right now?’
‘Eat! I’m eating! I’m eating it right now!’
Recalling the image of Chaien hastily shoving bread into his mouth in the span of a second at Aide Luka’s rather threatening words, Crown Prince Aseraian shook his head with a subtle smile.
“By the way, have you heard the rumors?”
“What rumors?”
“There’s been talk lately of a Saint appearing among the people.”
“Ah, we’ve received several reports to that effect already.”
Indeed, with corpses mauled by monsters being discovered throughout the Empire of late, public sentiment had grown unsettled. As a result, all manner of superstitious practices had begun to flourish.
Those claiming to use sorcery to ward off monsters had appeared, and charlatans peddling strange objects as vessels of Divine Blessing had begun to emerge without end.
‘And now, a Saint as well.’
When he’d first received that report, he’d dismissed it as another fraud. Had a Saint truly appeared, the Temple itself would have been the first to announce and promote the fact.
But the Temple showed no sign of such activity.
‘Yet….’
The contents of the reports arriving with increasing frequency were far from ordinary. Those suffering from grave illnesses were being healed completely after receiving a visit from this Saint.
There were even accounts of a leg that had been torn away by a monster being miraculously restored.
Had it been one or two incidents, he might have dismissed them as mere rumor, but with similar reports arriving endlessly, Crown Prince Aseraian found himself unable to ignore the matter.
“In fact, the matter of the Saint is also on today’s agenda. The Temple has agreed to send a representative shortly.”
“I see.”
“Will you be attending today’s session?”
“Of course.”
Watching Duke Merial nod, Crown Prince Aseraian rose from his seat.
“Shall we go then?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The two of them departed the office together to prepare for the imminent meeting.
* * *
“A Saint?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Seres showed little interest in what Ersi had come to tell her.
Even when she had lived as Grace, there had always been those claiming to be Saints.
‘Of course, most of them were charlatans.’
A stage show orchestrated between patient and Saint—or rather, the patient had been in league with whoever claimed the title from the start.
Or else there were those who enthralled people using addictive medicinal compounds.
“I wonder what sort of Saint this one is.”
At Seres’s listless question, Ersi began laying out the information he’d gathered.
“They say she cured a hand that had been poisoned.”
“Anyone can do that with Ebros Herb.”
“She apparently restored the sight of someone losing their vision.”
“Balbrio Petals are effective for the eyes on the verge of blindness.”
“Someone severely burned was said to have healed instantly.”
“Parnamu Root is quite effective for burns.”
“A leg that was bitten off by a monster has grown back completely!”
“…….”
Seres, who had maintained the same dispassionate expression to every other remark, faltered at these words.
“A leg grew back?”
“Yes!”
“You didn’t misunderstand?”
How could a severed limb simply regenerate?
“That’s what I’m saying. The Temple has been searching for this person themselves.”
“And the Temple claims no involvement?”
Long ago, the Temple had fabricated a false Saint. When the Black Forest manifested frequently as it did now and public sentiment grew turbulent, they had created a Saint to draw people’s hearts toward the Temple.
“They seemed unaware. Everyone appeared shocked.”
“I imagine they would be.”
If this report was truly factual, it could indeed be the emergence of a genuine Saint.
Regenerating lost body parts was impossible without extraordinarily potent Divine Power.
“Your teacher is capable of it, after all.”
Not merely a leg—so long as there was breath remaining, there was one who possessed the power to restore any person to their original form. That was her teacher.
“Your teacher was once called a Saint, too.”
The memory seemed to strike Ersi, and he burst into laughter.
“A Saint? Your teacher? Hah!”
“…….”
“When I first heard that, I laughed so hard—”
“You found it amusing?”
“Yes… ack! N-no!”
“Yes-no? What language is that?”
Seres quietly rolled up her sleeve. So this one had made a habit of teasing his teacher, had he?
“H-haha. I only meant it was so fitting a title that I was overcome with joy.”
Ersi hastily amended his words. Seres regarded him with a cold stare for a moment, then let out a soft tsk, as if deciding to let it slide this time.
“I was called other things too.”
“…Yes, you were.”
Her teacher’s power had not only been wielded for good. That same force had wrought terrible consequences upon her enemies.
The memory made Ersi shudder. It was no accident that she had earned the epithet of demon.
“But teacher.”
“What?”
“…What is this thing?”
Ersi’s gaze turned toward the table. A small creature perched there, arms crossed, glaring at him intently.
[Squeak!]
Kkamangi—so it shrieked, as though announcing itself—emitted a sharp cry and regarded Ersi with even more displeasure than before.
“Kkamangi.”
“Kkamangi?”
“Artia left it behind.”
There was little more to explain. Seres herself knew precious little about the creature.
“…….”
Ersi studied Kkamangi for a moment. His eyes flickered crimson in an instant before returning to their deep brown.
[Squeak! Squeak!]
Kkamangi, the only witness to that change, squealed and burrowed into Seres’ arms.
This man is dangerous indeed!
Without lifting his gaze from the creature, Ersi curved his lips into an enigmatic smile.
“Darkness,” he murmured to himself.
He looked at Seres with barely concealed interest, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“They say opposites attract, after all.”
“What?”
“Kkamangi seems quite fond of you.”
“Does it.”
Seres gently pried the creature from her arms and lightly tapped its nose—a silent command to behave.
[Squeak…….]
Kkamangi nursed its sore nose with tiny paws, regarding Seres with narrow eyes before casting a wary glance back at Ersi.
Tap, tap-tap!
“……?”
A familiar sound reached her ears. Glancing toward the window, Seres saw a small red bird repeatedly striking the pane with its beak.
“…Now what?”
The moment Seres opened the window, she let out a small sigh as she watched Juberios dart swiftly inside.
Why did this creature have to visit so often?
[Trouble! Big trouble!]
“You’re always saying everything’s a crisis.”
[Right now Herion is… wait?]
Juberios, who had been spilling words frantically, stopped short. His gaze fell on Ersi, who was seated across from Seres, and he tilted his head in confusion for a moment.
Where had he seen that face before? Slowly, his mouth began to open.
[Whoaaaa! That can’t be him, can it!]
At his loud cry, Ersi quietly edged closer to Seres.
He was afraid that, like Kainel before, this spirit might mistake him for a monster and attack.
[Why is that creature still alive!]
“I-I’m sorry to still be alive.”
Pressing even closer to Seres, Ersi offered his greeting in the smallest voice he could manage.
“It’s been a long time, Juberios.”
[Ha, so you really are that disciple of hers?]
“Yeah. Turns out he was still alive.”
[So that’s why you…]
Back at the Magic Training Grounds, Juberios had suddenly brought up his disciple out of nowhere, and she’d wondered what that was about. Apparently, he’d already known then that his disciple was alive.
“So what? What’s happened now?”
This creature always got distracted whenever he came by.
[Ah…!]
Jolted back to attention by Seres’s words, Juberios fluttered his small wings again in urgency and cried out.
[Something’s come up!]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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