MRPO:05

CHAPTER:05

[Healing in progress.]

Once again, the hourglass spun, and the loading bar began to fill up segment by segment.

It was painfully slow. Was it because it was far from the wound?

Still, I was glad it was the back of his hand.

If I’d had to kiss his lips or somewhere else and endure this agonizing wait, I wouldn’t have been able to rest in peace even after death.

I was dying to save someone, but I didn’t want to die in a humiliating way.

“Ugh…!”

I heard Calion groan softly.

Yet, he didn’t pull his hand away from my grip.

He was much stronger than me, so he could have easily pulled away if he wanted to.

I felt the energy draining completely from my body.

*Is this what dying feels like?*

Fortunately, it wasn’t painful.

If I could slip away as if falling asleep, at least that was a small mercy…

[Healing completed.]

Success Reward: Health recovery speed increased in proportion to the number of allies.

Huh? I’m not dying?

While I was staring in confusion at the system window that popped up in my head, I heard Calion calling me, sounding a bit flustered.

“…Master.”

I lifted my lips from the back of his hand and looked up.

The wound on Calion’s chest had healed.

Cleanly, without leaving so much as a scar.

*Wow. It actually worked.*

Kissing the back of his hand was embarrassing enough, and the loading speed was so damn slow I thought I’d die of sheer mortification. But seeing him healed so cleanly without me dying made the embarrassment well worth it.

“Calion! Your wound is completely…!”

I wanted to tell Calion his injury was healed out of genuine relief and joy, but I couldn’t finish my sentence.

As I tried to straighten my back, all the strength left my body, and I collapsed right into Calion’s arms.

It was a good thing his wound was fully healed; otherwise, I might have bumped right into it.

“Master!”

A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, making me grimace.

Fortunately, the claim that my recovery speed had increased wasn’t a lie. The ringing in my ears and the throbbing headache quickly subsided.

“Ugh, Calion. I’m sorry…”

My vision finally cleared, but as I looked up, I couldn’t finish my apology.

Because Calion’s face and both of his ears had turned bright red.

Even his neck was flushed.

*Why… why is he so embarrassed? I only kissed the back of his hand. It’s not like I touched him somewhere weird.*

Calion looked so utterly flustered that I started to feel tense too.

I quickly checked where my hands were.

Since he looked as if he had been violated, I momentarily worried that I might have groped his thigh or something. Fortunately, both of my hands were resting on his chest.

…His chest was wider than it looked.

“Mas…ter…”

Calion called me in a faintly trembling voice.

Was it even legal for a massive man, a full two heads taller than me, to look so perfect with dewy, doe-like eyes? My heart swelled with a strange sense of awe.

“Master. Why on earth did you…”

“Huh? Oh. No, I didn’t mean anything weird by it! I just wanted to heal your wound!”

I quickly pushed myself up and got out of Calion’s embrace.

Sure, my hands had landed on his chest when I fell, but I swore on my conscience I hadn’t groped him. Besides, the only point of contact during the healing was the back of his hand.

Surely this much is socially acceptable, even between strangers?

Especially since I healed his wound!

“I have to make physical contact to heal you. That’s why…”

Should I have told him I was going to heal him before kissing his hand? But explaining that in the moment would have been awkward. I hadn’t even been sure it would actually work, and it would have been a disaster if it failed halfway through.

“Calion. Your wound is completely healed, right?”

“…Yes.”

He replied softly, turning his head away. His ear, briefly visible through strands of fine hair, was crimson.

I couldn’t tell if he was just exceptionally shy or if his body was just that sensitive, but the divinely handsome man was a sight to behold even when blushing.

Seen from the side, the bridge of his nose was a work of art. And those long, fluttering eyelashes…

A soft sigh escaped his slightly parted lips, and then he bit them as if holding something back. That expression was just too…

*Why am I the one getting breathless when I didn’t even do anything?*

Feeling the heat rise to my own face for no reason, I also turned away and fanned myself with my hand.

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence descended between us.

Anyone watching would have thought we’d gotten swept up in the moment and actually kissed.

I had only pressed my lips to the back of his hand, so why did my heart feel so ticklish?

*But even if we had… kissed… I don’t think he would have pushed me away.*

It was a baseless thought, but it crossed my mind nonetheless.

If this place I ended up in was really a game, and the genre was adult… no, a romance game, wouldn’t this be the perfect timing for an event to advance our relationship?

The fact that the healing skill guide had directed me there was proof of that.

In these kinds of games, as long as there’s a trigger, physical intimacy can progress rather rapidly.

*Should I have just closed my eyes and gone for it?*

Kissing the hand of a man I’d only known for a few days had been flustering, but now that it was over, I felt a lingering sense of regret.

I unconsciously licked my lips, and Calion flinched, quickly bowing his head to apologize.

“I apologize for the delay in expressing my gratitude.”

“Pardon?”

“Thank you for healing me, Master.”

“Oh, no. Compared to Calion saving me…”

“Even so.”

Calion took a few slow, deep breaths as if to calm himself, then spoke in a subdued voice.

“I think it would be best if you didn’t do this sort of thing in the future.”

Why?

Was he offended?

It didn’t seem like he was upset that I had kissed his hand without permission, though.

As I tilted my head in confusion, he calmly pointed to his fully restored chest.

“Healers with this level of restorative ability are extremely rare. If anyone else finds out you possess such power, it could put you in grave danger.”

“Ah.”

It made sense. In any party, healers were precious.

Seeing that a fairly deep wound had been healed completely in an instant, my healing ability seemed to be quite impressive.

“Once we reach the town, even if you decide to settle there, it would be best to keep the fact that you can heal someone through physical contact a secret.”

Of course, since it consumed vitality, I wouldn’t be able to use it endlessly anyway.

Even if only for a moment, I had been dizzy enough to lose my balance and collapse.

Without allies nearby, I wouldn’t receive the health recovery speed buff, so it might take a long time to recover from a state of incapacitation.

While undeniably useful, [Healing] was a dangerous ability to use as long as I remained defenseless.

“Okay. I’ll keep it a secret.”

When I nodded in understanding, Calion’s face softened with relief.

*He looks so much younger when he smiles like that.*

Come to think of it, I had never asked Calion his age.

When I first saw him from afar, he looked so massive and strong that I assumed he was a grown man in his late twenties. But up close, he looked remarkably young.

Perhaps because of his fair complexion, the fine peach fuzz on his face made him look like he could pass for barely twenty.

Considering Westerners tend to age faster than Easterners after adolescence… No, surely he isn’t a teenager.

“How old are you, Calion? I’m twenty-six.”

My international age, of course.

This place wasn’t the West, but it had a Western feel, so I went with my international age. I’m still in my mid-twenties.

They say if the number has a ‘six’ in it, you’re still in your mid-twenties. Long live international age calculations.

“My age… It has been a long time since I stopped counting, so I do not remember.”

He stopped counting? He might be older than I thought.

*Is he some non-human race?*

Don’t tell me he’s a spirit who lives for hundreds of years, or a demigod.

Though, with a face like that, I’d believe it if someone told me he wasn’t human.

“But Master, why do you ask about my age?”

“Huh? Oh, well.”

It was just some small talk to lighten the mood and build some rapport, but did it sound too much like a survey?

“I got the feeling you’ve been working as a monster hunter all by yourself for a very long time, Calion. I thought you might have been lonely.”

“…”

I had intended to wrap up the conversation smoothly, but Calion’s expression shifted in a strange way.

His eyes grew slightly red, but it wasn’t the embarrassed look from before.

It was more of a deeply moved… choked-up expression.

“Calion?”

When I called his name, he seemed to snap out of it a beat too late, his shoulders flinching slightly before he quickly masked his expression.

“You should get some sleep.”

“Shouldn’t you be the one resting, Calion?”

“I am fine, thanks to your healing. We have to hike the mountain path again tomorrow, so I suggest you close your eyes.”

Unlike Calion, my stamina was pathetic, so if I didn’t get enough sleep, my physical capabilities would plummet.

I was already being treated as a useless deadweight, so I couldn’t afford to become even more of a burden.

*I’d better sleep quietly.*

Calion pulled a small blanket from his inventory—well, it wasn’t actually an inventory, but I decided to call it that for convenience—and draped it over my knees.

Just how many things were packed inside that palm-sized bag?

It was starting to feel downright fascinating.

“Please sleep, Master.”

“Okay. You rest too, Calion.”

After offering a polite goodnight, I closed my eyes, and sleep quickly overtook me.