Thus, a few minutes later.
I half-opened my eyes and began brainwashing myself.
The scene before me was simply too gruesome for someone who couldn’t even bear to watch horror movie trailers.
‘This is just graphics. It’s only graphics…’
My guess had been exactly right.
Following Carol’s guidance down into the basement, I found piles of body parts—some rotted away, others reduced completely to bare bones.
The ones that had decayed into white skeletons weren’t so bad.
The half-rotted ones, however, were too horrific to look at with the naked eye.
Right. The only way to get through this is to finish it as quickly as possible.
Holding my breath against the nauseating stench, I immediately raised my hand.
‘Blessing of Purification.’
As I activated the skill, sincerely hoping everything would work out…
Something incredible happened.
The severed body parts, scattered everywhere with their cut surfaces exposed, began restoring themselves one by one.
As a result, I now had to fight desperately not to throw up inside what had essentially become a deranged anatomy classroom.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have turned the censorship filter off…’
Carol walked over and stood beside me.
“How is this possible…?”
“It isn’t over yet.”
I’d managed to restore them to a fresh state, but sooner or later they’d simply decay again according to the natural order.
And it wasn’t as if I could sew them all back onto Carol.
She probably wouldn’t want to become some chimera with ten legs and twenty arms.
“What you really want is to return these body parts to the people who lost them, right, Carol?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
Her trembling voice told me she was speaking the truth.
Then there was only one way.
“Carol… don’t you still have things you need to say to your father?”
“I-I think so. I do.”
Mr. Scrooge had stayed upstairs on the first floor instead of following us down, his emotions clearly in turmoil.
Deep down, he must have already known that everything he’d done hadn’t truly been the best thing for Carol.
That was why he’d reacted so angrily to my words.
And when his daughter had said she’d rather die than continue living like this…
I could only imagine it felt as though the sky itself had collapsed on him.
“Then wait upstairs for me. I’ll stay here for a while and come up in about ten minutes.”
Carol hesitated briefly.
Then, believing I was giving her and her father some privacy, she smiled gratefully and slowly nodded.
Soon, she disappeared upstairs as well.
Standing alone in the middle of the basement, surrounded by a mountain of things far too graphic to describe…
I let out a quiet sigh.
“So this is where I’ll be using it.”
A familiar ticket appeared before my eyes.
[S-Rank Draw Ticket ×1]
For a moment, I hesitated.
This was my last ticket.
I’d planned to save it for as long as possible, since I never knew when another emergency would come.
But what if this was that emergency?
There was a saying about saving something until it became useless.
Considering the size of the village, if Belmont Ducal Castle was ever going to function properly again, there was a good chance I’d have to save this place too.
“Please… give me something useful.”
‘Blessing of Purification’ had been ridiculously overpowered, even in my opinion.
Even if this one didn’t come with a bonus effect, I just wanted an ability I could actually use.
[Use the item?]
With a determined expression, I activated the S-Rank Draw Ticket.
Drrr… drrr… drrr…
After hearing the familiar suspenseful sound effect for the second time, a sparkling system message appeared.
Pop!
[Congratulations! You have obtained “Restoration (S).”
—Restoration
· Uses divine power to restore damaged flesh to its original state.
However, if the target does not wish to be restored, the ability cannot be used.]
“Ah!”
As I read the description, it felt—for the first time since arriving here—that things were finally going my way.
Restoration was enough.
I hurried back upstairs in search of Carol.
It looked like the conversation between father and daughter had just ended.
“Carol. Mr. Scrooge. I think… I can help.”
“…What?”
I looked at Carol once more.
Her body was twisted and mismatched, swollen in some places and unnaturally thin in others, as though she were wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
Pulling my gaze away from the purple, decaying flesh, I slowly reached out and placed my hand where I guessed her shoulder was.
Instead of the disgusting sensation I’d expected…
It felt damp.
But warm.
“M-Miss Windsor? If you touch me…”
Perhaps embarrassed by her own grotesque appearance, Carol instinctively stepped back.
But I smiled with quiet certainty.
“I’m going to remove everything that’s weighing you down.”
“W-What do you mean by that…?”
Just like when I’d acquired Blessing of Purification, the moment I gained a new ability, I instinctively understood how to use it.
No amount of explanation would convince Carol.
She had to experience it herself.
Even Mr. Scrooge looked like he was struggling to understand what I meant.
Without another word, I activated Restoration.
“Ah…!”
Thunk.
The first thing to fall away was the shell covering Carol’s body.
The patchwork layer that looked as though human skin had been forcibly peeled off and stitched together dropped to the floor, revealing her true flesh beneath.
Her arm, twisted at an impossible angle, finally gave way and fell as well.
“C-Carol!”
Mr. Scrooge cried out in alarm.
I held up a hand toward him.
“Just wait. Watch.”
Removing my hand from Carol, I slowly stepped back.
Even without any further intervention, Restoration continued working on its own, faithfully returning her body to its original form.
The decayed flesh became smooth once more.
Soft light gathered where her long-lost arms and legs had once been.
Gradually…
New limbs began taking shape.
When the final traces of light surrounding her small body faded away…
“Ah… ah…”
Standing there was a young woman with chin-length brown hair.
Clatter.
The maplewood prosthetic leg, no longer needed, rolled across the floor.
“This… this can’t be…”
A voice filled with overwhelming emotion escaped her lips.
Just as I’d expected, however, the limbs weren’t the soft, living ones she’d originally been born with.
Instead, her skin carried a faintly pale hue.
‘Her original arms and legs disappeared a long time ago.’
The limbs she’d once worn had belonged to other victims.
Considering that, it made sense.
Still…
The important thing was that Restoration hadn’t failed.
Even if they looked slightly different, she’d been given a healthy body again.
That alone was enough.
“Carol!”
Mr. Scrooge rushed forward and wrapped his daughter tightly in his arms.
For a moment, Carol seemed unsure what to do.
Then she slowly embraced his large frame in return.
Watching the two of them, I finally became certain of something.
‘I can save the other villagers too.’
I’d been unable to stop thinking about the little boy I’d seen earlier.
If there was a way to help everyone…
Then that was wonderful.
‘Tomorrow morning, the first thing I’ll do is… Hmm? Why am I so sleepy…?’
I slowly stepped backward until my back touched the wall before sliding helplessly down to the floor.
An overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over me.
As my vision gradually blurred, an unfamiliar system message appeared.
[‘Restoration’ has exceeded its effective range. All body parts except… have been restored.]
“Huh…?”
Unfortunately, the dizziness became too strong for me to think any further.
The very last thing I saw was—
“Uh… huh…?”
[…has not yet been unlocked.]
Some kind of system notification…
Its contents obscured as my vision faded into white.
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