* * *
Maier Village is located near the lower reaches of the capital’s river. By the duke’s order to restore their family’s prestige, members of the Reshaniel family had come all the way to this remote place to carry out medical relief. One of them, closely examining a hand covered in spreading blotches, spoke up.
“This is a filthy new infectious disease. I’ve never seen anything like it before… It looks highly contagious.”
“What? An i-infectious disease?”
“That’s right. We might have to amputate the hand.”
“N-No, please! I’m a painter…”
“Me too!”
This was a village where most people made a living painting signboards, so it was only natural that they’d be horrified at the thought of losing their hands.
“But look at how many people are suffering! If we don’t cut off your hands, you could die!”
Inside the small village hall, where the sick had been gathered, it was overflowing with patients whose bodies were covered in blotches and who complained of nausea and vomiting.
“A-An infectious disease? And we might have to cut off our hands…”
The people caring for the sick looked stricken with shock at the diagnosis. But the Reshaniel family’s words didn’t end there.
“This won’t do. We should leave the sick behind and close off the village.”
“T-That’s the same as telling us to die!” A young man who had brought his ailing mother cried out in horror.
The Reshaniel family members looked at them with disgust before rising to their feet. “Then you should have taken better care of yourselves. You should have kept up with hygiene.”
“T-That’s unfair! Please, can’t you use your divine power, just once…?”
At the mention of divine power, the eyes of Reshaniel family members narrowed. Unfortunately, all the blood relatives present here possessed only a small amount of divine power, even by their own family’s standards. Perhaps because of this, rather than being tasked with healing nobles, the blood relatives present were used as a kind of showmanship, helping commoners in order to highlight the Reshaniel family’s supposed sanctity.
The resentment that had built up from this, combined with their anger at a commoner daring to talk back, finally boiled over. “So you plan to bring that filthy disease all the way to the capital?”
“That’s not what I mean…”
“Do you know what happened to the place where the plague first broke out? Huh?”
“Nothing but death! The roads were littered with corpses, and there was no one left to clear them away! Are you trying to wipe out the entire empire?”
Stripped of their noble façade, they threatened menacingly, and the commoners shrank back in fear. Some, already weak from illness, even began to retch.
Only then did one of the blood relatives put on a magnanimous expression and speak. “We’ll help any children who haven’t fallen ill yet get out of the village.”
“Then what about the children whose parents are both sick…?”
“What are you asking for? They’ll just have to go to the orphanage.”
As if they had fulfilled all their obligations, the Reshaniel family members hurriedly got to their feet. Although divine power flowed through their bodies and made them immune to most contagious diseases, they still had no desire to come into contact with anyone infected.
“In any case, we almost wasted our divine power for nothing!”
“Gather all the healthy residents and children outside the hall. Absolutely no contact with the sick!”
* * *
The children, still unaware that their parents had been given a terminal diagnosis, huddled near their secret hideout by the little stream, sniffling and crying.
“Are our mom and dad going to die?”
“No way. The holy ones came to heal us!”
“Yeah, they said it was like medical volunteer work or something!”
Even so, the heavy mood wouldn’t lift. But then, the big boy, who was like their leader, spoke up bravely. “This is exactly when we need to be strong! If we catch even a tiny fish by the river and bring it to our parents, they’ll be happy!”
The little stream near the village, where the children often played, was still as blue as ever. Just then, as the leader boy ran to the water’s edge to forget his worries, something happened.
“Huh? T-There’s someone…” The boy’s eyes went wide. “S-Someone is f-floating on the water!”
No, actually, it wasn’t a person.
It’s me.
…Ah, wait.
Well, I’m a person, aren’t I?
Anyway, Giselle looked at the wide-eyed, grubby children and took steps on the water. She saw their stunned gazes gather on her. But she just smiled brightly, making the water ripple as if she really were walking on it.
“H-How can a person w-walk on water…?”
“That’s i-impossible…”
Giselle grinned and deliberately stomped her feet a few times. By all rights, she should have sunk, but instead, gentle ripples spread beneath her while the water held her up as if it were solid ground.
If Duke Reshaniel is a saint, then I’ll just become a god.
The fastest way to build a reputation in a short time! That’s right, by stirring up a spectacle!
Can you believe it? There’s someone who can walk on water?!
Among the potions her father-in-law had made, there was one that let you walk quickly on water for a short while. With that, it was a piece of cake.
Giselle walked lightly across the water and took the children’s hands. “Hey, kid? Pay attention.”
“Y-Yes?”
“H-How are you walking on water…?”
The children, who’d been a little wary, soon broke into bright smiles and asked.
“A-Are you from the Reshaniel family? Was that power just now divine power? Or magic?”
Giselle twisted her lips into a sly smile and squeezed their hands. “No. Kids, when your healing power becomes highly developed, you can walk on water.”
Of course, it was a total lie. But to these innocent children, Giselle emerging from the water really did look like a ‘god’.
“I-If that’s true… then, p-please save our parents!”
“Please save my parents too! And my friend Peter!”
“Alright, lead the way.”
“C-Can my parents really get better?”
At that, Giselle stopped in her tracks. She looked into the child’s eyes, so full of transparent hope, and whispered gently, “Probably. Thirty minutes is enough to make a miracle.”
* * *
After about thirty minutes had passed. Members of the Reshaniel family, who had summoned the local guards and ordered the village to be sealed off, looked at each other and shook their heads.
“There was nothing else we could do. We did our best.”
“We’ll have to report this miserable situation to the duke and tell him we managed to contain it.”
But then, something strange happened. As they approached the village hall, where the healthy villagers were supposed to be gathered, the atmosphere grew more and more lively the closer they got.
“Huh? All the signboards that used to hang around here are gone…?”
“And I can hear children laughing. What’s going on?”
While they stood there, bewildered and looking around in a daze, a voice called out.
“Oh my, you’ve finally arrived.”
A figure suddenly appeared from an alley, startling the family members out of their wits. It was clearly the same person who, in the village hall, had been covered in black blotches and looked like he would die at any moment.
“Y-You. How did you even still a—”
The man, who’d nearly lost his hand, curled his lips into a mocking grin. “I met an incredible healer. Unlike someone else.”
They didn’t even have time to scold a commoner for daring to mock a noble. Because right then, the people who’d been sick were streaming out of the village hall, looking perfectly healthy, as if nothing had ever happened!
“They say Lady Wot walked on water.”
“She’s really something else!”
They were even chattering excitedly about the impossible walking on water, and spreading wild rumors like wildfire.
The three members of the Reshaniel family rushed inside in a panic. Standing in the small front yard in front of the hall, in the deep shade, a woman was resting.
“And who are you supposed to be?”
“Wot.”
“Don’t just repeat what I say. I asked who you are.”
“But my name is Wot.”
“…Ah. So, who exactly is—?”
The three, who had been about to brush her off, glanced at each other, then their eyes went wide.
“Wot? As in, the one who saved former Duke Kalinos…?”
The woman with honey-colored bobbed hair, Wot, waved cheerfully, flashing a bright smile. The Reshaniel family members stared at her, their eyes growing even wider.
“My healing power is better than your insufficient divine power, isn’t it?”
“How dare you spout such nonsense?”
One of the family members scowled, but another looked at Wot calmly.
“…But how exactly did you heal those people?”
“If you did anything suspicious, we’ll get to the bottom of it in the name of our family. So you’d better tell us your method right now.”
“Hmm… Should I tell you~?”
When Wot stroked her chin, pretending to think it over, their eyes grew even greedier. If they could just learn the method Wot used to cure the plague, it might earn them a solid position within the family. Their consciences long since sold off at the market, the three looked at Wot with great arrogance.
“But I’m not going to tell you~! Why would I, when you couldn’t do it even if I did!”
“W-What did you say?”
Their eyes widened in outrage at the audacity of a commoner woman daring to mock them. As several men closed in around the lone woman, looking like they might grab her by the collar at any moment, the atmosphere instantly turned menacing.
“Huh? Why are you all getting closer to Wot? Are you trying to threaten her or something?”
“Threaten? Call it negotiating.”
“Huuuh…”
With a group of men surrounding her, any ordinary person would have been terrified. But Wot just blinked in confusion and flashed a bright smile.
“Aah, Wot is ve~ry scared!” Then she stared intently at a green dye can carelessly discarded on the ground in the front yard. “Veryyyyy scared that Wot needs to tidy things up a bit.”
“Tidy up?”
“Yup yup, have you ever heard of body painting~?”
“What’s that—”
Confusion was just beginning to show in their eyes when Wot lifted up the green dye can. Splash!
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