Time Healer Ceres

“I was only having a little fun. Tsk.”

At the sight of the Head entering the training grounds, he had instructed his men to aim their wooden swords properly.

Just as expected, she had suffered a serious injury and collapsed. How hard did he laugh at himself watching that happen?

She should’ve known her place. A child who knew nothing of the world had become Head of the House and started acting like she feared nothing.

Bang!

“Captain!”

A moment later, the office door burst open. One of his men rushed inside.

“What is it?”

“It’s the Acting Head...”

“The Acting Head? What’s happened now?”

“She comes to the training grounds.”

“What?”

The Knight Captain’s face darkened.

The Fire Spirit King might have approved the appointment, but the Elders’ Council still hadn’t formally recognized it. And yet she was already making herself at home?

He shot to his feet and headed straight for the training grounds. A mocking smile slowly curled across his lips.

What would it take to make sure this Acting Head never showed her face again?

Maybe I should send a wooden sword flying her way too.

Lost in thought as he considered how best to put the new Acting Head in her place, he stepped into the training grounds.

Whoosh!

“—!”

Something came hurtling toward him. Tylo reacted on instinct, ducking so fast his back nearly folded in half.

Thud!

W-What was that?

Something narrowly grazed the top of his head.

Startled, he straightened and turned to look. As soon as he saw what had landed behind him, his eyes widened.

A wooden sword was embedded deep in the ground.

“Oh?”

At the unfamiliar voice, Tylo turned his head. A woman was walking toward him at an unhurried pace.

“I’m still getting used to wooden swords.”

Ceres greeted him with a pleasant smile.

“I’m sure you’ll be understanding, Captain.”

“.....”

“We’ll be training with wooden swords from now on, but we’re still not used to them. It seems we made a mistake. I’m sure the Head will be generous enough to overlook it.”

“...Ha.”

Weren’t those the exact words he’d said to Herion not long ago? Judging by that sword, she’d clearly done it on purpose.

After getting a good look at her face, Tylo found himself even more dumbfounded. She was far too young. A girl who couldn’t have been twenty yet.

This was the person they’d chosen as Acting Head?

“Are you the Acting Head?”

“So it seems.”

“This is ridicu—”

“It is.”

Ceres cut him off before he could finish. She nodded in agreement.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“But...”

Fwoosh!

“Then again, that little bird seems determined to prove otherwise.”

Thud!

In the blink of an eye, Jubelios swooped down from the sky and dropped something into Ceres’s hand.

After circling the training grounds once, the Fire Spirit King settled onto her shoulder. His sudden appearance stunned not only the Knight Captain but everyone gathered in the training grounds.

Flap.

While Tylo stared at the bird in a daze, Ceres unfolded the item Jubelios had delivered and held it up for him to see.

It was an official letter approving her appointment as Acting Head. More importantly, it carried the personal signature of Oselt Ellesia, head of the Elders’ Council.

“If you have any objections, you’re welcome to bring them to him.”

“Where did you get that...?”

[Where do you think? I got it myself.]

Jubelios immediately took flight again, circling around Ceres as though fishing for praise.

“Quit flying in circles. You’re making my head spin.”

Ceres shooed him away with an impatient wave.

For a long moment, Tylo could only stand there with his mouth open, unable to say a word.

***

“Are you certain about this, my lord?”

“What are you referring to?”

Oselt Ellesia, head of the Elders’ Council, lowered his teacup at the butler’s cautious question.

“Even if it was the Fire Spirit King’s request, is it truly wise to hand over the position of Acting Head so easily?”

Just a short while ago, the Fire Spirit King himself, the very symbol of House Ellesia, had appeared before Oselt.

[Sign this.]

“What is it?”

[You don’t need to know. Just sign.]

“......”

Even for the Fire Spirit King, Oselt had no intention of blindly obeying every demand.

However—

“She isn’t some random candidate.”

“Pardon?”

As soon as he saw the name chosen by both Herion and the Fire Spirit King, he signed the document without much deliberation.

Ceres Drow.

They met only once, but she left a surprisingly deep impression. Was it because she recovered the Head’s ring?

That certainly played a part.

But not all of it. Her name had continued to surface ever since.

Grand Duke Persia.

Wasn’t she the one who led the imperial council in Grand Duke’s stead during the last meeting? Oselt also heard that the nobles didn’t manage to get a single word past her.

That was saying something. Most of them never knew when to stop talking, especially when they thought highly of themselves.

Before that...

Oselt couldn’t forget the look on Grand Duke Persia’s face when he mentioned the person who had recovered the Head’s ring. It was during their negotiations over the exclusive distribution rights to Ethel.

It was the first time I’d ever seen that ice sculpture look human.

The same feeling had struck him when he first saw Ceres in Ellesia’s hall. Nothing about her felt like a young lady of her age.

Even now, he remembered how calmly she had spoken before a room full of elders, never once losing her composure as she said exactly what she intended to say.

“For now, I think observation will be enough.”

A woman trusted by the current Head. Chosen by both the Fire Spirit King and Grand Duke Persia.

That alone made her worth watching.

Looking slightly intrigued, Oselt picked up his teacup again.

***

Bang!

“Lady Herion! Emergency patients are arriving from the Shloy region!”

The office door burst open. A healer rushed in while Ceres and Herion were having tea.

“20 critical patients have already been transported through the transfer circle. We don’t know how many more are still coming!”

A Black Forest had appeared somewhere, and the injured were now being sent directly to House Ellesia.

Not long ago, Herion put forward a proposal during an imperial council meeting.

The nobles were always complaining that House Ellesia never sent enough healers to their territories. So she gave them a solution.

Transfer circles directly linked to House Ellesia would be installed across the empire. Any emergency patient could be sent straight to Ellesia without delay.

The work had only recently been completed. And today, for the first time, one of those transfer circles was activated.

“Patients...”

Ceres set down her teacup. She’d known this day would come the moment she accepted the position of Acting Head. Sooner or later, she would be standing before patients again.

“Let’s go.”

She was prepared for it.

Still, the feeling was strange. She thought her days as a healer were long behind her, especially as a healer of House Ellesia.

“I’m coming too!”

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Ceres tried to stop Herion when she got to her feet with a limp, but Herion firmly shook her head.

“I want to help, even if it’s only a little.”

“Fine.”

Ceres gave up trying to persuade her and headed for the treatment ward.

“Aaaagh!”

“Over here! This patient’s worse!”

“Healer Elshuri! Over here! The bleeding won’t stop!”

“Where’s Ganion?!”

“He’s treating another patient right now!”

“What about this one?!”

“Twenty more patients have just arrived!”

“What?! Damn it! Just have them wait for now!”

...What a mess.

After watching for only a moment, Ceres was left speechless. The healers were running in circles without a sense of priority.

She knew they were accustomed to treating nobles in a comfortable, controlled environment. But they were already falling apart over this?

Even if this was the first day the transfer circles were in operation, this was ridiculous.

BANG!

“—!”

The ward instantly fell silent. All eyes turned toward the source of the sound.

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