Time Healer Ceres

“What was that?”

Rubbing his head, the healer grimaced in pain. Something had just flown at him and struck him on the head.

Wincing, he hurriedly looked around, but nothing nearby seemed suspicious. There were far too many people to identify the culprit.

“Damn it! I came all the way here to treat them, and this is what they do to me? These commoners.....”

While muttering under his breath, he kept rubbing his head. The pain had yet to subside.

“...Ceres?”

“Why?”

“...Nothing.”

Cheion smiled awkwardly as he looked at Ceres, who stood there with her hands clasped behind her back as if nothing had happened.

You were the one who threw that stone just now.

He had witnessed it with his own eyes.

Ceres had casually nudged a tiny pebble along the ground with the tip of her foot, sending it flying straight at the healer from House Ellesia.

As Cheion watched the stone smack the man on the head with flawless accuracy, he could only stare in disbelief, unsure whether to be impressed by her boldness or appalled by it.

Meanwhile, the corner of Ceres’s lips curled upward in satisfaction.

“Only four healers?”

Two of them were rookies who had only joined the family recently. Ceres glanced at the silver rings on their hands and immediately understood they were still inexperienced healers.

If the system had not changed much since her time, silver rings were given to novice healers. They were worn by those who had served the family for less than three years, and once that period passed, the ring’s color and pattern would change.

The reason they divided people by period of service was simple. If a flood of patients suddenly arrived or an urgent situation broke out, it made giving orders much easier.

The duties assigned to each person differed entirely depending on experience and skill. No one would place a critically injured patient in the care of someone who had only recently begun training as a healer.

But still...

In a situation overflowing with severely wounded patients, they had only sent four healers. To make matters worse, two of those four wore silver rings.

Ah, there’s one more.

Another healer stood nearby, managing the line of waiting patients instead of treating anyone. The woman appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties, and on her hand was a gold ring.

A gold ring means she has been with the family for at least ten years.

But she’s doing work like that?

She looked too busy cleaning up after the junior healers to see patients herself.

“Hmm...”

There were only two explanations.

Either the woman was terribly incompetent. If she had spent more than ten years in House Ellesia yet still possessed less skill than healers who had only joined, it wouldn’t be strange for her to be pushed into menial work.

Or...

She had backed the wrong person, or done something to earn the displeasure of those above her. In that case, they could deliberately treat her as less capable than she truly was.

Ceres found the second possibility more likely.

Why?

“Excuse me, please take this.”

“Pardon?”

The woman hurried over to a man who was leading away his elderly mother, who still seemed too disoriented to walk. She slipped something into his hands. It was an herb used to counteract Bakura venom.

“It seems the Bakura poison is making it hard for her to breathe. She’s been poisoned.”

“P-poisoned?”

“It’s not serious yet, but if you leave it untreated, it could become dangerous. Please brew this herb once a day and make sure she drinks it.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!”

After stopping the man from bowing over and over in gratitude, the woman quickly stepped away, seeming wary of the other healers’ eyes on her.

What she did next caught Ceres’s full attention.

She approached the father of the child whose fingers had turned black and withered, the same child another healer had just dismissed as beyond help. She discreetly slipped him a paper with a prescription written on it.

“Don’t give up. The hand is badly damaged, but from what I can see, the nerves haven’t died yet. With proper treatment, it may still recover.”

“R-really?”

“It will take time, of course... but please don’t lose hope.”

She even asked where they lived and promised to visit them herself before long.

So there’s at least one decent person here.

Ceres continued watching the woman hurry from place to place. Even afterward, she kept noticing problems the other healers had carelessly overlooked or ignored, then quietly giving advice on how to treat them.

“Lady Herion! What do you think you’re doing right now?”

“S-Sorry. I felt bad just sending the patients away...”

“Stop wasting time on useless things and sort this out properly! We’re busy enough as it is... Tch.”

“All right.”

Having finally been caught by another healer, the woman stepped away from the patients and began organizing the medical tools that were left in disarray.

Watching this, a bright smile spread across Ceres’s lips.

“What an absolute circus.”

“...Ceres? What are you doing?”

Cheion looked at her uneasily when she suddenly lowered her head and began scanning the ground.

“A stone.”

“What?”

“I’m looking for a stone.”

If possible, one bigger than the last one. Big enough to crack someone’s skull open.

“Ceres, Ceres!”

Cheion hurriedly tried to stop her. If she threw another one now, she would really get caught.

At that moment, the four healers who had been treating patients abruptly sprang to their feet and hurried off somewhere.

Ceres and Cheion, who were bickering over whether she should let go of the idea or not, both turned to look in the same direction.

“Lord Creel, you’re here.”

As soon as a gaunt man who looked to be in his early thirties appeared, every healer present bowed and fussed over him.

“Could that be...”

“That’s right. He’s the head of House Ellesia.”

“Ah...!”

Even the patients waiting in line looked at him with eyes full of admiration. Their gazes brimmed with hope that he might spare them a glance.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

“Not at all. It’s only our duty.”

“Indeed. Experiences like this are what sharpen one’s skill.”

With a benevolent smile, Creel Ellesia patted each healer on the shoulder and offered words of praise. However, he didn’t spare so much as a glance for Herion, the female healer who was cleaning up supplies alongside the servants.

“I would send more people if I could, but patients keep flooding the count’s estate as well. The other healers are doing all they can there, so I trust you will continue to do your part here.”

At those words, Ceres finally understood what had puzzled her from earlier.

I was wondering why they would send only useless fools to a place where the family’s healers would be judged openly.

They had little choice. Because of the Black Forest that had appeared in the capital’s busiest district, there were many injured nobles as well. Naturally, those people would rush to House Ellesia rather than come to a temporary clinic meant for commoners, which meant the estate itself must be in chaos.

That was why they had thrown together whatever manpower they could and sent them here.

“...Lord Cheion?!”

A moment later, Creel looked around and froze when he noticed Cheion. Since they seemed to know one another, he quickly approached with visible delight.

“What brings you here?”

“I happened to pass by.”

“I should’ve come sooner. We could have shared a cup of tea.”

“Haha. What a frightening thing to say.”

“Pardon?”

“Everyone knows how busy the head of House Ellesia is. I could hardly keep you to myself so shamelessly.”

“You flatter me. No matter how busy I may be, I will always have time for you, Lord Cheion.”

With a pleasant smile on his face, Cheion subtly stepped back as Creel kept inching closer.

“If it’s not too late, we might still have tea...”

“I’m busy.”

“Ah... I see.”

Though he was smiling, Cheion had drawn the line quite clearly. Watching silently from beside him, Ceres found it rather surprising.

She only ever saw him joking with mercenaries at the shop and chatting easily with strangers like they had known each other for years. Seeing him keep someone at a distance was odd.

“By the way, who is the lady beside you?”

“Just someone I met through work.”

“I see.”

Creel had shown some curiosity toward Ceres for standing beside Cheion, but when he heard they were merely connected through business, he lost interest at once.

Her clothes were plain and worn. She didn’t look like anyone worth his attention.

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