Time Healer Ceres

“Haa... that was good.”

“I’ll come again tomorrow!”

“Let’s go.”

By then, the sun had already begun to set. One by one, the mercenaries rose from their seats and headed outside.

“Bill, please.”

Skal, the leader of the Black Guild, also stood up and added,

“Reserve the same date for next month’s guild dinner too.”

“Ugh! Are we eating here again?”

“Vice Leader, do something about this!”

“I’m telling you idiots to keep it down.”

Despite all their complaints, the mercenaries were clearly pleased to hear they would be coming back again next month. Watching them grin from ear to ear, Vice Leader Lot sighed.

These b*stards are definitely doing this on purpose.

“This one’s on the house.”

Ceres handed Skal a large pot filled to the brim with stew. The last time she had given him some, he had loved it.

“Then book us for the month after that too!”

“Thank you for your patronage.”

A bright smile appeared on Ceres’s face.

Above all, she hoped Skal would remain the leader of the Black Mercenary Guild for a very, very long time.

“You two worked hard today. You can go home now.”

“Yes.”

“Lady Ceres, you should head in early too.”

Once the customers all left and the shop was mostly cleaned up, Ceres sent the maid Jay and the employee Mark home first.

“Julia, is it good?”

“Yeah!”

“You should’ve waited and eaten at home.”

“But I was hungry.”

“That’s why I told you to go home first.”

“I wanted to go home with you, Ceres.”

At one corner of the shop, Julia was having her late meal. When all the customers had left, Ceres had hurriedly prepared food for her when the girl complained she was starving.

“Do you want some too, Mister?”

“No.”

Sitting across from her, Kainel watched Julia hold out her spoon toward him.

“Aren’t you staying this late because you’re hungry too, Mister?”

“No.”

“Mmm, guess not.”

Apparently too hungry to care, Julia went back to eating.

“But...”

After silently watching her for a while, Kainel turned his gaze toward one corner of the shop.

“Are they someone you know?”

Before Ceres could answer, a faint killing intent leaked from Kainel as if he might attack at any moment.

“He’s someone I know.”

Ceres immediately stopped him. She already had a good idea who Kainel had sensed.

“Ah, damn it... Why’s everyone I meet lately like this?”

A man stepped out from the shadows while grumbling under his breath. It was Ben, a member of the Sky organization.

Do I really need to retire already? Why can everyone sense me so easily these days...

“What’s going on?”

Ceres questioned him. Ben wasn’t supposed to be here at this hour. She had asked him to watch the children for her, after all.

“Something happened. One of the kids got hurt...”

“Hurt? How bad is it?”

“It doesn’t seem too serious, but I think a bone might be brok—”

Before he could finish speaking, Ceres bolted out of the shop. Ben quickly rushed after her.

“Kai! Please watch Julia for me!”

Leaving those words behind, Ceres vanished from sight in an instant.

“Wow, my sister runs really fast. Right?”

“......”

Still seated where he was, Kainel nodded at Julia’s words. His eyes remained fixed on the spot where Ceres had disappeared.

Kai. It had been a very long time since he last heard that nickname.

“Mister.”

At that moment, Julia spoke again. She had already finished eating and was now staring at him.

“What are you good at, Mister?”

“...Everything?”

“Yes!”

“...?”

***

“Stay still. Your bones are completely crushed.”

“C-crushed?”

At the training grounds, the children were gathered in a cluster near the rocky cliff. In the middle of them was a boy sprawled on the ground, unable to move.

“That’s right. Ah, do you not know what crushed means? It means your bones broke into tiny little pieces.”

“Aaaah! Stop, stop! I get it already!”

Just hearing that made it hurt even more. The boy with the injured leg covered his ears and groaned at Ceres’s unnecessary explanation.

“How did this happen?”

“Um... we were trying to climb up there...”

Antonian’s face was pale as he answered in a trembling voice. He looked just as shaken as the others.

“There’s a perfectly normal path right there, so why were you climbing the cliff?”

“You said we’d be climbing it soon too...”

“I said soon, not right now. You kids really are fearless.”

Ceres clicked her tongue. Who in the world told them they could climb such a steep cliff already?

Looks like they wanted to test their limits.

By now, they must have noticed it too. Their bodies were far stronger than before. Judging by the situation, they likely turned it into a competition to see who could climb the cliff first.

You brats are still a long way off, though.

“Ugh... ngh...!”

The torn flesh was healing quickly as usual. Still, even in a magical training ground, fixing broken bones that had shifted out of place was impossible.

After telling the children she was going to get some herbs, Ceres moved to a secluded corner and opened her subspace. She pulled out several medicinal herbs from inside.

Not that I actually need them.

However, she needed a believable excuse.

After crushing the herbs, Ceres carefully spread them over the child’s injured leg. At the same time, she quietly used her ability on that area alone.

The power to reverse time. She returned the boy’s leg to the time before it was injured.

“Ugh—huh? Huh...?”

The boy who had been writhing in pain suddenly blinked in confusion. The pain was disappearing rapidly.

“Stand up.”

“What?”

“I said stand up.”

“But my leg just broke, Miss.”

“You’re already fine. Stop whining.”

The boy looked very bewildered. Even in this strange place where injuries healed unusually fast, this wasn’t the kind of injury that could’ve healed easily.

“What are you doing? Treatment’s over, so stand up.”

“Y-Yes!”

The pain in his leg had completely disappeared, but he was still doubtful.

In the end, he slowly pushed himself upright at Ceres’s firm urging.

“Huh?!”

His eyes widened.

His leg moved perfectly fine like nothing had happened. The other children were just as shocked.

“What? You can already walk?”

“No way. Is it really healed?”

“Whoa!”

“Miss, what herb was that? There’s really an herb that can heal a broken leg instantly?”

The children couldn’t stop marveling at the herbs Ceres had used, convinced they possessed miraculous effects.

No such herb exists in this world, kids.

But obviously, she couldn’t tell them the truth.

Ceres quickly changed the subject.

“So, what were you doing while they were causing all this trouble?”

After things had calmed down a little, Ceres finally called Ben over and asked for the full story. She had clearly told him to keep an eye on the children and make sure nobody got hurt.

“Um... it was break time for a bit...”

Ben roughly swept his hand through his hair. He remembered Ceres’s warning perfectly well himself, which left him no room to make excuses.

Even if it had been during break time, he still had failed to supervise them.

Like always, the children had finished their running drills and were given a short break afterward. Ben had relaxed as well.

Who could have guessed the kids would suddenly start betting on who could climb the cliff first? Or that things would end up like this?

“I see.”

After hearing the rough explanation, Ceres nodded and looked toward the children huddled together nearby.

“Now I understand.”

“Huh?”

“You all just didn’t need breaks after all.”

“Ye... Huh?”

“Let’s get rid of break time from now on.”

“Whaaaat?!”

Ignoring the children’s horrified cries, Ceres lifted her hand and pointed toward the snowy mountain.

“What are you standing around for? Start running. You know what happens to the person who comes in last, right?”

“Aaaagh!”

The children instantly bolted forward. Every last one of them was now determined to make the idiot who suggested the cliff-climbing competition come in dead last.

***

It’s later than I thought.

After checking the time, Ceres quickened her pace.

It had been a while since she last watched over the children’s training herself. After leaving the rest to Ben, she immediately headed back to the shop.

Julia was still waiting there.

Well, Kai’s with her.

She wasn’t particularly worried. At the very least, Kai would never hurt a child.

Jingle.

“Juli—”

Craaack!

“Mister! That side too!”

Craaack!

“Waaah! Now over there!”

Craaack!

“......”

...What exactly happened here?

As soon as Ceres stepped into the shop, she fell speechless at the view before her.

The entire place had turned into a kingdom of ice.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!