The rainy season in Camillaya was unexpectedly quiet.
Ichikawa strolled through the streets of the capital. Compared to the beautiful capital cities of other worlds he had seen in anime, this place was filled with an oppressive atmosphere.
Furthermore, ever since he had stepped out of the prosperous Holy See, the surrounding buildings had gradually become more and more run-down.
“I thought this was a traditional fantasy world. Who would have guessed it's actually pure medieval?”
By this time, Ichikawa had arrived at a residential area that resembled a dilapidated, sprawling village.
This run-down neighborhood made him seriously doubt whether it could withstand such heavy rain.
Ichikawa walked along the residential area. Compared to the surrounding houses, this wide road could actually be considered a scenic view.
Thud!
“Eh? Ah, hm?”
Ichikawa suddenly stumbled, feeling as if someone had bumped into his armored thigh.
He looked down and found a little girl sitting on the ground in front of him. Her clothes were so tattered they could barely be called garments.
Seeing Ichikawa look down at her, the little girl's pupils shrank in terror. With a frightened expression, she scrambled backward on the ground.
“Are you alright?”
Seeing that the little girl didn't care at all about her clothes scraping against the muddy street, eventually covering her entire body in mud, Ichikawa felt a pang of worry.
“It's my fault! I'm s-sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”
Ichikawa's outstretched hand froze in midair. He stood there, completely dazed.
The rain began to pour even harder.
In this kind of situation, what should he do? What was he supposed to do? What was a Hero supposed to do?
Having been a shut-in who completely lacked social skills in his past life, Ichikawa had no idea. He could only stare at the drenched girl in front of him.
“Hey! What do you think you're doing?!”
A luxurious carriage came to a halt near Ichikawa.
Soon after, a girl with cherry-blossom pink hair stepped down from the elegant carriage.
The moment she stepped out, guards holding umbrellas immediately lined up around her.
She glared angrily at the frozen Ichikawa. Behind her, two soldiers with sabers immediately took the cue.
They moved to pull Ichikawa and the little girl apart.
However, as the two soldiers approached, the little girl suddenly began kowtowing frantically in Ichikawa's direction.
“It's my fault! I'm truly sorry!”
She seemed to think this newly arrived pink-haired young lady was putting on a performance with Ichikawa.
It was always like this when nobles executed commoners; they always needed some petty excuse.
Although he had no idea what was going on, seeing the girl frantically kowtowing to him, Ichikawa rushed forward at extreme speed.
The two guards who had been about to restrain him didn't even have time to react, completely bewildered by how he had broken free.
By now, the girl's vision was starting to blur, but since the nobles in front of her hadn't told her to stop, she couldn't stop.
As long as she could make these nobles feel a bit better, she might be saved, right?
She couldn't be sure if they would actually let her go after she pleased them.
But at the very least, they would give her a quick death.
Thinking this, the girl raised her head once more and slammed it toward the ground.
But this time, her head struck something soft.
...
Ichikawa had placed his hand on the spot where she was about to strike, cushioning her forehead with his palm.
He felt a sharp pang of pain as his hand slammed against the ground.
It was clear that she was kowtowing with a great deal of force.
“You're hitting the ground pretty hard there.”
Taking this opportunity, Ichikawa transferred the rain-shielding barrier on his own body to the girl.
“Th-there's been a m-misunderstanding.”
Ichikawa withdrew his hand, which was now stained with a bit of blood.
This series of actions left the pink-haired girl standing nearby utterly perplexed.
Ichikawa had transferred his magic barrier to a commoner girl? This was definitely not something a noble would do.
“I-I'm not a noble.”
Ichikawa tried his best to explain to the people present. Though his speech was a bit stilted and his explanation sounded weak, at least he had managed to say it.
A small sense of accomplishment blossomed in his heart.
Looking at the girl whose forehead was still stained with blood, Ichikawa led her over to the noble young lady.
Since this lady was willing to step out of her luxurious carriage without even knowing the full story, she probably wasn't a bad person.
With that thought, Ichikawa took the girl's hand and brought her before the pink-haired lady.
“Hey, do not approach Lady Lillian.”
Seeing this drenched man approach with a filthy girl, the soldiers beside Lillian wore looks of disgust.
One of them drew his sword and held it directly against Ichikawa's neck.
Feeling the hand he was holding tremble, Ichikawa's expression grew dark as the heavy rain poured down.
He immediately began to channel magic in his hands. As a Hero, in addition to having incredibly generous stats, he also possessed the ability to learn rapidly.
In the few days since he arrived, Ichikawa had already completely mastered all the spells from the magic books Bishop Karl had sent him.
Right then, a fan slapped away the sword resting against Ichikawa's neck.
“Stop! Kidner, when did I ever give you permission to draw your sword?!”
The young lady named Lillian looked furious. It seemed the soldier's actions had highly displeased her.
“But...”
“Enough. No excuses. I hereby declare that you are no longer a soldier of the Enridel family.”
With a single sentence, Lillian sealed the guard's fate.
Hearing their lady's command, the other soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged the guard named Kidner away.
To prevent the young lady from hearing his shouts, they covered his mouth.
Quiet returned to the empty road.
“Now then, what do you want?”
Seeing the soldier being dragged away, Ichikawa continued to lead the girl closer to Lillian.
“Y-you... you can use h-healing magic. I felt it.”
“P-please heal her.”
Although the entire situation was a misunderstanding, neither of them had done anything wrong.
With such an injury in this kind of rainy weather, this girl wouldn't survive.
As a Hero, he couldn't let that happen.
“P-please help her. I'll pay you for using the m-magic.”
Seeing Lillian remain unmoved, Ichikawa reached into his storage space and pulled out the pouch of initial funding Bishop Karl had given him.
“Put your money away. You really are something.”
“Someone who can transfer an active barrier yet doesn't know how to use healing magic.”
Healing magic was practically the very first spell any noble would learn, if for no other reason than to protect their own fragile lives.
However, healing magic was highly guarded by the nobility. Even Bishop Karl hadn't been able to procure a book containing healing spells for Ichikawa.
When Ichikawa had asked him why there were no healing spells in the books, Bishop Karl had only worn a troubled expression.
Looking at Ichikawa, who was gently pushing the little girl toward her, Lillian's hands began to glow with a faint green light.
The wound on the girl's forehead, caused by her forceful kowtowing, slowly began to mend.
“Thank you very much!”
Seeing the wound on the girl's forehead vanish, Ichikawa bowed deeply to the young lady.
“Hmph. I only did it because I felt pity for the girl.”
“Now let her go home. What are you, a lolicon?”
Hearing Lillian's words, Ichikawa's face flushed bright red, and he immediately let go of the girl's hand.
After bowing to both of them, the girl ran off into the depths of the dilapidated residential area.
“T-then, I'll be off too.”
Seeing the girl leave, Ichikawa also turned to walk toward the city gates.
“Hey! Wait a minute!”
Lillian called out, stopping Ichikawa just as he was about to depart.
Rate on N.U.
