I’m Not a Saint, Not a Priest, Just a Healer

The nameless village had been quietly situated at the foot of the mountain for hundreds of years.
It had been over 20 years since the orc couple, James and Miralen, settled in this village.
Before they were even married, when they were still active as adventurers, they settled down here, got married, had children—
During those 20 years, the couple had absolutely no complaints about the village.
A river flowed not far away, and the mountains surrounding them like a folding screen provided abundant game as a natural blessing.
Thanks to this, the population of about 130 people living in this village had been living peaceful days without any problems in making a living, and with nothing particularly to complain about.
“But you know. It seems like it’s been about half a year now.”
While Miralen went into the room to put the children to bed, James, Kairoc, Yona, and Alec gathered around the table, each holding a glass of fruit wine.
“A bear appeared, a bear.”
“A bear? Aren’t bears normally… hmm, it wasn’t an ordinary bear, I guess.”
Kairoc stopped mid-sentence and stroked his chin.
James wouldn’t be saying this without reason.
Although not as much as Kairoc, James and Miralen were also bronze-rank adventurers, so they wouldn’t be troubled by a mere bear.
“It was an all-black bear, a completely black bear. And its size seemed to be twice mine.”
James, an orc with a massive build almost equal to the already large Kairoc.
A bear twice his size would be hard to consider as a bear that normally appears in this area.
“A black bear. And very large…”
Kairoc sipped his fruit wine and fell into thought.
But Yona was startled by the “black” part.
For some reason, it seemed to ring a bell.
Of course, the timing was quite off, but still.
“That bear appeared here. Naturally, the whole village was turned upside down. The vigilante group all rushed out, and everyone in the village who could fight came running.”
“And then?”
The vigilante group of a hunting village would be comparable to a decent private army.
Their arrow sharpness and firing precision are truly excellent.
“More than half of them died.”
“What?”
Not just Kairoc, but Alec and Yona too opened their eyes wide.
More than half of the vigilante group died, and to a single bear at that.
No matter how big it is, a bear is still a bear.
It was truly surprising that more than half of the vigilante group of this hunting village, who capture all sorts of beasts like bears, tigers, and wolves for a living, had died.
“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. And that bear disappeared after that… and, since then… May I smoke?”
James took out a cigarette case from his pocket.
James took out what was clearly a hand-rolled cigarette, not one sold commercially, and when Yona nodded, he silently licked the side of the cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He struck the flint attached to the corner of the table to light the cigarette, and pale smoke rose.
The cigarette smoke rose aimlessly between the candles hanging from the ceiling, scattering and disappearing in strands.
James, who had been looking up at that smoke, finally opened his mouth after a while.
“…Black beasts started appearing. Black beasts. Wild boars, which used to have brown fur with black stripes, now have pitch-black fur with no trace of brown, and deer, which used to have brown fur with black spots, now walk around covered in black fur. They’re also hard to kill.”
The orange light from the cigarette flared brightly between his inhales with a “whoo—”.
“Even if we kill them, we can’t eat the meat. It all smells rotten. The hides, when skinned, melt and disappear into a slimy mess.”
“…They disappear, you say?”
Yona, who had been listening silently, unknowingly asked James in a loud voice.
Not expecting such a reaction from her, James looked at Yona with a slightly surprised expression.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s understandable to be surprised. It’s a strange thing for hides to disappear, after all.”
“No… it’s not just that, um, Kairoc.”
“Hmm. You’re talking about that goat head, right?”
“Yeah.”
Kairoc nodded, looking at Yona.
The giant goat-headed monster that the first subjugation team encountered on the second floor of the catacomb.
It was certain that they had killed that monster, but when the second subjugation team entered, the corpse had disappeared.
It was too short a time for the corpse to have decomposed and disappeared.
“Do you have any ideas, Kairoc?”
“Rather than ideas… more importantly, have you tried requesting help from the adventurers’ guild?”
“Of course I have. I’m an ex-adventurer myself.”
“And?”
James tapped the ash off his cigarette into the ashtray.
Although it was only half burned, the cigarette still glowed orange, proudly showing its life, and scattering the smoke of its burning life.
“They couldn’t find the cause. In my opinion, that bear seems to be the problem. I think that bear is the root cause of all this. All this happened after that bear appeared. We just wasted the request fee.”
Yona learned for the first time that orcs could make such expressions.
It was already surprising that humans and orcs, goblins, and other races classified as magical beasts were living mixed together, but she was surprised once again by the fact that this orc named James could make such a sorrowful expression.
“So that’s why you were glad to see me.”
“To be honest, yes.”
“Then the next words are obvious. Go ahead and say it, James.”
Kairoc twisted his mouth slightly.
It must be a smile.
James stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
There was still some left, but he stubbed it out in one go as if he didn’t care about such things.
“…Help us, Kairoc. Help our village.”
“I see. But the leader of our party is that lady over there. So, what do you think? Yona, your decision is needed.”
Kairoc’s eyes rolled towards Yona.
‘Huh, me? Me?’
Yona turned to look at Alec, quite taken aback.
It was surprising enough that she was the leader of this party, but she didn’t expect to be asked for permission like this.
She had been thinking inwardly that Kairoc was leading this party.
“Yona, do what you want to do.”
“Oh, w-well then…”
There are some things she wants to find out too.
The disappearing corpses, and the “black” things are quite concerning.
“…L-Let’s do it. I’m not sure if we can do it, but.”
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks…”
Yona scratched her cheek, feeling a bit awkward as James bowed his head deeply.
She hadn’t expected James, who seemed old enough to be her uncle, to go this far for her, so it was burdensome.
*
The next morning, Alec went out alone to look around the area.
Yona had wanted to come along, but since he wasn’t keen on having Yona walk around with her feet in poor condition, Alec left her behind and went out alone.
As if to prove that more than half of the vigilante group had indeed died, there were indeed very few young men visible in the village.
Children were still laughing and running around playing here and there, but young men were hardly seen.
Most were elderly people and women.
“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”
At times like this, a general store is the best place.
A tavern would be ideal, but they said taverns weren’t operating now, so the place where people come and go the most would be the general store.
“Who’re you?”
An old man with his back half-bent was sitting in a chair, but as he tried to stand up seeing Alec enter the store, Alec waved his hand.
“Um, I’m a guest at James’ place down there. I’d like to ask something.”
The old man, whose eyes seemed dazzled as Alec entered with his back to the sunlight, covered his face with his hand as a sun visor, then finally opened his eyes with a frown to look at Alec.
“James? Ah, that orc fellow… Well, what do you want to ask?”
“It’s about the bear.”
“The bear…”
As soon as he heard about the bear, the old man’s face was filled with anger.
Perhaps this old man’s son was also part of the vigilante group and met his demise because of the bear, or something like that.
“The bear, that damned bear…”
“Yes, that bear.”
“I told them so many times not to touch it, but those fools ended up doing it anyway…”
“Pardon?”
This was something he hadn’t heard before.
Alec quickly reached out and grabbed anything within reach to offer to the old man.
“This, I’ll buy this. How much is it?”
“10 copper.”
It’s more expensive than he thought.
Alec only then looked closely at what he had picked up.
It was probably a hunting dagger about the length of Yona’s hand span.
Ah. Well, that’s fine.
‘I’ll give this to Yona since I bought it. She can use it for self-defense at least. She can use weapons with her left hand.’
After paying 10 copper, Alec sat down in the chair opposite the old man.
“Could you tell me more about what you just said?”
As is often the case in deep mountains, there are usually sacred trees or sacred rocks passed down for generations.
This village was no exception, and there was said to be a giant tree called a sacred tree somewhere deep in the mountains.
Half a year ago, even before the black bear appeared.
It was a night of heavy rain with thunder and lightning.
Lightning flashed repeatedly in all directions, and thunder roared, shaking the world.
At that time, the sacred tree that the village carefully enshrined was struck by lightning, and as a result, it was split into several pieces.
However, even if that happens to a sacred tree, it should not be touched and should be left alone until new flesh grows naturally, but the people of this village said that the sacred tree being struck by lightning was an ill omen, so it should be cut down and a new sacred tree planted.
The old man said he had pleaded so much that the sacred tree should not be cut down, that it absolutely should not be done.
But as if already possessed by something, people eventually took axes to the sacred tree, and after they had taken axes to it, they couldn’t even chop it a few times before heavy rain started falling again.
“So you couldn’t plant a new one?”
“That’s right. The sacred tree is something that shouldn’t be touched carelessly. Not just touched, they even took axes to it… It’s the wrath of the sacred tree. That bear is the messenger of the sacred tree. It’s karma, karma. This village will now wither and die.”
“Come on, surely not…”
“Ah, you’re going to say the same thing too!”
Alec quickly left the general store before sparks could fly from the old man.
He needed to confirm with James if this story was true, and if it was true, he felt like he had pinpointed where to start checking.
When he returned, what Alec saw was James’ third son playing, deeply buried between Yona’s breasts.
For some reason, it made him feel very unpleasant.