LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 27
“Hehehe….”
The next afternoon.
With a basket full of laundry, I headed towards the entrance of the Nun’s Building.
Normally, I would have moved mechanically, humming no tunes and emptying my mind.
But today was different.
I was in a very good mood.
Because the gift Iris had promised yesterday was completed this morning and delivered to me.
Contrary to my worries, Iris’s gift was quite ordinary.
“Hehe….”
A rough wooden cross necklace, carved by hand.
Honestly, it was so crude that it was hard to tell if it was a cross or just a piece of wood.
But the image of Iris handing it to me with her tiny hands kept popping into my mind, and I couldn’t stop smiling since then.
Anyway, I placed the basket right in front of the Nun’s Building entrance for easy access at night and naturally turned my steps towards the Church.
Although I was still wearing the saintly outfit Ellie had given me yesterday, as per Iris’s request, the wooden cross around my neck made me feel lighter.
“Bam—!!”
“Sister—!!”
As I returned to the Church and was cleaning inside, Ellie suddenly burst through the door and called out to me loudly.
“S-something terrible has happened…!! Aizen is acting strange…. Even Heal isn’t working….”
It seemed something quite serious had occurred. Ellie stuttered badly and started pulling on my sleeve relentlessly.
In the sudden situation, my mind went blank, and I stood there dumbfounded, mouth shut tight, as Ellie forcibly dragged me outside.
Before I knew it, I was at the steps in front of the Church entrance, and my eyes widened at the chaotic scene unfolding before me.
“Aizen—?!”
I threw the broom I was holding to the ground and hurriedly ran to the garden where Aizen was lying.
“Uwaa…. Aizen is acting weird….”
Iris was crying bitterly beside Aizen, who was lying there with a pale complexion, looking like he might ascend to heaven at any moment.
However, just looking at this, I couldn’t tell what had happened to Aizen, so I calmed myself down as much as possible and asked Ellie calmly.
“W-w-what exactly happened…?!”
“Aizen ate a plant from the garden…. He said it was edible….”
“What—?!”
Even hearing it right in front of me, it was hard to believe such a shocking story.
I didn’t know why Aizen had eaten a plant from the garden, but now that I knew the cause, the first priority was to take appropriate emergency measures.
────────────
【Aizen】- Messiah
[Race] Human
[Class] Knight
[Level] 10
[Passive Skill] Brave One
※ (Status Effect) Poison
────────────
After checking the status window, I quickly sat Aizen up, turned his back towards me, and wrapped my arms around his waist.
The only immediate measure I could think of was to make him vomit the poisonous plant he had eaten.
After firmly wrapping my arms around Aizen’s waist, I rhythmically pressed on his abdomen, controlling my strength as much as possible.
“Ugh…!!”
Soon, Aizen, feeling nauseous, started retching and eventually vomited the poisonous plant he had eaten, narrowly avoiding the worst-case scenario.
“Ellie, please heal Aizen quickly.”
“Yes, yes…!!”
Following that, I asked Ellie to heal him, quickly restoring Aizen’s completely exhausted state.
Ellie’s Heal isn’t a cure-all; it has no effect on status effects. It only works on health and wounds.
“Phew….”
Fortunately, Aizen hadn’t eaten the poisonous plant too long ago, so pressing on his abdomen managed to resolve the situation somehow.
But thinking ahead, it seems absolutely necessary to have a skill that can remove status effects.
Who would have thought he’d just pluck and eat a plant from the garden without a second thought….
────────────
【Aizen】- Messiah
[Race] Human
[Class] Knight
[Level] 10
[Passive Skill] Brave One
────────────
The status effect on Aizen’s status window had completely disappeared.
Although somewhat primitive, it seems it was a fairly appropriate measure.
“You can rest easy now. Take him to his room and let him rest, and he’ll recover soon.”
“T-thank goodness….”
Ellie, sitting down with a thud, slowly calmed her startled heart.
She must have been just as shocked as I was, but she calmly assessed the situation and called for me, which deserves praise.
“Why on earth did he eat a plant from the garden….”
As soon as the situation calmed down a bit, I carefully lifted Aizen, who was lying limp like a dried fish on the ground.
At that moment, Iris, who had been quietly wiping her tears beside me, suddenly grabbed my sleeve and spoke softly.
“But Sister…. Are you okay…?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You don’t like sunlight, right….”
“Sunlight?”
At first, I had no idea what Iris was talking about, but then I slowly felt a burning pain spreading throughout my body, and my eyes widened.
It just so happened that I had come out when the sun was at its highest, and the pain was indescribably intense.
“Ah—.”
.
.
.
That night.
“Levi! Everyone’s here!”
The children sitting side by side on the wooden bench inside the Church.
As expected, Aizen recovered his energy within a couple of hours and started moving around energetically as if nothing had happened.
“Alright, everyone, pay attention here.”
But I, having been exposed to sunlight for quite a while, had to lie in bed for almost half a day, unable to do anything.
“What’s that?”
“A book?”
“It’s a book.”
The book I was holding now was one of the many items I had bought from a peddler—a plant encyclopedia.
Today’s incident made me realize something clearly.
Even though the children I’m taking care of are destined to be heroes, they are still children who desperately need adult protection.
“Starting today, we’re going to have a study session on which plants are edible and which are not.”
For that reason, I thought it was essential to teach the children at least the basics of herbalism.
“Ugh…, studying…?”
“Herbalism?”
“Oh…. Sounds interesting.”
While Ellie and Iris seemed quite interested, Aizen immediately made a sour face at the mention of studying.
“What kind of disaster is this…. After dinner was always free time….”
“Stop grumbling. This is all because Aizen carelessly ate some random plant.”
“Ugh…. I remember hearing before that it was edible….”
The reason Aizen suddenly ate some grass was quite simple.
He was just feeling a bit hungry, looked around, and happened to find a plant he remembered from before, so he put it in his mouth without a second thought.
I only realized today how simple-minded and reckless Aizen could be.
“But Sister, what are we going to study with?”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. I thought of quite a few things while lying down for half the day.”
Answering Ellie’s question without hesitation, I immediately showed the children the various herbs I had prepared in advance.
“I’ll explain each of these herbs one by one.”
“Ugh, there are so many….”
“Wow…. When did you gather all these…?”
“I’ve never seen these before.”
The herbs I was holding now were all edible.
I had been concerned about only feeding the children meat, so for their health, I had studied and gathered these herbs myself.
“The herbs you’re looking at now are all in this book. They’re all edible for humans.”
“Huh? Did we start already…?”
“Pay attention, Aizen.”
The herbalism lesson proceeded step by step, showing the actual plants described in the book.
Having never properly taught anyone before, it felt awkward and clumsy.
But I maintained my composure and continued the lesson slowly.
The lesson wasn’t about imparting great techniques or knowledge; it was just reciting what was written in the book.
I thought of it as giving the children a chance to learn a little within the scope of what I knew.
“We’ll have a field practice later with what you’ve learned here. So don’t mess around and listen carefully.”
“Yes—!”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Aizen’s expression looked like he was spacing out.
It was obvious at a glance that he didn’t want to study.
“Aizen?”
“Uh, yeah….”
It felt like I was looking at my own school days.
I didn’t need to think deeply to understand what Aizen was thinking right now.
“Sigh…. I guess there’s no choice. I’ll give a very special opportunity to the person who performs well in the field practice—.”
The children’s eyes immediately focused on me at those words.
“A special opportunity?”
“What is it?”
“I’m curious.”
Looking at each child with a meaningful gaze, I slowly raised one corner of my mouth.
“Only one person. I’ll give them the special opportunity to go monster hunting with me.”
At such a bold proposal, the children looked at each other and held their breath for a moment.
They all seemed surprised by the unexpected opportunity.
“Monster hunting—?!!”
“With Sister…, together…?”
“Wow—.”
Aizen, who had been staring blankly into space with dead eyes just moments ago, suddenly perked up and his eyes sparkled brightly.
Ellie and Iris were the same.
They weren’t as visibly excited as Aizen, but I could vaguely tell they were quite expectant.
“Finally, we get to hunt monsters!! I’ve been waiting for this day—!!”
“Only one person. The second and third places will have the separate task of guarding the Church.”
“What do you take me for, Levi?! I know quite a bit about the wild, you know.”
“Oh, confident, are we? That’s good to see.”
“Ellie and Iris are no match for me—.”
Suddenly, Aizen was burning with enthusiasm.
Surprisingly, he seemed to have some knowledge about herbs, and his confident demeanor was quite impressive.
But even so—.
“With Sister…, together….”
“Sounds fun.”
Although not as loud as Aizen, Ellie and Iris were quietly exuding an overwhelming presence that couldn’t be ignored.
Soon, I started feeling an inexplicable unease, and my mood began to grow strange.
“…?”