Chapter 7 – The shape of soul

Doushi first placed the first crystal in front of Shou,
(T/N : I change name “monk” into “Doushi” as better word to describe it)

“Now, pour your magic into this. It's alright to use a little bit”

he said. Should I use at the amount use on the toilet? Oh! The greenery light was dimly lit.

“Hmm. You have aptitude, then”

Goddess do proper on her word! Shou ranted in her mind about what she had suspected. Falco had a complicated look on his face, both happy and not so happy.

“Next, this”

Similar crystal ball. Oh! It lit up to a soft cream color.

“Enough Magic Power. No aptitude biases. With training, you could be a mage”

I don't want to be that. Shou shook her head from side to side.

“Shou, if you want to become a mage, many choose to go to Lake and study at the school. If you want to be a healer, you should study here in the Deep Forest. You just finished the trial ceremony. You can take your time deciding”
“You can be a hunter, too”

Falco said, interrupting the Doushi who was explaining the path to Shou.

“Falco”
“She has the freedom to choose, Doushi”
“Well, Falco is right. Not only healers and hunters, but also merchants and those who do the paperwork. But if a person has an aptitude for healing, they can be called to heal even if they're doing other work. She has to be trained for it. But even if she do training, you won't be coming to town until spring. Falco, why don't you just leave Shou with me for a week or so?”
“No. It's only been a week since I picked her up. Shou's feeling is not calm down yet”

Doushi looked slowly at the tidy hut.

“Seems like she's calmed down enough. Falco, it's rather you that is unsettling, isn’t it?”
“No, it's not!”

I wonder if Falco isn't good with Doushi. He's been getting pushed around by the imam Doushi for a while now. Shou called out to Doushi.

“Doushi, Sein-sama”
“Oh, nice, you can call me Sein-sama”

Doushi softened the stern look he was giving Falco and turned to Shou.

“Sein-sama. I wonder if the training has to start early”
“It isn't like that. The ones without parents often train early in church, but usually at about age 12”
“Then, I am fine to start in the spring”
“Fumu”
“Shou......”
“After all, I have to take care of Falco”

“Kuh, hahaha!”
“Leon!”
“Because, Falco, you...”
“I am! I don't care what it takes, as long as Shou is here”
“It can't be helped, do what you want with it, Shou”

Doushi said gently.

“So, let's learn the basics of healing”
“Right now?”
“I told you about the soul. The soul and the body are inseparable. A wound in the body is a wound in the soul. If you reshape a soul, the body will heal itself”

I guess that means energy.

“Yes, healing is the act of using magic power to replenish the soul's energy from the goddess that was missing from the injury”

So basically, the fuel tank is the goddess and the power of healing is the pipe that connects that tank to the soul.

“Now, take my hand and see what a soul looks like”

Doushi took Shou's hand and lightly shed his magic power. Magic power passed between them. When it comes to the shape of a soul, in Japan, it's a human soul, and the image is round. But here, in other words, it's the form of the body. It is as if it overlaps the body. There was no lack of soul in Doushi's soul, and it shined beautifully.

“Yeah, Shou's magic is warm”
“Sein-sama's soul is beautiful”
“Thank you. Now, next time you hold Falco's hand, see where the energy is lacking”
“Yes”
“No, I'm not injured”
“If you haven't, you shouldn't be bothered”

When I took Falco's hand, which he didn't like, I was a little happy. The magic flowed. A hot, bright soul. But,

“Falco, left shoulder...”
“No, it's nothing”

Squeezing Falco's hand to stay it, Shou looked at Doushi as he tried to pull his hand away.

“We have to make it back to the way it was”
“Yes”

I'm going to add energy to get back to a clean form. I'm going to pull it from that goddess. Yeah, I can do that.

“It's warm... that”

Falco moved his shoulders.

“It's cured......”
“That's healing, Shou”
“I think I know what it is”
“You didn't get tired, did you?”
“Yeah, I'm fine”
“Okay, then”

Doushi looked at Leon.

“Leon”
“I have no choice”

Leon got up from his chair.

“Shou, you know Leon's one leg doesn't work very well”
“...... yes”
“I'm sorry for Leon, but I'm going to make sure Shou knows the harsh reality”

Doushi looked at Shou with a stern face.

“Healing magic is not omnipotent. Leon was a hunter, but he was injured and took too long to heal, so he couldn't heal completely”
“But”
“Over time, the soul soon forgets the form of the missing body. It is not possible to bring it back”
“...... yes”
“Look at Leon's energy and see how it's lacking”
“Here, Shou”
“Leon......”
“I'm used to it. It's for everyone else's sake, here”

I connect with Leon's hands, laughing a little sadly, and see the energy of his soul. Left, the glow at the ankle is missing.

“I had some potions, but they weren't enough for the amount of injuries I had. It took more than two days for help to arrive, and this still got the outer shape healed properly”

That would have been painful. But, Shou thought. If he forgot the shape of his body, I could copy the memory of his right leg, flip it over and stick it on....

“Leon, can I try to heal you?”
“Sure, it can't get any worse”
“Yup”

Copy and flip. With this, I try to connect it to soul with energy to see if I can replenish my soul energy along this form, hopefully!

“Shou, it's warm, your healing magic”
“How is it?”
“I feel like I'm in good shape, hey!”

Shou was stunned and lost her strength. Ah, this is similar to running out of energy on a mountain hike. The time when I got tired and didn't eat much and kept walking and got stuck.

“Out of magic. Suddenly you're reckless. But it's a good thing it's happening in place people are here. Eat some bread, and it'll be back in a moment”

Doushi instructed the panicked Falco.

He soaked the bread in tea and I took a bite, and after a while the dullness went away.

“The rest is experience. Fortunately, though, Falco is a hunter and tends to be reckless. You should see him every day, and if he's hurt, you can fix him up. That's enough to keep you going until you come to town”

Doushi spoke, and then he left with Leon, looking like he was leaving behind. He didn't forget to pick me up and say goodbye. Enough, so.


“Doushi, good for you. The kids in town are too scared to let you hold them”
“So does Leon”
“Wawa. I'm sure Falco doesn't want us to hug Shou, but he's afraid that Shou will find out, so he keeps his mouth shut”
“She was like a different person. Good influence”

It didn't seem to be standard.

“I was skeptical when Shou said she wanted to pursue a healing career, but I'm glad she had the aptitude”
“That's right Leon. In the Deep Forest, there's not enough healers to go around, no matter how many healers there are, so I'm grateful for that. But”

The two men were talking to each other as they sat side by side in the carriage's driver's seat.

“But, I mean, what's the problem besides being cute? Sure, she's certainly mature for a 10-year-old, and her identity is questionable, but a person herself is a very nice girl”
“I'm curious about that, too, but it's not. Leon, get down from the carriage for a moment”
“Yes?”
“Try to come down”
“Hmm? Yes, I'll go down. Doushi, is there any wrong?”
“It’s about leg”
“Leg? Ah”

Leon tried lightly jump on the spot. He also tried to apply some force to his left leg.

“It's moving just fine... it's restored... because of Shou!?”
“You finally noticed. Neither Shaw nor Falco, and even you didn't notice, so I kept quiet about it, but Shou's healing is seem to be unusual”

Doushi said, as if troubled.

“But now I can be a hunter again! There's a lot of guys who want to be hunter again!”
“See, that's what I worry”
“Doushi! Shou is our hope!”
“That's why she got hunted, isn't it?”
“……Ah……”
“Once this is known, everyone will want Shou. And do you want to get Shou involved in this?”
“No, that's... I'm sorry.”
“Let's just say your leg was slowly healing, too. You should disguise yourself until spring, and then return to being a hunter in the spring. You haven't lacked training, have you?”
“Yes.I, I wanted to be a hunter someday, someday. Even if it wasn't on the front lines”
“It's all about you. You couldn't have returned as a hunter someday if she didn't. For now, we can simply thank the goddess for giving us Shou”
“Yes. Doushi, yes......”

Goddess had unintentionally gained an even deeper faith.

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