The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Chapter 482
 

“I have some business at the castle, so you two keep training as you are.”
“Yes!”
I said this to Keela and Nack after arriving near the castle in the castle town of Llinger, aiming to arrange a meeting with Kazuki.

“Oh, Usato-san!”
“Hm? What is it?”
Just as I adjusted my grip on Bururin, preparing to walk away, Nack called out to me.

“Should we take Bururin with us?”
“I’m fine with that, but are you sure?”
“No worries. While you were away, we’ve been taking care of Bururin!”
“He’s such a well-behaved boy and listens to us really well!”

A well-behaved boy… Bururin?
I glanced over at Bururin, who was still sprawled out sleepily on my back. He yawned lazily in response.
Well, I mean, he is generally calm and didn’t cause any trouble while I was gone, so I guess I can leave him with Nack and Keela.

“Alright, then. I’ll leave Bururin to you. Hey, you! Stop lazing around and go for a run with Nack and Keela!”
“Grruaaa…”
Bururin grumbled as he slid off my back and, as if in protest, gave my leg a light smack before trudging over to stand beside Nack and Keela.

“Let’s go, Bururin!”
“Gruaa.”
“Usato-san, see you back at the dorm!”

I watched as Nack, Keela, and Bururin jogged off.
Once they were out of sight, I turned around and headed toward the castle.
As usual, I spoke to the gate guards and got permission to enter. After passing through the castle gates, I requested a message be delivered to Kazuki and waited for his response in the castle courtyard.

“Kazuki’s probably busy.”
Suzune-senpai became a Rescue Team member, but Kazuki’s been studying day and night to eventually succeed Lord Lloyd.
When I think about how he was just a regular high school student in our world a year ago, the whole situation feels surreal.

“…The days when we were still in the other world feel like they’re getting further and further away.”
It was a choice I made myself, and I don’t regret it.
But still… every now and then, I find myself thinking back on it.

…
…Hm?
“Wait, does that mean… one day, I might have to call Kazuki ‘Your Majesty’? Or maybe… ‘King Kazuki’?”
“Stop getting ahead of yourself. And please, don’t.”

Kazuki’s voice cut through my musings, and I exaggeratedly acted surprised.
“Kazuki?! Since when were you there?!”
“You definitely noticed me, didn’t you?”

“Haha.”
Kazuki glared at me, unimpressed. I laughed in response.
I had a feeling it was him when I saw the way he entered the courtyard.

Behind him, a few maidservants stood nearby, but Seria-sama wasn’t among them today.
“Sorry for barging in like this, Kazuki.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you came, actually.”

Raising one hand, I waved at Kazuki, who smiled warmly back at me.
Originally, I was just going to arrange a meeting, but since we could talk right now, that made things easier.
“Are you free to talk right now? If not, we can reschedule.”

“You don’t need to be so formal. Let’s talk here.”
Kazuki pointed toward the terrace where we usually talked with Seria-sama and Suzune-senpai.
We moved over there and sat facing each other.

Immediately, one of the maids approached and poured us tea.
“…”
“What’s up? You’re spacing out.”

“No, I was just thinking that it’s kind of rare for us to talk like this.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Usually, Seria or Suzune are with us.”
We’d talked plenty of times before, but sitting down like this for a chat… it felt like the first time.

“With everything going on, we’ve both got our own positions and responsibilities. It’s like we have to be more considerate of timing and such.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
I’m the vice-captain of the Rescue Team now.

And after declaring to Lord Lloyd that I’d bridge the gap between humans and demons, I’m carrying a title that I can’t just treat lightly.
“As for Suzune-senpai… well, she seems more like she’s been set free, doesn’t she?”
“Honestly, I’d say she was already free the moment we arrived in this world.”

“…You’re not wrong.”
Kazuki nodded seriously, a wry smile on his face.

Despite having the title of Hero, Suzune-senpai had been pretty much doing her own thing all along.

And even after that role was no longer required, she was now happily living her life as a Rescue Team member.
“To be honest, I don’t spend every waking hour studying either, you know?”
“Seriously?!”

Kazuki chuckled at my shock.
“Of course not. I’m still human, after all.”
“I just assumed you were studying nonstop because I spend all day training…”

“No, that’s just because you’re a freak in a very specific way.”
His tone sounded like a compliment, but the words themselves felt like a punch to the gut.
I had a feeling this conversation would end with me taking emotional damage, so I decided to change the topic.

“Oh, right! I forgot to mention it before, but during the Hero Selection Festival, I met another Light Magic user like you!”
“What?! Another Light Magic user besides me?!”
“Yeah. Her name’s Elisha, from the Kingdom of Neisha.”

For Kazuki, that must be pretty shocking.
Light Magic users are incredibly rare, after all.
I gave Kazuki a brief rundown of Elisha, and his eyes lit up with interest.

“So she has Light Magic, but it doesn’t have destructive power like mine… That’s fascinating.”
“She was actually troubled by not having destructive power. But in exchange, she could turn invisible. Her Light Magic worked differently than yours.”
“So she had the exact opposite problem as me… But turning invisible is amazing! What is it, like bending light or something?”

Elisha’s Light Magic felt unique in its own way.
Whether Kazuki could also make himself invisible using his Light Magic was unclear, but knowing him, he might just pull it off eventually.
“We also came up with some strategies that would work with her Light Magic. Creating light arrows, using it as a foothold—stuff like that.”

“Ohh… I might be able to do something similar.”
Kazuki raised his hand, and light gathered at his palm—forming a cross-shaped shuriken-like object.
“Oh, that’s cool.”

“For me, it’d probably be more effective to just launch it as is.”
“No, but you could also control it after throwing it, right? That’d make it even more useful.”
Kazuki’s control over Light Magic was impressive.

I’d seen him use it to create platforms and weapons, but the way he just casually shaped it now showed how much more skilled he’d become.
Still, the thought of Kazuki becoming ‘King Kazuki’ was so surreal that I had to shake the image out of my head.
“Rather, by throwing it and accelerating it, it might actually be more effective in certain situations, don’t you think?”

Unlike my healing magic bullets, Kazuki’s doesn’t require precise aiming when he throws it, which is a significant advantage.
“How would you use it, Usato?”
“Me? Hmm…”

I looked at the shuriken-shaped light magic in Kazuki’s hand as I considered it.
Kazuki could manipulate the mana to grant it elasticity, and it was durable enough for him to even ride on it if he wanted.
“How about making it larger and using it as a shield? You could probably do that, right, Kazuki?”
“…”

“Kazuki?”
“O-Oh.”
Kazuki’s eyes widened in slight surprise as he tossed the shuriken into the air and made it expand.
Now, it was a cross-shaped shield large enough to cover a person, hovering in midair.

“Depending on the situation, you could also intentionally trigger the erasure effect of your light magic to neutralize incoming attacks. And once it’s served its purpose as a shield, you could throw it at the opponent as a counterattack. Oh, and if you could create multiple of them, you could use them to protect people around you… maybe…”
“…”
“…Kazuki, are you… maybe… a little creeped out?”

“Yeah.”
But you’re the one who asked me in the first place!
Seeing Kazuki visibly recoil in shock, I felt a little disheartened. He quickly apologized, scratching his head with a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, sorry! I ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) just didn’t expect you to come up with that kind of use. I’ve always thought of my erasure effect as a dangerous power that I needed to keep in check. But… using it as a shield to protect people… I never thought of that.”

“I just thought of it on the spot, so you don’t need to take it that seriously…”
But honestly, considering Kazuki’s personality, that approach might suit him better.
“You know, before we fought the Demon King, there was that incident at the ruins where Kannagi messed with your magic and temporarily turned it into light magic… Thinking about it now, you actually handled that pretty well.”

“That was also influenced by the Evil Dragon, and besides, I’m terrible at controlling mana bullets anyway, so it didn’t matter.”
“If it’s you, Usato, you’d probably just light up your entire body with light magic and charge straight at the enemy.”
What the hell does Kazuki think I am…?
I forced a strained smile as Kazuki chuckled and dismissed the cross-shaped shield, redirecting his gaze toward me.

“By the way, how’s the Rescue Team doing? You only just got back here three days ago, right?”
“Today was the first day we could resume training. This morning, I sparred with Captain Rose and Nagi-san and got absolutely pummeled.”
“Haha, as always. …Wait, isn’t that kind of insane?”

Since Kazuki had trained under Nagi-san before, he looked a little taken aback.
Now that the conversation had shifted to training, it was time to get to the real reason I came to see Kazuki today.
“So, the reason I came to see you today, Kazuki…”

“Hm?”
I explained to Kazuki about the training I was planning to do.
To master the art of feinting and deceiving an opponent’s senses, I needed practical experience in combat.

And that’s why I wanted Kazuki to join me in this training.
“—That’s the gist of it.”

“Sure, I’m up for it. Sounds interesting.”
Wait, that was unexpectedly positive!?
Surprised by his reaction, I looked at Kazuki, who was grinning eagerly.
“I was reaching my limit with self-training, so getting to spar with you will be a nice change of pace.”

“Come to think of it, Senpai also mentioned she wasn’t getting enough proper training…”
That was one of the reasons she decided to join the Rescue Team, as I recall.
Not that the knights in the castle were lacking in skill, but with Kazuki’s magic, there were only so many people who could handle him at full power.
In other words, there weren’t many who could go all out against him.
“Want to try a little bit right now?”

“I’m fine with that, but—”
“I told you, right? I’m not studying all day.”
Encouraged by Kazuki’s enthusiasm, I stood up with a wry smile, and we moved to the training grounds within the castle, not far from the terrace.

Once we arrived, Kazuki and I faced each other and began some light stretching.
“So, Usato, is there anything specific you want to focus on? You’re always training your body, but…”
Kazuki rested a wooden sword on his shoulder and looked at me.
I crossed my arms, thinking.
If I were to say what I wanted to work on today, it’d be practical combat experience.
But aside from that…

“To be honest, I really want to improve my mana bullet control. But I’m pretty awful at it.”
Even if I can bend it once, that’s about it.
There’s still room for improvement, but watching Kazuki handle his mana bullets so effortlessly made me a little envious.
“Hmm. It’s not that you lack talent, Usato. It’s more like you have clear strengths and weaknesses.”

“Strengths and weaknesses…?”
Kazuki raised a mana bullet in his palm and made it float, tracing a circle through the air.
He controlled it like a satellite orbiting around him before bringing his gaze back to me.
“If I excel at manipulating mana outside my body, then you, Usato, are better at manipulating it internally.”

“I’ve heard something similar from Nea before.”
“Your mana circulation technique is essentially the same as manipulating mana bullets inside your body, right?”
“…Now that you mention it.”

If I look at it that way, it makes perfect sense.
I’d been unconsciously thinking of them as two separate things.
Mana circulation and mana bullets… they’re essentially the same.
Alright then.
“Kazuki, can you set up some mana bullets around me?”
“Hm? Sure.”

Kazuki created several mana bullets with his light magic, positioning them around me.
I confirmed that they were harmless, with elasticity granted by Kazuki’s magic.
Then, I activated Healing Sense.
“…Haa…”
Through Healing Sense, I became aware of the mana bullets surrounding me.
One of them slowly approached, nearing my forearm.
The moment it was about to make contact—
I channeled the elasticity-infused mana to coat the area of my forearm, deflecting the incoming mana bullet.

“…So, making my defense with elasticity-infused mana smoother, huh?”
The concept was to use the elasticity-infused mana like a reflexive defense mechanism… Essentially, an advanced application of mana circulation.
Up until now, I’d been using elasticity-infused mana to block attacks or absorb impacts from the ground.
If I could refine it further—react faster, with less conscious effort and at a more localized level—
Then, maybe I could handle those gut-punching blows Rose landed on me this morning.

“It seems you’ve come up with something interesting.”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“What do you want me to do? I’ll help.”

—I really am blessed with good friends.
Feeling genuinely grateful, I proceeded to explain the training method I had just thought of to Kazuki.
“Alright, Kazuki. I’m not going to move, so I want you to hit me with the mana bullets you’ve placed around me.”

“They’re going to hit you. Are you sure?”
“I’ll only defend with pinpoint elasticity-infused mana at the points of impact. Once I get used to it, I’ll start moving. And once I get even more used to it, I’ll have you fire mana bullets directly at me.”
Kazuki’s expression became a bit complicated.

“Feels kinda weird to be throwing mana bullets at a defenseless friend…”
“It’s fine, Kazuki. I’m used to it.”
“Saying that with such a bright smile just makes it feel even more messed up… Well, if you say so, I’ll do it!”

Kazuki clapped his hands together and spread his arms wide, generating multiple mana bullets.
They hovered around me like a starry sky.
I closed my eyes, focusing solely on Healing Sense to heighten my awareness of every mana bullet’s position.
“Here we go, Usato!!”

“Bring it on!!”
With Kazuki’s help, the training to perfect my defense technique began.
Since he was willing to assist, I absolutely had to nail this.