Having failed to catch the sea monster, Rest returned to the village.
On the way, he used magic to tow the undamaged fishing boats ashore.
"Rest, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. What about the fishermen who were drowning?"
"We just finished treating them. No one's life is in danger."
On the beach, the fishermen were sharing the joy of survival with their families and companions.
"Ah, thank you... My lord. Thanks to you, everyone in the village is safe..."
An elderly man who appeared to be the village chief came up to Rest and bowed deeply.
"We will absolutely repay this kindness... Thank you so very much!"
"No... don't worry about it — ah, don't worry about it."
He caught himself about to slip into polite speech and corrected his tone.
Even though they were older, he was still a noble. Using overly formal speech would only make them more uncomfortable.
"More importantly... shouldn't we treat the wounded?"
While no one had drowned, there were people who had been injured — thrown against their boats and the like.
The sooner they received treatment, the better.
"Well... we'd like to, but our village has no healers or apothecaries... and we don't have the money to ask for help from another town..."
"Ah... is that so?"
"We do buy medicine from itinerant merchants when we can... but we've already used it all treating the wounded from before..."
That was probably how it was for ordinary farming and fishing villages.
It wasn't uncommon for villages to have no one who could use healing magic or who had knowledge of medicine.
"I can't just leave this. Let me handle the treatment."
"Are you sure, Rest?"
"Yeah — we've already started down this path."
Celestine came to confirm, and he gave her a nod in reply.
Normally, treatment using healing magic comes with a corresponding fee.
It was specialized skill, so it wasn't something you could just give away cheaply.
"If I abandoned them here, it would make it hard to stay in this village going forward... I'll follow Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's example."
The queen dowager... Shoko had also supported this village in various ways.
As a fellow countryman, Rest decided he would do his best.
"That's why — let me see the wounded."
"Ah, thank you! Thank you so much!"
The village chief bowed his head over and over again, thoroughly humbled.
Rest shrugged and went to where the wounded were lying on the sandy beach.
The one lying closest was an elderly, sun-darkened man. Blood was flowing from his injured leg.
"[Heal]"
When Rest cast healing magic, light enveloped the fisherman.
When the light faded, the wound on his leg was gone.
"It-It's healed!"
"Amazing! The lord is a magician!"
Seeing Rest's magic, the villagers all cried out in admiration.
"How fortunate, how fortunate..."
"To think we'd meet a magician before dying... What a blessing..."
Some of the villagers even pressed their hands together in prayer.
They treated him as though he were a Buddha himself. Being thanked this profusely, the discomfort outweighed any happiness.
"Better hurry up with the treatment and get back to the inn..."
Unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, Rest worked through the treatments at speed.
Rest was by no means particularly skilled at healing magic.
However, thanks to his infinite mana, he could compensate entirely, and it was no burden at all.
"Um, um... young lord..."
"Hm...?"
As he was treating the wounded one after another, someone tugged at the hem of his coat.
When he turned around, it was the young girl who had first asked him to slay the monsters.
"My father too... he's at home, lying down. He's injured..."
"Ah... understood."
It really was already halfway done. Rest shrugged and agreed.
"I'll go treat him at your home too. Lead the way later, will you?"
"Yay!"
"I'm sorry, my lord! I'm so sorry for my daughter's rudeness!"
While the girl beamed with joy in a bright, happy voice, her mother turned pale and apologized over and over again.