I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 207

207

Having finished his meeting with the Lich, Seonghyun met Padron the very next day.

‘So, you caught him, Boss?’

‘I just took advantage of an opening.’

‘Don’t think I’m going to thank you for that.’

It was hard to tell if it had been a long time or the first time, but Padron, being quite the tsundere [a character archetype who is initially cold but gradually warms up], and Seonghyun exchanged smiles and had a conversation.

Although he hadn’t yet made Padron a subject of faith, he was able to gain quite a lot by participating in the subjugation of the Grade 1 Gate this time.

Namely, the Lich had become a subject of faith, and his relationship with Padron had developed from mere cooperation to mutual trust.

And that wasn’t all.

By entrusting the American Association with minor support tasks, the things Seonghyun had to worry about were significantly reduced.

“And I unlocked an ability too.”

Seonghyun wore a satisfied smile, pleased with the results that far exceeded a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario.

Having completed all his business in the United States, Seonghyun used his ability again before returning to Korea.

There were still many things he needed to experiment with.

“If I were to summon a summon with the Lich’s power…”

The mere thought of it made his heart race.

If a summon with the Lich’s power could command its own legion and use the abilities the Lich had used, Seonghyun’s power would grow beyond imagination.

“Judging by the fact that the spear didn’t appear separately, it seems there’s no standard for the strength of a subject of faith.”

Most important of all.

Seonghyun had grown stronger each time a subject of faith was added, and the spear had always presented him with trials of the appropriate level.

Based on the results so far, it seemed that the standard was focused solely on Seonghyun’s own strength.

In other words, only the number of subjects of faith mattered, and the strength of those subjects of faith was not a factor.

“Quality over quantity, I suppose.”

There was still much he didn’t know, but with this much information, he could at least get a rough idea of when the spear would give him a quest.

“Anyway, now that I don’t have to worry about that side, I just need to manage the Pilgrim well, right?”

He could only hope that Tuluah had handled things well while he was focusing all his attention on subjugating the Grade 1 Gate.

“Let’s take a break today.”

He hadn’t spent time with his family lately, and although he could predict when the spear would give him a quest, one never knew what might happen.

Regardless of how strong they were as Hunters, they were always risking their lives.

Seonghyun returned from the United States and went straight home without stopping anywhere else.

“Son, you’re home?”

“You’re home?”

The first voice he heard was his mother’s.

It was a voice he heard every time he came home, but as Seonghyun himself gained power at a level that was gradually deviating from humanity, he felt a growing sense of alienation.

In this situation, his mother, who always looked at Seonghyun as he was, without change, was the only person he could rely on.

Literally, home.

A place he could always return to, no matter what happened.

“Is something wrong? You don’t look good.”

“No, I’m just a little tired.”

“Have you eaten? You need to eat well even when you’re resting.”

“Now that you mention it, I am a little hungry.”

“I’ll get something ready for you soon, so go wash up.”

His mother certainly knew.

Why Seonghyun had gone to the United States, and what he had done there.

But as always, she didn’t ask.

His mother knew better than anyone that asking wasn’t her job.

All she had to do was listen.

Because he would already be tired of being asked those questions.

“Are you resting at home today?”

“Yes, I’m going to get some rest.”

Wiping his half-dried hair with a towel, Seonghyun sat down without drying his hair completely, drawn in by the fragrant aroma of home-cooked food.

“You put some effort into this, didn’t you?”

“Are you saying it’s usually not good?”

“Haha, of course not. I guess it’s because it’s been a while. Where is she? At the gym?”

“Yes. She doesn’t study and just goes to the gym every day…”

His mother glared at Seonghyun, the cause of all this.

Seonghyun also felt the gaze but pretended not to notice and focused on his spoon.

“Well, she was always good at studying anyway…”

“That’s why I’m more worried. She studies less than others but gets better grades. It’s easy to become complacent.”

“She probably knows that best. That’s the kind of kid she is.”

“Yeah. If I don’t trust my son and daughter, who will?”

His mother’s voice was warm, but the feeling on his back was a little hot.

“You’re so happy because your brother is doing well.”

“Haha…”

“Tell me if you need more. I made a lot.”

“Yes, I will.”

Sitting in front of the TV in the middle of the day, eating home-cooked food that warmed his heart, he felt healed without going anywhere special or doing anything special.

“What’s interesting these days?”

It had been a while since Seonghyun had watched TV, so he didn’t know what was fun or trending, so he turned on the TV for the first time in a while.

The only mass media Seonghyun had been exposed to was almost entirely the press, so everything except the news was interesting.

“Hehe, they’re doing that there?”

Not quite bursting into laughter, but shows that made him smile and chuckle.

“It’s already over?”

Seonghyun, who had been watching the show without realizing how much time had passed, wondered what other interesting things were left and began to change channels.

‘Hello, viewers…’

‘Today’s guest is…’

While flipping through various channels, looking for the one that caught his interest the most.

[Breaking news. In the African region…]

“Huh? What was that just now?”

A news channel.

He thought there was nothing to see and immediately switched to the next channel, but the breaking news was piquing Seonghyun’s interest.

To be precise, it was stirring up Seonghyun’s anxiety.

The channel that had flashed by showed a map with something marked in red dots.

And that region was where Seonghyun had been active as a Pilgrim.

“Why is that place on the news…”

He hurriedly switched back to the channel he had been on and confirmed that he had not misseen it.

[The place that drew attention due to the emergence of another healing ability user. An unexpected incident has occurred in a place where the power of Hunters is least effective.]

“Not an accident, but an incident?”

That meant it was caused by someone.

And the following content proved that Seonghyun’s predictions were correct.

[The red dots on the map you see on the screen are the locations where the damage from this incident occurred, and governments of various countries have begun investigations to uncover the perpetrators.]

The map on the screen was marked with red dots in every single location.

From the place where Seonghyun first worked as a Pilgrim, where he first met Katman, to the next place, and the next.

And even other places he had planned to work.

[The scene was literally hell. It is speculated that the sudden outbreak of Gates caused great damage, as traces of Gates were found. And…]

Seonghyun finished the rest of his meal without saying a word.

“You’re finally done eating? What made you so focused on TV?”

“The content was interesting. I enjoyed the meal.”

As soon as he brought the dishes to the kitchen and returned to his room, he received a call from the Association.

“Hunter! Have you heard?”

“…Yes. What happened?”

“We are also investigating. However, we haven’t had the time to pay attention to those remote areas… It seems that public attention has been focused on the historic event of the Grade 1 Gate subjugation.”

“I understand. If you find out anything, please contact me.”

“Of course.”

——————————————–

“Envy. Let’s try to do things a little more in advance next time. What is this every time?”

Envy responded with a smile to the grumbling of the man in the black hood.

“Then they would notice. Isn’t it because their attention is diverted that we can operate so freely?”

“Well, that’s true… But I’m so busy! Who is doing this much work all at once?”

“Let’s get our facts straight. I did all the preparation, didn’t I?”

“Ahem… I just meant the tempo is fast!”

The man grumbled non-stop, but Envy didn’t say anything in particular.

Even though he said this, he was the one who handled things the fastest and most accurately.

“S, save me…”

“What?”

“Save…”

A man kneeling and begging for his life.

The man’s identity was none other than Tuluah.

The man in the black hood looked at Envy and asked at Tuluah’s words to save him.

“He’s a Hunter, what should we do?”

“You’re not suggesting we try to recruit him, are you?”

“Are you crazy? Why would we accept such a moron? I’m only talking about this because he’s related to the Pilgrim. If he has similar abilities to Kim Seonghyun, wouldn’t it be good for us to recruit him?”

At the man’s words, Envy sighed and said.

“I highly doubt he’ll join us. Not after we’ve made him look like this.”

“Well… Isn’t that right? I was just saying.”

The man gave a sheepish smile and swung his arm.

Without even looking at Tuluah.

“What are you doing!!”

Envy was furious at the sight and questioned the man.

He had slit his throat without any warning.

“Why, what’s wrong? Was he useful?”

The man asked in embarrassment at Envy’s furious appearance, who didn’t express his emotions well.

“Blood splattered!”

At Envy’s words, the man apologized with an expression as if he had done something terribly wrong.

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

The conversation didn’t match the act of taking a person’s life in an instant, but in their standards, a Hunter of Tuluah’s level was on the borderline between a bug and a human.

“Haa… It’s okay. There were no problems, right?”

“Of course not. Who made it? It did exactly what it was supposed to do and disappeared like dew, so there are no traces left. But we can’t erase the traces of the Gate appearing.”

“I understand.”

“Is that all? Aren’t you going to say, ‘Thank you for your hard work,’ or ‘Amazing’ or something?”

“You’re amazing.”

“…Never mind.”

The man shook his head and raised one hand.

Then those who were waiting came in, picked up Tuluah’s body, and went outside.

“I’m going. Call me if there’s a problem.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

The man burst out laughing as if he was dumbfounded at the sincere words of thanks for his hard work and disappeared.

“What will you do, Pilgrim?”

From now on, it would depend on the Pilgrim’s response and reaction.

Of course, it was uncertain whether that direction would benefit the Pilgrim, but what was certain was that whatever choice the Pilgrim made would be within their expectations.