* * *
She said a few more things and gestured in that direction.
But aside from the spell she deliberately made visible to me, I can’t really make anything else out.
I simply nod as if I understand.
Her pointing finger slowly shifted, stopping across from where it had been.
“That’s a teleportation spell.”
“Teleportation?!”
“Yes. But it seems the caster realized they made a mistake partway through and gave up. See that character there? It’s meant to mean ‘gather,’ but due to a stroke difference…”
“Let’s save the detailed explanation for later. Is it possible to erase it?”
She looked slightly disappointed as she cut off her explanation, but opened her mouth again.
“Of course it’s possible. But since it requires a considerable amount of mana, the usual method is to just let faulty spells fade on their own. Of course, if the spell is embarrassingly simple, it’s common to cover it up like this. If handled poorly, someone might be able to trace the caster through the mana signature.”
“You mean they could find the person who drew it?!”
That last part hit me hard, more than any of the lengthy explanation that came before.
“Spells disappear once they’re activated, but there are types like teleportation that linger. If the origin becomes exposed, it could be dangerous, which is why mages take extreme care. It’s very rare for such a mistake to happen.”
“Hm.”
In other words, unless luck is on my side, trying to trace someone through that spell is probably a waste of time.
And even if fragments of that teleportation spell do hold a trace of the caster’s mana, there’s no proof it’s the person I’m looking for.
I might end up missing something more important by chasing it.
If all these spells had been drawn by a single person, that would’ve made things easier.
‘No way that’s the case.’
I Klenched my fist.
It felt like I’d found a clue only for it to slip right through my fingers.
Frustratingly close, but nothing concrete.
Still, coming here with the healer wasn’t a total loss.
Even a fragment of a teleportation spell is suspicious enough to be worth the trouble.
“So, could you erase the spells?”
“All of them, you mean?”
“Is that even possible?”
I was genuinely surprised.
Just listening to the explanation, it was clear there were a lot—can she really erase all of them?
“It’s definitely possible. But as I said earlier, it takes a lot of mana. So erasing them all right now is out of the question. Judging from what I can see, it’d take over a month. If I came daily and erased a few at a time, it might go faster.”
“That many?”
“There are a lot.”
Maybe the reason I only saw fragments of the spells earlier was out of her consideration.
If everything had been fully visible, the whole forest might’ve looked like it had been vandalized.
That would’ve been overwhelming.
A month, even with daily visits.
I can’t ask someone who already has a full schedule to take on even more.
“They’ll disappear on their own anyway… Just erase the teleportation-related ones, including anything similar. No need to continue after today.”
“Understood.”
The healer took a few steps and looked down at the ground.
She raised her hand and gathered mana.
Light gathered and descended to the earth.
A faint sound rang out—like a brittle cookie being crushed.
I couldn’t see the spell clearly before, but as it shattered and scattered, it emitted a brilliant flash of light.
“So it’s not just a matter of covering it with dirt or scratching it out by hand.”
“If it were that easy, no one would bother using mana to hide failed spells. They’d just erase them on the spot.”
“That makes sense.”
According to her, it takes more mana to erase a spell than it does to draw one.
If there were an easier method, people would use that instead.
The healer moved around, erasing spell after spell.
It took longer than I expected—there were more teleportation-related ones than I thought.
As her complexion gradually paled, my conscience prickled and a pang of guilt rose in me.
“Um. Should we stop here for now? Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine.”
“Ah… If only I had a fatigue-relief potion. I drank the last one yesterday.”
Kleney’s potion.
It had been surprisingly effective.
Thinking of that radiant face makes it hard to regret using it—but it’s still a shame.
If I had it now, it would’ve been perfect—not just to ease her fatigue, but to let her know what her own medicine tastes like.
Maybe my disappointment showed on my face, because the healer reached for her pouch and began rummaging through it.
Thankfully, the one she gave me last time wasn’t the only one she had.
She pulled out a small bottle.
Just from its shape and the strange-colored liquid inside, I could tell—it was definitely one of her potions.
That murky, swirling blue doesn’t look tasty at all.
Without realizing it, I had taken a step back.
I returned to where I stood.
“What’s that? Doesn’t look like a fatigue potion.”
“It’s for mana recovery.”
So that’s why it looked different from the one I got before.
I silently watched her.
The disappointment I’d felt earlier was now replaced with curiosity and anticipation.
I didn’t expect her to take her own medicine willingly.
But, as if answering my expectations, she opened the bottle without a hint of hesitation.
“!”
She gulped it down without so much as a twitch.
Not even her eyelids flinched.
“…You drank that… way too easily.”
The words just tumbled out of my mouth. It didn’t make sense.
That shouldn’t be possible.
Could it be… maybe that specific one was flavored differently?
The healer turned to me.
Her calm face was exactly the same as always, looking at me as if to ask if something was wrong.
“Unless it’s a potion for a very specific condition, I taste all my medicines myself. That fatigue-relief potion I gave you, the wound-healing one, the mana one—I’ve personally verified their effects.”
“…”
So she’s drunk that stuff multiple times?
A chill spread slowly from the top of my head.
She’s downed that awful-tasting potion several times?
Is that even humanly possible?
A sudden theory flashed through my mind:
‘Did she… lose her sense of taste?’
It has to be. She probably lost her taste buds after overusing her own potions for years.
Maybe I should start checking not just if she’s resting well—but if she’s eating properly too.
Forget dresses—maybe I should be sending food.
Cake, chocolate, cookies, scones… Sweet things.
She definitely needs sweet and tasty desserts.
“Well then, I’ll go check over there next.”
Unaware of everything I was thinking, the healer focused back on the forest without missing a beat.
‘The forest was roughly dealt with in the wake of confusion and shock.’
After returning to the castle, the first thing I did was escort the healer to the eastern tower.
Then I went looking for Klen.
According to the information Vis had gathered, for some reason, Klen was at the training grounds.
“Wasn’t he supposed to be under investigation?”
Had he been dragged to the training grounds just because his face looked a little more lively now that his fatigue was gone?
It had been a while since I last walked in that direction.
Today, my steps were bold, open.
No effort to hide myself.
* * *
