The Freak Show Foreman

The healing ritual at the Church of Dvallchep unfolded in a somewhat bizarre manner.

A man and a woman, both dressed as priests, competed with each other, exchanging glances as they loudly announced their respective records after treating a patient.

"56th!"

Several beams of light levitated in the air and pierced the infected areas of the plague patients.

With a burning smell in the air, the patients opened their eyes and screamed in pain, as if a throat-piercing agony traversed their entire bodies.

While the nun's treatment was quick and left no aftereffects, it was excruciatingly painful, bringing tears to her eyes.

"57th."

On the other hand, the magician's treatment took more time, and even after the plague factor had been expelled, it left traces. However, the patients experienced no pain during the process.

Watching him manipulate the affected areas, one could blink and find the transformed parts simply falling away.

"58th!"

Valentina, with tears of pain in her eyes, pushed the writhing patient on the ground aside with her foot and quickly summoned the next one.

A patient covered in deformities stood in front of her.

He regretted seeing the people in front of him writhing on the ground, wondering if he had made a mistake in choosing this line.

But his regret was short-lived.

Valentina shot a beam of light towards him, and he soon joined the ranks of those swimming on the ground.

This was the 59th patient.

"59th!"

Valentina's body froze as she heard the declaration.

59th?

"W-What? This can't be! 59! Did I skip a number all of a sudden? 58? 59?"

With a puzzled expression, Valentina retraced her memory, and suddenly, she realized something, letting out a scream.

"Ah! Wait! Director, did you just skip one?"

Upon her realization, Wonderstein smirked playfully, nodding in agreement.

"Hehe, busted."

"This is outrageous! Did you deceive me with such unfair tactics?"

"Outrageous. While you were doing that, I had already started treating the next person… Yes. I've truly achieved 60th this time! Haha, I've won the bet."

Valentina's mouth hung open.

"No, Director, you are an unfair person!"

"Kwaaack!"

The 60th patient, disturbed by the commotion, screamed.

In her excitement, Valentina forgot to adjust the size of her healing beam.

A large beam of light pierced through the patient's chest, causing the patient to experience agonizing pain and collapse backward, frothing at the mouth.

"Oops! A-Are you okay?"

Valentina held the patient, attempting to prevent him from hitting the back of his head on the ground.

At that moment, a notification window appeared in front of Wonderstein.

[Sub-Quest – Self-Improvement Duel]

Objective: Heal 60 plague patients before Valentina.

Success Reward: Immediate 600xDebulroots

Failure Penalty: Immediate release of all held Debulroots.

It was a close call.

If he hadn't widened the gap initially and used deception at the end, he wouldn't have won.

The effect of absorbing 600 Debulroots was immediately apparent.

His heavy body felt considerably lighter, and the damaged status window, like a broken TV screen, partially restored its form and text.

However, absorbing the Debulroots from 60 individuals was a challenging task.

The internal organization twisted and distorted, causing the body to scream in agony.

However, he didn't show any signs outwardly and just smiled.

"Hehe, then how about having tea as a reward for winning the bet?"

As he accelerated the pace of treating patients, the saint also hastened her efforts.

Thanks to that, he ended up making a separate bet with her aside from the quest.

The conditions were the same as the quest.

Valentina, who always responded confidently in any situation, seemed to hesitate or look at him with a somewhat hesitant attitude after losing the bet.

"I'll be resting a bit behind the chapel. Hehe, take your time coming for tea."

Wonderstein entered the room.

As soon as he closed the door, his knees gave way, and he bent forward with exhaustion.

"Oh…"

It was indeed a challenge to handle sixty cases of the Debulroots at once, even with just a slight increase in basic stats. The people treated at the church were much more severely affected than those in the hall, so it was only natural.

If not for the 600 debulroots mitigated as a quest reward, he wouldn't have been able to stand up or even lost consciousness.

Wonderstein managed to straighten his body and looked around the room.

It was a space where the priestess prepared for worship.

Clean robes and an old, worn-out Bible were visible in the corner.

Leaning against the wall, he approached the table.

There was a pitcher of water.

It seemed challenging to wait for Valentina to bring tea.

As he poured water into a cup, someone grabbed his arm.

"That's a holy water pitcher used for baptisms! What if a magician drinks that?"

Wonderstein looked at the person grabbing his arm.

A nun with pink hair adorned with flower decorations looked at him with worried eyes.

"Weren't you supposed to go get tea?"

"I told the soldiers to bring tea. I… I'm just worried about the Director."

Valentina stared at his wet neck with a worried expression.

"Did you know about my condition?"

"Still, as an exorcist… I realized early on that the Director was taking in the Debulroots into his body…"

She said with a slight sigh.

"I only realized late about your physical condition. I knew when the little white thing left."

Valentina, who was happily competing with Wonderstein in the bet, chased after him as he took the lead.

It was around the 20th person when Maya suddenly stood up and left the room.

She looked at Wonderstein with worried eyes on her way out and threw a resentful glance towards Valentina.

Valentina was no fool.

She acted like a fool, but she wasn't stupid.

She had enough awareness.

It was only then that she realized that Wonderstein was torturing his own body.

The reason he was in such a hurry was probably to save as many patients as possible before his stamina reached its limit, considering the critical condition of the remaining patients.

But she, oblivious to it all, was happily betting with him on the side.

Valentina considered slowing down for a moment due to the overwhelming embarrassment.

However, that would make a mockery of his determination.

He was burning his body to save even one more person, and she dared to grow lazy?

So, she respected his determinazione and gave her best until the end of the match. (A/N-its Italian for determination)

Thanks to that, the two of them were able to treat 120 critically ill patients in less than an hour.

"I lacked consideration! I'm sorry, Director!"

Valentina bowed her head.

Wonderstein awkwardly smiled and extended his hand.

"No, no. It's okay. Hehe, and please stop calling me Director. You're not my subordinate, and you're not even from the circus industry, right?"

Valentina, with a wry smile, responded by shouting in her usual spirited manner.

"Yes! Then I'll call you Mr. Wonderstein! Mr. Wonderstein, please don't call me Sister and call me by my name!"

"Alright. Valentina."

At that moment, with the sound of a smart knock on the door, a soldier appeared carrying a steaming tea.

After resting for about 30 minutes and hearing the two people say they would resume treatment, he nodded and left the room.

"By the way, did you send a messenger to our members?"

During the treatment, he suddenly remembered the members waiting for them in the forest.

They were supposed to be waiting there alone.

To use the reward received for achieving a fame of 150, he would be able to convey the news, but at that time he couldn't use the status window.

"Do not worry. One of the residents has been sent to the location explained by the Director."

Wonderstein and Valentina walked through the church while enjoying a cup of tea.

"Mr. Wonderstein is amazing! I've never seen anyone absorb Debulroots like that! Among magicians, there aren't many with mysterious powers! Come to think of it, our captain could probably do something similar to the Director!"

The captain of the tracking team.

Wasn't he called the disciple of the Abyssal Chiral?

One of the mages that appeared as an enemy in TT3 came to mind.

He was also a mage serving the Abyssal Chiral and harassed players by moving back and forth through the mirror.

Could he do something similar to me?

Maybe insert Debulroots into the mirror?

As they talked and walked, they arrived at a space adorned with paintings.

Most of them depicted religious scenes from the Bible.

Thanks to Valentina's 20 years of monastery life, her religious knowledge was solid.

She briefly explained the content of each painting to Wonderstein.

"Surprising."

"Did you… not hear me well?"

"I just thought you were a strong fighter."

"Ugh! Don't take back what you said! Even though I look like this, I received formal nun education!"

While exchanging words, they stopped in front of a painting.

Wonderstein read the title below the painting. <Confrontation between Saint Victor and the Plague Lord/>

Valentina suddenly seemed to remember something and opened her mouth.

"Our elders told us a tale. It's related to Debulroots."

At the mention of Debulroots, Wonderstein focused his attention.

It was a good opportunity to learn about the cursed plague.

"What is it?"

She looked at the painting and spoke.

"Have you heard the story of Saint Victor and the Plague Lord?"

"Of course."

Saint Victor, famous for defeating the Black Plague.

He was said to have also defeated the demon called the Plague Lord in his final years.

"According to legend, when Saint Victor inserted sacred elements into the body of the Plague Lord, his body split open, and Debulroots spread into the world."

"It makes sense. Considering the name Cursed Plague."

There wasn't much significant information.

It was just an old story about the origin of Debulroots.

From a distance, they heard the sound of soldiers searching for them.

The break time was over.

"Let's continue with the treatment."

"Mr. Wonderstein, are you really okay?"

"Yes. But we should run a bit slower now. About half the speed of Ms. Valentina?"

"Hehe, don't worry."

Before turning around, Wonderstein looked out the window.

From the village below, screams and shouts of people reached their ears.

It felt louder and more intense than before.

As if mixed with screams.