Chapter 15: The Crazy Healer
"~~~ So sad."
"—ast is past, eh. You can't change it now, can ya?"
"—ut it's a good thing the young master is alive."
"B-but..."
"Nah, don't worry. He's too petty to die."
'...'
Kayden had woken just a moment ago. He could have opened his eyes but decided to assess the situation.
He could discern the voices of Eldric, Rose, Jack, and a woman's voice he did not recognize.
'It appears I'm back at the Little Lady tavern.'
'Who found me, though?'
'Shit! Whoever found me knows I was at the village. Damn, I don't want that kind of headache.'
Whoever had found Kayden must have a ton of questions, not to mention, they must have also seen the carnage in the village.
'But I'm at the Little Lady. That means one of the criminals must have found me, right? They must have dragged me here.'
'But why's this guy here? It will only add more headaches.'
'Tsk tsk.'
"Well, my little brother is quite strong, mentally that is. He even survived a swarm of hornets at the age of six. Quite a feat, right?"
He heard the woman's voice again.
"..."
"..."
"...Er..."
'Who the hell is this woman? Little brother?'
Kayden had a bad premonition about the owner of the voice.
If someone was this bold and called him "little brother," it meant they were a member of the duchy.
But someone other than the soldiers entering this tavern run by ex-pirates and criminals was bound to bring trouble.
'Why did these fools even bring someone like her here?'
Kayden truly didn't know, but then he heard something that forced him to open his eyes.
"Well, looks like my healing isn't working. Mhmmm...What to do? Aha! Perhaps artificial respiration might work—"
"I'm up!"
Kayden sat up straight at the words, and the quickness of his wake-up made the bystanders jump back with a collective gasp.
Well, not everyone jumped back; he saw the new woman sitting just a few inches away from him, clicking her tongue like she missed her chance at something.
White hair, blue eyes, a mature face like she was in her early twenties or something.
She had a wild, rowdy look on her face, like she didn't care who you were.
A brat who had grown up just in body.
"Selene..."
"Oh, my brother remembers me, alright!"
Her face lit up. The previous pouting and tongue-clicking vanished into thin air. She launched herself onto Kayden and hugged him tightly.
'This is the craziest of the Ashbournes.'
Selene Ashbourne was the second daughter of the duchy. The same one who was sent into a coma by the cult that led to the 'Night of the Ashes.'
She was a renowned healer. Stereotypically, a healer is someone gentle, empathetic, and caring.
Well, Selene was none of those.
She was someone who would make the patient in front of her, who begged her to be as gentle as possible, cry until they truly wished to be dead.
Well, she is known as the craziest Ashbourne of the current generation.
Kayden remembered reading about this character in the novel.
This woman had outright rejected a proposal from the freaking 'Gentle Cloaks.' The hero organization, in which powerful people would kill to be a part.
Not just that, a group that is independent from the Crown yet works under it as well.
'Who rejects a proposal from them?!'
'Tsk, tsk.'
Selene is known to be childish, act on whims, and be very unpredictable.
She is often the first one to start a bar fight. Loud, rowdy, and doesn't give a single damn about who you are, she's the type to punch you first before asking who you are.
So why is a healer like her so famous and ranked among the heroes?
It's precisely because of her healing.
Yep, this genius girl found a loophole in healing magic.
Something that changed the way people viewed healing magic.
Something only she has been able to do in the world.
'Life Drain,' that was the name she gave her power.
Like the name itself, the mad genius Selene thought if she could essentially give life force to someone, then she could also find a way to extract life force from others.
And she did it.
And that's how the most dangerous healer of all time was born.
'She took out about 40 or something cult members before eventually getting defeated.'
'Well, a healer is still a healer, even if she finds a way around.'
"I was so worried, brother. I really thought you were going to die. In fact, you were this—this close to being dead, my dear little brother."
Selene held two fingers pinched together to show how close he was to death, but she was also awkwardly blinking at him.
Well, shit, no, it wasn't blinking; she was actually trying to wink at him, but it appeared she couldn't wink properly and was just blinking her eyes with a weird expression on her face.
'What is this woman doing?'
Kayden did not understand at all.
What he did know was that this woman and Kayden had a wonderful relationship with each other.
After all, the saying goes, "like two peas in a pod," right?
Two rowdies who loved to brawl in the streets.
Two people who had to bear the heathenness of the Ashbourne name.
Two rebellious kids who hated to follow orders.
"Aww... look at my dear brother's face. That's the face of a man who saw death and begged, 'Please don't take me, Mr. Death. I cannot leave my favorite person, who's also happened to be my sister, alone in this world.'"
Selene clasped her hands together, mimicking Kayden begging for his life to Death itself.
'What is going on here?'
'I know she's crazy, but this is batshit crazy.'
'What a wonderful family.'
'And I haven't even met the remaining ones.'
"Oh!!"
Kayden heard a collective gasp, prompting him to look above Selene and notice three people standing behind her.
He had been so preoccupied with Selene that he didn't realize they were there.
Rose had an astonished look on her face, like she was genuinely impressed.
Her father, Jack, looked skeptically at him as if he were a mole working for the government.
Finally, Eldric looked like he had cried a little, his eyes sad and gazing at Kayden as if he were some sort of hero.
'What the hell is going on here?'
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
Kayden was confused about why these people were even here. Jack and Rose, he could understand.
Eldric, mmm... somewhat. But Selene? Why was Selene here? No, no, no... he could see why she was here.
The question should be, how was Selene here?
There was no way Captain Peg Leg Jack would consciously and willingly go to the castle and ask for a healer.
Not to mention, there were plenty of healers in the duchy.
There was no need for them to call this crazy woman, who still had a mad glint in her eyes, and the smile she was giving him... it was scary.
Then Selene said something that made Kayden's jaw drop.
The crazy woman threw a dramatic hand on her forehead, craned her neck, closed her eyes, and shook her head before saying...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone