Healing magic was something that isn't quite common in the world of Io. In addition to the fact that there weren't that many people born with the ability to use it, the practice that went into it was certainly not meant for the faint of heart. The reason for this is that in order to use any sort of magic, you also needed to have, at the very least, a basic understanding of what you were manipulating in regards to your element. Of course, this wasn't always the case when it came to dark magic, but there weren't anywhere near enough dark magic users to create a sample group.
Normally, when light magic users are healing, it is almost always best to have experienced said physical condition such as a sprain or fractured bone, as the experience and knowledge of how they heal would greatly speed up the healing process for whoever they are treating. This also meant that light magic users who entered the army and were presented with these problems on an almost daily basis were highly coveted and well respected. In the event that any one of those healers were to leave the army and open up their own practice, there would be no shortage of people who would immediately seek them out for any injuries.
However, the problem came in when trying to learn it. Again, not everyone would be willing to see a broken leg or arm on a regular basis, and people could get quite queasy when looking at such sights. Additionally, if one were to press on and continue to learn, they would inevitably find themselves in the crossroads between having to go through a proper institution and basically having to sign themselves to a specific country or organization or continue on learning by themselves by doing something like adventuring. Granted, the second option wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it also adopted a 'learn as you go' approach which wasn't always the best thing if you found yourself in a tight pinch.
The first option was something that many chose to do, and after a few years of service, would either continue to serve under the country or organization or take their talents somewhere else like an adventurer group. While men had it quite easy in this regard, women would generally experience far more difficulties when joining the ranks in this profession. And of course, rather than the countries themselves taking advantage of the women, though it did happen, it was mainly the organizations, or more specifically, the Orthodox Papal State creating one in countries that they had influence in.
Thanks to the stipulation that required priests be male, and by that nature, cardinals and bishops, there were plenty of bishops sent to other countries as emissaries, and if one wanted to train with the church, they would need to get the bishop's blessing before continuing to work under the church. Though most bishops were content just giving the healers their blessing as long as they didn't do anything stupid, there were a few corrupt bishops who would only do so for sexual favors, and since complaints needed to be filed directly to the cardinals for any misdeeds of the bishops, many women were either made to be glorified sex slaves or just decided not to pursue enriching their light magic through the church.
This made Testa's achievement all the more impressive considering that she was completely restoring broken bones, punctured lungs, damaged eyes, and pretty much any other injury there was amongst the living. Considering her immense prowess with light magic, it was no surprise that amongst the healed, they were happily rejoicing, with many petitioning both her and Souma to stay in the village. For the soldiers, they were at a complete loss for words. Not necessarily at the extent of her capabilities. For some of the veterans, they had seen light mages basically put back cut appendages with their magic.
No, the thing that surprised the soldiers was just how much magic she had in store. For many light mages, they would always need to set aside a certain amount of time to recover their magic, as even the best among them could only treat twenty severe injuries in a row before they would burn out. Yet here Testa was, not only doing well over a hundred, but also doing so in a quick fashion. So quick, in fact, that within three hours, she was completely done.
Of course, like with any major incident, word often spreads quite quickly. And thanks to Kaede reporting this to her superior, Ludwin, it wasn't too long until basically the entire castle heard about Testa's magic, and many were surprised that she kept this a secret for so long. After all, what was the harm in just telling them? Whenever anyone asked her what her magic was, she would just say "It's a secret~"
Such news also reached Liscia, Hakuya, and Rimuru, who all had different reactions. All three of them knew that Testa had complete control over the elements, and Liscia was surprised, yet thankful to hear that she was using her gift for the greater good of the people, even if she did suspect that Souma was involved in the decision making. Hakuya, however, had almost the polar opposite reaction.
Sometimes I don't understand what His Majesty is thinking.
"Is everything okay, Sir Hakuya?"
Hakuya gave the girl a smile. "Everything is fine, Lady Tomoe. There are just times when I wish I could give the king a stern talking to."
Hakuya realized that it must have been Souma to ask Testa to use her magic for healing the Dark Elves, and while it would certainly improve relations amongst them, from what he heard, they showed a pretty big card. Sure, they could always pass it off as just her normal magic, but since her proficiency at is was quite large, he was certain that they would be pestered for her services sooner or later. Hell, if word of her deeds got exaggerated as they normally do with rumors and stories, they might have to deal with the church breathing down their necks.
They always did hate it whenever an outsider outshined them in one of their own crafts.
Tomoe puffed out her cheeks. "Geez! You can't always talk down to Souma whenever he does something you don't like!" She took a moment to calm her breath. "Besides, what did he even do this time?"
Hakuya chuckled a bit and ruffled her hair. He felt that this was something she wouldn't fully understand at her age, and let her misunderstanding continue. He wasn't certain that she would be able to grasp the concept of knowing that what might be best for a certain group may not be best for the country as a whole.
"Don't worry about it. Hey, why don't you go back to class. I'm sure Rimuru wouldn't be too happy with you missing too much of it."
To this, Tomoe looked away and said, "Oh, it doesn't matter. We had my mom teach along with a couple of the maids. They said that Rimuru left sometime last night."
Hakuya held back a sigh. Something he was slowly coming to terms with, despite not liking it in the slightest, was that Rimuru, and by proxy Testa, had a propensity to kind of just do whatever they liked doing without really informing anyone. Granted, this was a special occasion, but it still irked him somewhat that Rimuru left so suddenly.
If he had to guess, Rimuru most likely left shortly after the first wave of the relief squadron set off. What he was hoping for was that Rimuru didn't leave at all, as there was no immediate emergency, and there was nothing that he could really do to help at the scene. Sure, his lovers were there, but Hakuya couldn't fathom why he couldn't just wait for them to come back after a couple more days. After all, the likelihood of something drastic happening in that time was astronomically low, so no real danger should be present amongst the relief group headed by Souma.
Hakuya finished his thoughts and then politely asked Tomoe to go back to class. Eventually, despite her pouting and grumbling, she walked out and Hakuya was able to get back to working. He was currently searching through and finalizing the last things that needed to be taken for the relief effort. He wanted to make sure to send enough supplies to tie the Dark Elves over until they could rebuild, and fortunately, at least from what Aisha described about her village previously, it wasn't a very large one. After approving the last few supplies, he sent them to Ludwin who then rallied the soldiers to send one final supply run.
Several hours prior to this, Rimuru was leaving the castle a couple hours after dusk. The main reason he was leaving at such an awkward time was because he would need to maintain continuity between when people heard he left and actually arriving at Aisha's village. And unfortunately, this meant that he couldn't teleport. Of course, he could always lay low for a day and then teleport near the village, but he didn't really mind long trips anyhow. Besides, since he would be alone for almost a day, this gave him the perfect opportunity to do something that he always enjoyed.
{…You are immensely spoiled.}
"I think the word you're looking for is 'relaxed.'"
Ciel let out a sigh. This certainly wasn't the first time he's ever done this since he got summoned, but such acts were always contained in the bedroom.
"Oh, you can stop with your pouting. If you really don't like it, we can stop."
{…That's cheating.}
What Rimuru was currently doing was enjoying Ciel hugging him while they were both riding a horse. But rather than in his body form, he changed back into his slime form and had Ciel assume his regular human form. Though there was always the risk of someone crossing paths with them, since it was night and Ciel had spread her senses around the surrounding area, there was ultimately no chance that they could be caught like this. Besides, even if they were, slimes were one of the more passive creatures around, so it wouldn't be completely crazy if someone was transporting them. The main difference is that they would normally be transported dead, and if anyone so much as made that suggestion to Ciel when she was carrying Rimuru, there would be far more serious issues to deal with.
Taking the downtime in their conversation as an opportunity, Rimuru asked, "Do you think that people will start to revere Testa now? At least, given how she's going to heal the Dark Elves?"
If he were being honest, Rimuru's reaction towards Testa healing the Dark Elves was, for the most part, quite casual. After all, he expected that a situation like this would occur sooner or later. The thing that he was slightly surprised to hear about from Hinata was that Souma requested it. Granted, it may have been the best choice to have Testa do it since she was nearby, and it spared having to send the light mages from the castle.
Ciel found his question a bit weird and responded in kind. {Why ask a question like that? I know we both know the answer.}
"Well, I just wanted to hear your in-depth analysis on it. If it will heavily affect us or not."
Ciel just sighed. {I wouldn't know until she actually does it. Fortunately, she isn't dumb enough to do things out of the ordinary, but knowing her, she is somewhat of a perfectionist. I'd say after the initial shock value of her being able to use healing magic fades, things will go back to normal. At least until she reveals all her cards.}
Rimuru jiggled a bit. "I suppose that's how things would wind up going."
The conversation dried up again as the clops of the horse echoed through the night. Even if they weren't talking about random things, which can happen from time to time, Rimuru always felt both safe and content knowing that Ciel was just there.
"I love you."
{I love you too.}
"Even if you are a bit weird sometimes."
{Do you want me to throw you?}
There were also times when Rimuru felt slightly annoyed at having what amounted to an immortal body, as his wives would make these sorts of threats and have absolutely no qualms about carrying them out. Perhaps the only thing that annoyed him more was that he was seriously weighing the pros and cons about this particular threat. In the end, he decided not to aggravate Ciel any more than necessary.
In any case, the two quickly made their way to the village, and with Ciel using restoration magic to make sure that the horse could make do without the need for sleeping, eating, or drinking, they were able to reach the village in just under eighteen hours, bypassing the first relief team who stopped at a nearby village for the night.
Rimuru arrived at the village a little after Testa fully healed everyone with himself back in human form and Ciel inside him. The village looked quite similar to how he saw it when he was initially made aware of the landslide, but the main difference was that rather than the immensely dismal and fearful attitude, the sorrow still lingered, but the entire village was practically bursting with hope, something quite uncommon only a couple days after such an incident. After quickly getting debriefed, he met a very tired Souma and Hal who were both surprised to see him.
"Jeez, you're a sight for sore eyes. How soon did you leave?"
"I left the castle last night. I must say though, Hal, you've seen better days."
Hal snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. We've been dividing ourselves up into smaller groups so that some of us can rest while the others continue to search, but it's been nothing but crazy here."
What Hal was omitting, and quite well at that, was the fact that he was simply not used to seeing people get injured like this. He liked putting on a strong front, that was easy enough, but since he has never seen a battlefield, or any situation where casualties were plenty, everything this relief squadron did was completely new to him. Rimuru could, in fact, see that it was affecting him, and decided to ask him about it.
"You aren't feeling sick or anything, right, Hal?"
Hal chuckled it off. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine."
Though Rimuru would certainly help him if he took the offer, he saw no reason to push the issue and instead focused his attention on Souma. "What about you, Souma?"
Souma initially remained silent for a moment before saying, "I'm not going to lie. This was incredibly jarring for me. Seeing so many dead bodies is… I can't really say that I'll ever get used to it. I feel that the only reason I can accept it is simply because it was something that nature caused."
Rimuru thought up his next words for a second before saying, "You know, if you want to head back with Aisha towards the castle, feel free. So far, it feels like the worst is out of the way, and all that is left is just the cleanup."
Without even having to think of his response, Souma said, "No way. Even if it is difficult, I still have my duties as a king. It would be wrong for me to just leave before making sure everything is fine. For one, we still need to wait until the relief supplies come."
Again, Rimuru felt that there was no need to press the issue. However, he did hope that Souma's line of thinking wasn't going to where he thought it was, which was to take even partial blame for the event. For someone as duty oriented as Souma, it wouldn't be that far-fetched, and he made sure to bring up the subject when they got back to the castle.
After talking a bit more with the two, he continued on to look for Testa and Hinata, and it didn't take particularly long. After all, the two were seated near a tree and stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to their attire not being the same as the other soldiers. Like Souma and Hal, they were surprised to see him, and Hinata wasted no time in making that apparent.
"Oh? I'm surprised to see you here. Though I guess you kind of already were here before."
Rimuru smiled awkwardly at the comment and said, "Yeah, well, at the very least, it was an excuse to get out of the castle."
Both Hinata and Testa hummed in response, and Rimuru continued, "It's almost disheartening watching all these people still trying to look for survivors."
Currently, there were still plenty of people still active in the rescue mission, and despite digging up dead body after dead body, were still giving it their all. Hinata felt much in the same way that Rimuru did, but there wasn't really a whole lot that they could do about it. After all, they couldn't just say that they used magic to confirm that no more survivors were buried in the rubble.
"Well, yeah, but let's not focus on the negatives now." Gesturing towards Testa, she continued, "We have the star of the show today."
Testa felt a bit out of place with the spotlight on her for a deed that was surprisingly not for her benefit, as she was not really used to receiving any sort of praise for things of that nature. After all, back in their world, the only times you really ever got to see her beyond working in the office was in meetings or on the battlefield, and both times, she was only there to make sure things worked out for Rimuru's sake.
And yet, here she was, doing something that Rimuru didn't order, and now heavily reaping the benefits of it. Right after she was finished healing the Dark Elves, she almost immediately requested that she could get some rest on the excuse that her magic was running low. Of course, in reality, it was one of the incredibly rare instances of being in a situation where she didn't really know how to act. Pure gratitude was just not something she was shown by the general populace, and here she was practically bathed in it.
Sitting down next to her, Rimuru commented, "I know. I imagine that word has already spread throughout the castle by now."
Testa looked confused at this. "How would they get word of it so soon? They can't communicate like we can."
"Yeah, but they still have birds and the like, right? If not one of the soldiers, then one of the Dark Elves must have said something."
Testa groaned in response to his words. "I knew I should have held back more. I felt that it was normal considering that experienced light mages can do the same thing I did, but I guess not."
If there was one Achilles heel in regard to how Testa acts when she is supposed to be putting on a front, is that she severely struggles with anything that requires a below average level of competency. Her nature, and her pride, simply won't allow half measures, so she just went with the efficacy of a full potion by Tempest standards, and this was the result.
However, Rimuru looked a bit concerned by this. "Hmm? What do you mean, 'should have held back?'"
Hinata brushed aside his worries. "She just healed things like internal injuries, and of course, external injuries. Like she said, nothing that wouldn't have been accomplished by an experienced light mage, but the people here are just deciding to make a big deal out of it."
"Hmm. Then maybe… was it how fast you were able to do it?"
Testa held her head and groaned in response. "I don't even care at this point. It feels like these idiots will grasp at anything."
Both Rimuru and Hinata chuckled at her retort, and Rimuru decided to offer her a little reprieve. "If it's any consolation, Ciel thinks that this whole thing will blow over once the initial shock wears off. And," he added, "I'll talk to Souma about it and make sure that you're not going to be sought after for any more of this kind of stuff."
Testa raised her head to look at him, and Rimuru swore that he saw a bit of apprehension in her eyes. Deciding to bite at this, he teased, "Oh? Do you not mind healing others? Maybe you get the feeling of satisfaction at it?"
While this was an incredibly rare occurrence, it was also one of the times where she wished that it wasn't Rimuru who teased her on it, as if were anyone else, even Diablo or Veldora, she would have fought them no questions asked.
Eventually, after staring him down, and consequently backing down, she sighed and stated, "Things like this should go against every fiber of my being. We never do things, especially of this nature, for free. And yet, for some reason, I'm not repulsed by it. I still don't want to be called on for every single injury that occurs, but I can't say I would mind occasionally doing it…"
Though Rimuru was initially just joking, by how she responded, it seemed like she took his words seriously. It was even to the point that Hinata was momentarily at a loss for words, though they quickly regained composure when they heard Testa mutter, "It still feels wrong to say."
"Well, we can always arrange something, and there is no reason to rush these sort of things, so whenever you're ready, either you or me can approach Souma about how your availability for healing others."
Testa uttered a silent "Nn," and the three left it at that. Rimuru was about to rejoin the others to help with the search and rescue mission before he noticed a Dark Elf that looked more forlorn than most.
Seeing his curiosity, Hinata said, "That is Robthor Udgard, Aisha's uncle, Wodan's brother, and the head of the Conservative Party in the Dark Elf tribe. As you can see, he's certainly not having the best of times.
When Rimuru got a better look at the man, it really looked like he was clinging to the last vestiges of hope that life had to offer in the form of the sleeping child he was holding. When he didn't see anyone else near him, he asked, "I take it that his wife is…?"
"Dead. Unless she somehow escaped and hasn't been around for the past couple days, she is most likely somewhere in the rubble pile. I would have looked for her if I knew what she looked like, but by the time I saw him, we had already gotten everyone who was alive out of the rubble, and he was looking like he is right now."
"Geez, that's tough. I kind of don't know what to say to someone like that."
"There isn't anything you can say. I don't know if such words exist to tell someone who most likely thinks that because he clung onto his traditional beliefs, he is part of the reason as to why he lost some of his family."
Rimuru still had his eyes locked on the man, and then looked at the child. Children, huh? Well, if nothing else, hopefully he'll be able to pick up the pieces and move on. For both of their sakes.
After Rimuru made a silent prayer for the two, he joined up with the other soldiers to assist in the rescue operation. A few hours after he started, the first wave of the relief team that Hakuya sent came in with tents and food, with the next wave coming tomorrow. Fortunately for the Dark Elves, the worst has come and gone, and with the supplies from the kingdom, offered reprieve and a chance to rebuild.
A few days after, Rimuru was reminiscing on what he saw in the Dark Elf village. And to be quite frank, he came to a conclusion that he wasn't really expecting. For the longest time, he was always quite difficult to pin down whenever it came to a discussion regarding things that he really wanted and would often make excuses as to why he couldn't pursue them. The thing was, now that he was in a different world, thanks to the relatively laidback lifestyle he was living, those excuses wouldn't really work anymore.
Which is what led him and Hinata to be in a room together, and Hinata being completely perplexed when he heard his statement.
"Hinata."
"Yes…?"
"I want a child with you."