The Young Saintess

――South side area.

――Thirty minutes have passed since the monsters reached the front of the royal city’s walls.

The aid tent where Flo was stationed had turned into a scene of carnage.

“K-kill me…!”

“It’s impossible! Run!”

“There’s nowhere to run! Move your hands!”

“I can’t… do it anymore…”

Injured people were carried in one after another.

The tent was overflowing with people.

The air was thick with the smell of blood and sweat, and screams, groans, and whimpers filled the dreadful atmosphere.

“Stay with us! ――Heal!”

Flo kept hold of her sanity by focusing her nerves on the injured in front of her.

Priests who had drunk too many MP potions and swollen from the liquid, unable to absorb the ingredients and fainting from mana exhaustion, were not uncommon, and only a few healers, including Flo, remained able to move.

“Waaaaah!? What is that huge thing!?”

“Don’t falter, attack! If we fall back any further they’ll reach the protective barrier!?”

“Kyeeeeeeeeeek!!”

The carnage wasn’t confined to the makeshift tent.

The voices of adventurers outside the tent grew louder and louder, and now even the roars of the monsters could be heard.

The front lines had been pushed right up to their doorstep.

If they couldn’t stop the monsters’ advance now, the adventurers in the southern side would be annihilated.

All the healing Flo and the others had been doing would be for nothing.

“Guaaah!?!?”

――Crash!

“Are you all right!?”

A warrior who had been blown away by a monster’s attack crashed through the tent and came flying inside.

Following him—indeed—was a thick-boned skeleton.

A thick frame and a two-meter height.

It wore a breastplate and helmet like a knight’s, and gripped a saber in its arm.

A high-ranking undead-type monster—the Skeleton General.

Its rank was Boss-rank C.

Judging by how the front-line adventurers couldn’t stand up to it, it was likely one of the bosses from the collapsed dungeon.

Inside the tent here were wounded who couldn’t return to the battlefield and only rear-support priests.

The other priests besides Flo screamed, and some even wet themselves.

“(Skeletons are of Undead attribute. If it’s a priest like me—I can defeat it!)”

Flo stood and, shielding the blown-in warrior, faced the Skeleton General.

“(Most priests, myself included, cannot cast restorative magic unless we touch the target. However, we’ve also received a lot of combat training.)”

“Kakakakakakaka…!”

The Skeleton General let out an eerie clattering sound like bones hitting bones as it raised its saber.

“…!”

Flo ducked low to avoid it.

With a rustle—several strands of her golden long hair were cut off by the Skeleton General’s sword wind.

She then slipped into the Skeleton General’s guard.

She reached for one of its thick ribs—and put mana into her palm!

“Heal—kyaa!?!?”

――Slash!

Just before Heal could activate—the saber’s second stroke slammed into Flo.

Flo was blown away and slammed her back hard against a tent pole.

“(Hah… hah… It’s okay, the wounds are something I can heal quickly.)”

Thanks to her slash-resistant robes, she wasn’t bleeding.

A few ribs seemed broken, but that degree of damage she could heal on her own.

“Kaka!? Kaha!?”

“Eh…!?”

As she stood while healing the pain in her side, she realized one of the Skeleton General’s ribs was broken.

Despite having been blasted away before Heal activated, damage had been dealt.

There was only one possible explanation.

“(The Heal—flew.)”

Depending on skill and talent, there are healers who can cast restorative magic at a distance.

Just like her mother—Frances—had been able to do.

Casting healing magic repeatedly until her MP ran dry, those desperate life-or-death situations had drastically raised Flo’s talent.

“With this… I can do it!”

Flo thrust her slender arm forward.

She grabbed her wrist with the other hand to steady the motion.

Her plan was to release Heal like an offensive spell and exorcise the Skeleton General.

“Kakakakakakakakakack!!”

――Swift!

“(Lure it in as much as possible—now!)”

The Skeleton General set its sights on Flo and charged.

“Heal!”

――Bang!

The Skeleton General’s bones shattered.

But—that was the arm without the saber.

“(Did I panic and miss the target!?)”

The Skeleton General didn’t stop moving.

The saber came down to strike Flo on the crown of her head—

“Bulgahaaah!!”

――Just before――

“Eh…?”

“Kakaka—Gya!? !?”

――A massive skeleton was crushed.

A black monster that had attacked from behind the Skeleton General crushed its skull with a battle-axe.

Piece by piece, the Skeleton General’s bones scattered across the tent.

“Th-this is…”

With the Skeleton General down, they could clearly see the monster standing behind it.

Its entire body was as black as a shadow, with only its eyes flickering like red flames.

A bipedal, bull-shaped monster—the Minotaur.

“Shadow Necromance.”

Then—outside the tent, they picked up a familiar voice.

――Zuzuzuzzu!

“Kakakakakakakaka!!”

Then—puffs of mist rose from the corpse that had been the Skeleton General, and a black monster with the silhouette of the Skeleton General emerged from the ground.

“The Minotaur—and the Skeleton revived too!?”

“It’s over!”

The surrounding adventurers wore expressions of despair, preparing for death.

But somehow, the two black monsters ignored the adventurers and left the tent.

“That shadow… that voice.”

Adventurers, bewildered by the incomprehensible situation, froze.

Among them, only Flo stood up and stepped outside.

The front line had already been pushed right up to the tent, with crowds of monsters pressing in.

However――

“The monsters… are attacking the monsters…”

――The Minotaur and the Skeleton General that had just left the tent, and other black monsters with similar features, were attacking the ordinary monsters and pushing the front back.

Adventurers fighting outside were also bewildered by the impossible sight.

Flo knew.

The black monsters.

The art of extracting shadows from monster corpses and commanding them.

And――that gentle voice.

“Sid!”

Flo shouted the name.

She looked around, but the young man who should be commanding the shadows was nowhere to be seen.

But Flo’s conviction did not waver.

“You came for us… Sid.”

In the desperate situation, a sliver of hope appeared.

If so, this was no time to stand around.

Flo entered the tent to do what she had to and offered a prayer at its center.

Then—centered on her, the tent was illuminated by a circular light encompassing it.

Flo had learned the technique to send healing magic flying during her fight with the Skeleton General.

If so, she should also be able to cast Heal not just on a single target but as a wide-area effect.

She gathered the mana inside her, spread it around—and released a light of healing.

“Wide-area Healing 《Area Heal》”

Then—the wounds of the injured inside the tent began to heal all at once.

Seeing Flo cast a wide-area Heal, an elderly cleric saw in her the image of the former saint—and let out a voice of awe.

“Ah… the ‘Saintess of Mercy’—Saintess Lady Frances.”