Chapter 321: The Difficulty of Healing

“How? Can’t sleep?”

Seeing Alice tossing and turning beside her, Field also rolled over.

It was then that Alice realized Field hadn’t fallen asleep either.

“Worried about Liyakade?”

Field’s words hit the nail right on the head about what was on Alice’s mind.

“…sigh. If she doesn’t come back, I just can’t seem to fall asleep.”

“I see.”

Alice didn’t hide anything.

She openly admitted her worry for Liyakade.

Hearing Alice’s words, Field sat up.

“I can’t sleep much either. How about we wait for Liyakade together?”

“Sure.”

Hearing Field’s suggestion, Alice smiled softly and also sat up to wait for Liyakade’s return.

For them, going a whole night without sleep wasn’t really a big deal.

“Oh… you two are still awake.”

Just as Field and Alice were talking, Liyakade had already arrived outside their tent.

Hearing the sound of their conversation, Zheyakard lifted the tent flap and entered.

“It’s because we were worried about you.”

Seeing Liyakade return so quickly, Alice was overjoyed.

“You all know my strength well enough. There’s nothing to worry about, right?”

“Of course we know. But… even knowing that, we still worry a little. So we waited here for you.”

Hearing Field and Alice’s words, Liyakade smiled faintly.

In this other world after her transmigration, only the place where they were felt like a home where Liyakade could find peace.

“By the way, where’s Mi La?”

Alice noticed that Liyakade hadn’t brought Mi La with her, so she asked about her whereabouts.

“She’s staying in the nearby forest with the others.”

“Others?”

Alice was puzzled.

What ‘others’?

Didn’t Liyakade take Mi La to deal with the bandits?

How were there other people besides Mi La?

Were they prisoners rescued from the bandit stronghold, or something else?

Why not bring them straight into the camp?

“That’s what I was about to tell you. Good thing you’re awake, Alice. If you’d been asleep, I might have felt bad waking you up.”

“Huh? Is there something you need my help with?”

Hearing Liyakade’s words, Alice was a little surprised.

She perked up her ears, waiting for Liyakade’s explanation.

Liyakade quickly recounted the story of the women she encountered at the bandit stronghold to Alice.

As Liyakade had thought earlier, halfway through her story, Alice’s expression turned grim.

After hearing it all, Alice immediately wanted to go and treat those women.

“How… how could something like this happen… Liyakade, I want to go and help heal them…”

After listening, Alice’s tone was somber.

Having always been pure, she hadn’t been exposed to too much of the dark side of this world.

Hearing such a bizarre and cruel incident, Alice’s heart was filled with sorrow.

As for the reason Liyakade hadn’t brought them into the camp, one reason was that she hadn’t yet informed Graham.

The carts in the caravan were mostly loaded with goods, and there were no empty carriages.

On the other hand, the current appearance of those women wasn’t very pleasant.

Anyone with eyes could tell that some of them had the Star Disease.

Bringing them straight into the camp would undoubtedly invite gossip.

“Do you need Natalia to act as your proxy this time? I can’t guarantee that these women can keep their mouths shut.”

Liyakade asked Alice a question.

It wasn’t that Liyakade was belittling or looking down on these women.

It was simply Liyakade protecting Alice.

Liyakade did respect these women, but the precondition for respecting them was respecting herself.

Liyakade was merely protecting Alice.

“Not this time.”

Alice shook her head, refusing to let Natalia become her proxy.

“Their wounds and illnesses can’t be healed just by relying on the capacity of Natalia’s Cross. This time, let me go myself.”

“Mm.”

Once they had come to an agreement, Liyakade led the now-changed Alice out of the tent.

By this time, Natalia had already switched shifts and gone back to rest.

They left the encampment and arrived at a nearby forest.

Soon, under Liyakade’s guidance, Alice saw a group of haggard-looking women.

Even though Liyakade had distributed the decent-quality clothes she’d found in the stronghold to these women, these clothes weren’t originally theirs.

Even if the material was decent, they only served as a covering.

They couldn’t hide the putrid stench that emanated from them.

“Lady Liyakade… you’re back.”

Seeing Liyakade’s figure, the women perked up a little.

Even though Liyakade was happy that they could regain some spirit, this wasn’t entirely what Liyakade wanted to see.

It wasn’t that Liyakade didn’t want them to be happy, but she didn’t want these women to tether all their emotions to her.

If they did, they still wouldn’t be free.

It would be no different from when they were imprisoned and enslaved.

The only difference would be that they had a better master.

“Mm. I’ve brought someone who can heal you.”

Hearing Liyakade’s words, the women’s eyes instantly brightened, becoming moist again, as if a powerful life force had been injected into their bodies.

This healing was far more powerful than they had imagined.

“Wh-what is this!?”

The women looked at Alice with both surprise and gratitude.

As the light faded, the women felt an unprecedented comfort in their bodies.

Although they weren’t fully healed, it had already given them hope for recovery.

However, just as the women were cheering with joy, Alice’s body wavered.

Her footing gave way, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, Liyakade was quick.

She rushed to Alice’s side in a single stride, letting Alice lean against her.

“Alice! What’s wrong!?”

Liyakade was panicked.

When Alice had healed others before, this had never happened.

“No… it’s nothing, Liyakade…”

With Liyakade’s support, Alice managed to steady herself.

She explained, her voice a little weak.

“It’s just… I used up a bit too much magical power. I wanted to heal them all completely in one go…”

“You idiot… why were you in such a hurry?”

Hearing Alice’s explanation, Liyakade breathed a sigh of relief.

So Alice had just used too much magical power, making her unsteady on her feet.

“I just… didn’t want to see them suffer from their illnesses any longer…”

“I understand your feelings… but you don’t have to push yourself. We can just let them stay with us for a few more days. There’s no need to be in such a hurry.”

Liyakade could understand what Alice was thinking.

She couldn’t bear to see these women continue to be plagued by pain, so she wanted to cure them immediately.

However, this Star Disease was tricky even for pure Light Element to handle.

As someone who had played the original work countless times before her transmigration, Liyakade naturally knew how Alice’s healing magic consumed energy.

For things like accidentally ingesting poison or dealing with poisoning, the Light Element was relatively easy.

This was because these toxins came from outside the body and took time to enter the system.

Even if they entered the body, they were still considered foreign substances.

The Light Element’s purifying effect could easily handle these kinds of toxins.

This was why Natalia could become Alice’s proxy.

No matter how strong the toxin, the Light Element could purify it.

Next were minor wounds and bruises, like the bloody welts and bumps from beatings on these women’s bodies.

At this point, the goal was no longer purification, but healing.

Therefore, it would consume a bit more magical power.

After that came illnesses like the Star Disease these women suffered from.

Although these ailments were caused by external factors, the external factors were only the trigger.

Once the bacteria entered the human body, they had already damaged the internal environment.

The body would also produce various kinds of inflammation to fight the bacteria.

Therefore, it was necessary not only to purify the pathogens, but also to heal the internal environment of the body.

The more severe the illness, the more magical power and energy it consumed.

For the few among the women who had been tormented for a long time, their lower bodies had already begun to emit a stench like rotting fish.

This was a clear sign that their internal environment had been severely damaged.

Completely healing them was no easy task.

Finally, there was limb regeneration.

This was almost like creating something from nothing.

With Alice’s current level, she couldn’t manage limb regeneration yet.

As for whether she could raise the dead…

Liyakade thought it was impossible.

At least, even at the highest level she had played in the original game, she had never seen Alice be able to do that.

Thud.

While Liyakade was supporting Alice and talking to her, the women had already noticed the changes in their own bodies.

The painful wounds they had felt were now gone.

The heavy backs that had been bent so low they couldn’t straighten were now a bit more upright.

The sweltering, itchy sensations inside had also eased considerably.

One of the women fell to her knees before Alice.

As she knelt, the other women immediately followed suit, prostrating themselves before Alice.