Until the Substitute Saintess is Loved: The Sister Sent to the Convent as the Villainess Heals Everyone's Hearts with Her Healing Powers - Chapter 21

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“So, I’m to accompany the mission to subjugate the magical beasts in the Rolt Borderlands…?”

I was dumbfounded by the words delivered to me when I was summoned to the director’s office while working at the clinic as usual.

The Rolt Borderlands contain the Forest of Demons.

Every year around this time, numerous magical beasts emerge there. If left unchecked, the damage would escalate beyond what the Rolt Borderlands alone could contain.

That’s why knights and a saintess are dispatched from the royal capital to handle the subjugation.

(But Sister Lupina has never once accompanied such a mission…)

Sister prefers glamorous affairs. She detests anything dirty, arduous, or rustic.

For Sister Lupina to leave the royal capital and journey to the borderlands was unthinkable.

This was true even before she was granted the title of Saintess, and it remained so after she became one.

So why, then, was a royal decree issued for me—stripped of my saintess title—and not for any of the other saintesses?

Yes, my journey to the Rolt Borderlands was conveyed as a royal command.

There is no right of refusal.

The director looked at me with a pained expression.

“I’ve heard this request came from the Margrave of Rolt himself.”

“So, it was a personal nomination by the Margrave…”

The one Sister Lupina mocked as a country bumpkin and insulted was the Margrave’s beloved daughter.

He is undoubtedly one of those who would never forgive Sister Lupina.

Considering why such a person would nominate me, I felt my body freeze up.

“I am aware of the discord between you and his family. Please, do be careful.”

“…I will do my utmost to fulfill my duties.”

My stomach ached at the mention of the Margrave’s name, but I bowed to the director and left the room.

It was already a decided matter.

In that case, all I could do was prepare as best I could and go.

I should assume there would be no support from the Margrave’s house.

If at least the royal knights accompanying me were friendly, that would be a help, but…

(Considering Sister’s history, that seems unlikely too…)

Among the knights, there might be a rare few whom Sister had healed.

But Sister Lupina had declared she would only heal high-ranking nobles or knights with pleasing appearances.

Most of the knights heading to the borderlands were probably those Sister had never deigned to heal.

When I thought of how much resentment they might harbor, I wanted to hang my head.

But since moping wouldn’t change reality, I had to make the best preparations I could.

My healing power was far inferior to Sister’s, and I couldn’t cure poison, but I had knowledge of medicinal herbs. I could research the types of magical beasts appearing in the borderlands and determine which antidotes to prepare in larger quantities.

Fortunately, perhaps because this was the royal capital’s monastery and clinic combined, there was a library. It should have books on medicinal herbs and magical beasts.

As soon as my work was done, I would borrow books on magical beasts.

Stopping my thoughts from spiraling further into negativity, I decided to hurry and get back to work.

The day to depart for the Rolt Borderlands arrived swiftly, filled with frantic preparations.

In front of the monastery gate, Mona was helping me carry numerous bundles.

Among them were many medicines she had prepared, sacrificing her own sleep.

It had been two weeks since I was ordered to go to the Rolt Borderlands. Upon hearing the news, Mona immediately began helping me prepare.

“Lupina. Please, really be careful?”

I smiled my brightest at the anxious Mona.

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

“It’s because you’re likely to push yourself too hard that I’m worried.”

“You’ve helped me so much, Mona? I could never have gathered all this on my own.”

“But you can’t neutralize poisons anymore, right? The bestiary said the borderland beasts carry venom.”

Mona had researched the borderland magical beasts with me. So of course, she knew about the poison.

“The poison I really need to worry about is from the Dark Viper. The others, even if called poisons, subside over time. You helped me research, remember?”

There were creatures with paralytic venom or toxins causing severe pain and swelling, but the only one requiring immediate antidote to avoid death was the Dark Viper.

True to its name, the Dark Viper had black scales and a body several times larger than a normal snake. Its difficulty lay in being hard to see at night, but it was said to move sluggishly in proportion to its size.

If I could avoid being bitten, I wouldn’t be affected by its venom.

To handle that possibility, Mona and I had already prepared an antidote. It just needed to be applied as a salve to the bite wound. A medicinal bath would work faster, but it was impractical to prepare and carry in advance.

“I’d go with you if I could. Why, just this once, are they only requesting a former saintess like you?”

I hadn’t told Mona about the discord with the Margrave of Rolt.

I couldn’t bring myself to explain about Sister Lupina properly, and I didn’t want to worry Mona further.

Still, the absence of any other saintess being dispatched was concerning.

According to what I’d heard from Sister Lupina, two saintesses were sent every year for the magical beast subjugation in the Rolt Borderlands.

This, too, seemed to be on the Margrave’s orders.

I hadn’t heard it directly, but the reasoning was probably that if Sister, who always flaunted her power as a saintess, could handle it alone, then it should be fine.

Certainly, if it were Sister Lupina, her power far exceeded that of ordinary saintesses.

But with my inferior healing abilities, could I demonstrate the expected power?

“Ah, I know, alright? Even if a non-saintess like me went along, it’d be pointless. I can’t go anyway. But it’s frustrating to have to just watch you go off to a dangerous place alone. You absolutely must come back safely, okay?”

“Mona…”

She hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back.

Through my veil, I could tell Mona was tearing up, and it steeled my resolve.

Protecting the borderlands meant protecting the royal capital and, by extension, protecting Mona.

If the magical beasts swarmed the capital, the first to suffer would be the powerless commoners.

The carriage sent to fetch me arrived at the monastery gate.

I rang the gate bell and opened it.

But both Mona and I froze for a moment at the sight of the person who descended from the carriage.

(Huh? Surely not?)

Familiar jet-black hair and determined crimson eyes.

“Lord Landrick is going? What?!”

Mona, recovering first, exclaimed with a voice mixed with surprise and delight.

“Are you dissatisfied that I’m accompanying you?”

Lord Landrick grinned.

“No, not at all, it’s an honor…”

If anything, I felt nothing but gratitude.

Lord Landrick was a fair person. Even towards a wicked woman like me, he would likely maintain his gentlemanly conduct.

But he seemed displeased about something, which felt different from usual.

It was a small relief that it didn’t seem directed at us, but I wondered what had happened.

“Please take care of Lupina!”

Mona suddenly bowed deeply.

“Ah, of course. Protecting a healer is a knight’s duty.”

With a slight wry smile, Lord Landrick offered me his hand.

“Um?”

“Hand over your luggage. I’ll have it loaded.”

As I panicked—giving luggage to a member of the royal family?!—Lord Landrick’s guard knight promptly took the bundles instead and loaded them into the carriage.

But Lord Landrick offered me his hand again.

“It’s an escort. Give me your hand.”

“Ah, um, I can…”

Before I could finish saying “I can manage,” he firmly took my hand.

“…Thank you.”

Embarrassed, I boarded the carriage with my head bowed.

Even if my veil hid my face from Lord Landrick, I was still self-conscious.

Why was he, a member of the royal family, going to the borderlands?

And we shouldn’t even be sharing the same carriage in the first place.

“Why don’t you sit down for now?”

“Ah, yes.”

Urged, I sat on the opposite seat.

“You’re sitting quite on the edge.”

Had he noticed I’d instinctively sat far from him?

“I wanted to keep watching Mona.”

That was true.

From this seat, I had a clear view of Mona standing by the gate.

Her earlier anxious aura was gone, replaced by a beaming atmosphere I could feel even from here. She must be thinking that with Lord Landrick here, it’s safe.

I felt the same, so I understood well.

To be honest, I had been worried that something unfortunate might happen to me in the borderlands.

But it seemed that was an unnecessary fear.

It appeared they wouldn’t waste a valuable healer, even a former saintess, over personal grudges.

Slowly, the carriage began to move.

I kept watching Mona, who continued waving outside the window, until she disappeared from sight in the distance.