I’m Not a Saint, Not a Priest, Just a Healer

Rubina looked around.
Sister Yona, who had brought her here holding her hand, was talking with a woman who looked similar to her but with a different color. Rubina wasn’t interested in such conversations.

There were many children.
Boys and girls.
There were many children in Rubina’s home village too, but it was the first time she saw children smiling so happily like this.
But most of those children didn’t play with Rubina, so maybe Rubina just didn’t know.

“Wow…”
Suddenly, she looked out the window.
A prairie spread out on the gentle plain.
After seeing her hometown fields always lined with crops, this prairie with tall grasses swaying was an unfamiliar sight.
It seemed like she could smell the grass just by looking at it, and Rubina unconsciously sniffed.
The wind made the grass sway. The swaying grass filled the prairie, creating a rhythmic dance following the wind without pause.

The white buildings scattered here and there were large and quite majestic. At least, they looked much bigger than the house Rubina lived in back in her hometown village.

Suddenly feeling a hand patting her head, Rubina looked up to see Yona looking down at her.
At a glance, she seemed to have an angry expression.
Because of that expression, Rubina couldn’t get close to Yona for a while.
Rubina was a young child, but for the villagers, young children were just burdens.
A baby burden that needs to grow up quickly to become a helping hand for the village.
Every adult who said such things had the same expression as Yona.
Even if she got close, she would only receive curt words and sometimes even physical blows.

But Yona was different.
Only her expression was like that, and her way of speaking was rough.
Yona, whom she had spent these few days with, was a good person who bathed her and slept with her.

“How is it? Do you like it?”
Rubina nodded, turning her gaze back to the prairie outside the window.
It wasn’t a matter of liking it or not.
From the beginning, Rubina knew well that being with Sister Yona and Uncle Alec was only until here.

“I’m glad you like it.”
But she didn’t like it.
Rubina wanted to stay with Sister Yona and Uncle Alec.
She wanted to follow them.
But she couldn’t say that.
Rubina, only ten years old, knew all too well that she was just a hindrance and a nuisance to them.

“I like it. It seems like it would be good to stay here.”
No.
I want to be with you, sister, more than staying here.
I want to be with Uncle Alec, Uncle Kai, and Uncle James more than here.
Rubina suppressed those words.
Because it couldn’t be.
Because she didn’t want to be disliked by her sister for saying unnecessary things.
Rubina held it in tightly.
She locked away her true feelings that seemed about to burst out.

“Yes, it seems you can bring her in two days.”
“Two days from now, yes. I understand.”
Yona smiled brightly at the guidance nun.
The guidance nun, who said she was a junior of Teacher Eize, returned Yona’s smile with one as generous as her stature.

“Even though you’re a healer, you’re still a clergy after all. Senior Eize has raised her disciple well.”
If only it weren’t for that unnecessary modifier at the beginning.
Yona thought this but didn’t remove the smile from her face.
It wasn’t the first time hearing such words, and being a healer doesn’t mean she’s not clergy.

“In two days, I’ll make sure everything is prepared for her admission.”
“Yes, then in two days.”
Yona bowed politely.
Because of this, Rubina, standing next to her, also bowed deeply without knowing why, clasping her hands together and placing them on her navel.

“Little miss, let’s meet again in two days. Understood?”
Rubina smiled awkwardly at the guidance nun’s bright smile.
Her clasped hands were slightly damp with sweat.

“Then we’ll be going now.”
“Take care on your way.”
Yona stared at the closed iron gate for a moment after the final greeting, then turned around.
When a small warmth nestled into her hand, Yona grasped it tightly.

“…Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
Yona walked holding Rubina’s hand.
Although they had eaten breakfast at the inn, it had taken quite a while to get to this church orphanage, perhaps because the road was quite long.
Because of this, the sun was already high in the sky, and while the midday sun was blazing down, the early winter sea breeze blew, lightly ruffling their hair.

‘…I hope you don’t become a healer, Rubina.’
Honestly, it was impossible not to feel hurt pride.
The ability to externalize holy power or not.
Just that small difference, and yet healers can do everything priests can do…
‘I’m thinking unnecessary thoughts.’
Yona shook her head to clear away the stray thoughts.
It’s not something that can be controlled just by saying not to do it, and above all, there’s no guarantee of awakening holy power.
It’s not even funny to talk about healers or priests already.

The city at noon was full of vitality.
People’s faces were free of wrinkles, and their voices were loud, making everything bustling.
Moreover, carts full of fish and seafood were going around here and there, and seabirds were chirping and flying about in the sky.

The color of the city was grayish-white.
The sound of the blue sea could be heard from anywhere in the city, and the buildings touching that sea were built with gray-painted bricks, firmly holding their place.

Yona and Rubina walked hand in hand through the streets where people were actively coming and going.
Wondering what to eat, Yona looked around.
No matter how much she looked, all she could see were fish restaurants.

“…Rubina, have you ever eaten fish?”
“Fish?”
“Yes.”
Rubina looked up at Yona, rolling her pitch-black eyes.
Seeing that she didn’t even seem to know what fish was, Yona added an explanation.
“Something that lives in water.”
“Ah… No. Never.”

Then fish dishes are out.
Yona hadn’t eaten fish dishes since coming to this world, but she had eaten a lot in her original world.
Even with advanced cooking techniques that remove the fishy smell, fish dishes are divisive, and given how terrible the cooking is in this world, one shouldn’t expect the fishy smell to be handled well.
So if they serve fish to someone who has never eaten it before…
‘It would be a waste of money.’

Yona kept walking through the streets, looking around while holding Rubina’s hand.
After walking for a while, they suddenly found themselves in a square.
Looking around now, it seemed the city itself was circular in shape.
There was a square with a fountain in the center, and buildings seemed to be arranged in a large circle around this square.
And the square was so wide that you had to strain your eyes to see the buildings on the opposite side.

In the square, what looked like street stalls on carts were busy setting up and preparing.
Among them, there was one cart that had already started business, and it had a small hearth installed. On a grill placed over the hearth hung a large piece of meat, which the owner was diligently turning and grilling by hand.

‘That might be okay.’
The chunk of meat, dripping with fat, seemed to be well-cooked now, with its surface turned brown.
No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t seem like it could be fish, so Yona approached the cart, still holding Rubina’s hand.

“What kind of meat is this?”
“Welcome! This is pork!”
Yona inwardly frowned as she looked at the young man who answered cheerfully.
Pork, huh.
It doesn’t seem right.
Pork shouldn’t be cheap enough to be sold at a street stall like this.
Well, even if it’s wild boar, pig is pig.
Yona decided to think of it that way.

“Two portions, please.”
As soon as Yona ordered, the owner took out two pieces of bread from the display case and skillfully split them with a dull knife.
Then he thickly spread some unknown red sauce on the opened bread and generously sprinkled white powder on top.
Leaving the bread with its mouth wide open, he started to thinly slice the meat cooking on the hearth.

Very thin slices of meat fell like sheets of paper. He caught them on a small plate and continued slicing for quite a while, then started to push the meat between the bread.
The scene was so familiar that Yona couldn’t help but think she should have bought something else.
She didn’t expect to be buying the same meat sandwiches she ate to the point of boredom even here.

“That’ll be two coppers!”
It’s even expensive.

The long breakwater was quite nicely shaped.
It wasn’t a solid stone breakwater, but although it was made of wood, it was firmly fixed on top of large rocks, and at least its appearance was quite decent.

It seemed quite a few tourists came, as there were wooden benches on the breakwater. Yona and Rubina sat side by side on one of these benches, each holding a sandwich.
Rubina was staring blankly at the sea with a sandwich in one hand.

“So that’s the sea…”
Come to think of it, it seemed they hadn’t brought Rubina to the sea before.
Yona was born and raised by the sea, so there was nothing particularly amazing about it for her. Of course, it was the first time seeing a sea with so few ships, but the sea itself wasn’t amazing. But from Rubina’s perspective, it must be quite fascinating.

Rubina was so amazed by the sea that she was staring at it with her mouth wide open, not even thinking about eating the sandwich in her hand.

“Is it amazing?”
“It’s amazing how much water there is…”
“Is this your first time seeing the sea?”
“It seems bigger than ten of our village reservoirs…”
Ten, huh. Who knows how big that tiny village reservoir could be.
Rubina must have said the largest number she knew.
There was no need to point that out, so Yona took a bite of her sandwich and chewed.

“And there’s a strange smell…”
“That’s called a fishy smell.”
“Isn’t it the sea smell?”
“Uh… Yeah, sea smell. It’s better to call it sea smell.”
“Sea smell…”
As if just remembering, Rubina took a big bite of her sandwich.
After chewing the sandwich a few times and swallowing it, Rubina turned to Yona with a bright smile.

“I think I like the sea smell! Every time I smell the sea, I think I’ll remember eating here with you, sister!”
You’ll be thinking about it all the time.
Yona muttered inwardly.