When they pointed out that I didn't chant when using recovery magic, I looked back at Anna and the others, wondering what they were wondering about.
To be honest, I hesitated for a moment whether I should chant or not. However, I had cast recovery spells tens of thousands of times before, and I put a lot of power into each and every character of the incantation, so if I were to chant it without omitting any words, something terrible would happen, I realized at the last moment and stopped myself.
If I had cast the full spell, everyone in the building would probably have been healed. I thought that I wouldn't have any excuses if that happened, so I decided to leave it out. So my choice couldn't be wrong.
"Umm, well... this is the Great Saint's way, you know," I offered a universal excuse that would work for anyone.
This phrase, "The great saint's way," is convenient, isn't it? If I just say this, it's like magic words and everyone will understand.
...But it seemed I was wrong, as Anna looked surprised and widened her eyes. "Is that knowledge also obtained from a book? I can't believe it, but Fia, are you able to reproduce the Great Saint's magic just by reading it in a book?!"
Next, Melody exclaimed in disbelief, "You're a genius!!"
Katie also nodded vigorously, "Yes, I can't imagine that you could do the same things as the Great Saint just by reading a book!!"
"Oh, no, it's not as big a deal as you think," I said. This was bothering me, I thought these three people praised too much. I wished they had just brushed this off.
I was in a difficult position so I decided to laugh it off and cover it up, "Ehehe, the Great Saint's forbidden book describes her magic in great detail, so I'm just learning by example. If even I can do it, it must be surprisingly easy."
I looked at everyone with a fake smile on my face, and saw that not only Anna, Melody, and Katie, but also the two sweaty saints and the patients were looking at me with wide eyes.
Everyone just stared at me in silence, so I felt uncomfortable and decided to break the silence by asking Ludmilla, who had been angry until then. "Well, then, do you understand that there was another area left with an injury?" I asked her.
It shone so brightly and brilliantly, and the magic was cast so slowly it looked like slow motion, so I don't think there's any way you could not see it.
I tilted my head to one side, wondering what to think, and Ludmilla's expression suddenly changed from angry to open-mouthed, then she nodded vigorously with her mouth still hanging open.
"Oh, you got it. That's good," I tried to end the conversation by saying that if Ludmilla understood, then my goal had been achieved, but everyone just looked shocked and didn't move. Thinking that there was no other way, I spoke the words to settle the situation.
"Well, between you and me, I don't have much magical power, but I'm good at imitating other people's magic," I said. Since I hadn't made a contract with a spirit, I could only use one tenth of the magical power I had in my previous life, so it was not a complete lie, you see.
"You don't have much magical power? You cast a spell in such an instant?"
"Huh, in an instant?" I responded in confusion. It was extremely slow! That was what I thought, but then I remembered that it took Ludmilla and the others earlier 30 to 50 seconds. Maybe I should have used these two as my benchmark. Damn, I based it on my usual self.
"Well, in terms of magical speed, I've been using an ancient secret item given to me by the king to improve it. It doesn't seem to violate the rules of the selection meeting," I said. Being a saint recommended by the king was more convenient than I thought. When in trouble, I could just say, "It's all thanks to the King."
In fact, the royal castle's treasure vault should contain a lot of amazing things, so there might be some of the goods I mentioned.
Realizing that if I talked any more I would end up being exposed, I spun around and faced the clerk and the doctor. I decided to change who I was dealing with and asked them, "Did you see the effects of the healing magic? It looks like his chest is a bit damaged, you see."
From my impression when I spoke to him earlier, the doctor seemed like a quiet type, so I decided to change partners because I thought they would be able to understand my concerns quickly. And yet, for some reason, the doctor's demeanor changed completely from how it was earlier, and he approached me in an excited state and asked me, "Your Grace, how did you know? You weren't in charge of the previous patient, you were just watching the healing process from afar, right? How did you know the affected area was still there?!"
He was a real doctor. He asked detailed questions.
"It's the same as when you look at someone and you can tell if they're a child or an adult," I replied.
"It doesn't make sense!"
Yes, that was very clearly stated. "Well, look, there are red and white flowers in that vase. If I asked you to pick only the red flowers, you could definitely pick them out, right? That's it," I tried to explain.
"In real life, they would all just look like white flowers to me!!"
It's difficult, huh? How can I explain something that is obvious to someone who doesn't understand it at first glance? Finding this troublesome, I gave a small smile, "Maybe soon you'll start to see red flowers among white flowers."
Then I suggested to Anna and the others so that they changed the subject, "By the way, since the administrative officer is here, how about we treat the patient as well?"
"Huh? Ah, well, that's true. But Fia, you just activated a spell, so maybe we should hold off for now," Melody asked worriedly, so I waved my hand and said it was no problem.
"It's okay, I didn't use any magic power that time." (Fia)
"Y-You haven't used it at all? It was shining so brightly that I thought it must have been a huge amount of magical power." (Melody)
Ah, that's just a more flashy effect than usual, so it has nothing to do with the amount of magical power used, you see.
"I only use as much magical power as necessary in the areas that need it, so I can get by with less magical power than other people," I said. I was probably using less than half the magical power that Ludmilla used.
The patient looked skeptical, so I approached one of the patients, "Well, just watch. This person's symptoms are... numbness in the fingertips, so I'll only cast a spell on the fingertips of both hands."
I was told that my previous spell was too fast, so I should cast it more slowly. To make it easier to understand, I should make the effects flashier this time as well.
"Recovery," as I chant the spell, magic emerges from my hand and wraps around the patient's fingertips. Then, after shining brightly for about two seconds, it was quickly absorbed into the affected area.
It worked. I thought it was pretty self-explanatory to watch.
"See?" I turned to the Saints with a smile, and the Anna and the others cheered excitedly.
"Amazing! You treated him from scratch and it only took a moment!"
No, it took about two seconds!
"Fia, that's incredible control! I wonder how you can really only cast magic on your fingertips!!"
In fact, I first ran the magic over the patient's entire body to check if there was anything else wrong, but it was so fast they didn't see it. This was something they could remember later, so I wouldn't go into it today.
"You're not chanting this time either. What's going on with your magic, Fia?"
Hmm, there is a reason why I can't chant, or rather, I can't take responsibility for the results if I cast a spell with chanting, so I have no choice but to omit the spell.
All three of their questions were difficult to answer, so I just smiled, but then even Ludmilla, who was watching nearby, started asking questions in a trembling voice, "I can't believe it. There's no way you could cast a spell twice in such a short time, and there's no way you could cast a spell so precisely on the affected area. Plus, you've already healed two people and you haven't even broken a sweat. How much magical power do you have?!"
Oh dear, I guess you didn't hear my first story, huh?
"My magical power is not that great. I only cast magic on the affected area, so I can only use magic with less magical power than the others," I replied.
In this life where I didn't make contracts with spirits, my method should be very effective. Come on, please try it!
I puffed up my chest at the thought, but all that fell was silence and not a single voice asked me to teach them.
Huh?
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
Volume 10 of Daiseijo Comics and Volume 1 of Daiseijo ZERO Comics will be released on Wednesday, March 13th, and Volume 4 of Daiseijo ZERO Novel will be released on Friday, March 15th.
Thank you very much for your cooperation.