I looked at the woman, unable to formulate an answer. At least not immediately. Declaring that I was from the Eldanveir family would be stupid. But I also knew that trying to act like I wasn’t noble wouldn’t work. The clothes I had on were enchanted. I was a young Rank 3.

That alone should make it easy to tell that I was a noble.

“And what if I do not wish to reveal it?” I countered.

Miss Emily looked me up and down, frowning as she heard my words. “Then I suppose it ain’t any of my business. But don’t you bring any trouble on my doorstep. If someone comes asking for you, imma hand you right over.”

I blinked. That was surprising. I wondered if she would have protected me if I had gone ahead and told her who I was. Hmm, probably not. This was the Eldanvier we were talking about.

“I do not care about that.” I told her. “Can you heal her?”

Miss Emily looked at Elena. “Bring her inside and I will see to it. And it will cost you. I don’t do free work for those I don’t know.”

I winced. “I, ugh, don’t really have -”

Miss Emily waved her hand, dismissing my words. “The lad tells me you can heal. Pay me in that. There are plenty I can’t do much for around here.”

The woman walked into her house. I followed hesitantly, unsure if I would actually be able to do it. Healing Elena hadn’t been the most conscious of my spells. Not to mention the fact that Light mana had protested against it. I hadn’t noticed much of a difference when casting my fear shield, but healing was bound to be a different matter.

That was what Light mana was protesting. What were the chances the System notification had just been having fun? That Light mana wouldn’t actually turn up and cause problems?

“I—um,“ I began speaking as I entered the door. Miss Emily turned around, glaring at me.

“What?”

“I don’t know if I can really heal. I haven’t really done it before.” I explained.

“The lad tells me otherwise.”

“That was my first time.” I answered.

Miss Emily scoffed. “There’s a boy with a broken foot around the corner. Try out your magic on him. I’ll take a look at your girl after.”

I looked at her.

“What? I ain’t working before you pay me.” Miss Emily continued glaring at me, as if daring me to protest.

I did so anyway. “I might harm the boy. Even kill him. Magic is dangerous.”

Another scoff. “Then you’ll be doing him a favor. The boy’s father already left him, and my work ain’t gonna regrow legs. The skin’s rotting already, the boy ain’t gonna live the night. Would’ve killed him if you hadn’t come around.”

There were plenty of words in there that alarmed me. But one in particular caught my attention. The skin was rotting. There was a medical word for that kind of condition. I had forgotten what.

But it was a serious thing. I knew that magic, at least light magic, could heal it. What I had was Darkness magic. Would that work?

And why was there a dying kid just waiting for me to heal? Wasn’t that just a little too convenient. I winced as a thud echoed through the room, followed by the sound of something splatting against the floor.

I made the idiotic decision of looking. A mistake. Miss Emily had just cut off someone’s arm. That was not all. The arm had rotting skin, black and green dots lined across it in something far too reminiscent of mold.

“Is this kind of thing…normal?” I asked. “Are there a lot of people with rotting skin around here?”

Was this some disease? This seemed a particularly bad one. This place was underwater. Wouldn’t that make them more available for such diseases?

“The bunch of em tried hunting a fish.” Miss Emily said. “Just poison they said. Well, they won’t be saying that again. So you gonna heal the boy or let him die?”

“Oh, uh.” I stammered, unable to come up with an answer. The fools had tried taking on a beast. That put things in perspective. I could see how they would have access—there were holes in the walls.

Well, if there were poisonous fish around here, perhaps such injuries weren’t uncommon.

“I’ll give it a try.” I said, not seeing any harm in it.

Miss Emily pointed to a bed not far away. The room was just beds really. Two rows of beds lined up against each other, patients stuffed onto them. More than a dozen people were standing around, though what illness they had I couldn’t tell. But one thing was clear.

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Miss Emily had more clients than she could deal with. Perhaps that was why she was so eager to let me have a try. I went to the bed she was pointing at, and looked at its occupant. There was a boy sleeping on it.

A boy that was probably older than me. I glared at Miss Emily. I had been under the impression it was a literal child that was injured. But apparently it was an older teenager. I couldn’t tell how old exactly, but over seventeen.

Still too young to die like this. The black and green mold covered most of his body. I felt vomit force itself up my throat at the sight. Hundred was too young to die like this.

I called on my mana—and then stopped. I didn’t know how to approach this. Fear wouldn’t work, and neither would a determination to kill. I wasn’t trying to kill the guy.

What emotion could I use? I needed one to call upon mana. The power of the spell was clearly dependent on it too. Did pity count? I tried it, only to receive no answer from Darkness mana.

So that was out. What else? I could try targeting the mold itself. I should also stop calling it mold. Miss Emily had called it rot. The woman probably knew what she was talking about.

Wait, did I know that? I looked around. There were a lot of people here. The amount of clients a business had was a good indication of how good it was. So many people would not come here if she was a fake.

And I really should focus on this guy. I called on my mana, focusing on my determination to kill just the rot. A bolt appeared in my hands. I slowly pushed it towards the skin, hoping that it worked.

I felt the boy’s mana cloak react, trying to defend itself. Of course, I could overpower it easily. But the reaction I felt from the bolt of darkness made me stop. The bolt was targeting the boy. The boy in general, not the mold. I could feel it within the mana.

This would not work.

I groaned, running my fingers through my hair as I dismissed the bolt. The determination to kill was just too…killy. In retrospect, it seemed obvious. Why would magic based on my determination to kill not want to, well, kill? I was stupid to even try.

But now I needed another feeling. The question was the same. What would lead Darkness to heal someone? How had I done it before?

I had used suffering. Elena’s suffering, the same thing she had used to power her spells. Would it work for someone that didn’t use darkness magic? I could try.

I called on my mana, trying to grasp the feeling. The boy’s skin was rotting. There were mold-like spots of black and green, something that he would have to suffer against for the rest of his life. That was suffering. I wanted to stop it.

Darkness mana responded. The response was weak, like it hadn’t yet decided if it should support me. I looked at the boy’s body again. A feeling of disgust came over me. The rotting skin was disgusting. There was mold in places where there should not be.

The reaction was impolite and improper. But it was my reaction anyway. The scene was just that disgusting. The boy would have to deal with that reaction for the rest of his life.

I imagined his face when he saw that. Wait, I couldn’t. The boy’s face was rotting too. I couldn’t see his expression through it. I felt vomit rise up from my stomach at the thought. Mana chose that moment to answer my call.

Just imagining it was horror enough. The suffering I had inflicted upon myself just from imagining myself in its position was enough. The magic worked.

Darkness swept around the boy, covering it in its embrace. I prepared to guide it to heal him. Mana seemed to be listening to me this time around. Then I found that I couldn’t.

Light mana erupted from somewhere around me, rushing to break Darkness’ hold. I fought to hold my spell, trying to keep the emotion clear in my mind. But I found that I couldn’t. Light mana entered my mana cloak and slipped into my mind, accompanied by emotions of its own.

I suddenly found myself no longer feeling disgusted at him. The feeling just disappeared. Then Darkness mana decided to enter my mind. The feeling returned, stronger than before. But this time it was different, more overwhelming. Not natural.

The mana was manipulating my mind, or at least my emotions. I shook my head, trying to cast them off. Of course, they did not agree with me. Light mana blazed into my skull, bringing with it a wave of positive emotions.

I found myself happy that I was given this opportunity. A feeling of love and pity towards the boy—what the heck? I growled, snapping myself out of it. More Darkness tried to enter into my mind, but I forced it out.

I had to keep them out. I stopped the spell, focusing on keeping mana out of my mind. Light mana stopped once the spell was gone, no longer blaring happy feelings into my head. Darkness mana stopped acting strangely.

The cause of this was clear. Light mana was not willing to allow me to cast a healing spell using Darkness. I was not aware that it could use mind magic to serve its purpose. Darkness was known to me. But even Light, its enemy?

I needed to get these dogs under control. Or I needed to avoid situations where I was set against them in the first place.

I felt the light mana remain in my head, not willing to give it up completely. The thing was stubborn. But I wasn’t about to let it have its way. I forced it out of my brain, feeling Darkness mana come to my aid to do so. Then I had Darkness mana move out too. Thankfully, anger was good at making it do things.

Affinity for Light has increased.

Light prepares for an awakening.

I looked at that. Light was preparing for an awakening. That was fast. I’d had to face tests and challenges for my Darkness mana to awaken. But Light mana was here already? Well, there was the fact that it was already one of my minor elements. Perhaps that made it come faster.

But it still felt very odd to me.

“Darkness,” Miss Emily said from beside me. I jumped, not having realized that she had gotten so close to me.

“What?” I asked.

“Darkness healing. That was what you were trying, yes?”

I nodded.

“Just give up. Light mana ain’t gonna allow you to do it. The spell works once and then Light gets in your face about it. That’s known. Light protests whenever Darkness advances. And the girl’s fine. Don’t need to pay me for healing her when I didn’t do anything.”

Miss Emily walked away. I saw Elena lying down on one of the beds nearby. Then I turned to look at the boy.

“What about him?” I asked.

Miss Emily turned to look at me, and then looked at the boy. “Oh him? Well he won’t survive the night. I wasn’t lying when I said I couldn’t heal him. A pity, The lad was nice enough.”