Cupid Priestess Diqiuya

Priestess Diqiuya of the Goddess of Love

In the worlds of the multiverse, gods were a common presence. They were not fictional idols conjured from thin air, nor were they deliberately deified accounts of heroic deeds, much less inexplicable natural phenomena.

Gods could perform miracles, gather followers, establish churches, spread their will and doctrines, and draw greater power from faith.

Yet just as no one could say exactly how many planes existed in the multiverse, the number of gods remained an unsolved mystery. And frankly speaking, these gods did not all share the same style.

Some were brave and resolute; some compassionate toward all living things. Some were domineering and cruel; others were utterly mad. It was difficult to sum them all up in a single sentence.

If they were to be classified, they could be divided by pantheon or by plane.

Among the classifications of gods were beings known as racial patron deities, such as Kurtulmak, god of kobolds; Yondalla, patron goddess of halflings; Moradin, chief god of dwarves; and so on.

These gods generally did not accept followers from other races. Most gods, however, did not particularly care what their followers were—or even whether they were human.

Naturally, gods could also be classified by their relationships with one another.

That was right. There was love, hatred, passion, and resentment between gods. Like mortals, they were steeped in schemes and calculations. Though gods like these did not feel particularly divine, they instead felt more real.

Gods generally dwelled within their own divine realms. They usually neither left them nor descended upon mortal planes, because doing so not only consumed a great deal of power, but once they left their divine realms, gods became as vulnerable to injury and death as mortals. They would no longer truly be gods, and that would give their enemies an opening.

Thus, if gods wished to manifest their will in the mortal world and spread the doctrines represented by their divine domains, they had to rely on the forces of the mortal world: those devout believers.

Such people were priests.

Priests were also spellcasters, but unlike mages, who gained their power through years of bitter study, priests did not learn their spells themselves. Their spells were bestowed by the gods they worshipped.

At a designated time each day, priests prayed before holy symbols or statues of their gods in order to receive divine spells. However, using those spells still consumed the priest's own mana, so divine spells could not be used without limit either.

What divine spells a priest could cast depended chiefly on their own requests, their personal abilities, the steadfastness of their faith, and how highly their god regarded them. Taken together, these factors determined how strong a priest was.

Since they did not need to devote all their time to researching spells, priests used that time to train with weapons and armor. On top of that, divine spells had far lower requirements for gestures, incantations, and materials than magic did. Thus, they could wear heavy armor and wield weapons without any burden, charging into the front lines to cut people down while scattering deadly spells.

To be precise, the term spellcaster originally referred specifically to priests. But there was a group of people with rebellious bones in the backs of their heads and an intense spirit of inquiry who simply refused to believe that. They cracked the secrets of divine spells, allowing more people to use spells without needing to worship gods.

That was how magic came to be.

Thus, divine spells and magic had many spells with exactly the same names and effects. Some more radical churches fiercely rejected mages, calling them spell thieves—people who stole the gods' magic.

By now, magic far outnumbered divine spells, but there was one ability the spell thieves had not taken away.

That was the healing power of divine spells.

Priests could instantly heal wounds, dispel diseases, drive away curses and toxins, even regrow severed limbs and bring the dead back to life.

Saying it had not been taken away was not entirely accurate, because magic had indeed found another path to accomplish what priests could do. It was simply that the requirements for those spells were extremely demanding, and their cost was difficult to bear.

I recorded this in my notes not because I want you, who are reading them, to judge whether priests or mages are more badass. Rather, I hope that you—who may also have come from Earth—will remember this clearly.

Gods exist, as real as you and me.

—Excerpt from Demon King Atlas's Notes

By the time everyone bade farewell to the caravan and returned to the Adventurer School in Naspar, the third morning class was almost over. In other words, they had skipped the entire morning's lessons.

That was not a major problem. The first month was all basic training, and to put it bluntly, most of the classes were repetitive. Missing a few days would not make them fall behind.

But after returning, they could not simply head back to their dorms, lie down, and wait for lunch, because they still had injuries to deal with.

As the saying went, injured tendons and bones took a hundred days to heal. Bone injuries were far harder to recover from than mere flesh wounds. Whether it was a fracture or a crack, once you were put in a splint or cast, all you could do was slowly recuperate.

Even though people in this world were physically robust, bone injuries could not possibly heal in just a few days. They still required a long time.

But that did not mean there were no other methods.

Of the many available options, the most common were healing potions and seeking help from priests.

There was no temple within the Adventurer School. Supposedly, this was to ensure the school's neutrality and prevent it from favoring any particular faction. Yet adventuring was inherently dangerous work. Even during training, students had to undertake missions frequently, and injuries were unavoidable.

Being forced to rest for at least one or two months over a fracture would severely slow an adventurer's development. After all, the entire course of study was only two years long, and missions had to be undertaken constantly during that time.

Therefore, priests were stationed at the school. Back when the Demon King of Tyranny was still around, every temple had sent people over. At its peak, nearly a hundred priests skilled in healing had been on hand at all times, providing medical care that even kings, nobles, generals, and ministers could not enjoy.

There were also many priests among the students. Even among the more than sixty students in Pei Renli's year, there were several. They could handle ordinary cuts and bruises, but for injuries that were too complicated or severe, it was better to find someone experienced, lest a medical dispute break out.

Like most benefits that had been abolished after the Demon King of Tyranny vanished, the Adventurer School now had only one priest. And this priest...

Anyway, most students generally chose to sneak into the infirmary for medicine in the evening, after the priest had gotten off work. They really did not want to run into her.

This time, that was impossible. A fracture could not be handled by casually smearing on some medicine, so after entering the school, everyone made straight for the infirmary.

Incidentally, Pei Renli had carried Koura on his back all the way there, and just as she had said herself, it really did feel great...

Pushing open the infirmary door, the group filed in one after another.

The school infirmary had more than ten beds separated by gauze curtains. Though it could not compare to the resources available during its heyday, it was more than enough now.

Along one side of the long, narrow infirmary stood a row of medicine cabinets. Right beside the entrance was a desk, where the priest serving as the school doctor sat at her writing table, writing furiously. Her quill scratched softly against the paper.

"Are you hurt? Find somewhere to sit first. Give me a moment to finish this last bit."

Her voice was like a golden oriole's song, sweet and crisp. Just hearing it seemed to brighten one's mood.

The priest wore a beige robe, with two thick black braids draped down her back. She was pure and innocent, yet possessed an adorable girlish charm.

But if this priest had not been eight chi tall and covered in bulging muscle, with mighty biceps that made one's head spin every time she moved an arm, she really would have been adorable...

"Where are you hurt? Let me see."

Setting down her quill, Pei Renli turned to look at the people who had just sat down on the bed. Her perfectly square face, thick double chin, and huge mouth, bloodily smeared from far too much lipstick, all made him fight the urge to flee.

"We got hit by a warhammer. Mine's on my thigh, Eve's is on her left arm, and Kaya's injury is on her shoulder."

Koura let go of Pei Renli's neck and sat down on the bed as she spoke, prompting him to hastily dodge to the side.

The school doctor was named Diqiuya. Though her appearance was rather difficult to put into words, she was indeed a woman. Supposedly, she had graduated from this very school over twenty years ago. After she stopped being an adventurer, she had remained here as the school doctor.

She swiftly examined everyone's injuries. Standing beside her, the three girls, none of them particularly short, all looked like dolls by comparison.

"The two of you aren't seriously hurt."

Priest Diqiuya pointed at Koura and Eve, then turned to Kaya.

"Your situation is rather more complicated."

That made Kaya somewhat worried. To an adventurer, their body was their greatest capital. If something went wrong, reduced combat ability would be the least of their problems—it might even directly end their adventuring career.

Kaya's condition truly was troublesome. Even the doctor summoned for emergency treatment yesterday had said he could not easily lay a hand on her injury.

"Don't worry. A complicated condition doesn't mean it can't be treated."

She grabbed Kaya's arm.

"I've handled this sort of injury many times. Relax."

Before her words had even faded, there came a crack. It sounded exactly like someone twisting an arm until it broke.

Healing spells were not omnipotent, especially since Kaya's bone might have suffered a complicated fracture. Directly using divine magic to heal it could cause the bone to grow back crooked.

So it had to be set first.

This sudden attack made Kaya's eyes go round as saucers. It was clearly excruciating.

"Not bad. It didn't shatter too thoroughly, or it would've been difficult to deal with."

Seeing this, Pei Renli asked, "What would you do if it were too serious?"

"Chop it off, then let it grow back."

"..."

Wasn't that far too brutal? What if the spine were injured and caused paralysis? Amputate everything below the neck?

In truth, the method Priest Diqiuya mentioned was indeed quick and effective. Rather than treating a complicated fracture, it was faster simply to amputate and use magic to make it grow back.

But after hearing that, and seeing Kaya's expression, Koura and Eve both seemed to break out in a cold sweat.

"Don't be afraid. You two will have to go through this too. The doctor who treated you did a decent job, but he probably didn't set everything properly."

In other words, no one was getting out of it. Everyone had to take that crack.

Then, Pei Renli, standing off to one side, heard more crisp cracks of bone, along with muffled but still uncontrollable cries of pain.

After finishing, Priest Diqiuya went over to the medicine cabinet, apparently mixing some kind of potion.

Pei Renli quickly moved aside so he would not block her way, ending up beside the medicine cabinet, in front of the desk near the door.

Glancing over, he happened to notice a framed photograph on the desk.

This world had photographs too, but unlike photographs taken with cameras on Earth, the pictures here were created with a spell called the Photographic Spell, which could imprint the scenery one saw onto paper.

Since it was magic, the quality of the photograph also depended on the caster. The stronger the mage, the clearer the photograph they produced; conversely, it could be blurry, or even colorless like a simple sketch.

The photograph on the desk was exceptionally clear.

It showed a girl who looked around seventeen or eighteen. She wore heavy scale armor and held a shield inlaid with a holy symbol and a mace, looking every inch the valiant warrior.

Her short black hair had two playful little braids carefully woven at the back of her head. She smiled sweetly at the "camera," and even Pei Renli, who had seen countless pictures of beauties touched up with Photoshop, was conquered by that smile after just one glance.

Priest Diqiuya noticed Pei Renli's reaction and casually remarked while holding a medicine bottle, "Pretty photograph, isn't it?"

Pei Renli immediately came back to himself. Compared to the photograph, Priest Diqiuya really was a little...

Too horrible to look at?

Of course, he could not put it that way.

He pointed at the frame. "Who's in the photograph?"

"Me."

"Your daughter? Your niece?"

"I said, it's me."

"..."

Pei Renli was not hard of hearing. He simply did not want to accept that fact...