Meanwhile, on the road to a nearby town, not long after Luo Ge had left the village.
An urgent shout suddenly came from behind him.
"Wait!"
"Please... please wait!!"
Luo Ge looked back and saw a figure sprinting from the village entrance.
His steps staggered, and he was almost using every ounce of strength to catch up. The cold wind poured into his robes, making them flap loudly.
Luo Ge narrowed his eyes slightly-the man looked a little familiar.
It was an old man with a white beard.
Oh, now he remembered.
It was the beginner magician he had met at Sara's house.
Why was he chasing after me?
Just as Luo Ge grew wary, the white-bearded old man lunged forward and threw himself at him, moving far too quickly for someone over fifty.
Luo Ge instinctively thought he was under attack, and his body reacted before his brain did-
A reflex.
He threw a punch.
With a dull thud, the old man flew backward more than ten meters, crashed heavily onto the ground, and rolled twice before stopping.
Yet the old man seemed unable to feel pain. Even as he lay on the ground, he kept muttering things Luo Ge couldn't quite make out.
"Ooooohhh-"
"A miracle... this is simply a miracle!"
"Wonderful!!"
Luo Ge froze for a moment, then suddenly realized.
The man didn't seem to have come to attack him.
So he walked over and asked out of concern, "Um... are you all right?"
The moment the old man saw Luo Ge approach.
He sprang up as though electrocuted, then dropped to both knees and gazed up at Luo Ge with an almost fanatical look.
He looked as though he were gazing up at a savior.
"Y-you're a god? Oh, no! Please forgive my insolence, Lord Saint Millis. I deserve to die for harboring such heretical thoughts!"
As he spoke, he slid to his knees before Luo Ge and began bowing and kowtowing repeatedly. "You must be the child of god Lord Saint Millis sent to redeem me! Please forgive my earlier insolence, I beg you!!"
"..."
Luo Ge was completely dumbfounded by the sight.
An old-timer really was an old-timer. Over fifty and still so energetic-he could practically give those spirited young punks a run for their money.
Just as Luo Ge was puzzling over this, unable to make sense of the situation.
The old man suddenly raised his head and stared fixedly at Luo Ge as though looking up at a legend, as if his whole body were glowing.
"Please allow me to introduce myself."
"My name is Pierre. I am a beginner healing magician and a devout follower of Millis."
"A follower of Millis?"
"Huh, I think this otherworldly mom of mine is one of those followers too..." Luo Ge was somewhat surprised.
Pierre gave Luo Ge no chance to interject and continued his frantic rambling. "Though this may be rather forward, I still wish to ask..."
"What rank was the magic you just used?"
"Why did I find, after examining Funika, that all her bodily functions had returned to perfect health?"
"This is simply art! The art of healing! Your mastery of magic is a rarity in this world."
"Compared to you, I can only claim a superficial grasp."
"That healing technique went far beyond anything I understood..."
Watching the old man lost in his frenzy, Luo Ge suddenly remembered the look his best friend in his previous life would get whenever he saw his anime goddess.
That almost obsessive look.
This was every bit its equal, if not more... that obsession, that fanaticism, that almost religious devotion.
"May I ask... please, you must tell me!"
"Just what rank of healing magic did you use? I beg you!"
By this point, Pierre had prostrated himself completely, his forehead pressed into the dirt, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
Luo Ge had wanted to turn around and leave, not bothering with him.
But precisely because he had seen such a look before, he suddenly found himself reminded of his best friend from his previous life.
If he had given him a proper helping hand when he was struggling back then, perhaps his life wouldn't have turned into such a mess afterward.
Even the chance at reincarnation that had finally been his had been snatched away midway by Luo Ge.
That strange feeling made Luo Ge feel as though something had quietly jabbed his heart.
He took a deep breath, his narrowed gaze settling on the old man kneeling on the ground. "Since you want to know... in light of your devotion, I'll tell you."
"Ooh, oooooh... is this really happening?! I'm so deeply moved!"
Pierre nearly burst into tears on the spot. "You must be the child of god Lord Saint Millis sent to guide me! Oh! I'm so happy, so moved!"
"Ahem, calm down."
Luo Ge offered a reminder.
Pierre immediately covered his mouth and fell silent as obediently as a child.
It was as though, if Luo Ge ordered him to die now, he would do so without hesitation.
Seriously, were people in this other world... all this weird?
Though Luo Ge grumbled inwardly, he still intended to do something. "Hmm... as you saw, the healing magic I just used-was God Rank."
He had thought the man might doubt him or hesitate.
Yet the moment Pierre heard this, he clapped his hands over his mouth and began making strange, muffled cries again. "Ohhh! So it really... really was God-Rank Healing Magic?! I knew it... just as I thought."
"But wasn't that legendary magic lost long ago?! To think I'd see someone cast it with my own eyes in my lifetime..."
"Hey, you don't doubt me at all? What if I'm lying?" Luo Ge asked curiously.
"That cannot be, because I just witnessed it with my own eyes! I also examined her repeatedly afterward. Your magic was simply miraculous, far beyond any ordinary healing spell."
Pierre's voice was incredibly excited. "Ordinary healing magic treats someone, but your magic... has already gone beyond treatment. It truly restores a person's bodily functions to their peak!"
"It's as though time flows backward for that person! Wonderful! This is nothing short of a miracle descending upon us!"
As Pierre spoke, he suddenly kowtowed hard. "Please, you must take me as your disciple! Master! Honored Master! Please let me remain by your side and serve you."
"I'll work like an ox or a horse. So long as I can behold your greatness, I would have no regrets even in death!"
"There's no need for that."
Luo Ge shook his head. "I like traveling alone. The place I'm heading to next is very far away, so taking someone along wouldn't be suitable."
"Oh, I've been rejected..."
Pierre lowered his head in anguish, like an abandoned old dog.
Luo Ge placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious just yet. Although I can't take you as my disciple."
"If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"T-teach me?!"
Pierre jerked his head up, his expression frozen.
"I'm a very generous person."
Luo Ge narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled. "God-Rank Healing Magic is just another spell to me. If you want it, I can teach you right here."
"Master!"
"Ah, Master! Is this true?!" Shock filled Pierre's face. His eyes instantly grew wet, and cloudy old tears streamed down his cheeks.
"It's true."
"I never lie to deceive people." Luo Ge smiled openly.
Pierre opened his mouth, his lips trembling several times before he finally spoke as though using all his strength. "God-Rank Healing Magic... something so precious, and you're actually willing to pass it on to me!!"
"...Ooooh! I'm so happy!!"
"Master has placed such high hopes in me. I'm truly moved!"
Then he suddenly raised his sleeve and wiped his face hard, his expression abruptly turning serious. "But, honored Master, please allow your disciple to refuse."
"Huh?"
"Refuse?"
"What's going on? Didn't you want to learn?"
Pierre drew a deep breath, and a rare clarity actually appeared in his cloudy eyes. "To be honest with you, honored Master... I want to learn God-Rank Healing Magic. I've dreamed of learning it all my life."
"But I know my talent cannot compare to yours, honored Master. Forcing myself to master power on that level would be no different from a child swinging a giant axe, hurting others and myself."
He touched his gleaming glasses, straightened them, and slowly spoke. "I wonder if you've heard of a very famous play in this country, honored Master-the story of Aldebaran, the Golden Knight?"
"Huh?"
Luo Ge froze.
Pierre began recounting the tale. "Aldebaran, the Golden Knight, earned illustrious military honors during the second Human-Demon War and performed countless meritorious deeds for humanity."
"Yet after achieving fame and success, he was feared and betrayed by his subordinates and brutally murdered. This is the most widely circulated play in the Asura Kingdom... those who possess power beyond their own station will ultimately meet their downfall."
"God-Rank Healing Magic is far too precious, enough to drive anyone in the world mad."
"I have enough self-awareness to know that learning this spell would be difficult for me. Even if I barely managed to learn it, I couldn't control its power, and it would bring disaster upon me."
"Then I would not only live without peace of mind but also invite trouble. Rather than that, I would be better off letting go decisively from the start."
Luo Ge gave him a rather surprised look.
Surprising. Very surprising.
This man saw things far more clearly than he had imagined.
Not only could he control his desires without losing sight of himself, but he was even clearheaded enough to refuse something he had always dreamed of.