Claire fell asleep while I held her in my arm and we eventually made it into Dorrendale. We were completely soaked, but the people seemed to know we were in danger. People came up to me, taking Claire out of my arms and telling me to follow them so she could be hospitalized.
"What happened to you two?" The people asked. They seemed to be of the demi-human variant. Some of them had tails and ears on the top of their heads, instead of the sides.
"This is separate, don't worry about me. I'm a healing mage, but I'm worried she has a concussion. She definitely has a fever as well." I told the people, but they insisted that I be seen by the doctors as well... they were really kind people.
I got in and sat down on patterned chairs, letting the nurses use magic to observe my condition. "You're right... you healed this up really well, what tier of healing mage are you?" One of the doctors asked me.
"Would you believe me if I told you?" I asked him. I had full intentions of leaking my identity... this world needed a Hero more than ever, and with the tension in the lobby of the hospital talking about 'Gaia was destroyed' and so many other things... there was no time like right now.
"Depends. I'm a Tier Four Mage. Are you close to that?" The doctor asked me. He put the stethoscope up to my chest, and I looked up to him with a smile as my heartbeat accelerated.
"I'm the Magic Hero, Anima," I told him. Every nurse and other doctors in the room paused as they looked at me. I could tell they wanted to play it off as a joke, but the doctor examining my heart rate shook his head.
"You're not lying, that's for sure... what are you doing here? Does the Magic Hero really have business this little to show up in our town? And wait... aren't you supposed to be with Sieve?!" The doctor asked me.
I shook my head to all of his questions. "I'm here because of Claire, that little girl. Joro, the Lord of Elements froze over the town of Zyphilia, and Gaia was destroyed by the other soldiers of Sieve. This girl was the only survivor I found in Gaia and I immediately brought her here." I told the doctor.
"Fever and a light concussion. You were right to bring her here... what about you, Mr. Magic Hero?" The doctor examining Claire finished up and sat down next to me too with his thermometer and whatever other doctor tools he had.
"I don't have time to be sick. Give me whatever I need to take to be good again, and let me go." I told him. I was pretty adamant about getting to Sieve, talking with Fuki one more time, and telling him I'd officially be fighting against Sieve instead of avoiding them, so long as Joro still lives, I still have people I need to defeat." I told the doctors.
"So... if the Heroes were summoned in Sieve to fight against us, why are you in our nation? Did something happen?" The doctor giving Claire medicine was the one asking questions while the nurses sat and watched. I felt quite comfortable regardless of all the stares, probably because of the familiarity of the hospital room. It reminded me of the ones back on Earth.
"I was kicked out because I was thought to be one of you guys and not a 'Human', as those pretentious pricks call themselves," I explained to the doctors. One by one, they seemed to connect some puzzle pieces together. Was there a mystery I didn't know about?
"Well... we technically are Demons, so to speak. We didn't originate from Humans, we originated from a collection of people from Eribus, the moon floating in the sky right above us. Those people on Eribus were the ones who brought their bloodlines down to Erinautis and eventually created us. We're the dominant race, but the Humans who lived on Erinautis were never eager to share their space with us. We stayed out of their way until the Humans destroyed themselves, and now they summoned the Heroes meant to defend us to wipe us out." The doctor explained.
"I see... so, they were right about you?" I asked him in response. He shook his head and looked down as if he was ashamed.
"Pick your head up. I don't care if you're animals for crying out loud, your kind doesn't deserve this treatment, especially if you didn't choose to be born here. They'll just have to accept it and move on... and if they can't learn to share this land with you, then I'll get rid of all of them."
"Sheesh, does a Hero say those things out loud?" The doctor nervously laughed. He was right... but I wasn't a Hero anymore, apparently.
"Your definition of a superhero... is it the man who saves the world? One who would sacrifice the lives of few citizens for the greater good?" I asked the doctor. Like everybody else, he nodded. I figured that would be it.
"Unfortunately, I'm not a superhero. Those people in Sieve have a very high chance of being targets for my skills if they cross paths with me. I don't care about saving lives, I care about enacting justice. That doesn't mean I'd go out and kill citizens, but it means that I'll defend myself if I have to, no matter what the person is." I told the doctors.
That's right. The soldiers were once citizens too. Those citizens in Sieve get to live their lives happily, while so many of my friends are slaughtered by those citizens. I haven't even come close to feeling the injustice I'm sure these doctors and nurses have felt... but I owe it to them to wholeheartedly fight for them.
"We appreciate it, Mr. Magic Hero. We know, it's hard to be a Hero and our last Hero with us had a hard time finding the right thing to do. He was conflicted and had to be killed because of that conflict... but it seems you have a pretty clear mind. You're always welcome to Dorrendale." The doctor said.
"Thanks, I need to talk to the Mayor in town to see if I can get a place here," I told the doctor. After I brought that up, I remembered what Lolo and I used to do for a living.
"Oh. I have something for you if it'll help." I handed over my health potions of maximum quality, practically dropping everybody's jaw in the room.
"H-How did you get so many of these? These are worth a fortune!" The doctor said. I explained my skill and how I always produced the highest quality potions. The doctor smiled with anticipation, he must've wanted to buy some.
"I will give you twenty in exchange for proper equipment, spells, and a map of the country. Sound like a deal?" I asked him. The doctor shook my hand.
"I guess it's time I tell you... I'm the town's mayor, Borealis. I work part-time as a doctor, but I mainly have a job in the political office." Borealis explained.
"How much would you charge for the potions if we wanted a steady supply? Nobody in this town would ever even have a common cold with these potions." Borealis said. They must've been worth a lot... but if I had housing here and good equipment for myself, I didn't really need anything else. I had a goal and didn't want luxuries until that goal was fulfilled.
"You make sure Claire is repaired and has her missing eye back, I'll give you twenty more. That reminds me, what can you do about my arm?" I pointed to my arm, asking Borealis.
"Nothing. We can't do anything for missing limbs, but we can do an organ transfer using [Heal 8] with a mage. I predict missing limbs to be around [Heal 11] if anybody can actually get to that skill. We have to call in a specialist from the capital, New Olympia, to get [Heal 8]." Borealis explained.
"So, will you keep Claire here overnight? I need to make sure she's okay." I told Borealis.
"Oh come on, I know Claire. That's my niece." Borealis told me.
"Niece? Does that mean she has royal blood?" I asked him, but Borealis shook his head. He told me 'royal blood' wasn't a real thing.
"Then I'll find somewhere to sleep. Can I take a spare room?" I asked him. He showed me my way to a room over and got me a meal before leaving me alone. It was a lot harder to eat food with only one arm. I guess now I was more worried about my arm than ever because I knew how hard it was to repair it with healing magic. It seemed almost unlikely I'd ever get my left arm back... tomorrow, I would ask if they had any prosthesis I could have in the meantime while I learned how to get [Heal 11].