#02. Irreversible

 The rough footsteps resonated through her body from the ground beneath.

 Soon after, she saw her brothers’ faces contorting in various expressions of shock at her blood and pain, as if filled with regret.

 That change breathed a small glimmer of hope into her.

 Yes, you are shocked after all. You don’t think nothing of my death after all.

 “……Tanie!”

 The gazes she had always yearned to feel were now filled only with her.

 For a moment, foolish expectations raised their head again.

 She wished they would embrace her, even if it was just pretense.

 She hoped they would grieve, tell her she was precious, that they actually cared for and loved her deeply in their hearts, and beg her not to die.

 If they would just acknowledge that she meant something to her family, that her existence had been helpful to them, then…… she felt she could close her eyes without wanting anything more.

 However,

 “—Grand Duke!”

 The moment that voice rang out, she realized her wishes would crumble in vain.

 ‘Fionia.’

 Fionia Phoenix.

 The Phoenix ducal family were mortal enemies who despised each other so much it was said they couldn’t live under the same sky as our Dragonia, and Lady Fionia was the precious jewel of that Phoenix family.

 So normally, the three brothers of Dragonia should have growled at the mere sight of her, but,

 “Fionia!”

 Reality was different.

 When the pink silhouette appeared in the distance against the sunlight, her family’s faces, which always frowned when looking at her, brightened noticeably.

 It was understandable. Unlike her, Fionia Phoenix was a blessed saintess born with true purification powers.

 Unlike her who would barely manage to relieve her brothers’ side effects before collapsing, Fionia could easily purify them.

 The real and the fake.

 A substitute that could never be genuine.

 Perhaps that’s why. While her family’s faces would crumple in disgust at the mere sight of her, they would brighten at the sight of Fionia.

 And once again, her family’s gazes that had been directed at herself instantly turned toward her.

 Upon seeing Fionia, Father commanded something and her brother ran to her.

 The family whose love she craved and yearned to be loved by turned to the more radiant Fionia.

 As if they had forgotten about her.

 Her thin hand that had reached out toward her family fell limply into the snow. Then her body too lay down on the cold mountain.

 Her hope, frozen by the cold, finally shattered into pieces.

 In the end, she was abandoned once again in the face of death.

 The tears that flowed between her hot eyelids froze as they ran down her cheeks.

 Come to think of it, it was only natural. A dying substitute would be worth less than the living genuine article.

 ‘Even though I knew.’

 Yet I hoped and expected again. She laughed. She found herself ridiculous.

 ‘Really, how pathetic……’

 She felt that ending up like this was her own doing.

 Who would care for someone so foolish?

 When even she didn’t care for herself.

 When she treated herself so worthlessly that she would give everything to those who didn’t love her, who would value her?

 Was it because she had given up everything? Her body rapidly grew cold and stiff.

 “—Partanie!”

 For a moment she felt as if someone’s arms were embracing her, but it must have been an illusion. Her frozen body had long since lost all sensation.

 “No, no, no……”

 “Quickly, bring Fionia Phoenix!”

 “Open your eyes, Partanie! You can’t die like—!”

 “Why did I bring that thing here……”

 Someone touched her field of vision and harsh shouts poured out. At that moment, the snowstorm raged wildly, covering her eyes and disturbing her hearing.

 It was rather fortunate.

 ‘That was close. I almost believed it was real.’

 The hallucination created by my miserable longing… that perhaps my family would embrace me and regret at the last moment.

 How desperate must I have been for love, how much must I have begged for their attention and concern, to have such delusions?

 She smiled as she exhaled her last breath. And closed her eyes.

 Hoping to never see them again.

 ***

 “……”

 At the sudden memory of her past life, she squeezed her eyes shut.

 “Team Leader Yeon? What’s wrong, are you sick?”

 “Ah…… it’s nothing.”

 She tried to answer nonchalantly.

 However, her heart was pounding violently beneath her skin.

 Why did the memory of her death on that snowy mountain suddenly come back? As she clenched her trembling hands,

 “Nothing my foot, your complexion has turned purple like your name, haha!”

 “……ha.”

 A hollow laugh escaped at her superior’s tasteless joke.

 Yeon Bora.

 Her new name after her reincarnation.

 Unlike ‘Partanie’ which was noble but nothing more, this was quite a literal naming. Both her hair and eyes were close to violet.

 ‘Even after reincarnating, why are these things still the same as back then.’

 She responded with a soulless “Ha. Ha. Ha.”

 “I must be tired.”

 “Well, you’ve worked hard, Team Leader Yeon. You must be exhausted from all the healing. But we’re almost done here and this place is cleaned up……”

 “Aaagh!”

 At the sudden scream, she reflexively turned her head.

 In the next section, a man was clutching his abdomen, bleeding profusely.

 “What suddenly……”

 I thought we were done checking for injuries? She was bewildered but ran over anyway.

 “Calm down, calm down!”

 “We’re medical staff……”

 “Agh, gwaagh—!”

 The medical staff who were already on standby tried to calm the man down, but he seemed beyond reason from the pain.

 Everyone hesitated to approach, fearing they might be attacked.

 “Stop!”

 She immediately shouted. Golden light bloomed from her fingertips into the air. The patient who had been causing a disturbance was restrained as if bound by ropes.

 “Clear the area!”

 When she commanded after arriving, the medical staff hurriedly made space to lay down and treat the patient.

 She checked the patient’s wounds and shouted.

 “Bring disinfectant and hemostatic! Anesthetic and recovery potion too!”

 “Yes, yes!”

 “Understood, Team Leader!”

 While the team members moved in perfect coordination, she did her part.

 The patient started screaming again from the pain during the process of disinfecting and stopping the bleeding.

 “Ah, aagh—!”

 “Please calm down. I’m a recovery mage, and I’m trying to heal you.”

 “Let, let go……”

 “Shh— stay still. Don’t tense your abdomen. One wrong move and your intestines could spill out.”

 “!”

 The patient seemed frightened by her warning and froze, and not long after, perhaps due to the anesthetic taking effect, he gradually became docile.

 The golden bonds that had been restraining him quietly dissolved and returned to her fingers.

 Only then did she move on to the main treatment. She sutured the wound that looked as if it had been mauled by a beast as much as possible and cast healing magic.

 ‘I’m drained……’

 Her head was spinning, perhaps from accumulated fatigue. Or maybe too much magical power had been consumed.

 However, her body continued the treatment routinely, and finally the emergency was resolved.

 “It’s done.”

 “Th-thank you…… no, wait, it still hurts, am I really healed?”

 “The treatment is complete, but you should stay hospitalized for a while to monitor your condition just in case. Over there, move the patient—”

 “What? Aren’t you a recovery mage?! Heal me completely right now!”

 “……”

 There are troublesome patients like this sometimes.

 She gave a bitter smile, but her team members who had been helping with the treatment hardened their expressions.

 In an era where the world had been turned upside down by dungeons and gates, and people with awakened abilities had appeared. The public called them ‘hunters’ and worshipped their mysterious powers that had been impossible until now.

 Among them, those born with healing powers sometimes performed miracles, curing diseases that even modern medicine couldn’t treat, but…….

 ‘That’s a very small minority.’

 However, the vast majority of people still demanded such miracles from recovery mages, and sometimes even harbored hostility when their demands weren’t met.

 Accusing them of deliberately holding back their magic power and refusing to heal.

 “It hurts! Hurry up and do something with magic……”

 “Natural healing power is important too. By the way, how did you get injured like this?”

 At her words, the man flinched and looked somewhere. At the end of his gaze was a blood-soaked book.

 On the worn and tattered leather cover were letters that didn’t seem to belong to this world.

 “……An unregistered artifact.”

 And it seemed this man had secretly found it and tried to steal it, getting hurt in the process.

 “N, no……”

 “How dare you try to steal a dungeon artifact? Take him away!”

 Her superior appeared out of nowhere and shouted with an indignant face. The man tried to make excuses saying “I, I’m sorry—” but was dragged away before he could speak.

 She stepped back from the commotion and approached the item that took the form of a book but was threatening enough to maul someone’s abdomen.

 “……?”

 The leather of the book that had been completely worn out until just moments ago had somehow become smooth, and the blurry letters had become clear.

 ‘Is it my imagination?’

 As she looked carefully, the closed book suddenly opened by itself. Light poured out bright enough to black out her vision.

 “Team Leader Yeon!”

 “Team Leader, are you……”

 That was the last thing she heard.

 ***

 “Ugh……”

 What was that just now?

 She slowly opened her tightly furrowed eyes and startled.

 The light and book that had been swallowing her had disappeared, and strange letters were now twinkling right in front of her face.

 [Welcome back.]

 Welcome back……?

 Before she could ask what this meant.

 “You fool, what have you done right to be sitting there like that?!”

 A tone completely different from the welcoming message barked at her.