WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

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◈ I Became an Undetected Priest Impersonator ◈

Chapter 3

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I Became a Priest Impersonator (2)

"Yes."

I gave a short answer to the child's question about whether I was a priest.

"Then are you a Flower Priest?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I heard that priests who believe in the Flower Goddess put pretty flower patterns on their clothes, like this!"

The girl seemed to like my shirt, and she carefully stroked the flower pattern.

‘This kid has a good eye.’

Being praised for my favorite shirt put me in a pretty good mood.

Naturally, my liking for the Church of the Flower Goddess, whose followers apparently wore flower-pattern clothes, went up too, as a bonus.

‘The Flower Goddess, huh. Not bad.’

Just like that, the religion I'd impersonate was settled.

"That's right, I serve the Flower Goddess."

Though I'd only be starting to serve her now.

…

The innkeeper kept examining the girl's cleanly healed forehead.

Not only the marks where the stitches had been, but any trace that there had ever been a wound was gone.

"Good heavens.."

Only after she had stroked the girl's forehead several times did the innkeeper finally relax.

But soon she wore a troubled look, as if something was weighing on her.

"I don't know how to repay you for this. It's not much, but at least let me give you an offering."

"No, your thanks is enough."

What I really wanted was a refund on the lodging fee.

But I was playing a priest, and I couldn't act in a way unbecoming of one, so I made an effort to refuse.

Instead, I asked for a different favor.

"If it really weighs on you, just tell me where the clinic in the city is."

"The clinic?"

"For personal reasons, I plan to stay in the city for a while."

There wasn't a false word in that.

I did have to stay, and it was a personal reason.

"So in the meantime, I intend to do what I can."

I had to work to earn money, and I had to earn money to stay here, after all.

But the innkeeper looked moved, as if she'd just seen the very model of a priest.

"If that's the case, of course I'll tell you! The way to the clinic is a bit complicated, but don't worry."

Then she gave Sean a nod and said,

"Sean here will guide you well."

"..Just telling me where it is would be fine."

I was about to refuse, feeling like I was making a little kid do work for no reason, when

"Heh heh. I have something to do nearby anyway, so it's fine, Priest!"

Sean himself, the one it concerned, spoke up first to say it was fine.

"..Then I'd appreciate it."

He said he was going that way anyway, and it felt awkward to keep turning him down.

In the end, I had no choice but to nod and accept the company.

After finishing the breakfast I hadn't been able to finish, I left the inn, and the city I saw looked quite busy.

Merchants were laying out goods on their stalls, and carts loaded with vegetables and the like came and went along the street without pause.

Sean slipped through the gaps between carts and people as if he were used to it.

I followed behind him and asked.

"Is the clinic pretty far away?"

"No, it's actually close, it's just that the way there is hard and complicated."

I wondered whether there was any need to put a clinic somewhere complicated.

I got the answer soon enough.

"I heard it used to be somewhere easy to see, but after the priest granny became able to use Healing Miracles[1], outsiders came so often that the Lord had it moved. He said what good is it if the townspeople can't get treated?"

That was a fair reason.

On top of that, the information coming out of Sean's mouth was even useful.

Little details about the city that were hard to find in the Gallery popped right out of that small mouth.

‘I'd heard priests who can use healing powers are rare, but is it really only one in a city this big?’

And even she drew crowds from outside.

You could say supply fell far short of demand.

In other words, it looked like the money would be good.

How many turns did we take, heading toward the edge of the city?

At last, we arrived at the destination.

"It's over there."

Sean's fingertip pointed at a building that anyone would call merely large, one that looked like nothing but a private house.

They really had hidden it thoroughly.

"Then I have something to do, so I'll go now!"

Once we reached the front of the clinic, Sean gave a quick bow.

His errand nearby hadn't been a lie, it seemed, because Sean really did guide me only as far as the front of the clinic before running off toward the market.

After seeing the child off, I slowly stepped inside.

The smell of medicinal herbs and a faint smell of blood stung my nose.

Compared to a modern hospital or healing clinic, the smell was closer to raw, and it filled the air.

But unlike the smell filling the space, the inside of the clinic was quieter than I'd expected.

An old man coughing and a young man clutching his wrist were seated on chairs, receiving treatment.

It seemed minor illnesses and wounds were handled with medicine.

"What brings you in? Where is it bothering you?"

I was looking around the interior when

a priestess who had just finished treating the young man stood up and came over.

"I'm Flowie, a servant of Iris, the Flower Goddess."

It was a name I'd made up on the spot, but I was inwardly pleased that it sounded rather plausible.

"So you're a Flower Priest."

The priestess checked my flower-pattern shirt and nodded as if satisfied.

"So what brings you here?"

I skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

"I'm here for an interview."

"Pardon?"

She faltered for a moment, then looked troubled.

"I appreciate the offer, but our clinic isn't that well off. I'd have to ask whether we can take on a new priest.."

She was being roundabout, but it was a clear refusal.

But I believed she wouldn't turn me down once she saw this.

"I'm unremarkable, but I have a talent, so I'm sure I can be of help."

Whoosh!

The moment I finished speaking, a brilliant light bloomed above my open palm.

At the same time, the gazes of the people around us gathered on the glowing hand.

The clinic stirred for a moment at the rare Healing Miracle (not).

The eyes of the priestess, who had been so awkward, went wide as well.

"A Healing Miracle.."

"By the Flower Goddess's grace, I've been granted it, though only faintly."

It was a lie, not that it needed saying.

The priestess stared blankly at the light gathered over my hand for a moment.

Then, as if coming to her senses late, she gave a start and turned around.

"Just a moment, please wait a moment!"

She hurried into the back of the clinic and soon returned with an elderly priest.

She didn't have the kindly appearance one usually pictures when one hears "granny priest."

She gave more the impression of a fussy old woman.

On top of that, her tired complexion made that impression even heavier.

"You can use Healing Miracles?"

The elderly priest got straight to the point.

She even took a step closer before hearing an answer.

"Show me."

"Sure."

A little nervous, I used Heal again.

Whoosh!

Bright light bloomed above my hand.

The elderly priest narrowed her eyes and studied the rising light for a long while.

Had she noticed that it wasn't a Healing Miracle after all?

My conscience began to sting, but soon the elderly priest's stiff expression relaxed.

"Good."

"Pardon?"

"Start helping. Now."

"..Sure."

I was flustered, but also relieved.

‘If even a priest can't tell the difference, there's really nothing to worry about getting caught.’

The Gallery wasn't wrong.

"I'm the only priest in the city who can use Healing Miracles, and I was at my limit, but Gaia has helped me."

Muttering that, the elderly priest strode down the corridor toward the back.

The place we reached was a separate, partitioned ward that anyone would have called an ICU.

The ward we went into was quite gruesome.

Patients wrapped in bandages and splints lay in every bed.

There were no fewer than eight patients who wouldn't make it through even this week without immediate care.

"Huh. Did they run into a house-sized monster or something?"

"If it had been an ogre, we wouldn't have even recovered the bodies. It was a band of orcs."

"..I see."

"Still, we've put out the worst of the fire. The patients left now are in good enough shape to last the day."

Only then did I understand her tired complexion.

She had wrung out every last bit of strength she had, and then some, to save the patients on the brink of death first.

‘Talk about working an old woman to death.’

It was no accident the innkeeper's daughter had come home without getting a Healing Miracle.

"Then I'll begin treatment right away."

Thinking there was no time to waste, I slowly drew up my Heal.

The way I used it, though, was a little different from usual.

"Don't push yourself to heal them. It's fine if you just extend their lives for now.."

The elderly priest couldn't finish her words.

Before she could, a brilliant light spread to fill the entire ward.

‘Healing Wave.’

There were too many patients to treat one by one, so I'd cast the area heal, and the effect was outstanding.

Crushed flesh closed up and damaged organs recovered.

The patients' rough, precarious breathing gradually settled.

The treatment was over only after the light filling the ward had completely faded.

"It's done."

"..Already done?"

The elderly priest asked back as if she couldn't believe it.

Instead of answering, I removed the bandage from the nearest patient.

The gaping wound had vanished without a trace.

It was the same with the other patients.

Unable to believe even what she saw, the elderly priest hurried between the beds checking on each patient.

She palpated the places where wounds had been, rechecked pulses, and even opened eyelids to look at the pupils.

With every check, the astonishment on her stiff face only deepened.

"Huh.."

The elderly priest wiped a hand down her face and fell into thought for a moment.

"You, why didn't you show up sooner? Why only now?"

"How can a dandelion seed choose for itself where it lands?"

"Damn it."

The elderly priest spat the curse with a sour face.

I'd thought it was a fairly priestly thing to say, but she didn't seem to like it.

Still, I could tell all of these reactions came from regret over the late timing.

‘Looks like I've passed, for now.’

Reading the elderly priest's reaction that way, I wrote a post on the Gallery to commemorate it.

Title: I Got a Job.

Author: ㅇㅇ(123.123)

She seems to like me.

[Didn't the priest catch on?]

ㄴ[She doesn't seem to have noticed a thing. I used it right in front of her and she still doesn't know.]

ㄴ[You should practice holding your breath in advance..]

ㄴ[Why?]

ㄴ[(Oblivious.. Con)] [1]

ㄴ[Ker!!!plunk!!!]

Footnotes:

[2] "Con" is short for 콘 (kon), from 이모티콘 (emoticon). On the Gallery, users attach emoticon images to their posts and comments. Here they show up as a caption in parentheses, such as "(Oblivious.. Con)", which describes the image

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