Chapter 235

Evan thought to himself.

"Christian's actions are all rooted in goodwill."

It was hard to believe, but it was the truth.

After all, he possessed the Mind’s Eye, a power that let him see into others' hearts.

So he had a sense of what Christian truly felt behind his cold exterior.

"Even now, he genuinely intends to save the head of the House of Medical Saint."

And that wasn’t all.

Resolving the affairs of the House of Medical Saint, stopping the unrest in the Kalbern Kingdom, all of it was driven by goodwill, by the desire to prevent greater bloodshed.

"I don’t know what Christian’s ultimate goal is… but it must be something noble. I can see it with the Mind’s Eye."

In Evan’s eyes, it was clear:

Christian was pouring himself into some grand and noble cause.

There was no one who radiated such a sacred light as Christian did.

…Of course, this was a complete misunderstanding.

"Evan’s acting like that because of his Mind’s Eye, right? Looks like that thing messed up his vision."

Christian, realizing what Evan was thinking, cleared his throat awkwardly.

The Mind’s Eye wasn’t omnipotent.

It let the user perceive someone’s inner state, but only roughly. It wasn’t some omniscient telepathy that could precisely read every hidden emotion.

Which is why Evan ended up with such a ridiculous misunderstanding.

To be fair, at a glance, it did look like Christian was working hard to save the world.

"...Honestly, I’m just chasing wealth and luxury. But if the world goes down, I’ll die too, so I have no choice but to suffer through all this."

Unaware of any of this, Ella stammered out a protest.

“B-But I just can’t believe it. That rude demon harboring some kind of sacred light…?”

Of course, as the successor of the House of Medical Saint, she knew judging someone by their appearance alone was wrong.

But still, there had to be limits. No matter how she looked at him, Christian seemed to possess a wicked nature.

“He’s always getting misunderstood because of his off-putting looks and insufferable attitude.”

Hearing this from the side, Ruina made a visibly disturbed face.

Her expression all but screamed “Misunderstood? What kind of nonsense is that?!” but Evan paid her no mind.

Through the Mind’s Eye, Ruina’s character, utterly consumed by greed, couldn’t even begin to compare to Christian’s.

“…That’s absurd.”

Ella still couldn’t believe it, prompting Christian to step forward with a cough.

“I truly intend to heal the Clan Head.”

“……”

“If you still can’t trust me, then test me at the Pond of Minous.”

Everyone flinched.

The Pond of Minous.

A famous relic of the House of Medical Saint.

“It reacts to the will to save lives.”

The stronger one’s compassion and intent to heal, the more the pond would glow in a sacred white.

“Due to the Clan Head’s condition, the Pond of Minous is currently sealed off.”

“With your authority, you could open it briefly without drawing attention, couldn’t you?”

Ella, after some hesitation, finally nodded.

“Alright. If you possess a Will to Save Life of 5-star or higher, I’ll believe your words.”

The Pond of Minous reacts to the strength of one’s Will to Save Life, which is classified from 1-star to 10-star based on the response it elicits.

5-star… that’s the level of a senior disciple in the House of Medical Saint.

She had set a fairly strict standard.

For reference, the top disciples of the house, the renowned Ten Saints, were known to have around 7-star Will to Save Life.

“What’s your star level?”

“I’m 8-star.”

A remarkable level.

Even the current clan head was known to be 8-star.

That alone made it clear why Ella had been chosen as the next head of the house.

But then Christian said something completely absurd.

“You’re the successor and not even 9-star? Has the House of Medical Saint fallen that far?”

Ella gave him a look of disbelief.

“I don’t know what you think you understand about the Will to Save Life, but no one has reached 9-star in the past hundred years.”

“No one?”

“That’s right. And 10-star is considered outright impossible.”

“Hmm. That doesn’t match the records. According to the archives, every previous Medical Saint of your house possessed a 10-star Will to Save Life.”

“…That’s all ancient history.”

“So it really has declined.”

Ella’s face twisted with frustration.

So annoying. Are all demons like this?

To be fair, Christian wasn’t wrong.

In the past, there had been saints who achieved 9-star Will to Save Life. And those who reached the now-legendary 10-star level, while rare, still appeared once per generation without fail.

But for some reason, in recent times, such disciples had completely vanished.

A decline in standards, an undeniable fact.

It’s gotten so bad that even the Saintess is chasing glory by trying to join the war…

The House of Medical Saint had gone astray.

Ella knew that. But she was far too powerless to correct its course.

And if things are already like this now… what happens after Master passes away?

Ella let out a sigh.

“This is the place.”

Deep within the hidden sanctum of the House of Medical Saint, there lay a pond so beautiful it looked as if it had been painted into the scenery.

“Once you dip your hand into the water, the Pond of Minous will react. If more than half of it glows white, it means your Will to Save Life is 5-star or higher.”

Christian stood before the pond.

Before plunging his hand into the water, he glanced at Ella.

“Did you just say 10-star is impossible?”

“……”

Christian smirked.

“Let me show you… what true Will to Save Life looks like.”

He dipped his hand into the water with a splash.

A brief silence passed.

Seeing no change in the color of the pond, Ella shook her head.

As expected... there's no way a demon could possess the Will to Save Life.

But in that very moment...

Something began to change.

Sparkle.

A jewel-like shimmer danced across the surface of the pond.

At first, she thought it was just light being reflected.

But it wasn’t.

The entire pond began to glow, like a radiant gemstone.

A light beyond simple white...

It was a sublime brilliance.

What the...?!

Ella’s eyes widened as if they might tear.

Not even Master’s Will to Save Life caused a reaction like this... Don’t tell me that demon’s Will to Save Life is 8-star or higher?

The glowing aura spread, and the pond began to turn white.

It crossed the halfway point in an instant.

Then passed 70%, 80%...

Closing in on 90%.

No way... 9-star?

But it didn’t stop there.

Even after passing 90%, the pond kept changing.

100%.

The Pond of Minous was filled to the brim with flawless light.

Ah...

A quiet exhale of awe escaped Ella’s lips.

This wasn’t just a beautiful light.

It radiated the sacred will to save the suffering.

Touched by that profound beauty, tears began to flow down Ella’s cheeks before she even realized it.

And so, for the first time in over a century...

The Pond of Minous was completely filled with pure, sublime brilliance.

10-star.

The Will to Save Life said to be attainable only by a true Medical Saint.

* * *

Well… it’s not like I actually possess such a noble heart. I just have a really strong Will to Save Life.

It was an easy misunderstanding, but possessing a strong Will to Save Life didn’t necessarily mean the person was noble.

There were two ways to acquire a powerful Will to Save Life:

One, by having a truly selfless and sacred desire to save others from the start.

…Which definitely didn’t apply to Chris.

I only worked as a doctor for the money, after all.

So how did he end up with such an extraordinary Will to Save Life?

Well, say what you will, but no one has treated more patients than I have.

You didn’t need grand ideals to strengthen the Will to Save Life, just saving people was enough.

And Chris, having lived through the Age of Ruins, had treated more patients than anyone.

There likely wasn’t a single person in the entire House of Medical Saint who had saved more lives than he had.

Why else would they call him…

The Saint of the Mire.

“Back then, the environment was completely different from the peace we have now. Everywhere you looked, people were dying. The number of patients I saved… it was on an entirely different scale.”

Ella, still stunned, stammered out her words.

“H-How can someone have such a Will to Save Life…?”

Since he couldn’t reveal his previous life, Chris was about to dodge the question with a vague excuse, when Evan abruptly stepped in.

“Did I not tell you? He only seems wicked on the outside. In truth, Grand Duke Christian carries a sublime nobility that no one could possibly imagine. Do you believe me now?”

Ella looked at Christian.

His expression still seemed… sinister.

But even so...

“Yes. I believe you.”

Ella gave a firm nod.

“The Pond of Minous never lies. However…”

She trailed off.

That a demon would possess a 10-star Will to Save Life, the level of a Medical Saint…

There was a serious problem.

According to the House of Medical Saint’s internal code, if someone with a 10-star Will to Save Life appeared, that person must be officially recognized and honored as a Medical Saint.

In other words, strictly by their laws, they were supposed to acknowledge Christian as a true Medical Saint.

Chris, already familiar with the rule, shook his head.

“No need to overthink. I’ve no intention of becoming a disciple of the House of Medical Saint.”

“…Understood.”

“Then let’s not waste time. I’ll begin treating your clan head. Lead the way.”

They were taken to the quarters of the clan head, where a frail old man lay unconscious.

So this is the current clan head.

“What exactly are the symptoms?”

“He lost consciousness and has been suffering from a severe fever. No matter how much we use Medical Qi Techniques, nothing works.”

“So no one’s been able to diagnose the illness?”

“…No. No one in the entire house has been able to identify it.”

In his previous life, when Chris had met Ella, the 26th clan head, she’d told him even back then, no one knew what disease the previous head had died from.

For the leader of a medical house to die without even knowing the name of the illness… It was the greatest disgrace.

And yet, they had never uncovered the truth.

I do have one guess, though…

In that previous life, Ella had described the symptoms the former head had suffered.

Back then, one particular illness had immediately come to mind.

If I’m wrong… this could get bad. There’s no saving him otherwise.

Chris carefully examined the clan head’s condition.

He checked vital signs, searched the body for any hidden clues, drew blood and used alchemy to analyze his internal state.

His examination was so thorough and precise that it felt like watching a true master at work, leaving Ella visibly stunned.

“Where… Where did you learn this kind of medical skill?”

Chris answered casually.

“I picked it up as a hobby. Even the Dark Demonic House has medical texts lying around.”

“…A hobby? There's no way someone could learn medicine to that degree just as a hobby.”

“I could. Anyway, I need to focus. So could you stop talking and be quiet for a bit?”

Shut down by Chris, Ella went silent.

Chris fell into deep thought.

A heavy silence settled in the room.

Everyone's eyes were on Chris.

The fate of the House of Medical Saint now rested on whether he could find the answer—or not.

Ella clenched her fists tightly.

Could he really…?

She desperately wanted her master to be healed.

But even so, she couldn’t help but doubt whether Chris could actually find the answer.

It wasn’t because she looked down on him.

It was just that no one in the House of Medical Saint had been able to uncover the truth.

No matter how exceptional that demon was—could he really succeed where all of them had failed?

And then—

“I’ve identified the cause.”

“!!”

Ella’s eyes widened as if they might tear open.

“Y-You’re serious?”

“Yes. But—this isn’t an illness.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a complication caused by your own Medical Energy Technique.”

“In other words, you people did this to your own clan head.”

“!!”