The shortened training method was, honestly, incredibly painful.
Even for me, who thought I’d gotten used to pain after living in this frail body.
‘I’m sorry. I was bluffing!’
In the middle of flailing around like that, I even seriously considered apologizing to Sibellius and just giving up.
But just like how food tastes better after hardship…
The greater the pain, the greater the reward.
“Ahp!”
I split a log from Sibellius’s woodpile clean in half.
Like tearing apart a grilled squid, I shredded it and then broke into a light run.
With how my body cut through the wind, I was probably hitting 40 km/h.
Strength. Speed.
Everything had gone up enough to shock an Olympic gold medalist.
But—
Even that much was nothing to the four people currently standing beside me.
“That’s enough.”
Baiol grabbed me just as I was about to punch the wall.
She was so strong that even with my current strength, I couldn’t break free.
“I get that you’re feeling good about being stronger, but don’t push yourself too hard just to test it.”
“My body’s fine now, though?”
“You might be, but I’m not. I’m terrified you’ll collapse again.”
I was shocked—she looked completely drained, begging me to stop in a tone totally unlike her usual self.
Looking around, I saw the others had similar reactions, and I faltered.
Alios, who had been watching me with concern, sighed in relief.
“Still, I’m glad you got a little stronger. You won’t get sick anymore, right?”
To Alios, me becoming a superhuman was just “a little stronger,” apparently.
Everyone was surprised by my strength—but it wasn’t because they truly respected my power.
They were just shocked that the sickly one got healthy, not that I was strong.
Well, they’re all some of the top elites in the entire empire, so someone like me probably barely registers.
It hurt my pride a little, but there were more important things to focus on now.
“I should head to the Arsen Kingdom now.”
I’d done something insane—condensing several months of training—just to make it in time, so I had to go.
“Can’t you just not go?”
Even though Baiol looked exhausted, she still helped me by saying—
“I’ll contact them and arrange for you to use a teleportation gate.”
A teleportation gate.
A magic transportation device only accessible to a select few—but if the emperor allows it, there’s no problem.
“This will shorten the travel time. The Emperor’s letting you use it so you can get there and back quickly. So come back as fast as you can.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“I’m the emperor. How could I possibly follow you all the way there?”
I asked just in case, but thankfully, a sensible answer came back.
I had been worried she’d forget her position and insist on following me. I sighed in relief—
“Instead, I’ll assign the entire Imperial Knights to guard you.”
“I don’t need them.”
Bringing the whole knight order to a foreign country?
That’d be more threatening! Just come alone instead!
“People in Arsen will think we’re here to wage war.”
“You need an escort.”
“At this point, I really don’t think I do.”
“No. I’m not sending you without proper protection.”
Hmm, this situation felt familiar.
Right—when Ares tried to stop me from going out because it was dangerous, I used the same trick.
“Come with me.”
“Gladly.”
When I said the same thing to Alios as before, she gave the same reply.
“You say no to the knight order, but you’re fine bringing a Swordmaster? She’s way more dangerous.”
Baiol grumbled, but didn’t stop us. Alios was a solid enough escort.
She did, however, say no to Hames, who was getting ready to come along without a word.
“As a priestess, you’d be useful, and I’d like to bring you too, but complaints from the temple haven’t stopped. They’re asking how long we plan to keep you here.”
“…Then I suppose I have no choice.”
I reluctantly agreed.
Even I had to admit she’d been away from the temple for too long.
She did it all to help me, so I thanked Hames as she left.
“Thanks. I’ll send you a gift later.”
“No need. The sentiment is enough.”
Maybe she wanted to stay a bit longer.
Hames looked at me with a trace of regret before disappearing.
“Sibellius, thank you too. We probably won’t meet again, so rest assured—I won’t bother you anymore.”
Sibellius isn’t one to get involved with others unless she’s drawn to someone like Ceres.
So instead of a gift, I gave her the parting present of never bothering her again.
“…Thank you. I never wanted to see you again either.”
She flinched briefly, but her quick response told me I’d made the right choice.
And so, after roughly preparing to leave, I headed to the Arsen Kingdom.
Me and Alios.
As the two of us passed through the teleportation gate, we were greeted—shockingly—by the King of Arsen herself.
“Oh! You really came!”
The Queen of Arsen was a middle-aged woman with brown hair.
Surrounded by ministers, she had been waiting, and upon seeing us, looked deeply moved.
“That face—it’s unmistakable. You’re Ceres Hyperion, the most beautiful in the Empire!”
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
As a legitimate heir to a count’s family, I bowed formally in noble fashion.
“You said you needed my help, so I’ve come.”
“Yes! I was so desperate for the help of the one who healed all the sick in your family’s domain, I felt like I was burning with hope!”
The Queen looked at me with eyes full of joy and confusion.
“I begged the Empress of the Empire to send you, but she refused. I honestly resented it a bit—so why the sudden change of heart?”
“Actually, I wasn’t feeling well at the time. That’s why Her Majesty had no choice but to refuse.”
“Really? Then you’re better now?”
“Yes. Once she saw I’d recovered, Her Majesty decided it was okay to send me.”
I told a kind lie.
I couldn’t very well say Baiol didn’t care whether they lived or died, right?
A little whitewashing makes everyone happier and keeps diplomacy smooth.
“Did Empress Baiol really do all this for us?”
“She must have. I mean, she sent Ceres Hyperion and Alios Gravius. Two of the most famous people in the Empire!”
I heard the ministers whispering.
They all seemed to believe what I said—which made sense.
I came because I wanted to, regardless of the Empress.
Alios was just here as my bodyguard, but how would they ever figure that out?
The King, completely fooled, even shed tears.
“I’ll never forget the grace Empress Baiol has shown us, nor the effort you made to come right after recovering.”
“I’m only doing what I ought to. Your Majesty, please guide me to the plague patients immediately.”
“To be this eager to help people—you’re not just beautiful outside, but truly angelic inside too.”
The Queen praised me as she explained the situation.
The outbreak was in a large domain close to the capital, and all those infected had been quarantined.
“No one is allowed out for now, but I don’t know how long we can hold out like this. Both we and the people inside are at our limits.”
“That’s understandable. Food supplies must be running low, and some people have probably tried escaping to survive.”
“Some ministers even suggested just letting them all die—to protect the rest of the country.”
“Don’t worry. Now that I’m here, I won’t let things deteriorate to that point.”
Alios and I headed to the afflicted domain.
Hundreds of soldiers accompanied us, assigned by the Queen.
“Everyone, gather over here!”
“Don’t worry—we’re not here to kill you! The Empire has sent a savior!”
“This is Ceres Hyperion—the famed beauty and holy one of the Empire!”
The soldiers helped control the patients, just like the ones in my family’s domain had.
The sudden appearance of soldiers scared many, but as they called my name, it had an effect.
“It’s really him! There’s no one else who looks that beautiful.”
“That’s the face from the rumors!”
“Ceres himself came! They’re not lying just to purge us!”
My appearance worked like an ID, calming them and earning trust.
The soldiers guided them in an orderly fashion so I could heal them.
I examined the condition of those gathered.
It was obvious they were in bad shape—everyone was gasping for breath.
That was the symptom of this disease.
Stomach pain, difficulty breathing, and in severe cases, coughing blood until death.
No one knew what the disease was—not them, not me.
I wasn’t a doctor, and even in the original novel, the illness was described only as a “mysterious disease” with no name.
But did I really need to know?
“They’re healed. Yes, this one too. Next, bring the next one—already healed them too.”
Just touching them was enough to cure them, so the name didn’t matter!
“A-Amazing… even those with end-stage symptoms are healed!”
“At this rate, the plague will be eradicated soon!”
I could see how shocked the patients and soldiers were.
Even I had to admit—it was fast.
At this pace, I could probably heal everyone in this domain before the week was over.
My divine power was a cheat skill, at least for healing.
And it helped that most people here were still relatively healthy, which sped things up.
The novel described the domain as a living hell, but things hadn’t gotten that bad yet.
They called me earlier than in the original timeline, so I’d made it before things truly went to ruin.
“This issue might be resolved smoothly.”
With how well it was going, even Alios relaxed a little.
“Yeah. Let’s finish this quickly and go home.”
I agreed—everything should’ve gone smoothly.
‘Yeah, if things had just kept going like this, there wouldn’t have been a problem.’
“Alios! I’ll pay you back for the humiliation I suffered last time!”
On the third day—
A demon targeting Alios suddenly appeared in the domain.
If only that hadn’t happened.