Chapter 16: The Possibility of Healing
Shirou himself no longer held much hope for recovering from the wound inflicted by the Sword of Rupture.
After all, that strike was the ultimate blow delivered by the legendary demigod Gilgamesh.
For an ordinary human like Shirou, recovering from such an injury was almost impossible.
However, as Shirou's doctor, Naaza seemed unwilling to give up so easily.
She didn't let Shirou leave. After carefully examining the wound left on his body, she consulted numerous books and researched extensively in an attempt to understand the nature of the injury.
In the end, she found the concept that most closely matched Shirou's sword wound—"Divine Power Strike."
Yes, in the history of the labyrinth city Orario, battles between gods and mortals had occurred before—and almost always ended in the absolute domination of the gods over humans.
The power of a god was essentially of a completely different dimension compared to mortals. When divine power was fully unleashed, mortal bodies simply couldn't withstand such terrifying force and would be continually corroded by the divine energy, pushing their fragile flesh toward the brink of collapse.
Ordinarily, this kind of deep erosion by divine power was considered incurable for mortals, but everything has a countermeasure. Even the suppression of divine power on fragile mortals had potential solutions.
According to Naaza's research, there were two ways to heal a Divine Power Strike.
One was to find the Fountain of Heaven, which was extremely rare in the lower world. It was said that this heavenly spring possessed the power to heal all illnesses and injuries.
However, aside from its rarity, the known Fountain of Heaven was currently controlled by the strongest Familia in Orario—Freya Familia.
Other than Freya herself, it was unlikely that anyone could get access to the spring.
The second method was a long-term process called "bloodletting therapy." Though Divine Power Strikes were overwhelmingly powerful for mortals, if one could slowly scrape away the corroded flesh, bit by bit—like curing poison by scraping the bone—and regenerate fresh flesh, then there was a possibility for healing.
Naaza conveyed these two potential treatments to Shirou and Hestia.
Hestia was understandably shocked by this revelation.
First, she hadn't expected that Shirou had once fought against a "god"—and survived. Second, she was dismayed by how difficult the healing process would be.
At the very least, Hestia couldn't think of any way to obtain the Fountain of Heaven.
As for the bloodletting method, while it seemed viable, the process would undoubtedly be long, excruciating, and torturous.
Hestia truly didn't want to see Shirou endure such agonizing treatment.
"So the sword wound can be healed through bloodletting therapy?"
Shirou was surprised upon hearing the news.
He had already accepted that his wound from the Sword of Rupture might be incurable, yet here was a possible solution.
Naaza responded seriously:
"There's a chance, yes. But the process would be incredibly painful and torturous. And it's not something a doctor of my level can manage. It would be best if you sought treatment from Airmid instead."
Though reluctant, Naaza still gave Shirou the best advice she could.
The wound from the Sword of Rupture was far beyond her capabilities, so even though she didn't want to admit it, she had no choice but to suggest Shirou seek treatment from Airmid.
"I see… looks like I still need to earn more money," Shirou said with a slightly serious expression.
While Airmid's healing was certainly reliable, the cost was unimaginably high.
At the moment, the Hestia Familia simply couldn't afford treatment from Dian Cecht Familia, which Airmid belonged to.
Still, now that Shirou had found a possible way to fully heal himself, all that was left was to work hard toward that goal.
Shirou didn't think it would be too difficult.
Because he had already recovered from most of his injuries—he was back to full strength!
.
.
.
After leaving the Azure Pharmacy, Shirou and Hestia returned to their Familia's base.
Although they had just spent nearly all the money the Familia had earned so far, both of them were in high spirits.
After all, Shirou had obtained treatment and recovered his strength. This meant that the Hestia Familia now had a powerful and capable member.
"By the way, Shirou, how strong are you exactly?" Hestia asked with a puzzled look. "Your Falna still doesn't display your exact abilities or any visible stats."
"I'm not really sure either," Shirou replied.
He had only recently arrived in this world and had only fought numerous dungeon bosses in the labyrinth, without facing any actual opponents.
So even Shirou didn't know the extent of his strength.
In response to Hestia's question, Shirou calmly said:
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I will protect you and Bell."
"Uuh… Waaahhh… Shirou…" Hestia burst into tears again and hugged Shirou tightly, making him look a little helpless.
By nightfall, Bell had returned from the dungeon.
Thanks to Shirou's previous guidance—or perhaps due to the effect of the skill "Liaris Freese"—Bell was becoming increasingly adept at dealing with monsters.
He even made it to the fourth floor of the dungeon and defeated powerful monsters.
This progress was especially apparent through Hestia's Blessing. Bell's stats were improving at an astonishing pace.
While still weak overall, the speed of improvement was abnormal.
Hestia realized that Bell's unique skill could no longer be ignored, but she had no good ideas herself, so she turned to Shirou for advice.
She first explained Bell's skill "Liaris Freese" to Shirou and mentioned the dangers associated with it.
"This skill is too special. For a powerful Familia, it would be a blessing. But for my weak Familia led by an incompetent goddess like me, it's too dangerous. The powerful members of other Familias won't let Bell grow unchecked. If they find out about this skill, they may try to take Bell away…"
Hestia's face was full of worry and concern for her child.
Shirou understood her concerns but remained composed:
"Didn't I say before? No matter what, I'll protect both you and Bell. If any Familia tries to cause trouble, they'll have to get through me first."
"Shirou…"
Hearing his words, Hestia was deeply moved once again.
But she also knew she couldn't rely on Shirou alone. She needed to come up with a way to strengthen her Familia further.
Typically, a Familia could be strengthened by recruiting more members.
But there was another way to rapidly boost the Familia's strength—forming alliances with other Familias.
In the past, Hestia Familia had been too weak to even qualify for alliances. But with Shirou now part of the group, maybe they could find a powerful Familia to rely on.
A name instantly popped into Hestia's mind—Hephaestus.
Hephaestus was not only Hestia's old friend, but also a prominent figure in Orario, being the goddess of forging. Her Familia played a central role in producing weapons for the entire city.
If they could form an alliance with such a powerful Familia, it might just be the solution to Hestia Familia's predicament.