I’m Not a Saint, Not a Priest, Just a Healer

Alec had received party invitations from several places but refused them all.
Even so, his gaze never left the guild office door.
She should be here by now, but she seems particularly late today.
“Meri.”
Taking advantage of a brief lull in the receptionist Meri’s work, Alec approached her with a cup of water.
He had been waiting all this time, and it seemed Meri finally had a moment to catch her breath.
“Are you busy?”
As Alec offered the wooden cup filled with cool water from the sink, Meri took it with a bright eye-smile.
Honestly, yes— Alec is, truly, a pretty good man.
Except for being bald.
“It’s a bit more manageable now. After the catacomb subjugation, so many people are rushing there. But, Alec, why didn’t you go?”

It’s understandable because healers are so rare that it’s not very noticeable, but guards who stand at the front line are also in short supply.
Guards who block enemy attacks first so that attackers can attack with peace of mind are often criticized if they’re even slightly lacking, and their mortality rate is also considerably high.
Moreover, Alec is also exceptionally stable, so at times like this when a new dungeon opens, he should be one of the first guards people want to take.
“Well, Yona…”
Even with just that much said, seeing Alec’s grinning face, it’s clear why he’s not going anywhere.
Not going to any party because Yona isn’t here, is there another man this devoted?
Except for being bald.
“Yona hasn’t come to the office yet. At this rate, she might miss out on all the good spots.”
Meri quite likes Yona too.
In fact, is there anyone in this city, Evian, who doesn’t like Yona?
“Alec, why don’t you go and bring her? She’s probably sprawled out sleeping again.”
“Sh-Should I? But wouldn’t that be rude?”
“Not at all, of course not.”
Meri gave a slight eye-smile.
She hoped things would work out well.
Alec and Yona, they seem to suit each other quite well.
Meri was sincerely rooting for the two of them.
“Th-Then I’ll be back.”
“Good luck, Alec.”
Alec awkwardly waved back to Meri, who was waving at him, and left the guild office.
*
“…Why me?”
Yona’s expression was one of disbelief.
It was both sudden and absurd.
A party is formed with mutual agreement between the members.
Even Rud, the champion, being an adventurer by origin, should know this, yet he’s talking about being in the same party without even seeking Yona’s consent, so Yona finds this extremely absurd.
“Well, this is the champion’s party, you see. It’s different from ordinary adventurer parties. Assembling the best personnel for the best party is essential.”
He’s saying something that sounds plausible, but Yona doesn’t relate to it at all.
“Then you should take Teacher Eije. Wouldn’t that be the best composition?”
Feeling a bit awkward standing, Yona sat down as she spoke.
If it’s about assembling the best party composition, shouldn’t it include Saint Bigrind and Teacher Eije instead of Yona?
Priests generally have no experience in combat.
As soon as they become priests, they enter the cathedral, and while there are occasional cases of becoming exclusive priests for noble families, there are virtually no priests who engage in battlefields.
Even in this Evian, there are no priests accustomed to combat except for Eije.
She glared at Bigrind with a look seeking agreement, isn’t that right?
But Bigrind, who briefly met her eyes, turned her head away with a very uncomfortable expression.
‘This is really…’
It must be an implicit agreement.
“Anyway, I don’t want to. I don’t understand why I should be in the champion’s party, and I don’t want to be. I don’t want to go. I have my own plans, you know.”
She has an important schedule to go to the community.
For Yona, there’s something hundreds of times more important than this champion’s party or whatever.
“Plans, well, I can take care of that for you, can’t I? Yona, we absolutely need your outstanding healing abilities and your quick thinking on the battlefield. Honestly, is there anyone in this Evian with healing skills as excellent as yours?”
“Huh? Uh… well, th-that’s true.”
Yona felt her shoulders involuntarily rising with pride.
Well, isn’t it so?
When it comes to healers in this Evian, it’s Yona.
If you ask whether there are many healers better skilled than Yona, that’s absolutely not the case.
The best healer.
The finest healer.
Among the healers currently active on the front lines, there’s no healer with better skills than Yona!
“That’s why we came to invite you like this. Isn’t that right? I, Rud, am the champion. If we came to invite you personally like this, haven’t we shown sufficient courtesy?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
“This is all because we think Yona is the best. The best recognize the best, you know. Just as I recognized you, I thought you would recognize me too. Isn’t that right?”
“W-Well, ahem.”
Yona struggled to manage her expression, hiding the corners of her mouth that were trying to rise.
No one dislikes praise, and Yona is no exception.
She’s weak to flattery, and weak to praise.
“So, you see. The best recognize the best. Not some weak guard, but me—”
And at that moment, the mood was completely ruined.
“What are you saying?”
Yona’s expression changed instantly as she growled in a low voice.
Who is Alec?
Although he’s bald, he’s the best guard that Yona has personally created, both of them starting from the bottom of the adventurer world and building up together.
But to say he’s weak?
This wasn’t praise, it was an insult.
“How solid do you think Alec is? I raised that guy, what are you talking—”
Simultaneously, someone smacked the back of Yona’s head with a loud thwack.
The impact nearly made Yona slam her forehead into the table.
In the middle of speaking, Yona turned around with her eyes wide open from the intense pain, and saw Alec looking down at her with an incredulous expression.
“Who raised whom?”
“Are you crazy? Hey, it’s true that I took you around and raised you!”
“You’re really joking. I took you around, protected you, and raised you, and now you’re showing this ingratitude.”
Now Rud and Bigrind were pushed to the background.
Yona didn’t particularly need to pay attention to the champion anyway, so it didn’t matter.
“Yona, you wet your pants out of fear during your first goblin hunt—”
“W-Will you shut your mouth!?”
“…Ahem.”
Yona, who was covering Alec’s mouth and scrunching her face as if about to beat him up, turned around again at the sound of a forced cough.
Rud was looking at Yona with an awkward face, repeatedly clearing his throat.
“…So, what will you do? Will you join us?”
“No, I still don’t want to.”
Yona’s blunt rejection was quite unexpected.
Isn’t the champion’s party, even though the success rate is quite low, a place of glory if successful?
Rejecting an offer to join such a place, moreover as a party member from the start of the champion’s party, was something Rud had never even considered.
“What’s the reason?”
“I just remembered I have something to do too. And I need to take him with me.”
Saying this, Yona put her arm around Alec’s shoulders.
Alec slightly shrugged his shoulders, suddenly feeling the heavy and emotional sensation on his shoulder, but Yona didn’t notice at all.
Rud frowned, lost in thought.
Honestly, this was unexpected.
From what Yona was saying, it seemed like Alec might agree if included in the party, but he wondered if it was really necessary to go that far.
Alec has low attack power and low defense power.
His offense and defense are both harmoniously low.
What meaning is there in having such a guard in the party? There isn’t any.
Even if it’s to draw in Yona, they can’t include Alec in the party.
“Is that so. Well, I understand. Then let’s do that. What can I do if you don’t want to?”
“Yes, you’ve thought well.”
“Alright. Then, we’ll meet again.”
Rud stood up from his seat.
Bigrind, who had been sitting silently beside him, also stood up, leaving only a suspicious glance at Yona before turning away.
“So you rejected that?”
“Yeah.”
Yona headed to the adventurer’s guild with all her luggage packed.
Alec had also cleaned up his inn room and was carrying his luggage on his back, though he didn’t have much.
“Are you stupid?”
“I rejected it because I’m not stupid. That champion guy, somehow his eyes didn’t sit right with me.”
“What was wrong with his eyes?”
“Eyes that see me as a woman.”
Alec was momentarily speechless, unable to respond.
He had no words for such an unexpected, preposterous answer.
“Besides, Bigrind, that commie is there too. Imagine if I went along, would I have to play maid to that commie? I can’t do that, ugh.”
“…I see, if that’s the reason, I understand a bit.”
It truly was so.
He understood.
“I think it might be better if we find an attacker to go with us though.”
“What attacker would go to the community? It’s better if we just go by ourselves. We can just beat things up hard together, can’t we?”
Watching Yona laugh while chewing on jerky, Alec couldn’t tell if this was a good situation or not.
At least it wasn’t entirely hopeful, but it was okay.
After all, Yona’s smile is really pretty.
“I’ll go with you.”
“…Kairoc?”
Yona said it was okay, but Alec was uneasy.
The distance from here in Evian to Lake Cantasia where the community is located is quite far.
Who knows what might happen in between, and didn’t they say that even the Celestial Deity had descended and a calamity was approaching?
Alec, the guard, has low attack power, and Yona can’t hold a weapon in her hand with the holy cloth, so she only slightly increases her survival rate with the shield on her left arm.
The two of them traveling that long distance seemed a bit worrisome, so he had asked Meri if there was any attacker going that way, just in case.
Without any expectations.
But unexpectedly, Kairoc stepped up saying he had business in that direction, so it’s surprising for both Alec and Yona.
“Why are you so surprised, little blood clots?”
“Y-You’re joking, you lizard.”
Kairoc grinned, roughly patting Yona’s head as she confronted him, seemingly annoyed at being called a blood clot.
The lizardman’s characteristically large lips parted, revealing sharp teeth.
“The community is at Lake Cantasia, right? The upper North Cantasia River is my hometown.”
Ah.
They understood.
Yona wants to return to her hometown too.
It was a good thing.
Yona smiled brightly.