The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 9: Talent Unleashed (3)

“Then Let’s Begin.”

The Empress declared solemnly.

We were in the prayer room, a place also used for formal gatherings. It was a small chapel within the mansion’s grounds.

Two servants from our family brought in two transparent bottles. Inside, the liquid sloshed – holy water.

My father and the Empress both wore serious expressions.

For entirely different reasons.

The Empress was likely tense, having invested a fortune in a gamble, hoping desperately that I would awaken as a Saint.

My father was simply worried that something might go wrong.

Everyone was so serious.

If they kept up that level of tension, nothing was going to work out.

“If you brought it, then quit stalling and hand it over already.”

I snatched the bottle of holy water from the servant’s hands. He looked at me as if he were afraid I might drop and shatter it.

Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on wasting it.

I pulled out the cork and took a sniff.

“Is this spoiled? Smells kinda sour.”

“W-What? This is the highest quality holy water, made by the family’s healers. There’s no way it could spoil...”

“Haha, I’m just kidding.”

Without hesitation, I poured the entire contents of the bottle into the Holy Grail placed before me.

This was the necessary step to activate the artifact’s power.

The liquid didn’t have to be holy water – even plain water would suffice – but they went out of their way to bring the most expensive option for the sake of appearances.

Might as well have gone with orange juice. These people are severely lacking in vitamin C.

“When the Young Master drinks the holy water from the Grail, his hidden talent will be awakened. Whatever it is will be displayed as a symbol on the surface of the remaining liquid,” the Empress explained.

A symbol, huh?

For me, it would show up as text in the status window.

“Now, please recite the prayer,” the Empress requested, handing the sacred text to my father.

Father opened the book and began to read.

As if a few words of prayer would change my innate talent. What a farce.

This was like believing that praying before a gacha pull would net you a five-star character.

The result was already decided.

Before Father could finish the first line, I raised the Grail to my lips and downed the contents in one go.

“Wait, stop—!”

“Bleh. Tastes awful.”

Wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I clicked my tongue in disgust.

I set the Grail back down with a loud thunk.

“Well then, let’s see what we got here.”

The remaining holy water inside the Grail rippled, forming a distinct symbol on the surface.

The Empress immediately dropped to her knees, pressing her face close to the Grail.

The sight was so ridiculous I almost burst out laughing.

Silly me. Is this a scam? Yeah, it’s a scam!

I barely managed to suppress the urge to blurt that out and instead focused on the status window.

‘Ugh.’

A sudden, sharp pain shot through my head, and I grimaced.

A wave of nausea rose in my throat, and I barely managed to hold it back.

Was it the holy water? It tasted like months-old vinegar.

‘Ah, my vision’s going blurry.’

The text in the status window wavered.

My eyes couldn’t focus, and the world split into two overlapping images.

They must be preparing to give me something incredible, right?

[The effect of the Holy Grail of Revelation has been activated.]

[Talent lock has been released.]

Yeah, yeah, I know. I just chugged it down.

Now tell me what it is before I pass out. I need to know what I’m getting before I keel over.

[Talent has been unlocked.]

[Medical (S) skill tree has been released.]

“Oh.”

So, one of my talents was revealed.

Among the two talents I possessed, one of them was [Medical].

‘Wait, medical? That’s not a skill tree that exists in the original story.’

This was a completely foreign concept in this world.

Did my previous life’s knowledge and skills carry over and become skillified?

Now I ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) understood why I had two talents.

‘I like it.’

I immediately checked the basic skills I currently possessed.

―――――――――――

○ Medical D

A skill based on modern medical knowledge that allows the user to treat patients.

Diagnosis D: Partially assesses the patient’s condition.

Prescription D: Slightly improves the condition of a diagnosed patient.

First Aid Mastery E: Provides emergency treatment slightly faster.

―――――――――――

“Starting at D-Rank, huh. So, it’s a system where you gain experience to level up the skill or unlock higher-level skills. Which means I can raise it all the way to S-Rank.”

These were the best possible skills for utilizing the knowledge I had in this world.

Right now, I could only see basic abilities like Diagnosis and Prescription, but what if it later developed into things like dermatology procedures?

After all, dermatology was famously known for having the lowest workload and the highest income among doctors.

This was a jackpot.

A grin spread across my face without me realizing it.

“There it is! That symbol...!”

The Empress exclaimed as she stared at the surface of the Holy Grail.

Right. There was still one more to go.

The talent that belonged to Lass Gotberg, not me.

‘What’s it going to be?’

The Empress, in her ignorance, didn’t realize that there was no such thing as a Saint or Saintess talent.

What Neria possessed was simply a divine-type talent that enhanced her healing abilities.

The title of Saintess would only come much later.

Since I was receiving it, I’d better make good use of it.

Holding my throbbing head, I scrolled down the status window to check the next line.

“What... What is this? ...What did you say?”

The Empress’s face contorted with fury as she listened to the servant’s explanation.

Of course, it wasn’t the Saint talent she had hoped for.

Suppressing my laughter, I focused on the second talent.

[Talent has been unlocked.]

[Alchemy (S) skill tree has been released.]

‘Alchemy?’

Now that was unexpected.

“Alchemy?! What does that have to do with being a Saint?!”

The Empress shot to her feet, practically shrieking.

I shrugged casually.

“Oh dear, was I destined to become an alchemist? Father, should I go and start mining for copper somewhere? If I rub my palms together, I might just become a millionaire overnight!”

Feigning ignorance, I threw out a few lighthearted jokes, and the Empress grabbed the back of her neck, as if she were about to collapse.

“Oh, my God. I trusted this fool... Oh no.”

“What’s that? Empress, did you just call me something strange?”

The Empress bit down hard on her lip.

“You misheard. Congratulations on unlocking your talent, Young Master.”

“Oh, come on. What am I supposed to do with alchemy during a physician’s examination? That artifact you hyped up turned out to be a dud. Empress, would you like to try it yourself?”

I picked up the Grail, but the moment I touched it, the handle melted like wax and the entire thing dissolved into nothing.

Of course, it was a one-time-use artifact.

“Oh, wow. You said it was expensive, but it disintegrates like that? Pfft.”

“...I’m going to lose my mind.”

The Empress stormed out of the prayer room, her heels pounding against the floor.

I let out a quiet chuckle and opened the status window to check the new skill tree.

―――――――――――

○ Alchemy D

A skill that allows the user to enhance or alter the properties and nature of materials.

Enhance D: Slightly improves one attribute of a substance.

Compress E: Reduces the volume of a material while maintaining its properties.

Synthesize E: Combines two substances to create a new material with the properties of both.

―――――――――――

‘Huh? This...’

An idea struck me as I read through the descriptions.

In this world, Alchemy was considered a support-type skill.

Compared to combat skills like swordsmanship or magic, it was a throwaway talent.

It was typically only useful for working with metals, like refining iron to create slightly higher-quality armor at a reduced cost.

Most blacksmiths would take it as a sub-skill.

But...

‘It’s not limited to metals?’

I could use it on any substance.

If I combined it with Medical...

‘It’s practically a pharmaceutical skill.’

In a world where healing magic was the only way to treat injuries, what if I could create medicine?

I could make money hand over fist.

‘This is another jackpot.’

I stood up, feeling satisfied.

“Lass, are you alright?”

Father looked at me with concern.

I nodded.

“Yes. Aside from feeling a bit dizzy, I’m fine.”

“Let’s go get you treated. I’ve prepared a healing session.”

Father was still hung up on the Holy Grail’s side effects.

I appreciated the concern, but receiving some dull healing magic wouldn’t do me any good. I needed to assess my condition myself.

“I think I just need to rest. Don’t worry about me... Cough, cough. Really, don’t worry.”

“Hmm... If you say so.”

“Yes. Cough, cough.”

Why was I coughing so much?

And why did it feel like I couldn’t catch my breath?

I reopened the status window.

[You have acquired a debuff.]

[Sustained Health Reduction E (Growth-type, Cannot Be Removed)]

What the hell is this?

“Father.”

“Yes, Lass?”

“It’s nothing serious, but... Cough, I might need some... support...”

“Lass? Lass!”

Before I could finish my sentence, my vision blacked out.

***

[Health has decreased.]

[Health has decreased.]

[Health has decreased.]

“So, in other words...”

Even while lying still, my health was decreasing by 0.1 points every minute.

If my health reached zero, I’d die.

“What a load of crap. Cough, cough!”

The next morning, I woke up in my room, coughing up phlegm mixed with blood.

My maximum health was 4.

Now, I was down to around 2.8.

The only good news was that while sleeping, my natural health regeneration outpaced the debuff’s health drain.

“Neria only lost a few inches off her height, and that was it.”

Why the hell was I suddenly at risk of dying within a few days?

As if being engaged to a murderous villainess wasn’t bad enough already.

“But still... I unlocked two talents.”

Alchemy and Medical.

Neither of them were ordinary skills.

Medical had been formed from my previous life’s knowledge, skillified and given a proper structure.

I had always felt like I was stuck in a hamster wheel, but now, I felt like I had gained recognition for my efforts.

“I should be able to eliminate bad endings more easily now.”

But if I collapsed before that, it would all be pointless.

Was this supposed to be the price of the talent?

“Price, my ass.”

If there was a Luck stat in my status window, it would be in the negative – deep in the negatives.

“Well then, I’ll just have to overcome it using my own abilities.”

If my body was going to crumble, then I’d just have to fix it myself.

So what if my health was dropping? I’d just find a way to restore it.

“Medical and Alchemy.”

Time to write a prescription and create some medicine.

The patient: myself.

The first consultation of a quack doctor begins now.