Flinch.
Maybe after the patient had been treated? A petty instinct surfaced in Raymond's mind.
'What if they misunderstand?'
The situation had been so fraught earlier that he hadn't been able to discern back and forth, but he wondered how strange it must have looked to the people here.
The people who misunderstood him might frame him for the murder of the royal family.
He fumbled for an excuse for his behavior.
"Oh, this was an act of trying to help the princess. It was never an action that would have harmed Her Highness. She has already recovered, so move her quickly to the treatment room..."
Fortunately, the situation that worried Raymond did not occur.
He heard the following voice.
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to harm the princess."
"...!"
Raymond's eyes widened.
Just as much as Seitil and Sophia.
No, it was more than that, because it was a voice he would never forget.
King Odin.
Raymond's own father, the originator of his misfortune, stood before him.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Raymond's chest was at a fever pitch.
Anger? Hatred? He didn't know exactly what it was, but it was swirling around him uncontrollably.
"... Greetings to His Great Majesty the King."
Raymond hurriedly boiled to his knees, suppressing his emotions.
"..."
King Odin looked down at Raymond silently for a moment.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
When the strange feeling passed for a while, the king opened his mouth.
"I'm going to end the banquet with this."
Then he turned to Raymond and said.
"Raymond, you're to wait until I call you back."
All eyes of the banquet hall were on the king.
"I will give the prize for saving the princess."
***
When Raymond was reunited with his biological father for the first time in years, he was filled with emotions that he could not describe.
It was never a good feeling.
It was more like hatred.
King Odin was the root cause of all the misfortunes that Raymond had to go through.
If he had not been born as the bastard son of the noblest king, Raymond would not have experienced so much pain.
'He should have let me die then. Why did he save me?'
When Raymond, who was left alone after losing his mother, was dying in the slums, Odin came.
Odin looked silently at his son, who was emaciated like a skeleton, and brought him straight to the royal palace.
'Save him.'
'Your Majesty?'
'It doesn't matter how you do it, so save him no matter what!'
It was the first and last time he heard his own father's warm voice. He had never heard such a voice since then.
Raymond was a rogue child who existed but shouldn't exist. He left the royal palace at an early age and never spoke to him properly until the moment he became independent.
'Huu.'
Raymond sucked in a breath to calm his agitated mind.
Just then, a message floated into the air.
[Quest: Successfully completed "Guardian of the Banquet."]
[You will be rewarded!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[You will gain 30 skill points!]
The promised quest reward!
It was a whopping three levels up and 30 skill points.
But that wasn't all.
[Achievement: "He who saved the noble."]
[Bonus Level Up!]
[You will receive 30 bonus skill points.]
[Benefit: Your fame will increase!]
He had received another level up and skill points.
This time he got a whopping four level ups and sixty skill points, which made Raymond feel warm in his chest.
'Yes, father... No, father, no way. There is no reason for me to be concerned about meeting His Majesty the King. His Royal Majesty and I have nothing to do with each other.'
Yes, the king was not his father.
The mere fact that he had inherited his blood meant that he had to suffer unilaterally, but it was okay.
He wasn't someone he wanted to question, and he didn't want to pester him.
'I must live in affluence and not look to the royal court. I will become the best healer and live as a godfather as good as the king.'
No, he would live far richer than a king. He intended to enjoy all the riches and glory in the world.
Raymond reminded himself.
'Anyway, what matters is the future. I must be compensated to the fullest extent for this time.'
Raymond was not a pushover saint.
'I'm already satisfied because the princess is safe, hahaha.' He had no intention of moving on like that.
He was going to make the most out of it.
'What kind of reward should I ask for? Money is always money.'
But Raymond soon shook his head.
'No, it would be a shame to end up with just money. Because if I become a healer that people recognize, I'll sweep money.'
He had to ask for something other than money.
A special reward that only the king could grant.
'What would be good?'
Raymond's head turned around.
It was an opportunity that wouldn't come again, so he had to think carefully.
At that time, a servant approached Raymond.
"His Majesty the King would like to see you."
As he followed the servant, the reality of the magnificent room appeared.
Raymond swallowed his spit nervously.
With a squeak, the door opened.
"...!"
The king of steel impression was waiting for him.
"Greetings to Your Majesty. I am Raymond, a lowly servant of Your Royal Majesty."
"Raise your head."
"Thank you."
Was it because he calmed his mind beforehand? There was no great emotional turmoil.
He was just nervous about the fact that he was facing the most supreme king of the kingdom.
"..."
Silence reigned in the audience room for a while.
It had been five years since the two relatives had seen each other.
Raymond hadn't seen him once since he left the palace. No, even when he was in the palace, he hadn't had a seat, so it had been almost a decade since they had met like this.
In spite of this, there was no warm conversation.
Raymond looked stiff and waited for the king's order, and the king only asked about this business.
The two men looked like perfect strangers, although their blood was mixed.
'Maybe the king has forgotten that I'm even his child.'
Raymond glanced at him and shook his head. That wasn't important right now.
In this place, he only needed to take the compensation he wanted.
"Why did you treat the princess like that?"
"That's..."
Raymond began to speak carefully.
He had to explain it well.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was a very ugly treatment for those who didn't know it.
It was perfect to be arrested if he bought a misunderstanding.
"Looking at the princess's condition, I thought it would be impossible to treat her with heals, so I used other treatments I knew of."
"Not heals, but some other kind of treatment?"
King Odin frowned in incomprehension.
Because the only treatment here in Leifentina were heals.
"Yes, it's a mysterious healing method called 'medical art'. It's a secret art from distant antiquity, and I was able to learn it by accident when I visited some ancient ruins."
"...!"
The people beside the king were buzzing at this amazing story.
The ancient time that shone brilliantly in the distant past!
They were intrigued by the idea of a veiled ancient cure.
'It's a lie, but it's really plausible. It's an ancient cure, who's to say anything?'
Raymond was still amazed at the people's reaction to his lie this time.
"There was such a cure in ancient times?"
Raymond looked mildly surprised at the person who had commented.
Duke Galman, Prime Minister!
He was a close friend of King Odin and the number two of the Kingdom of Houston in both name and reality.
"Yes, I was able to use it with heaven's help."
"That's amazing. There was nothing like that in the ancient books I read."
Raymond glanced at him but explained roughly as follows.
"It's a secret technique that seems to have been lost over time."
Fortunately, the Prime Minister did not nitpick.
"Anyway, I get it. Then you shall accept the award for saving the princess. Your Majesty, what kind of award will you give to him?"
King Odin asked briefly.
"Is there anything you want?"
"..."
"If you want gold, silver, or treasure, I will give you enough to eat for the rest of your life."
"I don't want that kind of compensation."
Raymond shook his head.
As he had thought before, it was not good to ask for money here.
The money could be raked in by becoming a successful healer anyway.
He had to accept compensation that only the king could give.
"I am a healer. Therefore, the only thing that matters to me is to take care of my patients first and foremost. I don't need gold or silver."
Of course, that was 100% false.
However, Raymond tried his best to make the truth appear to be true, and opened his mouth.
Fortunately, he got through, and the people around the king were impressed.
'Hoho. He's a great young man. I can't believe this opportunity came up and all he can think about is his patients.'
'A true healer of this age.'
However, Raymond's words did not end here. What he just said was just the original story to bring out the main point.
"That is why I want to spend my life doing my utmost to help my patients. I hope Your Majesty will guarantee that I can do my best for my patients."
Raymond's request had people scratching their heads.
He wanted him to guarantee that he would see his patients?
But just the two of them.
King Odin and Prime Minister Galman understood the meaning of Raymond's words.
"You want me to guarantee that you treat patients with medical arts under my name."
"That's right."
Raymond nodded.
"To be precise, please recognize medical arts as a formal treatment under the name of Your Majesty."
The art of medicine would be recognized in the name of the King!
It was very important.
Now there was no problem, but if he was going to continue to treat patients, there was no choice but to talk about it.
'I'm sure there will be detractors. Especially the existing healers'
In the worst case, he could be considered a bizarre "fraud" and banned from the healing tower.
No, it was definitely going to happen.
'Because the Tower of Healing has always excluded new cures and relegated them to heresy.'
It was the reason why other treatments were stuck at a primitive level.
The "Tower of Healing" quickly jumped on the bandwagon when someone invented a different treatment rather than heal.
To maintain their own vested interests.
'It is said that in places like the Iron Empire, where the influence of the Tower of Healing is relatively weak, other cures have been developed. However, the Iron Empire is not a place where people from other countries can go.'
So if he didn't take these precautions in advance, he would be subject to the concentrated checks and balances of the healing tower.
Fortunately, King Odin nodded pleasantly.
"It's not difficult, is it? If we don't recognize the healing technique that saved the princess, no healing technique will be recognized. As long as it doesn't harm the patient, I'll recognize 'medical arts' as an official healing art in Houston's name."
Raymond clenched his fist in agreement.
'Done!'
A very important problem had been solved that way.
From now on, he could use his medical skills with dignity and without any scrutiny.
"But it seems that this is not enough compensation for saving the princess. Is there anything else you want?"
Of course, there was.