Healing System

So, you think calling her old lives up to your reputation as a Saint?

'You seem to be forgetting that I am only 14 in this body,' Michael shot back, continuing to smile at the woman before him, as well as the rest of the people gathered around the round table.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She was frozen in place; however, the aura she was giving off seemed oddly malicious, and all of it was directed toward him.

'It was that easy to get a reaction out of her? This might be easier than I thought.'

"Sorry we did not greet you earlier; we were having a little meeting, you see..." An old man stood up and apologized. He had a modest appearance, yet not such modest strength; he was stronger than Michael, at least mana core tier-wise. The old man's mana core progress was much higher than his.

But if it came down to a real battle, mana core progress would not matter, as Michael was simply too strong for his own tier.

From the way the old man carried himself, it seemed like he was the one in charge of this whole charade—possibly even one of the leaders of the entire city.

The others were all decently strong as well, many stronger than even Shingen. It was a wonder how he had managed to infiltrate this far with baggage like that woman by his side.

'Unless... they are not on the same side.' He had a fleeting thought, but it seemed unlikely; after all, how could there be two traitors from two completely different organizations?

But as he paid more and more attention to their mana, he could tell that it was completely different. The woman seemed like a disguised Evangelist, while Shingen seemed normal. If he didn't have a map to tell him about his alignment, he would have never guessed he was evil.

However, a question sprang to his mind: How do you determine if someone is evil or not? It was a lingering thought previously, but now he was a bit more interested in the method.

I am the Archangel Michael. Do you think I don't have my ways to determine whether a person is evil or not?

'I don't doubt that, but is there some sort of method? Or do you just have some kind of feeling?' Michael had grown curious at the system's remark.

My ways are going to remain a secret for now, as they are quite versatile in their own right. However, if you end up mastering Eyes of the Healer, you would see a similar effect to what I am doing.

'I see... So, in the end, it all comes back to that skill.' He sighed and returned his gaze to the round table.

Michael had forgotten to accept the old man's greeting, so he was currently just standing upright, looking a bit silly. But, despite that, it was better late than never.

"Pay it no mind. I am the one who should be sorry for butting in," Michael said with a small chuckle, his Saintly tone clearly present.

It seemed like that was enough to make the people forget how he had taunted that woman earlier, as they all began standing up one by one and greeting him.

In turn, he accepted their greetings and was offered a place to sit. It was a bit unexpected, as he had thought of simply going back and lurking around them somewhere, but it worked out in the end.

Even better was the fact that he was seated right between the woman in black and Shingen. Both of them had sour expressions for some reason.

'I know I taunted the woman, but what's up with Shingen? Did I say something?' Michael wondered. From what he could recall, in no way had he taunted him.

But the two of them did look very close—so close, in fact, that he felt a bit uncomfortable sitting between them.

Nonetheless, he had to suck it up and bear with it. After all, his objective was to make them mad, and if they were already agitated? Even better.

All of the 20 people were currently seated around the table in silence. However, the old man who had greeted Michael earlier pulled something out of his pocket. It turned out to be some sort of metal disc.

As that happened, the area around them grew denser, similar to how he had felt inside Rowan's room. It seemed like they had cast some sort of barrier to stop sound from escaping.

However, there seemed to be one more thing added to that, as the barrier looked a bit tinted if viewed from a certain angle.

'So, it can even block out vision, huh. Looks pretty convenient,' he thought, returning his gaze to the disc on the table.

The old man let out a small pulse of mana directed straight at the disc. The moment it connected, the disc began glowing, and a blue hologram suddenly formed.

It was, in a way, similar to what he had seen when he picked up that outdated-looking phone—a mini hologram had also popped up.

However, comparing that to what he was currently seeing was like night and day. The details were much more prominent, and the overall clarity was far better.

The only difference was that it did not display any kind of structure. Instead, there was a long line of text that he would rather not read.

Even though his INT stat was beyond normal, reading all of that would still take a while.

But much to his surprise, the system's voice resounded with great news.

I can save a copy of it. You can read it later.

As those words landed, an extremely faint pulse of mana radiated out from his crown that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone present. It enveloped the hologram and, in the next moment, disappeared.

Done, you can check it out later.

'Thanks for that,' Michael thanked the system and returned his attention to the old man, as it seemed like he was about to begin speaking.

"I assume you all managed to brief yourselves on the situation?" The old man's voice was a stark contrast to the kind tone he had heard earlier. It sounded authoritative.

All of the people present nodded their heads, with the exception of Michael. The old man once again continued.

"Good. Does anyone have something to add to that?" he asked, his voice cryptic, possibly trying to hide some information from Michael, clearly not expecting him to read the giant wall of text on the hologram.

One of the people present raised their hand, and the old man immediately gave them permission to speak.

It was a man—one who appeared to be the weakest of everyone currently present. Nonetheless, he was still considered strong in the eyes of many.

"Sir Reginald, I believe the calculations of the next area hit are a bit off." The man pulled out a piece of paper and passed it over to the old man.

'Reginald, huh... Wasn't one of the legends named Reginald?' Michael thought, observing what was written on the paper. There were a bunch of calculations, most of which he could memorize instantly.

Probably a descendant of the legend Reginald. According to my information, he was quite the excellent knight for his time.

'I see... interesting.'

The old man, Reginald, looked over the contents of the paper, and a frown began appearing on his face as he read on.

"Are you certain of this?" He asked.

And the man who had given him the calculations immediately responded, "Yes, sir. I referenced old data and noticed a pattern. The gate would open right in the middle of the upper city..."

The two then began discussing the calculations, ensuring they were accurate, even seeking help from other roundtable members.

As for Michael, he was currently sorting out his thoughts while preparing his next move.

'A gate? That's like a dungeon, right?' he wondered, catching the term as the man let it slip.

Yes, it's just another name. From the information I saved, it details the past happenings and the current estimations of destruction for this upcoming gate. The destruction could be counted as a calamity for this city... very intriguing.

'Right...' Michael nodded and took a glance at the two traitors beside him.

'But I still have to deal with them first.'