I [Martyr] the enforcer's wounds. My HP ticks down and back up as my passive regeneration matches the health the enforcer is losing from bleeding out. I stabilize his injuries before handing him off to one of the volunteers to handle while I go to the other guy.

I end my [Enroot] skill to go up the stairs to where a healer is trying their best to help this guy. I decide to [Martyr] for him, and one of my hearts stops. That's not good. Huh, he didn't get back up. I don't feel a pulse.

I should've "taken" the damage/affliction of this guy since he's my target, and the lack of organ function proves that the skill is active... I palm his chest above the heart, and this guy jolts away, gasping for breath. My heart starts to beat as well, although weakly and with an erratic rhythm.

"OOH. Hoo. Oh, my gods... Holy shit, is the medic alright? Shit, what happened!"

"Yeah. I'm going to need you to calm down and breathe. The medical enforcer is fine. What's going on?"

"Shit. Alright. Give me a moment. Okay. So, I called emergency services because I was having heart palpitations. I was feeling faint, so they wanted to strap me to an enchanted gurney. Something that would help stabilize my condition. Then they got attacked... I think. It happened really fast, and he fell over."

"So you put him on the gurney and came here? Why here?"

"Shit, man. This place was within eyeline. I don't have medical training, and he would've died waiting for another ambulance. Also, I broke my phone in the comotion. And their radios don't work in civilian hands. Thank gods for the dozen banners advertising this place and the event you had going on here."

"That many? Nevermind. 'They' got attacked? Where is his partner?"

"Uh. Like forty feet away from the property. It's near the bus stop. You'd see the ambulance, the blood, and the crowd."

I stop [Martyr]ing this man and use the rest of my mana to help fix his heart issue while sucking down another mana potion. I make my way out of the auditorium and out of the compound. The random guy was right. An ambulance, a crowd, and a shit ton of blood are right there.

People are holding their phones, recording the scene, or whatever bystanders do. The crime scene is covered in blood, broken glass, and damaged equipment. Inside the ambulance is one of the enforcers in the driver seat, much heavier than the other guy. The windshield is cracked, with multiple holes bored into it, with similar holes in the body.

Huh. I don't think that guy is dead. I walk up to the door and try to open it. It's locked. I [Martyr] the dying EME and break the driver-side door glass before unlocking the door. I throw the door open and reach the body.

Bystanders are clamoring. Someone is screaming for no reason, and I think I heard my name once or twice. Regardless. I heal the enforcer with my newly regenerated mana and watch him sputter up blood and lean over. I healed him so he wouldn't be in danger of dying without further treatment.

What the fuck happened here? Why were enforcers shot outside of my new guild? Who attacked medical professionals while I was hosting a heal-athon?

Before any of my questions could be answered, squads of enforcers depended on my location.

Strangely, they didn't surround me and bombarded me with accusatory accusations like most of my enforcer-related encounters. Instead, they do their best to ignore my existence, secure the site, and check on the man in the vehicle. A weirdly familiar enforcer wearing a ballistic helmet with a full face plate approaches me.

"Mr. Vincere."

Oh no. It's him.

"It's you. Isn't it."

"I don't understand what you mean?"

"It's you, the same goddamn enforcer. Ever since I've entered the capital, you were there. Whenever I've been harassed or questioned by the enforcers, you were one of them."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Vincere."

"...I'm going to go then. The other guy is in my building. Someone will roll them out for you guys. ...Will you answer why I'm not being questioned."

"I don't have the authority for that. Not anymore."

"Huh?"

"If you want to know more, please drop by the station and talk to my superior officer. Your lawyer told us that you couldn't meet due to previous obligations, so please drop by when you are free."

"...Your bosses really want to talk to me, don't they."

"I have no comments."

"Did you get in trouble for shooting that healer?"

"I didn- I have no comments."

Freaky dude. Not only is he a stalker, he's in law enforcement. A brutal combo. I wonder if this shmuck is the one who broke into my apartment and left that letter. Shit, I hope not. I glance back and use [Scientific Insight+] on the enforcer while walking away.

[That One Enforcer Lv???]

Damn.

~~~

Free Chains is nearby in case there's a "law emergency" related to healing my charity cases. I think it's just an excuse to have a paid day off. Instead of immediately going to healing, I ensure the enforcer on the gurney and even the civilian who technically saved his life join up with the other enforcers.

I approach Free Chains. My hairy, whiskered lawyer is chatting up a pretty nurse.

"I don't think your wife will like that."

"How accusatory! You wouldn't know what my wife likes either! ...Jokes aside, this young lady asked about the Silvestris. I was supplementing her inquiries of my race's culture."

"I wanted to be a vet. I love animals!"

"...you should go. I need to talk to Mr. Vincere now."

As the nurse leaves, I can see Free Chains get visibly upset. I guess what he thought was honest curiosity was another case of being demeaned as a simple beast instead. Instead of letting him dwell on that conversation, I start asking him the questions I have.

"Why would the enforcers avoid questioning me?"

"...Ellis. There are many reasons, and most have to do with the reputation you've built for yourself."

"Elaborate."

"The public loves you. The people who like good people like you because of your tireless efforts to save lives after the quakes. The people who yearn for justice are still basking in the victory of the biggest civil case in the last century, taking down the great family a notch. And recently, the people who love violence are picking up on how you really took down the Ken family. Speaking of civil cases, part of my job is harassing the enforcer departments whenever they interact with you."

"That makes sense. What's my celebrity status then.?"

"Eh, it's getting up there. A few titles help as well. Humanities representative. Youngest founder of a guild. Youngest master healer. Strongest of your generation. Vincere family."

"Except for the first one (and the one that is literally my name), this is the first time I've heard about all this. When did this all happen?"

"You don't use the internet, do you? Well. You are technically the youngest master healer and founder of a guild. You aren't the youngest guild 'master' since inheriting a guild position can happen at any age. You are technically the strongest in your generation since that is a requirement for the representative title. John, the other captain who tied with you for that title, doesn't exist in the eyes of the public. Everyone forgot about him."

"Yeah, that's the boring-looking guy with a *h*aram."

"...yeah. By the way, a word of warning: you aren't bound by specific laws the great families are bound to while simultaneously being the direct and only known descendant of a particular First Party member. And a big one at that. You aren't a nobody anymore. They don't like that."

I finished healing the people who came to my event. Their injuries ranged from a limp to bodily disfigurement. Although it took the rest of the day, I managed to heal everyone. Next is my next plan of action.

Grinding out levels is no longer the forefront concern anymore. Rob is active as a passive generator for experience. He hasn't returned and visited for a while, but he should be fine since the trickle of exp hasn't stopped. My priority should be more focused training to utilize my [Master's Whip] skill, which increases training speeds and yields.

With Rob running around conquering lands and Duchess focussed on her bloodline thing, I should elevate my other three beasts. Prometheus' species [Fire Glutton] comes with skills that let him consume and regurgitate different kinds of fire. He also can consume metal objects to replicate them, so I should purchase some magic items for his diet... I hope my businesses turn a profit.

Khan needs copious amounts of meat, preferably living flesh, to level his newest [Man Eater] skill, which shares the same name as the species [Calamity Man-Eater]. The skill heals him a portion of the damage he deals with, but the caveat is that he needs to consume bits of meat. I can't bleed into a barrel for him since he's not "attacking."

No matter what, I'm not fighting Khan. I'd die horrifically or resist everything, so there are no benefits, regardless. Right now, I need money. And Flash Gordon's training can help with that. Since learning my healing skill can regenerate things that aren't there, I wonder if I could purposely cause cancerous growth.

As long as Flash Gordon is okay with it, I want to use his body to create stones of various elements to sell for a profit.

"..."

He doesn't seem to mind.

Flash Gordon and I stand in the empty orchid where the mana is the densest on my manor grounds. I hold him with both hands after getting his silent consent. I use all my mana and hope that he will expand. He has a skill to grow, so it wouldn't be a new phenomenon, but this time, it would be 'permanent.'

I'm [Enrooted] in a lush environment, using my skill on something other than me, maximizing my healing. Imagine my shock when nothing happens, even when I use [Broken Blood] and refresh my mana. I contemplated what to do next while reaching for a mana potion when I heard a sickening crack.

A large crack fragments the top of Flash Gordon's head and runs down the length of his body, threatening to split him in half. I wouldn't be able to live with myself If I harmed or killed Flash Gordon with a silly experiment. My first instinct is to dump the rest of my mana into Flash Gordon to heal him, but I hesitate. What if that makes it worse? He's in this position because of healing in the first place.

Panic almost makes me a fool. As the fragment progresses, I snap out of my indecisiveness and decide the [Martyr] the damage Flash Gordon is taking to buy time. I planned to activate the ability and then use [Scientific Insight+] to understand what was happening, but my thoughts got interrupted.

A searing, piercing pain unlike I have felt ever before rips through my body, mostly in my brain. I can feel my muscles and tendons rip through them. I can feel the top of my skull cracking under pressure. Blood immediately starts pouring out my eyes with enough force for me to be concerned about them popping out of my skull.

But the pain brought on something worse. My attuned elemental affinities start clamoring as my body is wracked with whatever is happening to me. I can almost hear them speaking. I can feel myself going to the brink of death just to be resurrected. I can feel the pain and whispers forcing me to find a way to stop it. It's getting hard to breathe as my throat starts hardening and my skin necrotizing.

My mind went blank when I felt my skull burst from the inside. I dropped Flash Gordon and collapsed to the ground. My momentary lapse stopped me from [Martyr]ing Flash Gordon. I didn't feel myself hitting the ground, just the streams of warm liquid running down my face. I smell the scent of flowers for some reason.

My thoughts returned to me after I stopped feeling double what he was experiencing. I tentatively reached for the top of my head while trying to pull myself into a sitting position. I feel something hard. I grab it and give it a sharp tug, and a long, glistening crystal, slick with blood, is pulled out of my brain with a sickening *sloop.*