The little girl was frozen in terror by how quickly everything had changed.
Just moments ago, she'd resigned herself to being devoured by the man-eating demon, steeling herself for death. She only hoped she wouldn't drag down the beautiful, nameless onee-san who'd stepped in—and had even decided to entrust Tasuke to her care.
But then, in the blink of an eye, that terrifying flesh-eating demon was pinned to the ground and pounded mercilessly by the beautiful onee-san, her voice ringing out fiercely as she wielded her fearsome weapon. The demon's screams echoed through the woods.
Are we… saved…?
The blue-skinned demon, even after his head was smashed open in the first brutal assault, suddenly realized something.
Wait! This monstrous woman is strong, and her weapon packs a punch, but… it's not a nichirin blade! There's none of that disgusting sunlight aura! She's not with the Demon Slayer Corps! She's just a regular human!
In that instant, a surge of confidence flooded the demon—I can turn this around and kill her!
Demons dreaded sunlight and wisteria. To fight them, humans forged weapons from ore infused with the power of the sun—these were the "nichirin blades." Only by severing a demon's head with a nichirin blade could they truly be slain.
So, even with his skull shattered, the blue demon still lived.
The barrage from the gun stopped. In that very moment, the blue demon lunged at Nightingale in a sudden attack.
His bloated belly split open, transforming into a massive, fanged maw lunging to tear Nightingale to shreds—only to be stuffed full of several small, round objects.
"A perfectly sterile environment is the prerequisite for all treatment, so—not a single germ can be allowed to escape!"
With a piercing shout, Nightingale crammed another round grenade straight into the demon's gaping mouth.
A second later, the grenade exploded inside the blue demon's stomach in a burst of scorching emerald light—
BOOM!
The searing green fire tore the demon's body apart, engulfing Nightingale's silhouette in the blast. The shockwave sent the nearby trees swaying violently.
"Uwah—!"
The little girl ducked down quickly, clutching Tasuke tightly to her chest. Dirt and debris rained down on her, but thankfully, she hadn't been blown away by the shock.
Then, from her embrace, came the shaky sound of a baby crying.
"Tasuke? Tasuke, are you awake? Did the noise startle you? Don't cry, don't cry, onee-chan's right here… I know it's scary, but don't be afraid."
As she soothed Tasuke, the little girl cast a fearful glance at the center of the explosion.
The acrid smell of smoke faded. Nightingale stood at the center in her striking red uniform, poised like a valkyrie, while the blue demon had been reduced to not even a scrap of flesh.
It was said that only a nichirin blade could kill a demon, but that was not entirely true. Demons had terrifying vitality—being decapitated wasn't enough to finish them off—but even their regeneration had limits. After all, they were still living beings; if an injury exceeded those limits, they could die even without a nichirin blade.
If it were the Demon King, even with a fragment as small as a fingernail they could regenerate. But this blue demon was just a minor one, without even a blood demon art—one grenade was enough to end him.
"Medication administered, treatment complete. Checking remaining ampoule rounds… plenty in reserve."
Nightingale double-checked her supply of ampoule rounds, then remembered—these were created by her Noble Phantasm. As long as she had enough mana, she could make as many as she wanted. Running out of ammo was never a concern.
Is this my instinctive response from all those battles? Looks like it'll take some time to get used to…
Nightingale furrowed her brows, but quickly relaxed. "Then again, I suppose I've grown used to this sort of thing."
Nightingale—Florence Nightingale in full—this was the Heroic Spirit whose Saint Graph she now possessed. Like Okita Souji, she was a modern Heroic Spirit, lacking the mysteries of older legends. If summoned in the Holy Grail War, she would probably be considered a weaker Servant.
Known as the Angel of Crimea, with the nickname "Little War Office," she held fast to cleanliness and proper care at a time when ignorance and unsanitary conditions ran rampant. She never hesitated to spend her own resources to improve things, eventually reducing a nearly 40% mortality rate to just 5%.
Soldiers who saw Nightingale back then said it was like seeing an angel—she was the very origin of the term "white-robed angel."
But in normal summoning, Nightingale should have been a Berserker, for her devotion and self-sacrifice in saving lives was often called "madness" or even "terrifying," and her [Mad Enhancement] skill reached the exceptional EX rank… Yet now, her class was Archer.
Because she wasn't an ordinary Nightingale, but Christmas Nightingale—the Santa who raced through Christmas Eve delivering the gift of "health" to everyone.
Put simply, it was all about shots, medicine, and—most importantly—no sweets. Santa Nightingale wished every piece of candy in the world would turn into medicine…
Which, unsurprisingly, made her the least popular Santa among children.
Just then, Nightingale's attention was caught by the sound of a baby's wailing.
"Uuu… uuu…"
"Ah, don't be scared, Tasuke… That's odd, you were being so good just a moment ago. Why are you crying so much now…?"
The little girl continued to comfort Tasuke, looking a little at a loss. The exhaustion she'd built up fleeing from the demon suddenly caught up with her, and as she relaxed, a sharp pain radiated through her entire body.
"Besides being startled, children cry when they're hungry, tired, or sometimes need surgery if it's serious… but that's not exactly my specialty."
Nightingale walked over, her tone severe. "Children never hide their ailments—they'll cry at the slightest sign of discomfort—but being uncooperative during treatment is a problem you can't ignore."
"Ah, you're that really pretty onee-san!"
The little girl smiled sweetly at Nightingale's voice, then blinked in surprise and looked down at Tasuke. "Tasuke stopped crying the moment you arrived, onee-san! Tasuke, do you really like the pretty lady?"
"Waa! Waa!"
Tasuke giggled, chubby hands reaching for Nightingale.
"Pretty? What are you talking about? That has nothing to do with curing illness."
Nightingale sounded genuinely puzzled, glancing down at Tasuke.
But in her mind, she thought—
These tiny hands… They're hardly suited for injections… And giving medicine wouldn't be much better. A child this small might not handle the drugs' toxicity well; using them carelessly could make things worse.
"Um…"
Nightingale's crimson eyes blinked as she met the little girl's nervous gaze.
"Thank you for saving me and Tasuke from the demon, onee-san. If it weren't for you, I don't know what would've happened to us…"
"That's not right."
"…Eh?"
Not right? The little girl tilted her head in confusion.
"This is no time to let your guard down. The battle has only just begun."
With utter seriousness, Nightingale hefted her light machine gun again.
"Eh? Battle?"
The girl tensed up under Nightingale's intensity. "But… the demon is gone, isn't it? Or… is it not really dead? Or does it have friends…?"
Nightingale declared, "I don't know about demons. The enemy I'm talking about is germs! Disease!"
"???"
"A proper routine is the foundation of health! Why are two children wandering outside so late instead of home in bed? And those clothes—so thin, so dirty! If you catch a cold, what then? And with those scrapes, infection could be life-threatening!"
The sight of these two ragged children was enough to make Nightingale's self-restraint snap. If she'd had spare clothes, she would have disinfected them both on the spot and burned the filthy rags. The good news was, as an Archer-class, she could at least pull out all sorts of medicines from her pack—if she'd been summoned as a Berserker, she might have only had guns, grenades, bandages, and alcohol.
Nightingale was used to treating and sterilizing wounds in all kinds of awful conditions, but if she had a choice, she'd much rather work somewhere clean and well-supplied.
"In that case, you can come to our house, onee-san!"
The little girl offered shyly, "It's just me and Tasuke, but we'd be really happy if you came over. Right, Tasuke?"
"Ii! Waa!"
Tasuke cheered in agreement.
The girl beamed. "See? Tasuke's so happy—he really likes you, onee-san!"
"A peasant's home won't have any medical equipment or proper sterile environment," Nightingale replied, voice flat and mechanical. "But at least you should have warm clothes and bedding. That's… passable. You can't always expect perfection."
With Nightingale's tacit approval, the little girl's eyes sparkled and she smiled joyfully.
"You'll come to our house? Really? Did you hear that, Tasuke? The pretty onee-san who saved us is coming to visit!"
"Waa!"
"You're happy too, aren't you? So am I! Now we can use what we have at home to thank onee-san properly… I wonder if you like tea? Grandpa Yutaro brought some tea leaves from outside the village—we could use some to thank you, I don't think he'd mind…"
"I'm not 'onee-san who saved you,'" Nightingale interrupted. "Nor 'the pretty onee-san.' My name is Nightingale."
"Ah… I'm so sorry, Nightin—gah, neesan…"
The little girl stumbled over the unfamiliar name and looked dejected. "Sorry…"
Not even able to get her savior's name right—this realization hit the girl hard.
"It's all right. My name's a bit of a tongue-twister for you. Don't worry about it."
Nightingale tried to comfort her, but it didn't seem to help much.
"Yaa yaa!"
"Ah, Tasuke, you're right—this isn't the time to be moping…"
The girl mustered her spirits, hugging Tasuke. "I'm Afune, and this is my little brother, Tasuke."
"Yaa, yaa!"
Tasuke beamed at Nightingale, his smile pure and radiant.
Hearing their names, Nightingale frowned slightly, feeling a wave of familiarity.
Afune and Tasuke alone didn't mean much, but seeing them as this sister-and-brother pair… where have I heard that before? Yet she couldn't quite place it, and quickly dismissed the nagging feeling—Even if I remembered, would it help me rid the world of illness?
"Well then, no time to waste. Let's get going, Afune, Tasuke."
Nightingale's tone brooked no refusal. "Human strength is limited, so not a single moment can be wasted."
"Eh? Y-you're right, onee-san…"
Afune worked her ankles. After a little rest, she could probably walk again.
Her body still ached, and the village was likely some distance away, but if she pushed herself a bit…
"Uwah!"
Her thoughts were interrupted as the ground seemed to vanish beneath her. Nightingale's delicate features filled her vision, drawing ever closer.
"Don't move. Your body can't handle too much right now. Lie still and hold Tasuke tight. I didn't bring a stretcher, but I'll make sure the trip isn't too bumpy."
Nightingale's stern but gentle voice sounded right by Afune's ear, accompanied by a faint, soothing fragrance. A wave of unfamiliar but comforting warmth swept over Afune, as if an ancient memory had been stirred awake.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered back before Tasuke was born, back when her mother was still alive—how her mother had held her just like this. Most of those memories were hazy, but being in Nightingale's arms, she recalled the feeling of being enveloped in that gentle warmth.
Exhaustion finally overcame her. Before long, Nightingale heard the sound of soft, even breathing from her arms.
Looking down, she saw that both Tasuke and Afune had closed their eyes, sleeping peacefully.
---
T/N: err are the names right?