The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows

Life hasn’t been kind to Zenos. He was born in the slums, and his dirt-poor background has denied him almost every opportunity. One day, he has a chance encounter with a healer, and it sparks inspiration in him to study. He has a short stint of adventurin

After the exhausting golem incident, Zenos seeks a much-needed break and travels to a hot springs resort. His actual attempt to rest, however, is hampered when his problem patients tag along. To make matters worse, Umin, a healer from the Royal Institute of Healing, is staying at the exact same inn. When an accident befalls their hosts, Zenos must demonstrate his “plain ol’ shadow healer” abilities, and thus attracts attention he did not want. Now on the Institute’s radar, Zenos is faced with an unexpected request...

With everything at the Royal Institute of Healing settled, Zenos, Lily, and Carmilla return to their regular routine at the clinic in the ruined city. Zenos reminisces about his mentor and his past, and the three demi-human leaders announce the slums’ fir

The situation with Liz has been resolved, so Zenos shifts his focus to researching the Black Guild, a mysterious organization that closely guards all information about their members. Even so, he learns of an important figure within it who can supposedly heal any malady. Could it be his childhood friend and fellow student of healing magic, Velitra? Upon looking further into the matter, he suspects Velitra also has their old mentor’s notes. Finding his old friend could be the key to learning more about their mysterious mentor... Will Zenos manage to infiltrate the Black Guild? And if he does, what secrets will he unveil?

After a fateful meeting with his late mentor’s projection, Zenos realizes he’s gotten this far in life because he had a teacher. With the encounter spurring him on, he and the demi-human leaders decide to start a school in the slums. Unfortunately, they quickly encounter a roadblock that seems insurmountable: How can they provide the children of the slums with proper education when none of the leaders have received formal education themselves? In a lucky twist of fate, a familiar face brings with it an opportunity for Zenos to teach healing magic at a prestigious academy. Saying yes could be the solution to their problems—nothing beats hands-on experience, after all! But on Zenos’s first day of classes, it quickly becomes apparent that this assignment isn’t quite what it seems. Might this be the solution he seeks? Or will it just add to his never-ending list of problems?

Zenos and Lily succeed in founding St. Carmilla Academy, the first-ever school in the slums, with help from noble children. There, the shadow healer meets Roa, a young girl with big dreams of adventure and bold claims of being the daughter of the former Sword Saint. When Roa runs into trouble, she finds herself face-to-face with the current Sword Saint and vows to become her apprentice. Between this fateful meeting and a certain meddling wraith pulling strings, Zenos is drawn back into the adventuring life he thought he’d left behind.

With the crisis in Zagras averted and the S Rank beast defeated, Zenos returns to his life in the slums, juggling his duties at the clinic while occasionally teaching at St. Carmilla Academy. Still, these peaceful days don’t last for long. All of a sudden, a group of oddly desperate military officers pop up in Zenos’s part of town, running a mass recruitment drive to build out the nation’s border patrol. It seems they’ll conscript anyone—even children. Around the same time, Lily goes missing. And when witnesses report seeing her forced inside a military convoy alongside a child in fancy clothing, Zenos knows what he’s got to do next—get recruited himself! It seems once again, life is about to take an unorthodox turn.