“Ma’am!” Carmine was the first to react and make it to Mary’s side, but I quickly followed her.

Miki raised her hand, burning away the assassin’s body with her spirit fire as Carmine brought up Mary’s head and I began healing. I had reached out with both hands to heal her just as Carmine raised her body though. Normally, this would have been nothing, but considering her size, my healing hands ended up instantly being filled. As I grabbed onto her chest, Mary’s eyes popped open. She stared at me, and I stared at her.

Then, she flushed. “How bold.”

I pulled my hands back slightly, continuing to heal. “You’re hurt.”

“I was struck with shrapnel. I have a defensive shield, but it wasn’t much.” She sighed. “Are the children safe?”

Carmine glanced up and looked through the children. They had been rattled by the explosion, but the secretary wasn’t a slouch. She had once been part of the adventuring guild, after all, so she had put herself in front of them defensively. Between the two women, the children hadn’t been harmed at all, even given the previous massive explosions.

“The damage isn’t too bad,” I observed with relief.

“H-how could it be?” Anne had walked over, but she was still maintaining her distance, looking a bit shaken. “She has so much padding there!”

She wasn’t wrong. Mary’s large chest had blocked a lot of the shrapnel, which is why it wasn’t able to get any of her vital parts. However, as the wounds started to close, I realized that the shrapnel was probably still there. Despite being a White Mage, I didn’t have very much experience healing people. When the damage was a cut, a stab, or magic, it was all too easy to quickly heal everything. However, when there was something still in the wound, if I just closed it up, wouldn’t the shrapnel be stuck inside her breasts and continue to cause damage?

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“Before I heal everything, we may need to remove the shrapnel manually.” I voiced my concerns and looked down at her chest.

It wasn’t like I was a surgeon. I only had a bit of first aid training. I was just about to worry about what to do when a shadow fell over us.

“I got it.” Terra held up her hand, and just like it was magnetic, all of the shrapnel slowly pulled out of her.

I continued to use light healing, and Mary’s teeth clenched as the shrapnel slowly emerged out of the wound, but it was only a minute later when it was all in Terra’s massive hand. I had forgotten how handy an earth golem could be. I immediately switched to stronger healing spells, repairing the rest of the damage.

Once the healing was done, Anne approached with her arms crossed. “Hmph… and they still look as smooth as ever.”

“Anne… I…” Mary began.

“Why did you do it?” Anne demanded angrily.

“What?”

“You protected them!” She pointed at the children, shaking slightly. “You protected all of the children. They have flat chests, but you were there… while I was scared and could move, you put your life on the line for them. You’re the Archbishop! If you died, then your church would be lost! Why would you do something so reckless!”

Anne had tears in her eyes, and she had even raised her voice, shouting at the other woman angrily.

“Anne, she…” I began.

“Tell me why?” She reached down and grabbed the other woman by her cuffs.

“I represent the mother.” Mary’s eyes met hers. “What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t protect my daughters?”