Chapter 02
Episode 1
“A sexy dream, of all things…”
Eloise felt a little embarrassed as she greeted the seventh morning of her second life.
Staring at the intense sunlight pouring through the window, she muttered,
“That round sun is up again.”
Then the second thing she said was,
“I don’t want to go to work.”
“Eloise, do you really need to call it ‘going to work’? It’s only a five-minute walk to the office,” someone replied.
The speaker was Merlin, one of the greatest joys of Eloise’s second life.
Merlin Pardel, known for her large glasses and curly hair, was Eloise’s coworker on the support team of the Continental Disaster Response Headquarters.
Calling it a “support team” sounded nice, but in reality, their main job was cleaning up after powerful mages and healers.
In plain terms, they were errand runners.
And Eloise was a very capable errand runner.
“It’s Monday today. You know everyone’s extra sensitive. Hurry up and get ready with me!”
“Okaaay…”
She answered, but even after Merlin left and closed the bedroom door, Eloise stayed in bed for a long time.
She briefly reflected on her previous life.
An orphan who had grown up suffering through hardship, she eventually became a low-level civil servant at the Demonic Energy Management Bureau under the Continental Disaster Response Headquarters.
That was thanks to a sudden catastrophe called the Rainbow Hole.
“Can you really say ‘thanks’ for something that awful? I don’t know.”
Anyway, while working as a low-level employee, she awakened as an S-rank healer.
It happened the moment she accidentally met Gerard, the master of the Mage Tower, who was on the verge of losing control due to demonic energy addiction.
She became Gerard’s secret personal healer, but that didn’t last long.
She was suddenly caught in a Purple Hole and died.
A dramatic, fiercely lived life could be summarized in just a few lines.
“Not much, really.”
What was special was now.
How did I end up living a second life?
Eloise closed her eyes.
Her past life came back vividly.
***
Rainbow Hole
Five years ago, mysterious holes suddenly appeared across the land and sky of the continent, swallowing everything in their path. We called them “Rainbow Holes.”
They devoured objects, people, soil, and water alike.
The reason such terrifying holes had such a pretty name was simple.
Each hole shone in one of the colors of the rainbow.
Sometimes red, sometimes orange, sometimes blue…
Their locations, timing, and colors were completely unpredictable.
But they all shared one thing in common.
Wherever a Rainbow Hole appeared, everything around it was utterly destroyed.
Whether living or not, everything was swallowed.
Rainbow Holes were disasters in the truest sense.
The continent hastily established the Disaster Response Headquarters.
Representatives of each nation, papal envoys, and Mage Tower masters gathered to discuss how to destroy the Rainbow Holes.
Many attempts were made.
Multinational forces were sent in. Temples prayed and offered sacrifices.
Countless knights, priests, and mages died in the process.
Or rather, their fate was unknown.
No one ever came back out, so people simply assumed they were dead.
Rainbow Holes seemed like an unsolvable problem.
But human persistence eventually found an answer.
Inside each Rainbow Hole was a core. Destroy it, and the hole would vanish completely.
The problem was getting to that core.
The environment inside was unpredictable, and they had to fight unknown monsters.
And only mages could effectively harm those monsters.
From that point on, mages became heroes of the continent, painfully but steadily destroying Rainbow Holes one by one.
The Disaster Response Headquarters grew complacent, believing the problem had been solved.
People returned to their normal lives.
Perhaps that arrogance angered fate.
A new problem emerged.
***
“Run! Pekatum has gone mad! He’s attacking us—aaagh!”
A highly skilled mage named Pekatum lost his sanity and attacked civilians.
His pale skin turned black, his eyes glowed red, and he looked more like a demon than a human.
That day, he killed two hundred people before blowing his own head apart.
A research team was assembled once more.
Through ancient texts and forbidden books from the Mage Tower, they discovered the truth behind the “Pekatum Phenomenon.”
Demonic energy addiction.
When mages used magic excessively, demonic energy invaded their bodies, turning them into monsters who lost all reason.
If they eliminated Rainbow Holes, mage madness followed.
If they feared mage madness and left Rainbow Holes alone, the continent would be destroyed.
The continent fell into despair once again.
***
“God will not abandon us.”
The temples prayed.
And as if in response, a solution appeared.
Healers of demonic energy.
Just as Rainbow Holes had appeared suddenly, healers emerged unexpectedly among the people.
Through physical contact with mages, they could heal demonic energy.
The Disaster Response Headquarters gathered and managed healers strictly.
Healers were ranked from S to F based on their ability.
Initially chaotic, the Disaster Response Headquarters eventually stabilized into a multinational organization.
The same was true for the Rainbow Hole response system.
And three years ago, after the system was fully established, Eloise joined the support team of the Demonic Energy Management Bureau.
When she received her acceptance letter, Miss Jacqueline from the orphanage was overjoyed.
“Eloise, you’re the pride of our orphanage!”
A steady salary, a fine uniform, and room and board provided.
Seeing heroic mages up close and serving the continent gave her a sense of purpose.
She thought it was a great job.
That changed after six months.
The pay was pitiful.
Room and board existed so they could summon her anytime during emergencies.
And the mages she once admired…
“Heal me right now! Bring a healer, now! Or should I break into the healer dorm myself? I don’t care about the rank! Anyone, anyone—!”
They were nothing but nightmare clients.
Endless overtime and mages who complained no matter what.
Her sense of purpose vanished before she realized it.
“Well, at least something survived.”
The uniform.
A high-quality white blouse, a navy vest that cinched the waist, and a skirt of practical length.
Most importantly, it was pretty.
The gold embroidery and the Demonic Energy Management Bureau badge made of gold and ruby gave her a strange sense of pride.
It wasn’t all bad.
The meals were good and regular.
To avoid suddenly quitting the hard-earned job, Eloise tried to focus on the positives.
At the orphanage, skipping meals was common.
Food was terrible and often given up for younger children.
The dormitory here was shared by two people, but having her own bed mattered to her.
So she adapted and lived fairly well.
Though she occasionally angered superiors by clashing with unreasonable mages.
Things improved after she met Gerard.
Later, it was revealed that Gerard had an allergy to healing energy.
That was why he rejected healers and used self-made medicine to manage his demonic energy.
But medicine with unproven safety and effectiveness had limits.
Eventually, he reached the brink of losing control.
That was when Eloise met him by chance.
Gerard Norvark.
Meeting him was a turning point in her life.
The emperor’s second son, born to a mage mother.
A bastard prince who abandoned all royal rights early on and rose to become the master of the Mage Tower.
An SSS-rank mage.
A hero of the Norvan Empire.
“And my partner.”
After meeting him, Eloise awakened as an S-rank healer.
But she didn’t want to be a healer.
She had seen many lives ruined by healing powers in a short time.
To mages, healers were tools.
To the Bureau, they were replaceable parts.
She preferred the quiet life of a low-ranking civil servant.
The day after she mixed bodies with Gerard during his near-rampage—
“Please… keep it a secret.”
Kneeling, she begged Gerard when he returned with a stiff expression.
“In return, I’ll take responsibility for your healing! I’ll be your exclusive healer!”
For reasons unknown, Gerard had no allergic reaction to Eloise’s healing.
Normally, healers were assigned by the Bureau’s system.
To minimally protect healer rights, each healer was assigned three to five mages, rotating monthly based on rank.
This prevented fights among mages over high-rank healers.
In fact, early on, two mages once fought over a B-rank healer and destroyed an entire building.
However, reporting healer awakening was mandatory by law.
Violating it led to severe punishment, regardless of status.
Hiding Eloise’s existence was a huge risk for Gerard, who was praised as flawless.
He could easily make enemies of the entire Mage Tower and the Disaster Response Headquarters.
Eloise expected him to refuse and report her.
But unexpectedly, Gerard accepted her proposal.
“I will keep it secret.”
He was a polite and respectful man.
“So don’t be too afraid. What happened yesterday… won’t happen often.”
His calm demeanor, so different from the beastly man of that night, made Eloise’s heart flutter.
They maintained a secret relationship as exclusive healer and mage.
Her relationship with Gerard was satisfying.
“I was happy.”
But happiness didn’t last.
On the day the highest-difficulty Purple Hole appeared, Eloise’s happiness shattered.
