Ch. 209
“Yes, after taking it, please tell me if you feel any lumps or hardness. I’ll use that to make an accurate diagnosis. There are many types of internal injuries, so I need to know where and how the patient is uncomfortable, and how deep the internal injury is, to make a more appropriate prescription.”
Though suspicious, I drank it, figuring she was the expert.
It was definitely more palatable than what Ash made. If his tasted like the screams of nature, wild and untamed, this was refined, clean, and mild, making it easy to swallow, less nasty, and at least didn’t make me gag.
I had somehow become able to critique internal injury medicine. I didn’t want to try so many different kinds.
“It’s not bad.”
“Right? There are some who can’t even drink this, they find it so difficult.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Geenie, you’re not one to exaggerate. I was a little worried because you looked like you really didn’t want to drink it… There will be a reaction in your body within 15 minutes, so don’t be alarmed and just tell me what you feel.”
Akia, who always spoke gently with a smile, wasn’t a difficult person to deal with.
She was so inherently kind and full of love that it was harder to find a reason to dislike her.
“I’m glad to be with such good people. When I saw Chad searching the whole town for a doctor for his companion, I thought I could trust him. I was sure it would be safe to travel with you.”
“It’s hard for a woman to go to the capital alone. Even if you hire a mercenary, there are so many rough ones… I think it was a good choice.”
“Right? Oh, I have a mentor in Helike. She runs a hospital and asked me for help because she’s short on doctors. She said she’s been swamped with work because so many people are flocking to see Toondra.”
For a doctor, work means patients.
It seemed like incidents and accidents were already non-stop in the capital.
When there are a lot of people, there’s bound to be fighting, and when there’s fighting, someone gets killed or injured.
Since the people who gathered to see the duel of the century would naturally like duels.
Blood would be flying everywhere.
I could guess how chaotic the capital was.
“Sounds hectic. I heard Helike is always festive around this time of year?”
“That’s right. It’s one of the biggest festivals on the continent. Aside from the Elan Founding Anniversary Festival, it’s the biggest, with the most people. This year, the country is especially bustling because of Toondra.”
“It’s a joke, but some people are saying that everyone on the continent is gathering on this island nation.”
When I said that with a smirk, Akia was delighted.
She seemed very happy that I was keeping her company.
“That’s right! I really wonder if that’s the case, that’s how many people are gathering… It’s my first time seeing anything like this. It’s a happy thing since there are many people in this country who live off tourism. Everyone is saying to strike while the iron is hot, so they’ve all gone up to the capital early, leaving the small villages empty.”
“Is that so?”
“I should have left sooner too, but I had a patient I couldn’t leave behind, so my departure was delayed.”
“Hmm? Then you could just take the warp, right?”
“That’s… very expensive. And a little… scary. The idea of my body instantly going to another place. It doesn’t feel real.”
“Magic is like that.”
It was also the exclusive property of nobles and the wealthy, and unfamiliar to the general public, so it felt frightening.
“I grew up in an orphanage run by the temple. So maybe that’s why magic is scarier to me. I was taught that powers other than divine power are not powers given by God, so they can make humans evil. That humans become addicted to that power and go down a wicked path.”
Clerics and mages have quite conflicting values.
Clerics consider all miracles to be the grace of the great God, and mages consider themselves the greatest because they perform miracles themselves.
Clerics basically consider anything other than the power given by God to be unholy, so they look at magic as heretical and tend to despise it, and there’s no way high-nosed mages would like being treated that way.
Naturally, they don’t get along. To put it bluntly, they’re busy tearing each other down.
“I read the Bible every day and learned how to use herbs… When I tell this story, there are always people who ask me why I didn’t become a cleric. They ask if that wouldn’t have been better.”
“Huh? Is it easy to become a priest? That’s something that illegitimate children of nobles, or a few talented people, take up early on. There aren’t many positions either.”
“You know a lot. That’s right. And I wanted to live as an ordinary person rather than walk the path of a cleric. I wanted to experience love. Someday… like my parents. They were very close.”
Growing up in an orphanage meant she lost her parents… well, there was no need to ask about that.
I fiddled with the curtains drawn at the window.
“Can you tell more about yourself?”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
This doctor seemed to want to get close to me… I wasn’t that easy.
Not disliking someone was a completely different story from being close to them.
“I don’t have anything to say. I don’t really like talking about myself. If you want, you can tell me more about yourself. I’ll listen.”
My close friend Mia was this type.
She would tell me all sorts of things even if I stayed still, so I could roughly know what was happening inside the academy just by listening to her. Come to think of it, Iruje was like that too.
Huh? Rai too. There were a lot of chatterboxes around me.
“You’re kind.”
“Huh…?”
“Isn’t it because you like listening to other people’s stories more than telling your own?”
“…No? It’s just that my friends are such chatterboxes that I’m used to it. They all talk one-sidedly. I don’t say anything.”
“Oh my, you’re loved. That means you are someone they can really rely on. Someone who won’t make their stories feel empty. It’s not fun to tell your story to just anyone.”
What a strange lady!
She was so positive that I couldn’t get used to her!
We had to ride in the carriage together for at least a week, and I was already worried because I was cringing so much.
“It’s not like that, so please don’t pay attention to me?”
I openly turned my gaze to the book.
Judging by how she was, she would keep talking on her own, but I had to pretend to listen no matter what she said.
“Still, I was lucky to have grown up in an orphanage. The reason I was able to become a doctor was thanks to meeting a wonderful mentor. She didn’t care that I was a girl and took me as her disciple.”
“……”
“You may not know this, but it’s mostly boys who get adopted. Because they can be used as labor for the family. But for girls… most of them, under the guise of employment… you may not know… there are very few places you can trust to go.”
I tried to listen with one ear and let it out the other, but Akia’s voice was easier to hear than the blurred letters in the book that were hard to read.
I eventually gave up, put the book down, rested my chin on my hand with a displeased look, and stared at Akia.
Let’s see how far she’ll go.
“Hehe, fortunately, I like telling my story.”
“……Is that so?”
“And I really want to get close to you. Who knows? By the time we arrive in Helike, we might be best friends.”
“It’ll be faster for me to marry Ash.”
It was as good as impossible, but Akia’s face lit up and she even clapped her hands as she asked back.
“I wanted to ask you that anyway! What’s your relationship? What is between you and the leader?”
“Ash? Ash and I?”
“Yes!”
“What do you mean, we’re just friends.”
“Oh my? I definitely thought you were lovers or engaged. Chad talked about how worried the Leader was about you the whole time he was coming. He said he came to get a doctor because he thought two of them would collapse if he didn’t…”
“Ah, I heard. He stopped eating and drinking?”
It’s okay. Ash’s stamina is so strong as a swordsman that he won’t die even if he starves for three days straight.
I was indifferent, but Akia seemed excited as if it was a big deal.
“Then you’re not just ordinary friends, right? That’s what Chad said! The leader was so depressed that he asked if he should go find a doctor? Only then did he show some life in his eyes. He ran off thinking this guy was in serious condition, right? This is clear! The leader is….”
Look at that innocent lady’s lecherous gaze. Akia definitely liked love stories.
“I know, he likes me.”
“Oh my, oh my!”
“But we’re just friends.”
“Yes? That can’t be! That’s all there is between you two! There must be something else!”
“Hmm, we kiss sometimes, so should we take out the ‘just’… and consider it a little special?”
Knock knock.
“Sometimes… what, do you do…? You just said that so naturally.”
“Just?”
“No.”
“Kiss.”
“……Gasp.”
“Kissing is quite nice. Besides, Ash does everything with sincerity, so he’s really, cute. It’s fun to watch….”
Knock…….
Knock knock!
“Geenie!”
“Ah! What is it?”
Why are you being so loud!
When I yanked open the curtains at the window, I saw Ash banging on the window as if he was going to break it.
He was riding a horse, and he was deliberately running close to the carriage, sticking his face right next to the window.
“Why are you being so dangerous?”
“I… I can hear everything!”
His face, desperately muttering, seemed somehow red.
I calmly assessed the situation.
Enk and Gale were sitting in the driver’s seat of the carriage that Akia and I were riding in, and Chad and Ash were each riding a horse, guarding the front and back.
The fact that Ash, who was in the front, could hear meant that the other members of the group could hear it too.
Oh… this was awkward.
The situation was awkward.
I blinked exactly three times. And shouted.
Offense is the best defense! Preemptive strike!
“Don’t eavesdrop! That’s so rude!”
“What am I supposed to do when I can just hear it!”
Those swordsmen, really.
Those with great physical abilities can be annoying sometimes. Because of them, I have to walk at least 5 minutes to get to the bathroom as far away as possible.
“Ugh! Don’t you have any privacy, you guys! Do you have to keep your ears open like that! Why don’t you all wear earplugs!”
“Then we can’t prepare for an attack! We always have to be vigilant about our surroundings, so….”
“Can’t you be a little dull for a moment?”
“……Is that even possible.”
Of course not. I knew it, but I said it anyway. I was embarrassed, but I didn’t want to show it, so what could I do? I had no choice but to pretend to be nonchalant.
“So what about it?”
“Everyone… knows now.”
“Are you okay with it?”
Whatever that was, that was sincere.
I was still resting my chin on my hand, and my elbow was touching the window.
As I watched Ash’s face, which was visible through the window, constantly being stained with embarrassment and shame, I tapped the glass and gave a loose smile.
“Why? Are you ashamed of kissing me?”
“That’s not it. It’s not like that. Geenie!”
“Then it’s fine? No problem.”
“Gee….”
“Keep watch.”
I quickly closed the curtains because I didn’t want to get scolded.
It was a great relief that Lox wasn’t here right now. If he was, one of us might have died today.
Of course, the probability of that being me was lower than breaking Rai with an egg.
It was after I picked up the book again that I found Akia stiff with her mouth open.
“Don’t worry about it. Ash worries a lot.”
“……I see.”
As soon as I closed the curtains and cut off the outside from the inside, it seemed like there was a big commotion outside. All sorts of sounds were heard.
It seemed like Ash was hearing some kind of congratulations and serious concerns, that is, concerns about maintaining his life.
“Ugh! You bastard! When! Did you do that! You’re fearless!”
“I didn’t take you for that type! You sneaky bastard! A total backstabber! Quiet ones really are the scariest! ”
“ Do you want to die? One slip and you’re dead, you hear me? ”
“Congrats… I guess? Should I even be congratulating you? This looks completely one-sided! Are you okay? Seriously, are you okay?”
“Still, it’s good that there’s progress… Ah! I see! You sent Lox away to do that, didn’t you!”
“No! You’re misunderstanding!”
“Well, she came back to life, so I understand why you did that. Still, the other person is… are you okay?”
‘I can hear you, you guys!’
‘Respect other people’s tastes! Anyone would think we’re going to war. ‘
‘What if he’s not okay!’
I wanted to interfere fiercely, but I didn’t want to be thrown into that situation, so I sat quietly for once.
Let’s pretend I don’t know that Ash has become the prey. I admit it’s because of me, so I’ll give him a kiss later.