Chapter 79: Good Healer (7) |
*
B-Sector.
The district for hot-blooded adventurers who still haven't given up their lingering attachment to the freedom and exploration outside the wall.
The shunned establishments that sustain B-Sector are the Adventurer's Guild and the blacksmiths.
The shadows clinging to that place are the mercenaries and assassins who will do anything for money.
That's how it earned the name Swordsman Street.
You could say that every profession in this city that makes a swordsman's living—aside from nobles or knights—gathers here.
“As you know, Teacher, the leader of Swordsman Street and I are close.”
The car headed for B-Sector.
Wangcho began to briefly explain the situation.
“When a carrier pigeon suddenly arrived this morning, I thought it was for some urgent order.”
B-Sector has frequent exchanges with D-Sector.
When the adventurers of Swordsman Street hunt demonic beasts, their meat, materials, and mana stones are separated on Tanner Street.
Also, when broke adventurers or mercenaries get injured, they're treated for cheap at the clinics in D-Sector.
And one can't forget the adventurers who, unable to contain their nightly passions, frequent the Red-Light District.
In many ways, B-Sector is indebted to D-Sector.
So it was only natural for the leader of B-Sector and Wangcho to become close.
“But that wasn't it. The moment I saw the news that the subjugation team that went out last night was returning, utterly devastated, I was wide awake.”
Wangcho said, letting out a ragged breath.
Listening quietly, Ayla and the students hunched their shoulders.
“They say the variant demonic beast that caused this incident wasn't that strong. At most, it was the level of a small demonic beast.”
A small demonic beast is something a party including a Rank 1 Superhuman could easily handle.
“The problem is that when it died, it made a huge noise like some kind of alarm. Because of that, a large demonic beast pack woke from hibernation all at once, and the subjugation team is said to be retreating after suffering a devastating blow.”
“Of all things, large demonic beasts...”
But if large demonic beasts awakened, it's a different story.
The rank of a large demonic beast is roughly Rank 3 to 4.
Subjugating a single one requires a noble.
If a large demonic beast leads a pack, a knight order is needed as well.
Of course, this subjugation team included nobles and knights.
So, if only one pack including large demonic beasts had awakened, they might have been able to handle it.
The problem was that it wasn't just one pack.
“They started their retreat at daybreak, and the injured are apparently flooding toward the castle gate now.”
Daybreak meant the subjugation had only just begun.
They would have gone out targeting beasts still groggy from hibernation, so they would have been at their most complacent.
The situation was probably more serious than anything I could imagine.
“We're in B-Sector.”
As we left the alleys of D-Sector, the scenery began to change.
The smell of grease and leather disappeared, replaced by the smell of charcoal and metal powder.
The street, which would normally be filled with the mixed sounds of hammers on anvils and swords being sharpened from early morning, was silent.
Looking out the car window, I could see that everyone on the street was facing the castle gate.
“There it is, Teacher.”
Wangcho pointed to the open castle gate.
Beyond the gate, where the dawn light seeped through, the scenery outside the wall, covered in white snow, was visible.
And people were pouring in through that gate.
“How could this be...”
Ayla covered her mouth with both hands.
A mercenary carried on a comrade's back.
A knight limping, using a shield as a cane.
A noble being dragged along, supported by two servants.
A procession of wretched figures stretched from the gate.
And they were the lucky ones.
Between the gate and the central plaza was a large road connecting the two.
A road that should have been bustling with carts carrying demonic beast corpses.
But now, the carts filling that road were loaded not with spoils of war, but with the injured and the deceased.
“Keuk...”
“Save me, save me...”
“My leg... my leg...”
Wailing echoed from all around.
Bloodstains spread across the white snow in all directions, and at the end of each stain, a person lay collapsed.
At the gruesome sight, Ayla and her friends couldn't say a word.
One of the students made eye contact with a corpse being carried on a stretcher and covered her mouth.
“Gag...”
I feel bad for showing them this on the first day.
But I made sure to confirm with them before we left.
That where we were going was a brutal disaster site, overflowing with blood and rampant with screams.
That they shouldn't even dream of a happy-go-lucky, wise clinic life.
That there, I would have no choice but to treat them not as students, but as individual disaster relief workers.
Nevertheless, the students replied that they would follow.
So, I too had no choice but to give them the corresponding status.
“We're arriving at the Adventurer's Guild.”
At Wangcho's voice, I prepared to get out of the car.
The other kids also prepared to disembark.
When the car finally stopped, Wangcho leaped out.
I also hurried my steps toward the guild building, following Wangcho.
“Teacher, this way.”
The B-Sector Adventurer's Guild headquarters was a stone building on the north side of the plaza, closest to the castle gate.
Opening the door revealed the interior of a typical fantasy-style guild.
A wide space that doubled as a pub and a waiting room opened up, and further inside, a reception desk and a pub counter were visible.
But the space that doubled as a pub had been transformed into a command and control center.
“How many B-Rank or higher are still left outside!”
“Three! No, four! We still can't get in contact with Lina's Party!”
“Check the beds in the infirmary! If there aren't enough, clear out a blacksmith's shop and lay people down!”
“Have you sent letters to the noble families?! Are you confirming who is where?!”
“Contact the Upper District, too! Quickly!”
A middle-aged man was yelling at the top of his lungs, using the quest board as a briefing chalkboard.
On the spot that should have been crammed with quest forms and subjugation announcements, there was a rough map someone had drawn with chalk.
52/8
64/9
The approximate number of injured and the estimated number of deaths were being updated in real-time.
Shout piled on top of shout.
Wangcho unhesitatingly pushed through the heart of the chaos.
“Out of the way!”
Shoving aside the adventurers in his way, Wangcho walked toward the board.
The students and I walked along the path Wangcho had made.
Soon, we arrived in front of the board.
A man was standing on a table placed in front of the chalkboard.
“Alexei! I'm here!”
At Wangcho's call, the man on the table looked down.
The man called Alexei was in his late forties with a scar running across his forehead and jaw.
A wolf crest, embossed in silver, faintly shone on his black leather coat.
“Tao Chen. You're here early.”
“Teacher. This guy is Alexei. He's the B-Sector Adventurer's Guild Master.”
“It is an honor, Director Schun. I have heard much about you.”
The guild master jumped down from the table, gave me a slight nod, and offered a handshake.
When I grasped the right hand he offered, I felt the chill of cold metal.
It seemed his right hand was a prosthetic.
“The situation is urgent, so please forgive my lack of proper etiquette.”
“Not at all. So, what should I do here?”
“There are still many parties and teams isolated outside the wall. It's difficult to even focus on the rescue operation.”
Alexei said with a sigh, pointing at the board.
On one side of the chalkboard, a rough map of the area outside the wall was drawn.
On top of it, several team names were circled in red and marked with exclamation points.
“I will handle the rescue outside the wall. Please take charge of handling the injured who have come inside. Before that, by any chance, how many healers did you bring?”
“Healers from the Merkur Trading Company are on their way down.”
I had sent word on the way here.
When I relayed the situation to the Guild Master, he had snorted and said this:
— “Excellent! This is a golden opportunity to further enhance our company's image!”
Such a choice of words, fitting for a villainous nouveau riche.
Of course, even if he said that, I knew well that wasn't what he truly meant.
Because he was a nouveau riche who admired the spirit of noblesse oblige.
Unlike his image, the Guild Master was one of the few good people I could trust.
In any case, the healers were on their way here.
“Thank you, Director.”
“It won't be too late for thanks later.”
“Understood. I'll let the other team leaders know.”
Guild Master Alexei called over a receptionist who was bustling about.
“Marius. Relay this to the guild staff and party leaders. From now on, once they're over the wall, command of the injured is to be entirely under this gentleman's orders.”
“Yes!”
The staff member glanced at my mask for a moment, then instantly drew a composite sketch of me on a piece of paper.
A black formal suit and a crow mask.
Holding the sketch that exquisitely captured my features, the employee disappeared behind the counter.
Alexei pointed to the chalkboard with his right prosthetic hand.
“The guild has an infirmary as well. Besides that, there are two other spaces we can use: the guild meeting room, and the warehouse of the blacksmith next door. I've assigned about thirty porters for now, let me know if you need more.”
“Understood. I'll arrange for additional support separately.”
With that, I turned to Wangcho.
“Wangcho.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“I need more people.”
“I'll bring some of the stronger guys from the slaughterhouse.”
“You're free to use my car and the company carriages.”
“Got it.”
I trusted him with it, since I knew Wangcho wouldn't do anything stupid with the cars in this situation.
Wangcho gave a sharp nod, then went back out the way he came in.
After confirming his back had disappeared, I overturned my bag on the table.
Flags dyed in four different colors spilled out.
“All D-Sector Clinic Directors, gather.”
“We're here.”
The five clinic directors who had arrived first with me gathered in front of the guild master's table.
Behind them, guild members, wondering what was going on, began to stop one by one to watch.
I immediately gave instructions to the clinic directors.
“Tell the healers who haven't arrived at the scene and have gone to their clinics to stay put. We need backup.”
There's a limit to the treatment that can be done on-site.
So, the personnel who haven't yet arrived will be on standby at the clinics.
“And from now on, you clinic directors and I will focus on classifying patients rather than treating them.”
I spread the bundle of flags on the table.
Red, yellow, green, and black.
These were the flags for triage classification.
In a large-scale disaster where resources like time and manpower are limited, it's impossible to provide the best possible care for each individual.
The moment multiple medical staff rush to one patient, the other 10 who are neglected are left to die.
For this reason, in a disaster situation like this, medicine aims not for the best outcome, but for the survival of the greatest number.
And triage classification is a sorting method that determines priority by classifying patients according to their severity.
“What I'm about to explain is the triage classification method. I assume you all have experience working in an emergency room, so I'll explain it simply.”
First, green.
“People who can walk on their own. People who can speak and are fully conscious are classified with this flag. Their treatment is the lowest priority.”
Yellow.
“They can't walk but are conscious, and while they need treatment, they can wait for about an hour. We'll treat them, but only when we have divine power to spare.”
Red.
“These are the people who will die if not treated right now. People with clouded consciousness, rapid breathing, or unusual bleeding. We will treat these people first.”
And black.
“...You all know, right?”
I'll skip the explanation since many ears are listening.
But anyone who has worked at my clinic knows this color.
Black.
No hope.
“We will not perform time-consuming treatments like CPR, nerve surgery, or regeneration surgery.”
““Yes!””
I continued my explanation.
“There are rules for classification. 30 seconds to 1 minute per person. Don't use more than that. The criteria are breathing, pulse, blood circulation, and consciousness.”
In this situation, the most important thing is classification.
Proper classification alone can change the first digit of the survival rate.
However, if that classification causes delays, it defeats the entire purpose.
“Don't hesitate. If you can't make a judgment, classify them as yellow for now.”
The healers all nodded in unison.
“Now then, let's divide the areas by co—”
It was then.
A loud horn sound rang out from outside the guild.
Bwoooooo!
It was a horn from the direction of the castle gate.
The guild staff perked their ears at the sound of the horn, which blew four distinct times.
One of them spoke to me.
“It seems the Basilisk Attack Squad has returned.”
“How many people?”
“Roughly 80.”
“It's about to get busy.”
I handed the flags to the clinic directors and finished my sentence.
“Divide into zones according to the flags and start classifying the patients. Let's start right away.”
I gave a short command and picked up a bundle of flags.
Then I gestured with my head to the students who were staring blankly this way.
“Students, follow me.”
*
I took the students with me and began handing out flags to the patients.
I examined an adventurer in leather armor with a twisted ankle.
“What's your name?”
“... Ma... rtin...”
“Green flag.”
He can't walk, but he's conscious and there are no medical findings that suggest a threat to his life.
People don't die from a twisted ankle.
Therefore, green.
I told the patient to hold the flag and get help from other walking patients to head to the green zone.
The next patient was a knight with a forearm-sized thorn stuck in his stomach.
“Patient. What is your name?”
“Mom...”
Mom, I'm hungry, I'm cold.
It's a classic line for people waiting for the ferryman before the Jordan River.
The moment I heard that, I immediately flipped his eyelid and lightly pressed and released his finger.
His condition was bad.
His breathing was also shallow and rapid. A rough count would easily put it over 30 per minute.
However, if we remove the thorn and cast a Heal, we can expect his condition to improve quickly.
“Red.”
Poke.
Ayla tied the flag to the knight's forearm.
Before long, the workers Wangcho had arranged for loaded the knight onto a stretcher.
And they began moving him to the area where the red flag patients were gathered.
“I'll pray for you, Sir Knight.”
Before the knight left, Ayla cast Refresh on him.
Normally, the principle in this situation is to conserve divine power.
But I made an exception for Ayla.
Over the past few months.
I had never seen Ayla's divine power get depleted from using Refresh.
There were even days she used it nearly 100 times without faltering.
So, I permitted her to cast Refresh on the red flag patients.
Because doing so might just increase the survival rate, even if only by a little.
“That one's green.”
“This one is yellow.”
“This person is...”
Black.
Whenever a black flag was placed next to a patient, the students' expressions darkened.
Ayla's lips moved, but she never let the words out.
They knew, too.
The moment one speaks of reckless miracles in the face of reality, what a terrible tragedy will unfold.
That must be why they, too, so silently planted the black flags.
This was a reality I had wanted to keep from the budding youths, if possible.
“Next...”
It was then.
“Why! Hurry up and treat me!”
A loud shout echoed through the plaza.
I stopped my hand that was organizing the flags.
Ayla and her friends also stopped in their tracks at the shout.
A corner of the plaza.
In the green zone, where it was relatively less busy, a man was grabbing a healer by the collar.
The healer was being lifted up, the collar of his healer's robes crumpled in the fist of a man a full head taller than him.
The man gripping his collar was wearing a fancy blue overcoat, a man who was asserting with his whole body that he was a noble.
A single falcon was embroidered on the chest of the overcoat.
Of course, just seeing that crest didn't tell me what family he was from.
“Do you know who I am? How dare you!”
The man roughly shook the healer's robes.
“The second son of the Viscount Karimzad family has entered the city walls, so how can a healer stand before me with his hands idle!”
“Y-Young Master... there are more urgent patients right now...”
“What? More urgent ones?”
The man's voice rose.
“You say that even after seeing my thigh and forehead? Where could there be a more urgent wound than this!”
From a distance, I quickly evaluated his injuries.
The wound on his forehead was certainly deep.
If left alone, a scar would definitely form.
The wound on his thigh was by no means small either.
But the bleeding from his forehead and thigh had long since stopped, and the second son's consciousness was clear.
Unless an artery was hit, classifying him as green was correct.
He's a Superhuman anyway, so he'd be tougher to kill.
But to the pampered second son, those wounds must have felt like they could kill him at any moment.
“How dare you not treat me when you have divine power to spare!
The second son's shout went up another tone.
“Think about it! Which is more valuable to the Empire, me or one of those commoners sprawled across this plaza!”
The second son's logic was extremely simple.
Instead of healing one commoner, heal him.
He was arguing that it would be more socially beneficial.
Strategically, he might have a point.
One Rank 1 Superhuman is worth more than 10 Rank 0 soldiers.
But medically, it was a logic I could never agree with.
And the healer being held by the collar seemed to think similarly to me.
“Young Master. Still...”
The healer couldn't finish his sentence.
He was clutching a brass cross while being held by the collar.
But he didn't use the cross to cast a Heal.
While working at our clinic, he had learned.
Just how many miracles a single Minor Heal could create.
That's why he couldn't easily use a Minor Heal.
Just by saving this divine power, he could move several people from under the red flag to the yellow flag.
That's why the healer retorted in a trembling voice.
“I understand what you're saying, Young Master... but if I use a Heal on you now, the five red flag patients who will arrive shortly will...”
“Shut up! How dare you...!”
“Lord Karimzad.”
Unable to watch any longer, I cut in.
The second son whipped his head toward me.
And once again, perplexity replaced the anger that had just occupied his face.
It seemed this person knew my face as well.
Or more accurately, my mask.
“Ah, the crow mask. Are you that Director Schun?”
The second son's tone of voice dropped.
It was a gentle tone, completely different from his earlier roar.
“To meet in a place like this. This meeting must be nothing less than His Majesty the Emperor's grace.”
The second son released his grip on the healer's collar.
And he lightly tapped his chest with his fist.
“I am Arno Karimzad, second son of the Viscount Karimzad family. Under His Majesty's infinite mercy—”
I let his introduction go in one ear and out the other, and gestured to the healer with my eyes.
I'll take it from here, go see to the other patients.
The healer gave a slight bow and quietly withdrew from the spot.
In the meantime, the second son, having finished his introduction, called out to me.
“Director Schun. Aren't you curious how I got this wound? In today's subjugation, I had a solo encounter with a medium-sized demonic beast. A Blackbristle Wolf, I don't know if you've heard of it, but it was equivalent to a Rank 2. When it charged for my side, I—.”
Arno proudly tilted his head to show the wound on his forehead.
The gist was probably that he sacrificed his thigh to take the wolf's neck.
The bite marks on his thigh were proof.
But I had no interest in his tale of heroism.
So I cut him off mid-sentence.
“Lord. Did you know.”
“...?”
I had dealt with many pains in the ass like this in my previous life.
As a trauma surgeon, I'd dealt with a lot of them alongside the emergency room doctors.
And I know an effective way to shut people like this up.
“This is an emergency situation. In a situation like this, I trust you are not unaware... of what it means to be in a state that requires a healer's full attention.”
I lightly lifted a red flag and pointed to the eastern section of the plaza.
Arno's gaze instinctively followed that direction.
There, people with red flags already planted on them were gathered.
An adventurer whose left arm was gone from below the shoulder.
A prone knight whose breastplate had completely melted away from his back.
A mercenary whose jaw dangled grotesquely, half his face gone.
The second son's face hardened slightly as he saw the area where they were gathered.
“If necessary, I can help you receive the healers' attention over there.”
“...Are you threatening me?”
“Perhaps.”
For the record, I often got complaints whenever I used this method.
Something about a doctor threatening a patient.
Thanks to that, I was a frequent visitor to the disciplinary committee.
Of course, my hospital had an even more reckless hospital director, thoracic surgery department head, and center directors, so I was always found innocent.
— “It happens. A doctor can smack around a deadbeat parent or two while on the job. Good job, Yun-ho.”
— “Department Head... only you do that in this hospital. And I don't want to go to the disciplinary committee.”
— “After you go to disciplinary hearings a few times, it feels like getting a medal. You get used to it and it's fine. As long as you don't get a red line on your record.”
Especially thanks to the pediatrics department head, who was close to me, actively defending me, I could act like this without hesitation.
...Damn it.
I really learned only the weirdest things from that man.
Anyway.
“Lord Karimzad. Shall I escort you over there? If you don't like red, I can guide you to the black section.”
“...”
The color drained slightly from Arno's face.
Soon, he shook his head.
“Come to think of it, it would be a noble's duty to wait here.”
“I can provide some simple first aid.”
Still, leaving a noble's scion completely neglected was a bit much, so I decided to give him simple treatment on his thigh.
Not by me, of course, but by the clumsy hands of the trainees.
“Student Ayla. You and your friends, practice your open wound suturing.”
“Hmm? Why not you... keuk!!”
Sometimes, very rarely.
Whenever this happened, I would think this.
It was nice that a Dark Fantasy was an age where romance was alive and well, so I didn't have to worry about the aftermath.
*
Arno was caught by the students and became an excellent teaching material.
I told the students to come back to me after they had studied enough, then started walking again to continue the classification.
I was just leaving the green zone.
In one corner of the green zone.
A man sat on a stone block with a ramrod-straight posture.
Dark, copper-colored skin. A high nose bridge, and thick eyebrows.
His jawline was neat, and his shortly trimmed black hair shimmered with a few gray strands at his temple.
He was in his early forties.
A family crest, embroidered with gold thread on dark red silk, was visible.
'Who is he?'
Freya could tell which family it was just by looking at the crest.
Tsk.
Charlotte and I wouldn't know who it was even if we saw it.
Fortunately, I was able to find out the man's identity right away.
“Count Mukadar. I think it would be best to call a healer.”
A man who appeared to be a vassal was speaking in a low voice next to the count.
“About the wound on your side. The area of the bruise is...”
“I'm fine.”
The count waved his hand.
“As I said, this is bearable. Is it not just a bruise? We can't waste divine power on such a thing.”
“Didn't you get a scar last time by hiding a wound just like this?”
“An unseen scar is a noble's medal. To get more medals, that is even better news.”
“Count, is this the time for jokes!”
“Haha. Cough.”
The count let out a light laugh and coughed.
“I am truly fine, so go check on the knights' condition.”
“No, sir. You must receive treatment. Weren't you hit squarely by a troll's club? There might be an unseen injury inside, so you must at least receive a Heal.”
“My, you are persistent. Making such a fuss over a mere troll's club...”
The count stopped talking to his vassal and turned his head back.
And he spoke to me.
“...What are you doing now?”
“I am in the middle of a physical examination.”
“Approaching a count without a word and placing a hand on his back. Is that the famous examination method of Director Schun?”
I nodded.
“Yes. Thanks to that, I was able to learn of the Count's condition.”
“Haha. You have an eccentric side, just as I've heard.”
“Thank you. However, there is something I must tell you before that.”
I gestured for him to let me whisper in his ear.
The count was wary of me for a moment, but soon nodded, allowing me his ear.
I leaned toward the count and whispered lowly in his ear.
“I understand that strength is the proof of a noble title, but there's no point if you die protecting your pride.”
“...?”
“It hurts below your left chest whenever you breathe or speak, doesn't it? And you're struggling to hide your cough.”
The count stared at me with startled eyes.
I gestured with my head—no, with my beak—toward a tent.
And I said in a voice loud enough for others to hear.
“If you are available now, Count, there is something I would like to ask of you personally. Could we speak over there for a moment?”
It was my way of saying I would examine him over there, where no one could see.
The count pondered for a moment, then finally nodded his head.
