Suspiciously Good at the Job (4)
"…Did I hear that wrong?"
Before I could even ask, the branch leader was already striding toward the emergency room doors.
Part of me thought it had to be a joke. But his signature dry, gritty aura made it sound dead serious.
No way he means it for real.
Overthrow the hierarchy in a place boasting the empire's top public authority?
No normal person would even dream of it.
"Branch Leader! What do you mean by that?!"
The nurse chased after him in a panic.
The branch leader stopped at the door and jerked his chin toward me.
"From now on, that kid handles all curse patients. Delegate full authority to him."
"Giving such major authority to a probationary newbie goes against procedure!"
The branch leader's brow furrowed deeply.
"Can't you see the patients he's saved with your own eyes?"
His voice dropped heavy and low.
"We're not warriors or mages. When we can save even one more life, is procedure really more important?"
The nurse shut her mouth at his piercing words.
"Instead of arguing with me, take him and save one more patient—fast."
With that, he spun and left.
The room was left with just the dazed nurse and me.
"……Haa."
She let out a deep sigh and approached me.
"What's your name?"
"Uh… Outlander."
"……That's an odd name."
She shook her head.
"I'm Wish. Follow me for now."
***
Following Wish, I made rounds through the ward, meeting patients tormented by curses.
Council members. Civilians. Even children.
Every one was in bad shape.
One thing I realized during treatment:
There are a lot of mirrors in this ward.
Over sinks, on corridor walls, on changing room doors.
Every time my face nearly reflected in one, my doppelganger parents' warning flashed back.
-Be careful with mirrors.
I was on edge, terrified my parents might spot me through one. No choice—I pulled my hat low and avoided mirrors as best I could. Bowing my head, sidestepping, sometimes hugging the wall to pass.
"Why the sudden weird posture…?"
Wish narrowed her eyes at my ridiculous stance.
"…I have a mirror phobia."
"…What?"
Too annoying to explain, so I brushed it off. She stared at me like I was another patient, but I ignored it.
Thud.
Someone grabbed Wish's wrist as she led the way.
"Nurse! Help me first!"
A middle-aged man in flashy clothes. Looked like nobility.
Glancing at his chart, he'd sprained himself falling in shock from a yokai sighting.
"Please wait your turn. We have more critical patients."
"I'm more critical! Do you know who I am? Huh?!"
The man was unreasonable.
Wish didn't yank her hand free. She just kept smiling and spoke steadily.
"Don't get excited. Excitement could cause bleeding."
"As if I'd get exci—!"
"It could cause bleeding, you know?"
"……."
Her genuine concern got through—he let go.
Reading and soothing the patient's heart is a healer's virtue too.
Wish was seasoned. Plenty to learn just watching.
And then it was my turn with a patient.
I sat by one suffering a curse.
Placed my hand on the damaged spot, pouring in my heartfelt wish for quick healing.
I'd never prayed before.
But.
The pitch-black shadows devouring limbs from curses. The horrific boils bubbling up on skin in human faces—traces of rule yokai.
Seeing people writhe in agony from them.
It brought back those I couldn't protect.
Tommy and the elderly couple.
The final moments I'd imagined every night kept flashing in my mind.
Were they in this much pain and fear when my parents caught them?
The thought slipped out as words.
"Where does it hurt the most?"
I held their hand, meeting their eyes.
"What caused this?"
I listened closely, reassured them.
At first awkward, patients opened up as curses began to fade.
One Heart's Eye Squad member had fallen into a rule yokai during patrol outside the village.
"I broke a rule by mistake and got cursed… Whispers in my ear every night—driving me mad."
Two weeks sleepless.
"Fingertips turning black… Feels like death creeping closer with each one."
"But the color's coming back now."
He looked down at his fingers at my words—the blackened tips turning flesh-toned.
His eyes trembled.
"…It's real."
His voice grew misty.
"…Thank you, Branch Leader. Your skills have improved."
"I'm not the branch leader."
"……?"
Another patient had been attacked by a yokai with her daughter.
She'd let her daughter escape, but got caught—spent three days and nights slowly gnawed before rescue.
"Acted fine in front of her… But my arm keeps feeling eaten…."
The black energy drained from her arm under my hand.
"You'll be okay now."
She burst into tears.
"Thank you… Truly, thank you…."
With each patient, I listened quietly. When done, one word.
They'd be okay.
Words I couldn't say back then.
To my first friend. To the neighbors who taught me human warmth—in their final moments.
I wasn't there then. The guilt still gnawed at me. Fleeing it, I roamed the ward to be with one more person. Hunger grew, stamina drained, dazed spells lengthened—but I kept going till nightfall.
***
Finally, the emergency room quieted.
Whew….
I breathed deep the night air outside the ward.
Physical limit now.
Time to head back in….
Stagger.
My legs buckled.
Thud.
Something caught me.
Rrrng!
The bear doll precariously gripped one ankle.
"Ugh, where'd all my strength go…!"
Sariya-noona strained on the other side.
"…Thanks."
Seeing their palm-sized bodies struggling to hold me up, I felt bad and just plopped down.
"Phew, good work, little bro."
Sariya-noona flew to my forehead, fanning sweat with wind.
Refreshing.
"Noona."
"Yeah?"
"I think I've awakened holy power."
Sariya-noona froze.
"…What?"
"When treating patients earlier. Touching them undid the curses. What else could it be but holy power?"
All the 'branch leader' and 'saint' talk must've deepened my faith for real.
Noona put hands on hips, exasperated.
"That's not holy power, it's because you're natur—"
"There you are."
Her words cut off.
Wish approached with a tray—bread, soup, water.
"Eat. You haven't had anything all day."
She set it down, hesitant.
"…Should've said earlier. Sorry for the confusion."
Her voice softened.
"But you followed without complaint. Thanks for the hard work—really."
I shoved bread in, gulped soup, chugged water.
"…Nothing since morning?"
"Yeah. Didn't want to waste money…."
"……."
After finishing, I asked Wish:
"Is it like this every day?"
"…Worse lately."
She leaned against the wall.
"Excuse, but ManShinJeon bastards flooded us with curse patients. Total chaos."
Explained the edgy vibes.
"At least today we caught a break—thanks to you."
She chuckled.
"Still patients in other wards, though."
"Other wards?"
I blinked in surprise.
"Building's three stories. Can't fit everyone, so we built more next door."
"Why not stack higher—four, five stories?"
She shook her head.
"Can't. Under the Chairman's barrier—no new yokai or rule yokai spawn. But ones brought in from outside… unavoidable."
Her voice dropped.
"Stack curses and grudges vertically, energies resonate—whole ward could mutate into a new rule yokai. So limit to three stories, expand sideways."
Hence the overcrowding.
"Anyway, probation—no need to overdo. Rest up."
I hesitated, then asked:
"How's the performance bonus?"
She chuckled.
"Five hundred gold per ten saved. Three days leave."
500 gold?
Not bad.
Heart's Eye Squad pays thousand per outing.
Felt low for the workload, but.
"Mind casual talk?"
"Sure."
"Feels better. Honestly? It's insanely underpaid for this grind."
Her casual slip was worlds from patient mode.
Rough speech she hid around them.
"If it was just for money, I'd have bailed to noble house calls ages ago."
She hugged her knees, bitter.
"But low pay, dealing with jerks, risk of curses jumping to me—know why we keep at it?"
…No clue.
Justice? Duty? Responsibility?
Answers floated, but no certainty. Losses outweighed gains anyway.
"You'll get it when you're older."
She pulled matches and smokes from her pocket.
Lit up expertly, inhaled deep, exhaled sigh and smoke.
White clouds bloomed, then scattered.
"My exhaustion trades for one precious life saved."
Her words echoed yokai constraints—like Sariya-noona's to me.
Wish met my eyes, hollow.
"Pretty romantic and cool, right?"
She grinned proud.
"Can't swing a sword or cast spells. Still came here. Back then… to help folks like me who needed it."
Even if it meant burning out daily.
I stared at her boasting self.
Her rumpled white coat fluttering.
Overlapped with a caped hero from childhood fairy tales.
Smooth.
I reached out unconsciously, gently brushing the shadows under her eyes.
"Eek?!"
Wish jolted back.
"S-sorry. Your dark circles… Thought maybe my holy power could fix 'em."
"……."
She cupped her cheek, staring blankly.
Sariya-noona on my shoulder puffed cheeks, glaring at Wish.
Wish spotted it, blushed, coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem. Appreciate the thought. Go rest."
"You not heading out, Wish?"
"On duty. Gotta check patients again."
"Work never stops. See you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow'll be busy too. Brace yourself."
I waved and left the ward.
Heading for the main gate.
"……."
My feet stopped on their own.
Glanced aside—the other ward Wish mentioned.
Sariya-noona asked from my shoulder.
"What's up?"
"…Nothing."
Wish's words nagged me.
About lives saved at exhaustion's cost.
From someone corpse-tired.
It tugged at me.
"You overdid today. Tired? Let's go sleep."
Noona urged worriedly.
"Bonuses for it. And I'm not that tired—can stay a bit."
Lie. Exhausted. Could crash on a bed right now.
What to say? I gazed at my white coat. Rumpled, bloodstained, worn.
After her words, felt like I could handle one more patient. Like magic in the fabric.
My exhaustion for someone's precious life….
I got why it tugged. She was right. It was cool.
Whoosh.
Night wind billowed the coat like a cape.
Just one more.
Just one. Knowing I might not stick to it.
My feet already headed into Ward 2.
***
Same time.
Imperial Capital outskirts forest.
A black-robed man pushed through brush.
Amid fallen leaves: a crumbling building.
Old hospital traces.
Shattered windows. Moldy walls. Moonlight leaked through collapsed ceiling.
Three stories.
He opened the first-floor door—screams poured out.
"KyaAAaAgh!"
"Save me… please…."
People bound to iron beds. Limbs restrained, writhing, screaming helplessly.
All cursed by yokai or rule yokai.
Skin blackening. Black something crawling veins.
Curses left unbroken—just pain sustained.
Fuel of endless agony's grudges to birth something.
Ignoring screams, he climbed stairs.
Second floor same.
Bodies twisting on beds. Child foaming black, convulsing. Unconscious, yet groans unending.
Eyes unblinking, he headed to third.
Stairs ended at third-floor end.
This was it.
Deep breath.
Eyes closed, opened.
Chill crawled his spine.
Definitely third floor.
But another stair upward.
One not there before.
Spiral stairs sticky with red blood.
Each step embedded human teeth.
Wall scratched claw-deep—escape attempts, dragged back.
Flesh squelched underfoot.
Squelch. Squelch.
Blood oozed walls.
Something dripped ceiling.
Didn't look up.
Knew better.
Fourth floor.
Floor sign blood-red.
Window: pitch black. No moon, no stars.
Screams below dwarfed by corridor sounds.
Not quite screams.
Too joyful mixed in.
Ward door open.
Headless doctor sliced patient's gut with scalpel. Organs extracted, neatly arrayed on tray.
Patient alive.
Opposite ward: nurse chased fleeing patient.
Arm stretched rubbery to corridor end, seized both arms.
Patient, you need rest~
Sweet tone, yanked.
Rip.
Arms tore off.
Nurse munched one, mumbled.
Discharge after full recovery~
Headless doctor nodded, organs sorted.
"Next patient."
Man walked corridor, eyes straight.
One nurse spotted him, approached.
Head twisted 180 back, grinning.
Patient. No wandering.
Then.
"He's staff."
Voice from corridor end.
Man covered burns head to toe. Skin melted, regrew, melted again.
Nurse saw, head snapped forward.
Staff. Staff.
Mumbled back inside.
Black-robed man prostrated.
"…Apostle Yuk Sado. Personnel and sacrifices prepared as ordered."
ManShinJeon's Yuk Sado.
Burn-scarred face half-melted lips twitched grin.
"Good work."
Gazed out window's black.
Something breathed in the void.
"Tonight."
Apostle murmured.
"First step to the Council's fall."