Chapter 11
Chapter 11
"Argh, stop! Stop it!"
"Are you saying you don't want to be healed?"
"No, that's not... Argh!! It hurts!!"
"Of course it hurts. I'm healing you."
The men were lying on the ground, seemingly subdued by someone after brawling amongst themselves for quite a while.
And the Young Healer was pinning them down, practically arresting them while healing them at the same time.
"Pfft. What is this?"
"You bastards, keep it down!"
To some, that scene was just an amusing spectacle, and to others, it was nothing more than a noisy disturbance.
But to me, it was quite an interesting sight.
There are many types of wounds.
Open wounds such as abrasions, incisions, lacerations, and puncture wounds.
Closed wounds such as contusions, fractures, hematomas, and dislocations.
Other wounds such as burns, electrical burns, and chemical burns.
You might say, "Aren't they all just wounds?" but they are definitely different.
The treatment method differs depending on whether it's an open or closed wound, and even within those categories, the methods vary.
You might think, "Can't you just pour a potion or cast a Heal spell and solve everything?"
In fact, for minor injuries or certain types of wounds, most things are resolved that way.
But if you treated every wound like that, you could face some very troublesome situations.
For example, a situation where a bone heals in a fractured state, forcing you to break it and set it all over again.
And that guy was treating them while strictly adhering to the very basics.
Even though the injuries were minor enough that he could have ignored those details, he still did it.
Plus, he wasn't exactly slow either, hmm.
As I stood there with my arms crossed, thinking that, Hera nudged me.
"Why, don't tell me you're interested?"
"Well. I suppose you could say that..."
"What?!"
She suddenly widened her eyes at me, then turned her head to glare at the Young Healer as if she wanted to kill him.
I snorted at her ridiculous behavior.
"Is your brain only capable of thinking in that direction? Your head is just full of pink fluff."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Forget it. Never mind, it's not like that."
"If it's not like that, then what is it?"
"That guy is a Healer. Don't you get it?"
Only after I said that did Hera let out an "Ah~" and relax her eyes.
She's great, but sometimes she just goes a bit weird.
In the meantime, the Young Healer stood up, seemingly finished with the treatment.
The fighters he had treated also tried to stand up, but the Guards surrounded them, preventing them from going anywhere.
"That will be two silver coins per person."
"What?! What the hell is that supposed to mean! You treated us on your own!"
"Fighting in Arcanum is a crime. We had to take you into custody, and we performed treatment in the process. Considering it was emergency care, I'd say we gave you a discount."
"What kind of bullshit is that! I'm not paying!"
"Then you can stay locked up and have your belongings confiscated. Those who are going to pay, do it quickly!"
The Young Healer urged them on, flicking his hand.
The fighters' expressions clearly said, 'Ah, fuck, we're screwed, we gotta run.'
But since there were so many Guards, those guys, who looked like they were debating what to do...
"Fuck 'em up and run!"
They attempted to flee half a beat too fast, and they were caught half a beat faster. The Arcanum Guards aren't just some street bums; they catch guys like that every time.
There was one guy who managed to slip out of the Guards' hands, but...
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Ugh!"
With one trip of my foot, the man slammed face-first into the ground.
As the Guards rushed over to restrain him, the Young Healer walked over to me.
"Ah~ thank you. One might have gotten away, but thanks to you, kind citizen, we were able to apprehend him."
"It's nothing."
"Ah! Just in case! I'm telling you this just in case, but even though you helped, I can't split the medical fees and fines with you?"
'What is he talking about.'
He says the most absurd things.
Do I look like someone who goes around hoping for that kind of thing?
I've never heard that I give off that kind of impression.
"That's fine."
"Is that so? Ah, I was worried for nothing... Hehe. May the blessing of the Magic Tower be with you."
The young man clasped his hands together and bowed slightly.
I thought about saying something more, but he immediately turned around and headed toward the criminals.
As I watched his back, Hera said,
"Why, caught your eye?"
"Just based on what I saw just now, yes."
The Triage, and the way he handles injuries.
I also like that he uses as little mana as possible to heal.
The problem is...
"Where is he affiliated?"
"Maybe the Guard?"
"The Guard..."
The Arcanum Guard.
It's a good job.
Retirement is guaranteed, and promotions are said to be good.
I even 'almost' joined once.
But if he's a Guard...
No, there shouldn't be any Healers in the Guard.
"His uniform is a bit different, isn't it?"
"That's true. It's a bit different from the mages too..."
"Thank you! Have a good day!"
While the two of us were whispering, the Young Healer led the fighters away, all tied up with the Guards.
The tavern looked like a storm had just passed through.
The staff sighed deeply and began to clean up the mess.
I helped them out, lifting chairs and tables, and Hera joined in, whispering to me.
"Why are you helping with this?"
"My hands were free."
"Ah, thank you."
The staff member bowed, saying thank you.
I was here anyway, I'm staying here, and I have to use this place. Isn't it only right to help clean up a bit?
Modern people basically think like this.
Or not? Am I overestimating modern people?
Anyway, the cleanup was finished quickly.
While I was bowing back to the staff, Hera stretched out as if she'd worked a lot and said,
"Since we helped, we get a discount on drinks, right?"
"Keep it down. You're embarrassing me."
She didn't even do anything that special, ugh.
* * *
I didn't drink much beer.
I didn't really drink much to begin with.
It's not that I dislike alcohol, but the reason I don't drink much is because of how I get when I'm drunk.
It's not that I turn into a dog, lose my memory, trash the place, or do breakdancing; I just become lethargic and find everything bothersome until I sober up.
It's like I can't react even if someone messes with me.
I hated that.
It feels like wasting time.
Anyway, I didn't have many drinks, so I was able to wake up feeling refreshed the next day.
As I was writing in my diary as usual, Hera banged on the door.
"Let's eat breakfast!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
She never gives me a moment of peace.
I went down wearing just a shirt and pants and was roughly tearing into some eggs when a thought occurred to me.
How are eggs made in this world?
I always see fried eggs for breakfast at the inn, but as far as I know, the Middle Ages weren't exactly an era where eggs were so abundant...
"We haven't received word yet, but they'll come, right?"
"They'll come. It's not like they'd just run off with it."
I gave them a few silver coins; they'd have to be crazy to run off with that.
It's a job with low returns and ridiculously high risks.
Just as I thought, the message arrived by the time we finished breakfast.
"Rian Werner-nim?"
"Ah, yes."
The pride of the Magic Tower city, the Telegraph.
To explain it in this era's terms, it sounds grand, but to put it briefly, it's like that thing that used Morse code back in the day.
No, how could something like this exist in the Middle Ages, you ask?
Don't ask me. It's a world inside a game.
Still, they said it wasn't spread outside the city because it costs too much money to connect it outside the Magic Tower city.
Anyway, the content delivered to us by such a luxurious means was nothing special; to summarize, it was, 'Not everyone came, but a few people did.'
"They're here. Let's go."
"Okay~"
Hera shoved a fried egg into her mouth and stood up.
Oh my, seriously. Is she a barbarian?
I wiped her mouth with a handkerchief because she was drooling, and Hera giggled.
I answered by throwing the handkerchief at her face.
* * *
We arrived at the Healer District before the sun had fully risen.
The Receptionist who had spoken to me before was waiting for us.
"Hello. You're here early."
"Yes, yes. Since you said you were ready, there was no need to wait."
The Receptionist nodded.
Following her, we arrived at a different building than the one we had visited before. It was probably a waiting room.
When we opened the door and went in, we saw people sitting in chairs, stiff as boards, as if waiting for an interview.
There were 8 people in total.
Most of them didn't look very old at a glance.
"He... Hello!"
"Hello."
Why are they standing up and bowing like that?
I smiled slightly at their tense appearance, and Hera and I went into the inner room.
The Receptionist handed me the list.
"From here on is the surname and first name; if it's a single word, it's just the name. From here on are the detailed schools they are focusing on learning, for example..."
Listening to the Receptionist's explanation, I thought about what kind of questions I should use to start the interview.
Even if their knowledge or experience was a bit low, I thought it would be better to select questions that could filter for combat or healing sense.
"Then, let's begin."
⋮
The interviews ended around lunchtime.
It wasn't exactly a successful interview.
For example, it went like this.
"Let's say 5 small monsters and 1 medium monster are approaching in a long hallway. The battle hasn't started yet, but the archer is firing arrows, and the warrior has been lightly scratched on the cheek by an arrow. There is some bleeding.
What action should you take at this point?"
The answer I thought of was to first check the warrior's wound.
Because I need to find out if the arrow was poisoned or not.
But there's an even better method than that, which is to ask me the identity of the monster that fired the arrow.
Whether it's a type of monster that shoots poison arrows or not.
If it's a type of monster that shoots poison arrows, prepare for detoxification, and if it's not, and it shot a regular arrow, it's better to participate in the attack.
Abrasions and the like can be treated later.
"First, treat the warrior?"
Hmm...
"For what reason?"
"Because they were wounded. Even a small wound can be a problem."
They were wounded. Even a small wound can be a problem.
Good. Wounds should be treated in time.
It's a rational answer.
But it wasn't the answer I wanted.
Anyway, the interviews continued like this.
Most of them felt similar.
"Yes, you may leave."
Watching the last interviewee leave, I rubbed my neck. My body felt stiff from sitting and judging for so long.
While Hera was stretching similarly, the Receptionist asked a question.
"Do you have anyone in mind..."
"Well."
To be honest, they were all mediocre.
And they were all equally lacking in level.
Even though I asked questions with the assumption that they were rookies or low-level mages, it was extremely rare to find someone who could answer more than three questions.
Even those who managed to answer up to the third question couldn't answer the fourth or fifth.
"If there was someone who could answer everything, I was going to verify them at the Training Ground, but this is..."
What the Training Ground is, is a training ground.
It's a place where you can arbitrarily create combat environments, like a Labyrinth or a battlefield, and test people.
How could something like that exist in the Middle Ages, you ask?
As I said before, it's a world inside a game.
Anyway, it was a very disappointing result.
It wasn't just us; the Receptionist must have felt the same.
The only fortunate thing is that the interviewees who left still gained something. It's customary to give one silver coin as an interview fee when there's an interview like this.
"I don't see any talent at all."
"Well, as I mentioned before, most people who are interested usually leave directly for the Labyrinth City..."
"Are there any people who, like... take courses in the Restoration School from other schools? A minor? Anyway. Are there people like that?"
"Hmm, I know they exist. But we don't track those people individually or gather them on our side."
Is there no talent?
The more I thought about it, the more someone's face came to mind.
It wasn't someone I'd fallen in love with, of course, but that guy from yesterday—the Healer or whatever he was, whose identity I didn't know.
"Do you happen to know about that, what is it... the Healer who goes around with the Guard?"
"With the Guard?"
"I saw him yesterday. He had hair grown to here... eyes slightly narrow. And he's a bit thin. How should I put it? Like, hair parted right from the forehead and hanging down?"
I described the Young Healer's appearance.
The Receptionist listened carefully to the story and then said "Ah!" as if she knew who I meant.
But the expression that followed was a bit subtle.
How should I put it, it was a face that didn't seem pleased.
"Is he someone with a problem?"
"Well, rather than someone with a problem... hmm..."
The Receptionist's expression was like, 'Should I say this?'
I waited for a moment, and she slowly opened her mouth.
"For starters, that person was expelled from the Restoration School."
"Expelled?"
Looking at his skills, it didn't seem like that at all...
It was a story I hadn't expected at all.
Hera's expression seemed to say the same.
"To be precise, it's more like he was dropped, or... I know he left in a slightly subtle way. He was originally in the Restoration School, but suddenly transferred to the Fire School. He wasn't seen for a few years, and then he came back, and after talking with the Magic Tower here and there, he ended up leaving."
"If he left the Magic Tower, how is he in that position? I don't think the Guard would use a non-Magic Tower mage."
At least that's what I know.
I don't know about other places, but there are so many Magic Tower mages, so using a non-Magic Tower mage would be asking to get hit by eggs.
At those words, the Receptionist shrugged and replied.
"That's why I think he's a freelancer... or something like that."
"A freelancer?"
"So, like a contract worker."
"Hmm."
He's not a Guard mage.
Staring slightly at the ceiling in thought, I said,
"Could I possibly be introduced to that person?"