Chapter 20: Treatment of the injured
{TL: By Creed}
To defeat Fenrir, Sofia immediately departed from the fortress.
I, left behind, headed to the medical room.
Thinking if there was anything I could do, I decided to help with the treatment of the wounded.
"Ouch... it hurts, it hurts..."
"I'm done for. I can't stay here anymore... damn it, damn it, in a place like this..."
"Someone help... No, I don't want to die yet, help me..."
The medical room was like a battlefield.
All thirty beds were occupied, and even then, there were injured people lying on the floor.
It was like a battlefield.
Gale and Raxa were seen in the back, seemingly resting.
There were lightly injured individuals like him, but they were the minority. The majority were severely wounded.
"Ah, ahh!?"
Suddenly, a wounded person lying in bed cried out loudly, convulsing.
"What's happening!? Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay!?"
"Ahh, ahh, ahhhh!!!"
The man watching the condition of the wounded people hastily called out, but they only responded with convulsions.
Perhaps, due to injuries, their strength and nerves were depleted, and they had fallen into a state of shock. If left unattended, it could turn critical.
"Darn it, what the... what should I do?"
Is this person not a doctor? Could it be that he's just an amateur, and there's no doctor here...?
Either way, I couldn't just leave it be.
"Move aside!"
"W-What, who are you..."
"What about the medicines here!?"
"Why do you ask? Are you a doctor? You look like an adventurer, but using medicines without permission..."
"Just answer! Don't you want to help this person!?"
"What!? Uhh, well... this is all we have. But with this, I don't know if it will..."
With a forceful shout, the man, overwhelmed by the intensity, handed over a box of medicine.
"Uh... yeah, this should be fine."
After checking the medicine box, I felt hopeful. I took two bottles, used another small bottle for synthesis, soaked it in gauze, and applied it to the nose of the person convulsing.
In the first ten seconds, the convulsions intensified...
By the time a minute passed, they had calmed down and regained a steady breath.
"Phew... it worked out well."
"Hey, what did you do...?"
"This person was experiencing shock due to their injuries. So, I made medicine to calm it down."
"Shock, huh? But there shouldn't be any medicine to control shock."
"I improvised and synthesized it. By combining these and this medicine, it serves as an alternative."
"Is that so... I see, you have quite deep knowledge."
He looked impressed, as if it was something to learn from.
"Is this kind of knowledge common, or is it different?"
"No, no, there's no way such knowledge is common! Ordinary people don't know about medicine. Adventurers don't know either. Just who are you?"
"Who I am... just an ordinary adventurer?"
"The definition of ordinary is strange, absolutely!"
With such retorts...
I continued treating other people.
The reason I had this knowledge was also acquired during my slave days. Because injuries were constant, I learned and mastered treatment methods on my own. Knowledge of medicine was also gained during that time.
I thought it wasn't a big deal because it was something a slave could learn...
Is it not quite normal?
Yeah.
I became a bit smarter again.
"By the way, who are you?"
"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Fate Stiart, one of the reinforcements who came."
"Reinforcements came!?"
"Yes. The other one is Sofia Ascart..."
"Could it be the Sword Saint!?"
Quite famous, huh?
"Yes, the Sword Saint. She's currently heading to defeat Fenrir."
"Good... I thought there was only despair, but maybe there's still hope."
"I stayed behind at the fortress, so I thought I'd help with treating the wounded."
"I see, that helps. You seem to have deeper knowledge than I do. Can you check the other wounded as well?"
"Sure."
There was no reason to refuse, so I readily agreed. With a medicine box in hand, I checked the wounded. There were many severely wounded, and with only the available kit, some cases were quite challenging...
"Alright, this should be fine."
After about two hours, I managed to finish treating everyone. It wasn't complete recovery, but I think they all escaped the danger of death.
"Thank you! You're a lifesaver for everyone!"
"No, I just did what I could."
"It's not something just anyone can do. If you weren't here, all my comrades might have died. The Sword Saint alone wouldn't have been enough. You can be proud of that."
"Is that so?"
I, who was once a slave...
I, who thought I had no value...
Was I able to be of use to someone?
Was I able to save lives?
That was a very happy thing.
"Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me? We should be the ones thanking you. And, can't you be a bit more casual? It's unsettling for our benefactor to speak like that."
"Um... just a feeling?"
"Also, could you speak more casually? It's unnerving to have our benefactor speak like that."
"Alright, I'll do that."
He offered his hand with a smile.
I responded with a smile and a handshake.
The warmth of his hand.
Not just Sofia...
People are warm.
During my long slave life, it seemed I had forgotten such things.
"Trouble!"
Sail rushed in with a pale face.
The man frowned involuntarily.
"Hey, there are a lot of wounded here. Some have finally managed to sleep. Keep your voice down a bit..."
"It's not the time for that! It's bad, it's really bad, it's over!"
"Listen to me Gale. It's no use. It's the end this time..."
The two of them were in an extraordinary state of panic.
As if they had been told that the world was coming to an end.
"For now, let's go outside."
Regardless of the content, judging that it wasn't a conversation to have here, I took Sail outside. After that, we moved to the conference room.
"You seem really panicked. What exactly is happening?"
"It's bad! We need to escape from here right now!"
"Don't say unreasonable things. There are many people who can't move here. If we do that, about half of the wounded, who have just closed their wounds, might open them again and bleed to death."
"Even so, it's better than being completely wiped out! We should bet on a desperate hope!"
"That's right. We have to leave here right now!"
Better than being completely wiped out?
I furrowed my brow at the intriguing statement.
Staying here might lead to total annihilation.
The possibility of that is... Fenrir, perhaps?
Is it the onslaught of that creature?
But dealing with Fenrir is Sofia's responsibility.
There's no way she would allow an attack on the fortress, and certainly not let it escape.
"Tell me in detail. What exactly is happening?"
"Fenrir... Fenrir..."
He said in a voice filled with despair.
"Another one has appeared!!!"
TL Note- One of the readers's guess was right.
Fenrir showed up to catch a fade
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