The sedative, made from and by Eir, would help to deepen Clemens’s sleep, but due to his tenuous condition, it was bound to put some strain on his body.
Still, if it helps to relieve the pain, even a little...
Both the anesthetic and the sedative, however, could not numb the pain entirely. This was the most that could be done under the circumstances, and Ellen wanted to believe that it was at least better than nothing.
Ellen proceeded to open Clemens’s wound, taking great care not to disturb the arrow and unleash the rest of its poison. Clemens moaned as dull pain worked through his body, but this was unavoidable—the wound had to be opened if he were to be helped. Ellen couldn’t help thinking how wonderful it would be if such injuries could be healed through physicking alone, but she knew that if the foreign object in Clemens’s body wasn’t removed, his wound could not be closed. She also knew that physicking could actually harm patients when their bodies were in an especially weakened state.
People envied Ellen for her ability to heal, and yet she was plagued by the knowledge that her skills were not a cure-all.
Clemens’s temperature rose as his body fought against the poison. If it rose any higher, it would sap his will to survive. Ellen had to hurry. She sensed Linus biting his lip as he silently held Clemens down.
“You’ll cut yourself if you bite any harder,” she said to him.
“Won’t be anything compared to what Master Clemens is going through.”
“I don’t think the two are at all comparable.”
“Yeah, true enough. But I can’t help it—this isn’t easy to watch.”
“Yes...I know. I know all too well.”
It was a conversation held without even a moment of eye contact between the two.
“In times like these, I can’t help but wonder why physicking can’t heal everything,” Ellen said.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve thought about it countless times. How wonderful it would be if a single physicking spell could reset broken bones, neutralize poison, lessen pain, or remove foreign objects. Sometimes patients go through such suffering, and yet we cannot treat them in an instant. I’ve seen many die while surgeons are preparing to see them, before any surgery can even take place. And some have attacked me too, asking why my physicking couldn’t work any faster. It’s frustrating, and vexing, and it wears on the mind.”
“Yeah.”
“But simply closing a wound isn’t everything. You can stitch a wound up, but if there’s still something in there, or if it’s dirty, then you can get adverse reactions or bacteria can spread, and in the worst cases that results in death. Before we knew about such things, many patients died even though their wounds were ‘healed’ through physicking. Healing magic simply isn’t almighty. It’s why people like me have to always increase our medical knowledge and stay abreast of new techniques.”
“But that’s why you took a sabbatical from adventuring, right? You went and studied with a distinguished doctor.”
“Indeed I did, that’s right. The powers I was born with simply weren’t enough. They meant nothing without knowledge and skills. I was made to realize this all over again when I saw Shiori working so hard; people said that her efforts were pointless with her severe lack of magical power, but through knowledge and creative skill building, she became an excellent adventurer in her own right. When I saw that, I realized that there was yet more that I could learn.”
Ellen worked as the Guild’s resident physicker whilst attending open lectures and studying medicine at various clinics. Even then, however, she had felt herself at an impasse. It was as though she were stuck in a rut. It was then that she had come to see the astounding work that Shiori was doing in her support role. This had left a great impression on her.
“Aha,” said Linus with a chuckle. “So you were inspired by her too.”
“I was. It just so happened around that time that a distinguished foreign doctor was visiting the royal capital, and was in search of a short-term assistant. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I put in my application and was accepted.”
The guild master at the time, Ranvald Lumbeck, wasn’t particularly happy to be losing a precious physicker for such an extended period of time, but Ellen experienced and learned much over the months she spent under the watch of an excellent teacher, and in the end she even acquired her doctor’s license.
“I am now capable of so much more,” Ellen continued, “and where once I had to wait for doctors to finish their work before I could see to physicking certain patients, now I can handle such cases entirely on my own.”
Though Shiori herself had no way of knowing it, she had in fact been the source of encouragement that Ellen had needed.
“Had I not achieved what I had, I would’ve had no choice but to rely on Nils for an operation such as this one. And that would mean seeing to Clemens would be a slower process. But not now—now I can handle it myself.”
Ellen carefully removed the arrow and arrowhead from the wound, and cleaned the injury site. She cast an antidote spell for good measure, then applied an antibacterial medicine that only those with licenses were allowed access to. Fortunately for Clemens, there was no major damage to any of his blood vessels—all that was left now was to close the wound.
He barely has the strength to handle any physicking—however...
Physicking was not really “healing magic,” but rather magic that boosted a body’s natural healing abilities. In essence, it condensed a natural process that compressed what would otherwise take several days into less than a minute. That was why, when a wound or poisoning was especially bad, physicking took a heavy toll on the injured person’s strength and endurance. Clemens no longer had the energy to handle such magic. Even minor physicking would still require a great deal of time.
“Yep,” said Linus, taking a closer look at the arrow that had been removed and sniffing what still remained in the arrowhead. “This is swamp snake poison.”
Though the creature was known as a swamp snake, it was in fact a type of small dragon with a venomous tail. Its poison was incredibly effective and had once been used in times when the lands were not as affluent, allowing for precious prey to be caught quickly in otherwise dangerous environments. To put things into perspective, the poison could render a snow bear dead in just a few hours.
“I’ve heard that it puts the body in such agony that people are left screaming,” uttered Linus. “But Master Clemens just handled it.”
Perhaps it was his toughness and his iron will that had seen him bear the poison as he had. In holding out so long, however, he’d used up every last bit of his strength.
“Unfortunately, he can’t handle any physicking at present,” said Ellen. “So we’ll close his wound and nurse him back to health, healing him slowly.”
Clemens’s breath was shallow and weak, and his fever had yet to subside. His pulse was steady, however, and the strain in his features had relaxed. He looked at peace.
“So that means...?” asked Linus.
“That we’re probably past the worst of it,” replied Ellen. “But we can’t completely relax just yet.”
Linus cried out with joy. The two knights by Clemens’s legs smiled too.
“All that’s left now is the dragon,” said Ellen.
There was still work to be done on the front lines, and Ellen intended to see to it. She restocked her pouch, left Clemens in the care of the knights, and made to leave. It was then that she saw Linus before her, hand outstretched.
“Thank you, doctor,” he said. “We’re almost there.”
She took his hand in her own, nodded, and then they left the tent.