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CHAPTER 10
“Celine! Celine, can you hear me?”
“Mom… I’m hot…”
“Oh my goodness, oh God. Thank you. Thank you!”
Celine’s eyelids trembled, and soon her eyes slowly opened. Her cheeks were flushed bright red from the heat.
Good. The medicine seemed to be working properly. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Ri, Rita…”
“Yes.”
“She has a high fever.”
Maria, who had examined Celine, spoke carefully. That was expected. I nodded.
“Maria.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Put the ice orchid, roots and all, into that water. The treatment isn’t finished yet.”
Maria immediately moved without asking any questions.
Come to think of it, Maria was one of those who had little resistance toward potions.
I should ask her about it later, quietly. What exactly had happened to her.
In any case, thanks to Maria acting quickly, I was able to prepare another potion in a short time. I poured it into a bowl and handed it to Miriam again.
“Have her drink that slowly, in three doses. At ten-minute intervals.”
The raging heat had been contained with the potion made using fire-reducing herbs.
The energy of the fire herb would draw out the excess heat inside the body, and Noctil would bind it. The effects of the other herbs would also help repair bodily damage to some extent.
Now it was time to cool down the remaining heat. The potion mixed with ice orchid would handle that role.
Each time the potion was administered, Celine’s complexion visibly calmed.
I stood up with a sigh. My ankle throbbed from moving in a hurry.
Status: Minor erosion caused by fire energy, intermittent cough, slight fever.
This level could be treated even with the doctor’s medicines lying over there.
“It seems the worst is over.”
As if that were a signal, Miriam suddenly dropped to her knees and grabbed the hem of my clothes. Startled, I bent down again, and she clutched my hands tightly.
Pressing her face against my hands, she bowed repeatedly.
“Thank you, thank you so much. I will live my whole life in gratitude. I’ll give you everything I have—anything you want—”
“It’s okay. I’m a physician. I just did what I had to do.”
I soothed her. And it wasn’t an act—it was sincere.
The feeling of treating a person still lingered vividly in both my hands.
Reviving a fading life with my own hands was the greatest joy and pride of this profession.
For the first time in a long while, I felt truly alive.
A proud smile formed on my lips.
“D-doctor…”
“Just call me Rita.”
My hands were slightly numb from tension. I rubbed them alternately while scanning the surroundings.
Those who had earlier looked at me with suspicion were now looking at me with completely different eyes.
I shrugged.
“Do you believe me now?”
At that question, the tense atmosphere shattered all at once.
As if shocked, they all widened their eyes and spoke almost in unison.
“P-please help us. Please help us!”
They turned and pointed toward the injured inside the shelter.
“We’re sorry we doubted you, doctor. We’re ignorant and didn’t know any better… but please, just once. Please save them…”
Those who had once glared at me with suspicion were now kneeling and begging.
I followed their gaze into the shelter. It was full of patients.
With a faint sigh, I helped the kneeling man up.
“Don’t do this.”
“Doctor, please…”
He tried to kneel again, but I lowered myself first.
“Doctor!”
Looking at their widened eyes, I said firmly:
“I told you—I’m only doing what I’m supposed to do. There’s no need to beg like that.”
* * *
Southern town of the Grand Duchy, Lueta.
Normally, the village would have been filled with the lively chatter of people finishing their day’s work, but now it was filled with the smell of smoke and burning soot. It was from the massive fire at Mali’s blacksmith shop.
Since most buildings were made of wood, and the fire had been set deliberately, the damage had grown exponentially.
However, contrary to what should have been an atmosphere of despair and grief, the village of Lueta was surprisingly bright.
It was all thanks to the sudden appearance of a physician—Rita.
“Rita, Rita! Over here, this person—”
“Yes, yes. I’m coming.”
Amid the commotion, the blacksmith’s owner Mali slowly regained consciousness.
“Mali, are you awake?”
“Ugh… how did I end up here…”
His drifting awareness gradually returned to reality. The voice of his longtime friend Tony reached his ears.
“It’s the temporary shelter. His Highness the Grand Duke has set up relief efforts.”
“A shelter…?”
As he heard that, memories from just before he lost consciousness came flooding back. Mali let out a beast-like groan.
“Ahhh—how could they do something like that!”
The one who set fire to the blacksmith shop was an employee he had known for a long time. Why would he do such a thing? Why?
A flood of sensations washed over him.
“Haa… haa… aaagh!”
His heart pounded violently. The pain of burning alive was beyond imagination, and he had thought the old blacksmith shop would become his grave.
His mind grew distant. The burning sensation on his skin returned again.
As he twisted and screamed, Tony beside him panicked and called his name.
“Mali! Mali! Over here—Rita!”
Flames seemed to engulf his body. His skin melted under the fire. Blisters swelled. Flesh turned raw and red.
He was going to die.
He tried to speak, but his throat and tongue had already been scorched away.
Then—
“Alright, let’s have you drink this first.”
A cool, refreshing sensation filled his mouth. It spread rapidly through his entire body.
The heat that had been about to kill him gradually subsided.
His eyelids, which he thought had melted away, trembled faintly. Tears rolled down his wrinkled eyes.
“It’s because the fire energy hasn’t fully left your body yet. Have this medicine once every ten minutes. If anything unusual continues, inform Maria or me immediately.”
His blurry eyes focused on the pink-haired figure standing in front of him.
Tony, having thanked her, carefully fed him the medicine on schedule.
Each dose brought back sensations he thought had vanished.
It still hurt, and parts of his body still burned, but it no longer felt like he was going to die. Only then could he begin to assess his condition.
“T-this… how…”
“That’s enough. She’s the physician who treated a patient of Lady Maria recently. Apparently she’s a doctor. Thanks to her, more than a few people have been saved.”
His eyes took in the surroundings. Despite a major disaster, people’s faces were relatively bright. Around them were empty potion bottles and others filled with medicine.
“…Po-potions? Didn’t Lady Tinte—”
“Shh. Don’t say anything.”
“But even so!”
“That medicine saved your life.”
Mali froze and looked around again.
Everyone who had been looking away just moments ago was now silently watching them. His voice quickly died down.
“A… black magic… isn’t it…”
“Hey, Mali.”
At that moment, Miriam—who had been assisting the physician while wearing a headscarf—strode over to him.
Mali’s head dropped toward the ground.
He saw it clearly. Celine, the daughter of the man who worked at the blacksmith shop, being swallowed by the flames.
