Chapter 110

After parting ways with Emma and the others at the fort, we arrived in Romanburg.

The newly organized battalion and the hero, Gary, were serving as Lady Clara’s escort.

Since about twenty percent of the soldiers had had their lives saved by Lady Clara’s summons, their morale was extraordinarily high.

Lady Clara had now become a critical figure on the front lines.

That was only natural, considering she could call forth summoned beasts capable of treating hundreds of wounded soldiers.

In exchange, we had set the remaining number of summons to exactly five.

We got the military brass to accept the reasoning that due to the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, the summoned beasts’ power could only reach this world that many more times.

Even so, because they could look forward to the recovery of over two thousand soldiers in total, one could say they were receiving a massive benefit.

Furthermore, the medical supplies brought by the Hippocrates Brothers were demonstrating wonderful efficacy, and it was confirmed that they could heal severe wounds.

By using these, they could handle casualties without relying on magic, which increased the number of soldiers who could return to the front lines.

In a double sense, Lady Clara’s stock was rising.

Along with Lady Clara’s advancement, my rank rose to Sergeant Major.

Technically, I was treated as her adjutant.

Lady Clara and Gary were welcomed by General Anker, the commander of the front lines.

That was a clear indication of how much was expected of them.

“I heard the report from the fort, Lord Ansbach. To get straight to the point, I would like to borrow your strength.”

The moment we arrived, a request for the summoning art was issued.

“Understood. Please grant us a little time for preparations.”

We immediately set to work on the treatments.

The number of casualties easily seemed to exceed several thousand.

Among them, those with critically severe injuries where every moment counted amounted to probably over five hundred.

I say “probably” because no one actually had an accurate grasp of the casualty count.

I had my subordinates run around to focus on gathering information.

For starters, we needed to grasp exactly how many critically injured soldiers there were and where they were located.

This morning, I had thought that two squads would be plenty, but ten people were nowhere near enough hands.

To begin with, the Kingdom of Saxens didn’t have combat medics.

“By the covenant, we are the Hippocrates Brothers, summoned to this land. O Summoner, what is it you desire of us…”

Donning the usual Hannya and Fox masks, the Hippocrates Brothers descended upon Romanburg.

“Hippocrates Brothers, heal the wounds of my country’s soldiers.”

“…Very well. In exchange, we shall take custody of this man’s body, de gozaru. Fear not, we shall not kill him. We merely require him to cooperate with a small experiment, de gozaru. Kukekekeke!”

Letting out an eerie laugh, I slammed my own dummy right on the head.

The dummy vanished from the impact, but it seemed the onlookers mistakenly assumed that the Hannya mask had whisked him away to parts unknown.

With this, there was no longer any need to worry about people getting suspicious over Hinoharu’s absence while I was operating as the elder Hippocrates brother.

“Elder brother, I shall inspect the casualties, nary. I leave the education of these fellows to you, nary.”

“Understood, de gozaru. Listen well to what I have to say, you lot.”

Yoshioka left accompanied by the military doctors.

I gathered the members of our squads to hold a brief instructional meeting.

The topics were hygiene and first aid.

Facing Lady Clara and the ten subordinates, I began my explanation.

We needed everyone to help treat the patients with minor injuries, and transporting the casualties was also the responsibility of Lady Clara and her troops.

For this session, I would teach them three things: the importance and methods of hygiene, hemostasis, and how to construct a stretcher.

“Alright, that concludes the explanation, de gozaru. Clara Ansbach, boil water with magic, and then allow it to cool. Do you understand the reason?”

“Yes! Because unboiled water contains many invisible living organisms, which cause wounds to fester. Therefore, we must heat the water to kill these invisible organisms, and after letting it cool, use it to wash the wounds!”

As expected of Lady Clara.

She properly understood the content of the lecture.

“Excellent. Do not forget to wash your own hands with alcohol before handling tools or water. Every single instrument must be sterilized by boiling as well, de gozaru.”

I had handed over a massive amount of wound medicine and gauze.

I would place my expectations on each of their efforts.

After finishing the general explanation, I joined up with Yoshioka.

The fort had been miserable, but the situation here was far more severe.

Even now, a fierce battle was in full swing across the walls that divided the city.

Gary had already deployed to the field long ago.

“Elder brother, I have healed their physical wounds, but many have suffered deep wounds to their hearts. I leave them to you, nary.”

“Understood, de gozaru.”

Yoshioka and I went around curing the patients one after another.

I felt like my mana pool had increased compared to last time?!

“Those whose injuries are healed, focus your efforts on nursing and transporting other wounded soldiers, nary!”

“Seek instructions from Knight Bachelor Clara Ansbach, de gozaru!”

Because the wounded rapidly regained their vigor and began taking care of their comrades, the medical operations proceeded smoother and smoother.

We treated the critically injured who were hauled in, starting right from the edge of the room.

“Get out of the way!”

With a loud shout, several knights barged into the room.

“Are you the summoned beasts? Hurry up and heal my friend’s wound!” shouted a knight who was supporting a man whose arm had been slashed.

Granted, it was a severe injury, but the people gathered here were strictly those with far worse trauma.

“Have his bleeding stopped over there, and apply the medicine, nary.”

“Observe the situation carefully, de gozaru.”

Yoshioka was busy treating a soldier whose bone was fractured and protruding from the flesh, while I was interacting with both the physical and mental state of a female soldier who was shivering violently from a flashback, stroking her back.

This person had also suffered a deep wound to her abdomen.

Apparently, rubbing someone’s back slowly triggers the secretion of endorphins.

Endorphins are one of the brain’s natural narcotics that induce a state of bliss.

In my case, I was using my God Finger skill to channel even more mana into her to facilitate the healing, though.

Oh right, maybe I should have Lady Clara stroke my back later.

As a reward for working so hard.

Or would she be happier if I stroked hers instead?

While I was letting my thoughts wander like that, the knights snapped.

“You bastards… Do not lump us together with common soldiers!!”

They were a textbook example of a privileged class.

They looked exactly like the type who would be executed first if a revolution broke out.

Selfish people truly exist everywhere.

What would they do if we got fed up and just packed our bags to leave?

They’d get chewed out by the general.

Though it would be nice if a chewing out was all they got.

“If you are in such a hurry, you should just have a healer from the Temple cure you, nary.”

Yoshioka had quite a wicked personality himself.

He said that knowing full well that individuals of their standing wouldn’t be examined by them.

“Since you are grand knights, I am sure they will examine you, nary.”

And he just had to drive the point home with a follow-up jab.

“Urgh…”

Don’t bully them too much.

“Wait a little longer, de gozaru. The individuals here are suffering from injuries where every moment counts.”

With a rattling noise, a fresh casualty was brought inside.

“Please look at him! I beg of you, I’ll do anything!!”

A man bleeding from his entire body was laid upon the floor.

“Stop it, Leo is already dead,” another man muttered sorrowfully.

“Don’t talk such nonsense!! There’s no way Leo would die. Not Leo…”

With his face contorting into a mess of tears, the man collapsed to his knees.

The soldier named Leo didn’t twitch a muscle, appearing to have stopped breathing entirely.

Left with no recourse, the room fell into a heavy silence, filled only by the sound of the man’s weeping.

“Hmm. There is still a faint breath of life, de gozaru.”

My God Finger skill picked up a minute, yet distinct fluctuation of life force.

As long as there was no brain damage and life functions hadn’t completely ceased, I could make this work.

“Come back, de gozaru!!”

I channeled mana into my fingertips.

Thanks to having examined so many patients lately, the skill’s level had risen.

My execution speed had gone up considerably too.

A golden light erupted from my fingertips, enveloping the patient.

“Wh-Where am I…”

“Leo… Leoooo!!”

The soldier wept as he pulled his restored comrade into a tight embrace.

“Once your treatment is finished, move along quickly, nary. You are getting in the way, nary.”

There was still a mountain of patients left, and more would undoubtedly be hauled in one after another.

“Do not give up hope, you lot, and keep bringing in those who have collapsed, de gozaru. Even if they appear dead, a chance for salvation remains, de gozaru.”

I called out while keeping my hands moving without a break.

The rowdy knights had slipped away before I knew it.

Shortly after noon, Yoshioka’s mana ran dry.

I was fast approaching my limit as well.

We had Lady Clara dismiss us once, intending to have her re-summon us one minute later.

Currently, we were in the small gap room between worlds.

We decided to take a break here to let our mana pools recover.

While we were in this space, time would not progress back in the Kingdom of Saxens.

“I feel like my maximum mana pool has become larger than before.”

“Ah, I felt that too. It feels like the level of my God Finger skill went up as well.”

“By the way, what did you get from the skill cards?”

Since I had been summoned twice today, my skills had increased by two.

While I didn’t intend to do anything underhanded that would get me poisoned, having this would allow me to live my daily life with peace of mind.

Since it was a passive skill, it seemed like it would be highly useful in a pinch.

In Saxens, this skill alone would probably make someone highly popular!

Yet another skill deeply tied to daily life had appeared.

And I didn’t even own an axe for chopping wood.

I wonder if it will come in handy someday.

After having a meal, we decided to sleep for about eight hours.

Once we thoroughly rested our bodies, we would head back to Saxens.

There were still plenty of patients waiting.