NOVPUB
Chapter 65: Treating the sick
"Then, Master Riku, I must beg you. Please come and take a look at our people..."
He led them through the dim, winding passages of the Underbelly to a larger cavern. This area was sectioned off with thin, tattered sheets of canvas hanging from ropes, creating makeshift sick wards. The air here was heavy with the smell of sickness, sweat, and despair.
On crude cots of straw and old blankets lay nearly twenty figures – many Dwarves, and a few humans. Most were moaning softly, and their skin was marred by the crimson rashes that pulsed faintly in the dim lamplight.
Near one cot, Korgin sat.. He was patiently trying to coax a small piece of the matcha bun into the mouth of a young female Dwarf. Her face was pale and drawn, her breathing shallow, and the crimson marks on her arms were dark and pronounced, looking almost like burns.
"Little Brina," Borin said softly, his voice filled with affection as he approached the cot. "This is Master Riku. He... he wishes to help."
Korgin looked up, and his eyes lit up when he saw Riku.
"Master Riku! My sister... she hasn’t eaten anything all day. But she ate a little of your bun and really liked it. She said it was the first thing that made her want to eat more."
Brina coughed weakly, her eyes fluttering open. They were dull with pain, but she managed a faint smile when she saw Riku. "You.. are the one who gave Koirgin the bun? It is very nice.. cough cough" she whispered, her voice still raspy due to the weakness.
Riku knelt beside her. "Brina, I’m Riku. I’m going to try and make you feel a little better, okay?"
"Okay," Brina smiled, though not very convinced.
"And what d’you think you’re doing, surfacer?"
Just when Riku was about to begin, gruff voice suddenly cut in.
A stocky, grey-bearded Dwarf, his face grim and smudged with what looked like soot and grime, stepped forward from tending another patient. He carried himself with an air of weary authority, his eyes sharp and distrustful as they raked over Riku.
"Filling her head with false hope? Why are you even here in the first place?"
"Durnik, please," Borin said, his voice placating but firm. "Master Riku has shown us kindness. He helped Korgin. He wishes to try."
Durnik snorted, unconvinced. "Borin, you old fool! Bringing a smooth-talking mainlander down here to poke at our sick? Haven’t we had enough of their kind looking down their noses at us?
" We’re not some spectacle for him to study before he runs back to his clean sheets and fresh air. This blight... it takes who it wants. At least we should not let a surface disgrace our sick."
Riku met Durnik’s hostile gaze calmly. He understood the Dwarf’s bitterness; it was born of hardship and likely many broken promises. However, he knew it was pointless to argue with him
"And I can’t promise miracles. But I promised Elder Borin I would try to heal everyone. And I intend to keep that promise." Riku said evenly.
"That’s it? And what if you can do nothing?"
"What do you want?"
"If you fail, I want you to apologize to all of us here for talking shit. And don’t think I am afraid of you surfacers. The creep has almost taken my wife, to the point that she is unable to regain consciousness anymore. I will... I will fight you to death if you don’t apologize... Sob."
The grey-bearded dwarf broke down, crying.
Seeing the dwarf, Riku did not say anything and just looked at another old dwarf woman who was lying on a bed uncounscious.
It seems that those words were more driven by the hope our earlier interactions might have given him. Well, no matter, I will do my best. If it doesn’t then I will fight with the system again.
He turned back to Brina, whose eyes had widened slightly at the exchange. "May I?" he asked her gently. Brina just gave a tiny nod.
Riku focused, channeling his spells.
Advanced Heal! Advanced Heal!
A soft, warm golden light enveloped his hands. He gently placed them over Brina’s forehead. The light pulsed, and a sigh escaped Brina’s lips.
The harsh, dark red lines of pain on her face beginner to soften almost immediately.
"It’s... warm," she whispered, her voice barely audible. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
"Nice..." Riku maintained the flow of healing energy.
The crimson rashes on her forehead didn’t vanish, but their angry redness seemed to keep on reducing. Even Brina’s breathing, though still shallow, became a little more regular and less ragged.
"How do you feel now, Brina?" Riku asked after a minute, withdrawing his hands. "Much better... how did you do that?," Brina murmured, a hint of color returning to her pale cheeks.
"The burning... it’s not so bad now. It doesn’t feel like fire under my skin anymore. Plus, I think I can stand up now."
"Easy, sister. You are still weak." Kogrin immediately went to support her when he saw her trying to get up.
However, it seemed unnecessary. Brina was able to stand up just fine.
"I am able to stand. Haha.. I have never felt this good in ages. Look, Korgin, I can walk now." Brina burst out, this time giggling merrily.
Though Korgin called her elder sister, it seemed that she was not much older than him.
Korgin stared, his jaw slack with amazement, then tears of relief welled in his eyes. "Master Riku! It’s working! She... she is much better already!"
"What? She is ok now? But how?"
Durnik, who composed himself some time ago, gasped at what he was seeing/
"Master Riku, this is... unbelievable. How did you do it?" Borin asked, still stunned at what he had just witnessed.
"Surfacer.. No.. Master.. Can you help my wife? I will do anything. I don’t know why I doubled you, but my wife is innocent. If you have any hard feelings, you can take it out on me."
Durnik immediately fell to his knees, and started bowing to Riku desperately, hoping that Riku would not take offence at his earlier words.
"Get up. Didn’t I say that I will try to treat everyone? Of course, I will treat your wife as well." Riku said, smiling.
He moved to the cot where the old dwarf lady lay. Her breathing was shallow, and the crimson marks covered almost the entirety of her face. She was unconscious, just as Durnik had said.
Advanced Heal! Advanced Heal! Advanced Heal! ....
It took multiple attempts, but slowly and surely the crimson marks started receding. Her breathing, though still faint, deepened slightly.
Finally, after several minutes, her eyelids fluttered.
