“Doctor Gotberg!”
It was a booming voice, like soone who had boiled and eaten a train whistle.
Hugo, drenched in sweat, looked quite desperate—and it wasn’t hard to guess why.
‘So the child he’s holding is his daughter.’
When I’d reviewed Hugo’s dical records, I saw that all the healing logs from the Imperial Clinic were for his daughter.
I’d seen families ruined by dical bills before, but I hadn’t expected to see it in this world, too.
Hugo’s appearance was so ragged you wouldn’t believe he used to work as a healer at the Imperial Clinic.
I grinned and waved at him.
“I get that you’re in a hurry, but I’ve got a line of patients here. You’ll have to wait your turn.”
“T-The line, you an?”
Hugo sighed as he looked at the long queue, but quietly moved to the end of it.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t beco a black magician yet—he was more docile than I’d expected.
“Knight.”
“You called, Doctor?”
I spoke to the Moonlight Palace knight standing beside Tanya.
“The man who just arrived—the child patient he was holding. Bring them so water and a blanket.”
“Yes, sir.”
[No. 025 Curse of the Black Hand – 21%]
Hugo’s hatred stemd from his daughter’s death.
Sure, child survival rates weren’t high in this world, but for so people, that child is their everything.
You can’t just brush it off as bad luck or poor odds.
Besides, I didn’t want to watch a cute kid die either.
I decided to give Hugo’s daughter the most sincere examination I could.
“Next patient. Diagnosis—just a cold. Take so aspirin and a mask, and make sure to wash your hands regularly.”
I continued seeing patients.
Hugo stroked Eri’s back as he waited in line.
Just then, a knight ca over and handed him a blanket and a bottle of clean water.
“The doctor asked to give you these.”
“?”
“He said your daughter looked like she was in pain and wanted to offer so kindness.”
The knight delivered the ssage in a blunt tone and walked off.
Hugo wrapped Eri in the soft blanket and slowly gave her water. She seed to settle down a bit.
‘He noticed all that in such a short ti?’
Hugo was surprised. Royal physicians usually didn’t even look at regular patients, let alone take interest in them.
He sneaked a glance at Gotberg treating patients.
“Oh, Doctor, thank you so much.”
“Ah, you ca in three days ago, right? Let’s see—no secondary infection. You don’t need antibiotics anymore, just keep washing your hands.”
“Thank you, but... what about the treatnt fee...?”
“What? Fee? What do I look like, a tick? Forget it. I’ll take your gratitude instead. Take this candy and give it to the little one.”
Despite dealing with patient after patient, I wasn’t showing any signs of fatigue.
If anything, I looked like I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ was enjoying myself while treating them.
Hugo thought I was an odd person.
From my unique treatnt thods to my indifference to money.
‘The Imperial Clinic was full of healers obsessed with getting promotions through performance trics...’
Unlike the others, Gotberg’s line of patients was moving fast—thanks to his quick hands.
And yet, not a single patient complained.
‘If it’s this man...’
It felt like grabbing a lifeline.
Finally, Hugo’s turn ca, and he stood face-to-face with .
“Next. Ah, the loud one. Let’s see—both your hands are contaminated.”
“I’m fine, Doctor. Please take care of my daughter instead.”
“Knew you’d say that. Captain Tanya, if you would.”
The knights brought over a portable bed. Hugo laid Eri down on it, and I examined her with a serious look.
But only for a mont. Then I relaxed my expression and spoke lightly to her.
“What’s our little princess’s na?”
“Cough, it’s Eri.”
“Eri. I’m going to check what’s making you sick. When we’re done, I’ll give you this.”
I pulled a candy from my coat. Eri’s eyes lit up, and she nodded with a bright smile.
But soon after, she started coughing violently again—so hard it seed like she was about to stop breathing.
“Diagnosis,” I said, then checked the inside of her mouth.
Using a light artifact, I examined every corner before speaking to Hugo.
“Chronic tonsillitis. So kids are born with it. Most grow out of it once they’re past early childhood, but this is a critical phase. Did you have anything like this as a kid?”
“No, I didn’t. Her mother was weak, but Eri wasn’t like this at birth...”
“Her immune system’s weak, so she’s got a bunch of secondary infections. High fever, heavy coughing, general fatigue. Her throat probably hurts like hell. She’s holding on admirably.”
“I-Is she in critical condition?”
“Let’s focus on reducing the cough first. This will help a lot.”
I gave Eri so cough dicine.
With its effects kicking in, her coughing subsided noticeably.
“Oh...”
At the Imperial Clinic, even if you managed to book a healer and get a spell, it took forever for symptoms to improve.
But my thod was fast and accurate. Hugo was intrigued.
“Since she’s a kid, I’d rather avoid aspirin. To restore her strength, this’ll be better.”
I took out my notebook.
—Fwoosh.
A soft white light blood from my fingertip.
The hazy aura ford a gentle wave that enveloped Eri’s small body.
‘A healing spell...!’
Hugo couldn’t hide his amazent.
The healing spell I cast was cleaner and more intense than any he’d ever seen from another healer. It was clear I was exceptional even among healers.
“Hoo.”
As I finished casting, Eri’s complexion changed drastically. Her skin glowed with life—it ant her energy was returning.
“Doctor, are you okay?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I gulped down so water. I didn’t look tired, but beads of sweat were forming on my forehead.
‘Does he have bad mories with healing spells?’
Hugo could relate.
He himself was struggling more and more to cast healing spells.
Not because of his body, but his mind. The more he used healing magic, the more it beca tied to the pain of failing to heal Eri. He was building resistance.
‘Maybe the doctor’s experienced sothing similar.’
And yet, I had treated Eri without hesitation. Hugo felt sincere gratitude.
“I only eased the symptoms. The root cause is still there. At this rate, she’ll relapse in a few weeks. Has she been like this for years?”
“Yes. Every ti, we went to the Clinic for healing.”
“Let’s take a photo.”
“A photo?”
I brought Hugo and Eri into a tent nearby.
Inside, I did so work with Eri, then had Hugo sit down and projected the image into the air with a crystal orb.
“Look here for a mont. This is the inside of Eri’s throat.”
“Her throat?”
“Yeah. Do you understand what you’re seeing?”
Hugo nodded.
He’d dealt with curses often, so he was used to seeing human bone structures. He quickly recognized Eri’s skull in the image.
“That’s the jaw. And inside is the throat.”
“Not bad. Now, what do you make of this part?”
I pointed with a rod.
There was a long, white object embedded inside Eri’s throat.
“I’m not sure. It looks... different from the surrounding tissue.”
“Right. It’s a foreign object. A splinter, a needle, sothing like that. From the imaging, it’s tal.”
“A foreign object?! You an it’s stuck inside her throat?”
I nodded.
“More precisely, inside her tonsil. Since she’s a child, you can only see it at certain angles. It’s constantly irritating the area, triggering tonsillitis over and over. It’s developed into a peritonsillar abscess.”
“An abscess...?”
“There’s a lump. It has to be removed. Healing magic just regenerates tissue with the foreign object still inside—it’s useless in this case.”
“No way...”
Hugo buried his face in his hands, trembling.
“So that’s what’s been hurting her all this ti... That tiny thing... how painful it must’ve been.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s almost impossible to catch. Healing spells regenerate over fragnts like this, and those fragnts stay as infection triggers. Dissection is illegal here, so this isn’t common knowledge.”
He was right—anyone cutting into a living person was considered evil. Usually black magicians.
And they often used corpses as offerings, so dissection was strictly forbidden.
“What should I do, Doctor?”
I tapped my temple a few tis before answering.
“Hugo, how open is your mind?”
“Wha—how do you know my na?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I saw you at the Clinic.”
“Ah... I didn’t think you rembered .”
Hugo scratched his head, embarrassed to show his current state.
“When you say ‘open-minded’... what do you an?”
“I an—would you believe if I said I could cure her... by cutting her open?”
“Cut... her?”
Hugo gulped.
There was only one reason to bring a knife to another person: to threaten, harm, or kill.
But this was Gotberg.
He’d already cured so many with innovative thods.
And though his deanor might be light, his attitude toward patients was never insincere.
“...I’ll trust you, Doctor.”
Hugo clenched his fists.
“Please. I don’t care what thod you use—just save Eri...!”
He bowed deeply.
I smiled slightly as I looked at him.
“Good. Leave your daughter to . I will cure her.”
“R-Really?!”
“Well, now for the matter of paynt.”
Thunk—Hugo’s heart, full of hope, sank to the floor.
Co to think of it, it was a bit much for the royal physician to spend this much ti on a single civilian patient. Of course it would cost money.
But he didn’t have a single coin to his na.
As he considered giving up, I clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“I heard you’re decent with cleansing spells.”
“Eh? Ah, y-yes... I can only do cleansing magic.”
“There’s a high-grade curse I need lifted. Could be a top-tier one. I need soone to evaluate it. But first, we’ve got a dragon corpse to cleanse.”
Hugo could hardly believe the proposal that followed.
***
“They still haven’t lifted the curse from the Four-Dragon’s corpse? What the hell have you all been doing!”
Only belatedly grasping the situation, Alberich stord down into the underground sanctum and began scolding the healers.
“You useless salary thieves. Do you not realize how valuable a dragon corpse of this size is? Her Highness Princess Heike is breathing down our necks—!”
Thud.
The door to the underground sanctum opened, and a group walked in against the backlight.
Alberich squinted at the fluttering white coats and furrowed his brow.
“You again, Gotberg! How dare you take my healers out for external work without permission. How long do you intend to run rampant through the Imperial Clinic?”
“Now, now. Let’s not make a fuss. Step aside, would you? I’m here to collect the Four-Dragon’s corpse.”
At my relaxed response, Alberich snorted derisively.
“Ha! You don’t even understand basic protocol. You can’t move a cursed corpse even a single step outside this sanctum without first lifting the curse. If the curse leaks, we’ll all be damned!”
“I know. Obviously, I intend to lift the curse before taking it.”
I casually stepped aside.
From behind , a large-built healer from the Black Hand strode in confidently, wearing the sa white coat as .
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