The Quack Lady - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 88

* * *

A person who fell from a cliff might still be alive.

This sentence, like a line from a horror novel, filled my mind for quite some time.

So much so that I couldn’t even concentrate on my usual medical examinations.

‘No matter how I think about it, there seems to be something there.’

However, it felt awkward to ask Mr. Pairon any more about this matter.

Especially when I thought of those tear-filled eyes, my mouth unconsciously shut tight.

‘Ugh, I don’t know. Let me stop caring about this now.’

If his daughter really was alive as assumed, she would try to find her father in some way.

“…Mia!”

“Hm?”

“What are you thinking about so deeply? I kept calling you but you didn’t answer.”

Liv worried about me, asking if I wasn’t feeling well.

“Ah, I was just thinking about something else for a moment. But why me?”

Liv answered with a triumphant face.

“A patient came to express gratitude to our teacher… no, to Rtemeia!”

She explained about the woman I had treated for shock a few days ago.

“It seems she heard about Rtemeia’s great work that day! She insisted she had something to deliver and asked several times.”

Liv urged me to meet her quickly with a face even more expectant than mine.

I’m pretty sure I told her it was fine back then.

I let out a short breath and said to her.

“…Tell her to come in.”

At my words, Liv scurried away and started talking to someone outside the door.

And the patient who appeared was clearly noticeably recovered.

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Hello. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes. Thanks to you. It’s like all my pain was just a lie.”

She smiled brightly and held out a flower to me.

“Actually, I came to give you this…”

“Oh my! Isn’t this metiru?”

Liv, befitting a maid of the apothecary room, asked with wide eyes.

What she held out was a poppy fruit.

An unripe poppy at that.

“Yes. I happened to learn of a place where metiru fruit could be found. I brought it to give to you, Doctor. Though I didn’t expect to get stung by bees.”

She laughed and recounted the process of harvesting the poppy like a heroic tale, but…

‘Wow, I never thought I’d actually see this.’

I couldn’t hear anything else, captivated by the sight of the poppy I had only seen in books.

The fruit of an unripe poppy is the ingredient for opium.

In other words, it’s an incredibly strong painkiller, hallucinogen, and drug.

I could only stare blankly at the opium.

“Do, do you not like it?”

The patient asked cautiously.

Honestly, I was bewildered.

‘Do people usually receive opium as thanks for treatment?’

In this situation that seemed completely changed, I shook my head for now.

“No, no. I was just so happy.”

“That’s right! Metiru is the best drug for making people forget pain!”

Liv gave two thumbs up and praised the patient.

It was then that I was thinking something seemed wrong.

“Actually, you saved my sibling before, and now you’ve saved my life too, so I wanted to be of some help.”

She smiled shyly.

‘Sibling?’

I looked away from the poppy and asked.

“But when you say sibling…”

“Ah, it’s Flotian. I’m Hetia, Flotian’s older sister.”

“Flotian?”

Come to think of it, her droopy eyes were similar to Flotian’s.

Flotian was the first child I treated after recalling my past life.

“My goodness. How is Flotian doing?”

“Yes. When we followed the prescription you gave us, Flotian’s condition improved. Father was pleased too.”

She calmly shared her guilt about leaving her sibling behind for work.

“He must have been very lonely. Having lost his mother early, and his only older sister working odd jobs at a noble family’s house, unable to see her face comfortably even once.”

“I see…”

“But you understood that feeling, Doctor. When I heard this story later, I really wanted to repay you.”

She calmly continued explaining the situation of obtaining the metiru.

But the more I listened, the more I felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“Unfortunately, the place where I found the metiru was at the edge of a high cliff, so I ended up causing trouble.”

She spoke with a very apologetic expression. However.

‘Wait, something’s strange about this.’

The more she talked, the more I had to tilt my head in confusion.

I felt like I had definitely heard her description of the valley where she picked the metiru somewhere before.

I asked Hetia as if entranced.

“By any chance, is that cliff one with jagged rock faces jutting out, full of white stones…”

“Huh? Do you know Piorune Valley?”

My goodness.

It was as I expected.

The place where Mr. Pairon lost his daughter.

When I couldn’t say anything, she chattered with an even more excited face.

“Piorune is a place with many valuable medicinal herbs because the terrain is so treacherous.”

“Is the terrain really that treacherous?”

“It would be treacherous for people who don’t know it, but for those who know the geography well, it’s not treacherous. Same for me.”

She also told me about how she used to run around that place like her own front yard as a child.

“Then could I go see it too?”

“Pardon?”

“Rtemeia?”

Liv and Hetia’s bewildered gazes met.

The more I listened to the story, the more determined I became.

As expected, I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes.

* * *

A sword that cut through the sky brushed against the wind.

As the swords clashed repeatedly and the friction sound spread through the air, Eruten stroked under his chin and silently stared straight ahead.

His red eyes were flashing with an indescribable heat.

“It seems I’ll win this time.”

The man in front stretched out his long arm and immediately struck at Eruten.

Clang-

A rough breathing sound burst from Eruten’s mouth as he gracefully blocked it.

“Huff- huff.”

“There’s no next time.”

As he finished speaking and infused energy into his sword, the sword suddenly turned pitch black.

The sword aura that only a Sword Master could use. Eruten calmly exhaled.

“You’re being too harsh on your disciple, Master.”

Soon, as he quickly channeled energy into his sword, his blade also turned pitch black.

After that, the two clashed fiercely.

The ground shook, and countless trees fell like weeds.

The battle that continued for a long time ended more anticlimactically than expected.

It was because of a mercenary’s shout looking for Abeurus.

“Master! Come eat!”

“I can’t skip meals!”

He immediately withdrew his sword aura and sheathed his sword as he spoke.

“Let’s call it here for today.”

Abeurus looked around at the devastated surroundings.

‘At this rate, there won’t be any places left to train in the Eastern Region.’

Since returning to the Eastern Region and crossing swords with him almost daily, it seemed a bit tiring.

He patted the ground under a tree with his palm, suggesting they chat while the meal was being prepared.

Wiping away his flowing sweat, Eruten plopped down beside him.

“By the way, what wind brought you to find me?”

Eruten, who had suddenly returned to the mercenary group one day, had said something incomprehensible.

“Because I decided to become a shield that can protect everything, rather than a sword that can cut everything.”

It wasn’t a sword that could cut through everything.

A shield that could protect everything.

Remembering this, Abeurus smiled faintly and asked.

“Your Highness. Do you know why knights don’t carry shields?”

Eruten shook his head.

“Because a shield cannot protect anything. It can’t even guarantee the life of the one holding it.”

Abeurus was right.

Rather than holding a shield, it was simpler and more certain to hold a sword and cut down the opponent.

And most people chose the easy and comfortable path over the difficult one.

Like himself, who had abandoned everything and returned home.

“But a powerful shield can also deflect swords. Even…”

He raised both hands and made a gesture as if breaking something.

“Your Highness means something like this, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

There was only one shield in the Empire powerful enough to even break swords.

The Emperor. And the very powerful Imperial Authority that surpassed him.

Remembering this, Abeurus smiled faintly.

It seemed like just yesterday he was young and pitiful like a rain-soaked puppy.

When did he grow so much that he’s trying to find his rightful place?

“Then I should help you.”

“Yes.”

The unhesitating answer settled pleasantly in his ears.

He smiled with satisfaction and extended his hand toward Eruten.

“Well then, shall we start with a meal first?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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