———Lynda———

  <1: 43 pm>

  “It was a pse in judgement. It won’t happen again.” I calmly said, looking at her worried face. Seriously, stop staring at me like that.

  “L-Let’s just quickly get you to the hospital. Why did you have to hide it from the guards?” Glery asked. It’s pretty clear, their service isn’t as expensive as a hospital visit but still more than what I’d earn. I’d ft out lose money instead of earning any.

  “Let’s just go get the potions in my- Ugh!” Ah jeez. I think my right arm is almost out of blood. It’s getting cold. “Hey, Glery, can you tie up the cloth a bit more tightly? The wound is still open.”

  “Please, just go to a hospi- Ah right! There’s a clinic nearby!” Suddenly she dragged me to the clinic not too far from here, even though we never set foot in it and don't even know what it does.

  I swear if this took up a lot more money than whatever service that guild gives I’m gonna… Well I don’t want to shout at her if I can help it.

  She rather violently pushes the gss door open and comes inside. Why did I get a whiff of fresh bread?

  “Ah. Hello! Did I smell blood just now?” …Can we leave?

  “C-Can you look at her arm? I’ll cover the cost, don’t worry.” The hell are you saying!?

  “I see. You’re in luck, I consider myself to be a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.” The ‘doctor’ said.

  *Lift*

  “Ah- Hey!” Don’t just carry me so suddenly you jackass!

  “Here we go. Gently now.” He put me on… is this an operating table? “Let me that injury of yours…”

  “Agh!” It still hurts! Can’t he be a bit more careful!?

  “Oops. Sorry. Should I apply anesthesia?” Isn’t that shit kinda costly? If Glery really went through with it, I’d rather not burden her with the cost.

  “No. Just get it done quickly.” I said, just want to get this done quickly.

  “Very well then…” He said, still having a somewhat sleazy smile. He has that pretty boy look down to a tee, and yet he still manages to make himself look suspicious. What’s with the dark gray coat? Really give off the red and bck aesthetic with your red hair and eyes. Why is that tied into a thin ponytail?

  He’s untying the coat on my right arm and inspecting it, still bleeding out, by the way.

  “Alright then, let’s patch this up quickly…” He mumbled to himself as he scrubbed the area with something for disinfection, then got something else to stop the blood. Honestly it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot left anyway… “There we go… [Mending]”

  Wait. He’s a healer? Like not just a doctor but also got healing powers? What the hell is he doing opening up a clinic? There’s a pretty huge demand for those in guilds to incentivise people to be more risky and get more materials.

  “Hmm… Doesn’t look like there’s any parts that need an operation. It’s rather close to being the case if you had struggled a bit more. I’m surprised nothing got ripped off considering how much you were bleeding out.” Can he shut up for a bit? Isn’t that a bit too morbid for a doctor to say? Is he even an actual doctor? “Let me apply a few spells first, then see if you’ll recover enough to leave early.”

  I can see some medicine on the shelves, but outside of whatever he uses to disinfect the area, he’s just using healing spells. He must have quite a good deal of mana to be doing that. The ones at the guild look exhausted just from casting one spell.

  “Seems to completely stop bleeding… Wait here for a moment. I'll inform your friend of your condition.” He said with a smile before walking off.

  This was certainly… something. At least he actually knows how to treat a patient, even if right now he’s just using spells…

  No. That’s the wrong way to go about it. Most doctors don’t even know how to use magic, as far as I’m aware. Healers and doctors could be considered a different role altogether. Healers can actually treat someone in the middle of a fight or between fights, their methods are much faster and require just mana, but the spells are costly and could cause them to be completely exhausted quickly. Doctors obviously use the mundane way to tend someone’s wounds, tried and true and could technically carry a rge supply, though in terms of monetary cost it can ramp up. Both are stationed differently too, but I feel like talking about and comparing their roles is maybe a bit too hasty. The concept of a healer isn’t that well-established just yet, and there are hospitals looking for some as well.

  “Alright I’m back!” He cheerfully said. “Looks like your friend can cover the cost. Not like it’s much to begin with.”

  “Huh?” He didn’t say any of that before now. The hell is happening?

  “Ah, right. I guess I forgot to mention that, silly me.” He said while scratching his cheek. “I didn’t really use much resources, and thankfully you two came to me before the injury could have worsened, so you don’t have to stay here and occupy a room for long either. Only got three here. It’s a pretty small building. Also, I’m a one man show here.”

  “Do you normally yap this much?” I can’t help but ask. From his attitude I doubt he cares that much for a bit of compining.

  “Hah! Never heard that before.” He sarcastically said with a smirk. “Well then, I’ll go bake some more in the meantime. I’ll go tell your friend that she can visit before doing that.”

  What did he mean by that? I have only interacted with him briefly and it’s very clear he’s a weirdo.

  “Lynda!” Glery called out. Does she have to be that worked up? Didn’t that guy tell her that I’m fine right now?

  “Hey.” I greeted her, feeling a bit awkward that she became so proactive and even offered to pay the cost on my behalf. Even if that guy said it won’t cost a lot, I doubt it’s cheap. What kind of doctor treats their patients for pennies? They treats them for grands. “Sorry, for making you pay.”

  “It’s fine. It’s only ten bucks.” Huh?

  “Ten bucks?” Where in fresh hell does that number come from? Even the guild healers charged more than that for way less extensive treatment. “Are you sure you heard that right?”

  “Yeah. I asked him a few times just to be sure.” Did he pick a number from a hat or something? “By the way, he didn’t do anything weird, did he?”

  “N-No? Why?” Where did that question even come from?

  “W-Well. I just remembered that there are weird rumors that his way of treating his patients is… very bloody.” Hah? Is she being serious about that? “If he didn’t do anything like that, then I guess it’s just a false arm.”

  “No, no. They were right to say that.” The doctor came in with a… paper bag with a baguette inside. What is he doing? And does he really have to say that? I sure as hell don’t want to confirm any unsavory rumors about myself. “Anyway. This one is in the house.”

  “Why?” I asked as Glery received the random gift.

  “That one has been on the counter for a while. I barely got any customers today, and food waste is bad. Wasting bread should be considered sacrilegious, even.” He said with a straight face. Like I get that, but surely there’s a way to say it that doesn’t sound slightly unhinged.

  “Right…” I replied with a hint of sarcasm. I hope this doesn’t taste like crap, or poisonous.

  “Now then. I’ll go back and check my other breads. You two can wait here for now. Eat that bread, whatever.” He said before leaving the room. He is no professional, that’s for sure.

  “Weird guy.” I said the obvious. I have seen a few redheads walking around in the past. It’s hard to imagine that I could forget someone with that peculiar face and personality. Maybe he was out studying in a different state or something? Cevin was the same way, which is why we didn’t see him for a few years until he suddenly came back to the school as a school doctor, of all things. We have a bunch of magic tools for healing, so it’s weird. I know it’s because he can help with non-combat reted afflictions, but it’s still weird.

  “Yeah.” Glery said, not having much to add.

  “...You know. It’d be convenient if the school is open right now. Go there and get healed up quickly. Too bad no one can really enter during the weekends.” I said, menting a bit. I know it’s kind of a cheat to even have something so convenient. Other schools don’t get away with that, or most, I have heard some rumors. “I think Cevin might do an even better job. I heard he can do healing magic too, not that it’s needed in a pce like that.”

  “...That reminds me. Wasn’t Cevin with two other people during his time as a student there?” …Where did that come from? I only mentioned him off-handedly.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, wondering where she is going with this.

  “I know he was one of the most popur people in the school during his time here, but if I remember right he has two friends he loves to hang out with. One with red hair and another with yellow hair.” I never paid that much attention to the popur kids in css. It doesn’t help that he and his css are two years ahead, so there’s this wall between us that makes me not feel like interacting with them that much.

  “What. Are you saying one of them is that guy?” It seems like that’s what she’s insinuating. A fellow colleague who split away and started a modest job here while being able to add any weird quirks to the pce as much as he wants. “So the red one is here with his own clinic, Cevin is at the school, and no one knows where the yellow one is?”

  “I think that’s the case. His face seems familiar to me.” Glery answered. Well if she said so. I guess we can go talk to either about it. Not that I want to strike up a conversation with this guy right now. Technically I don’t have a reason to think he’s a sinister guy, but his tone and expression don’t help in that regard.

  “Huh…” I don’t really know what to think about that. We can worry about that ter.

  *Munch*

  “Mmm… It’s above average.” Glery ftly said while munching on the free bread. From the sound of it it has been sitting around for a while. I doubt that bread will still be very good even if he’s an amazing baker. “Want some?”

  “Just a small piece is fine.” I said while extending my left arm, getting a piece that she tore off the loaf.

  *Munch*

  “Yeah. That assessment is about right.” Not that I know a lot of pces that make good bread around here. Most of the bread I ate was sandwich bread. Some people won’t even call those real bread.

  “Okay, looks like everything is fine and dandy on that front. Let me inspect that one more time. See how much of it has closed up.” The doctor barged back in and inspected my right arm. “Most of it is. There are still some gashes, but the bandages should keep things from ripping and opening…”

  I’m not sure what he’s doing. I couldn’t bother tilting my head and see what he’s doing. He might strike up a conversation in the middle of it and be distracted if I do that. Am I being too presumptuous?

  “There we go. I think we’re done.” He casually said before walking to the door. “Only advice is to not move your right arm a lot, but I think you know that already.”

  Hopefully this fully heals up quickly. I’d rather not go to school with my primary arm in a bad condition.

  DekuKurohi