Chapter 39: Free Clinic

“Are you awake, Mr. Bernard?”

“Ugh… Where am I? Ah… Lady Elidranthia, Alicia.”

“Ah, you recognize me now? Good. Let me try some healing on your leg.”

“Healing? But I’m not injured. I’m missing a leg, that’s all. You don’t need to waste your pity on me. I’m just a disposable soldier.”

“I don’t pity you, Mr. Bernard,” Eli said quietly. “I only want to test my skill.”

“What can you possibly do, Lady Elidranthia? Are you saying you can give me back my leg?”

“Maybe. That’s why we’ll experiment.”

She pressed her hand to the stump and poured healing magic into it. Light suffused the scarred flesh, but nothing changed. She felt resistance—the healed skin blocked her magic from taking root.

“See? Impossible. Everyone knows missing limbs can’t be restored.”

“That’s not true,” a nearby soldier said firmly. “I’ve heard of high-ranking mages regrowing limbs. And Lady Elidranthia here is already rank six! Even if she can’t yet, she will after the academy. Don’t lose hope, Bernard.”

“…Really?” Bernard whispered.

“Well,” Eli murmured, “I’m still inexperienced. But there might be another way.” She drew a deep breath. “John, cut into the stump—just a shallow slice — until the bone shows. If I can reach living marrow, I might be able to regrow it.”

“What?!” The soldier balked. “Milady, that’s—”

Bernard clenched his jaw. “Do it. A knight doesn’t flinch from pain.”

John obeyed, his blade biting into the stump. Bernard groaned, sweat beading on his brow, but he held fast. No screams, no curses—only a grimace of iron discipline.

Eli pressed her palm to the exposed bone. Light flooded from her hand, threads of magic sinking deep into the marrow. At once, she felt it—feedback, resistance breaking.

It was working.

The bone stirred, creeping forward, pushing outwards. Slowly, agonizingly, it lengthened, layer by layer.

“Amazing…! Rank six light magic can truly restore limbs!” the soldier gasped.

Eli trembled, sweat dripping down her cheek. Her stomach turned with nausea, her vision hazed, but she pressed on. The leg grew, inch by inch, until bone was sheathed in fresh muscle, fresh skin.

From knee to ankle—almost whole.

Just a bit more…

“Eli, stop. Are you okay? You look pale. You need to rest.” Alicia grabbed her hand, wrestling it away and breaking the flow of magic nourishing Bernard’s leg.

“Eh? Why stop now? Just a little more and his leg will be whole!” Eli said. Her vision blurred. She knew she was pushing it, but it was just a little bit more.

“Milady!” Alicia snapped. “Do you want Count Shadowstep to scold you again? You collapsed from mana exhaustion just yesterday. What if you collapse again? We can do this tomorrow—or the day after. It’s not like we need Bernard tomorrow. He can wait.”

The guards and Elana quickly sided with her, except Bernard. His hope was slashed; it was as if Eli had dangled a carrot before him.

“Yes, Milady. Your health comes first. Surely Sir Bernard can wait a few more days. Right, Sir Bernard? You won’t push Milady to the brink of collapse, will you?”

“Eh… but… I understand.” Bernard lowered his head. “Lady Elidranthia, I apologize. I am just a mere peasant knight. There is no way I can repay a high-ranking healer like you. I should not be greedy. Thank you, Milady. I will wait until you are well.”

Eli clenched her jaw, frustration burning, but her vision swam. Darkness closed in—she stumbled forward and fell into Alicia’s chest.

“See? You’ve hit your limit,” Alicia muttered, rolling her eyes, catching her. “Let’s go home and rest.”

“Please… keep this a secret.” Eli’s voice was weak. “Tomorrow, once I’ve recovered… I will heal you, Bernard. I promise.”

She tried to stand, but her legs were unsteady.

“Geez. Fine, climb on.” Alicia crouched, letting Eli slump onto her back. Too tired to argue, Eli let herself be carried.

As they walked, Alicia looked over her shoulder at the soldiers and Elana. “Alright, let’s get our story straight. If anyone asks, we’ll say Lady Elidranthia fainted from a heatstroke.”

“…Heatstroke? In late autumn?” Elana rolled her eyes. “That’s the excuse you came up with? No one’s going to believe that.”

“Then what should we say? We are going to get a scolding if Count Shadowstep knew about this,” Alicia asked. Elana’s brain was kicked into overdrive when she heard about Count Shadowstep getting angry at her. Alicia might get off with a mere scolding, but her job would be out of the window if the Count knew her charge fell unconscious because she spent too much mana even though he had specifically told her to rest. She needed to cooperate.

“Let’s just say she got tired and fell asleep. We decided to carry her home like this since she would be more comfortable in her bed and safer.”

“Will that excuse fly?”

“It will. We might get a bit of scolding, but at the very least, it is not a huge mistake. Lady Eli is still young; she might just fall asleep in the cafe. It is believable.”

“I am not childish. I do not sleep in the cafe,” Eli complained from Alicia’s back. She hated being seen as childish. She and Alicia were the same age, after all, and she wanted to be a leader others could look up to. How could she blunder like this? She moaned.

“I apologize, Lady Eli. Will you cooperate? It is for my job. I will get fired if Lord Shadowstep finds out I let you use your magic against his orders.”

“Geez. Fine,” Eli said. She might as well play the part and sleep on Alicia’s back for real.

When they reached the manor, Rodrique asked them why they carried Elidranthia on her back like that, and they answered as planned. After reaching her bed, Elana brought some biscuits and fruit for Elidranthia, which she ate with gusto. Using too much magic had whetted her appetite.

“Sshh!!” Eli’s snake slithered beside the bed.

“Hm? You want some? I thought snakes only ate meat.” Eli tilted her head. Her knowledge of Earth’s snakes did not apply here, as the snake snapped one of the cut apples on Eli’s table. Eli then offered her biscuits to it, but it refused, indulging itself on fruits and meat.

“Geez. You are one expensive pet, aren’t you, Qwerty? What a picky eater!” Eli sighed, comparing it to Alicia’s swiftclaw, Piouyi, which ate corn, bean sprouts, and leaves with gusto. Their size had almost doubled. Piouyi was now bigger than a rooster. Its legs stretched tall, almost thirty centimeters. It won’t take long before they can be ridden.

Qwerty had also grown bigger. From a small snake, barely a thumb’s thickness, it had now grown to be almost as big as a python. Two horns sprouted on the back of its head. Soon enough, it won’t be Elidranthia’s shawl, but a pillow. Its scales were smooth to the touch, and its body was cold, just the way she liked it.

After several hours of rest, Eli’s mana had recovered, leaving her refreshed. But the longer she stayed cooped up in her room, the more restless she felt; especially when Bernard’s hopeful face haunted her.

But there was nothing she could do but rest now. Like Alicia said, she must not push herself. It would reflect badly on her father if she collapsed on the road. So, she took Qwerty and went to the living room to play and planned her healing service.

“Elana, could you call Sir Jadenbale to our lounge? I want to talk to him,” Eli called her maid. Bernard’s condition was not unique. She had healed most soldiers who were hurt yesterday, so she knew there were more soldiers who had lost limbs.

“Yes, Milady. May I help you?” Jadenbale came, feeling irked. He had mountains of paperwork today—the incentive for those who were permanently injured, rescheduling the guard duty, and so forth. He didn’t want to entertain a kid who asked him to play.

“Sir Jadenbale, may I ask you about Bernard? I saw him yesterday; he had lost his leg.”

“Huh? Um… sorry that you had to see that, Milady. It was the price we paid to keep Shadowstep safe. Bernard is one of the knights who were permanently injured in the last stampede attack. Ah, I suggest you not meet him. He is currently not stable right now.”

“What will happen to him?”

“We will either hire him as staff or give him a severance pay of 5 gold coins. But working without legs is going to be tough for him. And the severance pay could only last him a year or two at most.” Jadenbale bit his teeth. It was not fair, but this was the reality. He knew that this was the norm; other knights in other regions were the same.

They got severance packages and were fired. Knights on the Western Front had it worse. Permanent injuries or casualties happened by the dozens after every skirmish.

“Please gather all those maimed in battle. I believe I can heal them. Yesterday I regrew Bernard’s leg to the ankle, and by tomorrow—or within two days—I should be able to restore it completely.”

“You can? I heard it needs an especially skilled light mage to regrow a limb, and they cost a fortune!” Jadenbale gasped.

“Yes! Could you invite them one at a time? I can regrow their limbs. If I do so, they will be happy, right?” Eli was eager. Being a doctor had always been her dream. She wanted to save lives, so what’s better than opening a free clinic for the poor? Goddess Repeara had granted her this power; it was only right that she used it for the good of her territory.

“Really? You can do that?” Jadenbale blanked out. He had never heard of such magic before. That kind of magic could only be afforded by the most prominent light mages above rank five with several magic tools. It should not be possible for Elidranthia, who hadn’t even attended the academy.

The reason Eli could do this was because she understood human anatomy from her school lessons and practical lessons on the battlefield. She knew about bones, bone marrow, and how cells regenerate. Her knowledge was lacking, but that was where magic closed the gap.

“Yes! Let’s gather them all and make a free clinic! I want to make everyone happy! Not just regrow the limbs! Let’s do it, Jadenbale, Elana!” Eli hopped and clenched her fist, eager for some action. Finally! She had been on the receiving end of humanitarian work before; now, in the other world, she could give back. “Let’s open a free clinic for everyone, not just soldiers who were wounded yesterday! Let’s make everyone happy!”

“Hm? Shouldn’t we gather them only one at a time? Regrowing limbs is difficult, right? Even you could only heal half a leg yesterday…” Alicia played the devil’s advocate. She supported her idea, but she had learned not to bite off more than she could chew.

She knew from experience that people would always depend on the strong. In a group project, there was always that guy who did 90% of the work while the others piggybacked on their effort. The trauma she experienced when others left all the essays to her was horrifying, to say the least. Since then, she had always tried to be a minimalist.

“Ah, it’s fine. They can watch. We are family, right? Mr. Jadenbale, I shall leave them to you. Let’s start with our brave knights and warriors.”

“Yes, Milady!” Jadenbale gave a military salute and bowed deeper than usual, offering his deepest gratitude.

Little did she know she was about to cause massive trouble for her territory.