Pandora Unchained B1C25 - An Encounter with Gabriella

The farmer Sorin treated returned to his home, but not before spreading the news of his treatment across the outpost. From then on, all sorts of people, flocked over to the Temporary Medical Relief Center. This was especially the case for non-cultivators. Physicians typically saw quite a few non-cultivators as part of their practice, but it was inevitable that many would be turned away.

While the temporary center couldn’t treat all case, life mages were proficient in healing physical trauma injuries to bone, skin, and tissue. As for Sorin, he could treat cases of corruption in both cultivators and non-cultivators, as well as the many cases of poisoning suffered by adventurers that patrolled Bloodwood Forest.

It was at the end of the day when the clinic was closing up that Sorin received an unexpected visitor. “Is Physician Sorin – I mean, is Mr. Kepler in right now?” came a woman’s voice. Sorin looked up to see Gabriella, his former apprentice.

“Gabriella,” greeted Sorin. “Why don’t we step over to a treatment bed?”

“I’m not s –” she started, but Sorin didn’t give her a chance and led her behind a sound-isolated curtain.

Gabriella took a seat on the bed, and Sorin sat down on the table in the treatment room. For a moment, neither of them spoke. “You seem to be doing well,” Sorin finally said after a time. He frowned slightly when he saw that her hands were red and calloused and her eyes were tired and sleep-deprived, but schooled his expression.

“I’m doing fine,” said Gabriella. “Studying mostly. Keeping busy at the clinic. There’s always lots to be done.”

“That’s good,” said Sorin, nodding. “I suppose that as a two-star doctor, Marcus would know how to guide an apprentice physician.”

Gabriella shifted uncomfortably. “Its more self-driven studies under the guidance of Physician Marcus. He’s not nearly as involved as you were. Lots of one-star physicians. Lots of apprentices from his old clinic.”

Sorin groaned. “Do you want some unofficial guidance? Medical texts can be extremely obscure to the untrained.”

“I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble,” said Gabriella. “Also, I’d rather we not go back to a physician-apprentice relationship. It was quite awkward, given that we’re around the same age.”

Sorin nodded. “If that’s what you want. And… I’m sorry, Gabriella.”

“Sorry for what?” asked Gabriella, staring daggers at him.

“For not coming to see you, of course” said Sorin. “I thought… I thought you’d be better off without my attention, given how aggressive my family is being.”

“That’s probably true,” said Gabriella. “Even so, I never knew if you were alright. They said… they said you’ve become an adventurer. A wielder of poisons.”

“I believe poisoner, charlatan, and snake are the common derogatory terms,” said Sorin. “And the answer is yes. My team and I just returned from clearing out a nest of rockgnaw rats. There were hundreds of them.” Sorin cut his explanation short when he saw Gabriella’s smile fading a bit. “I’m sorry. You were never much of a fighter. Kind to a fault.”

“I know it needs to be done,” said Gabriella. “If adventurers never went out to kill demons, they’d quickly overrun us. It’s just… me. I can’t do it. Killing is not something physicians should be doing.”

“You’re probably right,” said Sorin. “It would shake up one’s priorities. Make death more palatable or acceptable. But remember that death is inevitable in your chosen profession. Eventually, one of your patients will die. And you’ll have to come to terms with it.”

Gabriella sighed. “This is exactly that kind of advice I’m not getting. Information is easy to remember, but lessons like this can only come from experience. I can’t wait to finish up studying and head over to a big city for the physician’s examination.”

“You could probably pass with your current knowledge,” said Sorin.

“But I wouldn’t have a recommendation letter, now, would I?” said Gabriella.

Sorin now saw the crux of the issue. “Is he withholding his recommendation unduly?”

“The way Physician Marcus put it, all your teachings are suspect,” said Gabriella. “My skills and knowledge must therefore be re-evaluated. Of course, the review keeps getting pushed back. It’s only been made worse with all the busy work he’s having his clinic do.”

“Sounds troublesome,” said Sorin. “I know you don’t want to inconvenience me, but I can still see if there’s anyone ion my family willing to do me a favor. Don’t refuse – see how Marcus treats you. If he still doesn’t move on it after a few months, come talk to me.”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” said Gabriella. Her eyes flickered to the entrance to the treatment room. “I should really get going, Sorin. Wouldn’t want to be seen hanging about around here. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Sorin.

She moved to leave the treatment area but turned around before opening the curtain. “By the way. I missed you Sorin.”

“I missed you to,” said Sorin. Alas, unless Marcus packed up his bags, they wouldn’t be able to see each other much going forward.

Sorin watched as she left the room, and it was only when she was well and truly out of the tent clinic that he shot two poison-infused needles through the tent’s canvas material. He then lifted up the canvas and pulled in two bodies – that of a human, and that of a rat.

“Lorimer, what did I tell you about skulking around the tent?” said Sorin. “You can’t be seen with me. At least around patients. Also, I gave you an important task.” Lorimer squeaked in protest, but Sorin cut him off. “I know you didn’t get any opportunities, but what about tomorrow or the day after? I guarantee they won’t be able to swallow this insult and will do something to recuperate their image.

Lorimer grumbled and ran off out of the tent. Lawrence tried to do the same, but Sorin grabbed him by the collar. “I see your peeping ways haven’t left you,” he said to Lawrence. “Speak. How much did you hear?”

“Nothing at all,” said Lawrence. “I specifically didn’t hear anything from Gabriella about self-study and the like.”

Sorin sighed. “I really did her a disservice.”

“Don’t say that,” said Lawrence. “It’s your family that’s being mean.”

“So you were listening,” said Sorin, throwing a few more needles at Lawrence.

This time, however, the rogue was prepared. He caught the needles with gloved hands and placed them on the small table in the treatment room. “You’ll never catch me with the same trick twice. I… yikes!” he pulled his leg back, but too late. Paralyzing poison had already crept up the mithril string and onto his leg.

“Eavesdropping is a grave offence, Lawrence,” Sorin said. “But I can forgive you, if you’re willing to do something for me.”

“Oh-oh yeah?” said a sweaty-faced Lawrence. “And what might that be? Do you need money? I can lend you money!”

“I don’t need your money,” said Sorin. “I need your expert peeping skills.”

“Who do you want me to spy on?” asked Lawrence. “And I’ll tell you now, I’d rather cut off this paralyzed leg than spy on Marcus.”

“I’d never ask you to spy on a bone forging cultivator,” said Sorin. “I just want you to spy on Gabriella and find out more about her situation. I think she was sugarcoating her situation, and I want the details.”

Lawrence’s eyes brightened. “Spying on a damsel in distress to save her? This is it – my noble calling! The mission of my life!”

“Not so fast,” said Sorin, catching Lawrence before he could leave. “I also want you to investigate my old clinic. See how many physicians there are and how they’ve changed the way they operate lately. A crafty rogue like you should be able to do that, right?”

“Absolutely,” said Lawrence. “I’ll find out everything there is to know about them, including Physician Marcus’s underwear color. Actually, scratch that. That’s way too risky.”

Sorin left after Lawrence assured him he’d take the matter seriously and returned to count supplies and coordinate with the life mages. “The day went by with surprisingly few interruptions,” said Leffen. “I expected some sort of confrontation.”

“They’re assessing us,” said Sorin. “Don’t worry, a confrontation is inevitable. Otherwise, we’ll run them out of business. It’s only a matter of how high profile they want to make this.”

“So we’re coming back tomorrow?” asked Leffen.

“And the day after that, and all week if we have to,” said Sorin. “People being refused treatment for petty reasons is unacceptable. It affects not just the Adventurers Guild, but also every person in the outpost. The Adventurers Guild’s position is that adventurers being refused medical treatment and life mages getting harassed is unacceptable. The Medical Association’s position is that others shouldn’t mess with their business. The way I see it, the Adventurers Guild’s position is stronger, so it wouldn’t make sense to give up so early.

Sorin packed up a few more things before returning home. He had a quiet dinner before making his way to his study. He worked late into the night on his poison formulations, and it was just past midnight when he heard a sudden crash.

Sorin bolted down the stairs using Adder Rush yet wasn’t able to make it on time. A cloaked cultivator blended into the night’s darkness and would be impossible to track down.

“Those bastards,” said Percival, still in his night shirt. He looked at the wall in disgust. “Can’t they leave a person trying to do good things alone?”

“I expect as much,” said Sorin, shaking his head. “And so did the Adventurers Guild. Take some mana pictures and send them to Assessor Haley and see how much they can give us for damages.” He then walked over the broken glass to the cleared-out section of wall where words had been written in red overtop the expensive wallpaper.

Leave the outpost, filthy poisoner.

Don’t hide behind innocent commoners, cowardly snake.

“It seems the usual insults haven’t changed much over the years,” observed Percival.

“Indeed, they haven’t,” said Sorin. “How quickly they forget that poison users once worked hand in hand with physicians and were often awarded the rank of physician.” But times had changed, and a century of indoctrination had forced the label of murderer and good for nothing on an entire subset of cultivators.

“Don’t worry about any of this, Mr. Kepler,” said Percival. “Clarice and I will have it cleaned up in no time at all.”