Jin arrived at Linus’s house out of breath, finding a large crowd gathered outside.
“Ah, Jin! You’re back!”
“Hey, everyone, Jin is back!”
Most of those gathered were men from the village. Even the husband, Linus, was waiting outside.
“M-Martha, Jin is back!”
The door opened, and Martha peered out.
“Jin! Mine and Elsa too! You’re just in time! Mine, Elsa, get in here and help!…Jin, I’m sorry, but you stay outside.”
Martha beckoned Elsa and Mine inside and shut the door the moment they crossed the threshold.
Straining his ears, Jin could hear agonizing, muffled groans coming from within. He turned to Linus and asked what was happening.
“Well, around noon today, Sera suddenly said her stomach was hurting. Martha came to look after her, but after two o’clock, she started suffering terribly…”
Linus and Sera already had an eight-year-old daughter named Patty, so this wasn’t her first time giving birth.
Just then, the door opened and Mine appeared. Upon spotting Jin, she gave a report in a panicked voice.
“Jin-sama! It’s a breech birth! At this rate, both mother and child are in danger! Is there a midwife or a healer anywhere who is experienced with this?”
Mine’s only experience was having given birth to Elsa herself, and while Elsa had some knowledge, she lacked any practical experience. Martha had also admitted that she was at a loss when it came to a breech birth.
“Since Elsa is here, the immediate danger to the mother and child is low for the moment. But we can’t leave it like this. Please, find an experienced healer!”
“I—I understand!”
Jin gave a quick nod, whirled around, and dashed back toward his workshop. Reiko followed close behind.
“Father, what do you intend to do?”
“…I have no choice but to go to a city and bring back a midwife or a healer.”
Jin descended into the basement as he answered.
“But there’s no time to go searching blindly… That’s it!”
Jin remembered the healer he had met in Telurus, Sally Mileshann. She had been quite skilled, and even if she wasn't an expert on childbirth herself, there was a high probability she could recommend someone.
Jin went to Hourai Island via the Warp Gate and asked Laojun for the location of the nearest gate to Telurus.
“Understood. In that case, the 8th Fort Ruins would be the closest.”
It was the base once used by the Unifilar, the ones who had kidnapped Elsa.
“Alright. Just like the day before yesterday, I’ll use the transporter to get to Pegasus 1 and fly there. For the return trip, I can just use the Warp Gate on Pegasus 1.”
He would use the same method he had employed when investigating Marcus.
Since the 8th Fort Ruins served as the marker this time, the margin of error was minimal.
Keeping the Invisible function active, he traveled to the riverbank near Telurus. It was the same spot where Mine had been washed up after her severe injury.
Jin landed Pegasus 1 there and stepped outside with Reiko.
Just in case, he left Pegasus 1 on standby in the air. It would descend whenever Jin called for it.
It was likely just past one in the afternoon in Telurus. Jin headed straight for the Mileshann Clinic.
“It was around here, I’m sure…”
Following the narrow path, he saw a familiar door with the words “Mileshann Clinic” painted on it.
“This is it, this is the place.”
However, the door was in tatters, with holes in several places. Stones were scattered around the entrance.
The place felt terribly desolate, but the door opened when he pushed it, so Jin stepped inside.
“Hello?”
There was no answer. The clinic was deserted, with no sign of any patients.
“Doctor? Doctor Sally Mileshann?”
When he called out loudly, he heard a sound from the back. Jin moved toward it.
In a dim back room without any lights, Sally was huddled in a corner.
“Doctor…!”
“Hmm?…Who were you again?…”
There was no trace of her former professional appearance. Her clothes were filthy, her hair was a disheveled mess, and her cheeks were sunken.
Her dark blonde hair was still in a ponytail and her blue eyes remained the same, but Jin could hardly believe this was the same resolute Sally Mileshann.
“…What on earth happened?”
“Huh? Oh, ah, you’re… Jin, was it?”
Exhaling breath that reeked of alcohol, Sally spoke.
“As you can see. I have no patients, so I’m drinking. That’s all there is to it.”
“Why are there no patients?”
That question seemed to be a mistake. A dangerous light flickered in Sally’s eyes.
“Why, you ask? Hahahaha! Every single one of them is a fool! They say medicine refined from blood is creepy.”
“What?”
“Every single one of them! Even though I literally shed my own blood to research it for their sake! They say only the demon race would make medicine like that!”
When he had helped Mine, Jin had told Sally that the recipe for the recovery medicine was made by infusing healing magic into serum obtained by precipitating the blood of magical beasts that possess mana.
It seemed Sally had put that into practice using her own blood. When the villagers found out, they must have ostracized her for using such methods.
Jin managed to piece this together from Sally’s slurred, drunken words.
“They even throw stones at me! Ha, hahaha… Isn't it ridiculous? Go ahead, laugh!”
She swept her hand across the table. An empty liquor bottle fell to the floor and shattered.
She had become completely self-destructive. Normally, Sally would have been justified in blaming Jin for teaching her that method, yet she didn't.
“Doctor, it’s because I told you something unnecessary…”
A cup came flying toward Jin as he spoke. Reiko caught it just before it hit him. Jin silently restrained the indignant Reiko.
“It’s not your fault! I’m the one who’s bad! My own powerless self!”
“Doctor…”
“Why did I become a healer? To help people! To save them! Do you have any idea how painful it is to have that rejected?”
Hearing those words, Jin wondered how he should handle this.
In stories and dramas, this was the standard moment to slap someone across the cheek to snap them out of it and offer encouragement, Jin thought.
However, he didn't feel like he could do such a thing.
While Jin was agonizing over what to do, Reiko spoke up about their business in his stead.
“Doctor, there is someone suffering from a difficult labor. Could you please help her?”
When Sally heard those words, her laughter stopped abruptly.
“What… did you say…?”
The madness in her eyes vanished.
“A difficult labor… you said. Since when?”
“Um, it’s been about three hours now…”
As Jin answered, having calculated backward, Sally’s roar echoed through the room.
“You fool! Why didn’t you come sooner! Both mother and child are in danger!”
“Ah, right now, someone who can at least use healing magic is by her side, though she doesn't have experience.”
When Jin said that, Sally’s anger subsided slightly.
“I see, then maybe it’s a little better?…Wait here, I’ll get ready… Whoops.”
Sally tried to stand up, but her drunken limbs refused to cooperate, and she stumbled. Jin reached out to support her.
“Please, pull yourself together, Doctor.”
“Yes, my apologies.…‘Detox.’”
Sally used a spell Jin hadn't heard before. In an instant, she regained her composure and sobered up.
“Doctor, what was that just now?”
“Hmm, ‘Detox’? It’s healing magic that removes toxins from the body. I finally perfected it recently.”
“Perfected it?”
It appeared that Sally had developed a new piece of healing magic. That was no small feat.
“I see. They do call it ‘alcohol poisoning,’ after all. So you removed the effects of the alcohol.”
“Exactly. You caught on quickly.…This is no time for leisurely chatter. Help me prepare!”
“Right!”
With Jin and Reiko helping, they packed several medical instruments into a bag.
Jin felt relieved inwardly. It seemed most of the reason she had been acting out was the alcohol.
Things don't always go like a drama, he thought with a strange sense of detachment.
Meanwhile, Sally reappeared, having packed a change of clothes and other belongings.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Seeing Sally with such heavy luggage, Jin couldn't help but ask.
“Doctor, what’s with all the gear?”
“Hmm? I’ve lost all desire to return here. Once I’ve seen the patient you asked about, I think I’ll go on a journey.”
“I see…”
Hearing that, Jin thought in the back of his mind about inviting her to Kaina Village and eventually welcoming her into the Hourai Island Family.
“Come, let’s go. Lead the way.”
As she left the clinic, Sally glanced back just once, but after that, she didn't look back again as she followed Jin at a brisk pace.
“Hey, wait, there’s a river up ahead. Is the woman in labor out this way?”
Sally looked suspicious. Jin turned to her with a serious expression and explained.
“Yes, the patient is in the Klein Kingdom. We’re going to take you there using an artifact now.”