Only 7 Days More

Poltas woke up as his face was being washed. More accurately, as he was washing his face. He turned around to see the child was gone and even Darshel was not nearby.

'The case must be done by now. I hope I don't ever have to be treated here. My body is a temple, I must protect it.'

Darshel returned soon after looking like a serial killer. There were large red stains all over his coat, and some splatters of blood had even reached his face.

"Good job washing up already. Help me clean the work station now."

"Sure."

The workstation in question was the operating table used for treatment.

Poltas was still mulling over the survival of the last patient with how much blood was on Darshel.

"Is the child okay now?"

"He is not fully healed and needs time to recuperate at home. But the wound has been cleaned and closed, so our work is done for now. He should be back for a visit in 2 weeks or sooner if any complications occur."

"I see."

Darshel's words were quite similar to what a doctor on Earth would say. During his past life Poltas had never broken any bones or had wounds which needed stitches, if he had been taken to a hospital instead of being summoned, maybe he would have experienced such treatment.

He was glad that the child had lived through the procedure itself, but in the end couldn't hold himself back from asking.

"Why do you have so much blood on you? I remember the child's wound was not actively bleeding."

"Oh this. It's not blood, it's a fixation balm that looks like blood. The balm is used between broken surfaces of bone to improve healing. I opened the bottle with too much force so a lot of it spilled on me."

"Is this balm made from a herb? I didn't see any such herbs in the book."

"No, it's actually a magical item. It's made from the blood of people with healing magic which gives it the colour."

"Are the people okay with donating blood for this?"

"You can make a lot of money with your blood as such a person, they would donate all their blood if it was allowed."

Such a weird thing to do. Poltas wanted to ask about the blood screening process for concerns related to pathogens in the blood, but didn't continue. A world where using a needle for cows, on humans was the norm, there was no way they tested for bacteria or viruses.

"Your performance today was outstanding. You definitely underestimated how much he'd resist at first but later on your grip was excellent."

"Huh…"

"In the past I have always asked the attendants to hold the patient, and they never kept a firm grip. Today was the first time I was able to finish the procedure so quickly and it was all thanks to you."

The praise was for him, but he did not do the work. Poltas wanted to refute Darshel's words but had no suitable explanation to give. He reluctantly accepted the sincere appreciation.

"I think that's all the patients for today, you are free to go now."

The words reminded Poltas of his school days and the joy he felt at the bell going off. He took his bag and headed off immediately until Darshel spoke up again.

"I will see you tomorrow then."

???

No one would be seeing anyone again if it was up to Poltas. The crack doctor needed a brain transplant.

"I will not be coming tomorrow."

"Why not? I'm sure you learned a lot today."

"This was just a trial job, I still have so many other things to experience and learn."

"Are you sure? Why don't I teach you more about herbs then"

"..."

The man obviously did not want Poltas to escape. Herbs were interesting but Poltas had learned that some of the medicines weren't even made of herbs, and the rest were made of rare herbs that weren't even available in a town like Pamsteria.

Why would he waste time here after today?

"It's understandable that you'd rather work in a different field with how strong you are. But I hope you can at least work here for the next 7 days?"

"Why for these 7 days?"

"Because we have all our monthly treatments this week."

Such a shameless scam. But it was worse than a hidden scam.

Even though his treatment methods were inhumane by Poltas' standards, Darshel was the only one treating people here. Helping him would greatly improve the local people's quality of life. With such logic, Poltas felt forced to agree. His only hope was that the auto-mode would work during the rest of the days as well.

The deceitful quest had been completed and no follow-up quests were available.

'What strength did I even show, the strength of using auto-mode. The person who chooses these quest names needs a good beating."

Poltas was unhappy, unlike Brandial who was elated to hear of his choice to work at the clinic for now. She had been unable to find any other suitable jobs for Poltas, and was concerned about his plans for the remaining week.

Now that his temporary employment was resolved, Brandial could work on getting him an ID for the town and maybe even his own residence.

Meanwhile, Poltas thoroughly checked the weblet for any hidden features which could aid him in his suffering.