Chapter 97 The Witch at Work

The sound of pained cries rang out in the space surrounded by white clothed walls. A man laid on his back with his left arm removed from its bloodied shoulder. At his side was Saki who had the man's arm in her hands and moved to properly dispose of it.

While Saki moved away, Elder Sung had started to quickly tend to the man's stump after putting down the metal saw. The man grimaced in pain as Elder Sung did not have any pain killers to give the patient as they were running low. Luckily, his thrashing did not interrupt Elder Sung's work as the man was strapped down tightly and she began to administer less effective pain numbing medicines through medicinal plants mashed into an edible paste.

Saki grimaced at the sight but knew that her teacher's work was bloody but thorough for a reason. The injured patient had gotten bitten by a gengiri whose maw had venomous poison in its fangs. While it was strange for gengiri to have venomous poison in their fangs, it was still considered plausible if the small monster was directed by a large breed of its species to eat poison plants on purpose.

Elder Sung identified that the poison was lethal to humans and that it spreads quickly through the body, without proper treatment at the time of infliction the only option after a period of time would be to cut away the infected part of the body to save the victim's life. The victim would have his life changed but he would at least live.

Elder Sung, who now wiped the sweat from her brow with a clean towel looked on at her patient who was now fast asleep. After tending to his stub of a shoulder and applying a medicine to induce a state of sleep, she thought to herself.

'He will live, but to think I had to do this kind of work again. It just turns my stomach to do this kind of work. Oh how I miss the simpler tasks in my shop. All I had to do was apply bandages and ointments. This kind of work is always too mentally taxing.'

Elder Sung heaved a tired sigh which made Saki notice the somewhat foul mood her teacher had. She sympathized with her as she knew of Elder Sung's past in the army.

After wrapping up the severed arm, Saki placed it gently into a wooden case. She knew that the arm was a lost cause but believed that she should not treat the body parts of patients so poorly. She then got two of the camp's staff to carry the sleeping patient out of the tent so that he could be placed in the general medical tent.

Saki then turned back and offered to chat with her teacher to cleanse her teacher's negativity.

"Man, I wish we had all our tools from the shop. This would make things go so much easier." Said a mockingly whiny Saki.

To this, Elder Sung slightly chuckled and caught onto her naive apprentice's attempt.

"Oh stop your whining, or else I'll make you handle the next patient." Retorted Elder Sung.

Saki laughed and asked. "Are you sure you can trust me with a patient? I'm still an apprentice, what if I mess up?"

"Then don't." Said Elder Sung in an amused tone. "You know what, let's have you take the next patient. They probably won't be as bad since the battle seems to be dying down, so it would be good practice for you."

Saki pouted and Elder Sung was wholly amused by her apprentice's childish expression, it helped Elder Sung get her mind out of the funk she was stuck in.

Unfortunately, it was short lived as a cry for help rang out from outside the tent.

Saki opened the flap of the small medical tent they had set up and looked around the small encampment they had helped set up next to Kajima's house. Yashimu had ordered men to set up a camp near Kajima's house as it allowed access to materials and weapons they could use at a moment's notice.

Kajima would likely be mad at Yashimu but he would make it up to him as the current situation was a pressing matter.

Turning her head, Saki heard a familiar voice cry for help and soon saw that Shizu was running with fortification magic while carrying someone in her arms with her sister Rulu riding Kokona who ran besides Shizu. This was not an unusual sight and before Saki could call out to make a joke, she was interrupted by Elder Sung who ran forward in haste.

Calling out in response, Elder Sung asked. "Where is he injured?"

"Puncture wound to his lower back, he is unconscious and his body is becoming cold but he is still breathing." Answered Shizu.

"I see, and how about the other man with Lady Rulu?" Said Elder Sung, a somewhat troubled expression on her visage.

"He has a broken arm and he is also unconscious but…. he has stopped breathing." Said Rulu, her voice hesitant and full of fear.

Elder Sung clicked her tongue as she looked around and saw that the other apothecaries were busy as a new stream of patients had come in. These patients were the injured soldiers and mercenaries that fought the monsters.

Making a snap decision with her years of experience as a war apothecary, she performed a form of triage.

"SAKI! GET AZI'S PREPPED AND KEEP HIM BREATHING."

"But I…."

"Not the time Saki! Do what you can and remember my teachings." Commanded Elder Sung, her tone steely and concise.

Saki tensed up and nodded before leading Shizu to their medical tent as Shizu held Azi in her arms. Elder Sung watched as they left and felt herself back in that funk again. She had deduced that of the two injured patients, Azi was the least at risk of dying as she knew of his vitality.

But as an apothecary, she should have prioritized the more injured mercenary but opted not to as a bit of nepotism and her own ideals got in the way of her thinking. Azi was a friend to her and she knew that Ozen and Shizu had plans for him.

She could not let a valuable asset die and while she attempted to delude herself that she did it because it was the right thing to do or that he was her friend. Elder Sung could not shake off the guilt she felt for denying the mercenary her care.

She had unconsciously but willingly put the needs of the nation over an individual through a justification by quantifying the net gain from saving Azi or the mercenary.

Shaking her head, she dashed the memories that attempted to resurface from her past, a past where she would be called a witch as she "played" with and decided with the lives of people's loved ones and close friends.

As Elder Sung contemplated her actions, she walked to guide Rulu so that she could deliver the mercenary to the general medical tent before Elder Sung broke away to tend to Azi. Rulu stayed with the mercenary and did what she could.

When Elder Sung reentered her medical tent, the sight she saw was not good. Azi was lying face down on the wood framed cot and was grimacing in pain with every other breath. On the lower left of his now shirtless back was a puncture in his back that bled profusely. The hole was as wide and tall as two to three fingers and seemed to be festering as some of his flesh had a dark color.

Elder Sung knew that the wound must have gotten infected due to how far Shizu had to run to get him here and could tell that first aid was not administered immediately after the injury was inflicted.

Saki had made preparations to cut out the festering parts of the wound as she was tying Azi down with a few ropes.

Elder Sung nodded in agreement of her actions and got her medical knife ready after having Azi drink a pain numbing medicine through a tube shoved down his throat. The medicine would help with the pain but Elder Sung knew that Azi would still feel a bit of pain as she would be cutting at flesh near his nerves.

With Azi secured, Elder Sung took a breath and then began to cut away the festered flesh. Not long after the blade entered Azi's body, everyone had to bear the ear piercing scream Azi produced. Shizu and Saki held Azi down to prevent him from hurting himself and to let Elder Sung continue.

On Azi's end, his sight was covered in black and he could still hear and feel his surroundings. Even with the medicine, he experienced every cut Elder Sung made and this made immense pain shot through his body. He flinched erratically but the sensation of something pushing him down caused his body to feel an intense resistance.

He began to be fearful of what was happening to him as the situation reminded him of his time in the black space where he was tortured for no reason and made to feel soul wrenching pain for who knows how long. In his delirious state, Azi thought that he was in that place again and he cried out for help as he thought he was going to disappear from the world.

"NOT AGAIN. STOP. I-I DON"T WANT TO DIE. I! NOT LIKE HIM. NOT LIKE.." Elder Sung made another deep cut but had to move the blade with a bit more force than usual.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH" Azi screamed in pain and his eyes shot open as they began to cry as his words started to die down to a whimpering.

"I don't… want to die…. Not like him, not like grandpa..... Mother, Father please. I want to go ...hom…e….."

Even with his sight restored, it was no comfort to the pain, mental strain, and fatigue that now all hit Azi like a tidal wave. Brought low by this wave, his body stopped moving and his eyes rolled up. Now, all Shizu could see was the whites of Azi's eyes as tears continued to pour from them.

Wanting to comfort him, Shizu ease off of Azi's body which caused Saki to increase her hold, but Shizu stopped her.

"He's unconscious, so for now, ease off. I think we might be causing him to panic if we hold him down too hard." Said Shizu.

Saki looked and saw the state Azi was in and grimaced.

"Ok, but he must be having a nightmare. I'll keep watch over his body to prevent him from moving. You can comfort him but be sure to not move him too much."

Nodding in agreement, Shizu knelt beside Azi's cot and placed a hand on the side of his head. Stroking his hair, she attempted to hopefully calm him as she knew that this gesture always helped Azi get to sleep.

Her attempts were somewhat effective as Elder Sung had no issues as she cut away the last of the festering flesh. She now needed to close up the wounded and luckily the puncture wound did not damage any of Azi's organs, so all she had to do was close him up with a few stitches after staunching the bleeding.

With every stitch Elder Sung made, Shizu saw how Azi's whole body trembled. Shizu tried to think of what else she could do for him, so she brought her lips close to his forehead and returned the gesture he gave her in the hot spring.

She then hugged his head in a gentle embrace and tried to keep his body from going cold as she had felt the heat from his body leave him while she was carrying him in her arms.

This caused an orange-red glow from Azi's heart to shine which traveled through his veins to where his puncture wound was. Elder Sung and Saki saw the phenomenon in front of them and Elder Sung promptly casted inspection magic on her eyes to see what was occurring.

Elder Sung gasped in amazement but didn't say a word as she was so stunned by what she saw. This caused Elder Sung to stop midmotion during the stitching, leaving the puncture wound half open. Elder Sung quickly refocused but found that she didn't need to, as the surrounding veins of the puncture glowed.

Flesh then seemingly started to grow up and out of the puncture wound. In a matter of seconds, the wound was sealed with a new patch of white skin.

Everyone in the tent was silent as they could not fathom the phenomenon that had just occurred, but before anyone could say anything Rulu entered to break the silence.

"Sister Shizu! Brother Yashimu needs your help. He is at Kajima's house with Nosuri and….. Ougi?"

Confused by the looks on everyone's faces, Rulu timidly asked.

"What's wrong? Will he be alright?"