奇米四色777

The man who stopped Davey was wearing a red uniform. He looked quite meticulous and picky. He also had his nose and mouth covered with a red cloth, so he wondered why Davey was here without any kind of protection. With a harsh tone, he asked again, “This is a restricted area that’s for authorized personnel only. Who are you, and why are you in here?”

Davey pulled out a small token from his chest. Showing the status of royalty during such a situation would be quite helpful. “I am Davey O’Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.”

“Ahem… My apologies. I am Baron Gorneo. Although I am still lacking, I am a member of the Coalition of Disease Control.”

As Davey examined the man’s uniform, he could see that the man was wearing the same red uniform as Count Lington and had a brooch with a strange symbol. “I see.”

“However, I cannot let you in here even if you are a prince. I’m sorry, but you must leave!” Gorneo shouted.

Seeing his unwavering attitude, Davey put down his knife and asked, “Am I not allowed to be here?”

“The disease that has spread in this territory is transmitted through the air under special circumstances… Oh no! Use this to cover your nose and mouth! Hurry!” Realizing that Davey didn’t have anything covering his face, Gorneo quickly pulled out a piece of cloth. He pushed Davey out. “There is a low chance of catching the disease outside, but there are several infected patients here! Hurry!”

When Davey silently accepted the cloth, Gorneo yelled with urgency, “I heard that you came to this territory because of this outbreak, Your Highness! I heard that you have a stigmata; however, this can’t be cured, even with the power of the stigmata!”

Davey stopped Gorneo as he spoke firmly. “Did you check that it couldn’t be cured?”

“No, not really, since it is difficult to encounter anyone with a stigmata. However, a High Priest with a similar level of holy power has told us that, so…”

“Aghhhh!!!”

That was when Davey and Gorneo heard a desperate cry of help. As they both hurried over, they saw a man screaming and struggling while tied to his bed.

“Damn it!!” Baron Gorneo immediately ran over to the patient to do an examination. It seemed like he had completely forgotten about keeping Davey out. He then yelled, “Since when was he like this?!”

“Th—That is…”

“Get me a painkiller! Calm him down first!!”

Davey ignored the fact that Gorneo was treating the patient with both urgency and determination. He simply stared at the patient.

-It’s horrible…

“Blood foam, pus from the eyes that resemble bloody tears, and the spots on his body are moving around irregularly.”

-Davey?

Perserque called upon Davey with her eyes open wide as she heard him murmur.

Davey boldly stopped the person who was bringing the tube and the medicine.

“Wh… What are you…”

“That patient is going to die if you give that to him right now,” Davey said.

“Pardon… Pardon?!”

“Give me the tube.” Davey snatched the sterilized tube away and promptly walked toward the screaming patient. Then, he covered the screaming man’s mouth and wiped away all the bloody foam that was spewing out of the man’s mouth. It was dangerous, since his finger could very well be bitten off, but his body was durable enough to withstand the bite of a human.

“H—Hey, what are you…?!” Gorneo, surprised by Davey’s sudden intrusion, was about to shout when Davey ripped off the patient’s top. Then, Gorneo’s eyes flew wide open in surprise.

‘I don’t know what they’re doing when they’ve got an emergency patient. Time is of the essence. There are two lumps… No, another one is forming.’ Davey squinted at the presence of the air bubbles. He could tell that a clot of the virus-infected blood was building up in the man’s lungs. The patient was surely going to die if it wasn’t extracted immediately.

‘Eight millimeters from the bottom, and three millimeters from the right. This human is going to die if I’m even a little bit off.’ Taking a breath, Davey felt the area with his fingertips and concentrated. He touched the patient’s ribs with two fingers and then courageously raised the tube with a sharp end. Ching! A faint light began emitting from his hands as he held onto the patient and the tube.

[Pain Alleviation]

[Holy Coating]

Whoosh… Holy magic was just a different type of magic, but casting two spells simultaneously was pretty difficult. The two holy magic spells began activating, then Davey pierced the sharp tube past the patient’s ribs and into his lungs. Stab!

Davey expected the patient to squirm in pain, but the man only screamed and spewed even more bloody foam. He was struggling to breathe properly.

‘A little more!’ Davey, who was moving his fingertips along the tube that he pushed slowly and precisely, pierced the tube in much more boldly.

Shocked by Davey’s actions, Gorneo came at him and grabbed him by the collar. Davey didn’t even have the time to take his hands off the tube. “You!! What are you doing with this human’s life?!...”

Davey could feel Gorneo’s intense fury in his voice. It probably wasn’t because someone was doing his work, but because Davey was being reckless with a patient. To someone else, Davey’s actions carried a stronger intention to kill than to save.

All Davey did when Gorneo shouted in anger was to point at the patient with his chin. “Say someth…”

Davey’s actions only infuriated Gorneo even more. He looked like he was going to hit Davey, not caring that Davey was a prince. But he soon froze as he turned his glance over to where Davey was pointing at.

“Cough… Cough…” Before, the patient was in so much pain that he couldn’t breathe. Now, he actually calmed down and was only coughing a little. Squirt… A blue-black liquid quickly came flowing into the tube that Davey had inserted.

‘He’s going to have trouble breathing again if it doesn’t drain for a while.’

“Give that to me.” Davey brushed off Gorneo, who was stunned into stillness. He took a test tube from the nearby doctor. He poured the liquid from the patient into the test tube without hesitation and closed the lid.

“Stop the bleeding and then stitch him up. Just so you know, the patient will die of shock if you give them painkillers within 24 hours of those symptoms showing up, so don’t. And,” Davey said rather unwillingly, then stared at the surprised Gorneo. “Someone with a stigmata is immune to almost everything.”

‘The power of God isn’t nothing.’

Ignoring the dumbfounded stares all around him, Davey took the test tube with the blue-black liquid and left. The people inside the treatment center were frozen in place until he left.

* * *

Putting the incident at the treatment center behind him, Davey returned to the seigneur’s palace to see Winley, who was probably devastated.

“Oh, Big brother!” As soon as Davey entered the room, Winley, who was holding her face with a teary frown, stood up with wide eyes. “You’re back.” Beside her was Yulis, who had a soft smile on his face.

It definitely seemed like Winley was hiding something as she was flustered and red. She asked, “B—Big brother, did you…hear?”

“Hear what?”

“N—Nothing!!” Jumping at Davey’s question, Winley vigorously shook her head.

Davey glanced over at Yulis, since he could sense the strange atmosphere in the room.

Yulis said nothing and just smiled, while Winley blushed and seemed to not know what to do. Yulis was also considered to be the best person for marriage… A girl of Winley’s age was bound to have some interest in a person who looked like that, and since Winley was a girl…

‘There’s no use in raising a daughter!!’

-She is not your daughter!

Davey chose not to hear Perserque’s shouting.

“I got some information about a few things. There are two people from the Coalition of Disease Control here: Count Lington and Baron Gorneo. Ah, their titles were from their past. They are members of the coalition,” Yulis explained.

“Members?” Winley, who was staring at her herbal tea with tired eyes, looked at Yulis in puzzlement.

“Yes, I should first tell you about the Coalition of Disease Control. Would that be okay?”

“I was just wondering the same thing.”

“Ahaha. It’s a good thing I found something.” Yulis laughed and put his quill on paper. Then, he drew a pyramid of circles: one on top, three below that, and then fifteen below those. He continued, “First, this is the hierarchy of the Coalition of Disease Control. It’s probably best that I explain the big picture.”

“Hm…”

“You all know that the Coalition of Disease Control is an organization founded by the three emperors for treatment purposes?”

“That’s my impression of it.” Davey nodded. No matter what it was, the Coalition of Disease Control was still the largest official medical organization of the continent.

“In terms of hierarchy, there is one leader, three chairmen, and fifteen council members. There are numerous knights and people related to medicine, but these people are the important ones.”

“Are the three chairmen the three emperors?”

“You are quick. And the leader is none other than His Excellency, the Pope of the Valchas Empire. I heard that he participated in this good cause to support it.”

External trauma could easily be fixed with a recovery spell, but diseases were complicated. Therefore, the coalition’s purpose was quite transparent and easy to understand.

“And there are fifteen council members below them. Most of the members have great accomplishments or are skilled enough in the art of medicine to have been acknowledged. However, all their personal information has been erased to prevent them from carrying out any personal business.”

These people had erased everything about them for one cause…

‘I can practically see that they are crazy.’

“There are two council members on the continent right now: Count Lington and Baron Gorneo. Well, the ranks are just titles since they hold no meaning now.” Yulis slurred the end of his words and smiled bitterly. “The important thing is that they have been given the power of not only the three emperors, but the Alliance of Nations. Count Lington’s words are actually valid.”

This meant that the actions the men had taken to stop the outbreak of the disease in this territory were justified. Of course, that didn’t mean that they were allowed to kill all the residents recklessly.