I raised my voice to be heard and glanced at the doctor who asked for me to carry my weight. "Please take Lilith with you to immediate and expectant patients."
Then I snapped my fingers. "Inventory."
*Ping.*
With a soft chime, the vials I'd picked off of the assassin's party shimmered into my hands. Did it kind of feel sleazy, using items off of a player's corpse? Maybe. Would it be necessary? Absolutely.
The medics immediately perked up at the sight of the red liquid sloshing inside the vials.
"Take these and use them. We had more, but… things happened. Please prioritize expectants who can still be saved with potions, and the same goes for Lilith's healing—she can assist there. Otherwise, focus on the immediate cases as usual. If anyone needs treatment for toxins or infection, please instruct Lilith on what to do—she'll be able to help with [Cleanse]."
If I recalled correctly, the [Cleanse] spell not only cleaned a person's body but also could be used to purify poisons and infections as well—it was one of the better debuff-clearing spells back in the PC version.
In addition to [Cleanse], I assumed Lilith would have some sort of healing spell already at level three… she'd have her work cut out for her.
Lilith nodded with a tremble.
Her eyes were wide and her lip quivered—to be fair, this was probably the first time that she'd seen anything like this. If it were just anyone, Lucidia's realism might have given them PTSD.
I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. You'll be fine. I kind of played it off when I first set off on foot towards the outpost, but looking at the situation here, it was clear that we needed her.
Whether Lilith believed that she'd be fine or not, she didn't let go until a doctor tugged her away.
That left me. I took a deep breath.
It was time for me to get to work.
I turned to the doctor who had tried to stop me at the entrance. "Sitrep, please."
He furrowed his brow. "I—"
"Now," I cut in, striding forward, weaving between cots, as my eyes flicked to equipment and supply stations, to the worsening conditions of soldiers, gauging the elements at play. "We have no time."
The air sang sharply of iron and antiseptic.
He bit back whatever he was saying and hurried after me. "We have seventy-five expectant, fifty immediate, thirty urgent. Eighteen corpsmen split into two teams of nine, working in rotation."
"Jesus Christ." I clenched and unclenched my hands, warming up my fingers as I snatched an extra pair of operating gloves from a nearby open supplies cabinet.
I stared the doctor dead in the eye. "The most pressing immediate case—please take me there."
- - -
The hours bled together as I tore from cot to cot, every soldier another crisis waiting to implode. Rows of bodies stretched endlessly, and my hands moved on autopilot, faster than I thought possible (no, not like that, you pervert). Scalpel, clamps, bandages, stitches—direct pressure here, splint there, a transfusion set up and running before anyone else even realized the patient was circling the drain.
It wasn't pretty, and it sure as hell wasn't clean. There were no proper facilities so I was working at a fraction of what I was capable of.
But I was still working—and I was effective.
I was a genius, after all.
And I wasn't about to let anyone die.
Once I seized command, I found my rhythm, the kind of grim, steady pace that never left me. I flagged medics whenever I needed a second pair of hands—which, yeah… was basically every other cot.
I barked orders until my throat burned raw, my voice cutting through the low hum of boots on grass and frantic murmurs.
"Clamp that artery—higher! Gauze, now! Hold him down, he's seizing—good, keep pressure, I'll suture."
The corpsmen scrambled to keep up, and for a second, I swore I was back in Forest Brooke General on that one hellish friday: understaffed, overwhelmed, drowning in patients, but still keeping them alive by sheer force of will.
Funny how life works, huh? Lol…
A medic tried to nudge me aside mid-suture, maybe out of pity for my shredded clothes or my young appearance. I ignored her and leaned closer over the wound, a gleaming needle flashing from careful, precise weaves of a needle driver. "If you've got the time to tell me to rest, you've got the time to grab another compress. Chop chop."
She flushed and obeyed. Good girl.
Meanwhile, Lilith was struggling. I heard her voice crack between sobbed [Cleanse] and [Lesser Heal] spells. Medics barked for her constantly, sometimes too harshly, but she never walked out. She stumbled, but she kept going.
God, I wanted to give her a hug, but for now, I couldn't afford to stumble. Not here. Not ever.
Once again, I had people's lives in my hands, and even if they were NPCs, I refused to let even a single one of them slip away.
- - -
Eventually, the screams and chaos faded, the frantic rush between patients settling into a weary rhythm of routine care.
Most of the critical cases were stabilized, and as far as I could tell, everyone I'd worked on was out of immediate danger. The corpsmen had shifted gears, making rounds through the rows to check vitals, change bandages, and with fluids.
Thank god.
I leaned back from the cot of a soldier whose chest wound I'd just closed up.
My alchemist school uniform was smeared and caked in crusty, drying blood, with splotches that ruined the sweater vest still moist and icky against my skin. My bare arms had been drenched in the viscous, choking red liquid.
Sigh.
Great.
I had another thing to explain to Midori when I got back.
I exhaled slowly and let my gaze drift around the tent, the low murmur of voices and rustle of cloth filling the air.
Just then, a doctor stepped in, flipping through his clipboard as he entered. I looked up at him just as he spoke. "All wounded treated. Most are now stable in urgent or normal categories. None combat-ready, but… they'll live."
…
I breathed, a long, deep breath that seemed to lift the weight of the world off of my shoulders.
Thank god.
Across the tent, Lilith was curled against a post, her staff propped beside her. She looked pale as chalk, but she hadn't run, unlike what many others probably would have done in her position.
She saved many soldiers because of that, even if they were all NPCs.
I made a note to thank and check up on her later. Oh, and a hug. She deserved that. (No, not in a romantic way. She's just a poor girl who'd been abused by other players… she needs a hug, okay? A wholesome one.)
Using a hand-wash bucket, I scrubbed my hands raw, watching the blood swirl away and drip off of my hands. As the water splashed onto the grassy ground along with the blood, I watched as the medics filed silently out of the tent.
One of them walked up to me.
He was pale and looked pretty young, but sounded haggard, way older than his age as he spoke. "Doctor. We're going off rotation now. The second team is coming to replace us."
My eyes were unfocused as I glanced at him. "Ah… okay. I'll stay. I don't want to leave just in case, you know…"
He nodded and fidgeted with his tunic. "Ma'am, please don't overexert yourself. This was our job to begin with. While we are incredibly grateful that you arrived, you're still a civilian. This isn't your responsibility."
I stared at him and laughed. It was a strange, lilting sound in the brutal silence of the medical field tent. "That's where you're wrong." I rubbed my eyes, which were blurry and slightly unfocused after intense focus for so long.
God, I might need to get glasses soon. (Honestly, that didn't sound too bad. I bet I'd look good with them.)
"I'm still a doctor first and foremost," I smiled, flicking the beads of water off of my hands. "I'm not going to let anyone die if I can help it. Besides, Lilith did most of the work."
He nodded lightly again. "...I admire that. I think most of us started out with that mindset, but after everything we've seen so far… Well, let's just say we lost that courage. Sometimes we have to let people die, just because they aren't worth the resources or if we can't spare a relocation to a better established medical facility. It's not easy."
His hollow gaze left me and trailed to the grassy floor as I heard the padding of boots approaching the tent. He stood like that in silence for a while, and I was unsure of what to say.
These NPCs had really deep lines, and what he said… though I couldn't relate to it perfectly, I hoped that I would never have to.
The corpsman slowly regained his composure. "...Sorry for that, ma'am. Have you reported to the commanding officer yet?"
"...Commanding officer?"
"Yes. You came in as a civilian envoy, so SOP[1] is that you'd report first."
SOP? Report? I stared back at him blankly.
"...Eh?"
- - -
Five minutes later, Lilith and I were seated in tarp prop-up benches in a war tent across from a woman. She had rose-red hair tied back into a ponytail and was clad in an officer's uniform that was a blend of ceremony and combat—a high-collared white blouse paired with a navy skirt and fitted trousers underneath.
She offered us each mugs of warm, dark coffee. Not quite the canned coffee I preferred, but... It was nice~
They steamed as she passed them to me and Lilith. "Careful, they're hot—and sorry that we don't have much to offer."
Her voice was tired but warm, and Lilith responded first. "N-No, it's fine. We appreciate the gesture."
The woman smiled. "Thank you for understanding. I'm Dame Haneul Airi, the commander of this outpost." Her rapier rustled at her side as she sat down. I scanned her over. She was hot in a lady knight kind of way, elegant but powerful, like someone you could only admire from afar.
She caught me looking and smiled, delicately tucking a strand of hair over her ear.
…E-Eh???
Heat shot up my neck, and I nearly choked as I snapped my gaze away.
COUGH.
Oh my god.
Pretending to look at my lap, I sneaked a glance up—Dame Airi was watching me, her head tilted, blinking innocently. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Her hair perfectly framed her shapely face.
...Why do the NPCs in this game have to be so hot??? And she totally gives off that dominating vibe…
FUCK—no, no, no, what the hell am I even thinking right now???
AHHHHH.
Calm down, Hiyomi. You should be ashamed of yourself.
What would Midori think? She wasn't even my girlfriend (yet) or anything close to that, but… god, I couldn't just be out here getting weak in the knees for any hot NPC like some shameless creep.
Besides, that'd feel like—like cheating, wouldn't it? Being attached to more than one person?
Luckily, Lilith spoke up, politely raising her hand like a schoolgirl.
"U-Uhm…"
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"C-Can I ask what caused all these injuries?"
The commander's face suddenly became grim. "Ah, yes…" She stared down at her lap for a brief moment before standing up and swinging a black cloak around her shoulders. "I… I don't know how to describe them. It's probably better if I show you."
The entrance of the canvas tent blew open with a flap as Dame Airi stepped outside. The cool moonlight mixed with the warm dance of flames bathed her in an ever-shifting light.
Her eyes seemed distant and with a fleck of fear as she beckoned to us.
"Come."
I stood and Lilith followed behind me nervously. As we stepped out into the outpost, I shivered as the cold air chilled my bare shoulders.
Dame Airi, noticing this, unclasped her cloak without a word and placed it over my shoulders with a swish. (Mmmmmn. No. No, I'm not falling for her. No, I still have Midori to think about. I will say, it was sweet of her though.)
The commander didn't even look back as she led us past the med tent—where I picked up Midori's tattered, singed cloak—and towards the wooden walls that surrounded the outpost.
She led us up onto the walls, taking a torch from a nearby sentry who saluted.
Dame Airi held the torch high, bathing us in its warm glow as the flames crackled and laughed, dancing in the wintry night air.
I clasped the warm mug in my hands as the commander pointed to the forest off in the close distance, where smoke choked the otherwise star-filled sky. "...Listen."
Off in the forest, I could hear soft sounds of howls, wails, and cries of pain, mixed with hysterical laughter.
"You can hear them, yes?"
I nodded shakily. Lilith shook and hid behind me, even though we were so far away. Dame Airi's gaze drifted back over to the forest.
"I'm sure word of the monster attacks has reached the city by now," the commander said. "They're unlike anything we've faced—Hell, I can't even describe them.
She shook her head, her eyes catching and glinting in the firelight.
"They're almost human, but twisted mockeries. We fight them back daily, but the losses keep mounting. We've even found their source in the forest, yet command refuses to send reinforcements. I don't know why. All I know is, we can't hold like this forever."
She tightened her grip on the torch, the flame sputtering in the cold. "If it continues, this outpost won't last a month. The wounded pile up faster than we can save them. More are dragged screaming into the forest. With all my training, and everything I've achieved so far, I am powerless. And command… does nothing."
I swallowed hard, the distant wails needling my bones like ice. That sounded bad. Really bad.
Dame Airi's gaze lingered on the forest. "If Agëmon will not act, then perhaps someone else will. You've already saved more lives in one night than my entire company could have without you. From what I read in my reports, without you two, half the men in that tent would be gone."
"The shortage of healing supplies was only the beginning. These attacks… the wounded will keep coming faster than we can save them unless the source is dealt with. I wish I could order reinforcements, but… well, you already know."
She met our eyes, the flame from the torch now seeming weary; tired. The circle of light almost seemed to shrink with Dame Airi's words.
"If you're both willing… please, extend the work you've already begun. Not just healing our wounded, but striking at the cause. That may be the only way this outpost—or even the city—survives."
*Ping!*
———
A quest has been updated.
Quest: [Vial Shortage Crisis - Alchemism School Exclusive] → [A Source Of Problems]
Objective: Investigate the origin of the twisted monsters in the forest and put an end to the attacks on the outpost, or resolve the outpost's injury and morale issues. Resolve this issue with Midori, the Receptionist, or with other Players.
Time limit: 24 Hours.
Reward: ???
Failure: The outpost will fall, ???
Description: The potion crisis has become more, as the situation unravels.
———
Ah.
[1] LRLB's coming back to haunt you~~ oooh~ (SOP = Standard Operating Procedure)