A Hospital in Another World? C.185

Garrett sat on the ground floor of the clinic, leaning against the wall at the table, absentmindedly toying with a small bag of seeds.

A patient burst in... not for him.

Another patient rushed in... still not for him.

The third patient... simply stomped upstairs.

The scene, akin to the bustling of a newly opened clinic, mirrored exactly that. Adding to the ambiance, a faint fishy smell permeated the entire two-story building—not quite the hospital-grade environment.

Yes, the Radiant Church’s clinic, nestled on the outskirts of Nevis City near the docks. Wedged between the cargo and fishing docks, it found its place. As for the passenger dock, it lay at the far end of the cargo dock, at least a couple of miles away from the clinic.

Although situated on the city’s edge, Nevis City being nestled at the head of a bay shaped like a "U," the clinic wasn’t too far from the Bridge Mage Academy. After classes, Garrett could make the half-hour walk from the school gate, making it an ideal job for a young lad—close to home and with a bit of spare change.

Thus, even with no patients at the moment, Garrett remained unperturbed. His gaze drifted out the window, while his hands silently manipulated a seed—grow, grow, sprout a hollow stem for me!

Ah, the seed sprouted into a sturdy, dark-brown wooden stem. Perhaps suitable for a suction tube but definitely not for intravenous use...

Garrett gently shook off the wooden stem, discarded it into a glass petri dish on his right. After finishing the notes, he sealed the unused seeds and the remnants of the wooden stem into a separate pouch, stashing it back into his dimensional bag. He then retrieved a new seed, focusing his attention to continue cultivating.

"Reverend, I... I fell and hurt my leg... it’s really painful..."

A patient had arrived.

Garrett looked up to see a fifteen or sixteen-year-old magic apprentice, hobbling up the stairs with a backpack slung over his shoulder. His robe was covered in dirt, even embedded with bits of gravel at the bottom. Dust covered his face and hands. He glanced around, seeing other priests attending to patients, and reluctantly made his way towards Garrett.

"Take a seat across from the table," Garrett responded adeptly. He opened his ledger to a blank page. "Name? Age? Occupation? What seems to be the problem?"

"I’m Stephen Donny, a wizard apprentice... 16 years old... I tripped and sprained my foot..."

"Sit down." Garrett quickly recorded the details, then walked over, crouching down to examine the injury. Pressing, kneading, rotating, and using Detection Magic, he concluded:

"Ankle sprain, some muscle and ligament strain, no bone damage. Apply cold compress at home today, switch to hot compress tomorrow at this time, rest for a few days, and you’ll be fine."

"But there’s a master’s lecture tomorrow!" Stephen exclaimed anxiously. "Can’t you heal it right away? Please!"

"Need divine magic for this? A minor injury like this just needs Minor Healing—Michelle! How much for Minor Healing?"

The clinic’s accountant—whether a treasurer or just someone handling the books—hurried over, slightly bowing before the patient. "Minor Healing? That will be five gold coins. Oh, you’re a wizard apprentice, and we have an agreement with the Magic Council, so you only need to pay 10% yourself. That’s 5 silver coins. Payment received, we’ll commence the treatment immediately."

The young apprentice first looked worried, but upon hearing the latter part, he breathed a sigh of relief, promptly retrieving his coin pouch. With one hand paying and the other receiving the treatment, moments later, a warm white light permeated his ankle, the pain ceased, and the swelling disappeared. Stephen hopped on his foot, turned, walked a few steps, and exclaimed in delight:

"It’s all better! Thank you so much!"

"Don’t mention it! Take care now~~~"

The accountant waved the patient off. Garrett rushed to the table, wasting no time in drawing the X-ray he had just seen:

"The anatomical structure of the wizard apprentice’s ankle is no different from that of a normal person..."

This clinic was a collaboration between the Magic Council and the Radiant Church, with the council providing the land, the building, a monthly salary of 500 gold coins, and 50 gold coins for potion expenses. The Radiant Church supplied a Level 5 priest, along with two or three lower-level priests and priest apprentices, who took turns attending to patients here.

The clinic provided free treatment to the city’s poor, offering medical advice and potion assistance. If the divine magic for the day hadn’t been exhausted and the priests were in a good mood, they might even throw in a few divine spells;

For the middle class, such as small traders, shopkeepers, and artisans, they received medical advice and potions at fair prices, with a certain discount on divine magic treatments;

As for the wealthy merchants who had money but no extraordinary powers, sorry, but they had to pay up. Or perhaps, it would be better for them to make a voluntary donation?

After sending off a batch of patients, the clinic temporarily quieted down. Reverend Matthew descended from upstairs with a smile: "Finally, some peace and quiet—Garrett, could you explain that Echo Detection spell to me again?"

"Yeah, I haven’t quite figured it out myself..."

"Things always seem blurry..."

The two priests sitting on the ground floor put down their pens and joined in. The priest apprentice in the corner hadn’t mastered the spell yet, so he awkwardly tried to blend into the background. Reverend Matthew spotted him and called out, "Cohen, stop daydreaming, go fetch that rabbit over here—"

"Reverend—my stomach hurts so much—"

With groans and grunts, a chubby man climbed up the steps at the entrance. He stood just over five feet tall but certainly had a waistline well over three feet. Leaning on a cane, clutching his abdomen, he laboriously ascended step by step, the hard oak cane bending under his weight.

The man wore a shiny velvet vest, halfway between yellow and brown, the silver buttons on his belly about to pop off, yet he struggled to keep them fastened. His upper half looked dignified, but below, he wore only a loose pair of shorts, barefoot, his swollen big toes red and shiny. Upon entering, he made a beeline for Reverend Matthew:

"Reverend, every time I come to you for treatment, it never gets better..."

"Oh, you’ve had another attack." Reverend Matthew seemed quite familiar with him. Peering over, he immediately smiled, "Alleviate Pain, Level 2 divine magic. If I do it, I can relieve your pain for 10 hours. Or Disease Removal, Level 3 divine magic. Your choice~~~"

"I..." The chubby man sat down at the table, one hand tightly clutching his stomach, his right foot dangling, never touching the ground. The other hand cherished a coin pouch, squeezing it until the dirty imprints overlapped, pondering for a while before tremblingly getting up:

"Reverend,

I, I need to relieve myself first..."

"Sure, please go ahead." Reverend Matthew called for an apprentice to assist, helping the man inside. The door closed, but there was no sound of water for a long while. Instead, the man’s voice rang out:

"Reverend, it’s no good... it’s getting more painful... I can’t pee... can you give me something to alleviate the pain!"

Flashes of white light.

The Pain Alleviation divine spell was cast.

The man’s wailing paused momentarily, then resumed:

"It’s no use... my big toe isn’t hurting anymore, but I still can’t pee... Reverend, is your magic not working?" 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔴𝔢𝖇𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔢𝔩.𝖈𝔬𝖒

With a snort, he left the restroom, swinging his cane, still hobbling slightly. Garrett glanced at his toes, then at his swollen abdomen, immediately stood up, blocking his path:

"Sir, please wait a moment. Let me take a look at you. Your situation might not be solved just with pain relief..."

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