A Hospital in Another World? C.179

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"...Intestinal obstruction caused by roundworms.

Performed gastric decompression, administered a 500ml warm saline enema.

Injected approximately 500ml of oxygen through the gastric tube." (Garrett circled this term with some guilt.) "The patient’s pain immediately eased. After 15 minutes of observation with divine magic, it was confirmed that the roundworms were mostly dead.

Thirty minutes later, administered 200ml of soybean oil, mixed with approximately 200g of onion juice, orally. Continued close observation.

Anal gas and stool passage observed after 5.5 hours."

Garrett made the final note on the medical record, straightened his back, and stretched lazily. Finally, this patient was taken care of! Overall, this went quite smoothly, without any surprises. He didn’t even need to use the informed consent form for surgery—of course, from a doctor’s perspective, it’s best not to. Not only that, he also gained a little something extra...

Oh right, what is that bell for exactly?

Garrett rummaged through his waist pouch and pulled out the bell given by the old wizard. He examined it up and down: A silver bell in the shape of a clock, about three centimeters tall and 2.5 centimeters in diameter, with a bell clapper hanging in the middle. Garrett shook it in his hand, but the clapper seemed to be cast inside the bell, not moving at all, not making a sound.

Hmm... it seems it’s not used like this...

Garrett brought it closer for inspection again. There were fine patterns engraved on the bell, and upon closer examination, he saw a line of magical text written in cursive. He carefully deciphered it, unintentionally reading it out loud: "All that has passed, is but... is but... is but..."

He couldn’t read the last word for the life of him. Footsteps approached lightly from behind, and an elderly voice hinted: "Illusion."

"All that has passed, is but an illusion!" Garrett immediately repeated. The bell rang, smoke emanated from the opening of the bell, the lower half still inside, while the upper half condensed into a humanoid figure, shouting from the edge:

"Who is it? You’re stuttering with the incantation, I’ve already stuck my head halfway out and then you retract it!"

Um... um... sorry? Garrett almost blurted out, but at the last moment, he held it back.

He focused on the creature that emerged from the bell. It was small, only about a foot tall in the upper body, probably not exceeding two feet in total height. It had green skin, blue hair, a prominent nose, and pointed ears, looking extremely odd.

Its two hands scraping at the edge of the bell were thin and long, with fingers resembling spider legs, seemingly fragile enough to break with a slight touch. The old wizard explained beside him: "This bell is something I obtained in a ruin in my early years, and it seals a demon inside, this fellow. You can control it by holding the bell. The incantation for activation is the phrase on the outer shell, and for recall, you recite it backward."

Recite it backward? That’s too cumbersome! Garrett thought to himself. The old wizard seemed to know what he was thinking and added: "You can imprint it with your mental power to change the activation incantation."

Garrett quickly expressed his gratitude. Master Tolga waved his hand: "It’s nothing. Since you asked for your secret recipe, there should be some compensation. This fellow may not be strong, but he’s quite skilled with his hands, capable of making some trinkets for you."

As he spoke, he glanced at the creature. It had crawled completely out of the bell, tumbling and flipping on the ground, fuming and muttering curses. The old wizard’s eyes twinkled with a hint of amusement: "This thing is quite loyal, just has a bad temper and likes to curse. If you give it some good food, its efficiency will double. If you can’t cook, just buy a few candies for it."

Can it make trinkets?

Excellent!

My microscope! My glass slides, cover slips! My syringe! My needles!

Garrett’s eyes lit up as he quickly gathered the equipment, thanking the old wizard once more before darting back to his room. From behind, the old wizard’s voice added casually, "Oh, by the way, maintaining this creature’s activity in the outside world will require coins..."

Requires coins...

Requires coins...

Requires coins... 𝖋𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔴𝖊𝔟𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑.𝔠𝔬𝔪

Garrett’s legs went weak, nearly stumbling.

Coins?

How many coins remained in his pocket now? Would it be enough to sustain this creature for a few days? And would the cost of having it craft microscopes and needles outweigh simply purchasing them at the market? I’ll rename it "Coins" later! Garrett thought mischievously as he carefully returned the little creature to its bell, briskly making his way back to his room. Salina had already emerged from the innermost chamber, her face flushed and pants slightly damp. Spotting Garrett, she stepped aside, offering a quick, "She’s much better now... Thank you."

"It’s nothing, just doing my duty as a healer," Garrett replied with a smile, nodding at the female knight as they passed each other. "I’ll check on her—oh, and the items she found, are they still here? Not discarded?"

Silence lingered for a moment before Garrett turned back, noticing the female knight’s flushed cheeks and avoiding gaze. Shrugging, he gestured to himself and continued on his way—whether the parasites in this world were roundworms or not, as a doctor, he needed to see them for himself.

"Not yet. I’ll take you there," the female knight finally spoke as they reached the main door of the longhouse. Though she still refused to meet Garrett’s eyes, she hastened her pace, leading him through a series of twists and turns until they reached a wooden barrel tucked into a corner. "Here... what are you looking at!"

Without hesitation, Garrett scooped up some water with a ladle, pouring it into the barrel. With a black pottery plate in one hand and a wooden stick in the other, he stirred the contents until white worms surfaced. Carefully selecting a few, he placed them on the plate for observation. They bore a striking resemblance to the roundworms he had encountered in his previous life: long, slender, with striated surfaces and curled tails. Despite his past aversion to dissecting and studying, Garrett was now completely engrossed in his work, recognizing the stark difference between working for oneself and working for others.

After washing his hands meticulously, he returned to check on Iris, noting the significant reduction in her swollen abdomen. Utilizing X-ray magic, he confirmed the absence of intestinal twisting or perforation, breathing a sigh of relief. "Give her a cup of sugar-salt water, and half an hour later, she can eat something soft. After meals, administer another cup of onion oil. She’ll need to expel the worms several more times tonight."

"Several more times..." both girls groaned in unison. Garrett nodded sympathetically, preparing to offer further reassurance when a sudden change in expression overtook him, prompting him to dash off—this time, mirroring Iris’s earlier urgency, clutching his stomach in distress, entirely indistinguishable from the patient he had just attended to.

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