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Chapter 15
“Senior, I want some grenades too.”
“No can do.”
It was another morning spent narrowly escaping death.
I had finished my equipment check as usual and was preparing to return to the hospital.
“Why can’t I get any?”
“You can only handle explosives if you’re Private First Class or above.”
I hadn’t been told anything yet, but I would likely be on hospital duty today.
Considering the damage caused by last night’s defense, the field hospital is probably a scene of chaos.
In that case, it is highly likely that Head Medic Gale will order me to return there.
With the current state of affairs, it’s hard to believe that our side would go on the offensive. At the very least, they’ll likely wait until they’ve finished reorganizing their destroyed units.
“If I had just one of those, think of how many enemies I could blow to pieces.”
“Do you have any idea how much it costs to make a single grenade? There’s no way we can supply them for rookies.”
Right next to me, the battle-crazed Rodri was complaining to Senior Gray.
Listening in, it seemed Rodri wanted some grenades.
“If you want it that badly, go tell the Platoon Leader. Why are you telling me?”
“…Because you have two of them, Senior.”
“It’s my spare. They’ll cut my head off If I try to give this to a rookie.”
“C’mon, that’s not fair. I want to blow things up too.”
Grenades are terrifying weapons.
The blast alone can reach a height of 4 to 5 meters, and high-speed shrapnel is scattered, killing or injuring many people within the blast radius.
I had been caught in the blast myself, and Salsa lost his life because of it.
With that in mind, I wish Rodri wouldn’t speak so lightly about wanting to blow things up.
“Well, whatever. I’ll just go talk to the Platoon Leader directly.”
“…I really think you shouldn’t. Some other privates did the same thing before.”
“What, are you scared that I’ll outshine, Senior? Such a coward.”
Rodri spat as he walked away.
His attitude was not that of someone speaking to a senior.
“You really aren’t cute, are you? I warned you.”
Normally this would be something that would cause irritation, but Senior Gray calmly brushed it off without showing any sign of being offended.
Although he looks like a frivolous guy, Senior Gray is actually quite mature.
“Oh?”
As I was absentmindedly watching the two of them talk, my eyes met with Senior Gray.
“What’s up, Touri? Have you fallen for me? I could feel your heated gaze since this morning.”
“…Aside from that, I respect you, Senior Gray.”
With a big smile on his face, Senior Gray started talking to me.
If I’m not being conceited, I feel like Senior Gray is quite fond of me.
It’s not a romantic way, but more of a senior-junior relationship.
“A good woman instinctively recognizes a good man. That means Touri is a good woman.”
“I’ve heard that’s one of your go-to pick-up lines. Senior Allen told me some of your techniques.”
“Oh, man. You knew?”
“Yes.”
After hearing my response, Senior Gray laughed heartily to cover up the situation and patted me on the head.
If it weren’t for this side of him, I could respect him without any complaints.
No, maybe he’s acting in this frivolous way on purpose.
***
“Touri, you need to go to the field hospital right now. Run!”
“Eh? Y-Yes!”
Just five minutes before the briefing,
Platoon Leader Garback, who was already at the meeting point, gave that order as soon as he saw me.
“Today, you’re assigned to the hospital; it seems they’re quite busy over there.”
“Yes”
“Join them as soon as possible. Hey, what are you dawdling for? Run!”
The first thing he told me in the morning was to run to the hospital.
It seems I’ll be on hospital duty today after all…
“It’s just a few kilometers—get moving and show me you can do it.”
Platoon Leader Garback’s orders came with a little extra physical training.
He probably wants to get my lacking stamina up to the level of a regular soldier as quickly as possible.
“Understood. I will now sprint to the field hospital. After that, I will be under the command of Head Medic Gale.”
“Okay, go.”
Phew, it’s tough first thing in the morning, but let’s try my best.
***
“Hah hah hah……”
After about 10 minutes of running, I arrived at the field hospital drenched in sweat.
Running early in the morning feels good.
If I hadn’t been carrying so much gear, it might have been just the right amount of exercise.
From now on, I’ll try running from the trenches to the field hospital to build up my stamina.
…The downside is that I end up smelling of sweat early in the morning. I should wipe my body with a damp towel before I appear in front of the patients.
“Touri, it’s good to see you. Can you come into the emergency treatment tent right away?”
“Emergency treatment tent?”
As soon as I showed my face in front of Head Medic Gale, my hand was immediately pulled.
I thought I would be taken straight to a hospital bed, but on this day I was guided to a different place than usual.
What lay ahead was an unfamiliar long line of people.
“The medical equipment and nurses are stationed inside that tent. I need you to take care of the injured in there one by one.”
“I see, I understand.”
Before I knew it, a tent had been added next to the field hospital that hadn’t been there two days ago.
Injured people were lined up in front of that entrance in an orderly fashion.
“There aren’t enough hospital beds, so anyone who can walk on their own is lined up there instead of being admitted.”
“…I see.”
“We decided to only treat the lightly injured and let them rest and heal on the front lines. Otherwise, we won’t be able to handle them all.”
As Head Medic Gale lamented, she looked completely exhausted.
Could it be that she hasn’t slept at all since the day before yesterday…?
No, there’s no way she could sleep. I imagine this massive number of patients were brought in after yesterday’s offensive.
“Ouch… it hurts.”
“I can’t feel my arm… Is it necrotic?”
From what I could see from taking a quick look at the line, people who would previously have been hospitalized are now being forced to wait out in the open.
There were many people whose arms had been torn off and were rotting, and many others who were lying down and unable to move.
This is seriously bad…
“Since only those lined up with relatively minor injuries, I’ll leave everything to Touri. Don’t make any mistakes with the timing of your healing magic.”
“Huh…?”
Head Medic Gale gave me an outrageous order.
Did she just say “everything?” W-Wait a minute…
Am I supposed to treat all 100 or so people lined up here? All by myself?!
“I’m sorry, but we’re completely understaffed. I’ll send someone to relieve you soon, so hang in there until then.”
“Y-Yes…”
…They couldn’t keep up with treating people who only had minor injuries and whose lives were not in danger, so they dumped it all on me.
It’s a good thing I slept well last night and have plenty of magical power and stamina.
“I’m counting on you~”
Head Medic Gale looked apologetic and hurried off.
Well, no matter how you look at it, there are at least 100 people. Umm, if I take 10 minutes for each one, that’s over 16 hours…
I can’t have the people at the end of the line waiting that long.
I need to process these seriously injured people in under 10 minutes each to keep up.
“…”
“Oh, finally, the medic is here! Over here, please come in.”
“Y-Yes.”
But how is a novice supposed to handle this many patients?
No, if I have the time to complain, I should be working instead.
The fact that she has to leave everything to a rookie like me means that the situation at the hospital has become even more chaotic.
The field hospital may be incredibly chaotic today, but at least I’m safer than at the front lines.
“Hey, hey! After all the waiting, this little brat is the one who’s going to have to deal with this?!”
“If you’re not satisfied, please go back…”
“I’ve been waiting here since last night! Send in a more proper medic!”
So, that’s how I ended up doing my first outpatient visit.
And it was immensely difficult.
“Use healing magic! See, I can’t move my legs.”
“I’m sorry, it’s probably just a fracture. It will heal if we stabilize it properly, so please wait.”
After all, I’m a novice, and I can only use healing magic three times in a row. Even if I dope with drugs, I can’t use it that often.
Therefore, it is necessary to judge each time whether the patient is exaggerating their pain or is actually in pain.
It is also important to use it correctly on the right people and provide appropriate treatment.
***
“Oh, Touri…”
“Ah, Corporal Verdi, good work. How’s your arm?”
“Oh yeah, it seems to be okay.”
Around noon, a familiar face entered the examination room: Corporal Verdi.
It looks like he had been deemed lightly injured and had been made to wait in line.
…I wasn’t very confident last night, but it looks like the arm attached well. That’s good.
“Well then, Corporal, you have made a full recovery. You may return to the front lines.”
“Yes, thank you.”
It feels a bit strange to talk to my platoon mates in the hospital.
The Corporal encouraged me and left the examination room.
Well, let’s just do as I’ve been told.
“Look, my ass is exploding─”
“Oh my, that’s a nasty burn.”
…
In the end, the huge line cleared only after the sky had darkened.
I had downed numerous elixirs, squeezing out every bit of magic I had left, and my mental and physical strength had reached its limits.
I didn’t even have time for a meal break, just nibbling on rations between treatments and continuing to move my body.
“Second Medic Class Touri, it’s just a few more people left before we finish.”
“O-Oh, we’re almost done?”
A veteran nurse who worked alongside me said this to me.
The Head Medic had promised to send relief personnel, but in the end, no one came.
Well, it’s understandable; the hospital is too busy right now.
“You’re quite capable despite your young age. Thank you, medic.”
“Thank you very much. Please take care of yourself.”
Some patients were in really bad shape, but most were lightly injured and polite.
With this help, I continued to mechanically examine and treat the injuries I saw.
In the final stretch, it felt like my mind wasn’t even functioning properly.
It’s much, much harder than regular ward duties.
“Next, please.”
However, that grueling work was finally coming to an end. Surely Head Medic Gale will allow me to take a break after this.
I can have dinner in peace, right?
So, I gathered my last bit of energy and cheerfulness to treat the final patient carefully and calmly…
“…”
“What the hell?”
The last patient to come in was none other than a severely injured Rodri.
“…Um.”
“Get on with the treatment, you useless brat.”
“You really asked the platoon leader for grenades, didn’t you?”
“Shut up.”
And this Rodri was the most seriously injured patient today (physically disciplined by the Platoon Leader).
In addition to bruises and fractures all over his body, some of his joints were dislocated.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Huh? What are you drinking?”
It was an injury that would normally require the use of healing magic. I forced myself to swallow some elixir and used [Heal].
From my perspective as the one treating him, it was really annoying to have to deal with the consequences of Platoon Leader Garback’s violence. Seriously Platoon Leader, could you not create extra work for me?
Since he was badly injured, I treated him very carefully. After all, he is my lifesaver.
However, Rodri spat out, “The treatment was slow, and I’m still in pain. What an idiot.” and left.
I’m overcome by an indescribable sense of emptiness.
The last patient had been the most exhausting.
Here is light novel insert art. For the second image, the charcters in the photo from left to right are:
Murrue, Touri, Gray, Rodri, Garback, Allen, and Verdi.
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