2399 Mutual Destruction (Part 1)
They left the Head Healer's office and moved to the Intensive Care Unit of the field hospital. Patients in critical condition couldn't make arguments and treating them was the best way to earn if not the people's respect at least their acceptance.
"Thank the gods you are here." A young girl who couldn't be older than sixteen and wearing the uniform of the White Griffon said. "My shift ended an hour ago and I was about to collapse.
"What was I thinking when I decided to pick this as my first assignment for the Code of Practice?" She plunged to the nearest empty spot on the ground, gulping down tonics from her dimensional amulet while pointing at a woman on a stretcher.
Her hand emitted a foul stench and her fingertips were black.
"Code of Practice? Are you a fifth-year student?" Tista asked while stabilizing the patient and turning the gangrenous tissues healthy.
"Most of us are." She panted while pointing at several youths in the tent. "Not only does this assignment give you lots of points, but it can also be taken as many times as you want during the week."
While Tista, Nyka, and Solus cleared the Ward and replaced the sacks of nutrients in the IVs, the young Healer's brain started to work its way through the fog of exhaustion.
"Wait a second. How do you know the Code of Practice and how can you heal people that fast without taking a break?" She asked while noticing that they were using the same protocols that had been drilled into her since she had started the Healer specialization. "Are you alumni of the White Griffon?"
"Yes." Tista and Solus replied in unison while Nyka nodded because why not.
"What an honor! My name is Aridia Iren, at your service." She offered them her hand and they shook it. "You are so good that I bet you must be famous."
"My name is Solus Verhen and these are my cousin Tista and our friend Nyka." Solus said with a whisper to not be overheard.
"Oh gods! Guys, we have the Golden Knight and the Fire Goddess among us! Can I have your autograph?" Aridia's yell was so shrill that it would have burst a few eardrums if Tista hadn't Hushed her in time.
"Yes to the autograph, but only if you keep quiet." Tista said. "These people don't love us and if they discover who we are, we are going to heal them right after knocking them out."
"I'm sorry." Aridia nodded. "I forgot we are behind enemy lines."
"The war is over." Solus shook her head. "There are no enemies, only citizens of the Kingdom."
"If you say so." Aridia's voice was full of contempt. "These bastards followed the Mad Queen and cheered when her army slaughtered our fellow mages. My brother died in the attempt to protect these traitorous scum.
"You are heroes and the citizens of Zeska should kiss the ground where you walk just for letting them live. If I were you, I would scream my name and kill whoever dares raise their hand.
"If I didn't need the extra points and my final exam wasn't around the corner, I would've never come here. Most of our fourth year students prefer a lower ranking than waste their talent on murderers."
She hawked and was about to spit on the ground when she thought about what Vastor would do if he discovered that one of his Healers had dirtied a ward. She swallowed the snot in disgust, but said nothing more.
The three women worked for hours, taking care of the critical patients and resting only long enough to drink tonics and not betray their nature as Awakened. They saw students from all the six great academies and all of them hated being there.
The people of Zeska and the young mages made no effort to hide how much they despised each other.
The citizens considered the young Healers invaders whereas the students considered their patients rabid animals that would have been better to put down before they bit their master's hand again.
"Peace my ass. The war is still ongoing here." Tista said amid pants. "By the way, Solus, are you sure you can go on like this?"
"Yeah, don't worry. No arrays means that the mana geyser below us is up for the taking. Between the boost it gives me and my breathing technique, I can still work for a while."
"Is it me or is there something wrong here?" The more time they spent in the field hospital, the more strange things Nyka noticed. "How come everyone here is well-fed and wears nice clothes?
"I mean, if not for the state of the city and the number of patients, I would never believe that there was a war here until just a few days ago."
Solus sighed deeply. She was a citizen of the Kingdom and its shame was her own.
"It's not you, Nyka. You see-"
A fight broke out between a student of the Lightning Griffon and a woman, cutting Solus short.
"What do you mean, we have to wait our turn? We have been here for hours!" The woman was clearly a noble and judging from her vigour she wasn't the patient. "While you runts dally around my son is suffering!"
Her hand full of precious rings pointed at a baby boy, carried by a wet nurse, who started crying due to the noise.
"Your son has been visited and he has just a mild fever, ma'am. We have other patients who are-" The boy had a glare no less fierce but he was shorter and much more tired.
"It's Duchess Jinhan to you!" She cut him short, the frills of her elegant day dress flailing around along with her arms. "I don't care about your so-called patients, I want my son to get treated so that we can go home.
"Gods, you parasites from the east are simply shameless. If it wasn't for you stealing our food instead of growing your own, this war would have never started in the first place! Screw that, Thrud was the best thing that ever happened to Nestrar.
"She stopped you thieves, she cleaned our cities, and when any of us got so much as a scratch, we would receive immediate and competent care. The Royals not only have destroyed our city and stolen our resources, but they even have the gall to send a bunch of wannabe mages to fix the mess they made!"
The people stuck in the queue and those in bed with enough strength to complain joined her protest.
"I've been bleeding here for hours! Thrud's Forgotten would have healed me in a jiffy!" A farmer with a wounded foot said.
"At least you injured yourself!" Another man cried. "Those fucking guards broke my arm and these so-called Healers can't even fix it right. It's the second time I have to come here this week!"
"You heard them, boy." Duchess Jinhan poked at the young mage's chest with her finger, her eyes reduced to slits. "Stop talking and start working or I swear to the gods-"
"Enough!" A bolt of lightning erupted from the student's hand, sending the noblewoman sprawling on the ground in a seizure.
