NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Village Of Elves (6)
“It’s an elf, but this is…”
He had never seen such beauty before.
While humans often felt a desire to possess upon seeing elves, the elf before him was different.
Her appearance didn’t even invoke a desire to possess.
It was the first time his heart felt pious just by looking at a face.
Long eyelashes and beautiful hair.
Even the elegant curve of her nose was not human.
For a while, he could only stand still and gaze at the elf lying down.
After a few minutes, he murmured as he came to his senses.
“So this is what they mean by being captivated by beauty…”
It felt like a dream.
He even forgot the reason he came to this place and just blankly stared.
Ray shook his head.
“To lose one’s reason in front of a patient. I’ve really fallen, fallen.”
He spoke and examined the complexion of the lying elf.
It was said that the elf exhaled violet breath, but it was not visible now as it had cleared.
Ray tore a piece of his white clothing.
As he placed the torn piece under her nose, the color of the cloth faded slightly.
It faded to a light violet color.
“This is strange. Violet breath…”
The fact that the breath had color could mean it was poison.
He needed to check if there was anything in her lungs, bronchi, or nose.
But there was no endoscope, and he couldn’t just open up her stomach without knowing, as the elves might kill him.
There was only one way.
Ray placed his hands against the elf’s.
The palms were the area where mana came in most actively.
Holding her hands tightly so they wouldn’t separate, Ray sent his mana to her.
‘Wow. To think it’s this vast…’
Her mana road was literally a monster.
Putting aside its enormous size, the intensity of the mana road was incomparable to his own.
If she were to push mana into Ray’s body, his physical body would not be able to maintain its shape and would burst out.
Just imagining that horrifying sight made Ray swallow as he thoroughly examined her body.
There seemed to be no foreign substances in her bronchi and lungs.
He also checked her nose but found no issues.
Tilting his head, he filled her body with mana from head to toe.
Slowly moving the mana and examining even the smallest blood vessels, he ultimately found nothing.
Ray released her hand, perplexed.
“There’s no problem at all? Could it be that her life span is up…….”
When was the last time he encountered a problem in medicine?
His pride took a hit.
A doctor who couldn’t heal a patient right in front of him.
It was far from the path he had envisioned.
Not knowing the symptoms was one thing, but he couldn’t even identify any problems.
“I should have studied more beforehand…….”
If he had access to modern, state-of-the-art medical equipment, he might have been able to do something, but this place was a different world.
Instead of giving up, he had to give it his all.
Ray lifted the elf’s eyelids.
As time passed and the eyeball dried, tears should have normally appeared as a protective action of the eyeball, but there were no tears.
“She is not in a vegetative state… she has completely lost consciousness.”
There was nothing that could be done in this state.
As Ray sat and pondered the symptoms, he detected a slightly odd smell emanating from the prone elf.
The fruit scent was so overpowering that he couldn’t detect anything else, but as he grew accustomed to the fruit scent, he noticed a different smell.
It was a familiar smell.
It was akin to the smell that comes from a neglected elderly person living alone.
He quickly turned the elf onto her side.
What he saw was the elf’s back, completely decayed.
The back was drenched from lying in the same position for too long, and the mushy fabric was wet with pus, leading to a secondary infection.
How long had she been neglected to be in this state?
It was only because the elf still had some mana left inside her that she was not dead yet.
Ray was furious at this miserable sight.
Regardless of the lack of knowledge, this was not just a lack of knowledge, but sheer negligence.
“Noble? Dignity? Reverence? All bullsh*t. Is this the reverence you were talking about?”
In contrast to the beauty of her front, her back was truly miserable.
Even he, who was revered as a legend in modern times, doubted whether he could fully heal her.
Thinking of the long time she must have spent here alone brought tears to his eyes.
“Sigh…”
It was fortunate that the house was enchanted in a way that prevented insects from gathering.
Ray sighed again as he noticed the lack of medical supplies and felt desperate.
“If only there were some disinfectants…”
Of course, he could find natural disinfectants in the wild.
But this world was different from the modern world, with different plants and animals.
There was a risk that picking something that looked similar and treating her could cause even more problems.
Reluctantly, Ray had to go fetch water.
Luckily, water was easily available.
As soon as he stepped outside, there was a small pond behind the house.
He weaved together leaves to create a basket that wouldn’t leak water, scooped up water, and purified it with his mana.
Even if the pond looked clean, there could be unknown microorganisms living in it.
Then he used a very small amount of mana and chanted towards the water.
“Heal.”
Even if it had just a little healing ability, that was enough.
Although she had a strong manalode, he couldn’t be sure, but his small amount of mana should be easily manageable for her.
Of course, there was a possibility that the incompatible mana could be toxic.
But since she used pure mana as an elf, that possibility was low.
The reason why Ray did not use Heal directly on her was simple.
First of all, Heal is not omnipotent.
Congenital conditions, tumors, and stones could not be healed with Heal.
Heal merely enhanced healing.
If there existed an omnipotent Heal, finding a priest would be quicker.
There were definite limitations to the healing magic that wizards used.
Moreover, even if her manalode was enormous, if she could not handle his pure mana, she might die.
The mana compatibilities, such as magic power, holy power, and mana, were potent enough to destroy the manalode, regardless of its size.
Naturally, this was a problem that arose due to the unique mana he utilized.
Otherwise, when wizards used Heal, people with incompatible manalodes would have typically died.
After washing his hands with the water infused with Heal, Ray gently applied the water to her back.
Since he used a very small amount of mana to avoid detection by the elves, the effect was not substantial.
But it was much better than doing nothing.
“I need to wipe the other parts too…”
After wiping off her back, Ray muttered in dismay.
“It’s a medical act, but it could easily anger the elves.”
However, Ray soon shook his head.
“What grudge are they holding when they don’t even take care of their own elf.”
He grumbled but wiped every corner of her body meticulously.
For the sensitive areas, he had to close his eyes tightly and do it.
He even dulled the sensation in his hands with mana to ensure he did his best without any ill intention.
If someone accused him of having ill intentions while wiping her, he wouldn’t hesitate to beat them up.
It seemed like 30 minutes had passed since he started wiping her body.
Given the mental and physical exhaustion, it wouldn’t be strange to sweat, but the temperature inside the house was very pleasant, so he wasn’t sweating.
The room was quite cool, probably because of various magic spells maintaining a moderate temperature.
After laying her body to the side, Ray scratched his head.
“I think I should go back for today.”
At that point, when the problem remained unidentified, continuing to ponder over the treatment seemed futile.
The only available option was to improve the elf’s current condition.
The following day, Ray returned to the village.
While pretending to engage in conversation with Pia, he waited until she was out of sight, then waited for the village elves to go for lunch.
As anticipated, the village elves, who led a disciplined life, were absent from the village during lunchtime.
Seizing this opportunity, Ray swiftly climbed a tree and reached Aira’s house.
“Huff… Huff… These trees are really damn tall.”
He always found climbing extremely challenging.
As he considered installing stairs for future houses, he entered the room and found her lying in the same position as the previous day.
Just like the day before, he brought water and cleaned her body.
“I’m glad your back is better than yesterday.”
The improvement was barely noticeable, but he was content to see her condition getting better.
After thoroughly cleaning every part of her, including between her fingers, Ray attempted to infuse mana into her once again.
From her head, neck, shoulders, waist, and ankles, he circulated mana everywhere but failed to identify the problem.
Sighing, he gently placed her hand down and sat.
“Hoo. What could be the problem?”
No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t identify any disease or method to confirm it.
He wished he could perform even a simple blood test.
Ray hung his head in his first experience of defeat.
It was a massive shock for him.
The reality of being unable to do anything but watch a dying patient in front of him was overwhelming.
It was not just a blow to his pride, but also a sense of loss.
That shock and the loss of medical knowledge solidified into a single determination.
“In this world, I’ll ensure there’s no disease I can’t cure. I’ve done it in the modern world, why not here?”
He didn’t realize that this determination would drastically alter his life in the future.