ALL NOVEL Chapter 74 – After the Ambush
Allen let go of Ann before he walked away, wanting to proceed with the situation at hand, when suddenly, he staggered.
Ann reflexively supported him and took a good look at him.
“You said you were alright, but your leg and shoulder are injured!” Ann raised her voice in a fluster.
“They’re just shallow wounds, nothing too serious. My feet just slipped earlier,” Allen said.
“These… Shallow wounds?!” Ann couldn’t help but frown.
To Allen who had grown up in this fantasy world and participated in a war before, his wounds were just minor flesh wounds that would heal soon without any problem. Thus, he said that it was nothing serious.
Meanwhile, to Ann who had grown up in the relatively peaceful modern world, shallow wounds would mean skin-deep injuries, such as paper cuts. She didn’t have any background in the medical world, so she had rarely seen such injuries. Thus, to her, it was considered serious already.
“I’ll help you,” Ann could only say that as she continued to support Allen, just in case he staggered again.
Allen only nodded and the two walked together like that.
No words were exchanged between them as they were so focused on going to safety as fast as possible.
Later, Allen found out that his own people had been sabotaged, and he was certain that a spy was apparently planned inside. Upon realizing this, Allen’s face worsened.
Looking at Allen’s expression and the situation that they were in, Ann could guess what was going on, and what Allen was thinking about. For she was also thinking of the same possibility. If this was true, then Allen had to move quickly to find that spy and eliminate them, if they were still there.
Upon returning home, one of the maids who welcomed them immediately ran inside to seek help. This alerted Gwen, who rushed off to see them.
“Arlea-sama, Allen-sama, what happened?!” She asked in a worry.
Ann had just finished helping Allen sit on the sofa when she turned to look at Gwen.
“We were attacked on our way back. I’m fine, but Allen is injured. We should treat him quickly,” Ann said.
“I will call a physician to examine Allen-sama, then,” Gwen said.
“Yeah, please do,” Ann said as she sighed in relief.
After the adrenaline left her body, Ann finally felt the fatigue after going through the events of that day. First, she exerted her magical power so much at a short time. Second, she had to support Allen who was injured. And third, she was quite frightened due to Allen’s bleeding that emitted the unfamiliar scent of blood.
As a result, her head felt light for a moment, but luckily, she was right before the sofa, so she could just plop onto it.
Even so, Allen noticed her awkward movement and instructed, “Call another one for her, too.”
“Eh, no, I can wait after you, I’m totally fine—,” Ann immediately protested, but…
“Someone! Call two physicians for Allen-sama and Arlea-sama!” Gwen had already instructed the maid who quickly ran and disappeared from the place.
“There’s no harm in waiting for the doctor to finish checking you,” Ann said as she felt that it was too exaggerating.
“And there’s no harm in getting the examination done quickly,” Allen said.
“…”
Well said, I can’t argue.
Ann simply let herself be resigned to her fate.
Apparently, the Schwartzen family had some family doctors on standby even on normal days, so two physicians quickly appeared in front of them.
“Oh… Doctor Brighid?!” Ann called out to the familiar female physician who was bowing together with the other physician, a male of an older age than the female physician, but the two had similarities.
“Arlea-sama, I’m honored that you remembered me,” Brighid said with a delighted expression.
Then, seeing that Ann’s eyes were on the male physician beside her, Brighid was sensible enough to introduce him.
“This is Brien, my older brother, who will be examining Allen-sama.”
Brien nodded at Ann.
“Oh… You’re a family of doctors? That’s cool!”
“Me and my brother are the first generation doctors in our family,” Brighid chuckled.
“Anyway, now isn’t the time to talk like this. I’ll examine you first,” Brighid said.
With the help of the servants, Brien treated Allen in a separate room than Ann.
Meanwhile, Brighid was examining Ann alone, with Faye and Birdie on standby in the same room as Ann, in case she needed some kind of treatment that required their help.
“There’s no wound at all, but you’ve quite exhausted your energy. You need lots of rest and some tonics. Please drink this potion,” Brighid said after examining Ann and she whipped out a bottle of potion from her bag.
“This…,” Ann took the potion from Brighid’s hand and marveled at it.
She had only seen this kind of potions in the game world, but this was her fist time seeing it first-hand and touching it first-hand. The unique glass bottle was cold to touch and the liquid inside was a clear blue water that seemed to be refreshing.
But…
“It isn’t bitter, right?” Ann asked cautiously, worrying that she’d be deceived into gulping this seemingly refreshing potion in a go and then spitting it out immediately due to the unexpected bitterness.
Brighid smiled as she said, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste weird at all.”
Believing Brighid’s words and her expression that didn’t seem to be lying, Ann obediently started drinking the potion.
After one gulp…
“E-eekh,” Ann was surprised and stopped drinking another gulp because of the unexpected sensation she suddenly felt.
The potion was a lot colder than she had expected and upon entering her oral cavity and throat, it gave off a stinging sensation. It was like when she drank some mint tea, but the mint was enhanced twofold at the least.
True, it was refreshing and didn’t taste that weird, but the sensation was still something else!
Luckily, she didn’t spit out the potion.
But after that one gulp, she slowed down in drinking the potion, treating it almost the same as if she was drinking some wine with a high percentage of alcohol.
Looking at Ann’s behavior, Brighid lowly chuckled.
“Apologies, but you reminded me of a child patient that I had treated before, Arlea-sama. That child wasn’t used to drinking potion and had a similar way of drinking it. But I heard that you were kind of a sickly child back in the days. I thought you’d be familiar with potions, so this is unexpected. Or did you drink another potion with a more neutral taste? I’d like to learn about it so I can try and make a similar one for you in the future,” Brighid said.
“N-no, it’s alright,” Ann waved her hand and she tried to laugh as she said, “It’s all because of my amnesia. I forgot about how the potion will taste like.”
Yep, a very convenient excuse. Amnesia.
“Oh, my apologies, it slipped my mind…”
“Nah, no worries. Thank you for examining me and for this potion,” Ann said as she awkwardly returned the empty bottle of potion to Brighid.
“It’s my pleasure,” Brighid said as she took the bottle as if it was the most natural thing to do.
Afterwards, they walked out of Ann’s room where the examination took place and waited in the living room for Brien to finish treating Allen.
As such, the two girls chatted for a while, mainly Ann listening to Brighid’s stories about how she and Brien had become a doctor, her unique experiences, and so on.
Brien went to the living room not long after.
“Doctor Brien, how’s he?” Ann immediately asked.
“Arlea-sama. Allen-sama’s wounds have been treated. It will heal soon with little to no trace, so there’s no need to be worried. But he has to take a rest to aid the recovery,” Brien politely explained.
Hearing Brien’s explanation, Ann finally could put her heart at ease.
The two physicians returned after they had finished their duties.
The maids were dismissed, including Faye as Ann understood that she had suffered a fright and a good sleep would help.
Birdie decided to go along with Faye for that night.
Being left alone, Ann thought to herself and decided that she probably needed to go to Allen’s room and see if he wanted to be disturbed by her. After all, she still owed him some explanation. It was already a wonder why Allen didn’t rush off to summon her and demand explanation.
Before going to Allen’s room, Ann borrowed a fruit knife and took an apple from the kitchen.
When visiting a sick person, I need to get them something and a fruit seems to be the best choice.
Ann’s modern day thinking still remained.
Ann stopped after arriving in front of Allen’s room.
Wait a minute. I haven’t prepared myself yet. How am I supposed to explain things to him? Where do I even start? Will he believe me?
Hesitating, her hand that was about to knock the door paused mid-air as she unconsciously sighed.
Maybe I should think about it first. Let’s arrange my words before knocking—
“Who is outside?”
Allen’s voice could be heard, dispelling any hopeful thought that Ann had just now.
I have to spin my words spontaneously? Will it be alright?
How did he realize that there’s someone standing in front of his door, anyway?
Though her mind was still chaotic, Ann immediately answered, “It’s me.”
“…Come in,” Allen’s voice could be heard again, and Ann obediently opened the door.
Screw it, such is life. Sometimes, we can’t prepare. Anyway, I’ve been in similar situations before. For example, when the teacher selected me to answer the question, or when my boss called and questioned me about the things I hadn’t thought of before.
Y-yes, let’s treat it as something similar to that.
It’s definitely going to be alright.
…Right?
