Chapter 60
After that, I began spending almost all my time at the infirmary, practically living there while taking care of it.
At first, Darkhan only suspected I was a “mysterious person who came to volunteer at the palace for a short while,” but he had by now turned into someone almost like my secretary.
“Ahhh, Lady Ishtar! You said you were going to expand the isolation wards on the second floor? What are you doing getting into so much trouble? We’re busy enough as it is….”
“It’s better to do it now, even if it’s a pain. If an epidemic spreads and we regret it later, it’ll be too late. And don’t forget—if anything goes wrong, the responsibility will, of course, fall on you, Darkhan.”
“Eek…! Why would that be my fault!”
“Because you are the official head of the infirmary. No matter how much work I do, don’t get confused about that, Darkhan.”
Hearing me, Darkhan put on a doleful face, unable to manage a reply, and stamped his feet in frustration.
Honestly, he had reason to feel aggrieved.
On the day I first visited this infirmary, upon realizing how serious the situation was, I badgered Darkhan into producing an up-to-date report in a single day.
After I learned the contents of the report, I went to Huirem and gave a passionate presentation. Huirem seemed genuinely impressed by my explanation.
“You’ve got an eye for things, huh. I thought you’d just come to do whatever volunteering you were told to do, but you’ve got substance. Well done.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Mm. Consider it praise. I’ll promise full support for the capital’s medical facilities going forward. It’s timely, too.”
“Timely…?”
“Yes. You’ll see soon enough. For now, focus on the tasks you’ve been assigned. I’ll make sure anything lacking will be handled immediately.”
As Huirem promised, about a hundred additional support staff — priests, palace medical attendants, and the like — were assigned to the infirmary.
Large supplies of herbs, salves, clean linen, medicine, and other materials arrived and were moved into storage.
Thanks to that, Darkhan and I discussed the infirmary’s larger and smaller matters frequently, and before long I had come to occupy something close to a co-leader role.
‘But treating people is my top priority.’
My original purpose for coming here had been to treat people directly and to master how to use my sacred power efficiently.
Operational matters beyond that were primarily Darkhan’s responsibility.
It wasn’t surprising he grumbled when his workload suddenly grew.
“Once the quarantine ward construction is finished this time, I’ll be quiet for a while, so don’t be too upset, Darkhan.”
“Phew, very well. Anyway, ever since Lady Ishtar came, things here have improved a lot. Patients with serious illnesses are recovering in a day… sometimes I wonder if you should be doing less treatment now.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Darkhan hesitated for a moment with a thoughtful expression, then lowered his voice and answered cautiously.
“It seems Lady Ishtar’s reputation has spread beyond the capital. I hear patients from nearby towns and villages are coming here.”
“Isn’t this infirmary’s services supposed to be available only to capital citizens?”
“That’s right. But somehow, people are obtaining capital identity tokens and disguising themselves to come. I suspect they’re getting the tokens on the black market.”
I widened my eyes in surprise and murmured to myself.
“If they’re getting them illegally, the cost must be steep… and even if they come here, they still have to wait their turn.”
After the previous disturbance, I had my own separate room and was treating about twenty people a day.
I prioritized those who couldn’t move or whose lives were in immediate danger, so even if someone came from far away, they might not get treated.
“Those willing to go that far are mostly people clinging to the slim hope of saving a sick family member. Rational judgment is hard in those situations.”
“I see…”
A wave of helplessness and pressure washed over me, and I lowered my head.
‘Maybe it would be better if I didn’t treat people at all…’
I knew that my power, derived from sacred energy, was seen by ordinary folk almost like a miracle.
But I hadn’t considered that it might also cause those who didn’t receive treatment to feel deprivation or despair.
Seeing my sudden gloom, Darkhan tried to change the mood and forced a cheerful tone.
“Ha ha, I shouldn’t have said something unnecessary. Don’t worry. Lady Ishtar, you’re doing perfectly well. Even if I’m busier than ever, I still find it rewarding!”
“…Well. That’s better than the apathetic look you had when I first saw you.”
“Oh no. How could you speak so heartbreakingly! You have no idea how underpaid and overworked I’ve been! Would you like to hear my pitiable tale?”
Darkhan put on a theatrical display of wringing tears and pleaded with me for a raise.
His over-the-top act, with spit at the corner of his eye and all, looked ridiculous, but somehow I didn’t dislike him.
I ignored the chubby middle-aged man trailing behind me and waved him away, telling him to get on with work.
As he grumbled and walked off, I giggled and slipped into my private treatment room.
At that moment, Suleiman had left the palace to trace the source of the uproar in the capital.
The situation had reached the point where it warranted his personal attention.
The disorder in the city was worsening by the day — it was nearly tantamount to terrorism.
Annoyed, he led his men out to the slums where the underworld groups were concentrated.
This whole trouble had started from reckless territorial disputes among the gangs.
He had already just taken care of two of the more sizable groups in the area.
“They’re so unimpressive compared to their reputations.”
Wiping the blood from his blade, he glanced coldly over the scene.
Dozens of men lay collapsed in the mud; most of them had been cut down by his sword.
“Secure the area, Iblan. Bind those with life left and bring them for interrogation. We need to know who’s behind this disturbance.”
“As ordered, sir.”
Iblan bowed deeply and ordered the subordinates to prepare to transport the survivors.
Normally, Iblan would have been assigned to guard Ishtar, but today he had accompanied his master to the scene.
Suleiman sheathed his sword, watched his men move swiftly, and narrowed his eyes.
‘These are the ones causing the chaos, but there’s definitely a clever hand behind it.’
The underworld doesn’t expand its reach unless big trouble benefits them.
It was the reason previous governors, including the one before, refrained from large-scale crackdowns even while knowing of their misdeeds.
The balance of power mattered.
If someone gently shifts the scale, the balance tips.
This incident felt like someone had subtly placed that weight on the pan.
He bit his lip in displeasure.
Though his life as a noble had not been easy compared to his lineage, he believed there was nothing he couldn’t achieve through effort.
Yet in this case, he felt the limits of his ability.
After taking office as governor, he had pursued the underworld groups connected to Roxelana and those around her.
All he had managed to learn, however, was the name of one group — “Diader.”
Since the port incident, the outline had seemed to emerge, but their true identity slipped back into obscurity.
He had even obtained information that the leader he thought eliminated was actually still alive.
Filled with a bitter sense of defeat, he clenched his sword handle and gave a faintly grim smile.
“…Maybe I should just wipe them all out.”
A sudden murderous glint crossed his eyes.
They had been acting without fear, starting trouble.
Roxelana, her half-brother Berhan, and inscrutable Theron — all those who might be connected to the incidents — he could simply behead or exile them and end this quickly.
‘If I really wanted to, I could do it immediately.’
Pragmatic by nature, he was not someone who pursued only straightforward methods.
Like Huirem in his youth, Suleiman was prepared to point his sword at those who would rot the kingdom.
But he restrained himself only because Huirem wished to ascend the sultanate more stably than by such measures.
“Suleiman, the site is secured. Some of them spoke before we even interrogated them.”
“What did they say?”
“They said that about a month ago there was a big quarrel between organizations that trafficked banned goods. The supplier cut back quantities dramatically and granted monopoly rights to a few groups.”
“Monopoly rights… damn. So they provoked disputes without lifting a finger.”
“Exactly. It seems someone granted monopoly to certain groups and then secretly encouraged competition among them to incite fighting. Very cunning.”
Suleiman cursed softly and ran his hand roughly through his hair.
Thinking of the citizens exposed to pointless violence and of Ishtar working hard at the infirmary, he felt sick with self-loathing at his own helplessness.
“Deploy all available personnel under the governor’s command, except for Ishtar’s escort, to this case. I’ll restore the capital to its previous order within a month.”
“Do you have a plan, Suleiman?”
“If anyone thinks they can toy with me with a few cheap tricks, they’re mistaken. This time I’ll make those cornered feel what it’s like.”
With a cold smile, Suleiman left the bloodstained scene and disappeared into the dim alleys.
