Chapter 59
When Iblan revealed his identity, startled gasps echoed all around.
Some even looked frightened — apparently, he was quite a known figure.
“Ah, even so, we can’t entrust such a critical patient to some unknown priest who just showed up out of nowhere!”
“That’s right. The most priests can do is heal minor wounds. This kind of patient needs medical help, not prayers!”
Hmm. Looks like the local priests aren’t exactly trusted around here.
Letting out a deep sigh, I stepped forward and stretched my arm between Iblan and the medical staff.
“Enough pointless arguing. Can’t you see the patient is suffering right now?”
“W–what? You’re the one interfering with the treatment here!”
Oh, for crying out loud. What a noisy bunch.
Anger rushed up to the top of my head. I pushed them aside and strode quickly to the bed.
“Everyone, quiet for a moment. I need to concentrate.”
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and clasped my hands tightly together.
More than ever before, I prayed — desperately — that both the mother and the baby in her womb would survive.
‘Please… let it work!’
With a flash!, dazzling violet light flooded the room.
The glow, like shattered gemstones scattering into the air, sank into the woman’s body.
And in that instant — the two fading life forces within her began to pulse again, strong and steady.
“Good heavens… the patient’s condition is stabilizing!”
“Even the wounds from the knife — they’ve all closed! How is this possible?!”
The woman’s color returned, her rough breathing calmed, and I finally allowed myself to exhale in relief.
‘Thank goodness. It worked.’
It was my first time healing someone this gravely injured, and truthfully, I’d been nervous.
Fortunately, all the training I’d done so far seemed to have paid off.
“Wh–what about the baby? Is my baby okay?”
The mother, who’d suddenly recovered, looked around in alarm.
I took her hand gently and spoke in a soothing voice.
“Your baby’s fine. Don’t worry — just focus on resting and healing now.”
“Is… is that true?”
“Yes. I can feel it clearly — both your body and your baby’s are filled with life energy. You can rest easy now.”
My words seemed to bring her enormous relief. Tears welled up and spilled over.
“Thank you… thank you, Priestess. I’ll never forget this kindness. Truly… thank you.”
Her thin, trembling hands clutched at my robe as she sobbed.
And watching her, I couldn’t help but feel my own eyes sting.
“You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. Take good care of yourself from now on — and have a safe delivery.”
I coughed awkwardly and stepped back, only to realize the weight of dozens of stares on me.
“What incredible power… I’ve never heard of a priest performing healing like that.”
“Same here. It’s nothing short of a miracle…”
People were staring at me in awe, almost dazed.
Soon, patients and their guardians from other rooms gathered, and the place started to get noisy.
“I think we should leave for now,” Iblan murmured.
Seeing the commotion about to spiral, he led me and Arin out of the room.
We had just reached a quieter area when a chubby middle-aged man came running after us, out of breath.
“Haah, haah! Lord Iblan! What on earth happened here? What kind of ruckus have you caused?”
“This priestess treated an emergency patient,” Iblan explained calmly. “Nothing more. The crowd overreacted.”
“Please, come to my office. We can’t talk properly like this.”
He wasn’t wrong — quite a few people were still following behind us, whispering.
“Very well,” Iblan sighed. He signaled his guards to turn the onlookers away.
Though the people looked disappointed, the stern expressions of the soldiers eventually made them disperse.
Once things had quieted, we followed the man into his office.
The office, located on the second floor of the building, was modestly furnished — fitting for a place within a temple.
As we sat across a tea table, the middle-aged man poured warm tea and introduced himself.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I’m Darkan, the one in charge of this infirmary. A pleasure to meet you.”
“I’m Ishtar. Nice to meet you too.”
“Well, I must say, you startled me earlier. I was just about to go looking for you when—boom!—a massive light came pouring out of the ward. I thought the heavens had split open!”
Hmm… If this were the modern world, I could’ve said it was some special lighting effect or stage trick.
But since this was a place full of the sick and injured, I hadn’t meant to make a spectacle of myself. I smiled awkwardly.
“I didn’t mean to cause a scene. The patient was in critical condition, so I just… acted first.”
“Oh no, please don’t apologize! You saved her — we should be thanking you. It’s just that, well… that light of yours draws a lot of attention. If only there were a way to tone it down.”
Yeah, about that… I wish there were.
‘How am I supposed to stop it from glowing on its own?’
I already knew the light’s intensity depended on how much divine energy I poured out.
But I’d never had a reason to control it before — so now, I was at a loss.
As I hesitated, Iblan spoke up seriously.
“You saw the people who followed us, didn’t you, Lady Ishtar?”
“Yes, why?”
“They were all family members of other patients. They came hoping you’d heal their loved ones as well. We managed to send them away for now, but next time… we might have to use force.”
“…Oh.”
Realizing I’d been careless, I clenched my hands tightly.
Even if my abilities had improved, there was no way I could treat everyone here.
Healing that one woman alone had already drained nearly a third of my stored energy.
“Lady Ishtar… are you alright?”
Arin’s worried eyes met mine. I nodded to reassure her, then turned to Darkan to discuss the situation.
According to him, the state of things was grim.
Originally, the royal infirmaries were much smaller and scattered across the city.
But lately, due to a surge of bombings and clashes among the underworld factions, casualties had skyrocketed.
So many civilians were getting caught in the crossfire that they’d turned this temple into a full-fledged hospital.
“Then that woman earlier… she got hurt in one of those incidents? I saw knife wounds on her body.”
“When society falls into chaos, it’s always the children, the elderly, and the women who suffer most,” Darkan sighed. “To be honest, the capital’s been in terrible shape lately. Incidents like hers are becoming all too common.”
A heavy silence fell. I frowned, anger rising unbidden.
‘What did these people ever do to deserve this?’
I had no intention of playing hero or dividing the world neatly into good and evil.
Truth be told, the reason I’d come here at all was less about compassion and more about sealing my deal with Hurem.
But still — the thought of innocent people getting hurt for nothing made my blood boil.
“…Do we know who’s behind all this, Iblan?”
“We’re doing everything we can to uncover the culprits. Lord Suleiman himself is investigating — it should be resolved soon.”
“He’s handling it personally?”
“Yes. In fact, His Highness didn’t want you to know how serious the situation was… but now, it can’t be hidden anymore.”
Remembering how Suleiman had worried about me going to the infirmary, I gave a faint, bitter smile.
‘Seeing it with my own eyes really drives it home.’
Still, I couldn’t stay locked away in the safety of his arms forever.
I wanted the strength to survive in this world — and I believed I already had the potential.
‘What I lack is real experience.’
Sure, I’d lived over twenty years in the modern world, but here in this kingdom, I was still like a child who needed protection.
If I spent more time working here, among the people, maybe I’d finally get used to the outside world.
“I’ll help out here as much as I can until the capital stabilizes,” I declared.
“Ohh, Lady Ishtar! That’s a relief to hear. Truthfully, we’ve been short on hands lately — not only from the wounded, but the sick have started flocking here too…”
Darkan’s shoulders slumped as he sighed heavily. Things must have been worse than I thought.
‘Well, time to take it up the chain of command.’
Since I needed to report my first day anyway, I figured I’d meet with Hurem soon — and maybe push for more support.
Looking him squarely in the eye, I said, “When I return to the palace, I’ll bring up the issue of sending more personnel. Darkan, please prepare a report on the infirmary’s current status.”
“Huh? A report? Why…?”
“Well, I can’t just go asking for royal funding with my mouth, can I? If we want proper support, we’ll need convincing evidence.”
I glanced between the bewildered faces of Darkan and Iblan and grinned triumphantly.
‘Looks like things are about to get interesting.’
I may have been broke, but I’d once juggled part-time jobs and team projects to get into a top university in Seoul.
I might only have “part-time” experience, but I knew how to persuade professors for grades — and now, I’d use those same skills for royal funding.
“We don’t have time to sit around! Let’s get started already!”
