The Mute Doctor

Time flew by quickly. During these days, the Minotaurs worked diligently, earning the goodwill of their fellow workers with their simple and honest nature.

Public facilities were also rapidly being completed. The first to finish was the hospital, which had the smallest construction area. However, the now empty hospital only had Rona as a doctor.

Rona hadn't officially started her duties yet. She had gone out of town to gather herbs. Although the Griffin Barony was close to the sea, it was quite large. Its westernmost territory included a moderately sized mountain range that branched off from the Monster Mountain Range. This area was home to various exotic herbs and magical beasts. However, it was far from the villages within the barony and Nafu City, so there had been no trouble.

Rona was gathering herbs in that very mountain range. Claire wasn't worried about her running away. During their Mental Connection, she could clearly sense Rona's intention to stay. Moreover, Rona was a novice mage, so Claire simply let her go gather herbs on her own.

Elves were darlings of nature, and Half-elves, inheriting half their bloodline, were naturally familiar with forests. Thus, Claire didn't send any Knights with her. If those Knights entered the forest, they would likely be slower than Rona. Besides, there were quite a few magical beasts inside, and in case of danger, it was uncertain who would be protecting whom.

During this time, however, some interesting things had happened. Claire had finally managed to set up a night school for literacy. She had recruited someone's wife from the Tax Official Robin to be a teacher, but the citizens of the barony showed little interest. Except for the first day when people came to watch the spectacle, there were hardly any attendees in the following days.

This greatly troubled Regan. As the Steward of the barony, and with the night school being ordered by the young master and even being free, the citizens were not attending. He thought and thought but couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only report the matter truthfully to Claire.

Upon hearing this, Claire was amused. This matter was easily solved.

She immediately issued another announcement: Any literate person working for the Viscount would receive an extra five Silver Coins. Furthermore, in the future, there would be more new positions in Nafu City that would require literacy to apply.

As soon as this announcement was made, the night school classroom was packed that same evening. Most of them were workers who worked during the day. If they could read, they would earn an extra five Silver Coins, which was a quarter of their current monthly salary! This could bring about significant changes for their families. At the very least, they wouldn't have to tell their children to be sensible when they wanted sweets.

It wasn't just the workers; even some elderly people and women came to learn to read.

Claire didn't expect all the citizens of the barony to become literate. If even a quarter of them could read and understand books, Nafu City as a whole would undergo significant changes.

However, with Claire's "nine-year compulsory education" in this world unfolding, the literacy rate in the barony would surely rise gradually!

Finally, Claire instructed Regan to raise the wages of all the maids to twenty Silver Coins per month. Previously, due to hardship, they had only received four Silver Coins. Now that they had money, their wages should not be lower than those of external jobs.

A few days later, a new notice appeared next to the old one. The citizens crowded around.

They had figured it out. Since the Viscount's return, every notice posted announced good news, never anything that displeased them.

"It's you again! Don't rush. How many times have I told you not to crowd at the front if you can't read?"

"What do you mean! I've already enrolled in night school! I know one or two hundred characters now. In a while, I'll be able to read these notices myself!"

"Tsk, who isn't! I've memorized almost three hundred characters now! What are you so proud of."

"I just lied to you, I've memorized four hundred!"

"I've memorized five hundred!"

"I've memorized a thousand!"

The two continued to argue, while those who could read proclaimed the notice above.

"Huh? Our barony has a doctor now? Will they be a quack like the last one?" someone worried.

"What are you thinking! This is a doctor found by the Viscount. How could they be a quack?"

"Oh, my bad, my bad! I misspoke. But where is the hospital mentioned above?"

"It's that newly built building, didn't you know?"

"Really? I'm going to go take a look."

"You're not sick, why are you going there! Hey! Wait for me, I'm going too!"

As a result, the courtyard outside the hospital entrance was filled with curious citizens. Rona, who was sitting inside, didn't react much. She glanced outside, and seeing no one entering, she continued to arrange the herbs she had collected.

"Hey! That's the Half-elf the Viscount bought a few days ago!" someone exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh! So the Viscount bought her because she knew medicine. I thought..."

More and more people gathered, and the discussions grew louder. However, Rona remained unfazed. She couldn't understand what these people were saying. The only thing she worried about was Claire asking her to serve as the doctor in Nafu City, and these citizens might not like it. But now, from the eyes of the onlookers, she couldn't see any signs of disgust, mostly curiosity, so Rona felt relieved and continued to sort her collected herbs.

"Excuse me, please make way!"

A voice came from outside the crowd. A Big Guy, supporting a man with a bloody arm, walked in.

"His hand was accidentally hit by something while building the school. We heard the hospital just opened, so we rushed over."

Everyone made way for the Big Guy to help the man into the hospital. Rona finally stopped her work and looked over.

The Big Guy said urgently, "His arm is injured. Please take a look!"

The man also had a pained expression, his eyes closed, not daring to look at his mangled arm, and he kept gasping, making "hissing" sounds.

Rona didn't speak. She walked over and cast a detection spell, getting a general understanding of his injuries. Then, she returned to where she was sorting the herbs, picked out some exotic herbs, and ground them in a stone mortar, eventually producing a sticky green paste.

Throughout the process, Rona remained silent. The Big Guy and the man also involuntarily quieted down, lowering their voices.

Finally, when Rona held the sticky green paste and applied it to the mangled wound, the man couldn't help but let out a sound of relief mixed with pain, "Hiss ah!"

However, in the next second, he closed his mouth again, feeling a bit embarrassed.

After the paste had been on for three to four minutes, it solidified into a clump. Rona gently peeled away the solidified green mass, revealing skin as fair as a baby's where the bloody arm had been.

This injury did not involve the bone, so healing it was quite simple. Claire could have healed it with a novice healing potion, but the cost would have been significantly higher, and she didn't have the time to stay in the hospital all day to concoct potions.

The man looked at his healed arm in amazement. "This is too miraculous. It hurt so much just now, and now it's all better."

Rona threw the green solid into the trash can and returned to her previous spot to sort the herbs.

"Thank you, doctor! Thank you, doctor!" The Big Guy pulled the man and bowed deeply several times. They had no doubt that if it had been the quack doctor from before, they would probably be at the stage of amputation by now, and it was uncertain if he would even survive.

It was precisely because they had experienced darkness that they felt even more grateful to doctors like Rona!

However, Rona paid no mind to the other person. Just as Claire had said at the start, she focused solely on treating the patient, unconcerned with communication.

Seeing Rona remain silent and composed, the other person quickly shut their mouth, afraid of disturbing Rona as she organized the medicinal herbs.

Finally, they whispered, "Doctor, please continue your work. We'll be leaving now."

With that, they quietly and slowly backed out. Just then, Rona frowned, a thought striking her. She tapped the table, the clear sound stopping the two in their tracks.

Rona took a copper coin from her pocket, then used magic to write the number thirty in the air. Afterward, she placed the coin into a nearby storage box.

Only after doing this did Rona let out a sigh of relief. I almost forgot, Claire mentioned we needed to charge.

The two quickly took thirty copper coins from their pockets and put them into the storage box. They thanked her while backing out. Compared to the six silver coins the previous quack doctor had charged, this new doctor's fees were incredibly reasonable!

After this incident, word spread throughout Nafu City about Rona.

A remarkably conscientious divine doctor had arrived in Nafu City. No matter the illness, if a patient entered her hospital, they would be cured.

However... she had never spoken a word, apparently a mute doctor.

In order for you all to see new chapters as soon as you wake up, I stayed up all night writing this. So please don't blame me for being a double-update beast.